In the Category of “Things I Would Not Expect to Go Together”

Apparently people who buy wolf urine on Amazon also buy The Last Colony. And LEGOs. And toilet paper, but that almost kind of makes sense. Almost.

(Snurched from BackBackHeyHey on Twitter)

Comments

  1. WendyB_09 says:

    Well, they needed somthing to read while freezing their asses off in those tree stands!!

  2. Christopher says:

    What? You don’t use wolf urine as a cologne to attract female scalzi fans?

  3. John Scalzi says:

    Christopher:

    Really, no.

  4. J. Andrews says:

    I just finished reading The Last Colony. I couldn’t wait for my supply of wolf urine to arrive. I should’ve waited. The reading experience was just not the same without it.

    I’m going to read Zoe’s Tale next. Which animal urine do you recommend?

  5. Stefan Jones says:

    Be sure not to buy cheap imitators which contain 80% coyote pee.

    Deer laugh at coyote pee.

    People who buy coyote pee also read Twilight books.

    Really, look it up.

  6. John Scalzi says:

    J. Andrews:

    I find a piquant badger urine goes spectacularly with ZT.

  7. Adam Rakunas says:

    Not just Legos, but forbidden Legos.

    That is awesome.

  8. Steve says:

    Dude, not just toilet paper but fancy-pants colored toilet paper. Somehow, though, I can’t imagine that the people buying wolf urine are also trying to get their bathroom decor just so.

  9. mensley says:

    What strikes me the most is that I’m getting wolf urine under the category “Kitchen and Dining” rather than sporting goods or somesuch.

    Wonder if it’s used in tacos? (bleh!)

  10. bearing says:

    Look at the colors: orange and black. Somebody’s getting ready for Halloween.

  11. mensley says:

    Realized my comment might be taken the wrong way and was also reading the “Amish Taco” discussion on the previous thread and being meta. I imagined some outdoorsman cooking show adding wolf urine to their backwoods campfire he-man taco recipe.

  12. Marko says:

    “Wolf Urine Lure”?

    I’m not a hunter, but I’m pretty sure that the scent of wolf piss doesn’t exactly make the deer go, “Hey! A wolf! Let me check out where it went!”

  13. ben says:

    Too bad it’s not android’s dream, because then we could talk about wolf and sheep and the serpent would eat it’s tail, and the universe would explode.

  14. BC Woods says:

    I keep all of my Scalzi books between two jugs of Wolf Urine.

    Has your publisher ever considered putting an insert coupon into your books for discounted Wolf Urine? You know… because of synergy and all of that stuff.

  15. Rachel Roslin says:

    What I (don’t?) want to know is how one harvests wolf urine…

  16. tangozulu says:

    Actually, it makes perfect sense. Wolf urine is an excellent way to keep the local aliens away from the colony. Using it properly would have changed the plot a fair amount! For that matter, the Rraey probably wouldn’t like it either, culinary experts as they are.

    And, it goes well with other Scalzi books. For example it can help keep the sheep from getting too far afield in Android’s Dream. A virtual fence of sorts. And since the upper-crust Nidu are so scent-driven, it might work well as a plot device there too.

    Oh John, if only you’d have noticed the interest of your readers in wolf urine before! Perhaps you can use this in a sequel to Android’s Dream? (Hint…)

  17. MasterThief says:

    It keeps the fanties away, and with them, the wolfmen.

    Pretty smart planning, I’d say.

  18. Domini says:

    I like how the toilet paper isn’t just white…it’s RED…and the paper towels are BLACK.

    So, what does red toilet paper, black paper towels, wolf urine, The Last Colony, and Forbidden Legos have in common?

  19. JJS says:

    Maybe the colonists used wolf urine to scare away the nasties in the forest? No? Well, it was worth a try.

  20. tangozulu says:

    I just had the mental image of how they collect and package wolf urine. Yuck. Now, that’s a Dirty Job…

  21. zakur says:

    @Marko – Perhaps it’s intended for hunters with guilty consciences. You know, only wanting to kill the suicidal deer.

    Don’t know how much good it would do around here, though. Wolves have been extinct in Ohio since the 1840s. Our deer wouldn’t recognize it as such. Might as well buy the slightly cheaper Coyote jug-o-piss.

  22. Steve Burnap says:

    Welcome to the world of how recommendations fail on the far end of the long tail! This just means that of the five people who bought wolf urine, one bought The Lost Colony.

  23. All funny answers.
    Mine is simply another Amazon oddity,
    I bought the Mike Hammer novel, The Goliath Bone, that Max Allan Collins finished. I got the old Because you bought The Goliath Bone, you might be interested in Barbie and The Diamond Castle DVD.

  24. hugh57 says:

    That’s what I love about Amazon. Where else can you pick up a copy of a Scalzi novel and a jug of wolf piss? One-stop shopping at its best.

  25. hugh57 says:

    Steve Burnap @22: “This just means that of the five people who bought wolf urine, one bought The Lost Colony.”

    I don’t want to know that guy.

  26. Jasper says:
  27. Steve Burnap says:

    By the way, there are some really amusing reviews of the Wolf Urine:

    “One is immediately drawn to this vintage by the colour, which is an elegant, pale straw hue with an appealing peachy fruit on the nose. It has an incredibly effervescent bead — the whole glass teams with bubbles — culminating in a frothy layer at the head. “

  28. People want to experience more of the vapid werewolf indigenous specie on the planet. Since you didn’t give us more, we have to go to extreme lengths to get more. Seriously. You’re responsible for this smell.

  29. whoops, that should be “vorpal werewolf indigenous specie”

    Need to stop doing this interboobie thing at work. The work distracts me from what’s important.

  30. Brad DeLong says:

    You need to check out:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000796XXM/

    immediately…

  31. I think you just figured out what Kodi was doing with your wallet last week, John.

    Better check your credit card statements…

  32. John Scalzi says:

    Brad DeLong:

    Jeez, who are these people?

  33. In OMW wasn’t there an alien species that looked like deer and ate people?

    Maybe Scalzi made them up, maybe not. Why take a chance? Peace of mind for a $32 jug of wolf pee is a bargain.

  34. hugh57 says:

    Brad DeLong @30: I love the part: “What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?” Apparently, almost a quarter of the people say “Screw the Uranium Ore, I’ll go with the Windows 7 upgrade instead.” Perhaps they’re looking for a more efficient way to nuke their computer.

  35. mfheadcase says:

    It could be worse, people who buy Uranium ore also but Charlie Stross’s Halting State, Knuth’s Art of computer programming, and the forbidden Legos…

    http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2009/07/scared_now.html

    Hmmmm. the forbidden logos seem to be the link…

  36. allium says:

    Forbidden Legos = the ones you left out on the kitchen floor for a barefoot parental unit to find at 3 am, or the ones launched via rubberband to add some spice to your Battle of Anzio plastic army men set?

  37. Alia says:

    Just wanted to post this very happy news:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=a7t3Gxu.O8lI

    (The Religious Society of Friends in England have agreed to conduct same sex marriages the same way they conduct opposite sex ones.)

  38. Catherine Shaffer says:

    OMG, deer repellent plus black paper towels plus toilet paper plus Legos =

    oh, no… I can’t say it…

    No, I will say it.

    This is all old man stuff!!!!!

  39. ntsc says:

    If Cheney only knew.

  40. ryber says:

    I find that wolf urine filtered through black paper towels makes a perfect glue for permanently attaching Forbidden Legos together. And the red toilet paper and The Last Colony are for those times when the wolf doesn’t ONLY have to pee.

  41. Bob says:

    Scoff all you want, but this stuff has allowed me to test clean and play in the Lupine League for the last five years.

  42. CJ says:

    Not only did the buyers of wolf urine also buy TLC, but if you click on the next page, they purchased the dashboard Jesus and the Jesus band-aids as well! I obviously overlooked some important items when I purchase my copy of TLC.

  43. ryber says:

    @42 – They also bought, from page 3, the crazy cat lady action figure. Sadly, no bacon to be seen.

  44. anonymous says:

    Not just any toilet paper, RED toilet paper.

  45. Marko says:

    Missed brand name opportunity: “Hemorrhoid Hankies”.

  46. Warren Terra says:

    From the comments to the product Brad DeLong linked to, another product favored by purchasers of The Last Colony and LEGO:

    Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz

    1,101 customer reviews, many involving quite elaborate scenarios. It’s priced at about $70, which is not cheap, but Amazon is offering a deal on shipping:

    For a limited time only receive $.99 Standard Shipping on all Grocery products fulfilled by Amazon.com, normally $4.59 + $.59 per item.

  47. Kevin says:

    “Due to changes in shipping regulations this product cannot be shipped to California” Why not? I think we should be told . . .

    And Amazon UK doesn’t even sell Wolf Urine, I have to order it from America ;-(

  48. Purple says:

    They also seem to be fans of the “Ramsey IG7 Ion Generator Kit.” I am finding no end of fascination in this.

    http://www.amazon.com/Ramsey-IG7-Ion-Generator-Kit/dp/B0002NRK3A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1249087419&sr=8-2

  49. Having a hard time working out if this is better or worse than the butt plug.

  50. John Scalzi says:

    I think that’s a matter of personal taste, don’t you?

  51. Thomas:

    In cases like this, where it’s someone on the Internet far away from me, and unlikely to show up at my home or workplace, I recommend a week-long comparison test as the best solution.

    3 days each of the Butt Plug and Wolf Urine.

    Please keep detailed video logs of both your own reactions and those of people around you. Posting select exerpts to YouTube is a bonus.

    I’d recommend an assistant to take notes, if they can put up with the Wolf Urine days.

    I’d suggest making it a double blind study to increase statistical validity, but in this case I suspect that the test subject will be able to tell the difference, so we’ll have to put up with self-adjusting factors.

  52. Thomas M. Wagner says:

    George, consider it taken under advisement.

  53. stephbg says:

    You really shouldn’t be mocking the taste of your readers. They could turn around and bite you. And you can’t get shots for that.

  54. Mark Evans says:

    Re wolf urine: I have found that human urine keeps deer away. You must be careful about applying it if the folks next door are watching.

    Re uranium ore: Never bought it. The 5 pound chunk my uncle gave me when I was 8 has been enough. He refused to give my sister her own supply. He claimed that our rooms were too close together or something.

  55. Stephanie Bass says:

    What does one do with wolf urine?

  56. Mary Frances says:

    Stephanie, I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it’s to sprinkle around one’s garden in an effort to scare off the veggie munchers like bunnies and deer (see Mark @54 for an alternative substance). No idea if either method works. I used to have a friend, a rose-grower, who swore that fertilizing the roses with dried deer blood did much the same thing, re: bunnies. I always assumed he bought the stuff at a local greenhouse/garden supply store, in those days; these days, I’m not sure I want to know what goes on a “Related Items” list with deer blood . . .

  57. Lou Dobbs says:

    Does wolf urine work on illegal immigrants?

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