In the movie “The Jerk”, Steve Martin’s character gets excited when the new phone books arrive: “I’m somebody now!” I kinda feel a little like that, today. There is a wonderful new book out, full of excellent writing on Academia, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics & Technology, Medicine & Health Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences… …
Monthly Archive: January 2008
Jan 14 2008
Keep an open mind!
I wonder sometimes, why it is that the people who tell me to “keep an open mind” have theirs utterly closed to the possibility that they might be wrong. An open mind, of course, is willing to follow the available evidence, even if it disagrees with one’s assumptions. An open mind is not one that …
Jan 11 2008
Awwww….
As Disney and Pixar have so often told us, The ultimate goal of a toy Is to live in the sweet, unconditional love Of a cute-as-a-bug girl or boy But the truth is, the love of a boy or a girl, Though I’m sure that it must have its charms, Could never compete with the …
Jan 09 2008
Dirty Bird! Dirty Bird!
Flags to bulls, debates to pundits, quackery to Orac… some things just elicit reflexive responses. GrrlScientist was looking for songs about birds, and a comment led to… this. I apologize in advance. (yes, it does have a tune.) We met on the day of the backyard bird count, and I thought her exceedingly pleasantWith lovely …
Jan 08 2008
Juxtapositions (I just love that word)
Shelley, at Retrospectacle, once again has captured my attention. Plague week continues, of course, but another post will not be denied attention–how often do you get the chance to watch an egg-sized cyst, full of tapeworm larvae, being removed from a 16-year-old girl’s brain? Yeah, I know, cool! Cool…because the girl lives, and makes a …
Jan 07 2008
Oh, rats!
From the fleas of rats and mousesTo a plague a’ both your houses,If we can’t blame sheep or horses, then we gotta blame the JewsWhen we found a small bacillus,Not a god, had tried to kill usIt’s the sort of information anyone can surely use!If you wish Yersinia pestisNot to kill you, our request isThat …
Jan 05 2008
Danger! Warning!
When bloggers write, with laptops, seated,Bits of them get overheated—Sitting in their rooms, retreatedTo their hidden cloisters.If I should hear “Well done! Well done!”I hope they mean my writing’s funAnd not some cruel and heartless punAbout my mountain oysters. The writers putting out these blogs,Like robots built with well-oiled cogs,Or samurai, or feral dogs,Eviscerate their …
Jan 05 2008
It’s A Miracle!
Man survives after God pushes him off a skyscraper… “If we can talk about medical miracles, this certainly qualifies,” said Herbert Pardes, president and chief executive officer of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, during a news conference. Moreno, whose brother Edgar died in the Dec. 7 accident, broke at least 10 bones, including multiple ribs, his right …
Jan 02 2008
Of Trees, and Life, and Fun
Clicking in through a post at The Loom, I was led to a wonderfully inspirational site, the Interactive Tree Of Life! For some people, a site like this puts them immediately in mind of Darwin. Others, Linnaeus. Others, Gould. Others, others. Not me. Me, I see a site like this and immediately think of Ogden …
About the Author
Jan 09 2008
Kick off your Sunday shoes, Missouri!
fun, Pinheads, social commentary
by Cuttlefish
Afarensis reports on life imitating art imitating life. It’s Footloose, but in St. Charles, Mo. “The proposal would ban indecent, profane or obscene language, songs, entertainment and literature at bars.” So if Kenny Loggins wants to cut the soundtrack to Kevin Bacon’s “Footloose 2: The Documentary”, I scribbled down a few lines for him… It’s …
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