The Enchanted Unbreakable Full Spectrum Bulb, and other fairy tales
December 21, 2015 11:12 AM   Subscribe

Antarctic Fairy Tales [via mefi projects] from Mefi's own man-about-town, The Whelk.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (8 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Marine Biologist With Silver Hair Who Married The Seal King And Never Had To Write Another Grant Proposal Ever Again

Never had to write another grant proposal?? Truly a fairy tale.
posted by Kitteh at 11:27 AM on December 21, 2015 [5 favorites]


Jack Who Sent Down A Core Sample And Reaped Statistically Significant Findings

of all days for this to show up on my screen *sob* why must you taunt me, Whelk

fucking core catchers
posted by barchan at 11:30 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


And also belonging in Fairy Tales, there's also The Woman Who Did Not Get Hit On The Whole Time She Was There, Much To Her Relief
posted by barchan at 11:39 AM on December 21, 2015 [10 favorites]


I think "The Funding That Never Ran Out" is one of those cultural-universal fairytales - I've read versions from cultures as diverse as physics and dental research.

"The NIH Proposal That Was Funded On The First Submission" is a similar, widespread story form. "She Had Two R01s At Midcareer: Myths and Legends of the Hiring Process" (MIT, 2008) deals with some of this.
posted by Frowner at 11:53 AM on December 21, 2015 [13 favorites]


The comments on this are grand as well. Kudos as usual Mssr Squid.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:49 PM on December 21, 2015


Is this where I can drop a link to Guillaume Dargaud's Antarctica pages?

He's written extensively about working in Antarctica, and reading through the diaries on his site is a pretty great way to spend an afternoon.
posted by schmod at 1:29 PM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Frosty Boy Machine That Gave Five Days Of Desserts On One Day’s Worth Of Supplies

The Whelk clearly knows from whence he speaks. Frosty Boy's frequent breakdowns and occasional lack of replenishing powder (goo? liquid?) were the source of a good deal of lowered morale around McMurdo.
posted by deadbilly at 3:11 PM on December 21, 2015


Frowner, I think "The Paper Was Accepted Without Revisions" belongs to the same class of story.
posted by gingerest at 6:31 PM on December 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


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