Oh old board games

So I went home this weekend to see family and friends. Whenever my friend Mike and I get together, for some unholy reason we play Trivial Pursuit (the most aptly named board game ever). It usually starts off fun, but ends in me throwing pieces after I’ve missed my wedge question for Sports & Leisure or Entertainment for the 15th time. Though this time was special – I couldn’t find our new version of the game, so we had to settle for my parents’ ancient 1981 version. Just to give you some perspective on how hard that is for us, I was born in 1987, Russia was the USSR, and you have to differentiate between East and West Germany.

But what was the worst category? Science and Nature. Usually that’s my go-to subject, but the questions were so ridiculous I had to write some of them down. My four favorites:

Q: What’s the only mammal that can’t fly that can fly?
Me: …Are you kidding me?
A: Man
Mike: That sounds more like a joke than a trivia question.

Q: What sign of the zodiac falls between Nov 22 and Dec 21?
Me: What the hell?!?!?! Why is there an astrology question in SCIENCE and NATURE?!
A: Sagittarius (Unfortunately I knew it anyway, I was a big astrology buff back in the day…I know, we all have our shortcomings)
And then we proceeded to get FIVE MORE astrology questions throughout the game. I can only imagine how many there were total.

Q: Name the three Kingdoms of nature.
Me: Three?? Aren’t there like, five kingdoms? Damnit, old game.
Mike: Well, what are the five?
Me: Um…animals, plants, fungi, protists, and bacteria or whatever. Hm…what three would they say in 1981… I’m going to say Animals, plants, and bacteria.
A: Animal, vegetable, mineral
Me: What the hell?! Mineral isn’t even a living thing! (And upon further inspection, the five kingdoms were developed in 1969, so screw you Trivial Pursuit)

Q: What’s considered the most highly specialized mammal?
Me: …Well technically each mammal is highly specialized for the particular niche it evolved in. What the hell is this even asking?
A: The whale
Me: I hate this game

In conclusion, don’t play old versions of Trivial Pursuit unless you want to be frustrated, or you want a unique outlook on how far we’ve come in science in the last 30 years. Or you want to watch your scientist friends throw mini tantrums.

And Japan fills in for Jennifer

I’m lacking inspiration at the moment – sorry folks. I’d like to blame the drugs, but I’m done with them and actually feeling great. I’m going home for the weekend, so maybe driving through rural Indiana will inspire me. Until then here are some videos from Japan that scare me and make me laugh at the same time:

I'm an equal opportunity nerd offender

And for those of you who think I may have it out for Star Trek, you should know I’m almost as stupid about Star Wars. I still have yet to see the three original films in their entirety. It’s one of those things where I’ve seen all of them through bits and pieces over about a 15 year period, but I have no concept of how they go together and I’ve forgotten the majority of it. To show my ignorance, I will admit the girl in the following video has a MUCH more coherent grasp on the movies than I do. Now that I’ve covered my bases and offended my entire readership (and lost my Geek Card), watch the hilarious video:

I’m an equal opportunity nerd offender

And for those of you who think I may have it out for Star Trek, you should know I’m almost as stupid about Star Wars. I still have yet to see the three original films in their entirety. It’s one of those things where I’ve seen all of them through bits and pieces over about a 15 year period, but I have no concept of how they go together and I’ve forgotten the majority of it. To show my ignorance, I will admit the girl in the following video has a MUCH more coherent grasp on the movies than I do. Now that I’ve covered my bases and offended my entire readership (and lost my Geek Card), watch the hilarious video:

God's Stimulus Package

I laughed when my good friend Mark told me about this, so he typed it up. Consider this a guest post of sorts:

“I hitched a ride with my roommate’s dad to go home to do some Pre-calc tutoring this weekend. Money, hooray! Being that this is Indiana, there tend to be signs of a religious nature that pop up on the highways. I’m sure Jen has mentioned to you about the Jesus is Real/Hell is Real sign on I-65.

As it turns out, that isn’t the only sign in that area! As we were driving up US 41, we passed a very obviously pro-life sign I hadn’t ever seen before. The sign said “God’s Stimulus Package” and had a picture of a box with babies in it. After the initial shock of seeing the sign, I realized it was very thought provoking.

It got me to thinking. How WOULD extra babies stimulate the economy? Extra padding for a national food store? Alternative fuel source? What do you think?”

I’m thinking a baby fighting ring – we’ll need the extra entertainment when the economy completely collapses, right?

God’s Stimulus Package

I laughed when my good friend Mark told me about this, so he typed it up. Consider this a guest post of sorts:

“I hitched a ride with my roommate’s dad to go home to do some Pre-calc tutoring this weekend. Money, hooray! Being that this is Indiana, there tend to be signs of a religious nature that pop up on the highways. I’m sure Jen has mentioned to you about the Jesus is Real/Hell is Real sign on I-65.

As it turns out, that isn’t the only sign in that area! As we were driving up US 41, we passed a very obviously pro-life sign I hadn’t ever seen before. The sign said “God’s Stimulus Package” and had a picture of a box with babies in it. After the initial shock of seeing the sign, I realized it was very thought provoking.

It got me to thinking. How WOULD extra babies stimulate the economy? Extra padding for a national food store? Alternative fuel source? What do you think?”

I’m thinking a baby fighting ring – we’ll need the extra entertainment when the economy completely collapses, right?

An uncontroversial atheist ad?

You know, maybe we’re being too hard on all the bus companies in Indiana who keep rejecting the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign‘s ad, “You Can Be Good Without God.” I mean, who are we kidding? That’s pretty controversial! Plenty of people think that concept is ludicrous, and an outright lie. We all know the only reason Christians don’t go around killing, raping, and stealing is because of the reward of heaven and the threat of hell. Ask any Christian what they would do if they were suddenly certain that their was no God, and I’m sure they’ll confidently state that they’ll go on a murderous rampage and take part in drunken orgies (two of the favorite past times of atheists).

That in mind, I figured I’d try to help the bus campaign out by coming up with some uncontroversial advertisement.

“This is What Atheists Look Like (insert photo of smiling family)” Woah, way too scare-tacticy there. Atheists can be anywhere and look like normal people while secretly sacrificing goats in their basement? But who will we know to discriminate against?!

“Atheists Are Human Too” Oh wait, apparently Cardinal Cormack Murphy O’Connor thinks atheists are “not fully human” because religion is a human universal. Scratch that idea.

“Atheists Don’t Eat Babies” Well, we know that’s an outright lie, so that’ll never fly.

“Atheists Exist” Hmmm, well, not exactly. I mean, atheists really believe in God, they just hate him, right? And all atheists will repent on their death bed, so they eventually won’t be atheists anymore. And how does that little saying go? Atheists don’t believe in God, so God doesn’t believe in atheists? Oh ho ho, so clever!

“Look, We Don’t Want to Convert Religious People, We Just Want Other Atheists to Know That They’re Not Alone so Stop Freaking Out” But atheists are alone because they have God shaped hole in their heart! They’re lacking Jesus! Actually, this ad is still offensive – I bet those atheists are trying to trick you into converting by getting your guard down!

Hmmm, well I’m running out of ideas now, but I’m sure we’ll eventually come up with an ad that’s not controversial. How about “Atheists are Ignorant Deluded Curmudgeons Bent on Sending Your Children to Hell”? That’s not a controversial message in the US, so it’s obviously okay to stick on a bus. Because what matters more – saying the truth, or trying not to offend people?

Oh Germany

Still cramming for exams (futilely, I should add), but here’s a hilariously weird advertisement for a currency trading company. I can assure you this would never be seen on American TV:

(Via Gawker)

The young exodus from religion

Both Pharyngula and Friendly Atheist have already commented on this lovely new study: Professor Robert Putnam from Harvard has found that the number of young people who have no religious affiliation has skyrocketed to 30% – 40%. Now, these aren’t all necessarily atheists, but one can hope this is the first step for many of them to go down the slippery slope of Heathendom.

When I was about ten years old I confidently told my father that by the time I was 40, no one would go to church anymore. He looked at me shocked (especially since I didn’t know what church was actually for, or who Jesus/God were at the time).

“Why do you think that?” he asked. I told him everyone my age always complains about how much they hate going, so why would they keep doing it when they grow up? He chuckled at me, thinking this was a ridiculous idea, even though he himself was not religious. “We’ll see,” he said sarcastically.

Maybe in 19 years people will still be going to church, but I still consider this trend a victory. Take that, dad!

I also consider this a success for the atheist dating market, though I don’t have to worry about that too much as an atheist chick. Though the odds are good, the goods are odd… or to quote Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, “The male to female ratio, yeah? I mean you have your veritable pick of the litter. You can choose from all kinds of guys who have no idea how to please you.” (Just kidding, male readers! I <3 all of you, and I'm sure us uninhibited atheists win when it comes to being kinky in the sack)

I love when internet culture sneaks into real life

As I was leaving my programming exam in the computer science building tonight, I noticed they had put up a new kiosk outside. We staple flyers to these things to advertise for events and such. Student groups (including ours) have been whining for a while now that there aren’t enough on campus, so I was pretty excited to see a new one. I was more excited when I read the lone flyer someone had pinned on.Wait a second, what does that say? Let’s zoom in a bit:
I love internet culture so much. I should expect nothing less from computer science students, but I still love it. I feel like I’m in some secret club that only the cool kids know about. Good to know we have silly comment trolls for tangible objects.

(And I apologize for the crappy photos. Only had my camera on me, and I got out of my exam at 9 pm)