Wikibloogia

Order (ring theory)

2010-03-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Order (ring theory) is another math concept that makes no sense to almost every human being on this planet. That's weird to think about.

I mean, click that link and read the article. It says things like: "In less formal terms, additively should be a free abelian group generated by a basis for R over ."

It's weird that some people's brains understand that. On the other hand, even chickens have brains. It's true. You can eat them.

I don't really like onion rings.
Photo: sanctumsolitude via Flickr (CC)

History of programming languages

2010-03-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

History of programming languages is interesting. I recommend clicking the link to read about it. They say you can trace the history of programming languages back to 1801, when the Jacquard loom punched holes in cards to represent sewing loom arm movements in order to make decorative patterns automatically.

I love the word loom.

It's so soft.

This is a photo of two books about the C programming language.
Photo: mrbill via Flickr (CC)

John Neihardt

2010-03-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

John Neihardt was an American author, poet, philosopher and amateur historian and ethnographer. He was born in 1881 and died in 1973. His life, and his works, were centered on life on the Great Plains.

My life, and my works, are centered on random dumb things that no one cares about.

Plains don't get any greater.
Photo: jimmywayne via Flickr (CC)

Whitley, Coventry

2010-03-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Whitley, Coventry is a suburb of Coventry in England. It looks like a nice place.

Whitley was the name of a character in A Different World, a spinoff of the Cosby Show. Whitley was harsh, yet fair. Pretty, yet tough. She had a southern accent.

Whitley was played by Jasmine Guy. I always liked Jasmine Guy. Maybe I still do, I don't know. I haven't seen her in a while. I like the last name Guy. I also like the first name Guy.

There have been many TV spinoffs. Laverne and Shirley was a spinoff of Happy Days. Empty Nest was a spinoff of The Golden Girls. Frasier was a spinoff of Cheers. I love spinoffs. They make me feel like the TV world is real. Kind of like my life.

Or is it...?

The little girl doesn't know what to think of Jasmine Guy.
Photo: obfusciatrist via Flickr (CC)

Jade Warrior (album)

2010-03-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

Jade Warrior (album) was released in 1971 as one of the earlier albums of the psychedelic progressive rock movement. It is the first Wikibloogia in four days that is not directly related to Japan. Though, the album cover is Asian-themed, with Asian writing, and Asian-style mountains and sailboat, so I'm not out of the woods yet.

Jade Warrior was also the name of the band. Jade is a stone. I think it's green.

Jade animals.
Photo: markb120 via Flickr (CC)

Sanshō (sumo)

2010-03-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Sanshō (sumo) are the three prizes awarded to top division sumo wrestlers at a sumo tournament.

What is going on here? The last three Wikibloogia articles have been about Japan. What are the chances? Of the millions of articles on Wikipedia, I happen to click to three in a row about Japan? What is the universe trying to tell me? If tomorrow's Wikibloogia article is about Japan, I will have no choice but to have Japanese food for lunch.

Actually, I'm not very hungry.
Photo: hitthatswitch via Flickr (CC)

Kofun

2010-03-12T10:58:00.000-08:00

Kofun are megalithic tombs in Japan. This is the second Japan-related Wikibloogia in a row. Something must be trying to tell me something. Something about Japan. Maybe I should have Japanese food for lunch today. I almost always enjoy Japanese food.

Tombs are places where people bury other people after they die. Then the ground eats them. The ground much prefers eating dead people to eating living people. In fact, even on the rare occasion where a man is buried alive, the ground always waits until after he is dead before eating him.

This is what happens when you die.
Photo: h.koppdelaney via Flickr (CC)

Mount Ōfuna

2010-03-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

Mount Ōfuna is a mountain in Japan. It is 653.1 meters high. There's a small shrine on the top for monks. A long time ago, there was a Buddhist temple near the top, but it's not there anymore.

I like walking to the tops of mountains. Being at the top of a mountain makes you feel closer to the grand powers of the universe. And closer to the sky.

And closer to yourself. Being at the top of a mountain makes you feel closer to yourself. After all, when you really think about it, we are all mountains. We are all mountains in Japan.

Ants have mountains in Japan too.
Photo: mhaithaca via Flickr (CC)

Ulmus glabra 'Nana'

2010-03-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

Ulmus glabra 'Nana' is a very slow growing shrub. Those are Wikipedia's exact words. I love that description. I don't know why, but I do.

I also really like the nickname Nana for a plant. I think this is my new favorite plant. I guess it's my only favorite plant. I have always liked plants, but I've never had a favorite. Until now. Now Ulmus glabra 'Nana' is my favorite plant. Thanks, Wikibloogia.

You look pretty today, Nana.
Photo: pluralzed via Flickr (CC)

Leeann Tingley

2010-03-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

Leeann Tingley is a beauty queen from Rhode Island who has competed in the Miss USA pageant. She was Miss Rhode Island USA in 2006. She's very pretty and enjoys endurance training, skiing, drawing, photography, running, field hockey and golf.

She and I both like drawing.

Rhode Island has a center dedicated entirely to welcoming.
Photo: taberandrew via Flickr (CC)

Barbara Mallory Caraway

2010-03-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

Barbara Mallory Caraway is a member of the Texas House of Representatives. It's hard to say her name five times fast. The Wikipedia article made me chuckle a few times, because every time it says her name it calls her Representative Mallory Caraway.

Tongue twisters are fun. There are many of them. Like "Unique New York". Or "She sells seashells by the seashore." Wait a second. Why would anyone buy seashells from a girl by the seashore? There are literally millions of shells on the seashore, all free for the taking. She should go far away from the seashore to sell her seashells.

Most of Texas's state representatives are actually laptop computers.
Photo: Mr. Wright via Flickr (CC)

Leeds Equity Partners

2010-03-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

Leeds Equity Partners is a private equity firm that focuses on education, training and information and business services industries.

I don't really know what an equity firm is. I know that I should. And I kind of know. Like I have an idea. But I don't really know. I can never really wrap my head around words like 'equity' and 'capital gains' and 'bond'. I am good at wrapping my head around other kinds of words like 'giraffe' and 'table' and 'cheeseburger'.

Thankfully, we have the people at Leeds Equity Partners to help me with my equity.

Oh, it's a shoe company.
Photo: Djinn76 via Flickr (CC)

Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania

2010-03-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania is a borough northeast of Pittsburgh. Reynoldsville is in a soft coal region. In the past it had many mills and a macaroni factory.

I like factories that sound like they are the setting for a children's book. A macaroni factory is one example. Other examples include a dough factory, a button factory, and a molasses factory. I know factories like this exist in the real world, in the adult world, but mostly they sound like children's books.

Also, I like macaroni. Especially spirals. Kraft spirals. Those shits are so good.

I want to live inside this macaroni.
Photo: Brenderous via Flickr (CC)

The Dear Hunter

2010-03-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Dear Hunter is a band (not to be confused with the movie The Deer Hunter). The band originated as a side project for a musician named Casey Crescenzo when he was a member of another band called The Receiving End of Sirens.

Sometimes I wish the cast of The Deer Hunter would form a band. Robert Deniro would play guitar. Christopher Walken on vocals. That other guy on drums. Meryl Streep on bass.

Like many, she found The Deer Hunter hard to watch.
Photo: Eric Bégin via Flickr (CC)

Paige Summers

2010-03-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

Paige Summers was an adult model and a former Penthouse Pet of the Month and Pet of the Year. Sadly, she died in 2003 of a drug overdose.

Paige's real name was Nancy Ann Coursey. That's not as sexy as Paige Summers. It's interesting how some names are just naturally sexier than others. My name is Adam Shonkoff. Not sexy.

Penthouse club. Penthouse club. Penthouse club.
Photo: Thomas Hawk via Flickr (CC)

Jacques Villeneuve

2010-03-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

Jacques Villeneuve is a Canadian racecar driver. Racecar is a palindrome.

Another palindrome is 'Madam I'm Adam'. This one was taught to me at an early age, because my name is Adam, so the person who taught it to me thought I would especially relate to it. She was right, I did.

Some people like another famous palindrome 'Rats live on no evil star'. I guess it is a palindrome, but the sentence never really made sense to me, so I never liked that one much. I feel the same way about 'A man, a plan, a canal, Panama'. That's not even a sentence.

I do like me some palindrome, though.

I like palindrome graffiti.
Photo: iwantamonkey via Flickr (CC)

Feedlot Alley

2010-02-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

Feedlot Alley is the nickname of an area in Alberta, Canada, where more than 500,000 cattle and 180,000 hogs live. That's a lot of livestock.

Apparently, the area around Feedlot Alley has some of the highest rates of gastrointestinal illness in the entire province of Alberta. The theory is that the waste from such huge numbers of livestock contaminates the local water supply, making the humans in the area sick.

So here's how it breaks down:

The local humans sit down to eat bacon cheeseburgers washed down by tall glasses of water. Little do they know that their water is filled with microscopic bits of cow poo and pig pee. They innocently drink the water with the cow poo and pig pee, and they eat the ground cow topped with sliced pig. Then all that ground cow and sliced pig and cow poo and pig pee mixes up in the humans' stomachs, and about ten minutes later, all the humans go poo and pee it all back into a toilet. It's the circle of life.

She'll give you diarrhea without thinking twice.
Photo: ILIKEITSIMPLE via Flickr (CC)

Disused railway stations (Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway)

2010-02-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

Disused railway stations (Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway) is a compilation of closed stations on a cross-country train line in England. There are 16 of these stations. Some of them have funny British names. Each has its own special history.

Railway stations are special places. People get on. People get off. People say goodbye. People say hello. People run away. People return home. People go to the bathroom. People read books. People take trains. People, take trains.

Take trains, people.

Much of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line is still intact.

Photo: Brianfit via Flickr (CC)

Out of Tune (band)

2010-02-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Out of Tune (band) is a Polish indie rock band. Their name is being ironic. At least I assume it is. I assume they are mostly in tune. Music that's out of tune is grating on the brain. No one really knows why. At least I don't think they do. There's something about human brains that was made to like certain combinations of rhythms and sounds, but not others.

There must be a purpose behind this, but hell if I know what it is. Hell if anyone does.

This man is out of tune.
Photo: Arty Smokes via Flickr (CC)

Split Mountain (Sierra Nevada)

2010-02-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

Split Mountain (Sierra Nevada) is a 14,064-foot mountain in the Sierra Nevada range in California. It has twin summits. That's why people call it Split Mountain.

Sierra Nevada is also a beer. I don't really like it. But I do like beer in general.

Everything's blue and fake from the top of Split Mountain.
Photo: pellaea via Flickr (CC)

Jo-Ann Stores

2010-02-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

Jo-Ann Stores is a retail chain that sells crafts and fabrics. It is based in Hudson, Ohio.

Wikipedia doesn't say who Jo-Ann is or was, but that's okay. I respect the store, because fabrics are important. Without them, nothing would be made out of anything.

Skin. The fabric of our lives.
Photo: angel_shark via Flickr (CC)

Louisiana House of Representatives

2010-02-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

Louisiana House of Representatives is the Lower House in the Louisiana State Legislature. It convenes in Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge is the answer to a trivia question that Cindy Brady can't answer on the Brady Bunch when she is a contestant on a kids' game show and she panics and freezes and just looks at the red light on the camera and Marsha watching on TV back home says "Baton Rouge, Cindy. Baton Rouge."

I always think of that when I hear Baton Rouge.

What do you think of when you hear Baton Rouge?

The Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge looks like a big penis.
Photo: jimmywayne via Flickr (CC)

Rómulo Gallegos Center for Latin American Studies

2010-02-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

Rómulo Gallegos Center for Latin American Studies is a foundation of the Venezuelan government whose purpose is to promote Latin American culture, especially the work of Rómulo Gallegos. Rómulo Gallegos was a Venezuelan novelist and politician.

No relation to former Oakland A's second baseman Mike Gallego.

Mike Gallego.
Photo: ztil301 via Flickr (CC)

Harold Furth

2010-02-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

Harold Furth was an Austrian-American physicist. In the late 1960s he "contributed some important theoretical work on resistive magnetohydrodynamics instabilities in a slightly resistive plasma."

He sounds like a real asshole.

What a bunch of bullshit.
Photo: Marvin (PA) via Flickr (CC)

Plettenberg

2010-02-12T00:09:00.000-08:00

Plettenberg is a town in Germany. Germany is a country in Europe. Europe is a continent on Earth. Earth is a planet in the Solar System. The Solar System is a group of bodies orbiting a star in the Milky Way galaxy. Milk is a beverage that comes from a breast. A breast is more delicious on some animals than on others. But that's all in the eye of the beholder. For example, I like chicken breast, but a lion prefers zebra breast. It's nonsense to say that one animal's breast inherently tastes better than another's.

And that brings us back to Plettenberg, a town in Germany. Life is a round-trip journey.

Plettenberg is one-way.
Photo: Uwe.Koch via Flickr (CC)

Stillicidium

2010-02-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

Stillicidium is water dripping from the eaves of a building. Or maybe it was just the term for water dripping from the eaves of the Etruscan temple. I don't know, the article's weird and very short. So is Danny Devito.

Some of the finest stillicidium I've ever seen.
Photo: Chiot's Run via Flickr (CC)

Charles Gray (actor)

2010-02-10T08:06:00.000-08:00

Charles Gray (actor) was an English actor. He played a villain in a James Bond movie and was the narrator in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He went to school with Benny Hill. His name when he was born was Donald Marshall Gray, but he changed it. He first appeared on Broadway in 1961 in the musical Kean. His film breakthrough came in 1967 in the WWII murder mystery The Night of the Generals. Between 1968 and 1979, he was in more than 40 major film and television productions.

He died in 2000. Now he is made of ashes.

Close-up of Charles Gray's last name.
Photo: thodue via Flickr (CC)

Emma Carroll

2010-02-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

Emma Carroll was the oldest person in Iowa for about nine months, starting on the day that 111-year-old Hazel Blecha died. Emma Carroll died on July 10, 2007 at the age of 112. She was quite wrinkly.

In 2004, at the age of 109, Emma became the oldest person to ride in a hot air balloon. It would have been more impressive if she'd become the oldest person to ride on a hang glider.

Everything wrinkles.
Photo: CirclesofLight via Flickr (CC)

Passive cooling

2010-02-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

Passive cooling is technology that cools buildings without using power. It generally means the building doesn't use pumps or fans. Instead, other techniques are used to keep sun heat out and cold air in. Like orientating a building to take advantage of winter sun and avoid direct sunlight in the summer.

I am closer to a nerd than cool, but there are certain moments when I could be considered cool by some people. And I never use pumps or fans.

Passively cool.
Photo: salparadise666 via Flickr (CC)

Nathaniel Baldwin

2010-02-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

Nathaniel Baldwin invented headphones. Isn't that weird? He invented headphones. I've never heard of him. What an important man. I wonder if he's related to Billy Baldwin.

Nathaniel Baldwin was also a supporter of the early Mormon fundamentalist movement.

I wonder if he invented headphones so he could listen to early Mormon fundamentalist musicians.

Mormon fundamentalists are allowed to have many headphones at the same time.
Photo: penmachine via Flickr (CC)

Nazir Jairazbhoy

2010-02-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

Nazir Jairazbhoy was a professor of folk and classical music of South Asia at UCLA. Sadly, he died in June of 2009. But he was 82, so it's not as sad as it might be. Every man dies. Not every man really lives. William Wallace said that. Maybe not in real life, but he did in Braveheart.

I wonder if Nazir Jairazbhoy liked Braveheart.

Every man dies. Not every man poses for a photo with another man pretending to be William Wallace.
Photo: stuant63 via Flickr (CC)

Dublin University American Football Club

2010-02-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

Dublin University American Football Club is an American football team at Trinity College In Dublin. It's a new team, established in 2008. They are the Thunderbolts.

Wikipedia says the Thunderbolts' head coach is Conor O'Shea, but I think Wikipedia actually had no idea who the head coach was so they just made up a stereotypically Irish-sounding name.

Thunderbolts are actually made out of lightning.
Photo: Paul Mayne via Flickr (CC)

Size functor

2010-02-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

Size functor is some kind of math concept. The word 'functor' made me giggle.

This Wikipedia article is mind-bogglingly complicated. I think I have never read anything that made less sense to me in my life. It has more words I don't know than words I do.

It took decades, but finally his size functor was complete.
Photo: davidfullerdaniel via Flickr (CC)

Fermi's golden rule

2010-02-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Fermi's golden rule is a thing in quantum physics. Fermi was an Italian-American physicist who lived in the first half of the 20th century.

According to Wikipedia, Fermi's golden rule can be summed up like this:

"We consider the system to begin in an eigenstate of a given Hamiltonian $H 0$ . We consider the effect of a (possibly time-dependent) perturbing Hamiltonian $H'$ . If $H'$ is time-independent, the system goes only into those states in the continuum that have the same energy as the initial state. If $H'$ is oscillating as a function of time with an angular frequency $ω$ , the transition is into states with energies that differ by from the energy of the initial state. In both cases, the one-to-many transition probability per unit of time from the state to a set of final states is given, to first order in the perturbation, by

where $ρ$ is the density of final states (number of states per unit of energy) and is the matrix element (in bra-ket notation) of the perturbation $H'$ between the final and initial states."

Jesus' golden rule was "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

I like Jesus' better.

On the other hand, Jesus doesn't have a lab named after him.
Photo: Michael Kappel via Flickr (CC)

Matt Bahr

2010-01-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

Matt Bahr was a kicker in the NFL. I remember him well from my youth.

I have a friend, who will remain nameless, whose name is Abby. In high school she was bored once and decided to add an 'h' to her name. From that point her name was Abbhy. Then after a little while I guess she decided she wasn't bored anymore, and she changed her name back to Abby. That's what she's called now.

I wonder if Matt Bahr was once a bored adolescent named Matt Bar.

Two uprights and a crossbahr.
Photo: DRB62 via Flickr (CC)

USS Thomas Freeborn (1861)

2010-01-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

USS Thomas Freeborn (1861) was a steamship acquired by the Union Navy in the Civil War. Steamships run by the power of steam. That's amazing to me. Modern technology is incredible.

Wikipedia doesn't say if Thomas Freeborn was a real man. But I like the name Freeborn. I like when last names are two other words combined. Like Millard Fillmore. Or Paul Newman.

And just like that, his wife turned into a cloud of steam.
Photo: smays via Flickr (CC)

Karen Schwarz

2010-01-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

Karen Schwarz represented Peru in the Miss Universe 2009 competition. She's pretty.

Her full name is Karen Susana Schwarz Espinoza. She is of German origin. She won the Miss Perú Universo 2009 title. I'm happy for her.

Incredibly, the best women in the entire universe are earthlings.
Photo: stevendamron via Flickr (CC)

Mohamed Bennouna

2010-01-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

Mohamed Bennouna is a Moroccan diplomat and jurist. His Wikipedia article is his resume. He's had a bunch of impressive jobs and written some impressive pieces of writing. I'd hire him.

I'd hire him too.
Photo: hanzabean via Flickr (CC)

Worm-eating Warbler

2010-01-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

Worm-eating Warbler is a warbler that eats worms. A warbler is a kind of bird.

Remember the book How to Eat Fried Worms? I do. It wasn't about warblers, it was about people.

I don't remember what it was about, but I do remember it being good. I imagine I'll say the same thing about my life someday when I'm old.

After eating a worm, he likes to sit by himself and warble.
Photo: Carly & Art via Flickr (CC)

Minuscule 475

2010-01-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Minuscule 475 is, I think, a parchment with the New Testament written on it, dated to the 11th century. They say it's beautifully written.

They say a lot of things.

Only eyes that are ready will see the words on this parchment.
Photo: Temari 09 via Flickr (CC)

Joy Williams (writer)

2010-01-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Joy Williams (writer) is a novelist. She has almost won a National Book Award for Fiction and a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. She was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

I like the name Joy. It makes me feel glad.

These people have joy.
Photo: rofanator via Flickr (CC)

Tipperary and Kilkenny hurling rivalry

2010-01-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

Tipperary and Kilkenny hurling rivalry is such a weirdly specific Wikipedia article. Wikipedia's weird sometimes.

So am I.

People with narcolepsy shouldn't play hurling.
Photo: Steve Burt via Flickr (CC)

Galway Hurdle

2010-01-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

Galway Hurdle is a horse race in Ireland.

It sounds like one of those outlandish sexual maneuvers, like the Cleveland Steamer and the Blumpkin.

These horses are missing the point.
Photo: Paolo Camera via Flickr (CC)

2024 Summer Olympics

2010-01-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

2024 Summer Olympics are an olympic games that took place in the future.

In 2024 I was 46 years old. I had two children, including one difficult 7-year-old boy who refused to watch the Summer Olympics with me on television. This made me sad, because when I was in my 80s I would always watch the Summer Olympics with my grandson, and I wanted to carry on the tradition with my own son. But 7-year-olds will be 7-year-olds. And then they'll be 8-year-olds. Then 9-year-olds. And then 10-year-olds. This pattern continues.

In the future we rode monorails.
Photo: Express Monorail via Flickr (CC)

Johann Goercke

2010-01-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

Johann Goercke was a Prussian army surgeon and author in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was born in present-day Poland.

Prussia doesn't really exist anymore. The land is there, and I guess it's kind of still Prussia depending on how you look at things, but technically there is no Prussia. You and I can't go to Prussia no matter how hard we try.

This makes me sad.

Prussia was confusing.
Photo: cod_gabriel via Flickr (CC)

Conference of Specialised Ministers

2010-01-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

Conference of Specialised Ministers is how the Council of Europe works. They have various specialized committees, which they call conferences. For instance the Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport and the Conference of Ministers responsible for Social Cohesion.

I wish I had a Conference of Ministers responsible for making me Chinese food.

Unenthusiastic flags.
Photo: nguy1 via Flickr (CC)

RPG-43

2010-01-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

RPG-43 was a high explosive anti-tank grenade used by the Soviet Union in World War II.

This is the second Soviet weapon in the last three Wikibloogias. I believe the universe is constantly trying to communicate with us, so I see this meaning one of two things: 1) Wikibloogia knows something and I should prepare my apartment for a Russian attack; or 2) I should finally watch the movie Red Dawn.

I don't see myself doing either of these things.

See, that's just it. I do believe the universe is constantly trying to communicate with me. But all too often, I ignore it.

Or maybe I'm supposed to go buy a sickle.
Photo: luvi via Flickr (CC)

Gerhard Kofler

2010-01-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

Gerhard Kofler was an Austrian-Italian writer who wrote poetry and essays in Italian and German.

He was also the general secretary of the Grazer Autorenversammlung literary association in Vienna. The German language has a lot of long words.

Gerhard wrote this while she was passed out drunk.
Photo: Djuliet via Flickr (CC)

RPD

2010-01-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

RPD is a light machine gun developed in the Soviet Union. Its development began in 1943, but it wasn't put into wide use until the 1950s.

I don't know what RPD stands for. I imagine it's something in Russian, which is not so helpful because I don't speak Russian and neither do you.

I just looked up Rodney Dangerfield to see if maybe RPD were his initials, but they weren't. Rodney Dangerfield's real name was Jacob Cohen.

I also looked up Robert Duvall. But his middle name was Selden.

Like most people, Rodney Dangerfield is dead.
Photo: Alan Light via Flickr (CC)

Featherproof books

2010-01-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Featherproof books is a small, independent book publisher based in Chicago. They publish bound novels, short story collections, and mini-books.

Feathers are powerless against them.

This man is not featherproof.
Photo: striatic via Flickr (CC)

Teddy Tail

2010-01-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

Teddy Tail was a cartoon mouse featured from 1915 until the 1960s in England's The Daily Mail and several annuals. It was the first cartoon strip in a British newspaper.

Teddy Tail always had a knot in his tail, which sounds painful. Some people wonder why human beings don't have tails. Teddy Tail provides one reason why.

Eventually, Mickey made Teddy Tail his bitch.
Photo: DJ Riel via Flickr (CC)

Direction vector

2010-01-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

Direction vector is a math term. It has something to do with two points on a line. I used to know how to do math, so maybe there was a time in my life when this Wikipedia article would have made sense to me. Now it's like another language.

Right now my direction vector is toward the kitchen to make oatmeal.

Metallic vector farm.
Photo: higgs2007 via Flickr (CC)

Christian Concern For Our Nation

2009-12-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Christian Concern For Our Nation is a group of Christian lawyers in the UK dedicated to protecting freedom for Christians in their country. The group was formed in 2004 to lobby members of Parliament.

The group is a bit controversial.

I have nothing against concern for our nation. And, of course, I have nothing against Christian. But when you put them together as Christian Concern for Our Nation, I start to wonder if maybe they're going to start telling us how we should act and what we should believe and who or what we should have sex with and when.

And I don't like that. I think reasonable people should be able to do what they want.

Concern.
Photo: mgaffney via Flickr (CC)

Siergiej Muchanow

2009-12-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

Siergiej Muchanow was a Russian official in the 1800s.

My Grandpa Eddie was born in Russia. I have mentioned this before in Wikibloogia. Grandpa Eddie came to the United States in the early 20th century when he was just a boy; a non-grandpa.

Siergiej's wife was a pianist.

Russians garnish their buildings with giant onions.
Photo: ** Maurice ** via Flickr (CC)

Brian Cox

2009-12-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

Brian Cox is a Scottish actor. He has won Emmy awards.

There was also a football player named Brian Cox. He played in the NFL. But he was a different Brian Cox. And he spelled his name with a Y, as in Bryan Cox. So really he wasn't Brian Cox. He was Bryan Cox.

Also, if two people have the same name, it doesn't mean they're the same person. However, if two people are the same person, they probably have the same name.

This guy is also Brian Cox.
Photo: Stephanie Booth via Flickr (CC)

The Visible Men

2009-12-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

The Visible Men is a band from Oregon that formed in 2002. It seems this band is either disbanded or on hiatus. They are not visible men at the moment.

Tonight is Christmas Eve. This means that Santa Claus is coming to town. Some people don't think Santa Claus is really a visible man. I don't know anyone who has actually seen the real Santa Claus in person. I only know people who have seen people pretending to be Santa Claus.

And then there's Jesus. There is also great debate about whether Jesus is a visible man. Some claim to have seen him in times of need or in a piece of toast. Tomorrow is his birthday. I know that a lot of people will be celebrating. But mostly I wonder how Jesus himself will celebrate.

A collection of visible men.
Photo: freeparking via Flickr (CC)

Mud Island, Memphis

2009-12-23T08:12:00.000-08:00

Mud Island, Memphis is a small peninsula in Memphis encircled by the Mississippi River and the Wolf River Harbor. It has a museum, restaurants and an amphitheater. One way to get there is by monorail.

Mud can be a lot of fun. I enjoy mud soccer.

Sometimes mud makes people grab other people's big boobs.
Photo: Stinkie Pinkie via Flickr (CC)

Oto Horvat

2009-12-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

Oto Horvat is a poet. He was born in Serbia in 1967.

Oto is a palindrome. Not many names are. Bob is.

I once went to summer camp with a girl whose last name was Horvat. I wonder if she was related to Oto. I will never know.

Oto Horvat writes non-magnetic poetry.
Photo: surrealmuse via Flickr (CC)

Royal Palm Hotel (Miami)

2009-12-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

Royal Palm Hotel (Miami) was a large resort hotel that opened in 1897. It was a grand hotel. A grand hotel for grand times.

The hotel was five stories tall and had Miami's first electric lights, elevators and swimming pool. In 1926 the hotel was severely damaged by a hurricane. It was also infested with termites. It was condemned and torn down in 1930.

And the fun was over.

Damn termites.

Careful. They eat hotels.
Photo: Velo Steve via Flickr (CC)

Robert Ludvigovich Bartini

2009-12-16T09:33:00.000-08:00

Robert Ludvigovich Bartini was an aircraft designer and scientist born in 1897 in Austria-Hungary (in present-day Croatia). Robert became a member of the Italian Communist Party in 1921 and eventually lived undercover in the USSR.

In the field of aerodynamics there is something called the "Effect of Bartini."

Someday I would like an effect named after me.

Someday I would like a neon sign named after me.
Photo: Editor B via Flickr (CC)

Welcome (film)

2009-12-15T11:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome (film) is a 2007 Hindi movie. It's about three notorious dons. It was extremely successful at the box office in India.

The film starred Akshay Kumar as Rajiv Saxena, Katrina Kaif as Sanjana Shetty, Anil Kapoor as Sagar Singh, and Ruslaan Mumtaz as himself.

Welcome (mat)
Photo: mcclouds via Flickr (CC)

La Mano Ajena

2009-12-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

La Mano Ajena is a Chilean band. Their music combines many different styles. Here's a video for their song "Wewo": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfK--JKESO0. You might listen to it while you read on.

La Mano Ajena formed in 2002. Last month they opened for Gogol Bordello at a concert in Chile.

I speak a little Spanish, and with some help from a translator I found on the internet, I have decided that La Mano Ajena means Other People's Hand.

You can learn a lot from other people's hands. Where they've been, where they're going. Whether their hands smell.

Other people's sand hand.
Photo: hanaan via Flickr (CC)

My Favorite Husband

2009-12-11T12:54:00.000-08:00

My Favorite Husband was a radio show and network television series in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The radio show co-starred Lucille Ball and eventually evolved into I Love Lucy.

With today's internet, you can listen to some of the original radio episodes. For instance, here's one called "Is There a Baby in the House?".

I just listened to some of it. Radio shows are weird. Disembodied voices. I think I see the charm of it, but I prefer our modern-day embodied voices.

I love Lucy murals on garage doors.
Photo: DominusVobiscum via Flickr (CC)

Sensory system

2009-12-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

Sensory system is the part of the nervous system that allows us to sense things. Most human beings are limited to five senses. Some people, like Haley Joel Osment, have six senses. Also, some people have malfunctions of their sensory systems. People like Helen Keller, Ray Charles and Beethoven. Only famous people have malfunctioning sensory systems.

Our senses are how we experience reality. Your senses and my senses are different from each other. Thus, you and I experience different realities. In fact, some people think there is no reality, only senses. Please think of that the next time you punch someone in the face.

Combining touch and smell.
Photo: quinnums via Flickr (CC)

Nature's Great Events

2009-12-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

Nature's Great Events was a wildlife documentary broadcast on the BBC in February 2009. It had episodes with names like "The Great Melt" and "The Great Feast" and "The Great Salmon Run." It got rave reviews. One reviewer said you can cradle your jaw in your lap while watching it.

In the United States, the program was shown with the title "Nature's Most Amazing Events." This means one of two things:

1. The American English equivalent of the British "great" is "most amazing" (and vice versa).

or

2. Americans think that great things aren't such a big deal; only things that are the most amazing of that kind of thing are worth paying attention to.

Last night I had some great pizza and the most amazing fried chicken.

Nature's most amazing urinating chimpanzee.
Photo: rofanator via Flickr (CC)

Oldenburg T 5.1

2009-12-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

Oldenburg T 5.1 was a German steam locomotive designed in the early 20th century. It had a defect that resulted in bad riding quality at high speeds. In this way, the Oldenburg T 5.1 is like my 1999 Toyota Camry.

The Oldenburg T 5.1 was retired in 1930.

The first Oldenburgs connected by magnets.
Photo: drcorneilus via Flickr (CC)

Fake IPL Player

2009-12-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

Fake IPL Player is a blog that became very popular for a couple months earlier in 2009. It was an anonymous blogger who may or may not be a player on a well-known Indian cricket team.

The blog became a cult following. Hundreds of thousands of people visited it. In this respect, it is very different from my blog Wikibloogia. You are the only person who read my blog today.

My kind of cricket.
Photo: spunqueegrrl via Flickr (CC)

Siobhain McDonagh

2009-12-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

Siobhain McDonagh is a member of the British Parliament, and she has been since 1997.

Have you ever watched the Prime Minister's Questions on CSPAN? It's one of the greatest half hours on television. A taping airs every Sunday night at 9:oo PM EST. I highly recommend it. The Prime Minister fields questions from the Members of Parliament, and they all insult each other and stand up and sit down a lot and make funny old-timey British noises at each other. It's good comedy. Here's a taste.

Look kids. Big Ben. Parliament.
Photo: ** Maurice ** via Flickr (CC)

Stearns (automobile)

2009-12-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Stearns (automobile) was a luxury car manufacturing company based in Cleveland. It's formal name was F. B. Stearns and Company. The company is now defunct. My formal name is Adam Jonathan Shonkoff. I still funct.

Frank Stearns was a pioneer in auto building back at the turn of the 20th century. He built his first car when he was a student in 1896. It was old-timey. But not at the time. At the time it was very new-timey.

I've never built a car. I often think how it would be cool to build myself a complex machine from scratch, and then use it. Like a car or a computer. But I've never done it. That's the difference between me and Frank Stearns. Also, he never blogged.

The 1929 Stearns-Knight had optional blood-soaked rims.
Photo: Mr. T in DC via Flickr (CC)

Takashi Inukai

2009-12-03T06:45:00.000-08:00

Takashi Inukai was a professor of Japanese literature at Osaka University. His students really liked him. He won many honors, including Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

When I was a young boy, I watched the movie Revenge of the Nerds. There is one scene in which the Nerds watch the sorority girls in their dorm via secret cameras. One of the Nerds is named Takashi. While they watch one girl lying in bed on her stomach, one of the Nerds says, "How could you ever get tired of that ass, Takashi?" But I always misunderstood and thought the Nerd was saying "How could you ever get tired of that asstakasher?"

I thought 'asstakasher' was another word for bum. And it was my understanding that Betty Childs had an awesome asstakasher.

It's funny being a young kid, with the little ways you misunderstand the world around you. I'm always reminded of this when I see the name Takashi.

Horse's asstakasher.
Photo: freeparking via Flickr (CC)

A4130 road

2009-12-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

A4130 road is a road in England. There have been a few roads in Wikibloogia. Some might think a road is a boring topic for Wikibloogia, but I love roads. I especially love open roads.

We should enjoy roads while we have them. They won't always be there.

Misuse of a road.
Photo: Hamed Saber via Flickr (CC)

Everglades

2009-12-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in Florida. I like Florida.

Wikipedia has all kinds of interesting things to say about the Everglades. Once, people wanted to drain the Everglades. Then I think people wanted to save them. When I think of the Everglades I think of alligators.

Right now as I write this I'm eating cheese.

This would make me poop my pants again.
Photo: Bill Swindaman via Flickr (CC)

Mortgage broker

2009-11-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

Mortgage broker is someone who sells mortgages.

When I was a young boy, I played some Monopoly. In Monopoly you can "mortgage" your property. That means you turn the card over and get cash money for it. This was usually a sign that you were in trouble, maybe even close to losing the game.

Nowadays I know that a mortgage is a loan that helps you buy a house.

In many ways, Monopoly gave me a skewed impression of how the real world works.

Tough times for the man with the wide left hand.
Photo: ChicagoGeek via Flickr (CC)

Ftn

2009-11-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

Ftn was a short-lived television channel in the British Isles.

Ftn broadcast between January 15, 2003 and October 1, 2007. It showed mostly entertainment and reality programming. It seems that Ftn was just an overnight broadcast; it was on between 6 pm and 6 am. It was geared toward nightshift workers and insomniacs and nocturnal animals like hamsters.

I had a hamster once. In fact, I think he's been mentioned in Wikibloogia before. His name was Mario. He would run on his wheel all night in my room and try to escape his cage.

He's dead now.

Just like Ftn.

Because that's the way it is.

Mario would have liked Ftn.
Photo: ShinobiHammies via Flickr (CC)

Venetia Stanley

2009-11-24T07:12:00.000-08:00

Venetia Stanley was a 17th-century third daughter of a minor English nobleman. Venetia had beauty. She had a licentious reputation. During her marriage to scientist and adventurer Kenelm Digby, she was a devout catholic.

There's other stuff too in Venetia's life story. There's a lot of intrigue. You can read all about it in the Wikipedia article. Near the end, she dies.

Venetia's blinds.
Photo: Ian BC North via Flickr (CC)

Lori Easley

2009-11-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

Lori Easley, a.k.a. Lori Easley Otter, is the First Lady of Idaho, and has been since 2007.

Lori is a former Miss Idaho USA, and she has a masters degree in Education, Curriculum and Instruction, & Education Administration. She is also a good athlete.

Her husband, the governor of Idaho, is named C.L. "Butch" Otter. That's a strong name. My name is Adam Shonkoff. That's not as strong. A lot of people have a hard time pronouncing it. Even though it sounds like it looks.

People are afraid. People are afraid of certain combinations of letters.

No relation.
Photo: spike from nj via Flickr (CC)

American Indian alcoholism

2009-11-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

American Indian alcoholism is another awkward Wikibloogia entry. The other recent one was Massacre of Lviv professors.

I'd rather not write about sad and unfortunate things, but I must deal with what Wikibloogia gives me. Wikibloogia is like life, in that way. In a lot of other ways, Wikibloogia is not like life at all. For instance, Wikibloogia is a blog. Life is not a blog.

Or wait, maybe it is. Maybe life is a blog. Maybe life is just someone's blog.

I'd read that blog.

Alcoholism is bad. It's a problem in the American Indian community. But there are also a lot of American Indians who aren't alcoholics.

Non-alcoholic American Indian band.
Photo: kevygee via Flickr (CC)

Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro

2009-11-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro is anime porn. It started as an erotic video game and then became a DVD. The title means Color of the Sky, Color of the Water.

Often, the color of the sky and the color of the water are the same. Because the water reflects the sky. Water, of course, is actually clear. But not when there's a lot of it in one place.

Sometimes, when you look directly at certain water, it looks exactly like you.

I'm not into anime porn.

Sexy cartoon boob sweat.
Photo: bounce via Flickr (CC)

Oghma (Forgotten Realms)

2009-11-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

Oghma (Forgotten Realms) refers to Oghma, some powerful figure in some fantasy world. He was created by a man named Ed for his home Dungeons & Dragons game. But Oghma is also in the Celtic pantheon, or something. I don't really get it.

I don't care about Oghma.

Life is like a box of chocolates.
Photo: lydiashiningbrightly via Flickr (CC)

Tilt (band)

2009-11-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

Tilt (band) was a punk band from northern California. They formed in 1992, the same year that Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers were born. They disbanded once and for all in 2001, the same year that Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers turned nine.

Tilt is more than just a band. It is also a sloping position. My apartment is tilted. My street is tilted. My brain is tilted. You're tilted. I'm tilted. Miley Cyrus is tilted. Everyone is tilted. Everything is tilted. The Jonas Brothers are tilted. Tilt is tilted.

Everybody remain tilted.

Ground's tilted.
Photo: oobrien via Flickr (CC)

Debt validation

2009-11-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Debt validation refers to the consumer's right to get verification of his/her debt from the debt collector. Americans have this right thanks to the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Thanks, government.

I am currently in debt to one of my friends, because he picked me up from the airport the other day. Now I never know when he will call upon me to do him a favor in return. Being in debt to someone is a strange thing. But I don't mind, as long as I can validate and verify my debt at any point.

Each one of us is in debt to the Universe. The Universe lends us a whole bunch of material to walk around in for about 80 years, at which point we have to give it back.

Thanks, Universe.

Debt leads to sign-holding.
Photo: eric731 via Flickr (CC)

Massacre of Lviv professors

2009-11-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

Massacre of Lviv professors was the systematic execution of about 45 Polish professors and their families in Lviv in July 1941. Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. Usually Wikibloogia is supposed to be kind of funny, so this is a little awkward.

I think I'll just leave it at that.

Good times have returned to Lviv.
Photo: Johan Koolwaaij via Flickr (CC)

Lagro Township, Wabash County, Indiana

2009-11-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Lagro Township, Wabash County, Indiana is a township in Indiana.

In the year 2000, its population was 3,158.

There are seven cemeteries in Lagro Township. One of them is called Independent Order of Odd Fellows. I want to be buried there when I die.

Have you heard of the Odd Fellows? I hadn't. But now I have. I think it might be famous, but not to me. Can things be famous to one person but not famous to another? I think so. To me, I'm the most famous person in the world.

Odd Fellows is a fraternal organization.

Stop before Odd Fellows' cemetery.
Photo: Usonian via Flickr (CC)

Dawn Airey

2009-11-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

Dawn Airey is a British television executive. If you want to see her resume, read the Wikipedia article.

Three things of note:

Colleagues have described her as "the most vulgar person" they have ever met.
As a teen, she lived with her architect father.
In 2006, the Independent named Dawn as one of the 100 most influential gay and lesbian people in the UK.

Dawn is one of my favorite times of day.

In England they watch TV on the left side.
Photo: Sir Garlichad via Flickr (CC)

Fast Crew

2009-11-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

Fast Crew is a hip hop group from New Zealand. Please watch their video now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkwRRH_LV54.

I love New Zealand. New Zealand is one of those countries that pretty much everyone loves. There are some countries that people don't love as much. People don't like North Korea as much. Or Canada.

But New Zealand. People love it. Russell Crowe is from there, I think. He was good in L.A. Confidential. That was a good movie. New Zealand is famous for its sheep and kiwifruit.

I have a question though. Was there once a Zealand?

This sheep is sad because his wife was turned into a bush.
Photo: Travelling Pooh via Flickr (CC)

James Webb (rugby player)

2009-11-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

James Webb (rugby player) was a rugby player named James Webb. He played in Wales at the turn of the 20th century.

James lived for 50 years, but his life can pretty much be summed up by one rugby game against a team from New Zealand.

The ball doesn't know, but there's a mob quietly approaching.
Photo: Frederic Humbert via Flickr (CC)

Filename

2009-11-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

Filename is a computer programming term. A filename is a string used to identify a file on a computer.

My filename is Adam.

Old-timey files.
Photo: Tim Morgan via Flickr (CC)

Welfare fraud

2009-10-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

Welfare fraud is getting welfare when you don't deserve it, whether as an individual or as an organized crime ring. Welfare fraud is a crime, punishable by prison. Don't do it.

Some people engage in welfare fraud by claiming non-existent children. This Wikipedia article mentions one woman who had more than 60 fictitious children. Isn't that incredible? I don't even have 60 real children.

Fake children.
Photo: sleepjunky via Flickr (CC)

Gordon Freeman

2009-10-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Gordon Freeman is a fictional character from a video game called Half-Life. Gordon is the hero of the game. He is a theoretical physicist who kills aliens. He's from Seattle.

Just a couple weeks ago, users of a popular video game website voted Gordon Freeman as "All Time Greatest Video Game Hero." He beat out such renowned heroes as Frogger, Mario, and Bo Jackson from Tecmo Bowl.

I have never heard of Gordon Freeman. But I have heard of Morgan Freeman. Morgan Freeman would be a good video game hero. He would be a good Pacman.

I have to cut my fingernails.

Don't brood, Gordon Freeman.
Photo: AdinoIsMyFriend via Flickr (CC)

Katy Trail (Dallas)

2009-10-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

Katy Trail (Dallas) is a path in Dallas that you can rollerblade or bike or hike on. It follows the abandoned Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad line.

The Katy Trail is part of a bigger project in Dallas to replace all the old abandoned railroad tracks with recreational paths. I like this idea. I'm in favor of de-abandoning things.

The project is being carried out by an organization called The Friends of Katy Trail. I support their efforts, but I think they should know that you can't really be friends with a trail. You can like a trail, and you can enjoy using it recreationally, and you can tell it your problems if you want, but you can never really be friends.

Stay off Katy Trail when the giant pees on it.
Photo: Daquella manera via Flickr (CC)

Catamount, Massachusetts

2009-10-26T07:21:00.001-07:00

Catamount, Massachusetts is an old village that doesn't exist anymore. In the year 1812, the schoolhouse in Catamount was the first to fly the United States flag out front. That schoolhouse doesn't exist anymore either.

Catamount was abandoned as a village because the people found it too remote and mountainous. Now visitors come to the area when they want to go somewhere remote and mountainous.

A catamount is an animal. Depending on the region it lives in, it can be called puma or mountain lion or panther or cougar. Nowadays, when you say cougar people think of middle-aged women like Demi Moore, who eat younger men. But catamounts eat deer, elk and bighorn sheep.

Catamount feels bad about eating that cuddly sheep.
Photo: muzina_shanghai via Flickr (CC)

Satyendra Nath Bose

2009-10-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Satyendra Nath Bose was a physicist from India. He is most famous for his work on quantum mechanics in the 1920s.

Satyendra Nath Bose was immortalized when they named the boson after him. A boson is a special kind of particle. You should think of Satyendra and his accomplishments every time you think about bosons.

Boson humor.
Photo: willc2 via Flickr (CC)

Ballad of the Irish Horse (album)

2009-10-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ballad of the Irish Horse (album) is an album released by The Chieftains in 1986. The Chieftains are an Irish group who sing traditional Irish music.

At first I thought "the Irish Horse" was slang for something dirty. But now I think they just mean an Irish horse.

Nostril of the Irish horse.
Photo: Iguana Jo via Flickr (CC)

Chasing Time (compilation album)

2009-10-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Chasing Time (compilation album) was a compilation album released by the '80s progressive metal band Fates Warning. I don't think I know this band.

Fates Warning has inspired me to write a poem. You can read it while you listen to your favorite Fates Warning song. Below is my poem. It's called "Chasing Time (compilation album)".

Chasing Time (compilation album)
We're not chasing time.
Time's chasing us.
But time is slow.
And we are fast.
We will take a big lead.
But then we will take a nap. And time will win the race.
Slow and steady.

Adam Shonkoff

Chevy Chasing Time (compilation album)
Photo: Alan Light via Flickr (CC)

Oregon City class cruiser

2009-10-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

Oregon City class cruiser was a class of heavy cruisers in the U.S. Navy.

It didn't fare very well, as classes of cruisers go. They had planned to make eight, but only made four. Kind of like a failed sitcom. But funnier.

Again, no respect for Oregon City class cruiser.
Photo: functoruser via Flickr (CC)

Bell System

2009-10-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Bell System was a giant telephone monopoly run by AT&T from 1877 to 1984. In 1984 the company was broken up into smaller pieces by the federal government to protect you and me. Thanks, Uncle Sam.

Bell System was named after Alexander Graham Bell. He invented the telephone. Thanks, Alexander Graham Bell.

I'd also like to thank Alexander Graham Bell's father and mother for inventing Alexander Graham Bell.

I'm glad there are inventors. Without inventors, we'd have nothing. Nothing at all.

Alexander Graham Bell was made out of white chocolate.
Photo: cliff1066™ via Flickr (CC)

The April Fools

2009-10-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

The April Fools is a 1969 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon.

Wikipedia just taught me something amazing I never knew. Jack Lemmon was born in Newton, Massachusetts. I too was born (and raised) in Newton, Massachusetts. Not only that, but Jack Lemmon was born at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. I too was born at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

The difference is that Jack Lemmon was born in a hospital elevator, while I was born in a delivery room. I'm not sure why they delivered Jack Lemmon in an elevator. An elevator would be one of the last places in a hospital I'd deliver Jack Lemmon.

Jack Lemmon trapped under cement.
Photo: Niecieden via Flickr (CC)

Gankyil

2009-10-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Gankyil is a Tibetan Buddhist symbol. It is reminiscent of the yin-yang symbol, but the Gankyil has three elements instead of just two. See a Gankyil for yourself: here.

Three is a very special number. There are three elements of the holy trinity. It takes three legs to make a table stand. There were three bears. Three blind mice. Three wise men. Three little pigs. We each have three arms, three legs, three eyes. There are three days in a week, three weeks in a month, three months in a year.

Three is the magic number. One of my favorite songs.

There are three lemurs.
Photo: Tambako the Jaguar via Flickr (CC)

Rachel De Thame

2009-10-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Rachel De Thame is an English TV personality and gardener. English people probably know who she is. I have never heard of her.

I have heard of gardening though. I've never had my own garden. I admire people who have their own gardens, big or small, from which they get fresh herbs and vegetables to cook with.

Though, you have to be careful what you eat from your garden. Some things can make your belly ache, or cause vomiting, or make you have to put clothes on and leave your garden forever.

Rachel de Thame in gardening robe.
Photo: bobfranklin via Flickr (CC)

Jane Kelly

2009-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Jane Kelly is an artist affiliated with the Stuckist art group in Britain, which is an art movement that started ten years ago in opposition to something. I think they're rebellious. I think they didn't like the pretentiousness of the more established art movements in Britain.

Jane Kelly has been involved in some controversy. A few years ago she was fired from her job at the Daily Mail after she made a controversial painting.

Controversy is a funny thing. What seems controversial to you may not seem controversial to me. Controversy exists mostly because people like to have things to fight about. There's too much manufactured controversy in the world. People get too riled up about things other people say or make. I think as long as no one is getting hurt, everybody should just be free to do whatever they want to do.

She makes a convincing argument.
Photo: Colin Purrington via Flickr (CC)