This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
I wanted to be an archaeologist when I grew up. Either that, or an astronaut.
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Yeah. Isn’t really a problem until they crawl up to you wearing tights and codpiece, and ask “Mommy! Where’s Yorick’s skull?”
It gets a bit messy when they flood the front room to reenact Jason and the Argonauts, especially when they bang bits of furniture together to simulate the Symplegades, and, later, starting throwing things around when playing Talos.
Combine the two. Excavate a monolith.
Page 2
So there.
I am an archaeologist.
chigau
I was about to tell you you’d missed the party.
Just remember to carbon-date.
I wanted to be a palaeontologist, but Jurasic Park ruined my interest in dinosaurs :(
What? No secret under-volcano bases, white cats, and and complicated traps? Pfffffting amateurs!
I wanted to be a paleontologist because of The Land Before Time (Middle Child and Eldest have already set up a list of destinations to travel to because they’re hotspots for dinosaur bones). Then I wanted to be an archaeologist because of Exotic Places and discovering [things].
And I really wish people would get into barfights over the dating of Egyptian dynasties, rather than eggball scores.
blf
Even without the under-volcano bases, if noted archaeologists had that kind of prestige in society, I’d be fairly certain that society as a whole was receiving a pretty solid science education (at least one kind of it :P), and that’s got to be a good thing in any case. Even without the white cats.
I wanted a TARDIS.
I still want a TARDIS.
There is one in the cabinet of curiosities, but its occupied by the extremely angry mouse. That mouse won’t even let the mildly deranged penguin in.
blf
…
Wait, if you haven’t seen the MDP in a while, maybe the mouse did let it in??
:-) Feel free to charge headfirst into battle with any trolls you see! Over here we feed the trolls till they explode.
So full of win.
What Wikipedia says: the last name is from “that doesn’t matter”, “I don’t care” – there’s no penis association whatsoever. I do wonder about concha.
No! :-) When in October? I’ll try to be here!
(Probably will be here anyway; there’s that conference here in early November. :-) )
So full of win!!!
Zhōu Ēnlái.
At least she hasn’t internalized the bullshit. *clenched-tentacle salute*
Oh no! :-( :-( :-(
*fluffy hugs* *calming manatees*
How did it do that?
Ok, so how does one ask for a date with an intelligent attractive dynasty?
blf
How should I know? I just want people to fight about it. In bars. 5/4 timing, please.
I’ve become incredibly cynical about this. Emotionless.
Now I’m out of words.
Considering how inbred they were, if you’re dating one member of a dynasty, you’ve dated them all.
Well, that certainly simplifies things. Now to snag that first date…
Damn she’s definitely in pain, it’s the doc first thing tomorrow morning. She’s also snoring next to me. I consider that due punishment for notbelieving her at first.
+++
Well, Jurasic Park was a really bad movie and suddenly everybody wanted to do something
with dinosaurs…
I wanted to be a paleontologist. So I read every single dinosaur book that the Flagstaff Public Library had. And every single one of them said, in effect, we know everything about them, there is nothing left to learn, they are evolutionary failures and there is no reason to study them any more. Why the hell couldn’t Dinosaur Heresies have been sent (via TARDIS, of course) back to 1977 so that I would have known that all those books published in the 1950s and 1960s were WRONG!
Fossil Fish @464 (which would be a Hudson or a Baltic locomotive):
One patelar tendon translocation, one MCL translocation. Add in two other open surgeries (both to weave in cadaver tendons into ripped tendons), and (I think) seven a-scopes. Intelligent design my pasty white arse!
chigau (違う) @468
I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about that any more so I’ll just say ‘Fine.’
David Marjanović @516:
Carbon dating? Potassium-argon? Argon-argon? Uranium-lead? Social?
Fine.
Tell us a train story?
A guy on my Facebook is pretty much, at this point, kept around to use as a source on various misconceptions regarding feminism, rape culture, and social justice in general. Not on correcting them, on showing me that they are out there. Just started a rape culture bookmark folder for research on a blog post. This guy has SO MUCH wrong that addressing it on Facebook is just not viable. Apparently, for instance, it’s not victim blaming if you don’t actually use the words “it’s the victims responsibility”. At least, that’s the only way I can make sense of a claim that no one says it’s the victims responsibility coming from someone capable of proper spelling and grammar. What troubles me is he talks about how he used to have more pro-feminism views, until he went to college for criminology to become a cop.
In much happier news, I check my upcoming paycheck every tuesday. Sooner I notice a problem, the sooner I can get it fixed. Noticed something odd. Not a problem though. I mentioned here a bit ago that my annual performance review was not getting me a raise, because I already got one for the promotion. Well, that was wrong. I got the promotion raise, *and* the performance raise. The performance one is going in for this weeks paycheck. This weeks check has a pay rate increased by the amount my performance review got me.
Ogvorbis, it’s really good to see you!
GRADES ARE ALL SUBMITTED.
I sort of staggered through this last day — drugged all to hell, slept much of the afternoon, did a double-check on everything once most of the percocet haze had worn off, and then pushed those last few buttons to get it done just under the wire.
Now more drugs, since that job is done. I’m getting a little discouraged here. Had another trip to the clinic this morning (and am going back tomorrow), the wound is just constantly oozing and not closing up. Today was more draining, more cleaning, more applied pressure to get it to stop — the doctor is threatening to open it up again tomorrow and repack it.
Currently looking for a Parsifal. May need the Grail to heal this wound.
blf @509:
It’s not quite a TARDIS, but will this do?
PZ, that does sound discouraging. I’m thinking your evil cyst left some of its bad self behind, or you are giving birth to primordial ooze from a hole in your back.
Make you insist on specialized wound care if you need it.
Oggie
This is still the Lounge, my friend, and you can talk about whatever you need to here.
PZ @523
Wait, it’s a wound in your side? Like a spear was pushed into you, maybe? Aren’t you a white guy with a beard? Something seems really familiar about that… Nope. I got nothing.
Get well soon. And take it easy until you do.
gworroll:
That brings to mind people who say “I’m not blaming the victim…” and then go on to say the victim shouldn’t have worn those clothes, or gone out at night, or had that drink. People like this don’t seem to understand one simple fact: the victims of rape are in no way responsible for their assault. The rapist is the one responsible.
****
Comic book superheroes lost in thought:
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Renewable energy provides Germany with 74% of its energy needs:
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Are lectures an effective method of learning?
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God, The Blaze makes me want to puke.
this article by Meg Storm demonstrates that she doesn’t understand what it means to be advocate tolerance. Nor does she grok the concept of free speech.
Ms. Storm claims that free speech is at the heart of the issue here. She thinks that the open discussion of ideas (without repercussions) at universities is threatened.
NO. It is not.
Rutgers did not withdraw its offer. She could have given the middle finger to the protesting students and accepted the invitation. Instead, she made the choice to decline. The fact that Ms Storm ignores this undermines her already pathetic argument.
I also note that she only gives lip service to the concerns of the students who protested. She could have dug deeper to discover what specific problems students had with the former secretary of state. Instead, she glossed over their concerns.
Ogvorbis:
Why do you think this is the case? Have I missed something?
Gay marriage in Idaho, sort of, maybe, kind of for now.
More on gay marriage in Idaho:
Governor Otter had made a million dollars available to fight gay marriage.
Jeez PZ, I’m so sorry. Wish we were all close enough to form a casserole brigade, at least.
No fucking kidding. I had the bad timing to be applying to grad school in paleontology right when that movie came out, and I could have smacked every person who asked me if I was choosing my life career based on a movie…
You have Danger Mouse imprisoned in a tardis?
–
I remember, back when I was in junior high (and looking into astronomy…ah, make that “I wanted to be an archaeologist or astronaut or astronomer“…being told that same thing about astronomy.
Well. Except for the part about “evolutionary failures”.
Crushed (one of) my dream(s).
–
PZ, I wish I were closer to you. Whenever my friends are sick or somehow discombobulated I descend on them with the home made soup of their choice. I make about 12 different kinds. Sometimes I even include home made bread. I’d love to feed your family with love and good soup.
Hey all, it’s spring and I am busy fixing shit so people can ride more. However, I still found time to send my transcripts in to my prospective school to see if they will have me. Everything is there, now I have to wait for a decision, so excuse my angsty ranting. I know that why I am wound up is because this time I actually care about going to school, still, it’s playing havok. I have even had a bad day at the bike shop, and that happens, well, never. Except now.
I hope people are well, and apologize for not knowing the answer to that. Take care all.
PZ, rest, take your meds, and feel better soon.
Giliell, poor little one! Hugs are offered for both of you.
Ogvorbis, I wish there was something I could do to make you more comfortable.
To all of you in the Lounge, I offer tea, snacks of your choice, and hugs if you’d like them.
I’d like a TARDIS, but I’ll settle for some transdimensional bookcases.
carlie @ 532
I ended up in Mr. Mom.
cicely:
A true Danger Mouse fan would have included a link to the theme song.
morgan:
I knew you were awesome, but this comment shows you’re 12 different kinds of awesome :)
I’ve developed a minor obsession with tracking down the lyrics to an obscure murder ballad of late. It was written ~1904 in eastern Oregon, about a local murder (interestingly, it holds the historical distinction of being the first murder conviction in the U.S. obtained without the discovery of a body, based on the testimony of Dr. Victoria Hampton, a chemist who demonstrated that the blood and hair found on a scrap of cloth were indeed human). I found the last two verses in an article written by a local historian, but nothing else anywhere.
PZ I had a Parsifal kicking about place for months, but I’m afraid I broke it down and sold it as spare parts last week. Sorry. I hope they get it sorted soon.
Dalillama
Oh dear, that’s exactly the sort of obsession I hate getting myself into. You’d think, what with this being the Information Age and all, that such things would be easy to find. I always find myself frustrated at finding all this just as obscure information as I search, but not what I’m looking for.
Have you tried to contact the author of the article?
FossilFishy
I would, only he died in 1965. I’ve also ascertained that it’s not in the Lomax collection, it’s not in Wooley’s American Murder Ballads and Their Stories, and it’s not in the archives of 90% of the area newspapers (those being the ones that the University of Oregon has helpfully uploaded to the web in searchable format. They’re working on the Hood River papers, but haven’t got them yet, and those are the most likely to have it if anyone will. I’ve emailed someone at the Hood River News associated with the project, but not heard back yet. Frankly, if that doesn’t net me anything I’m damned if I know where to try next; if I knew the author’s name I could contact the family, but that’s one of the things I still need to learn. The trouble is, it looks like no one ever cut a record of the song, and it may not have ever been published; the impression given by the article I read was that the author had it orally from someone, possibly the author, but he doesn’t specify who it was. It may be that the information I’m looking for simply doesn’t exist anymore, or that the only copy is lying forgotten in some attic in Hood River or The Dalles.
Yikes, Dalillama. Sounds like you’ve covered all the possibilities, so at least if you fail you’ll know that it wasn’t for lack of effort. /silver lining hunting
Giliell I sympathize with you over the injured child. I just had to drop off a crying 2 year old at nursery and all she wanted to do was cling to me. I find it heartbreaking to leave her like that. Normally she’s happy to go in and get her breakfast and has to be reminded to say bye. The problem at the moment is that she’s getting her last teeth through and I guess she wants comfort.
rq are you interesting in following me on twitter? I post very little, but you’re welcome if you want to. Anyone else is welcomt too.
bassmike
Sure! As I said, I’m going to be fairly silent for a while, too, so we can have some nice quiet twitter companionship. :) I’m pretty sure you can find me by searching “andtheunicorn”, my name shows up as what appears to be a rather random string of letters starting with i.
Giliell
I hope the arm is nothing serious!
Speaking of theatrical children, though, Youngest practices his angry faces at the breakfast table. It’s rather amusing: he’ll be eating his scrambled egg, and then he just stops, concentrates into space for a while, then the brows come down, a moment later the nose wrinkles, and then he does this funny thing with his mouth, and transfers his gaze to me. I have to pretend a bit of fear and/or surprise, and then he smiles and keep eating, looking very satisfied with himself.
+++
Being an adult means accepting the consequences of your decisions. As I am now accepting the consequences of deciding there’s no such thing as too much whipped cream on my pancakes this morning (hey, it was leftover home-made whipped cream from strawberry dessert yesterday, and if it ain’t eaten, it goes bad!).
Also, there’s this apparently really funny joke going around since Eurovision, where guys tell each other to shave, so that they don’t look like women. Heard it twice from Husband because it was going around their work, today it was a meme on Facebook.
And then there was the meme of the (woman) candidate for European Parliament, how she supposedly had all her campaign photos photoshopped to include a beard, to improve her chances…
Yeah, I live in a very progressive and awesomely tolerant country. :P
[/embarrassed and ashamed]
What’s your handle? I will!
Tony
re: contemplative superheroes
Thanks for that link! I especially liked Spiderman, and also Wonder Woman, and Superman on a rock in the middle of a large body of water. Not that the rest were bad, but those were my favourites.
Heya, I’m back from a 4 hour trip to paediatrician, radiologist and surgeon.
The little one has maybe probably certainly (not) injured her ellbow. It’s a bit swollen and hurts, but you can’t see anything on the X-rays, which doesn’t mean that much because at that age not all bones are fully formed. So she now has her arm splinted and we need to see the paediatrician again on Monday.
It’s the moment you have to eat your words: I always said that I didn’t mind if they break bnes if they’Re active children. Yeah, that was NOT meant as an encouragement.
And maybe I can catch a nap later, because she slept in my bed last night and she snores like a champ.
Giliell I’m glad to hear that it wasn’t anything too serious. As with all parents I have experienced the guilt when a child appears to be crying to no reason. Only to find that there really is an issue. It’s hard being a parent!
rq I have tweeted you…..I hope! Otherwise I’ve just confused someone else.
Carlie and anyone else who’s interested in my twitter account: search for bragimike. Maybe it will encourage me to use it more.
Giliell, watching kids hurt is the worst. I’m sorry. :(
Sorry for whining again. I don’t know how to handle the weekend.
Everyone will be drunk. I’m not yet comfortable with them even when everyone is sober and Ihaven’t seen them really party.
I feel sick. I just want to belong there, but I don’t think this trip will help, as I hoped.
Everyone is so excited and I’m close to crying. And maybe puking. That’s not normal.
Beatrice
*hugs*
I really don’t have much good advice for you. :(
Is it all one big informal social affair? Or is there a formal thing you can go to and then leave early, before all the heavy drinking starts? :(
Musical interlude: Latvian big-band jazz “Black Colours” from the 1960s (concert from 2012, though).
Rq,
informal, cottage out of town. I don’t drive.
I’m sorry, Beatrice. Here’s my shot at suggestions:
1. Bring a good book. Not necessarily a new one, maybe an old favorite that you really enjoy and that makes you feel good. Reading a good book as an alternative to chat time is still looked on better than being on the internet/phone.
2. This is a big move, but desperate times and all – fake an injury. Get a knee or elbow support brace at the local drugstore or superstore for about $15, come in to work tomorrow wearing it and with a story about how it happened. Won’t be a break, just a badly twisted joint, trick knee that often gives out, etc. Now for the entire weekend, you have a built-in excuse to not do anything stupid like a trust fall or an egg carry relay or whatever other weird team-building exercise that happens, and you have a reason not to drink and to go to bed early because you can’t mix alcohol with painkillers (even over the counter ones) and you don’t feel well.
Beatrice
Anyone else who isn’t absolutely thrilled? You mentioned a colleague similarly upset about the baking responsibilities…
I’m afraid Parsifal is currently busy being seduced by Waltraud Meier, so you can expect to see him in about ten years. Be of firm resolve Amfortas… uh, I mean PZ.
In all seriousness though, I hope you recover quickly and relatively painlessly. You have my sympathy, as that wound sounds really painful and unpleasant.
Gotta work on my stories. I’m thinking up plots and trying to come up with something dynamic and exciting but it’s just failing on all fronts. My brain is churning out mush…
Funnily, the picture at the top of this Lounge edition seems to illustrate one particular band:
[School’s Out] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bma7XbUlX1c
[Godzilla] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewMdbq8-Z-k
World’s (known) Oldest Orca: Granny, aged 103. Now that’s impressive.
H.R. Giger ‘created cinema’s only non-shit alien’ http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-entertainment/h-r-giger-created-cinemas-only-non-shit-alien-2014051486567
Film critic Mary Fisher said: “Before Alien, and indeed after Alien, extra-terrestrials in films were uniformly wank.
“E.T. looks like a sunbed-addicted nan, the things in Close Encounters were just big fetuses and although Star Wars had some cool aliens in the cantina scene that’s counterbalanced by the ewoks, the shittest of all shit aliens.
“Independence Day aliens – shit. Men In Black aliens – shit. Predator – clearly a body builder with two stuck-on chicken wings for a mouth.
“None of them compares to an eyeless armoured demon with acid blood and a hydraulic fanged-penis mouth. That is just so admirably fucked up.”
Ancient giant sperm discovered http://phys.org/news/2014-05-ancient-giant-sperm-riversleigh-world.html
Researchers find proof of global cooling after Chicxulub asteroid impact http://phys.org/news/2014-05-proof-global-cooling-chicxulub-asteroid.html
The K-Pg extinction? Fuck them, I will keep calling it the K-T extinction.
From human extinction to super intelligence, two futurists explain http://phys.org/news/2014-05-human-extinction-super-intelligence-futurists.html
Beatrice
*hugs* and sympathies. I second the book recommendation, as it’s what I’d probably do in your place.
birgerjohansson @562: re Giger’s aliens: I thought the Pitch Black scaries were pretty good. And in Alien‘s final scenes, it was obviously a bloke in a costume. Overall though, yes, Ripley’s xenomorphs are still the best.
… But I liked the ewoks. Is that so wrong?
beatrice
*hugs*
+++
Well, the little one doesn’t seem to be in pain and is already complaining about the splint. Let’s see if we can make her keep it on until Monday.
Also, should not have bought those dark-chocolate-covered sour cherries. Can’t. Stop. Eating them.
Thanks for the emotional support and advice. A book is a constant companion on any trip, this one definitely needs Good Omens.
*hugs* back to all.
Sorry for missing all your going-ons thanks to only appearing to complain.
I’m not sure that last sentence made any sense, I’m already in french mode.
… I know it’s early in the tournament, but I don’t think Latvia has ever placed this high in the rankings… All because we beat Finland. But then Germany walked all over us. In revenge, we won against Kazakhstan last night. Tomorrow: the US. O oooooh… I’ll just savour fourth place for now. :)
When I was in high school, my chorus had to sing the Ewok song.
It had been made into choral sheet music.
In Ewokeese.
“Yub Nub, eechop yub nub, toe meet toe pee chee kee ne-ee, noop dock fling oooh ah”
and etc.
Eh? No potatoes? I though potato-free food was banned there.
I’m so used to reading that variant of English I didn’t even notice.
Husband starts iv-based meds tomorrow. 3 hours of sitting hooked to an iv. And he’ll have to do that every 6-8 weeks indefinitely because chronic disease.
Tomorrow I try a new therapist, through my insurance, hopefully they won’t be a god-botherer.
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Hi Oggie!
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PZ, my dad had that same surgery several years ago. It takes a while to recover from, even when issues aren’t being had. Hope your doc figures out what’s going on soon.
No. I’m imprisoned outside the TARDIS by a seriously vexed mouse. I don’t know where he — I think it’s a he — came from, but he’s been occupying the TARDIS for a long time now. (I’m not sure if he’s regenerating or what to have kept going this long.)
Fortunately, he’s even worse at flying the TARDIS than The Doctor, which basically means it never goes anywhere. He sort-of does have the hang of using the sonic screwdriver, albeit since he holds it in his mouth like a bit or dog’s bone, the aim is terrible. Most of the time, instead of unlocking the cheese vault, all he manages to do is mop the floor. Not very well, mind you, the dirt usually winds up clumped in odd places, like floating about in the air or stuck to the faucet. Once there was a noisy crack in mid-air that all the dirt when into, the noise then turned into a bout of coughing. The crack’s still there, but now sulking near the ceiling, above the counter.
About the only thing he doesn’t snarl at, and try to bite or sonic, is the Entwife.
Pfft. There’s potatoes in the chocolate, duh.
Umm, rq, do they have potato-free chocolate for export? :)
Open access! Paper confirms that there’s no such thing as a ratite, instead tinamous and moa are sister-groups.
CaitieCat
No!! How can you suggest such a thing? The… horror! The… horror!
(This is how we take over the world: potatoes in chocolate and other good things, until you can’t do without, the one and only True Defining Characteristic of a Latvian! Crafty, innit.)
Someone at work took all my boxes again.
So I found all the empty ones and stashed them away in my desk cupboard. Take that!
I ran that through the Bad Translator, and it explained:
rq:
Eeeek!
What’s next? You liked Jar Jar Binks too, huh :)
Me neither. I’ve known native English speakers who’d build a sentence like that.
Tony
No. I draw a heavy, dark line at Jar Jar Binks. *shudder*
So, my access to academic databases was *not* turned off after I graduated community college.
This is likely to help with this blog post I’m working on to respond to repeated stupid on my Facebook feed, a guy who likes to just drop random studies that are only tangentially related at best.
I don’t know that I’d change his mind, he’s off base on a great many things and far too pig headed, but it should still be good to write all this, with proper citations and everything.
@rq:
thanks for the jazz link. I’ve always loved big band, though the “bwop Bwaaaaaah bop” horns trope has always been overused.
@birger johansson:
1. Exactly why
…a. I’m opting for bat guano instead of cryogenic preservation in my quest for immortality
…b. Batman seemed so tough to kill or injure for a normal guy.
2. I’ll start using Paleogene when the K-Pg folks start using Maastrichtian. Otherwise we’re talking about the transition of 2013 to January.
@rq:
should have refreshed.
I draw a heavy, dark line OVER JarJar Binks.
Damn TV is useless now.
Cliven Bundy speaks mormonese to his followers, note especially the use of “felt impressed to do so,” which is a dog whistle reference to the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost/burning bosom meme in mormonism:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bundy-ranch-lawsuit-decision
Cliven Bundy’s view that his beliefs excuse his breaking the law is more widespread than I would like to admit, and not just in the morridor.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/05/14/3437587/nebraska-sasse-absolute-religious-liberty/
So, hypothetically speaking, if a citizen claimed that a prohibition against murder cannot be enforced against hir on the grounds that hir religious beliefs require human sacrifice, “cannot force citizens to violate their religious beliefs under any circumstances” would provide a useful loophole?
–
cicely
You’re scaring me.
rq
Oh, I doubt that it would be officially phrased as “human sacrifice”…but in what way would a belief in a that all unbelievers, gays, blacks, Socialists, or you-name-it Must Die By Fire differ, in any meaningful way, from human sacrifice?
–
cicely @591
Yep, pretty much. The mormon rule for this is: “If there is ever a conflict between earthly knowledge and the words of the prophet, you stand with the prophet”
Cicely,
Let’s not try and find out, all right?
This.
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Tony @ 539,
What a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much. I suffer from hell-level lack of self esteem so when anyone says anything so complimentary it knocks me off my feet. And a tear or two.
You are a good guy, Mr. Tony.
Beatrice,
I don’t want to have to find out.
If this view prevails, however, I think we inevitably will find out.
–
Oh, look, more prayer rallies in Washington D.C.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/holy-laughter-pastor-organize-latest-religious-right-prayer-rally
Southern gentlemen still pissed off about the Civil War are going to “bury racism.” WTF?
More updates on the Cliven Bundy fiasco:
Why didn’t anyone ever tell me being a parent is hard?
cicely,
That was a failed “are you trying to tell us something about yourself that should worry us” joke on my part, sorry.
carlie
Nobody told me, either. *hugs*
cicely
Well, ha, because none of those on that list are human enough. But probably just enough for an acceptable sacrifice. :P
Ugh, I disgust myself.
+++
Stories about coming home:
1) I walked into the train station, looked at the schedule, and thought, “Oh cool, it’s like a physics problem! Two trains, leaving from the same platform, in opposite directions, at the same time!” The truth was much cooler: Both trains (I was on one) left at the same time, on parallel tracks, in the same direction, so we had a bit of a train-race in the interweaving station-leaving web of tracks. Kinda cool.
2) Woman stepping off the train from the car ahead of me looked like she’d stepped out of the 1920s. I thought to myself, “What’s a lady like you doing out so late?” (I’m not a lady and have never aspired to be one, so I’m allowed to go home after midnight. ;) )
Well, there goes my sense of job security. Changes at work, including a new boss-boss (that would be six in the eight years I’ve worked there), which is even more foreboding considering the entire Forensics Department (and we’re not few in number) actively resisted this change in boss-bosses, which was excused as a ‘routine rotation’. Considering the guy coming in has already said he’s not going to do anything at all for the year and a half he has left before retirement, well… That, and the budget cuts to maintenance things, like carpets and cleaning. Not having good feelings about the Ministry’s priorities.
You guys, I can’t ever be mad when I hurt myself, because every time is a freaking sitcom.
Setup: I decided that finally, after years of yearning, I was going to get teh awesome shoez. Set a time within the next two weeks to go get them. Cue dropping a chair on my foot. This was Monday. Yesterday I went to work as normal because it seemed kind of ok, but I quickly realized that when I walk on it, it hurts and swells up more. I’ve had to wear sandals, because of said swelling, specifically the kind of sandals that only have a couple of thin straps so that your foot is all basically free. So ok, I’m one foot down, still should be ok soon, it’s just hard to walk around much and there is limping.
Scene: I’m cooking dinner. It’s spaghetti, which I’ve made a thousand million times before.
Punchline: Pasta is done. I go to carry it the three feet to the sink to drain, move both too fast and the handle twists a bit in my hand, and I slosh boiling water all over the floor…
…and my other foot. Because of course I did. I am both the schlemiel and the schlimazel.
*sigh*
Eek, rq, I’m sorry about your job worries. My workplace is also undergoing… changes… of the kind that I can’t talk about because I’ve been a bit too fast and loose with my identity, but I really feel for you. I hope you can stay afloat.
carlie,
ouch, ouch, ouch
Is the boiled foot ok?
I liked the Ewoks. Might have something to do with Return of the Jedi being the first movie I saw in theaters, and me being 5 at the time.
Jar Jar though- there was exactly one good thing about the character. Use of CGI. While it’s unlikely he could be removed entirely and leave much of the movies, if recordings from before his model was inserted still exist- it’s possible to replace him with something less ridiculous. This wouldn’t fix all the problems with the prequels, but it would vastly mitigate what IMO is the biggest.
Second biggest was the midichlorian stuff. If they weren’t going to deeply explore it, and all the implications, the origins of The Force should have been left off the table. That’s one thing that really needs to be the main focus of a film or not covered at all. Or they could have used it to further Qui-Gonn as a maverick, and have more direct and open skepticism expressed as to the significance of Anakins midichlorian count. All we got was a throwaway line of technobabble that doesn’t drive the story really at all.
There probably isn’t much to be done about the acting, especially the lack of chemistry between Padme and Anakin, though if they hand the actors a big enough pile of money they might be able to redub some dialog to improve things a bit. Maybe they could dig through alternate takes they still have recordings of, and maybe find some that, in retrospect, would have worked better than the ones they actually used.
And I actually enjoyed the prequels for the most part. But they definitely have their flaws.
*ice-covered hugs* for carlie
Ouch, that hurt. I hope it gets better soon and nothing is broken in the other foot.
+++
Rawnaeris
Good luck to you and your husband
+++
Well, the little one is asleep in her bed. Sounds like I might get some sleep, too
gworroll
I didn’t like the prequels, I felt they didn’t live up to the rather simple goodheartedness of the originals. Then again, I have been known to hold conservatively traditional views on such things as movies and sequels, so… :)
I really hated the immaculate conception bit about Anakin’s birth. Like, really.
carlie
I’m sure, in general, things will be fine for me, but it’s always a bit nerve-wracking until things settle again due to my non-standard work hours (which I’m allowed to work by the grace of those further up), and I’m always terrified someone will tell me I have to work regular hours or leave the job… And that thought makes me panic: who the heck wants to employ a mother of multiple children with scheduling issues, not to mention aging education? :P
I hope your foot is fine and recovers well, at least enough (and in time) to buy awesome shoes!!
Also, good luck with the changes at work. Hope it goes smoothly for you!
Musical interlude: The Mollusk by Ween.
Standard Sprog Stealth Strategy: Fool them with seemingly benign behaviour before the attack.
Hey, folks! Just popping in to say that my travels start on Friday, and after that I will be mostly absent from the internet until early July. I’ll miss you all, but I’m also very much looking forward to being a lot more unplugged than I’ve been in the past year-ish, so I probably won’t be checking in on the rare occasions when I have internet access.
I will go see geysers and mountains and trees and rivers and oceans, and I will read books and watch sunsets, and I will attempt to talk to attractive women. It will be an adventure!
Catch you in July!
Good luck, Nutmeg! In all ways and manners, and may your travels be fun, educational, and exciting in all the right places (and peaceful in all the right ones, too)!
Presumably it took them all day. Crayons are not a fountain pen.
Crayons are more difficult to clean from the walls.
Potatoes in good things? Potato beer? Potato vin? Potato whisk(e)y? Potato cognac? Potato brandy?
Potato cheese? Potato MUSHROOMS! Potato cheese? Potato babies? Potato potatoes? Potato lobsters? Potato
beefhorse? Potato moar cheese? Potato oysters? Potato duck? Potato… well, just about anything beginning or ending with A, B, C, … X, Y, or Z?Potato peas… probably no change. Still peas.
You will be boiled alive and fall off cliffs and have branches fall on you and drown and drown again, and will fall asleep and get sunburnt, and will be laughed at. Or at least that’s what happens to me…
Feck, can’t even post crooked… Missing sentence: And that’s before I get out of bed.
Thanks Giliell, we’re tryin’ to hang in there as much as possible.
****
Potato? In CHOCOLATE?!?!?! Whatever I possibly did to offend the gods of chocolate, I apologize! Just don’t contaminate my lovely, lovely chocolate with *potato*
Happy travels to Nutmeg!
Healed feet to carlie – hope you’re ok soon, it really is sod’s law that this would happen right before the planned awesome shoe purchase :-(
Getting-better wishes to little one, Giliell – it’s horrible when they’re hurt or ill. Hope you both get some sleep.
Hope there is no work upheaval of any kind, rq.
Wishing good health to all y’all, whether you need any or not, and the right amount of work (enough to pay the bills, and not too much to leave any time for anything else).
Happy trails, Nutmeg. Sorry we can’t meet up. Hope you have a grand time.
Potato chocolate candy
Or, perhaps, potato chips dipped in chocolate?
Potato chocolate candy
Or, perhaps, potato chips dipped in chocolate?
(Damn. Tyring again!)
Sorry.
Oggie, have a grog/swill on the house, while watching this video showing the Pullet Patrol™ putting a recalcitrant keyboard out of its misery….Dang Tpyos struck again….Sorry about the link.
Oggie, that recipe is an abomination, abomination I say!
*rocks in the corner muttering about the evils of potato*
There is one single spring peeper outside. It is killing me. We never have them here near the house – I don’t know where he floated or hopped in from. He keeps calling and calling and nobody’s answering. :(
Beatrice, it’s okay. I just depressed myself thinking about it, is all.
–
rq, sorry about your boss-boss woes.
*hugs*
–
Sympathy and a *cooling compresses* for carlie.
–
Best wishes for a Good Night’s Sleep for Giliell.
–
Have fun, Nutmeg! Take many pictures.
:)
–
Peas poison everything they touch.
That’s their mutant superpower.
Keep those things away from my chocolate!
–
Sympathy to carlie.
I happen to like potatoes.
I don’t know what I’d do without my breakfast hash. Mmmmmmm, potatoes and fresh-from-the-garden green beans feature, various vegetables/fruits take on the supporting roles on different days (though broccoli and peppers tend to feature heavily), consistent admixture of onion & mushroom for rooty-fungal goodness, then finish off with leaves picked fresh off one of my basil plants and some minced garlic.
Sauce as you like or not at all. While it takes a bit of time to cook, it doesn’t take that much effort, so you can be herding kids or brushing your teeth or herding your kids towards their toothbrushes (with much less success) while the olive oil sizzles and the pots approach veggie-ready consistency.
Home from phonebanking again.
Very early numbers in our phone bank, it’s about 90% undecideds, and the other 10% pretty evenly split between the three parties (in Canadian terms, they are the right, centre, and left – Cons, Libs, NDP – but in the US, our Conservatives are probably pretty close to Obama’s Democrats, and our NDP off the chart socialist by US standards). Riding is currently orange (NDP, socialists in all but name), which marked the first time in 28 years of voting that I’d ever voted for a winner. That was cool. Tonight I had a hot beverage with her, she’s quite nice.
Walked home after, since the rain had stopped; my new pedometer app says it was 1.8km, or a mile and a little more. I am LOVING my phone the longer I have it. I’ve been re-reading the collected works of Lovecraft, just got to At the Mountains of Madness, one of my favourites, and loving having it on a fairly lightweight thing that I can read in the dark. That’s a pretty awesome way to read Lovecraft.
Still hoping to find a really good kanji app, if anyone has any recommendations.
rq, hope the job concerns settle down. *hugs* offered.
carlie, it’s one of the hardest jobs we humans can do, being given the responsibility to bring another human into society. And we make people do it for nothing. That’s messed up. *hugs* offered to you too. Also, sorry to hear about your poor feet! You’ve had a rough go this week. :(
I know there was someone else I wanted to say something to – Beatrice and Giliell and Nutmeg come to mind, and I’m sure there are others – but I’m going to have to beg off, as I’m pretty much shattered after four hours of sitting in a bad chair, and then walking home.
So apologies for partial threadruption, and *hugs* and appropriate sympathetic and/or congratulatory gestures as needed/desired, but I can’t sit up, and I’ve typed this much standing in front of my laptop, but now this Steam-Powered Not-a-Robot Getaway Driver is, sadly, outta steam.
Now, to reverse the ratios of my vertical and horizontal dimensions.
*psshhhhhhhhhhttttt* *clank-clank-c l a n k c__l__a__n__k c_.._l._.._.._…*
zzzzzzz
*gentle, soothing hugs* for CaitieCat.
I admire your dedication.
Not joking.
–
cicely:
Only human beings have mutant powers.
For peas to have mutant powers they must be human.
Peas must therefore be human shapeshifters.
Watch your back, the peas are watching you.
(yes, I realize the above is bizarro world logic)
I love potatoes.
That is all.
Ogvorbis
That’s a thing, you can get them in several shops around here.
Otherwise a bit ‘rupt, wrestling with a massive bout of depression and not focusing real well. *hugs* all ’round.
Considering potato can be used as replacement for stuff needing gluten (they’re like a pre-made cake, just without the sugar, flavouring to be adjusted by you!), I’m so trying that sometime…
Crip Dyke
Your morning harsh sounds delicious. And yes, herding children towards toothbrushes…
Also, today we pick up our summer potato, and I think I’m going to call it the Cienījamais Dārzenis, which means “the honourable [vegetable/savoury fruit/root/tuber]*”, unless you don’t want our family potato to have your initials…
* A dārzenis is basically anything that comes from the garden but isn’t sweet. If ya want roots specifically, you have to say saknes.
carlie
Sometimes they hibernate in weird places in the house, get under porches or rocks in the garden and such – we had three wake up in the spring under the front steps of the house, so they had their lonely little evening song sessions right by the front door. At least for these guys, the pond was across the street, and they found some friends, but they were loud. Even though it was only three of them.
*hugs* for Rawnaeris and Dalillama (hope your current depression realizes it’s not worth it to bother you and leaves :( ) and Ogvorbis, and CaitieCat (in addition to various bowing and hat-lifting and hand-shaking, because you deserve some reverence).
I think career of evil genius would be perfect for me. The kind where you do everything wrong, and it turns out great in the end because if you hadn’t robbed the wrong bank you would have tried robbing a bank Batman was just making a deposit in.
I decided to make poppy seed taschen for the trip. I considered how you have to work with cool dough, and then decided to do one batch this morning and another in the afternoon.
…..
WTF? Right? The dough doesn’t cool in 5 minutes.
Fortunately, I realized that yesterday after french class (about 11pm) and made the dough.
That made for two batches of cookies this morning and I made another batch of dough that’s cooling its heels in the fridge until afternoon. (planning to make this into something like thumbprint cookies, filled with marmelade)
I even have time to drink my coffee in peace and catch up here before going to work.
Evil genius, I tell ya.
Rob Grigjanis,
Yes, the aliens Vin Diesel sliced and diced were pretty good. Both in “Pitch Black” and in the third film, “Riddick”.
BTW is Grigjanis a Lithuanian name or possibly Latvian?
Hugs to Dalillama, hope the black dog backs off.
.
Hugs to Rawnaeris, Ogvorbis and CaitieCat, and good-health wishes all round.
.
.
Voting for Beatrice for resident Evil Genius, I think we could do with one who gets everything wrong but whose superpower is Serendipity!!!!! (so when you try to take over the world’s computers it doesn’t work, but you accidentally transfer the contents of all the Saudi royal family’s bank accounts to campaigns for women’s education and cause the contents of every hard drive belonging to any fascist/white supremacist/fundagelical organisation anywhere to be transferred to the inbox of national and international press and law enforcement …
Come to think of it, Serendipity!!!!! would be an awesome superpower to have. And I think that Serendipity the superhero/ine would make for a great live action or animated film or graphic novel too. It could be a black comedy, and would be able to deal with both light and dark storylines. Ooh, and there could be instalments drawn/painted by different artists in different styles!
Anyone want to suggest an international cast for the live-action film? :-) And voice actors for the animation (who should Alan Rickman play? ’cause obviously he’s going to voice a major character … maybe the nemesis?). Simon Pegg could be in it, and Maggie Smith, and I think Helen Mirren could be a villain, and Jean Reno is sooooo totally going to be in it …
Bruce Willis, too! Because Bruce Willis.
… and Callum Kieth Rennie … and Sandra Oh …
Ooo! Yes to both.
And Idris Elba.
Yes, good choice! :-)
Always Idris Elba.
there should be more than one of him.
+++
Little one is back to daycare and we already had a discussion about “I can ride the bike with one hand”.
I swam 1000m and now I’m off to the doc to get the results of my blood test.
I trully, madly adore your suggestions
Giliell
1000m?? Wow, impressive! Go you!! Good luck with the blood test.
Beatrice
I feel like we’re missing a few people, though.
rq
It’s even more impressing when you take into account that I haven’t been swimming since before the little one was born…
And blood test results are good. One liver value is off as usually. Dr. wants me to cut back on carbohydrates, which I’m doing anyway at the moment. I haven’t had chocolate in two weeks, I’m almost a saint.
And finally!!!! I convinced them that I need to be vaccinated against everything. No wonder people come back from Germany and have the measles…
We’re missing Emma Thompson and Tom Hiddelston(sp?) as my henchpeople
Beatrice I agree with the inclusion of Idris Elba. Surely we could find a part for Dave Tennant? Maybe he could be your scientist accomplice.
Beatrice
Oooh, Emma Thompson for sure! And Tom Hiddleston – not baaaad! Long hair or short? ;) I’m assuming you’re going to play you?
I think Samuel L Jackson should have a part, too – him, Bruce Willis and Lucy Lawless can be the henchmen of your Nemesis (Alan Rickman, of course).
Ellen Page. That’s who I was thinking of. I don’t know if she fits into your narrative anywhere, though. And then there’s Lupita Nyong’o, too.
bassmike
Holy TARDIS, how could I have forgottenDavid Tennant?!
I guess I’d let either of those two (Ellen, Lupita) play me. I’m sure they’d be better at it
Dalillama @635:
Hugs and sympathy to you. I keep telling myself I’m doing okay. Sometimes I believe it.
–
Perhaps Mandy Potinkin for a voice over (not sure for who)? And maybe a song? Somthign about his voice . . . .
Next week (hopefully) I will be buying a new computer. Any suggestions for a Windows system that will be affordable and reliable? More important, what should I run away from?
Froggies! And they dance!
You all forgot Diana Rigg.
I’m awake, and I’m in pain, but I’m about to take my little white pills and sink into a numb haze for the rest of the day. See you all later. I might have enough consciousness left to start a new Lounge thread when this one ticks over, but that’s about all the capacity I’ll have once I fry my brain again.
Next week begins the summer research season so I have to be off these things by then.
Ogvorbis,
win8 sucks
Just take it as easy as you can PZ . You need the rest. I hope that you achieve pain-free status soon.
Indeed.
In addition to all this touch screen crap on a machine that doesn’t have one. Fuck you, Microsoft, fuck you very much.
—
I’d rather have Christopher Eccleston with his “I’ve seen it all and hated it, but I have no choice but to carry on” face than either of those later manic whippersnapper doctors. It’s supposed to be a dark comedy, right?
Rest and take care, PZ
Thanks for the hugs folks. As y’all have probably gathered the internet is my coping mechanism, so I’m likely to be around more for the near future.
****
Oggie, email me at rawnaeris AT teh gmail. Buying computers is one of my hobbies, but I’ll need more details than you’ve given so far to give a budget-appropriate recommendation.
*****
PZ, glad it sounds like you should be able to just rest at home today.
***
I love Elba, Tennant, and Hiddleston.
*****
Potatoes are evil, and horrible and oooshy. They are not to be eaten under any circumstances.
I’ll have your spuds, mate, i love!
*cue vikings*
Spud, spud, spud, spud, spud, spud, spud, spud…
Lovely spuds, wonderful spuds…
*fades out humming along with vikings*
Mmm… I’d love to eat horse, potatoes and peas. Now I’m wondering if there’s a recipe that uses all three. Some kind of a stew, perhaps?
Re. serendipity;
Robson Green!
.
A brief history of Mother’s Day http://www.gocomics.com/richards-poor-almanac/2014/05/12
.
Researchers find alpha-ketoglutarate more than doubles lifespan of nematode http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-alpha-ketoglutarate-lifespan-nematode.html
How life could have produced most minerals on Earth http://phys.org/news/2014-04-life-minerals-earth.html
New formula for fast, abundant hydrogen production may help power fuel cells http://phys.org/news/2013-12-formula-fast-abundant-hydrogen-production.html
Inhibiting protein family helps mice survive radiation exposure, study finds http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-inhibiting-protein-family-mice-survive.html
Mars, here we come!
You mean like, “horse pea chowder”? That sounds oddly unappetizing for some reason, dunno why…
Why complicate things? A nice cut of horse in the pan with plenty butter, roasted potatoes and good (barely cooked) petit pois with butter. A bit of roquefort at the side is nice (mix it 50/50 with butter if you want something that resembles a sauce).
*shudder*
+++
So explain to me this: if you have a nice large lawn that already has about five different species of mostly-wild-type grasses, why the fuck would you plant more decorative grasses in your garden, only to have them strangle all the pretty phlox (which is pretty vicious itself, I’ll grant you)??
Just spent an hour removing all the decorative grasses from a small patch of garden. Incidentally, taking all the phlox with it. Damn you, complicated root systems.
Hope the little white pills do what you need them to do, PZ, and that you get some rest.
.
Serendipity is clearly going to have an all-star cast …. :-)
“Chowder” draws a blank in my mind, so probably not. I think I’d cook cubed horse and potatoes tender in stock with flavourful tubers and a few bay leaves, and add the peas just the last minute, to warm them through.
I am t hinking of making a list of which urban gothic heroes are active in which cities, but I do not have many candidates of which I recall the details.
London: Matthew Swift (aka the Midnight Mayor)
Chicago: wossname, written by Jim Butcher ?
Los Angeles: Jim (James?) Stark, aka Sandman Slim
New York: Cal Leandros, the half-grendel in the books by… I forgot.
— — —
Scientists show AIDS vaccine could work against changeable site on HIV http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-scientists-aids-vaccine-changeable-site.html
.
Possible new plan of attack for opening and closing the blood-brain barrier http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-blood-brain-barrier.html
“The findings may also have implications for other areas of the body that rely on transcytosis, such as the retina and kidney”
…and if opening the barrier would allow nerve cells to absorb substances that limit damage during freezing by inhibiting water crystal formation, we have passed a milestone to saving people with incurable diseases by freezing them.
Chicago would be Dresden, if you’re going for Butcher’s version.
Voice actors?
Samuel L. Jackson.
Have a nice haze, PZ.
PZ
Nope. Never, ever will I forget her. Indelible she is: my first impossible adolecent crush who I recognised as being more powerful than me in all ways. Well, the character she played anyway. /TMI. I’m sorry to hear that you’re still suffering.
Dalillama
Hang in there. No matter what your lying depression might be telling you there are people all over the world who care about you. My antipodian self included.
Voices: Grey DeLisle and Jennifer Hale (Avatar TLA’s Azula and Mass Effect’s Shepard respectively).
Voice or live: James Earl Jones.
I didn’t have a crush so much as I wanted to be Emma Peel.
NEW THREAD.