noise."Starly Star · 4:24am Nov 16th, 2017
Hat tip to RobCakeran53 (author of My Little Dashie) for bringing her (I assume) to my attention.
Now, those of y'all who don't click right on the source links are probably thinking I've gone off the deep end. Or, those of you who've been around a while might be thinking that I've gone a little bit deeper into the deep end, or maybe I've gone so deep that I'm coming back out into the shallow end, or something like that. But I assure you, that's not the case.
You'll remember how I have trouble coming up with pony names? And by now I feel like I've used most of the current background ponies, and I'm into previous generations. And I suggested paint catalogs once (in the interests of full disclosure, I didn't come up with that idea on my own), along with a seed catalog, and I even suggested checking out the Lewis and Quark tumblr, which had AI generated names for all sorts of things.
Well, she set her AI to coming up with pony names.
As usual, it's a mixed blessing. Some of them are good, some of them are no better than what any other pony name generator comes up with, some are cringe-worthy (looking at you, Starly Star), and some are . . . well, something. Like Pony Pony, or Princess Sweat.
Plus, if you get the optional DLC, there are even more better pony names, some of which are kinda NSFW. Like Apple Blower, who I assume is the Apple nopony talks about.
I'm putting an engine in an '04 F150. That's not a lot of fun.
I'm not going to bore you with all the details (although I'm tempted to include a picture of a cool scrape I've got on one of my fingers; a consequence of sticking my hand somewhere that it probably shouldn't have gone). My manager decided that he was going help out the customer by not charging the full labor amount and by replacing a bunch of other stuff for free, and by using a cheaper (but still remanufactured) engine.
Now that I've got the engine in and almost ready to run, I can report that I had to re-thread a spark plug hole on one of the remanufactured cylinder heads, and I had to helicoil two holes in the timing cover. That's the kind of thing that really inspires confidence, let me tell you.
It also came with the worst looking exhaust manifold studs I've ever seen, and everybody who's familiar with Ford Triton motors knows that they have a problem with the exhaust manifold studs breaking. So we'll see how long these last. They're no fun to replace when the engine is in the truck.
What also inspired confidence was when my manager was bragging about how confident he was in this rebuilder. "We got a rear end for a Ford from them, remember?"
"Yeah, I do," I said. "I had to replace it with another one a month later."
He thinks about this for a moment. "Well, they paid the labor claim right away."
In other news, I'm still working on that Halloween-themed fic. Maybe I'll have it done by Christmas. Which is okay, because OCT 31 = DEC 25.
Also, since we're just past Halloween, now's the time to tell you about this indie horror film I was in a while ago. I can't remember if I blogged about it at the time--I might have, or I might not have. If I did, it was back when I had ten followers, and so none of y'all are likely to remember it.
Anyway, the character I played was a complete jerk, and the culmination of the film was when I finally got my comeuppance and got stabbed in the back.
We had a shot from one angle where the girl I was abusing came up behind me with a knife, and lifted it high in the air. Since this was being filmed on a shoestring budget, we didn't have one of those fancy prop knives. We were using the real thing.
Obviously, I didn't want to get stabbed in the back with a real knife. It would have made my reaction more genuine, I'm sure, but it would have been difficult to do a second take. That meant that we had to find something that the girl could stab me in the back aggressively with, but which wouldn't hurt me.
Strangest crime scene ever.
Incidentally, after we were done filming that scene, I ate the murder weapon. That's probably not proper crime scene protocol.
For those of you who want to see the cool curvy slice on my finger. . . .
It's not bloody at all. It is rather dirty, though, 'cause I hadn't washed my hands yet.
Sounds like a cousin of Gazely Gaze.
4726882 Intriguing blog all around, though I'm not certain what the prop murder weapon was...
Also your imgur link says I'm denied access
4726910
Should work now. Or else it's not safe for Canadians.
4726882 Well, you're definitely a member of the "Just rub some dirt on it!" school.
You... you just now found the name thing? Wow. Also, my personal favorites are Starting Fuk and Star Shitter
4726919
just needed a reload it seems. And impressive. how'd you get it?
4726900
She could be.
4726910
Forgot to tell you. String cheese.
4726920
I can't help it. That's how work happens.
4726923
It wasn't even me who just found it. RobCakeran told me about it.
I live out in the country. We get our news late.
4726927
Not a clue. Just noticed it when I got home from work.
4726940 Oh, of course! Working on cars in my family was always a necessity, so I'm very familiar with all of the grease, grime, and trauma that goes with it. (Hardest job I did was at 16, pulling an Olds 455+Turbo 400 attached out of a '72 Olds Vista Cruiser, by myself with a cherry picker, re-building it, and putting it all back in. No fun was had, really.) So I should have added a Pinkie smile to my previous statement.
These names are great!
Tears of mirth.
These names are great. I’m going to write a story about Starly Star
Aw man, there was some really old shitty flash animation or something with two cops at a crime scene and one of them kept eating all the evidence. Damn I can't remember anything other than that.
Also, fucking fords.
Ah, the Star family of (reluctant) Ponyville. Starly Star, Sunshine Star, Flight Star, Bitter Star, Derdy Star, Chest Star and... Star Star. Starly Star probably has one of the best designed cutie marks ever. :b
Agar Swirl sounds like somepony who should have been in Amending Fences, or at least someone who'd really get along well with Twilight.
Flueberry Sherry - a cousin of Berry Punch?
Flustershovel Aoetel Pakeecuand - definitively a noblepony from a very old and very distinguished family.
...
And then there was Raspberry Turd
And Groan.
and best pony:
78.media.tumblr.com/dd959488ef7c92de2fb79da1ee7fe853/tumblr_inline_ovb6llnDus1rl9zu7_500.png
On edit: from the not-so-printable names that are only available on request, my favourites are definitevely Lickette and Golden Hash.
A kraft packet?
I don't really see what the weapon was.
Ah yes, the procedurally generated ponies. Not the first time I've seen them, but they're always good for a laugh and some intriguing characters. Nandy Quark probably doing some fascinating things in the High Energy Magic building at CSGU.
Also not the first time I've heard the "OCT 31 = DEC 25," joke, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyably stupid.
4727025
There was a great College Humor one (I think it was College Humor) where two cops were investigating a murder where the victim had been cooking, or something. They had to determine whether each little splatter was BBQ sauce or blood.
*finger dip*
*lick finger*
"Yup. Blood."
"What about that one?"
*finger dip*
...
At the end, the announcer, or something, said to tune in next time, when they're at another crime scene that's splattered with mayonnaise and/or semen.
I remind you all that there are canon ponies named Pillow Talk and Sweet Stuff.
I have a weird sense of déjà vu with the AI pony name generator. Didn't we already talk about it at some point?
I don't remember that halloween crime scene, although It could've been before I joined FIMfic.
4727051
Looks like a stick of cheese.
4726962
It's probably not the worst thing to be doing with your hands (grease and grime is less offensive than bodily fluids, in my experience), but it does take a toll.
Never had to wrangle an engine and trans combo that big with just a cherry picker (luckly). I did yank a 4.3 and turbo 350 out of an s-10 in one assembly, and shoved a 2.5L and 5-speed back in it. The only hard part about that job was getting the core support out of the way without pulling the fenders.
4726963
I'm totally going to use one of them in something. Probably not Starly Star, though.
4726973
Oh yes, do it. You're the one to give her the respect she deserves.
4727025
I think I do remember that. Wasn't one of them absurdly fat?
The thing I like about them is . . . well, one day at Firestone two of the older mechanics were reminiscing about Vegas, and how they were such piles of s
t, and how much money they made fixing them.
Also, I don't know how it is in Chicagoland, but I've noticed that some cars that were common disappear all at once (it seems). Contours and Mistiques, Berettas and Corsicas, Breezes . . . used to work on them all the time, now they're all gone.
4727044
It's possible that the Star family tree doesn't have very many branches. Perhaps it's more of a straight line.
I'd assume he's a brother of Starswirl, with more of a focus on microbiology.
Or maybe Berry's drinking name.
"Hey, weren't you banned from this bar?"
"No, sir, I'm Flueberry Sherry."
"Oh, alright then."
Distinguished. Yeah. I'd go more with infamous.
Best not to ask what her special talent is.
You can buy the T-shirt! I'm really tempted.
Lickette sounds like a cousin to a pony in Estee's stories. Golden Hash . . . I'd assume is a short-order cook. Probably.
4727051
It's string cheese.
You might not have that where you live. Basically, 'it's a stick of cheese that peels off lengthwise.
Now that I think about it, it's a rather odd product.
4727086
Yeah, apparently they've been around for a while, but of course I'm just now hearing about it.
What happens when you give a unicorn a particle accelerator?
. . . that sounds like a question Pineta could answer.
It's truly a classic.
4727182
It's probably good that I don't work crime scenes . . . I've tasted automotive fluids before to figure out what they are (antifreeze tastes terrible, just FYI).
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I did talk about that AI generating paint names and kitty names, but I don't think I mentioned the pony names, 'cause I didn't know until yesterday. At least, I think.
Maybe I did, and I can't remember.
I don't know if I ever mentioned it or not. I might have, or I might not have. I think I mentioned the movie at least once, 'cause a random photo of my town that NPR took happened to show my car, which was in front of the house where we were filming.
mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/stateofopp/files/styles/medium/public/201302/stockbridge__1_.jpg
(It's the light blue Grand Marquis)
4727374
It is indeed!
4727543
YES!
Dude totally. I've replaced SO many 4.6 intake manifolds.
I generally don't mind working on Fords, with some obvious exceptions. POS triton engine omg.
Yeah I have noticed that as well. We used to get Corsicas (god I hate Corsicas) and box-Cavaliers a lot when I really started working at the shop (~10 years ago). All gone now. Also, yeah, the Chrysler cloud cars seem to have dried up only recently. Good riddance, I say. They weren't half-bad cars, just a huge pain to work on (mind you, we did many a transmission on those, blegh), I mean, compared to a Caravan or a Neon or any other K car derivative, anyway, because those are super easy to work with.
One of our previous employees always refers to a Contour or Mystique as a 'Mistake.' lol come to think of it, they really are Ford's cloud car. It's a mid-size car, that got the mechanicals of the full-size shoe-horned into the underhood space of a compact. I hate working on those too, but really, we never had too many of them in. Mostly just this one beat-to-shit one that had the fancy v6 (the reason it was a pain to work on), with a stick shift, owned by a very fat black lady. I liked her, but the driver's seat didn't - it was completely squashed.
4727618
I think it was one of my roommates that told about an aunt of his, who had to get into her car while they were balancing the shocks, or something, because she was so big. If they didn't beef up the driver's side, the car would tilt when she drove it.
4727641 Oh horsejesus, you know you're too fat when they have to put a lift on only the driver's side of your car.
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4727374
Hm... I saw the word Jalepeno on it.
It is a rather odd product.
4727549
4727554
Next, you have to get it a glass of milk.
I'm quite fond of the Traveling Tutor fics where Twilight Velvet is a slightly unhinged/irresponsible mad scientist college professor.
Your reminding me of my '98 F-150
But its in MUCH better shape than that
That must've been a fun day on set.
Also, when I viewed this blog post, an ad popped up for GM Genuine Parts. Thought you'd like to know that.
4727618
That's pretty much dried up around here, unfortunately. Those were easy, except on the Crown Vics with that crash bracket over the fuel rail.
Interestingly, we don't do tune-ups on 3V Triton motors. We price them right, and so people either don't do it, or take it to the shadetree down the street . . . which actually doesn't bother me, much.
Done a lot of spark plug inserts in the old 2V Tritons, though.
For me, when I first started it was cars like Tempos and Escorts that we got a lot of. And some of the really obscure GM cars--Firenzas, Pontiac 6000s (or Goolies, and they're sometimes known), lots of Saturn S cars, Aleros . . . Made a lot of money on some of those cars, too. Couldn't tell you how many intake gaskets I put on GM V6 engines.
Everyone here calls them that, too. Man, I hated those cars. The four cylinder ones weren't that bad, but the V6 was a nightmare. Oh, and remember the Mercury Cougars that looked like an overgrown Focus? I think they're all dead, too, and I don't miss them.
Alternators on old-style v6 Escapes is another thing that I got pretty good at that I don't get to do anymore. Which is too bad, because that paid well if you knew what you were doing.
4727641
I've heard of that before when doing alignments, too. If the fat person isn't sitting in the car when you align it, it's going to pull to one side or the other.
Also delivery vans. Or this one a
hole we had at Firestone (appropriately enough named Colin) who delivered newspapers . . . had a Toyota Corolla. We'd align it empty, and then he'd complain that it didn't drive right when it was fully loaded with newspapers.
4727688
It's an American thing. We like cheese, and finding new forms to put cheese in.
4727742
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/983/101/65f.jpg
4728387
I could see that being where Twilight got it from.
Or maybe Velvet was a perfectly normal pony until she got turned into a plant.
4728881
You'd be hard pressed to have a truck in much worse shape than this one was. I don't know why they spent the money to put an engine in it. With the new engine, it's worth about $5,000, tops. The engine replacement cost $6,400.
4729879
I can't remember if it was that day or a different day that I went right from a theatre production of Wizard of Oz to filming. The bad thing was I had green face paint in Oz, and I did my best to get it all off, but I probably have a slightly unnatural pallor on that day's filming.
Heh, I'm influencing ads with my content.
Knighty, where's my cut?