What fun: watch creationist ideas get twisted into knots.
(Episode CCCXXII: Do we want to encourage this sort of thing?.)
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
What fun: watch creationist ideas get twisted into knots.
(Episode CCCXXII: Do we want to encourage this sort of thing?.)
I hated The Catcher In The Rye. I thought that Holden Caufield was a completely self centered schmuck and was horrified that it seemed that many people felt that they could relate to him.
So yeah. I kinda like dabbling in the real-time comment stuff. I’m more used to irc. But no, don’t have that sort of detached rationalism that would enable me to be TM. Probably better for real life tho.
Janine:
I honestly didn’t know why I could either. Maybe I just get self-centered at times.
Oggie:
Oh hell. That sucks. :(
David, about TM, he’s also one of two people who almost got banned and was Mollied.
Okay, this is a vid I must watch. PZ, sorry for the insanities!
Og:
Yes. I haven’t had to contend with the bill-paying yet; that must be bad.
Caine:
What Caine said.
I”ll watch that potholer vid later. I had to disagree with him about Hovind in the first few seconds, and I really hate Hovind. But Brother Kent, may he rot, was using “bring forth” to define “kind” in exactly the same sense that sane people use fertility to define species.
Hovind’s “kind” was the same as species in those first few seconds, but potholer takes it to mean that kinds will never change. Hovind may think that, but the clip of him speaking doesn’t say that.
Hovind’s an idiot, mind. I once heard him say that fish drowned in the Flood, and drowned so quickly that they were still in swimming posture. What other posture does a fish have?
ARGH! It finally happened to me! Porticullised! (at least I think that’s what it was – couldn’t possibly have been that I effed up somehow! :-p )
Briefly: Janine, you are totally right and I keep forgetting that!!! If only we were more understanding and tolerant etc… (to paraphrase you – and I laugh every time, though I could just as easily cry).
Too many people here that I admire to mention. Well, I DID mention a bunch of people which was all very good until the blog ate my pOST!! (grr)
The Pharyngula commentariat gave me the bracing jolt of courage I needed to come out as an atheist. I don’t broadcast it from the rooftops (yet) but I don’t deny it anymore. My scraping up the courage to finally do so was definitely thanks to reading here – getting a feel for so many life stories and so many experiences and SO MUCH unapologetic honesty made me feel less isolated and also stiffened my spine.
I lurked for months before my first, awkward, post. Lurked for more months until I finally thought Oh just plunge in, FFS! I am glad I have done. Thanks, All!
I like hedgehogs. It is not fair that creationists should mess with them.
—- —- —- —- —- — — — — — —
I am copying this item from “Thus Spake Zuzka” (February).
She is spot-on about how many assholes regard poverty. And the “modest proposal” is really just a logical extension…
… … … … … …
-People keep saying the dead-tree format is over and done with but you can still learn so much from reading the newspaper. Take for example this (for once) sensible editorial I chanced upon yesterday in the radical left-leaning Philadelphia Inquirer. If you are “poor”, ask yourself: WWJD? Be prepared to shape up in a hurry because He’d tell you something like this:
… … … …
“Our Lord Jesus: Are you a tween working 60 hours a week sticking things on pots while rats gnaw at you, just so you can get your dad out of debtor’s prison? No? What you are is lounging about in your air-conditioned paradise with your cable tv, maybe even going to the public library and using the computer to get on the Internet there, and you’re whinging away because you’re “hungry”. If you’re so hungry, why are you so fat? Riddle me that one, Batman!
Your school (though I wouldn’t let my kids go there) is free (for now, till we institute the voucher system) and your government pays for “much” of the tab of state and community colleges (if by “much” we include “ever decreasing amounts”). Why are you so dumb? You can be as “poor” as you want and we won’t even put you in debtor’s prison!”
… … … … …
-You see, being poor used to be about really suffering in a hideous manner unto death. If the impoverished people are fat, have cars, and aren’t in jail, the system is working pretty good for them. But give the “poor” a little and they still aren’t satisfied.
It’s not enough to be a wage slave in a rat-free environment.** They want equal opportunities, too! But the whole point of success is to give your children unusually good opportunities. But no, the “poor” want to make it about the size of the gap, claiming that if the rich get richer, the poor should too. That’s just crazy talk!
Myself, I say it’s time we solved this “poverty” problem, such as it is, once and for all. Modesty will not serve; let us be bold in our proposals. What few poor we do have should be fed an all organic, no hormones or antibiotics diet for three months to cleanse their systems, then humanely slaughtered on-site in old style, non-industrial abattoirs.
We should not limit ourselves to just the more obvious, meatier cuts but strive for a whole human, nose to foot approach. Many parts of the poor will pair well with a good pinot noir, and there is nothing like poor heart – tender, amazing, not funky like liver, and poor trotters make great tacos.
…dang, and here I thought Caine complimenting me was safely hidden behind the portcullis. *blush* Thanks, y’all.
Janine,
Remember, there are douche bags out there that identify with John -fucking- Galt.
Much worse than Holden Caufield, IMHO.
BAHAHA! “Hovind and I are so far apart on this that I am sorry to say that we are no longer speaking to each other and I have stopped making prison visits to him.”
I had to stop the video until I finished chuckling.
About most people being fucked up… even those that haven’t suffered commonly have issues that occasionally end up hurting people around them.
Occasionally, somebody proposes that something (religion, say, but that’s actually a bad example) should be considered a mental illness. The usual reaction is: “But that would make almost everyone mentally ill by definition!” My reaction is “yeah, so?”.
Went by nothing’s sacred for a while and then mostly disappeared.
Is the only person, IIRC, to have been both mollified and threatened with banning.
Oh yeah. He never forgave and never forgot. When he thought it was remotely relevant to his present disagreement with you, he’d bring up what you wrote last summer and hate you for it a lot. (Some people have that kind of memory and google-fu.)
Impressive battles with KG that featured this a lot, with KG maintaining TM had misunderstood him and had been being told so for years and TM just not yielding. I managed to stay out.
^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^
♥
“Happiness tea”: cocoa shells (50 %), rooibos (21 %), cinnamon (12 %), aniseed, licorice, vanilla pod (2 %). All of it organic.
The taste is one undivided smooth mouth-filling whole. I can tell the cocoa, but everything else just contributes somehow.
Who was the 2nd one again?
Thirded.
@Audley
I never read Atlas Shrugged. What does John Galt do?
What I just said about mental illness. All such people should IMNSHO seek therapy, assuming there is any.
Pharyngula has an IRC channel. I haven’t fired up the ol’ Icechat machine for a good long while now though. You hang around there at all?
Audley, true. I remember running into Ayn Rand while in college. I could not understand the appeal. While John Galt is more toxic, Holden Caufield is more popular.
I do not know how many people here read Anarchy: A Journal Of Desire Armed but the letter from the Objectivists were even more annoying then the letters from the pedophiles and the Bob Black sycophants.
David:
Yum. Thank you!
Walton.
Pharyngula’s IRC kinda has its own little group… last time I was in there, pre-FTB, most of them didn’t even know what was ON PZ’s blog. They were polite enough, though, and it’s easy to generate your own channels from there so as not to harsh their athy-mellow.
Portcullised… but my browser smiled on me (which may mean it frowned on y’all) and allowed me to rescue my
pearlswords:Esteleth:
Oh, I completely agree. I was relating how I dealt with our situation, and how we did as a family; if some third party had been scolding us for not being cheerful enough, I’d’a been pissed.
One of my favorite movie scenes to quote is one from Ordinary People, in which the Timothy Hutton character’s therapist is terribly concerned about how he’ll react to a friend’s suicide, and the kid says to the shrink, “Just let me feel bad about this.” I totally get the value of just feeling bad about something that’s genuinely sad… but I also know firsthand that sometimes there’s value in making a specific effort not to.
Daze:
Oh, dear, I fucked up. I absolutely know that clinical depression is a different animal, and that it’s offensive to suggest someone who’s depressed ought to just cheer up. I’m sorry that it sounded like that’s what I was saying.
Instead, I meant to be talking about the way people who aren’t suffering from depression respond to depressing (in the commonplace sense of the word) external stimuli… like a cancer diagnosis. Somebody (you? I can’t recall) linked to Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided, which I believe grew out of her own battle with cancer. I haven’t actually read the book, but I heard a number of interviews with Ehrenreich when it first came out, and I recall thinking as I listened to her that I agreed with virtually everything she was saying, but was concerned that people might take her argument to mean that every instance of trying to stay positive is just another manifestation of empty “positive thinking” culture.
In my case, though, it was an essential part of my coping strategy, and, I’m convinced, a key reason my family came through our ordeal more or less unscathed. My wife’s natural tendency is to obsess over everything she can think of that might go wrong (she doesn’t suffer from depression, but she does have a bit of OCD, which we’ve learned is a side-effect of a separate medical issue)… which is merely a source of some extra stress in normal life, but threatened to overwhelm her when “everything that might go wrong” became such a darkly terrifying list. Her obsessiveness probably helped ensure our daughter got the very best care, but my determination to stay positive — the fact that I, in effect, held my wife’s hand and leaned hard in the opposite direction from her — may have saved her sanity and our marriage.
Not without cost: To this day I’m convinced she remembers my relatively calm, unterrified approach as a sign I don’t love my daughter as much as I should… but that misperception, all told, is a small price to pay.
</tl;dr> </TMI>
Also, Pteryxx, as usual you make me blush.
Sometimes I feel like I’m too into my own shit, I’m always paranoid of expressing that typical aspie trait of being all obsessive about my own interests and all that.
but thanks :D
Funny, I never been on the IRC. At first, it was because my old computer was slow, buggy and prone to crashes.
The computer I have now could handle it but this site is enough of a time sink.
Who are the regulars there?
This take down of Hovind’s Young Earth Creationism is…
:removes sunglasses:
Unkind.
Sarcosapien, you forgot something.
Storms gone now. Gotta love the US Midwestern spring.
I’ll chime in to say I admire too many of the regular stalwarts here to name them all. You say the things I wish I could say in RL, or hell, even online. Well, I can *say* them, but all this “niceness” baggage from childhood makes it difficult. (My WIAAA was uncharacteristically fiery of me, believe me.)
Hopefully some day soon my fangs too will be nice and sniny. :-)
Janine: No one I recognize from the blog, though I’ve had a delightful conversation with Pteryxx there.
I’m in there right now. Everyone’s nice enough, but it’s kinda slow.
re regulars on the IRC: I didn’t recognize any of them, and they didn’t recognize *me*, but they’re some of the same names now that I saw a year-plus ago.
Also, me and TLC are in there checking it out, and their bot stabbed me in greeting just like last time. ^_^
I should be too embarrassed to link this. But I am not.
LDtR:
I expect you’ll be surprised by just how fast that happens. There’s a big difference between fighting a battle on your own and fighting a battle as part of The Horde™.
Fascinating clip… but is that really fare to Buster Keaton?
TLC: I’ve never actually figured out how to use IRC.
David Marjanovic:
Oh, wow. I can be that way sometimes. We must share a lot in common; might be interesting form here on in. :s
Poked my head in to look at the comments people might have had about the video, since I found it entertaining.
Didn’t expect Ayn Rand and John Galt to come up, but that was before I noticed this was the never-ending thread. I’ve been blogging bits and pieces of stuff about Ayn Rand since I see that kind of mentality in a lot of disturbing places. I might be riffing on Part 1 of Atlas Shrugged movie this week. Let me know just how horrible it’s going to be on my blog, if you’re interested. I might not check for replies within this thread, so I’ll let the usual business continue.
Ibyea,
Galt was a capitalist who got fed up and removed himself from the economy to prove how important he was*. Hence “going Galt”.
*Feel free to correct me here. I was supposed to read Atlas Shrugged in high school, but whoops! I knew shit when I saw it, even at 15.
LDtR:
Mine too. I hope the last few months of observation will prove to be useful.
Pterryx:
I don’t do the IRC here; other interests take up my time (i.e. FoldIt).
A.R: Go to mibbit.com. For the network, choose ‘Synirc’. The channel is #pharyngula.
From IRC just now:
<3
So, y'all get the idea. (hee!)
Janine: ^5
That’s teamwork!
Ha! One of the old timers, Bronze Dog, popped in after I was lamenting those who rarely show up anymore.
@sarcosapien
YYYEEEAAHHHH
^_^
Walton was the other person who was mollified and threatened with banning.
Pterryx (I should resist the urge to randomly abbreviate names):
I’m surprised there’s such a disconnect between the comments here and the IRC there. Someone needs to open the floodgates once in a while :)
LDtR & Thunk, you both missed the last troll invasion by mere days. However, TZT is the quarantine room for some them. The current incarnation is new, but much amusement can be had reading TZT 4.
Remember, pagination kicks in at #501.
Pteryxx, that reminds me of some of the conversations I have had in SL.
Caine:
No need to distract me further, I actually have work to do today. :p
I vaguely remember a summat or someone who had summat in their nym.
Caine: Summantusmentis? They’re in there right now.
I don’t even watch CSI:Miami, but the night that Jim Carrey did his impression of Caruso on Letterman absolutely cracked me up.
Janine – I was jumping up and down like horseshack on mr Kotter – I know what it’s going to be! I know I know! YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH – even pulled the niftyboy over to show him before I clicked.
Oh I am so uncool! :D
Boy needs a driving lesson – at least for THAT I am truly Cool™ with him and his brother – I am teaching them to drive on a stick! Later, Horde!!
I expect there is. And there’ll probably continue to be an endless supply of tasty, tasty cupcakes. :-)
Gotta leave soon; visiting brother-in-law (who is terminal).
snicker
TLC: OK, so I’m not seeing comments. Perhaps I’m just technically inept?
TLC, no, that nym isn’t familiar, just the ‘summat’ bit. I’ve never done PharynguIRC and seem to recall that the IRC was filled early on by people who didn’t care for Pharyngula Sciblogs.
thunk: *I* don’t mind what folks do with my nym, shorten it if you wish. That’s just me though; others consider it rude. Personally I rather like having a name that’s difficult to remember, spell or say. The variants and chromosomal aberrations amuse me. ~;>
Lies Down to Reason, the cupcakes here are not of the tasty variety.
A.R: Try posting /join #pharyngula ?
A.R: you might have to type /join #pharyngula to actually load the chatroom. (I’m not familiar with mibbit – also, some IRC servers block mibbit, FYI.)
Lies Down to Reason: Seconding Janine. That is, unless you happen to enjoy the taste of highly pure stupid.
LDtR:
Oh no. I’m so sorry, that’s a difficult situation for all involved.
Pteryxx and TLC: No effect. Perhaps I need a dedicated client?
@Janine and A.R.: OK, maybe not so tasty. Kinda like the ones my sister makes, then. :-P
Offline again for a while now.
Starting to get some serious impostor syndrome feelings when people I respect recommend stuff I’ve written. I know I can write contracts or deeds, respond when doing answers/interrogatories and stuff, but I really never figured blogging meant that people would care about what I’d written. Having a strange day as a result.
Janine:
Some of them are highly toxic, like Misogyniraj. Although I’ve reclassified him as a Pufftart.
Others, like Yec, can be somewhat tasty – the whole Star Trek, therefor God business was entertaining.
No one should ever spell Jody/Jodie thusly: Joady. It looks…unfortunate.
Caine, my grapes are now feeling very wraithy.
Of course we know it’s the end of the semester, PZ – that’s why some of us are on here procrastinating instead of doing school. :)
I just had a perfect nerd moment.
Child: “Mom, what’s Airplane! about?”
Me: “What? You’ve see that movie!”
Child: “No I haven’t.”
Me: *clears throat* “Surely, you can’t be serious.”
*I fall over laughing at myself*
… Just because it’s been years, I went and looked up John Galt’s speech. It’s almost 33,000 words.
Gah. Gordon Gekko’s was so much more succinct, and at least most people acknowledge he was a sociopath.
Janine:
Yeah, mine too.
A.R: If so, I recommend Icechat, it’s what I use.
A.R: Well, there’s a ton of free, good IRC clients out there. I’m using Pidgin atm; before that, Trillian.
Richard Austin –
If you are still soliciting opinions on the guest room bedroom, Mr. Beach and I have been having this same conversation over the past week. We have finally decided on a queen size bed. If you intend to have couples as guests, they will likely find a double too cramped.
alternately, make sure you’ve got the network and channel right. Also, many web clients use tabs, it took me a while to get used to it at first.
sheesh TLC, quit following me in advance of everything I’m going to say! >_>
Carlie, I am not sure if I should laugh or feel horrified.
Let us know when you let the child know that you speak jive.
You ever seen a grown man naked.
Slinks in shame.
OK, TLC what’s the server name? I’ve got Icechat downloaded.
ImaginesABeach:
Yeah, that’s something else I was considering. I don’t know that I’ll have many “couple” guests (I don’t know that I’ll have that many guests at all), unless Horde decide to start dropping by, but it’s probably better safe than sorry. Queen bed won out anyway.
A.R: irc.synirc.net
This should be interesting, David Barton will be on The Daily tonight.
A.R: Someone test accessed the IRC from mibbit, so it’s not *blocked* at least. (Not that I know how to help you there…)
I am The Typo Goddess!
Janine:
Oh my, wallbuilder general hisself. I’ll have to watch. If I can stomach it.
I am horrified that he’s gotten this far in life without watching it. We’re watching it now, and he’s been giggling ever since it started. Spouse walked by (right as the Captain was saying “ham on five and hold the mayo”) and said “I hate that movie”, which just made us laugh harder. :)
Oh. Was that when he was an annoying militarist libertarian, or was that when PZ almost screamed at him to stop apologizing already? :o)
…well, it worked the last time, so:
*hug*
*happiness tea*
:-D :-D :-D
QFT.
One decorating book I read said that if you can swing it, to do two twin beds in a bedroom. If there’s a couple they can move the beds close if they really can’t stand being apart, but then it also works for two unrelated/differently related people visiting.
hmm, my connection on IRC just went to shit.
SUCESS!
I have two air mattresses with cushions, and bedsheets for them.
Carlie, just make sure you keep the kid away from An American Carol.
The most hilarious Caruso sunglass scene is one where he puts them on just so that he can take them off coolly later: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d54Ok6Uz_A
WHAT?
THE?
FUCK?
David:
This one. PZ came close to banning him more than once, but people were having too much fun arguing with him.
@Richard Austin
Jesus Christ! John Galt’s speech is like an Hugo Chavez speech. He just goes on forever and forever, and I bet he doesn’t even drink the glass of water that is on his podium (like Chavez).
I am now picturing David Marjanović putting on and whipping off his sunglasses when he does his one liners.
@Janine
What happened?
…
That sounds amazingly practical, but I keep getting flashbacks to I Love Lucy and their separate beds.
You know what happened, ibyea. Caruso drives the SUV onto a beach, walks away and does not flinch when it blows up.
I bet that even in context, this is silly.
Richard:
It’s okay, people don’t have to keep one foot on the floor anymore. ;D
Blah.
Guess what Thursday is?
Go on. Guess.
What in seven hells is up with Diane Keaton?
She was practically pulling a Perry on Colbert. I mean, hand her a maple syrup, and the resemblance would have been perfect.
Caine:
Shh! We have minors present!
*looks around furtively*
Richard:
Ugh. On the bright side, the 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia.
Caine:
… and my brain automatically acronymed that to “IDAHo”…
I think it’s time to go home.
Richard:
They have to get their education somewhere!
@janine
Oh, I thought you read about Republicans sinking to a new low or something. ^_^
Yeah, as I said, I thought it was hilarious. The scene is so over the top that I don’t know how anyone can make that scene make any sense.
I am like this, only with Clue.
There’s a sale at Penny’s!
Makes just as much sense and is just as accurate.
Real long-timers might remember the ever-prickly Caledonian, who was almost Mollified, and then really banned.
YES.
“Is everything all right?” “Yep, two corpses, everything’s fine.”
Yowza, I hadn’t ever heard of that movie before. Glad I missed it!
…What’s creepy is that the minor(s) were ALWAYS here, just lurking. Luuuuuurrrrkiiiiiing.
It’s the National Day of Reason, of course.
@Pteryxx
I am scared, mommy. :(
I’m Down-Adrian Belew
While My Guitar Gently Weeps-Marc Ribot
Dear Prudence-Siouxsie And The Banshees
Got To Get You Into My Life-Earth, Wind And Fire
I know about Caledonian, but not first hand. I didn’t start lurking until ’08.
Richard:
Yeah? So what?
Thunk:
Oh, that sort of thing isn’t suitable for your tender years, ears and brain, yanno. ;p
We’re just joking, Thunk.
Caine:
Yes, of course. If I dare learn about the nasty before I spend 18 years alive, unspeakable horrors will happen. Kinda like OT3.
Caine:
I do know that; just playing along.
Dear Prudence is one of my favorite Beatles songs.
What can you make out of this?
I can make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl…
Thunk:
Or just like about every horror flick made from the late ’60s and on. Narsty kids, having sex! Why, they best be slaughtered!
Hi thunk!
*obligatory omfg there’s finally a commenter younger than me joke here*
=)
I know because I was there.
Now I’m going to go home and sleep with my wife.
Oh, let’s see, Reality Enforcer was 14 when she started commenting here (I’m not sure if she’s still 14 or is now 15) and Rip Steakface is now 16.
Better I’m Down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKSKiSqQjX4
Victoria-The Fall
Kid-The Pretenders
Oklahoma USA-Yo La Tengo
Fancy-Mekons
Yayayayyy, Older Kid has gotten to the point in his musical career where hearing him practice the trumpet mostly sounds like actual music. (And there was much rejoicing.)
Can bad things please stop happening to my foster animals? Lulu, the 8 year old chihuahua I took on as an emergency c-section almost a month ago has developed what is probably a mast cell tumor right between her vulva and anus. Not a good location for the wide margins needed for that type of cancer.
Not having a good week.
CM, second act Aerosmith? If you are going to toss that act at me, make sure it is from when the were A FUCKING ROCK BAND!
JAL:
Why hello there! *hugs and cookies* Nice to meet you, seriously. Jokes are fine too.
Caine:
Glad I’m not the only one. I really should have delurked some time ago, though.
Rowanvt:
Ouch, that’s horrid. Best wishes to Lulu and others.
Oh Rowan. I’m so very sorry.
Thunk:
It can be hard enough to delurk here (for some) and I think it’s particularly difficult for teens to join in a lot of sites because there are so many people with moronic ageist attitudes. Or, if you’re one of those insufferably smart snots (like I was), a lot of places are unpalatable because of the idiot/immaturity level.
I’m the butler. I like to keep the kitchen tidy.
rowanvt: Are there any treatment options available? My King Charles had a similar tumor a few years ago, though his was just under the skin on his back.
Caine:
I see your point, however, that hasn’t been a problem on foldit (the only place i’ve ever delurked). More of a real life thing.
Yes; most of my hall fits that definition. And, looking back, most schools I’ve been in.
@A.R-
She’s getting it removed as best we can, and then sending out the mass as a biopsy for proper confirmation. Because of location, and financial constraints on my part, if the margins are ‘dirty’… well… prednisone, and hoping. :/
It really is a *bad* location. It’s basically right atop the upper section of her vulva, and being a chihuahua, only an inch or so from her anus. Go too far in either direction with the margins and all sorts of badnesses can happen.
And monkey’s brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine*, are not often to be found in Washington D.C.
*Not actually, apparently?
Well, damn. I didn’t know that at all. It’s what I get for never being able to keep up with the endless thread.
I Can See For Miles-Tina Turner
My Generation-The Patti Smith Group
So Sad About Us-The Breeders
Substitute-Richard Thompson
Thunk:
I had that problem too. One of the reasons I started college classes at 16 and graduated at 17. Gad, I couldn’t wait to get out.
J_A_L:
Reality Enforcer is one of Mattir’s sprogs.
I’m so sorry about Lulu. =(
Poor doggy. Pets getting sick just breaks my heart. My best friend and only defender growing up was a Chocolate Lab. I have a big ol’ soft spot for pets.
Is it weird that I can cry over/for animals but not myself?
JAL:
’tis my sin too.
Caine:
I wish that would happen. I feel i’m kinda stuck here for the next 2 (and a bit) years till I go to college. Whatever, it’s better than going to old, regular public school.
Can we still talk about morning wood?
Bill, yep, it was me who linked to Ehrenreich. You have to understand that American culture is relentless in pushing “positive thinking” in people’s faces. Pushing back against that isn’t going to make everybody into a Debbie Downer. I would be more comfortable with describing your coping strategy as, well, just that.
LDtR, I’m sorry about your brother-in-law.
Well, Carlie, I guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue!
Also, in re moving twin beds together… just make sure they can’t slide apart accidentally due to, uh, vigorous motion. Kind of puts a damper on sexytiemz when one person winds up on the floor accidentally, especially if they’re not young and hale anymore.
Rey Fox:
I LOL’ed.
Also, yeah, Caledonian. “Prickly” is… a mild term for him.
Rowan, I’m really sorry.
Richard Thompson’s Who Medley
To be fair, even as adults, a lot of places are unpalatable because of the idiot/immaturity level. TET is more than a bit of a respite from that.
I’m sorry; I should know better. It’s just …
No problems CM, I am playing a game without explaining the rules to others.
Yes. To be fair, most of my wingmates are frankly disturbing. The amount of misogyny honestly scares me, and I don’t really know what to do. I’ve kinda given up hope by this point *sigh*.
Jeeze. Many of you have insanely good memories for what goes on here…I been here since aught eight, I think, but I don’t remember lots of this.
Truth Machine, I remember, though.
AE:
I really don’t either… at least only a passing familiarity with the goings-on here.
Richard:
That’s very true.
It can be really bad and isolating when you’re a kid, though. When I was 9.5, A. decided to try tossing me at a psychiatrist again, but it didn’t work (again), so she went for group therapy. I ended up being put in with the 13 to 15 year olds, as I had nothing in common with those my age. The smarter you are, the worse it is.
Mannequin-fIREHOSE
Heartbeat-Big Black
Ex-Lion Tamer-Henrietta Collins And The Wifebeating Childhaters
Strange-REM
rowanvt: Oh, not good at all. You have my sympathies, and tweedy hugs if needed.
Is that what we ate? ERP!
Oh, Caine, I know. I’ve never really associated with teenagers, and even with most adults. I was online and chatting at 13.
It’s worse as a minor because you aren’t given the options for escape that adults usually are. But even as adults it’s not wonderful.
Bleh.
Must meet with Boss and Boss’s Boss tomorrow to talk about the Big Mucking Project.
Have brout the lappy home to finish up the presentation.
Morgan keeps trying to “help” me type.
___
Caine, previous thread:
Thanks for the best wishes, but I’m not going to pass them on – she’s someone who describes herself as anti-atheist. Rather vehemently so. I have hope for her, but 50-odd years of misprogramming cannot be overcome quickly.
___
The “be cheerful or else” dynamic is horrid. There are few things about contemporary American culture that I despise more.
(Janine, did you notice the link in the ellipsis?)
Somewhat related:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2012/apr/29/rock-stars-at-school-in-pictures
(Who is this “50 Cent” of whom they speak?)
Thunk:
That’s one thing you can’t do. Seriously. Go with whatever way works best for you, snark, sarcasm, humour, anger, whatever, but don’t let shit slide. Say something. It does more good than you know.
Caine, would it surprise you that all through my elementary, middle school and high school years, I kept seeing school councilors. And I went to about a dozen different schools.
The initial draw for me, I’ll admit, is that I learn a lot from arguing. When I was a grad student, there were lots of other sharp grad students to argue with. When I got a job, my colleagues were not nearly as interested in having discussions that centered around disagreement…I like my colleagues, but you should see them scramble for common ground. No one wants to be exposed has ever having been wrong.
Anyway, none of that happening here. If I’m wrong here, I’ll find that out. Sometimes with extreme prejudice.
I remember one of the first heated exchanges I ever had here was with SC, who kicked my ass all over the place. I love her for that.
Caine:
Okay… I will stop doing that. *logs*
Janine, nope, wouldn’t surprise me at all. I imagine the number of very intelligent, mature, bored to death kids stuck in mind-numbingly awful schools is fairly large.
Thunk, it’s a combination of male privilege and youth. Yes, I know, “ageism,” blah blah blah. Honestly, at the age of 15, people have a ways to go in terms of full brain development, and of course there’s a lack of life experience, exacerbated among certain socioeconomic classes in the U.S. by overly protective parents.
Many people remain stupid and ignorant throughout their lives, sure, but you’ll see the worst of it among your peers abate slowly and steadily as you get older, with a marked improvement after age 25. In the meantime, just hang tight and try to challenge their lousy ideas when you don’t think the risk to you will be intolerable.
He! Was! Shot! Nine! Times!
AE: Agreed. Even when the arguments get heated, you can still learn stuff. It’s quite the opposite of troll battling, in which one must jackhammer the same old facts through skulls composed of several miles of concrete.
AE:
That was the draw for me too. In 2010, I was a long-time reader of Bad Astronomy, but I didn’t like it; not enough arguing. I started looking for other things, and found Pharyngula. The love was immediate. 18 months and a site change later, I’m finally participating.
Admittedly, it took attending FTF in order to get me the shove needed to do so. But I’m here! And part of the vitriol!
Ms. Daisy Cutter:
Yeah, I understand that. But yeah, I’ll challenge that every chance I get. Hopefully, they might learn a thing or two ;)
Sorry, by “that”, I meant the fact that they are sex-crazed male adolescents– young and privileged.
Do NOT let him take you to any candy shops.
Actually, Caine, except for the teasing, I loved school. At least until I got somewhere in my sophomore or junior year. What was funny that during my senior year, I was an English aid and was able to snark with most of the teachers. Because it was during first period, it gave me a place to hide from pep rallies and school functions.
I hope I’m not coming off as condescending, btw, Thunk. I’m trying to be reassuring, even if I’m making a botch of it. Most of us were stuck in that same kind of position for most or all of our teen years. “It gets better” is kind of facile, because that depends on a lot of things, but the world does tend to open up in various ways once you’re of age.
Oops, looks like we cross-posted. :)
Thunk, if you need practice chewing on misogynistic crap, read, then chew on mikmik, TZT4 and TZT5. Ctrl + f brings up the search bar, so you can scroll his posts.
What I hated were the adults who told me that when I got older, I would see my high school years as the best years of my live.
Thirty years after the fact, I actually hate that even more.
Caine: I’ll look into that, thanks. :)
Janine:
Ah, I just cut to avoid that shit. I wasn’t actually at my HS very much. Of course, I went during a time it was easy enough to do that sort of thing.
Saddleback (yes, really) was seriously overcrowded and good teachers were thin on the ground. I only showed up to class for certain teachers.
The worst part of the misogyny happened earlier in the year. When doing a sister wing activity, my wing decided to sing this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfeys7Jfnx8
Of course, it didn’t go over to well with the RCs (thankfully), and it’s one less Bad Thing. They tried to claim it was a parody, of course.
P.S. How does one embed links into text?
Also, good stuff on the sexism education front, for anyone who needs it:
Excellent explanation of privilege
https://sindeloke.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/37/
Explainer: What’s an MRA?
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/10/explainer-whats-mra.html
Nice Guy™ 101.
http://synecdochic.livejournal.com/214607.html
Schroedinger’s Rapist.
http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-schrodinger%E2%80%99s-rapist-or-a-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-approaching-strange-women-without-being-maced/
Predator Redux
https://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/predator-redux/
Things Happen to Men Too
http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/phmt-argument/
I was a “good” kid, honors classes and NHS. I was not about to cut, just find ways to get around the rules. I still ended up getting in school suspension once a year.
A couple more:
The Male Privilege Checklist
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/the-male-privilege-checklist/
http://genderbitch.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/intent-its-fucking-magic/
I just felt compelled to link a friend to Cyriak’s “Meow Mix.” I’m sure he’s seen it before, but it’s fun to inflict on people.
My cat hates it. This is apparently a common feline reaction. She didn’t run behind the computer to see where the satanic kittehz were, though. She just made a “WTF is this shit?” mrrph and left the room.
Janine:
I was an A student, I just didn’t care for school.
I have been yell at mikmik the last few days. It provokes long and meandering responses from him.
@Janine
Or every other idiots who kept saying how great high school was. I know I just insulted some of my friends, but seriously? I look back, and I still hate high school.
Janine:
Oh, I know. The reaction has been most interesting to read. It seems to provoke him more than anything else. Apparently, he seems to feel his intent is magic.
Another thing I hated about high school: Two stupid years of elementary algebra/geometry. I felt like I was taking the same class two years in a row. I never felt like I advanced to the next level.
Eventually, when I got fed up and decided to self teach calculus, I got really mad. Seriously? Calculus is so hard that it had to be put in the last year of school? No, it wasn’t that hard (not until later integrals). Worst of all, I had to take precalculus in my last year, thereby really slowing down my math education.
At the high school I attended, calculus was not offered. At all.
High school-level physics was.
Chew on that impossibility for a second.
thunk,
Thus: <a href=”hyperlink”>text</a>
—
For example, I can link to your comment by substituting:
<a href=”#comment-324779″>Ye Link to Ye Comment</a>
→
Ye Link to Ye Comment
I was one of two juniors (11th grade) they let into AP Calculus. We had to fight to get let into the class (they didn’t even let most seniors in). Part of it was taking the final for pre-calc “cold” during a normal school period; I think I got 90%ish on it. So, they grudgingly let us in.
Both of us scored the highest possible grade on the AP test, and no one else did.
The next year, they started letting more juniors in.
I swear, I’ll never figure out how school administrations decide that someone obviously can’t do some learning task because xe is a year younger than someone else.
Mikmik is still going? Oy vey. I don’t begrudge any of you the snininess of your fangs.
***
So I hadn’t been to LuridDigs.com in quite a while. It’s snark about cheesy interior décor in amateur gay porn, so the entire site is NSFW.
I thought this one was kind of apropos for May Day. “I take off my wizard robe and hat. And pants.”
LOL:
Richard:
Me neither. The reason I couldn’t get out until I was 17 was because there were two classes you weren’t allowed to take until your senior year. Complete idiocy.
BRB, going to Richard’s.
:p
Had dinner with Josh* (which was lovely!), but I couldn’t give him all of the smooches because he has a cold. :(
*We ended up at a brand new Italian restaurant not far from my apartment. Besides being slightly gimmicky (the wait-staff carries iPads, really?), it was rather nice. The eggplant was cooked perfectly, at least.
Audley:
Nice dinner, hope you enjoyed it. I’m just talking to (reasonable) classmates and preparing to go get some bread.
Bah, you’re sleeping on the floor for now :P
A friend of mine owns a brewpub up in Sebastapol, and he uses iPads for his POS system. Not really that gimmicky nowadays – it’s a lot faster than hand-written order tickets.
Glad you had a good time, Audley. Poor Josh, having a cold. iPads for restaurant work? Yeah, I doubt that’s gonna work out.
The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the red zone.
–
Sorry to hear about your chihuahua, rowanvt. *chocolate*?
–
Oh, yes; “best years of my life”, ho ho ho! If I’d had the nerve to find out who was dealing, I wouldn’t have been here posting to y’all, now.
The move from SoCal to Bumfuk, OK was not a success, for me; not socially, and not educationally.
–
Been there, chewed that.
–
@Richard Austin
And the thing is, calculus is even easier than precalc!
ibyea:
Hm.
(It’s fun until you hit indefinite integrals not amenable to the common techniques (by parts, chain rule etc.)
Partial differential equations of degree > 1 can also be bloody hard)
LDtR, *hugs* What a difficult situation for everyone.
rowanvt, that’s heartbreaking. Poor Lulu. *hugs*
Now I’m teary. I find it so much easier to cry about other people or animals than I do for myself.
Antiochus Epiphanes:
Once exposed to Truth Machine, I think it is nearly impossible to forget him.
Janine:
This. I hated this so much. If it were true, your life would be over before it had barely begun.
Menyambal #7
Fish, recumbent.
thunk:
Thanks! It was delish! *burp!*
Richard:
Oh, it has its advantages, sure– once the server took your order, it is sent to the kitchen, which is going to reduce wait and probably going to reduce incorrect orders.
It’s just that 1) restaurants are messy places (and that’s an expensive piece of equipment to ruin) and 2) I know things are still new, but the staff was fumbling at the iPads a bit. From where I was sitting, it seemed like the app they were using was “clunky”, if that makes any sense.
Caine:
A cold and several hours of driving ahead. Poor guy.
I guess we’ll see how the iPads work out, but regardless, I’ll go back to that place, ‘cos the food was pretty damned tasty. I ate a couple of the fried calamari and MMMMMmmm MMMM! :)
F, fish, flying.
@John Morales
I was talking about introductory calculus. I know advanced integration and certain kinds of differential equations can be a nightmare to solve. Also, multivariable calculus is abstract enough that one is left confused for a moment.
My absolute favourite Hovind is the stuffed pumpkins.
Who was stuffing the pumpkins? And what were they stuffing them with?
“POS system”: I like the ambiguity.
ibyea, fair enough. :)
(I remember being pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of the derivation of the MacLaurin series)
“Point of Sale”, John. The register(s), in other words.
(Or for the retail employees out there: “piece of shit” ‘cos registers always and without fail break down during the busiest part of the day/week/month whatever.)
Dr. Audley Z., you weren’t really addressing me, were you? ;)
Possibly, John. I am tired and full of eggplant. :)
Anyway, there’s a new Dark Knight Rises trailer out, if anyone else is into that kind of thing.
I have a quandary. There is an author who has written some books that I am seriously in love with.
She’s also written some books that I think are good, but not as good as some others.
She’s also written a book full of nonsense that just bored me and actually offended me in parts.
Her next book drops next month. I don’t know if I want to read it. Meh.
I kinda wish I could pretend that she stopped writing five years ago.
@212: Want to name names?
If the books seem to be consistently dropping in quality over time, it’s probably not worth getting the new book. If there’s some variability over time, might be worth taking a look. Check it out from the library and only buy it if you like it enough to want it around?
High school as the best years of one’s life: BS. Cubed. Maybe for some they’re the best years evar evar!!!, but that’s kind of sad. I mean, say you do all sorts of amazing stuff as an adult, but they still pale in comparison to high school? Yipes.
My favorite place to hide after classes was the library. besides getting homework started, they had lots of issues of National Geographic. I liked those so much, the librarian offered to give me the extras they. I still ahve that box somewhere. Probably one of the best days in high school for me.
Dianne,
It is Lynn Flewelling. Not sure if you’ve ever heard of her.
I think her biggest problem is that she constructed this huge (and well-constructed) world and a decent character to run around in it, but after tying up a rather tight duology and then a followup sequel that decently addresses the aftereffects of the events of the first two books, she rather ran into a wall. There was no obvious next step.
So she went back in time (in-universe) to expand on a story that had been hinted at. This produced an amazing trilogy.
Then she went back to the original setting and the original character. She invented a new adventure and it is not so hot, but was okay. It fits, it expands on some themes, it ties up a thread that wasn’t fully finished. Then came that book’s sequel, which was pure schlock. Oh, and it took a veer into left field with what I can really only describe as racist nonsense. And suddenly a professional-soldier-type character who is all about Honor™ is now a paranoid, backstabby, narrow-minded asshole. Who possibly practices incest with her twin brother. Said twin brother is depicted as a Totes Awesome guy.
I have a feeling for what’s going to happen in the next book (based on foreshadowing) and I don’t really like it.
@Esteleth
By chance, does the name of the author become larger than the title of the book in the later years? :)
Ibeya,
No. The stylings on the covers has remained roughly constant. A single person, doing something plot-relevant with a plot-relevant backdrop (usually the exact scene depicted happens in the book), with the title and the author’s name. Sometimes a small-font blurb. The font sizes hasn’t changed over time.
@Esteleth
Dang it. I was hoping for my prediction to be true. :) I heard that authors that become big names eventually have the font of the author’s name be larger than the actual title of the book, by which then the quality has already dropped.
Esteleth:
I can’t help you there, don’t read books much.
But what dianne said, take it from the library; if you like it, buy it. If you don’t, that’s fine as well.
er… borrow. I can’t quite express my ideas today. :/
Ibeya, that does happen, but this author is hardly big-name. High fantasy featuring female protagonists, non-gimmicky portrayals of female sexuality, non-gimmicky LGBT characters who do stuff other than have sex and who have sex in a non-gimmicky fashion, and, well, trans characters at all rarely becomes famous. The POV character of the amazing trilogy is trans and raised mostly by her (probably bi) father’s former (male) lover. And it works.
That explains a lot about The Body Farm.
I thought Atlas Shrugged was totally unrealistic because of evil characters who said things like, “We define reality–our wishes are more important than your facts.” So it’s downright scary to see Republicans saying the same kind of thing about, say, climate change.
Totally a day late and a dollar short (story of my life).
Janine @1 (I love you, Janine–not more than my gf, but a deeply close second) — I never liked “The Catcher in the Rye” but I LOVE “Franny and Zooey” and “Nine Stories”. “Nine Stories” especially. It never ceases to make me cry and I have purchased twelve copies of it in my life time because my students always steal that book.
I’m crashing in, again, but I have such crappy internet connections always. I apologize. I read and can’t respond and when I can, finally, I’m late.
My cat died today. OUR cat died today. He was born with unwieldy canines and could never eat properly. He tried to wolf down as much as possible but he couldn’t possibly chew it (picture a Sabre Cat Siamese–he had huge fangs) so we often had to take him to the vet for intravenous food. Poor guy. Inbreeding gone wrong. He lived, remarkably, until he was ten years old. And he had no bowel control and half a tail. (His previous owners were not good pet owners.)
Anyway, thanks again for keeping me fulfilled with interesting English conversation when I’m never in English-speaking countries (I’m now in Nicaragua). You have no idea how much it means to me to have YOU, all of you, to read (whether I agree with you or not, I don’t care–you’re intelligent and speak English).
My family calls me an “angry dyke”. You get the picture.
High School: Hated it. Way too boring. I only made it through thanks to my biology teacher. (It should tell curriculum developers something when an A/B student becomes a 3.8 college student PIing two large research projects in two and a half years)
Krasnaya Koshka:
Hello there. Sympathies for the death of your cat. But nice to meet you ;) Have some cookies.
Thank you, thunk. Nice to meet you, too.
Krasnaya Koshka, I’m so sorry about your cat. *hugs* or *chocolate* or *both* My treat.
scifi’s back on TZT if anyone is interested.
thunk: Give scifi a go, xe’s an accommodationist-ish agnostic who thinks god might really exist. Bad logic and stupid arguments abound. Really a perfect first chewtoy.
Okay, AR. *snines teeth*
@AR
Worst part about high school: not being able to go to the bathroom when you felt like it. Do you know how many times my intestines felt like exploding because of that policy?
ibyea: It was always my bladder!
Err, maybe the above sentence from me was too much detail.
@229 Hekuni Cat — I’ll take both. My gf is wrecked today. *I*’m the one with the stiff upper lip. Unusual for our relationship.
Re: High school. I loved high school. It got me out of my house. I played endless sports, was in endless language clubs to get out of my house. But I had (mostly) great teachers.
Unfortunately, I was an eldest child so I had to have a job to pay for our utilities. Fortunately, our parents dumped us when I was 16. Unfortunately, they came back when I was 17. Fortunately, I moved out at 17. Unfortunately, I left my siblings behind.
Krasnaya Koshka, my condolences. {hugses to you and gf}
Caine, спасибо вам. Thank you.
He was such a beautiful cat .
Krasnaya,
Oh, shitty. Hugs if you want ’em.
___
I have had perhaps twelve months in my life that I didn’t enjoy at the time, most of them were in the past year. High school though, that’s just too long past to even consider as my best time, that person was worlds different. I can’t imagine spending my life wishing I could still be who I was at sixteen.
Dhorvath, thank you, I’ll take them.
Krasnaya Koshka:
Oh my, yes, he was indeed. Such beautiful eyes. I completely lost it when my Siamese cat died when he was only 5 years old. It’s very hard to deal with. I’m so glad he had you and gf, though. At least he knew good people in his life.
Krasnaya Koshka
*hugs* for you and gf.
beautiful cat, beautiful photo
Krasnaya Koshka:
Absolutely beautiful. In 2006, I lost both of my cats within six months of each other. They were both 18 years old and had been with me all that time. I took their loss really hard. I miss them so much. Thinking about them makes me smile or get teary, frequently both at the same time.
Caine, yes! His eyes! His deep blue eyes. Plus, the minute I came home he would run to my left side (I’m right-handed and he knew I’d need my right for the computer–Siamese are very smart) and he’d adore me.
Your Siamese was only five? I’m so sorry. Siamese have such great personalities.
Farewell, I retire for the night.
Hekuni Cat,
EIGHTEEN years! Of course you took it hard! But EIGHTEEN years! You had magic luck with your cats, I think. That’s beautiful.
Krasnaya Koshka:
He was a week away from his 5th birthday. Siamese are just brilliant.
http://moblog.net/view/183679/in-memoriam
The only toilet-trained cat I ever knew personally was a siamese.
He was self-taught.
He lived close to 20 years and never learned to flush.
(not my cat, juat a close friend)
I was wondering what happened to you, Krasnaya Koshka.
At least your cat got ten years despite his disability, my condolences.
I just got done reading The Man Without A Face: The Unlikely Rise Of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen. Have you heard of it? If so, what do you think?
For now, all I will say is that it is a very unflattering portrait.
Caine, my gf often rescues inbred cats who cannot make it without extensive vet care. I’m totally against inbreeding. I want a normal cat, and there are many for the picking on the winter streets of Russia. (If you were NOT being snarky with your “Just brilliant” quip, I apologize.)
Janine, there are many unflattering books about Putin. Do I care? No, I don’t. I care about not being called out as a lesbian so I can live in Russia, thank you very much. So I will never denounce Putin. Am I crazy? No. I love my gf.
Do you/ can you publicly denounce Obama? Color you lucky.
I understand. I have read about the crackdowns in St Petersburg and the laws making it illegal to spread pro LGBT propaganda in Russia.
As much as I fear the insanity that is much of politics in the US, I also know it can be worse elsewhere.
Janine @250 But you must know this is a huge joke. In Russia, it’s a joke. Like parking illegally is a joke. Everyone does it. There are not enough militzia in Russia to cover it.
There was a case recently. But it was one dude and his friend who arrested him. It was a joke.
People outside Russia never get that it’s a joke.
I can send you endless parking violations in Russia and endless gay bar violations.
My sweet, I go to gay bars every weekend in Russia. And they are hopping. Only lesbians. So nice. So much better than San Francisco.
Krasnaya Koshka
I will guess that Caine was completely sincere about siamese cats being “brilliant”.
“Brilliant” meaning a dictionary definition: “intelligent”.
Not current juvenile slang.
I cannot say that I know what it is like in Russia. But speaking as an outsider, it sounds like a strange shadow existence. The government and the church makes a big show of how it is combating the threat that is homosexuality. Yet it seems that some people are open about their sexuality. (The person who wrote the book I mentioned is a lesbian, it was very casual how she let that be known in her book.)
I guess I am saying that I would have fear of being the recipient of token punishment. Though from what I understand, this has been a typical fear in Russia for a very long time.
I had a friend who spent a lot of time in Russia. Anything she came back to the US, it always took her some time to mentally get back to here. She had to work to move from Russian mode to American mode. I suppose it was the same whenever she went back to Moscow.
Of course, I could be completely wrong in how I am seeing this.
chigau (副) @252 –
Okay, for that I am terribly sorry. But I’m getting a lot of shit from my gf and I have no one to talk to in English and I’m becoming defensive.
“Just Brilliant” is what I hear from my Scottish students as meaning “crappy”, btw.
I never speak English anymore. I only get to speak Russian. Or some off shoot of American English.
This is why I need Pharyngula. I need “smart” talk in English.
@253 – Janine
In my experience:
Lesbians in America have crappy little holes where they have (sometimes) great music and they maybe drink and they dance and they meet people.
Lesbians in Russia have crappy little holes where they have (sometimes) great music and they maybe drink and they dance and they meet people.
I have been an out lesbian for 30 years. I lived in San Francisco for 22 years. It is no different here nor there. EXCEPT the music is better here.
AND I’ve lived in Russia for three years.
Krasnaya Koshka #254
I am a native English speaker and I cannot keep up with current slang.
There is also the problem that when someone in the real world says “just brilliant” you can see their face and understand when they mean “crap”.
Words-on-a-screen is much more difficult.
Not really a club hopper, I am too asocial. I prefer to be able to talk to the people I am with.
Janine, I would LOVE not to be a club hopper (hi, that was in my past) but that’s the biggest part of my job, so I have to.
Got to make a living. Sometimes you have to do shit you hate.
Good morning
NEED SLEEP
Little one is a bit sick and woke up about every hour tonight and crawled into my bed at about 4 am.
She seems very rested this morning….
David M.
Hehe, I know that, it’s one of our favourites, too. Thanx for reminding me to pick up some today :)
Krasnaya Koshka
I’m sorry about your cat
++++
Talking about pets, I need to build rabit Alcatraz. We have something like this (the first one), only much bigger and with something similar to a cat-balcony net on top, which we just pulled over the metal. That worked for one season. Now Pünktchen has found out that if he jumps against it often enough it will come off the metal and he can escape. The main problem with that is the 4 huskies our neighbours keep. There’s a fence that safely prevents the huskies from entering my parent’s garden, but I’m not sure that it works the other way, too.
Also, they need to have their claws cut…
For the “Creepy, in retrospect” files: Gary Glitter’s anthemic hit (1973).
Janine, okay, I get you.
As I’ve said, I’m now in Nicaragua, I’m helping in my small way.
This is the best sex song
ever
Krasnaya: :|
“An error occurred during validation.
Sorry about that.”
@David Marjanović #321
You’re taller prone than supine?
@ Bro Og, hope the uni jazz band gig is/was (timezones?) great. Preferably with strumpet solo, mm hm ::nods emphatically::
@ kristinc # 127
fsm yes but that’s a great moment, isn’t it!
rowanvt :((((((( I’m sorry. Also for Krasnaya Koshka and gf. Hurts so much when they have health problems and sometimes you can’t help them (always reminds me of First Dog :( )
Morning All,
1) ‘Rupt. Cheers and commiserations to all as appropriate. Bacon covered chocolate with whisk(e)y available on request. USB hugs free. Orgies ongoing.
2) I saw this PET thing mentioned a while back in reference to some sort of Pharyngula social malarky. What is it? Can I get one? Does it require walks and regular coat brushings?
3) There is no thing 3.
4) I was naughty on Saturday. It is now Wednesday and now I feel “normal” (i.e. healthy and happy). Sunday was abysmal. Monday I was still recovering. Tuesday was poor, but then Tuesdays are always awful. Today I feel like a human being. In fact, I’ll have two. They’re good basted and slowly smoked I find.
5) I see lists of people’s most inspirational and favourite Pharyngulites have been made.
This is unacceptable.
I am everyone’s most inspirational and favourite Pharyngulite. There can be no dissent. There can be no others. Opposition will not be tolerated. Heretics will be crushed. I know this to be true Herr Doktor Uberlawd PZ Meeeyyersh (note correct spelling) Teh Poopyhead™ told me this is true. Even, and I want to make this absolutely clear, if he didn’t. I chose to believe it is true and therefore by Quantum Mechanics, it is. I also have a degree in Scientism so you know what I am saying is true.
6) David Marjanojjfheywjhgfech is better at these long varied posts than I am.
7) Cocaine: quite moreish.
8) Health kicks are hard and my brain is an evil treacherous organ that is just trying to fool me into consuming my body weight in bacon. Although I did do 2 good hours in the gym before work today and thus by Moral Right, if not by dietary correctness, this means I should be allowed to swim open mouthed through a pool of gravy and bacon cheeseburgers. Just because. Okay?
9) 9 is three squared. You’re not getting me that easily.
Louis
I’m really, really at the end of my strength by now.
The little one’s got the scarlet fever. Again.
By virtue of experience and indicated by an already sore throat I can predict that the next two days will be filled with a repeated trip to the ped with #1 and a trip to my GP.
Yes, I know, I’m mightily privileged, I only whine about the actual sickness and not the debt it pushes us into, but yes, fuck that shit I’ve been sick ever since November and I’m running out of reserves quickly.
Louis
Nonsense. Squares have 4 corners, therefore three squared would be twelve.
Gilliel,
Nasty. I’m sorry to hear about your sickness and spawn sickness. Sick kids = not good, especially when you are not at your peak.
Would this naked lesbian masturbating with a chocolate covered bacon wrapped bible help? {Opens USB transmattermitter} You never know, she might be a nurse, I never asked.
As for Squaring Numbers, PAH! Squares are 2 dimensional, therefore if you square a number you times it by two then add four (number of sides), take away the number you were originally thinking of and add 2 again. Hence three squared is 9. Simple.
But then, as noted above, I am an Official Government Approved Scientismist with a Certificate of Advanced Scientism and Hard Sums. So I would expect everyone to be able to follow my logic.
And my mummy says I’m special. So there.
Louis
Louis,
PET is the facebook “arm” of TET. If you’re on the fb and you want to join, shoot me an email ourdeadselves (at) gmail.
FACEBOOK!
{Faints with shock}
But Facebook is EVIL!! I shall give it much consideration. Thanks oh Darkest of Hearts. How goes the pregnancy?
Louis
Louis,
All goes well. I’m healthy, DarkFetus is right in the normal range for everything that my doctor has tested for, and I think I’m over the morning sickness.
I did have to buy new shirts, though.
Facebook is fun and quite useful if you are reasonably careful. Make a fake name if you like. I also use one browser for Facebook, and another one for everything else.
Meanwhile, my conference is going well but my hotel is weird. The lifts have been out of order for days and now the cleaners seem to have stolen my pharyngula t-shirt. WTF?
Lawls at Red Meat.
Tho’ no, licking a toad isn’t something I think I’d put at the top of my own bucket list, exactly…
(/But hey. Whatever gets you through the night.)
Good morning. Happy Monday.
Have I mentioned recently that I fucking hate dreams with a purple passion?
The concert last night was fun. Weird, but fun.
One of the songs they did in the second half of the concert was one in which he handed out the music that evening. Only the vocalists had been rehersing. Made for a delightfully strange concert.
Yeah. They should stick to porcupines. Dead and rotting ones.
Has a temper tantrum because he pays too much for roads, schools, safe food, safe water, safe etc. So he quit.
That book is, even without the idiotic ideas, damn near unreadable.
And was still hailed as a hero by the greedy rich.
Damn you to the seventh layer of pluperfect hells. Now I picture him staring at a an exposed fossil, in situ, whipping off his sunglasses, and saying, “That’s not just an amphibian, that’s is the oldest anuran ever discovered!”
My Tuesday?
BTW, happy Monday to all.
Not nearly as many as we used to have. Between union busting tactics and massive mechanization, the same amount of coal can be mined today with about 2% of the miners.
I was stupid enough to get myself mixed up in one of those Trollodon survivor episodes. That really doesn’t count, though. I just came close to baning myself.
=
Welcome to the party, Thunk.
=
But will there be a strumpet solo?
One thing that helped Girl progress quickly was when I pointed out to here that there are more mouthpiece sizes than just a 7C. Through middle and high school, depending on the piece of music and the venue, I used a 1 1/4C, a 3, a 3C, and a 14A4a (for jazz). Each one used different parts of my
embouch ambushe embuchmouth and helped my range and intonation immensely.They say that if you’re not careful, you learn something new every day. See, right there I wasn’t careful.
Not to mention the stupid touch screens which, after a few months, develop double tap syndrome.
Only for people who cease to learn anything new, cease to mature, cease to change. George W., for example.
I hated high school. And, just to reinforce the hate, I failed my sophomore year so I got to spend five years there.
The GOP has always been good a doubling down using the same tactics as their ‘opponents.’ Look at Faux News and Pravda.
=
Krasnaya and rowenvt:
You have my sympathy.
First half of the concert was 1940s to 1970s big band. Second half was strange. Girl had a couple of short solos. Fun time, good music.
Ahem. Citation, please.
Look at the bright side — you’ll be pregnant through the summer, so you only have to get some light shirts. If you were pregnant during the winter, you’d also need knew sweaters and jackets.
I really hope you have air conditioning for the summer.
I impress myself. Six spacedowns and no borkquotes or homages to Tpyos. :?
I just got done with my overnight data entry shift.
I seriously considered making a deliberate error for the “T R U M P payroll” account.
Heh.
But I didn’t. Oh well.
I really should go to sleep.
Just drop the ‘T’.
Doesn’t even work that way, Oggie. Codes only. Full names unnecessary.
But I could have increased their already substantial contribution to the NYC transportation tax fund.
Oggie,
It’s been pretty cool lately, but thankfully all of my sweatshirts still fit*. :)
I have reliable A/C at work, thank goodness. At home, though? Just a couple of window units, which barely do anything in the living room/kitchen area.
What I’m thinking of doing is moving the teevee, Xbox, computers, etc upstairs into my bedroom (which I can keep relatively cool) and just living in there this summer.
*Nerds! I’m wearing my N7 hoodie today. Feel free to address me as Commander Shepard. :p
As long as it is near the bathroom so when the Darkfoetus learns how to bladder stomp you won’t have far to go.
opposablethumbs,
I may not be taller, but I do take up a different amount of bed on my front versus my back. Back I am heel to head, front I am extended toe to elbow overhead. So David’s comment made perfect sense to me.
Oggie,
Darkfetus has already learned the bladder stomp, it’s just not heavy enough to feel yet*. And, yeah, I’ll be right near a bathroom. ;)
*When I had my last ultrasound, Darkfetus was fucking tapdancing on my bladder. The tech thought that was awesomely funny.
Well, I’m back for about an hour before I have to go see people and do things (or is it the other way around?).
BIL was a bit dopey but otherwise as well as could be expected. The visit went OK, I guess, but a little awkward since he and my husband were never really close (they are the ones who are blood related).
Krasnaya, condolences on your kitty. My husband and I lost one just last month. I mean, *literally* lost. She got out when neither of us were looking and hasn’t been seen since. Since she was quite ancient (21) and needed a daily IV and meds, it’s pretty certain she’s gone for good. Most likely she snuck off to be alone like many animals will when they’re dying. I miss her a lot but know she had a good *long* life and was loved.
I do believe it’s going to be a Tone Troll™ Day. Better polish up my concern.
Caine, what makes you say that?
louis
Thanx, her company is appreciated
+++++++
End of October can already be pretty chilly.
What I did was to scavenge Mr.’s wardrobe and nick his long-sleeved shirts. Then I just wore my light summer shirts on top.
If you’re one of those lucky women who only put on weight at the belly those “belly-binds” are an idea, too.
Janine:
Oh, I was annoyed by some person going by Tay and I was therefor informed I was indulging in a personal attack in order to win a popularity contest, they used to like my posts and now we don’t even have “shared enmity”. Or something.
Starts here.
I’ll get you Caine, now I don’t dislike the same things you do. So there.
We’ve got another one on the ‘other silly sites’ thread, one christopherg, who thinks “dimwit” is an ad hominem.
Dhorvath:
I haz been well and truly schooled.
Caine, I asked the question too soon. I just got caught up with the America Is Doomed thread and the Salon thread. While it looks like Tay is the one who got to you, I would argue that christopherg is the bigger idiot. Oysters, which have to be aware of tidal forces in order to survive, are affected by tides; therefore women’s menstrual cycles might be influenced by tidal forces.
Amazing, isn’t it, that women all over the world are on the same cycle.
Janine, I agree, christopherg is, by far, the bigger idiot. As if the rest of his crap wasn’t stenchy enough, he just had to drop the “you ad hommed me!1!!” bomb. Idiot.
And yes, the whole oysters, therefor wimmins? Ugh. There just aren’t words.
Giliell,
True, the end of October can be kind of nasty, but I’ll be on maternity leave by then, so hopefully I’ll be able to get away with only buying a few new articles of clothing. (Before I became pregnant, my Mr and I wore the same size, so I won’t be able to steal his shirts.)
So far I’ve only really gained weight in my tummy and boobs* and my hips and thighs have actually slimmed down a little bit (I think it’s because I’m eating much MUCH healthier than before). But who knows what the next 6 months will bring, right? :)
*If I could complain for a second: I’ve learned that my older sister can be a flaming asshole. Apparently I’m “doing something wrong” because all of the women she knows didn’t start showing until 6 months in or so, and I’ve already had to start buying maternity clothes. So, yeah. She can take her criticism of my weight and shove it.
And scifi just showed up on TZT.
My chances of getting anything useful done today are dwindling.
The DC area Horde organizing committee (otherwise known as the bossy ones) is planning summer fun in DC. If you’re going to be visiting or live in the area, and want to come play with us, please fill out the survey here .
Women are descended from oysters???
— — — — — —
BTW Russia and much of central/southern Europe is really hot. Scandinavia is still cool and haz lots of precipitation. The last snowdrifts are thawing away this week.
— — — — — —
Ayn Rand did not take in Europe (except briefly, in Mussolini’s Italy)
Also, I’m thinking of bringing the poncho back into style. ;)
Audley:
They went out of style? Seriously, that’s a useful item of clothing.
If you are a Scientologist, you know we are descended from clams.
Caine,
I haven’t seen any around this past fall or winter, but I’m sure I can find somewhere to order one.
And yeah, useful and cute.
birgerjohansson: I thought the $cientologists said it was clams?
My sisters loved CHiPs. Well, so did I, but I suspect that Ponch was more of an influence with them than the car chases were and . . .
Poncho.
Nevermind.
Ooo, this is so cool. I bought a wicked awesome purse a couple of years ago on Etsy (featuring a woman paleontologist), and went to see if the seller is still doing stuff. Found her blog, and she’s involved in a campaign called stand4kids that is opposing the Georgia stupid fat kid shaming PR campaign with some sweet posters of its own. My favorite is “Warning: shame is bad for your health. We stand for healthy children of all sizes.”
Audley – your sister is being a jerk. Besides, isn’t the old saying that it’s fat women who never show until late because they just hide the pregnancy in the midst of all the fat, and that it’s skinny people who poke out earlier because the baby has nowhere else to go but out?
Ohhhhhhh, Poncho!
Ohhhhhhh, Cisco!
I should also add, he was a friend of mine.
Hekuni Cat:
Well, we’ve all met people whose best years were in high school….
Caine:
Er, ever see the Jim Jarmusch film Night on Earth? Specifically, the segment featuring Roberto Benigni?
(I can’t access YouTube from work, so I can’t direct you to a good starting place in that video. The whole thing is worth watching, though.)
Sullivan was gorgeous. I’m sorry his life was cut short. :(
Koshka, I am terribly sorry about your kitteh, who was indeed lovely. And the bullshit you get from your family.
Ibyea, the restraints on being able to go to the bathroom whenever one needs to in school are … really not healthy. I understand that some kids abuse any liberties you give them, but disciplining them shouldn’t be at the expense of other kids’ well-being.
Audley, WTF with your older sister.
Wait…women aren’t oysters?
Oh for fuck’s sake, why…WHY!!!!!????? Just when I find a fact I can stake my life on, a bedrock fact from which all else flows you damn feminists have to go and rip it away.
Next you’ll be telling me women are people. And then where will we be? Dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria.
Louis
When did Louis become Bill Murray?
So? My girlfriend is a dog.
And she sleeps above the sheets. Four feet above the sheets.
Carlie,
Yeah, except I started out fat and I’m starting to poke out. Whatevs, I’m feeling good and my doctor is happy with my progress so far, so I’m not going to let her get me down.
Louis:
I believe it’s time for the dreaded reference: bearded clams.
Not to worry, Louis. The world can still be your mollusc.
Audley:
That’s all that matters.
Okay, I’m already done with scifi. Did you know that we can’t define life?
Anyway, Daisy:
I have no fucking clue what’s up with my sister, except that she seems to be having a hard time dealing with me now that I’m preggers (obvs). I think I liked it better when she was avoiding me.
Bearded clams? I was going to try for a fish taco joke.
Sorry, I’ll get my coat.
Audley,
I will also second the WTFs about your sister’s “helpful” comments. I’ve always wondered how “fat” (for various values of that word) equates to moral cowardice or stupidity. It doesn’t seem to me that there is a correlation between adipose tissue and IQ or acts of a morally dubious nature.
But then I’m not a self righteous, point scoring pissant.
Louis
I have a question regarding the video and my apologies if it has been addressed already. Not to split “hares,” but in the case of the rabbit example, or other ring species, would it be more fair to say that the “ends” can’t interbreed (i.e., genetically incompatible) or don’t interbreed (behaviorally incompatible)?
It would seem to me that if the ends simply don’t interbreed due to differences in behavior, that they could still be considered the same “kind?” Don’t get me wrong, I think Hovind is a complete tool and I love how ring species provide a beautiful example of how evolution works. If anyone could enlighten me a little, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks,
Eric
Louis:
Unhealthy = immoral is the American way! Up until a few months ago, I was a fat smoker! *gasp!* Cover your children’s eyes, they my be exposed to my sinful lifestyle!
I just threw in my two cents on the “America is Doomed” post. I can’t believe all the fucking fail in that thread.
Yes, I know, I’m mightily privileged, I only whine about the actual sickness and not the debt it pushes us into, but yes, fuck that shit I’ve been sick ever since November and I’m running out of reserves quickly.
The fact that there are people out there (and even “in here” i.e. on this thread) who are in financial danger if they get strep doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not your throat hurts. “Whine” all you want. Also get the antibiotics if you do have strep. The immune response to strep can lead to some nasty auto-immune problems including cardiac issues.
Fish tacos? Delicious. Never go for the ones with cheese on them though. Tartar sauce is not your friend here either. Lettuce is also surprisingly bad.
Bearded Clam? That’s a pub in Truro, Cornwall. Interesting décor, great curtains. They serve a very juicy local beer. They’ve got an unusual boat shaped bar stool at one end of the bar where this regular sits. He’s a little guy called Clint, he’s always there, be careful, he’s a bit sensitive. Don’t go steaming in and rub him up the wrong way or you’ll be kicked out. But if you approach him just right, he’ll be your best friend. Also, don’t go to the pub next door, it’s a shithole.
Louis
P.S. Do I even have to wink at this point? I want extra credit for not mentioning sushi. When this goes to court, you all started it. I plead the fifth and weakness of moral character. Also: big boys done it and run away, miss.
(Bleh, I am getting no work done today. *sigh*)
Ms. Daisy Cutter: A headdesk is not enough for that thread, thus this.
Ok, so #1 is sporting the tell-tale sign of a “strawberry-tongue”. I told the pediatrician that we’d meet again this week.
*sigh* The thing you might just have seen move away at the speed of light are my pland for the rest of the week.
Hopefully at least my embroidery supply will arrive on time…
Oh dear, when did she get her degree in obestetrics?
Actually slim women tend to show much earlier. With the pregnancy of #1 I needed maternity clothes as soon as I made it to month 4, with #2, when I still carried those 35kg I’d put on, I only showed much later and quite some people didn’t even notice that I was pregnant at all.
I made myself a cape which was not only very handy while pregnant but also afterwards because the baby fit underneath when I was wearing them and it’s still a great item (wool with cashmere) now because it’s warm, cozy and quite rain resistant.
In part, you’ve wandered into arguments on the definition of a species. Even if you accept the biological species definition over any other one (here is a short list of 26 of the most popular ways to define a species) , there are arguments on can’t v. won’t as lines of no interbreeding, and whether “can’t in nature” is the same level of distinction as “can’t even if we take a pipette and plunge that sperm into that egg”.
Audley: Random bit of unsolicited advice on how to deal with summer while pregnant: Swim a lot. In a pool–don’t court any of the nasties that live in fresh water. But a nice, well (but not overly) chlorinated, cool but not cold pool is a lot of fun if you’re pregnant in the summer. Also swimsuits are made of stretchy material-always good for the expanding belly.
heya everyone.
Audley:
Best wishes for you and DarkFetus.
Louis et al.
Yeah! The horror! My preconceptions!
Others:
Yes, I should observe said evisceration.
Audley,
A fat smoker? Wait… isn’t that one of those deep sea vent thingies that some think life started on…
…and you’re pregnant…
…ALIENS!
Second revelatory conspiracy theory of the day!
Oh man. Clearly Saturday was a better day on the booze than I thought. I must have done tapped my brainystem into the universe or something. Yeah, that’s what happened.
Louis
All the birds are fighting. Fight, fight, fight. Definitely fucking season.
Louis: SQRRRRRAWK!
Others: Let’s have a bit of fun here..
*ahem* This mountain is mine! You’re never going to get it! *evil laugh*
Hi ericthered!
I’m not an expert on ring species, but I’ll get you started and others here will probably answer you with more eloquence and detail if you wait a bit.
So when species are diverging, there are different ways they can stop interbreeding (reproductive isolation). You talked about genetic and behavioral incompatibility; I learned these as different types of reproductive isolation.
What you called behavioral incompatibility can also be called pre-zygotic reproductive isolation. Basically, this is anything that prevents individuals of the two diverging species from mating/producing zygotes. They might mate at different times of the year, have different mating calls, be vastly different sizes, produce different pheromones, etc.
Another part of pre-zygotic reproductive isolation is not related to behaviour. The diverging species might manage to get their gametes into close proximity, but fertilization is not possible (gametic isolation). This could be considered part of what you called genetic incompatibility.
Then there’s post-zygotic reproductive isolation, which is also related to genetic compatibility. Let’s say the two species manage to fertilize each other’s gametes and produce a zygote. The developmental patterns of the two species might be different enough that the zygote fails to develop properly. Alternatively, the offspring may develop to adulthood and face another set of challenges. It could be sterile (hybrid sterility, like mules), or it could have a mix of traits from both parental species and thus be poorly adapted to either environment.
When post-zygotic reproductive isolation is present, it’s obviously a waste of time and energy for species to try to interbreed. Thus, any hint of pre-zygotic reproductive isolation will be selected for, and greater pre-zygotic isolation may evolve over time in response to post-zygotic isolation.
I’m sure there’s debate over this, but I personally would consider the presence of complete pre-zygotic/behavioral reproductive isolation to be a valid indicator of speciation.
So there’s the general background, and hopefully someone else will fill you in on some details about ring species.
Giliell,
Didn’t you know? My sister is an expert in everything. I just assumed that every woman and every pregnancy is different, but what the hell do I know?
Dianne,
I’m looking forward to swimming this summer and I’ve already decided to rock a bikini. :)
Thunk,
Gracias!
Louis,
Right now, I’m only half as sinful ‘cos I quit smoking. Now I’m just fat and pregnant which is more than enough to prove my moral failings. ;)
When do I do one-liners?
…Oops.
(I almost never wear sunglasses.)
ericthered
Look for potholer’s other videos on that subject.
One of the best examples of “ring species” is some newt that lives all around the Appalachian Mountains. It started in the North and then populated the regions around the mountains and specified. Each “subspecies” can interbreed with the one living north of its habitat and the one living south of its habitat, but the two species that finally “meet” at the southern end of the Appalachians can’t interbreed.
Dianne
Yes, I know.
Old habbits are hard to lose ;)
Strep are nasty, when living in Cuba I caught a strep wound infection and only realized later at home that, had I been a Jane austen character, I’d have been one of those relatives who went for the colonies and never came back.
So, pediatrcian tomorrow and GP on Friday when I can safely “park” the kids at my mum in law’s.
And then I’ll talk to Mr. and my GP and go to “drink the waters”*
*There are so called “Mother and Child Rehabs” in Germany to actually prevent caregivers from having a major burn-out. And I think I could really do with some.
That’s a fucking brilliant idea.
JAL: Agreed. If I ever would spawn, I’d probably be extremely grateful for those :)
Just a little reminder that the Republican Party of the US has not cornered the market on crazy.
NY Sen Ruben Diaz-Democrat
Using this kind of “logic”, being anti-choice is pro-choice, you chose to have that baby and you chose that every other woman who gets pregnant shall carry to full term.
Anyone else thing that Jon Stewart played softpitch with David Barton last night?
I despise that man more than most of the other fundy assholes out there and Stewart barely pressed him on anything.
Disappointing.
That rant reminded me of Sophia Lamb from Bioshock 2
Chimpy, I do think that Jon Steward was probing, trying to lodge Barton from his key words. But Barton is practiced enough at his bullshit to not take the bait. And was not about to unload his theocratic beliefs in an arena that is not receptive.
In other words, it was about what I expected. Those who already know of Barton’s deceptions could see him maintain it. But it was not Jon Stewart’s fault.
truth machine is now on Sb Pharyngula as user-illusion.myopenid.com. So far, he’s calm and provides information.
Recently, though, he added around 5 comments to a thread that had been dead for weeks. Sometimes he gets angry and forgets to look at the dates. PZ actually accidentally banned his Yahoo! ID a few months ago for that reason (it’s still banned because PZ hates Yahoomesses).
Oooooh yeeeeeeeeeah. That was an… unusual person.
Daisy, how long did you lurk here??? Or have you changed names?
I wasn’t, because we didn’t have Internet till I graduated from highschool (in 2000). Not unreasonably, my mom didn’t let us have Internet, because she figured I’d spend day and night there.
I want to get violent.
I was never told that about highschool. I was told it about university! Didn’t work out, because I studied 2 things at once (to increase my job prospects… mom’s idea… has helped me, but…) and had no social life outside the family at all. The Cité Universitaire in Paris (famous student housing where my parents met) was an enormous disappointment in that respect, because I was in the building of… bah, takes too long to explain. Short version: I was totally isolated there and wanted out. Complete waste of lifetime.
I liked kindergarten. Even though I didn’t have any friends there either.
(…I thought I had one, but that was complete autistic cluelessness on my part.)
At the school type I was in (not the one with the most math), differentiation came in the 2nd- or 3rd-to-last year and integration in the last, IIRC. It was part of the obligatory math lessons. (Once you’ve chosen a school type, there’s generally not much choice left in secondary schools outside the USA.)
Seconded. (Well, except for the “fun” part. As a rule of thumb, if there are two ways to do partial integration, you’ll first hit the wrong one that’ll give you an infinite loop or an infinitely growing sequence.)
Awesome.
*happiness tea*
Of course, because my feet are stretched out. It’s like standing on the tips of my toes.
Try it.
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
Ooh! Awesome. :-)
Oh, you’ve done your duty to Tpyos. There’s “knew” instead of “new” in the 2nd-to-last line, for instance.
Some clinically obese women can go very far in pregnancy, all the way to birth in extreme cases, without noticing they’re pregnant. I remember a case where, the newspaper said, a woman showed up at a hospital for a “kidney colic” that turned out to be a 2-kg baby.
…Most mules.
This can, in the less extreme cases, lead to stable hybrid zones, like between the carrion crow and the hooded crow in Europe – it’s something like 50 km wide, doesn’t move and doesn’t expand.
There’s just about no debate, because it’s simply not a matter of science which species concept you pick. It’s a matter of taste.
Have you noticed that the species concepts don’t have anything in common except the word “species”? Several describe interesting entities that should be recognized in some way, but they’re not different aspects of the same thing, they’re orthogonal to each other. Depending on the species concept, there are from 101 to 249 endemic bird species in Mexico.
thing = think
Maybe Stewart is just ignorant to the blatant lies that Barton pushes as historical facts. I was hoping he would at least go after him on that. I’ve seen him hit hard before.
/shrug
Janine,
Yup, that’s New York: we’re full of Dems who wish they could be Republicans.
For the record, Hitler was not “prochoice” as the term is actually used. The National Socialists outlawed abortion after they came into power, but I’m sure you already knew that.
Can I just say that I am so fucking sick of Jews being compared to fetuses? It’s not even the Godwinning that gets me anymore (abortion = teh HOLOCAUST, sluts &/or abortion providers = teh HITLER!), but it’s 1) the co-opting of very real suffering and death to take away my rights and 2) the implication that Jewish people are completely dependant on someone else for survival that make me want to scream and throw shit.
Plus, you can’t use Hitler to justify whatever moronic idea you’re pushing. Every act of military aggression isn’t WWII* and every enemy is not a genocidal tyrant.
Fucking assholes.
*And for fuck’s sake WWII wasn’t a “good” war.
I thought that was the lungless salamander Ensatina in the mountains around Death Valley?
Now if they could have had Chris Rodda feeding Jon Steward questions, that could be an interesting event.
@Rev
Stewart has done his best IMO by pushing people off the rails with current events/culture. Barton sticks to the past for his lies which is where Stewart is weaker on (plus what’s he gonna say “no you’re wrong” and get into a nuhuuuuh game with him?). Compare with Huckabee where he was able to derail and move Mike out of his comfort zone by refusing to talk about his book and moving into “Wtf is wrong with your party?”
I just fucking hate that guy and i want to see him suffer publicly.
OOOOH, Ensatina Escholtzii!
I used to find them all over the place in my old town. But while other locations got the cool multicolored, blotched, spotted, and bright red subspecies, we got the boring pinkish worm-colored one with the transparent belly skin.
Audley, about twenty years ago, Operation Rescue targeted Chicago. On the CTA (public transportation) one could find a sign that had three symbols. One was the images of an ad from a two century old newspaper for a slave auction. The second was the swastika. The third was a NOW sign.
As you can guess, this pissed me, comparing slavery and the Holocaust to reproduction rights. So I made a little correction. I bought black stickers, wrote “The Nazis Outlawed Abortion” and posted them whenever I saw that ad.
One nice thing, I had people tell me that they remembered seeing my work years after the fact. I am not sure how much good I actually or if I make anyone think about their assumption did but I had to do something.
Janine, that’s awesome. :) (Not the posters, but your corrections.)
I understand. And you are not alone in this.
But it would have been nice if Steward asked for specific examples of people who claim that Jefferson was an atheist. Because I know of no reputable people who make that claim.
Hell, not even Thomas Paine was an atheist. About the only one I know of is Ethan Allen.
*There are so called “Mother and Child Rehabs” in Germany to actually prevent caregivers from having a major burn-out.
I love this idea. I wanted to go to one but my silly American insurance wouldn’t cover it.
Didn’t see it last night, but really? Stewart barely ever hits his guests with a hard question. The interviews are generally my least favorite part. Even for guests I like, I want to hear them say something other than the typical small-talk and selling their latest product. I just wish Stewart wouldn’t invite dipshits like that on his show at all — same with Colbert, etc.. It gives them way too much credibility, even to be having an occasionally-serious conversation with a comedian. People do need to know about Barton’s blatant lies, but you don’t have to invite the fucker on the show to do that, especially if you’re going to play nice with them.
/rant
David Marjanović:
At the age of four, my mom got a computer for her work (IRS); this was 1981. It sat in the living room, next to the fire place. From that point on, I was on it most of the time I was indoors: from my parents’ perspective (and rightly so, I think), it was better than my sister who just wanted to sit in front of the television. Basically, “t.v. time” became “computer time”.
I think I got my first computer in my room at 11. We got Prodigy at about the same time, and so I was given a modem (2400 baud, if I recall correctly). I found, through some real-life friends, local BBS’s that allowed me access to online chess competitions, USENET, IRC (eventually), and the budding hacker movement (back before “elite” became “1337”: one board, you actually had to literally hack the admin rights of one BBS to make yourself an account on the second; I never did anything terribly illegal, but I chatted with people who did).
There were plenty of nights when I waited until my parents went to sleep (about 9 p.m.) to log into the boards. That’s even how I met my first boyfriend (at 16, in ’94). Also at 16, I was a forum admin on two separate boards – one, I ran the SciFi/Fantasy forums, and on the other I was in charge of gay youth advocacy and helped organize about 300 people in various national locations.
That isn’t to say I spent all my time on the computer. Just most of my “indoor” time that would have likely otherwise been spent talking on the phone or in front of the television.
… Anyway, I hear about parents restricting computer time, and I always feel conflicted about it. The argument of “but kids can get into so much more trouble nowadays” is totally false: I had offers to meet up with various adults or crime groups from about the age of 14, and my parents never had any idea. I think it’s a lot like nutrition: teaching/encouraging kids how to make responsible decisions rather than just making hard cut-offs.
CR,
I have less of a problem with Colbert inviting dipshits on his show than Stewart. Colbert will back them into a corner and make them look like assholes and oftentimes the dipshits don’t even realize what’s happening. Jon Stewart can occasionally score a point or two, but he’s a much weaker interviewer.
Colbert scores points in the interview by agreeing and pushing them even further, sort of the point of the character.
No, around the Central Valley of California. The Sierra Nevada catch almost all of the moisture from storms coming off the Pacific. There are amphibians in Death Valley, and on the mountains around the area, but they are limited to those which are drought tolerant.
Yeah, I know ‘drought-tolerant amphibian’ sounds like military intelligence, but think Spadefoot Toad.
DDMFM:
Hmmm. I don’t know. Most of the criteria for differentiating species under different concepts are things that are predicted to occur alongside divergence. Seems kind of parallel to me. Maybe you could give an example?
Anyway, I think it’s even funnier that as much as we may quibble about what a species is, speciation is fairly straightforward. This seems odd to students. Early on, at least, students seem to think that speciation is magical, while “species” more or less delimit themselves (see Hovind’s “Five-Year-Old Species Concept” above.)
*Laughs maniacally*
I assure you all that this is far from the case! We taxonomists…
*yoinked from stage left, gagged, and driven off to the country somewhere to be left in the wilderness*
At the age of four, my mom got a computer for her work (IRS); this was 1981.
Your mom was working for the IRS in 1981 at age 4? I’m pretty sure that was illegal, even back in 1981.
David, I’ve probably been lurking since ’07, off and on, depending on how much time I had. I was lurking well before Crackergate, anyway.
I lost a fair amount of respect and trust for Jon Stewart after the “Rally to Restore Sanity” or whatever it was called. He buys into the concept that “both sides are to blame.”
Consciousness Razor, what Audley and Ing said re Colbert vs. Stewart. Not the same technique at all.
Yeah, I agree. He’s better, but still doesn’t push all the buttons I’d like sometimes. Maybe that’s just me.
It takes a smart person to do it; and to be honest, I don’t think Stewart is that smart. At least he doesn’t have enough background knowledge (except in politics and popular culture) to do much with it. I doubt it’s his writers’ fault, since they come from the same stock as Colbert’s.
I think my favorite interviewer is Charlie Rose, but he’s often disappointing too.
dianne
Ha.
Jonah “Thanks, Mom” Goldberg:
I like Maddow, but I can’t say that I’m able to judge her all that objectively.
I have heard frustration in her voice at least once. But she does “respect” very very well.
NPR is also consistently disappointing.
Someone wrote a book accusing common arguments from people they don’t like to be “discussion stoppers”
Why the fuck is that news?
Gahhh!
I had this long comment that I’d been accumulating all fuckin’ day long, and then I go and accidentally delete it instead of copying it.
*whimper*
*disgustedly dumps armful of hugs and commiserations and cat-related stuff; goes off to pout*
–
Few things
1) You COULD make a good argument. I won’t because I’m an idiot but I assert you COULD
2) Anyone who fails basic fucking legal theory and civics to this degree should not be listened to on politics
Ms. Daisy Cutter, I heard Rush Limbaugh saying the same crap twenty years ago; liberals feel while conservatives think. Nothing new. The only thing that changes are the conspiracies. Twenty years ago, the Clintons sent their hit squad to silence people connected to Whitewater while Obama send his hit squad after Breitbart.
The Twitter is abuzz about a Republican Missouri state legislator who has just come out as gay. Sadly, his term is up and he’s not running again (which might have been a factor?) his video , article about it. From the video it seems that he didn’t even admit to himself that he was gay until recently.
CR,
Oh, I get frustrated with Colbert, too. Just not nearly as often as Stewart.
Daisy,
I head an interview with Goldberg on All Things Considered this morning and I wanted to punch something.
Mr Darkheart’s reaction*: “You know who else advocated a purely ideological approach to politics…?”**
*He didn’t know who Johan Goldberg was. I have got to get him to read more political blogs.
**Yes, I found my husband’s Godwin amusing and I know I was just complaining about the complete overuse of Hitler during political arguments. DEAL WITH IT.
Ms. Daisy Cutter, I heard Rush Limbaugh saying the same crap twenty years ago; liberals feel while conservatives think.
Which is such incredible bullshit. The conservatives are fucking chock full of emotional topics.
Anti-choice: Purely and emotional stance.
Anti-science: Purely tied to the emotion of needing their religion
anti-women: Fear of losing power. Emotion
anti-poor: see above
racism: see above and see hate.
just fucking once I’d like my boss to be on time to a meeting… that he scheduled.
oh blockquote, why do you torture me
Just got back from a shoot ‘n’ walk with the monster dogs. We saw ducks, a beaver and four whitetails. Jayne even got to chase a whitetail for a bit, he was seriously excited. They also got to go swimming in the Muddy Creek. Jayne is completely “Water! How does it fucken work?!”
On the way back, they found lovely, disgusting pork chop bones by the baseball field, so we stopped while they had a chew. Jayne also located a cow bone. Oh boy. Monster Dogs Being Silly Slideshow.
What amuses me is that it basically admits “Well we may be heartless but at least we’re smart!”
Geek culture is soooooo egalitarian.
Right.
@Rev
Not to mention that their love of “Freedom” and “small gov” is emotional. All sorts of arguments from both sides are motivated by emotions, because people are fucking emotional. this argument baffles me as it seems that Conservatives are admitting that they look down on liberals for “caring about stuff” rather than being cynical nihlists.
Petition to get the UN to stop overfishing.
Analytic thinking promotes religious disbelief. Even thinking of analytic thinking weakens faith. And yes, it’s in Science.
@Ms Daisy
This gives me some needed optimism. Though it could just be that you know…geeks do not know what the frat bro life was like back in college.
Lol, so familar.
Oooooh!
Can I get a pony while we’re at it?
Aww, cicely :( *hugs and sends chocolate for the pouting*
Rowanvt, I’m sorry your poor pets are having such bad luck.
—
Yeah I changed my nym again. I don’t have a good explanation, except that a while ago Natalie put up a post about names and in thinking about it I realized I actually identify myself mentally as Cipher. And, well, lengthy self-reflection incoming :P
I don’t really know how to explain it, but I’m feeling more “me” lately, and like what I am is okay. I have y’all to thank for that (especially, as always, Caine, but lots of others, too – J_A_L, pteryxx, Katherine, the list goes on). Conversations here always give me a lot to think about, for better or worse. More than that, though, you give me strength and inspiration, because you are proof that even my brain will accept that feeling fucked up doesn’t make you weak, and feeling like your identity is broken doesn’t mean you’re not a “real person”. So, you know, thanks again to those people who have been brave enough to share their struggles here :)
Oddly enough, I feel like it’s actually connected to the depressive fits I’ve been having, too. The other night I had this meltdown because I felt like everything I was trying to do was pointless and motivated by either fear or pain, and like it didn’t matter what I did because that would always be true. And I realized that the only way that I am able to feel safe is by constantly obeying the feeling that I am in danger, if that makes sense, and I feel like that’s always going to be there too.
And then the next day I thought the same thing, but I… felt okay about it? And less afraid? It’s hard to explain, but kinda reminds me of the Hyperbole and a Half post when she decides maybe she’ll touch a spider later :P Like, yes, I’m fucked up and fucking scared, but I’m stuck with it, so just fuck it. I’ve started paying more attention to my appearance again too – not cos I want to look “pretty”, which is okay but secondary, but because I want to look more like I look in my head.
—
Oki. I’m done now. I’m going to go eat my incredibly awesome salad.
Ensatina eschscholtzii. Yes, with double sch. No, this does not make sense in German or anywhere else. (“Eschholtz” would – Eschenholz = ash wood.)
The concern was about homework and learning for tests.
:-D :-D :-D
The endemic birds of Mexico that I mentioned?
Yeah, hah, if you take cladogenesis and call it “speciation”. That’s correct under some but by no means all species concepts.
Full of win.
+ 1
Without emotion, there is no motivation. Straw Vulcans fail, because without emotion, there cannot be a motivation to follow even the teachings of Surak.
No wonder “even” amphioxus have a limbic system. ( my ass.)
Well… I am pretty damn cynical…
But yeah it all fits into the liberals are pansies or liberals are mostly women stereotype. Emotional and weak.
I mean really it does follow along with their M.O. on everything else, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.
Show any slight hint of emotion or caring and you are immediately weak.
I saw ducklings today! :D
sigh
stupid submit button glaring at me to press it before my thought is finished…
YET it is so easily to see how emotion rules their decisions on many things. Reason and logic are only used if it lines up with their dogmatic hard line.
motherfuckers.
apologies to any motherfuckers here.
Cipher! *hugs* :-)
Shut up and sign. Doesn’t cost you anything.
Horde, you don’t know how much your presence out there *gestures vaguely* helps me!
I typed a long, griping comment, when suddenly the answer to my problem occurred to me. :D
Go me! Go you!
Unrelated: WTF is up with the cost of monoclonal antibodies?!
Cipher:
Yep. It’s okay to be fucked up. We do damn brilliantly for being so fucked up, so it’s okay. You’re good.
In other news, ticks…auggh…gotta go shower. Back shortly.
Kristinc:
Eeeeeeeeee! :D
Argh, gotta shower. Now.
@DM
Under friend’s suggestion I am watching DS9 ( I caught some of it and liked it but never a full run). There actually is a good scene where Quark explains to a Vulcan how they are actually being emotional despite being stoic and ‘rational’.
Also related
http://xkcd.com/1049/
Brains!
Brain #7 has a Mohawk and a knitted sweater!
\o/ +1
Ing, I see a lot more pushback in general against sexism now in various arenas than I did even, say, two years ago. The mouthbreathers are still out there, whining about “misandry” and “political correctness,” but people with a clue are more willing to come down on them hard.
As for the Sanz/Kane thing, you should check out the tone trolling on this related thread (note: from March). Holy fuck. The worst one is actually one of those Special Females™ who wrings her hands about swearing because “I don’t want to have to be more like a man” and “You’re making it a worse world for me to raise my cheeellldrunnnn in!!!”
I cynically would suggest that your cynicism is really just from intuition from experience, i.e. wisdom.
But yeah it seems like the Hipster “caring about shit is SO lame” or my observation that nihlists seem to really care a lot about convincing people of nihlism.
Caine
I haz envy.
Watched your slideshow so fascinatedly that I actually didn’t notice that it was running for the third time already :)
Welcome and condolences to @Krasnaya Koshka on the loss of your kitty. Losing pets is always hard.
@Audley, sorry to hear that your sister is being such an asshole. Hopefully you’ll have decent while longer with the Darkfetus being unable to make an impact with bladder tapdancing. I listen to stories of pregnancy with a kind of terrified fascination.
Today is a co-workers birthday. She specifically requested that we “not make a big deal of it.”
So: Her desk has a canopy, is covered with streamers, and there is cake.
Oh, and we got her a Pretty Pretty Princess set.
And Fluttershy.
Cipher
Well, my head still has the pre-pregnancy look filed for referrence, but I started paying more attention to my looks, too, because it is also a way to say “I like you, I care for you, you’re important”.
I noticed I had a problem when I brushed my teeth because bad breath would annoy other people.
*hugs*
Speaking of Fluttershy. Watched the pilot for Pony. Heard it gets into WOo later from someone. Is it worth continuing on?
Have never seen a single episode of MLP, so I cannot comment.
side note. Scary wedding is this month. EEP
@Caine, the monster dogs make me squee uncontrollably. (Also I want your gear/lenses! I desperately want to replace our camera with a decent dSLR but can’t afford to.) Your pair of monster dogs (and the adorable ratties) are darling and very photogenic.
It’s been just over a month since we added a second dog to our family, and I’m so glad we did. It’s awesome to watch them both have a daily companion to play with.
Who in the fuckety fuck is Circe and what did I do to her?
Those differences stem from parallel divergence events, though. Fixation of morphological differences, evolution of intrinsic reproductive barriers, adaptation for different niches are all the result of divergence– but in parallel events these criteria can’t be expected to occur at the same tempo or in the same order. I’m not proposing that the metapopulation-lineage species concept is at all useful for delimiting species, but I think it is useful in recognizing why species concepts aren’t really orthogonal, but rather criteria resulting from the same process.
Ha. And yes. Just considering cladogenesis. Reticulate speciation is a horse of a different color.
Circe has been grumpy ever since Odysseus left.
Re: Barton
The Jefferson Lies is certainly an amusing choice of title.
Could anyone point me to atheist (organisation)s that’ve called TJ an atheist?
And that’s not even getting into his lovely, lovely anecdotes.
@Esteleth
Ungrateful swine
Lovely how Barton admits to “getting around the Supreme Court decision”.
There was another lovely slip, which he even owned up to, but I don’t care to go back to quote verbatim.
@Sili
I’ve seen people point to Jefferson as a NONBELIEVER. Which is close but different. I’ve seen Atheists, agnostics (ie. gonadless atheists), and deists put under that category.
@Giliell, you and I talked about birthday cakes the other day and I figured I’d update you. We did my dad’s birthday celebration on Friday, and I made a very chocolatey cake. It’s not as pretty as some of the others, but it tasted delicious and was pretty in a wild overwhelmingly chaotic sort of way.
For context, “German chocolate icing” is a strange buttery sugary concoction containing coconut and pecans. Spouse and I are not fans, but it’s my dad’s favorite. So I compromised by covering the layer cake with dark chocolate ganache before putting on radial spokes of the coconut frosting. Everybody was happy.
I have no idea whether it’s remotely based on anything German at all, but American dishes are like that sometimes.
*phrrrbbbttt*
Giliell:
Aaaaw. :D :D :D They had a wonderful time. Especially the deer chasing and found bones. Found bones are the best thing evar.
Slignot:
Thank you! Jayne is such a fucking idiot when it comes to water, but he is entertaining. He always sticks his nose in the water and tries to breathe, which results in him sneezing in the water. I also found a huge oyster shell in Muddy Creek today.
The gear. Well, back in ’06 or ’07, finally bit the bullet and bought a Nikon D80 with a kit lens, a 18-135mm. That is one fantastic fuckin’ lens, a workhorse. You can good distance with it, but it will also do a good macro. I have a 50mm and a 70-300mm too. Haunt B&H, they have outstanding deals sometimes. Also, it can be cheaper to buy in bits – buy a camera body first (no lens), then get a lens when you can afford it.
Where the fuck do these “simulated universe” idiots come from anyway?
I don’t know what she’s complaining about, she married his son.
I mean his other son. Not her and Odysseus’ son. He married Penelope, his widow. After killing him accidentially.
Jefferson, IIRC, was a diest. As were most of the Founders. It was kind of the thing to be then.
Firstly, diest =/= atheist.
Secondly, diest =/= modern-style Christian.
So…?
Slignot:
Oh, this – it’s just pure joy, ennit?
Esteleth @399:
Amusing to a point, but also not necessarily nice if she really meant it. If my coworkers did that to me, I’d probably be polite about it but quietly add a few names to list of people who’d be up against the wall when the revolution came.
Yes, absolutely. There is only an episode that I can think of off the top of my head like that. They were done by guest people, did one episode never to return to do stories again.
The one I’m thinking of is the pinkie sense one. That’s not a trend or a common thing in the series. It’s literally the one in the dozen thing. It doesn’t promote woo as a thing or anything like that.
————-
Hi, Cipher!!
Glad to hear you are doing better. It’s weird to have people say I help them, when I come here for help & sanity myself.
Hehe. Hyperbole and a Half is fucking hilarious. I’ve read it all like 6 times and it still makes me laugh so hard I cry. XD
Richard Austin,
I probably should clarify that by the standards of our office, that was pretty restrained.
My office is pretty high-strung. So when we have fun, we do shit like that.
@cipher: *hugs*
Also note that hypervigilance totally is a thing. Extreme survival instincts are there because they freakin’ work, never mind that having intelligence and abstract thought makes them miserable to have sometimes.
—
@Ing: what’s “WOo” and what do you want to know about ponies? MLP’s open, cute and social interaction-based, and it IS designed to be comprehensible to little kids, but it’s also flashy, fast-paced, often has fighting and scary things, and it’s full of culture and mythology references. It also does a good job of screwing with common tropes. Oh, and songs. (Transformers is extremely short of sing-alongs.)
Richard:
Seconded.
I learned to shoot on a manual my parents owned as a kid and fell in love with what you can do with quality lenses. When we can afford it, we’re probably going to pick up a decent body and add lenses as we can manage them.
That Jeyne submerges his snout is hilarious. Midna is decidedly water-averse, and we haven’t had much option to determine how Atrus will react to a body of water. He’s less freaked out by water and the tub (although he doesn’t much care for the actual bathing) so he may like to wade and play. I just don’t know yet.
… must… resist… urge… to geek out about cameras…
Oh, fuckit.
The expensive thing when you’re doing photography is the lenses. You’re really buying into a lens mount format, rather than a brand. A friend has Nikon lenses he’s used from his old film days in the 60s to his current DSLR.
Pteryxx:
QFT. I came to terms with being hypervigilant long ago. It’s okay.
Heh heh. The expression on our then-9-year-old Golden’s face when we brought home a puppy was not exactly “pure joy”. More “what the fuck is this thing doing in my yard?”
The former puppy is now 4 and loves everything to do with water. She gets her entire head underwater to fetch things, and likes to grab fish out of our livewell.
I really should get some kind of anonymous photo-sharing account. I want to post doggy pics too!
Someone warned me there’s a “Science has to accept God” episode
Esteleth:
Oh, no doubt. I’m all for letting loose when you need to. I just have a mental block between the concepts of “it’s your day” and “we’re going to ignore your explicit desires”. The two don’t mesh. (And I cannot understand people who insist that I have to celebrate because they want to; it’s like, the clue meter reads “zero”.)
Richard:
Oh yeah, you can never have enough glass.
Absolutely. The one thing that keeps me on the Nikon side is that all their lenses are made to fit all Nikon bodies. This opens up browsing pawn shops for lenses, where you can get great deals.
Outside of that, there’s a fair amount of other brand gear that makes me drool uncontrollably.
@Caine, watching pups become best friends really is pure joy. It happened much, much faster than I expected, really. They have very similar (mellow) temperaments, and although he’s a little over a year younger he’s not the most hyper critter. They have a very similar energy level and so they run happy bitey laps around the yard without one getting cranky.
Spouse took some video of them playing the other day, but I don’t think he’s put it online yet. I’ll post it when it’s up.
Oh, WOO. *headdesk*
…Yeah, avoid the MLP episode “Feeling Pinkie Keen”. It basically digs at skepticism, or rather the common stereotype of skepticism. A bunch of us watched it as part of Natalie’s mare-a-thon and we picked it apart.
The rest of the show is fine, considering it’s a world where magic works.
—
(on refresh)… Argh, it’s got nothing to do with “accept God”. The actual message given at the end of “Feeling Pinkie Keen” is ‘sometimes you have to accept things on faith’ in reference to Pinkie Pie’s weird prediction ability. There’s also a literal ‘leap of faith’ in there. Again, that one episode is a dig at skeptics and skepticism, obviously written by somebody with no idea of how evidence actually works.
Cipher, *hug*. Glad that you’re feeling more like “you”.
:)
–
Gaaaahhhhhh!!!
*suddenly aware of a dozen little itchy places*
Aiiieeeeee!!!
–
Whenabouts?
–
slignot, “German chocolate frosting” (aka coconut-pecan frosting) is my very favoritest frosting; but no-one ever uses enough.
(“Enough” is when there is no cake surface exposed anywhere.)
–
Especially the one about the Cake.
:D :D :D
–
So, I’m reading the America is Doomed thread.
WTF?
I…
I really can’t say more than that. WTF?
slignot
The cake looks gorgeous.
No, I can’t think of anything in German cooking that would remotely resemble the “German icing”, but on the other hand I don’t mind if we’Re once equated with something nice :)
Not that I had even on patriotic hair on my body, but it sometimes gets tiresome being the bad guys ;)
At the moment I’m contemplating to get the necessary ingredients for making French Macarons. Need to keep the kids happy and occupied.
Esteleth:
Yeah, me too.
Caine:
The new camera I’ve ordered (stupid backorder) does video as well. So, now I’ve been checking out all kinds of mics and DECs and…
Bleh. Winning the lottery would make hobbies so much simpler. I want to get more into astrophotography, but that means a telescope or high telephoto or an equatorial mount or…
*sigh*
I mostly went Nikon so that I can borrow my friend’s lenses (and he can now borrow mine, since I have a couple he doesn’t that are nice). He’s got an awesome 60mm macro that I’ve used a few times. Gorgeous shots.
Someone warned me there’s a “Science has to accept God” episode
um, What?
There is literally one one episode with an iffy meaning which is the Pinky Sense one. The person who did that never did another episode, it was so bad.
I even double checked the list of episodes. I don’t know about that “science has to accept god” episode is, unless it’s the pinkie sense one. If that is the episode then hot damn is that stretching it, IMO.
… Just because I sent this to my best friend a few days ago…
Bronies
Yep, that one is just bad.
This is my opinion of pretty much any application of frosting (assuming it’s good and homemade and not, you know, overly sugary store-bought buttercream that makes your teeth hurt). Of all the things you can say about this most recent cake, it was not a shortage of frosting (chocolate buttercream in between layers, topped in a thick and shiny layer of ganache, with thick arms of german chocolate icing and the spaces in between had extra-creamy chocolate fans with pecans.) It was a glorious celebration of chocolate decadence.
Re: Hyperbole and a Half, the ones that get me are the ones dealing with her dogs. Simple dog’s intelligence test/accidental escape leave me teary eyed and breathless. (I can also relate to having a dog so desperate to please you that they look up, saying “I can be a good dog, I can be a good dog, I can be a good dog, a good dog like you wanted.”)
As for lens sizes, I’m a little nervous when I look at what lenses are compatible with bodies. I think spouse was last looking into micro four thirds.
Didn’t someone tell us on the previous TET that German chocolate is named after a Mr.German?
I always assumed German chocolate is so named because it’s so highly organized and efficient.
Richard:
Boy, do I ever feel ya. I make money with my photography, but it’s just not enough (never enough) for all the gear I want.
*lens envy* A macro lens (at least one) is next on the list. Maybe. I can already get great macro shots and I have a little Coolpix L1 which excels at macro. Around here, with everything being gunshy as all hell, big glass is best. I want bigger glass. Much bigger glass. That shit is expensive.
I’m sad I missed this discussion, then. I always figured it came from a population that came from German immigrants, personally.
German Frosting. Sounds delicious.
I should really watch MLP… never had the nerve to do so though.
German chocolate cake is not German. It is named after Sam German, an American.
More here.
You should!
I happily welcomed you to the Horde, and I’m anxiously waiting to Welcome you to Herd. =)
All right, JAL. When I have time :)
Caine:
Then you’re doing better than I am :) I don’t make money, just a mess.
This is the macro he’s got. Like Ken says, a 60mm is a bit short for real macro work; something like a 105mm is better. Of course, a good prime 105 is about twice the price…
And yeah, good glass is expensive. It’s also heavy.
Bah. Now I want to have a Pharyntography meetup.
Not that I had even on patriotic hair on my body, but it sometimes gets tiresome being the bad guys ;)
Oh, come on. Surely the hair behind your left knee gets a bit misty when Germany wins the World Cup.
Richard:
I know, I know. I already have a super heavy duty tripod, but the one I’d like has one helluva price tag on it. In ND, you have to have heavy duty ones anyway, because of the wind.
I’d also like about 3 new bags, 1 backpack bag, 1 sling bag, a new vest, yada, yada, yada. Oh yeah, a hardshell case for canoeing.
Making money? Pick what you’re best at shooting and hit the stock markets. I specialize in birds, I have the set up for it and I’ve been doing pretty well in stock photography for a while. It takes time to break in, and you’ll be turned down for about 6 months solid, the photos have to be effing perfect.
I highly recommend signing up for PhotoSig (it’s free), to critique others and have your own stuff critiqued. It can sting, but you’ll learn a lot.
for those who have been following my woodburning art, this is what I did to my rifleman’s tomahawk:
Two crows or ravens (open to interpretation): http://tinypic.com/r/2cdaezl/6 and http://tinypic.com/r/33uwgia/6
A black bear: http://tinypic.com/r/nuc5i/6
To forestall the inevitable jokes, I shall refer to this as a puma: http://tinypic.com/r/2py4a4h/6 This was also the most difficult to lay out and photograph.
a bit of perspective: http://tinypic.com/r/2le00av/6
There we go. Two of the most intelligent creatures in the area, and the two most dangerous and ‘powerful’ animals in the area. Fitting symbology for this particular implement.
Heheheheheh…. HEEEheheheheh! *rubs talons*
It’s cute. It IS CUTE. Most manly-boys run in terror before they can even bring themselves to watch it. IT MIGHT TAKE AWAY THEIR PRECIOUSSS MANHOOD! NOOOOOO!
I admit, it took about two episodes for me to get over instinctively flinching and cringing at the most egregious giggling or pinkness. Someone in Natalie’s mare-a-thon caught himself turning to heavy metal between the MLP episodes for manliness reassurance. It WILL be a challenge to overcome one’s internalized femme-phobia; AND THAT’S THE POINT.
Richard Austin’s DailyKos article above is a good illustration – it’s a response to an outright shaming attempt. So’s the youtube video “Teens React to MLP:FiM” where most of the boys react with horror to the news that the show even has male fans.
Generally I recommend “Best Night Ever” as a good first episode to test someone’s pony tolerance, but “Swarm of the Century” was on yesterday, so:
youtube link: Swarm of the Century
Ah, thanx.
I remember that somebody mentioned it was named after a “Mr. German”, but without additional information, so I took it as a joke.
Humor-fail, I guess.
But now don’t tell me he invented “German pancakes”, too!
@Ing
I don’t know where the “simulated universe” idiots come from, but I did learn from a philosophy class in the university that there are idiots who subscribe to “the skeptical alternative”. Meaning: What if this universe isn’t real and is like a dream or the matrix or something? derp. derp. derp.
I was actually flabbergasted that there are philosophers who subscribe to that. Although I think they are in the minority.
Giliell:
I won’t! German pancakes are German.
We watched the Matrix in my Philosophy 101 class due it being an epic retelling of the Allegory of the Cave by Plato.
Several people were in the “I know God is real becuz God” camp. They hated the class unsurprisingly and it was eye opening that they wouldn’t even use hypothecials and such.
Man, that’s another teacher I need to write my thanks too.
Pterryx:
All right, i’m a convert! So far, it’s just awesome.
This totally gave me the mental image of men grabbing their dicks thinking this, giving shifty eyes to anyone that glances their way. It makes tons of sense regarding homophobia, gay men being collector’s of the preciousssss….
XD
I can’t say I’m a ‘fan’ of MLP:FIM,(not my personal cup of tea) but I definitely take my bandanna off to the quality of the show.
Feeling Pinkie Keen wasn’t so bad. I mean, it’s not a great set of lessons to teach kids, which is what I said here when Season 1 is new here, but it’s still amusing. Just… not really true re: skepticism XD
Caine,
Yeah, the problem is that I’m mostly good at landscapes/nature type stuff, and no one wants that :) Like, literally, most stock places I’ve seen have “don’t send us landscapes” messages.
Oh well, I like what I do anyway. I’ve been playing with HDR, which has some added coolness to it.
I’ve actually had a few of my shots used by people, but they were mostly good causes and free. This was up at the Denver Zoo for a while; the attribution is wrong, but it was taken from this (they fixed the attribution, but took down the exhibit when their specimen was shipped somewhere else).
I’ll look into Photosig, though. No harm in getting better, for sale or not.
@Just a Lurker
Funnily enough, my epistemology teacher suggested that every philosopher should watch The Matrix. :)
Richard Austin:
Ah. Tap into the UK stock market. I do my best business out of the UK, all wildlife. Also, check out Painet. They do landscapes and nature.
Oooh, nice iguana shot!
Anyways, going to a 300 level philosophy class without taking philosophy 101 was a big mistake. I did pass the class with a good grade, but jeez, some of the things I read just fried my brain. I should have had a better background knowledge.
Musssst… run. Mussst… exercise.
Stupid sleep deprivation. (Thank goodness this job is temporary.)
JAL:
Oh lol! Not the manhood! O noz!!
I never felt anything like the masculine boys i’ve been around. That episode was awesome, I should get rid of my hangups around this sort of stuff :)
I did data entry, or rather, report typing at night for a few weeks. It actually meshed fairly well with the sleep schedule I tend to fall into.
*brohoofs Thunk* /)(\
Swarm of the Century isn’t even a particularly great ep as MLP goes. Try “Applebuck Season” and “Bridle Gossip”, those are early fan favorites. ;>
Pteryxx (1 r, 2 x)
I’ll make a note of that :)
I just got back from two weeks of field work, and so I was basically in my grubby t-shirts, field pants, and boots for most of that time. Honestly, one of the things I looked forward to most about coming home was being able to look like myself again.
Some people in my department dress that way all the time.
Rey Fox:
There’s a problem with that? ;)
I usually upgrade a little bit to clean T-shirts, jeans, and runners, but I appreciate the variation in clothing formality in my department. We’ve got everything from dress pants and nice shirts to torn jeans with field boots and snarky T-shirts.
I hadn’t thought about my mental image of myself before, but I guess it’s probably “set” to jeans and T-shirts. I always feel relieved when I come home from a night out somewhere and I can put on my casual clothes again.
It’s clothing meant for functionality and little else. My field pants are not particularly comfortable, and I don’t like wearing any kind of high top shoe unless I’m hiking. So it’s restrictive to me.
I’m pretty far from a fashion plate, but I have a certain image that I like to project to the world.
Ah. Most of my field clothes are very comfortable, so I hadn’t thought about that. I’m always glad to get out of chestwaders, though.
As for the image that I like to project, people seem to get confused by a small blonde woman in giant chestwaders. I enjoy that confusion enough to compensate for projecting the “wrong” image.
I’m buzzin’ for you. :D
That’s cool :)
Weren’t y’all talking about school being pathetic recently? I uncovered some books and found this:
– Carl Sagan, intro to “The Demon-Haunted World” (1996)
They’ve always been around. They were programmed that way to test your faith.
Well, I guess you could say the journey is more important than the destination. I doubt most think it’s very likely that we’re in a simulation, but considering the possibility does open up a lot of questions. Nick Bostrum has put forward this argument (from wiki):
Personally I’d go with (2) as most likely to be true, but sadly I guess (1) isn’t so far behind. It seems a bit far-fetched to think that we’d ever start mass-producing simulated universes so that their inhabitants significantly outnumber “real” people. I mean, it’s possible; but exactly how much computing power would it take to make a single simulated universe, much less enough of them to put our “real” existence into question? Why would we throw all sorts of resources at that project rather than interstellar spaceships or whatever?
philisyssis is back, advising someone to leave a xian alone, ’cause that’s for the best.
After the shredding xe took last time, I’m surprised. Well, maybe not.
In the field*, I wear a pair of hiking pants that zip out into shorts. I do this because I bought them a few years back thinking they were a keen idea. However, I never convert them into shorts out in the field, because of the times when I have to walk in long grass. So they are pants, and they have lots of pockets, but they also get really wide in the mid-thigh region where the shorts zipper is, and the shorts zipper of course is essentially an extra-heavy seam that goes right across my mid-thigh region. I also have to wear a belt with them, which I dislike.
* I feel kinda weird calling it “the field” when it is actually urban St. Louis and St. Charles counties.
I will never tire of watching potholer54 tear Hovind a new orifice, and of course, this is my all-time favourite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEpwkXatbY
Yeah, I know, old hat for all the Pharyngulites. But “Hoy, Hovind… we can’t carbon date this! There’s no fucking carbon in it!” just has that certain je ne sais quoi to it that makes it unforgettable. Made all that much juicer and extra special because it doesn’t happen till about halfway through the video.
So, myth or fact: if your bike helmet has had a significant impact you should chuck it out even if it looks okay? Older kid slammed his helmet down on the hardwood floor as hard as he could, does he need to replace it?
I mean, I used the Google, and apparently I should replace it if it’s been “in an accident”, so I’m assuming this would extend to a significant non-accident-related impact … ?
Fact, kristinc. Even if it looks fine, it may have taken structural damage.
I can see the teeny, tiny wires holding that bee up.
(Everybody knows that .)
–
Cicely:
:falls over laughing: No, of course they can’t! :D
@Kristinc
I wouldn’t risk it :\
kristinc,
Almost certainly not, unless it’s a hard-shelled one which has sustained visible structural damage (which would be exceedingly surprising).
Those helmets are designed to both absorb and spread the energy of collision during impact; the forces involved in slamming it into a hardwood floor pale in comparison to those involved in a real-life collision.
Still going on about MLP… this is from the article trashing bronies (adult and/or male MLP fans) and it just gets wronger and more hilarious the more I read it.
Wow. I can’t help but hear the guy protectively clutching his precious *cough* pearls at the mere thought of a transgression of gender-essentialism. Kirk-approved key life lessons: violence and scoring with chicks! Also, he’s far too much of a coward to ever find out for himself just how much badassery takes place in the Royal Wedding season finale. <_<
Source of rant:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2012/04/25/my-little-pony
Open letter response on DailyKos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/25/1086434/-Open-Letter-to-Kurt-Schlichter-Because-Friendship-is-Magic-
Because this Schlichter dude specifically trashed bronies relative to US military Real Manly Heroez, the response linked to the militarybronies Facebook page. Zing!
And that the rules don’t apply to Real Men. That whole “Prime Directive” thing was just a bit of politic drivel to make the Unreal Men, and of course the women, feel all glowy and righteous.
–
…which explains Real (Republican) Men.
–
slignot:
Thanks. I saw her tonight and she was pretty okay, but that might just because it was a family gathering. *shrugs*
Yeah, it’s kind of learn-as-you-go for me, so I tend to over share in my amazement.
Anyway, my mom bought me a book The Complete Buddhism for Mothers. *sigh* I love my mom, I really do, but I have no fucking clue what I’m going to do with this thing. (I don’t even feel right about giving it away or donating it ‘cos her pitbull took a huge bite out of the cover.)
Man, I love me some zip-off pants for field work. I’m usually in really hot places, and have them zipped off as a default, but sometimes in scratchy brush or when it gets chilly at night, I like to zip them back on.
I have recently gone back to wearing field cloths all the time. Its t-shirts and jeans/shorts me from here on out. At my neatest, I am not that handsome. At my sloppiest I am tres comfortable.
Cicely:
Yes, because cherry-picked 1920s studies are the epitome of scientific knowledge! Doesn’t everyone know that?
Rain, with a Bow slideshow. I know, I’ve been all shooty today.
Caine:
AAAAAAUUUGHH!!! /runs
…sorry, stinging insects scare the shit out of me. AND IT WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT ME!!!
Here’s something, er, interesting: The anti-gay-marriage amendment in NC was “intended partially to protect the Caucasian race.”
Bigotry = crank magnetism. You can’t just believe in one stupid thing, you have to believe in all the stupid things.
Damnit, this is second time I’ve seen you goof that up.
Would a visual check help? Look at the pretty picture.
The Central Valley is frikken huge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_%28California%29
The range for the salamanders to vary is correspondingly large.
On the other hand, Death Valley itself is relatively small:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley
Good news Ilk! My dad made it out of the hospital, and is back home.
Glad to hear it, Patricia!