Heckler123's Xanga

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:46:31 GMT

(The name of this ray is the Electrolux addisoni - Yes, it really was named after the vacuum cleaner!)
Wow - I Didn't Know That

If you know me at all, you know that I really enjoy etymologies. Hey - it's a better habit than smoking or picking my nose. So, here is a little journey down the word-origin path for you.

Just as there are electric eels, there are also aquatic creatures called electric rays. They come from the order Torpediniformes, from which we get our word "torpedo." It makes sense, if you look at the shape of the fish. But that's not my main point. That scientific name actually comes from Latin "torpere", which means to be stiffened or paralyzed. And torpor is a term that describes what we often think of as hibernation. (But real hibernation is a lot deeper "sleep" than torpor.)

So, anyway.... the ancient Greeks called these electric rays "numbfish." Sort of makes sense - if you get a good jolt of electricity, it does make you feel numb. And these rays are part of the family known as Narkidae. And the Greek word "narke" means numbness or stupor. And from that, we get our English word "narcotic."

So, even though you may not have been aware of the existence of the electric ray, it has contributed some pretty interesting terms for our English language.

Lesson over. Now go outside and play.

Today's post is brought to you by cartilage. Rays have lots of it.

I can't find any videos of an electric ray actually stunning anything/anyone. Kind of disappointing. But here is a rather mundane 22 seconds of an electric ray swimming about aimlessly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyfOSaESAkE

Hmm.. no electric ray cartoons, either. How about a stingray cartoon?

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:10:09 GMT

Don'tcha Just Love It?

Today's DDN features an article that states:
Strip club owners in Harrison Twp. are ready to fight back if the township starts enforcing a state law regulating activities at those clubs, said Greg Flaig, executive director of The Owner's Coalition, representing strip clubs statewide.

Well, I agree with Mr. Flaig. How dare any government infringe on my ability to obtain money in any way that I desire by enforcing a state law? I mean, next thing you know, they'll be able to toss people in jail for using illegal drugs, for engaging in prostitution, or holding up liquor stores. Where will it all end?????

The 2007 law, Senate Bill 16, limits contact with strippers and requires that no sexually oriented entertainment occur between midnight and 6 a.m. I mean - come on. The bars are all closed in the wee hours of the morning. What else are we supposed to do for entertainment now that we're pleasantly buzzed and our inhibitions have melted away?

How else are married men going to be able to sneak out of the house once their wives are asleep to watch some hoochie undulating up and down a pole, hoping to stuff a dollar bill in her thong? Or maybe even a five if she's really hot.

Today's post is dedicated to the type of scum that's into that sort of thing. You know who you are.

How about a little pole dancing fail? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70KsusAI6sA

Finally, here is a cartoon that is both funny and tragically true.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:31:57 GMT

Survival of the Fittest

If you know me at all, you know that I disagree with Charles Darwin on just about every point. To his credit, Darwin was an excellent observer who painstakingly documented all his observations. He did not originate the idea of survival of the fittest, but he certainly noted that it plays a part of daily life for all of us.

And Tennyson wrote these lines, referring to man:

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation's final law
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek'd against his creed.

On that rather esoteric note, I bring you the topic of today's post - Steve Irwin Day. To give you a bit of background, I offer you this snippet from the official website.

Steve Irwin Day continues the legacy of Conservation, Family and Fun that Stevo created. KHAKI IT with us! Steve Irwin Day on November 15 – is an international and annual event to celebrate the extraordinary life of the one and only Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin.

Yep, Steve Irwin was extraordinary. And in my opinion, he was extraordinarily stupid when it came to dealing with animals. I have harped on this ad nauseam in other posts, so I won't bore you by rehashing those thoughts here. But just let me say that I wasn't surprised that he met his untimely demise by being dispatched by a wild animal. I always knew it wasn't a question of "if": it was just a question of "when" and in what specific manner.

I will admit that I was surprised he was struck in the heart by the barb from a stingray. I didn't see that one coming. And I am sorry he was killed. However, I saw his reckless behavior in countless videos with a myriad of animals. I am sure he loved animals and that he did much to inform the public about many of God's diverse and wonderful creatures. But I believe he set a lousy example of how to interact with them. And in the end, it led to his death.

So I am uncertain how to respond to Steve Irwin Day. It seems it would be best celebrated by going out into the wilderness and annoying the crap out of the wildlife. Then, the idea would be to run. Very, very fast. Perhaps yelling, "Crikey!" as you retreat.

And, yes, they called him "Stevo."

Today's post is dedicated to this stingray. If you leave it alone, it won't harm you. And believe me when I say it's incredibly easy to leave them alone.

Here is a short video of Irwin teasing a crocodile. The man showed an utter lack of judgment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HgHhHNC92M

There don't seem to any mean-spirited Steve Irwin cartoons. I am disappointed. So let's just go with this one.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:11:25 GMT

Right....and "Gullible" Is Written on the Ceiling

I have come across a couple of references lately to anatidaephobia. The definition of anatidaephobia is "the fear that somehow, somewhere, a duck is watching you."

Pretty funny, right? Sadly, it appears that some folks actually believe this is a real phobia. Another phobia that people seem to accept as real is arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one's mouth. My guess it that, if a word sounds impressive, people will believe it is representative of an actual medical condition.

Sadly, if one bothered to do a bit of research, it can easily be determined that anatidaephobia is a term coined by Gary Larson for a Far Side comic. Arachibutyrophobia comes from a story written in 1985 by one Peter O'Donnell. If you don't believe me, you can look it up. As a matter of fact, I encourage you to look it up. A little research is good for the mind.

And if you don't, you may wind up with a medical condition that I myself have coined - ambulatory endocolonic cranial implantation. That's pseudo-intellectual verbiage for walking around with your head up your bum.

Today's post is brought to you by the word "gullible."

For your viewing pleasure, I give you this short video on the pandemic scourge of gullibilty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI

And finally, here is the comic that inspired this post.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:55:54 GMT

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

My last post dealt with precooled jet engines, which is a pretty impressive and cerebral topic. So today I am going to discuss a comic strip - it is not nearly as impressive as jet engines, but it is still fairly cerebral. The comic to which I am referring is XKCD. I have mentioned this strip in my blog before, but it merits another look.

I will point out that this little web comic is authored by one Randall Munroe, who was a former contractor for NASA. So basically, this guy is just my dad, only with fewer wrinkles and a more twisted sense of humor. And to be perfectly honest, I don't really know how comparatively wrinkly Mr. Munroe may be. My family's heritage is Scottish-English, and we have skin that ages pretty well. However, I digress.

XKCD appeals to me because it takes on a variety of topics in intriguing ways. I freely admit that I don't understand some of the computer-related jokes, but I do understand a majority of the strips. I have even attached one or two of them to some physics tests for my students. If they do understand them, I get to share the humor with them.

And if they don't, I get to enjoy the way they pretend to understand them so they don't look stupid to their classmates. It's a win-win situation for me.

Today's post is dedicated to XKCD and wrinkle-free skin.

Further illustrating that there is a niche for anything you might care to Google, I have found an XKCD song on Youtube. Boom-de-yada, indeed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOsylvrwo3I

Finally, here is the recent comic that inspired me to write this post.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:40:45 GMT

A Little Shout Out to My Dad

My youngest daughter and her boyfriend told me that they had found a reference to my dad in Wikipedia. I looked it up, and sure enough, I found it. I am proud to say that he is not found in any notorious context. Here is an excerpt from the article about precooled jet engines:

A precooled jet engine is a concept for high speed jet engines that features a cryogenic fuel-cooled heat exchanger immediately after the air intake, to precool the air entering the engine. After gaining heat and vapourising in the heat exchanger system, the fuel (e.g. H₂) is burnt in the combustor. Precooled jet engines have never flown, but are predicted to have much higher thrust and efficiency at speeds up to Mach 5.5. Precooled jet engines were described by Robert P. Carmichael in 1955.

A potential application for a precooled turbojet is as part of the powerplant for a space launcher vehicle, or for a very long range, very high speed aircraft.

You may think that's not very exciting, but is your dad in Wikipedia? Yeah... that's what I thought.

Today's post is dedicated to my dad. I love him a lot.

Here is a video of a man being sucked into a jet engine. Surprisingly, he survived the ordeal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_gpPbpONK4

This cartoon is pretty on the mark for today's topic.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:18:47 GMT

Panic! Panic! Everybody Panic!

I just got a call from the mother of one of my students. Her daughter, who was in class yesterday afternoon, became ill last evening. She went to the E.R., where she was indeed diagnosed with...wait for it.... the H1N1 virus.

The mom was very apologetic, although I can't imagine what she could have done to prevent her child becoming ill. The girl was perfectly fine in class, and her mom says she was also all right at dinner time. Later in the evening, she developed a splitting headache, and her folks took her to get some medical treatment.

Since she was diagnosed so quickly, and she had only had a fever for a couple of hours, she was able to take Tamiflu in order to ease the flu's effect on her. Mom says the doctor told her that the girl was probably not contagious when she was in class that day. However, Mom wanted me to tell the other class members' families, which I did. Fortunately, the girl is a student in my last class of the day, so no others were in the classroom after she left.

I am hopeful that the parents are not the type to go into a tailspin over this, but I wouldn't be surprised if class attendance drops off a bit as this swine flu makes the rounds.

Today's post is brought to you by mass hysteria.

Today's video is Drowning Pool's "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO_QntXc-c4

There are a great many non-funny cartoons about the swine flu. This is one of the better ones.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:43:04 GMT

Well, He Just Did What We All Felt Like Doing

Here is a litle news item I found:

A man visiting Rochester, Minn. for a wedding was arrested for allegedly beating one of the city's goose statues "just because it is a goose." Brian Winters, 28, could be charged with a felony for hitting and kicking the statue perched in front of the Rochester Public Library. Winters, who had blood-alcohol level of .24, was arrested and taken to detox by an officer who saw and heard the attack from his squad car.

The goose is part of a The Goose is Loose public art promotion by the Rochester City Arts Council, and it is the only one of the 18 statues around the city that has been vandalized.

Since moving to Ohio, I have been subjected to a plethora of goose statues on people's porches. I believe I even used these eyesores as the topic of a post a couple of years ago. I can't stand the tacky things, and while I don't condone vandalism, I certainly understand why the man attacked the statue in Rochester. I'm not convinced that his drunkenness had anything to do with the urge to pound on the goose.

Today's post is underwritten by sledge hammers - although, like I said, I don't condone vandalism. Or violence.

For your video, I am giving the link to the old Peter Gabriel video "Sledgehammer"... as opposed to the new Peter Gabriel video, which doesn't exist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyc37aOqT0 It's a bit annoying, but it's way better than a video about goose statues.

Bit of trivia: It is claimed that geese actually helped to save Rome when it was attacked by the Gauls in the fourth centruy B.C. The story is that the geese "raised an alarm", thus saving the city. Personally, I think I'd prefer a Rottweiler or a Doberman as a security animal.

How about this cartoon? It's better than most of the goose cartoons I could find.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:28:58 GMT

Welcome to Our Brave New World

Carolyn Savage just gave birth to a healthy 5-pound, 3-ounce baby boy in Toledo. So this should be a time of joy for her family, right? Well, no. It seems that the fertility clinic that Carolyn and her husband used implanted another couple's embryo in her womb. And Carolyn was told that if she decided to carry the baby to term, she'd have to give it up to the bilogical parents.

I am glad that the couple decided not to abort the baby, but I can't begin to imagine how devastating this whole mess is for everyone involved. To make matters worse, the doctors told Carolyn that this would have to be the last baby she carried.

So now, in order to have a baby - her own baby, that is - one that she and her husband can actually raise - Carolyn will have to use a surrogate, who will be implanted with Carolyn's embryo.

Do you realize how totally messed up everyone's life is right now? The biological parents are faced with the unplanned pregnancy to end all unplanned pregnancies. And Carolyn and her husband have to give up the baby that Carolyn just delivered by C-section. If they decide to use a surrogate to have the child they still want, I'm sure there's no guarantee that the pregnancy will actually "take."

I certainly hope that the medical bills of all parties involved were covered by the clinic that made the mistake. And what sort of litigation may follow? Is there such a thing as a "wrongful life" suit? Can the biological parents sue in order to get all the child's medical bills paid until he reaches the age of 18? And what about college? Can they successfully sue in order to get that paid for?

Can Carolyn (and her husband) sue for the pain and suffering that they have gone through? Surely the clinic will have to pay for the services of the surrogate. And how many times will the clinic have to pay for a surrogate if that surrogate becomes pregnant but miscarries? And what if that baby is born with medical complications? Who will have to pay for that?

I suppose that much legal wheeling and dealing will go on behind closed doors before all this is straightened out. I'm just thankful that the couple decided to give the little boy life, and that he seems to be doing well.

Today's post is dedicated to Carolyn Savage.

Here is a video from CNN concerning this story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9srSIB7PDQ&feature=youtube_gdata

And here is a cartoon, although there is nothing funny about this tragic story.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:31:13 GMT

So Many Choices - Most of Them Bad Ones

Xanga is constantly trying to get me to upgrade my site. If I cared about stuff like that, I'd probably be using Facebook instead of Xanga. I keep a Facebook account, but I rarely update it or check it out. I like my humble little Xanga. It's sort of like an '88 Ford Ecort - you know it's just a piece of junk, but you're comfortable with it, and it's your piece of junk. Actually, I think that's the philosophy that keeps many marriages together. Of course, when your car starts parking in other people's garages, you have to get rid of it. If you know what I mean. And I think you do.

But... back to my theme. I can have an option on Xanga of allowing people to find my email and my real name. I am trying to figure out why I would want to do that. To this day, I still have a little stalker guy that I corresponded with on eHarmony. He seems harmless, but it is still a bit creepy. If I decided to reveal my name and email on Xanga, I'm sure the Nigerian scammers would be crawling out of the woodwork.

So I choose to retain my relative anonymity here. The fact that no one actually reads it makes it fairly easy. But I'm not bitter.

Today's post is dedicated to the '88 Ford Escort.

Today's video has nothing to do with Escorts or Xanga. But it's pretty funny. Any video that contians the words, "I don't know. We made brownies. And I think we're dead," is worth the watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHTzpXyXO-4&feature=related

Since this post is a bit random, this cartoon will do just fine. (I resisted the urge to call it dis-jointed.)