Maybe slightly off topic: I'm not a Japanese speaker, but thanks to Chinese, I can read some (and kana are pretty easy to memorize). Anyway, what does キタ mean? I've looked it up in some dictionaries but no go.

Does anyone have any recommendations on a small/space-conscious corner desk? I'm moving into a new place soon, and it's short on space. I'm thinking something that could perform double duty as a nightstand.

For anyone interested, there's a great site called Forvo (http://www.forvo.com) that has user-submitted recordings of words from tons of different languages. I mean, TONS. Plus, you get to see where on a map the person is, so you can get regional variations. It's pretty fun, but really easy to get sucked into :)

That actually kind of makes sense. I mean, what is a meme but a repetitive use of something, so it's kind of always "the same".

Sadly, "eye-talian" isn't limited to a region. My grandfather (on the Irish side), who grew up in Ohio, used to say it. It would piss my Italian mom off to no end.

I've never heard Niall pronounced the way this guy says it. Then again, I've only ever heard Irish people saying it.

At first glance, I was convinced the first pic was Lady Gaga.

Ha! Interesting. I wonder if my friend said Australia and I just heard Arizona. :)

I think "20's flapper prostitute" is the best description of the accent I've yet heard.

I've only watched the first two episodes. I've liked it so far, but my main gripe is that one of the actors has a TERRIBLE accent. In the first episode, she's the one who introduces Piper to everything/everyone in prison. I have no idea what accent she's trying to pull off. She sounds like she based her accent off a…

I speak Chinese. I'm at work right now, so can't watch the video, but when I have some downtime at home, I'll give it a listen. From what I remember, he was basically being cantankerous saying stuff like, "They want me to quit, but I don't!"

Yeah, the narrator is speaking from the point of view of the turtle.

That's brilliant. I'll have to try it out!

Color me confused. What exactly did you do? Did you plug your TV into the wall and then set it to "Air"? Or am I missing something.

I think I've only been to Pizza Hut in China, never in Taiwan. I feel like Taiwan, at least when I lived there, had a few local, respectable pizza places, like Mary Jane's in Shida Night Market (overpriced, but my friends and I went enough that the owner would sometimes give us discounts).

Now that you mention it, I remember at least one of the guys being big on Broadway. I was just focusing on the two who actually became what the show seems to want to make, idols. But you're right, it is remarkable that on average 3-4 people seem to create successful careers out of it each season.

Oh man. There was one scene in Police Quest III, I think, where you have to go to a drug hideout or something, and it ends in a shootout. It took me so long to get everything right. I love those games. Bought them all off GOG a while back. Can't wait to give them a go.

Jennifer Hudson came in 7th place. Plus, I don't know if her records actually sell as well as one would think. She's been able to start a somewhat successful movie career, though.

There are a few who won who became big, but that was during the beginning of the show's run. Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood are probably the two most successful winners who come to mind. I don't know if Underwood writes her own stuff, but Clarkson does (and well), so that probably has a lot to do with her…

Ah, very cool. I had no idea.