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Post by breesfan on Feb 17, 2014 1:51:38 GMT
Wow... no thread on this episode?
I thought it was interesting that they tried to herd the cats in a circle. I thought the poo one was dumb and didn't need to be tried out. I felt bad for the dog at the end.
The pig one was funny and I loved Kari's reaction when she grabbed the pig by the feet. LOL
Tory and Grant were funny with their contraptions even though they both looked like Ghostbusters but I did think Kari would win it.
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Post by the light works on Feb 17, 2014 16:26:23 GMT
My first thought was that the mythbusters got stuck dealing with an absolute rather than exploring the idioms. I have no recollection of anyone saying that any of these were directly impossible - they always compare OTHER things to these. in fact, in rural areas, it used to be a popular pastime to let all the neighborhood kids into the arena, and then dump a greased pig in there with them - the kid who caught the pig got to keep it. - in fact, I don't recall anyone referring to greased pigs other than in that context - making the true myth whether anyone really thinks it is impossible. herding cats - yes, that is a situation where it is generally accepted as impossible - but the key element is WHY it is considered impossible - which gives a frame of reference to why some other objective might not work. ("doing xxxx is like herding cats") similarly "ten pounds of poo in a 5 pound bag" is meant to invoke a visualization of WHY it is not going to go well. so I agree - not their best episode though it had its good comical moments. and I must say, Tori's machine actually sucked less - er - more - or at least more effectively than I expected. Grant's was actually modeled after a real pig catching tool. www.atozvetsupply.com/Hog-Catcher-p/459-036632.htm |
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Post by Antigone68104 on Feb 17, 2014 16:44:18 GMT
I don't think it's still done, but my aunt said that when she was a girl a common event at county fairs was catching a greased pig.
I was surprised at first that J&A didn't try the classic moving-cats cheat of opening a can of tuna. Then I thought again, and realized that the shelter probably wanted to keep their kitties on a standard diet and discourage too much finickiness.
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Post by the light works on Feb 17, 2014 17:01:22 GMT
I don't think it's still done, but my aunt said that when she was a girl a common event at county fairs was catching a greased pig. I was surprised at first that J&A didn't try the classic moving-cats cheat of opening a can of tuna. Then I thought again, and realized that the shelter probably wanted to keep their kitties on a standard diet and discourage too much finickiness. I know there is a lot of SPCA resistance to the classic greased pig event - because of the risk of a kid jumping on the pig and injuring it. something which was not an issue for mythbusters. |
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Post by the light works on Feb 17, 2014 19:09:46 GMT
rewatching - and caught "sweat like a pig" which is a myth, in itself.
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Post by tom1b on Feb 17, 2014 19:13:10 GMT
I don't think it's still done, but my aunt said that when she was a girl a common event at county fairs was catching a greased pig. 80+ county fairs here and every single one has a greased pig contest. Although, the rules usually state you have to carry the pig/piglet to the target area. Grabbing it by the hind legs and dragging it back is usually a disqualifier, around here. Cincinnati news last year on their upcoming contest: www.local12.com/station/features/mayhem/stories/greased-pig-contest-at-county-fair-1.shtmlThe idiom is "He is slicker than a greased pig." It doesn't imply anything impossible. The other idiom is entirely appearance based: "He looks like 10lbs of (poop, oats, flour, sugar...) in a 5lb bag." When I saw my dad in his brother's chopped down, shrunk pick-up truck, all I could think of was that, sitting in that truck, he looked like 10lbs of flour in a 5lb bag. |
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Post by blindleader on Feb 18, 2014 21:32:24 GMT
I'm surprised they didn't go for the most reliable cat attractor known - paper shopping bags lying open on their sides. The cliché about a cat’s curiosity is true, and most cats will be compelled to investigate the cavity. Once there, another characteristic kicks in. That is that cats like to observe the world from cover. A bag would provide the only such enclosure in the area. Cats also seem to like to be in contact with kraft paper, though it’s a mystery why.
Still, I don’t think the above would work completely because of territoriality. The first one or two cats might enter the corral but the rest would avoid getting near other cats.
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Post by the light works on Feb 18, 2014 21:58:26 GMT
I'm surprised they didn't go for the most reliable cat attractor known - paper shopping bags lying open on their sides. The cliché about a cat’s curiosity is true, and most cats will be compelled to investigate the cavity. Once there, another characteristic kicks in. That is that cats like to observe the world from cover. A bag would provide the only such enclosure in the area. Cats also seem to like to be in contact with kraft paper, though it’s a mystery why. Still, I don’t think the above would work completely because of territoriality. The first one or two cats might enter the corral but the rest would avoid getting near other cats. that does drift even further from herding than trying to attract them in, though. they might do curiosity killed the cat at some future time. hmmm... I think I am going to open up a random stuff thread for cats. |
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Post by ironhold on Feb 19, 2014 5:11:13 GMT
cat sees bag -> cat climbs into bag -> Adam picks up bag and moves cat to target destination.
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Feb 19, 2014 5:43:01 GMT
I'm a little disappointed. Preview at the end of last weeks episode & subsequent promos hinted at ice cannon ("Can you light a frozen fuse?").
I did find Adam & Jamie attempting to herd cats to be amusing. I agree that I expected Kari's contraption to win the competition. I just couldn't imagine how much suction Tori's vacuum would have to generate to actually hold onto a greased pig...
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Post by Cybermortis on Feb 19, 2014 14:38:39 GMT
Ice cannon airs on 1st March, and has been listed as such since the new season was announced and episodes listed on the Discovery website.
Incidentally that episode will also include the supersonic ping-pong ball myth, which is notable because both ideas were posted here on TC - although I *think* MB may have been aware of the Ping-pong myth before it was posted on here. And Ice Cannon was posted on the old Discovery Boards in as much depth as it was on here.
Probably a case of someone getting the promotion-teasers mixed up. It happens, especially if it is the network that is responsible for the teasers rather than them being added to the end of an episode by the producers of that show.
The next episode due to air is Bullet Baloney on 22nd February;
Note that the first two are long standing fan-posted ideas.
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Post by the light works on Feb 19, 2014 14:41:26 GMT
I'm a little disappointed. Preview at the end of last weeks episode & subsequent promos hinted at ice cannon ("Can you light a frozen fuse?"). I did find Adam & Jamie attempting to herd cats to be amusing. I agree that I expected Kari's contraption to win the competition. I just couldn't imagine how much suction Tori's vacuum would have to generate to actually hold onto a greased pig... I expected total failure - as in not even enough to have the cup stay on the pig when it wasn't under tension. |
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Post by OziRiS on Feb 27, 2014 15:21:43 GMT
On the 10 lbs of poop in a 5 lb bag, I think they missed something completely obvious.
On one hand they could've just taken the idiom litterally and found a bag that weighed 5 lbs before anything was put into it. I imagine a bag that heavy would be more than capable of holding 10 lbs of poop.
On the other hand, nobody ever said anything about what material the bag was made from. They could've found/made a bag out of some very stretchable material (plastic comes to mind) that would hold 5 lbs without being stretched and could maybe have held 10 lbs when stretched.
On the pig catching test, I'm with the rest of you. I've never heard that as an idiom to indicate something was impossible. Difficult and messy maybe, but not impossible.
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