Uh-oh

I have a horrendous series of connections to get home — Bloomington → Atlanta → Detroit → Minneapolis — and I'm getting these annoying email alerts from the airline every 20 minutes warning me of problems and delays in my various connections. Apparently, there's some storm in Atlanta that is messing up schedules all over the place. So maybe I won't get home. Maybe I'll be trapped in airports for days on end. The best result at this point is that I drag my tired frame home late, late tonight.

So…Open Thread! Fill the void caused by my absence with interesting conversation about whatever you want! I'm sure a creationist or two will show up to hammered at, so have fun.

(On a related note, we do have a surfeit of fools arguing futilely and ignorantly for creationism right now, and maybe it's time to cull the herd a bit. One suggestion is to play Survivor: Pharyngula for a while and vote off a few. Can you come up with challenges our contestants must meet in order to be permitted to preserve their posting privileges?)

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Yet more internet melodrama! Several of our unwilling contestants took a shot at the immunity challenge, to comical effect: they either completely failed to be aware of what people find irritating in their posting habits, or in one case, even plagiarized his answer. The result of the vote by the…
Well, gang, the voting is closed on our first Survivor event. I would never have expected such a dramatic turn-around. From out of nowhere, John Kwok surged out of fifth place in the field — I had written him off as a bad bet — to rally astonishingly by doing one simple thing: commenting. He…
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For the Rookie because he is oh so good and he is oh so fine. And he is oh so healthy in his body and his mind.

Yeah, right!

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Fried Rice of Some Sort

-3 cups rice (sushi rice NOT that long-grained bullshit)
-some amount of powdered ginger
-some amount of garlic, usually just powder because you lost your garlic press and trying to chop up garlic is a fucking pain
-soy sauce
-fish sauce, because you have it and don't know what else to do with it
-half an onion
-vegetable oil
-2 eggs

1. Make rice in rice cooker. Eat a bowl now because you're hungry. Put rest in fridge for a few hours or (preferably) overnight.
2. Put some oil in a pseudo-wok. Heat to medium-high.
3. Chop up that onion.
4. Take the rice and onion and put a bunch of garlic and ginger on it. More garlic than ginger. Not too much ginger.
5. Put all that in the oil and start pouring soy sauce all over it.
6. Mix it all up and shit. If there's still white rice, soy it.
7. don't forget the fish sauce.
8. Make a hole in the middle of the rice and crack two eggs into it.
9. Stir until it looks like fried rice.

DONE.

Sastra-

just how hard do you think it would be to fit the early stages of xianity into your 5 point system to define a "cult"?

or was that your point and I'm deliberately being obvious about restating it as a question?

Awwww Kobra, I had my bacon too close to the monitor now it's all blackened and over-crisped. Well, was meaning to replace that external hard drive anyway ....

Pete the Wookie strays to far from his nookie.

Tax Religion.
Tark

if pete gets insulted at the use of the word crucified in a recipe, he wouldn't like what we did on a very liquored-up Easter Weekend a few years back: Peepus and the Thieves

and yes, that's insulting on purpose, in case you had any doubts

SAFETY ALERT. I post #493, Pete "total fool" Rooke gave a recipe. Do not attempt this recipe until the safety of this recipe is confirmed by independent sources. SAFETY ALERT.
Now back to your regular programming.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I understand why Janine is insulting. Why do you flounce?

Sastra,

bad will + knowledge > good will + knowledge

bad will + ignorance < good will + ignorance

This ignorance does not have to be absolute either. I.e. ban atomic research...So it's really relative ignorance we are talking about.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Now science is held as the great moral exemplar of our times and one only has to think of dynamite, carbon emissions, small arms and nuclear weaponry to realize that it isn't all good.

"If you want to do evil, science provides the most powerful weapons to do evil; but equally, if you want to do good, science puts into your hands the most powerful tools to do so. The trick is to want the right things, then science will provide you with the most effective methods of achieving them."

"Scientific and technological progress themselves are value-neutral. They are just very good at doing what they do. If you want to do selfish, greedy, intolerant and violent things, scientific technology will provide you with by far the most efficient way of doing so. But if you want to do good, to solve the world's problems, to progress in the best value-laden sense, once again, there is no better means to those ends than the scientific way."

-- both by Richard Dawkins

In reality the religious today do an extraordinary amount for people on the edges of society: the poor and the forgotten.

Far, far, far less than any halfway functional state, any government that fulfills its part of the social contract.

Compare poverty in the USA, in Sweden 100 years ago, and in Sweden today -- and weep.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Rooke:
Religion on the other hand accepts even those on the edges of society.

Unless they are gay, scientists, MDs, or members of the wrong sex, race, nationality, political party, and especially the wrong religion.

In the USA, the Death Cult version of xianity has served mostly as a vehicle for the Nihilistic Christofascists aka as Haters, Liars, and Killers for jesus bunch.

Pork belly is braising in some barleywine and root vegetables. House is smelling like melting porcine lipids.

Beer is flowing.

Just watched last nights Battlestar Galactica.

Might have to throw on some Miles or maybe James Brown and all in the world will be good.

Humble apologies. Remove duplicate "and" from earlier post and change "to" to "too" in prior post.

Think, Read, Check, Post. Repeat. Drink bacon ale and fart.

Tax Religion.
Tark

Pete you fuckwit, it's not my recipe.

It isn't my job to be insulting, I'm here to be vulgar and obscene.

Oh, and gruesome.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Hey, while we're on the topic of the "Moonies," here's a great quote from somewhere:

Another strange thing associated with the Unification Church "Blessing" is the "tangam ceremony"... this was a secret marriage initiation ritual in which the husband was required to first hit his future wife as hard as he could with a baseball bat 3 times on the buttocks. If she passed out in between, he had to wait and then continue. Then it was her turn and if she was too weak, another member had to take her place to perform the rite. According to the Unification Church this was supposed to "indemnify" (pay for) the sin of Adam and Eve (which Moon says was sex) and the historical resentment between men and women since the Fall, and to prevent future resentment in the marriage. There are people who have suffered serious back injuries as a result of this, and some of them are still sitting in wheel chairs today. The "tangam ceremony" has been somewhat toned down and modified since then, but it still has the same concept and doctrine behind it.

Nice.

bad will + knowledge > good will + knowledge

Bad will and knowledge are greater than good will and knowledge? Subtract knowledge from both sides, you get "Bad Will > Good Will."

Nice to know where you stand.

Rev, can I come over?

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete SBG Rooke said:

ban atomic research

Surely you can't be serious. I assume you actually meant to say “atomic weapons research”.

Actually Pete that wasn't fair. I actually like Allison Krauss and have seen her and Union Station a few times live.

However i'm pretty sure that your intention posting that video was not about the music but about the video someone created to go with it and the undertones of why.

Does anyone else share my passion for chickpeas?

Hummus/roasted/soups/curries they are absolutely delicious. And they are good for you.

I also have a recipe for hummus with pesto if anyone is interested.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

"Even the son of god had to die my darling"
Go on, say it!

For my dear sweetie, the Rookie, who wants me to get to my knees and pray.

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

As long as we're sharing music Pete...

Tool's "Opiate" "Jesus Christ why don't you come save my life now, open my eyes blind me with Your light now.
Tom Waits' "Chocolate Jesus."
As Tom puts it an "immaculate confection."

By Bone Oboe (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I do like hummus, lovely stuff. Wish I had some now, though that would require me putting on pants and walking to the store.

Dan - thanks. Sounds like a lot of hard work though. I'll see if I can write some sort of script to do it for me next time.

Elwood

By Elwood Herring (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Speaking of offensive crucified things, my friend bought me a keychain that consisted of a little metal whistle in the shape of a crucified Jesus. It is the best keychain ever.

Dan J. @ 499.
If you're asking whether or not you are God...
you might not be him/her/it.

Maybe you're all-powerful today, but not all-knowing. It could happen.

Pete, your humus is under a safety alert. As safety officer for Pharyngula, since you are a troll, all recipes must be put through a safety check by a secondary source. Until then, your recipe is off limits to the True RegularsTM.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Patricia - if you're telling Pete to crucify himself, I have to mention that it's impossible. There's just no way you can hammer in the last nail.

(Thanks to Neil from the Young Ones for that gem!)

By Elwood Herring (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Ichthyic #502:

just how hard do you think it would be to fit the early stages of xianity into your 5 point system to define a "cult"?
or was that your point and I'm deliberately being obvious about restating it as a question?

Well, it wasn't my direct point, but yes, I'd call early Christianity a cult. It hits several of the items on the list, though there are some cults which are even more extreme.

I also like those Jewish deep fried potato things. I don't know what they're called but it involves oil and are delicious.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Jadehawk, that is too sweet to be blasphemous.

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

The youtube music link that Pete sent to Janine featured a great illustration for all of Pete's fantasies. Lot's o' naked bodies writhing in pain. Self-righteous Dude front and center. Day of Wrath. Very Christian.

Pastor Pete is offended that a recipe contains the word "crucified."

Aww, I was just going to post my "Fucked-in-the-ass Gooseburger recipe but I guess I'll have to wait for the Christards to go to bed or they'll be gettin the vapors and clutching at their pearls and feinting and shit.

I also like those Jewish deep fried potato things. I don't know what they're called but it involves oil and are delicious.

As safety officer for Pharyngula, since you are a troll, all recipes must be put through a safety check by a secondary source. Until then, your recipe is off limits to the True RegularsTM.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete, perhaps you should listen to what XTC have to say.

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Here's a recipe for everyone to ponder.

What you need:
1. A planet 91 million miles away from an orange-yellow star with plenty of CO2 and H20.
2. Several billion years.

Instructions:
1. Irradiate the planet for a few billion years until intelligent life has formed.
2. Reveal yourself to a tribe of primitives.
3. Wait a few thousand years.

Presto! Religious war!

Early Christianity *allegedly had Jesus telling his followers that the only way to eternal life was through him, and anyone who followed him had to completely devote themselves to him. that sounds like the definition of a cult.*if the bible is a collection of actual sayins by Jesus

Kootenai Valley in northern Idaho contains the largest contiguous hops fields in the world. The nearest node of civilization is the Good Grief Café.

I've enjoyed some of the music links although I am unsure of whether or not there is a subversive message lying hidden beneath the surface (considering the source...).

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

It's possible that Walton isn't here because there's been a fire at his college - started in rubbish in the basement - limited damage but massive amounts of smoke.

Despite everything, I hope he's OK.

Pete Rooke #509 wrote:

Sastra,bad will + knowledge > good will + knowledge
bad will + ignorance
This ignorance does not have to be absolute either. I.e. ban atomic research...So it's really relative ignorance we are talking about.

Huh? I don't understand what you're trying to say here.

Bad will with knowledge is more dangerous than bad will with ignorance? Or than good will with ignorance?

I think that, the more we learn and understand, the better. Keeping ourselves ignorant so that those of us who are "bad" will also remain ignorant is not likely to work, if we want to make the world better. You're likely to end up with evil geniuses taking over the world with their Death Rays.

Also, there's an awful lot of evil done, that is directly due to ignorance.

@556:

You're likely to end up with evil geniuses taking over the world with their Death Rays.

No, we've all realized that it's more worthwhile to form a shadow government that rules everything than using direct force. :P

Pete Rooke ignoring reality (again)- "Religion on the other hand accepts even those on the edges of society. You need no education. The poor are welcome. Black or white...

It was seen to be dominated by fanatics with haywire morals. In reality the religious today do an extraordinary amount for people on the edges of society: the poor and the forgotten."

And teh gays? The ones thrown out of their God-lubbin parents homes?

I've counciled some of those victims of your god's "love", Petey. Quite an example you christards set.

Suck my cock.

Rev,

Never listened to anything of Coltrane's before but it is brilliant.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete "Total Fool" Rooke, your continued presence on this thread has re-awoken the trollishness of your posts. Not a good strategic move on your part. You were given many opportunities to shut the fuck up. You failed to do so, to your detriment.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Patricia,

why do you call it "Crucified Trout"? I assume for the same reason that you call communion wafers "crackers"; so as to be as insulting as possible.

It's called "Crucified Trout" because it's nailed to a board.

I've enjoyed some of the music links although I am unsure of whether or not there is a subversive message lying hidden beneath the surface

No such nonsense here. Pharyngula is utterly and prouldly Versive in all things.
And if you shut the fuck up with your stupid religious thing even you might enjoy it here Pete.

Bye, all. Thanks for all the musical and artistic input; and for the snarky take-down of Pete the PR-for-Religion man. Am off to the Cowboy Roadhouse Lodge, and that's for-real how they name lodging establishments in Teton Valley. Later.

Tying the topics—at least the important ones—together:

Chocolate Jesus

And in honor of Scooter's excellent recipe:

Filipino Box-Spring Hog (We're talking barbeque here.)

Now that Kwok's gone, can I take a turn at namedropping? My Man Joe was there the night they eight-sixed Tom Waits from the Freight and Salvage Open Mic Night. Joe and a housemate were there with Waits, who was crashing with the housemate; he'd come to the SF Bay area in hopes of meeting real beatniks.

AFAIK Waits still owes the housemate ten (?) bucks.

This was before I met Joe, alas.

Janine, what was that???

It was not something anyone should have particular knowledge of and I hope you simply sought out something to be controversial and disturbing. I have to wonder about the moderation that takes place on youtube...

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Pete's not a bad person. I'm reasonably certain that he's not a violent psychopath. I would probably even enjoy sitting down at the pub to have a conversation with him over a pint or two. I'm also reasonably certain that it would come down to both of us being just as certain that the other is severely misguided, uninformed, and blind to the evidence of the other's views.

Dan J - If you like chant, have you heard - CHANT Music for the Soul by the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, Decca Records?

It's sorta new, and really good.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

The poor have been oppressed by the church for nearly 2000 years, it's only now in this time of secularism and democracy that the poor are being attended to. Religion may operate in those cases of poverty, but before the government stepped up efforts to ensure that the proles had adequate living resources. Yes the church should be commended for the way it helps the poor now, but it doesn't make up for the previous 2000 years of oppression and neglect. See the dichotomy of the starving poor pilgrims at the Vatican compared to the jewel-laden priests. See the elaborate churches in the poorest areas of Brazil. The modernisation of the church in some western civilisations has not adequately made up for the systematic money-hoarding and oppression of the poor as conducted by the church throughout it's history and indeed still in some communities today. This isn't limited to Catholicism or even Christianity; this same system can be seen in all religions. When I was in Thailand I was aghast when I saw the buddhist temples there - solid gold Buddha statue inside with people begging outside and selling shitty merchandise to tourists so they can eat that day. So much for religion doing good in the world...

No problem, Rev. I got that immediately when you made the comment. Dan steered us right on that link. Now I really must leave this addictive blog. Friggin' choco Jesus recipes and bacon whatnots...I...can't...get...away...

Dan J #552:
That was really nice. Metallica, Gregorian chant-style. Looks like they loved the stagecraft...

Pete Rooke wrote:

It was not something anyone should have particular knowledge of...

Yep, that's the religious for you. If it doesn't fit with their limited view of the world then it should be hidden away. It's all made clear in the Adam & Eve story in the bible. Don't think for yourself; we'll tell you what you need to know.

Too bad, Rookie. We're all rooting for the snake here. Eat that apple, baby!

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Patricia: Thanks for that one; I'll have to look for them. I'm also fond of the multi-tonal chanting of Tibetan monks (See Overtone singing). David Hykes has done some marvelous work in this area after studying with monks in Tibet.

I'm sorry but I can't get over that Diamanda Galás link. That was very disturbing. And, to illustrate how Wikipedia can act, at times, as no more than a press release I quote about her:

Her works largely concentrate on the topics of suffering, despair, condemnation, injustice and loss of dignity. Critic Robert Conroy has said that she is "unquestionably one of the greatest singers America has ever produced"

Umm, NO! I defy anyone to look at that link and come to that conclusion. :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W803o5_r1mE

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Bye, all. Thanks for all the musical and artistic input; and for the snarky take-down of Pete the PR-for-Religion man. Am off to the Cowboy Roadhouse Lodge, and that's for-real how they name lodging establishments in Teton Valley. Later.

Wait! you live in Teton valley? I lived just over the pass for 10 years.

Helioprogenus @ 15 (yeah, I know it's about a mile back there),

I play a fairly decent game of chess. What's your friends rating? I'd be willing to take him on for the honor of us skeptics.

Science is a method, and a search for truth (or, rather, likelihood and probabilities of truth.)

Well... it works by elimination, to such an extent that I prefer to say it's a search for falsehood: the attempt to find everything that is false and to demonstrate why it is false.

Cannabaceae

Cannabinaceae.

to rapturous (no pun intended) applause from you and your sick, repugnant kind?

Come ooooon! Being a Catholic, Pete doesn't believe in the Rapture!

Well, they do have tax-exempt status.

Not where I come from.

And where I come from, Jehovah's Witlesses have been campaigning for official recognition for over 100 years and still haven't got it. If you use that criterion, it depends on the country whether something is a cult...

Also, German doesn't have separate words for "sect" and "cult".

Aargh! - Damn blockquote fail AGAIN! Do you have to blockquote every flamin' paragraph or something?

Depends on your browser, I think. Or maybe you previewed; never click "post" when you're on the preview page, always go back and then click "post".

And a recipe for everyone:

I'm allergic to nuts :-]

Why do you flounce?

For the fun of it.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Janine, what was that???

It was not something anyone should have particular knowledge of and I hope you simply sought out something to be controversial and disturbing. I have to wonder about the moderation that takes place on youtube...

controversial and disturbing? really? i got bored of it after 3 minutes, did i miss something interesting?

Posted by: The Rookie | March 14, 2009

Janine, what was that???

It was not something anyone should have particular knowledge of and I hope you simply sought out something to be controversial and disturbing. I have to wonder about the moderation that takes place on youtube...

You bloody stupid git, I do not like anything simply because it is controversial and disturbing. I happen to love Diamanda Galas.

And once more, I am grateful that prudes like you no longer run things.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Look out Janine, ol' sick Pete is getting friendly.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Just to be pedantic: it wasn't a snake and it wasn't an apple.

Not that it matters in the slightest, it's all fiction anyway.

Elwood

By Elwood Herring (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Sastra: If you like the Metallica cover, check out Gregorian - The Dark Side. The "Special Rock Edition" contains "Nothing Else Matters" as a bonus track.

Rev! Fuckin' aye, man. From Jackson Hole to Pierre's Hole, you know it. But I can't afford to live there. I live out in the Snake River Plain, but drive to Teton Valley for work a lot (doing some writerly stuff for a proposed Greater Yellowstone GeoTourism Center, and for the Grand Teton Loop).

You're into landscape photography. Check my brother's work at www.wildernessbooks.com

It reminded me of Dr Faustus attempting to summon Mephastopholis...

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Not sure why he's got the "Round About Midnight" album cover up for Nefertiti

Me either. But I love that song and album. Actually anything from the second quintet is probably my favorite jazz of all time.

It was not something anyone should have particular knowledge of...

I loves me some "forbidden knowledge"!

Truly enjoyed the Diamanda Galas! I've got a "thing" for interesting female vocalists, and she definitely makes the grade.

Rev! Fuckin' aye, man. From Jackson Hole to Pierre's Hole, you know it. But I can't afford to live there. I live out in the Snake River Plain, but drive to Teton Valley for work a lot (doing some writerly stuff for a proposed Greater Yellowstone GeoTourism Center, and for the Grand Teton Loop).

You're into landscape photography. Check my brother's work at www.wildernessbooks.com

Will do.

And I couldn't afford to live there now working the jobs I did when I was there. I hear they've "Aspened or Veiled" up the place too much.

Damn, someone beat me to Chocolate Jesus in the time it took me to make the fuckin post.

However, Joe made that shoo-fly pie and he's making a lamb tagine for dinner even as I (slowly) type. So I'm cheerful.

"Silence is often the best contribution to make in a conversation."

Dan, that was awesome. I pretty much view the world as being separated into Metallica, and then everyone else (it's a paratrooper thing). Often the covers rock almost as much as the originals, however. Nice.

Pete Rooke #567 wrote:

"Critic Robert Conroy has said that she is "unquestionably one of the greatest singers America has ever produced""Umm, NO! I defy anyone to look at that link and come to that conclusion.

Yeah, I have to agree with Pete Rooke on this one. I did click one of the other videos and found one where she sounds a bit like Janis Joplin, but no way could I listen to an entire cd of The Litanies of Satan.

Ok, not true. It would depend on whether there was large amounts of money involved, or maybe a demand by my children's kidnappers.

Sounds like that Diamanda Galás woman has got an awesome sound system. It's amazing what you can do with a bit of sound processing. I know - it's what I do myself. Check my link for a whole catalogue of my own weird noises.

Don't think I could sit through a whole performance of hers though. I'm not quite that weird!

It reminded me of Dr Faustus attempting to summon Mephastopholis...

You should check out F. W. Murnau's 1926 film adaptation. You can even legally download it at the Internet Archive (and other places).

Dan J - If you are into Tibetian, you may or may not have heard of Nawang Khechog?

I have three of his CD's - Karuna, Quiet Mind and Tibet Cry of the Snow Lion. Those CD's have gotten me through some of the most horrific traffic snarls in reasonably good spirits.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pffffffffrrrrreeeeeprpprpprprprprprppffffffffffffpprrrrrr
Wasn't me!

If anyone would like information, or a dialogue on, any of my specialities including anything chickpea related or spicy vegetable achar or religion, then feel free to email me (pete.rooke(at) live .co.uk).

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Before reading all the comments, I thought I would share an airport story. 1993. Flying from Moscow to Tbilisi, Georgia when things were still pretty chaotic in the early post-Soviet period. Flew from the States, got to Sheremetevo-II in the morning, took a cab all the way across Moscow to Domodedevo Airport for my flight to Tbilisi. There didn't seem to be any planes going there, even though they checked us in. They kept announcing that maybe there would be plane later. We went through border control about 4:00 in the afternoon, I think, waited till maybe 8:00; told there would be no plane that day but we should be back by 6:00 am. Dragged my bags to the airport hotel, which wouldn't take me because I was a foreigner; got a taxi to the Salyut Hotel in town, which was a dump, by around midnight, had some dinner, went to bed, got up again at 4:30 to go back to the airport, waited through several false alarms, and finally took off in early afternoon for Tbilisi in a TU-154 that was packed, with people standing up in the aisles and smoking during take-off.

No one know when I was getting to Tbilisi, so I hooked up with some other expats and went to their place to figure our where my OSCE Mission was.

More than 60 hours door-to-door, with about 4 hours in a bed. Don't know how I would have navigated if I didn't speak Russian either.

By Invigilator (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete Rooke, quoting the Wiki on Diamanda Galás:

Her works largely concentrate on the topics of suffering, despair, condemnation, injustice and loss of dignity.

Yeah! Those things are for the Church to exploit, not some singer. And especially not a [gasp] woman!

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Yep, my bro is an artist with the camera. I'll see if I can find a pic of him with camera to send to you. He can't write for beans, so we make a good team.

I hear that about the scenics. I like Manhattan, Boston, Cape Cod ... but it's different here. Not many people even know how to see the best stuff in Idaho, so I have a niche.

Critic Robert Conroy has said that she is "unquestionably one of the greatest singers America has ever produced"

Umm, NO! I defy anyone to look at that link and come to that conclusion. :

To the conclusion that Robert Conroy has said that she's "one of the greatest singers"?

Please.

You shouldn't post that late at night.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Patricia: Thanks for the tip on Nawang Khechog. I love flute music as well (Irish, Native American, Andean, etc.). My day job includes driving most of the day, so good music is an essential.

Rev. BDC:
Kind Of Blue is right up there for me. Though that's where I started, so it's warm and comfy and familiar. Nefertiti, In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew (Complete studio sessions.), Live Evil and On The Corner...I can just put my Miles folder on shuffle and let it ride. I've also got Tony Williams "Civilization" Sowetto Nights, holy shit.

Janine, Insulting Sinner: Diamanda Galas...Wow, I'm rather torn between captivated and repulsed, and tingly. Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q_ot1kwTrs

By Bone Oboe (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Barb has to go.

She's vile and beyond reaching.

Toss her in the duck pit.

Or, if all we have is this island, feed her to the sharks. They'll survive, although eating that disgusting, hateful cow might make them meaner for a while.

You should check out F. W. Murnau's 1926 film adaptation. You can even legally download it at the Internet Archive (and other places).

excellent movie, but not for such faint-hearted mimosas who can't handle demonic special effects (most German Expressionist movies aren't, especially The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari )

Tah, all.

Off to the groc for beer & supplies, then back to watch an episode of Rome on HBO @ 8:00 PDT.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

damn! I sit down for a little of that fantastic bacon and potato thing chezjake posted about and the thread fucking exploded.

Anyway, though late to the party, Rookie said:

Also, science cannot be taken removed from the technology that arises from it.

And the spanner can't be removed from the warplane it just finished building.

Science is a tool, you thick skulled ignoramus. Science is no more immoral than a hammer, no matter what science or the hammer were used for. Science can make us antibiotics or the nuclear bomb, just as a hammer can build a habitat for humanity house or bash someone's brains in. Does that make the hammer evil? Does that make all the houses built ethically questionable just because someone was killed with a hammer?

This last bit is just to piss you off, you sanctimonious cunt.

FUCK OFF!

Critic Robert Conroy has said that she is "unquestionably one of the greatest singers America has ever produced"

And remember, Pete, greatness is not always measured by popularity. Britney Spears has probably sold more CDs than Diamanda Galas (in the US), but I certainly wouldn't classify Britney among the greatest of singers America has produced.

It is near enough 2am here in the UK. At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality. I start to think of myself as not just a thinking mind but a living organism. I almost feel trapped in my skin... Any advice???

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

My musical tastes are rather eclectic, and quite varied. I'll have to direct you to a group called Leningrad Cowboys and their cover version of Sweet Home Alabama. And yes, that's the Russian Red Army Choir that's backing them up.

I pretty much view the world as being separated into Metallica, and then everyone else (it's a paratrooper thing).

What do you think of Blood On the Risers?

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

It is near enough 2am here in the UK. At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality. I start to think of myself as not just a thinking mind but a living organism. I almost feel trapped in my skin... Any advice???

Welcome to reality! Just think; in the "big scheme" of things, none of us, as a single entity, really matters. We're all dying; literally. Mortality comes with the package, just some of us get there before others.

What to do about it? I manage to get through by not really giving a shit. Someone comes to me with a problem that IMO doesn't matter, and I just don't care. Is there something you can do about it? If yes, then try. If no, then don't worry about it. If you try and succeed; great! If you try and fail; oh well, shit happens.

Just to be pedantic: it wasn't a snake and it wasn't an apple.

It most explicitly was a snake, though it was by no means an apple.

Mephastopholis

Mephistopheles.

Linguistically interesting; it seems you really pronounce all unstressed vowels really identically and then have to make completely random guesses about how to spell them! That's something that isn't adequately taught when English is taught as a foreign language.

Considering expressionist German films from the 1920s, try Nosferatu, with the scary, scary Max Schreck in the title role. (...If you like being scared, that is. I don't.)

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I hope we get to the comment #666 before PZ posts new entry.

Couldn't resist. It's an open thread!

MALE POET ASCENDANT

Why do you persist
in puerile feminine verse
all woman that and women this
when you could be
doing something of use

like fucking me?

OK all you nasty beer drinkers, here's a recipe from my brother.

Ladies, don't try these, and if you notice your man is putting up a batch get out the air fresheners and fire extinguisher.

Atomic Eggs

12 hard boiled eggs, peeled
2 Bay leaves
1 sprig Thyme
3 tablespoons chopped green onions
3 sprigs Parsley
2 small dried chili peppers
12 peppercorns
4 cups white wine vinegar

Layer the peeled eggs and herbs in the bottom of a large jar. Pour the vinegar over the eggs and herbs. Put a tight fitting lid on the jar.

Let this stand in a cool dark place for seven days.

After opening, the eggs will keep in a refrigerator for about two months.

Serve with beer.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete Rooke @613,

It is near enough 2am here in the UK. At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality. I start to think of myself as not just a thinking mind but a living organism. I almost feel trapped in my skin... Any advice???

Since you ask.

1. Be rational. It's a feeling, the reality hasn't actually changed, only your perception.

2. Epicurus:
When I am, death is not, and when death is, I am not.

--

Re: recipes.
Bacon and sweet stuff?

Sheesh, is there nothing you Americans won't put sugar or sugary stuff on? Anchovies, maybe?

--

Janine, you shine.

By John Morales (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

What do you think of Blood On the Risers?

Ha! That's terrific. I hadn't seen that one before.

Potato skins with bits. Delicious as well. Add hummus too. You could also have vegetable achar on toast and make it a meal.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

It is near enough 2am here in the UK. At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality. I start to think of myself as not just a thinking mind but a living organism. I almost feel trapped in my skin... Any advice???

Stop wasting your life worrying about whether the superstitious, crowd-controlling nonsense cooked up by a bunch of scientifically illiterate goat-herders thousands of years ago has any validity in the modern world.

You are both a thinking mind and a living organism; the two aren't mutually exclusive.

Embrace your insignificance in the universe's big picture while simultaneously realising that said insignificance does not stop you from enjoying your life if you choose to - and remember that living (and enjoying) this life is the most important thing there is, because there isn't another (eternal or otherwise) after you die.

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Considering expressionist German films from the 1920s, try Nosferatu, with the scary, scary Max Schreck in the title role. (...If you like being scared, that is. I don't.)

Coincidentally, that version of Nosferatu will be showing on Turner Classic Movies, Sunday (15th) at 10:00PM (MDT) here in the USA.

By Guy Incognito (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

there isn't another (eternal or otherwise) after you die.

That seems undesirable. And afterlife, or not, there is no element of salvation in your picture.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Right back to the skins Pete. You just can't get enough of it can you.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

David Marjanović said:

Considering expressionist German films from the 1920s, try Nosferatu, with the scary, scary Max Schreck in the title role. (...If you like being scared, that is. I don't.)

Nosferatu is definitely a classic. My wife and I have a rather large collection of horror films on DVD and VHS. I can't say that I really find them "scary", but we enjoy them immensely nonetheless.

As for older German films, let's not forget M, Fritz Lang's 1931 masterpiece. Even today, it's ranked 46 in IMDB's top 250 films. We've got the special edition from the Criterion Collection, and it's still one of my favorites.

At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality.

Unhealthy. Consider how young you are, and how interesting the world is... perhaps have a peek at the fascination of the embolomeres... :-}

I start to think of myself as not just a thinking mind but a living organism.

Well, that's what you are... :-|

I almost feel trapped in my skin...

Strange. I've never had that feeling.

Don't you feel it in your head when you think?

Any advice???

Go to bed. May sound trite and/or condescending, but I'm completely serious. Having finally caught up with this thread, I'll go to bed too (and here it's an hour later... man, am I tired...)

BTW, when I go to bed too late, the probability for nightmares increases...

And tomorrow, laugh at the Leningrad Cowboys. :-D <headdesk> They'll make you cackle with disbelief! An Austrian news magazine once described the 1970s as "an epoch marked by brutal ugliness". How true, how true.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Any advice?
1) Stop taking the wafers. You're a big boy now.
2) Read some good books about science, especially our most wonderful discovery - evolution. Bill Byrson's A Short History of Nearly Everything is great.
3) Resolve never to post apologetics or any any other shite religious stuff here. Questions about God? Ask a fucking priest. Question about general reality? Here.
4) Be good, refrain from doing evil.

Oh yeah, re annoying posters:

I suggest that if Simon can't avoid posting about penes and anuses for (say) 3 consecutive posts, he should be the cull candidate.

The others mentioned are more fools than trolls, but Simon is a true troll, IMO.

By John Morales (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Patricia, no I love them. Even though I'm a vegetarian I often add bacon bits under the cheese. Then add Tobasco. Delicious

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

That seems undesirable. And afterlife, or not, there is no element of salvation in your picture.

Ummm.... What's salvation?

Poor Pete just can't get past his religion. If he did, he wouldn't be on the "to be banned" list for our Survivor Pharyngula contest. Understand that Pete, your religion goes or you go. So far, you are choosing that you go.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

On the recipe front: I recently decided to try adding chocolate chips to my fooberry bread, in addition to the fruit, and it worked very well.

Dan J:

Okay Pete Rooke (And I still think that sounds like a porn-star name),

"Dick Rooke" would be even better. Let's come back to my place, baby, and we'll castle your queenside. Oh, yeah. Bow chicka wow wow.

/me realizes he's posting while drunk, and wonders why he doesn't do this more often

Pete Rooke #613 wrote:

It is near enough 2am here in the UK. At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality. I start to think of myself as not just a thinking mind but a living organism. I almost feel trapped in my skin... Any advice???

Yes: go to bed. It's 2 AM.

If you have trouble falling asleep, drink a bit of warm milk and read something nice and pleasant, maybe some comic short stories. If you still can't fall asleep, read something hard and technical you've been putting off, or do some other tiresome task. You'll still be sleepy, but with a feeling of virtue and accomplishment.

Leave Deep Thoughts for some time when your mind is clearer.

Poor Pete just can't get past his religion. If he did, he wouldn't be on the "to be banned" list for our Survivor Pharyngula contest. Understand that Pete, your religion goes or you go. So far, you are choosing that you go.

I don't know. I think it's possible that we might de-program Pete and turn him into a productive member of society.

Yes I do get the feeling when I think as well. I would like to metaphorically release my thoughts into the open. My brain feels to big for my skull at these times (in all seriousness).

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete Rooke, somewhat unsurprisingly, wrote:

That seems undesirable.

Desirability has bugger-all to do with it; I desire a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S with Sarah Shahi in the passenger seat - it doesn't mean I'm going to get it. That you desire heaven doesn't change the fact it doesn't exist.

And afterlife, or not, there is no element of salvation in your picture.

What do I need salvation for? Sin is as much a figment of your imagination as heaven, angels and Jesus. That you've been brainwashed into believing all of humanity is inherently bad and deserving of eternal torment is possibly the most repugnant aspect of your religion known for its vile, antihuman sentiment.

There is no God, no afterlife, no such thing as sin and, therefore, no need of the concept of salvation. Once you realise that your life will improve no end.

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Goodnight...

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Well Pete, are you ready to renounce your god and religion by publicly proclaiming god doesn't exist and the cat-o-lick church is a morally bankrupt institution? If not, shut the fuck up. You are still a troll to be banned.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I realize that Pete Rooke is under a SAFETY ALERT, but I'd still like to ask (because I do like chickpeas) that he be allowed to put an ingredients list on his recipe up at 493.

My idea of the difference between a religion and a cult is that the religion has social acceptability and respectability, while the cult does not. Different society, different acceptabilities.

And, not knowing whether anyone has linked this one yet, Jesus He Knows Me, by Genesis : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-rfCnW5VlE

pete, it's called Thanatophobia and is no reason to hide from reality, be it in drugs, alcohol or religion. get therapy if you can't handle it yourself, you'll end up a saner and happier person.

in the short term, i'd suggest not staying up late on the internet by yourself. it's not good for your mental stability.

That seems undesirable. And afterlife, or not, there is no element of salvation in your picture.

Welcome to reality. Nature really couldn't care less if we find the world to be desirable or not. Many find this to be a very uncomfortable realization. I found that it made perfect sense.

It in no way reduces my awe and amazement at the beauty, scale, and complexity of the universe. Quite the contrary. And it causes me to take life seriously and live the fucker. There are a finite number of moments in life; try not to waste them on bullshit.

"Having caught up with this thread" my ass.

Potato skins with bits. Delicious as well.

Barbaric. Potato skins are not for eating. They're bitter. You remove them before eating (optionally even before cooking). And imagine, there are French people who don't know that!!!

Tssss. <headshake>

Sheesh, is there nothing you Americans won't put sugar or sugary stuff on?

Evidently, you haven't been to China.

<sigh>

<headshake>

Stop wasting your life worrying about whether the superstitious, crowd-controlling nonsense cooked up by a bunch of scientifically illiterate goat-herders thousands of years ago has any validity in the modern world.

Hah. Alternatively, you might start worrying about whether the superstitious, but probably not crowd-controlling nonsense cooked up by a bunch of literate Sumerians even more thousands of years ago has any validity!

Sumerian afterlife: Everyone, or rather everyone's shadow, goes to the dark, depressing underworld and spends eternity eating mud and being depressed. Everyone. Regardless of works, faith, mercy, anything. Everyone. Even Gilgames"h", who was 2/3 god, 1/3 man.

My wife and I have a rather large collection of horror films on DVD and VHS. I can't say that I really find them "scary"

Eh, I don't doubt that most horror films are scarier. But, for the reason I mentioned, I've seen almost none of them. Does "Carrie" even count?

I've seen the first three Scary Movies. Very funny, but pretty disgusting in large parts...

That seems undesirable.

The argument from consequences is a logical fallacy. :-|

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

What the hell do you need to be saved from Pete? Nothing.

Your colleague Barb hasn't answered my gospel question, perhaps you can?

Peter said to him: Since you have become the interpreter of the elements and the events of the world, tell us:
What is the sin of the world?"
The Teacher answered:
"There is no sin."

So if Jesus says there is no sin, who the hell are you to claim there is?

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete, I often tell this to a friend of mine when he's at odds with his thoughts about such matters: There is nothing outside your own head. Nothing, nada, zip. Everything in the universe is colored by your sensory input, and stored away or perceived by your mind in a manner compatible with what's it's perceived previously. The entire Universe is inside your head to do with as you will. And when you're gone, that lovely universe will simply vanish. Please make the best of the time that you have. Enjoy yourself. Have some fun!

Pete Rooke wrote:

Even though I'm a vegetarian I often add bacon bits under the cheese.

It's official. Bacon is an honorary vegetable.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I realize that Pete Rooke is under a SAFETY ALERT, but I'd still like to ask (because I do like chickpeas) that he be allowed to put an ingredients list on his recipe up at 493.

My idea of the difference between a religion and a cult is that the religion has social acceptability and respectability, while the cult does not. Different society, different acceptabilities.

And, not knowing whether anyone has linked this one yet, Jesus He Knows Me, by Genesis : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-rfCnW5VlE

Cicely, do anything you want under your own risk. Keep in mind PR is a troll who should be banned, so his motives and recipe may not be benign.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

@ 'Tis Himself

It's official. Bacon is an honorary vegetable.

I thought bacon bits were soy-based.

By Random Chimp (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Latke is the fried potato pancake.

Latka was Andy Kaufmann's character on Taxi.

Does anyone have a copy of Montanoosa Thunderbuck's LP, "Pipe, Bowl & Stem"? It has a killer version of Plastic Jesus. I loaned my copy to a friend thirty years ago and have never found a replacement.

By Jeff Purser (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I don't know. We feel shame so surely there must be sin.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

We feel shame so surely there must be sin.

Or a means to emotionally link behaviour to social actions...

I don't know. We feel shame so surely there must be sin.

Pete, what do you feel ashamed of? Are you ashamed of something because your priest/vicar/minister/mullah/etc. told you you should be ashamed of it? Or are you ashamed of something you did that hurt another being. If it's the former, then it's the religion's fault, not yours. If it's the latter, then make amends. There's no such thing as "sin". It's something that the religions made up in order to control their members.

I don't know. We feel shame so surely there must be sin.

Don't you feel shame, posting here where PZ bans and edits almost nobody, when your own blog is heavily moderated? Should you be under the same rules here? I would be more than happy to moderate/delete your posts if they are considered against the good name of Pharyngula. That means almost everything you post would be moderated. For example, I would delete your second sentence, since sin is a religious idea, not a secular one.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

My brain feels to big for my skull at these times (in all seriousness).

That's called a headache, a symptom of too little sleep.

Sastra is right about the milk. (And use whole milk. Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk are materialized stupidity and just don't taste good.)

Also, I recommend reading the book "Unweaving the Rainbow" by... Richard Dawkins. Yes, that one. Not "The Selfish Gene", not "The God Delusion" (maybe later), but "Unweaving the Rainbow": it explains what science is, and it explains how beautiful the world is. You'll be surprised. It's a really beautiful book.

...Just don't start reading it in the evening, because then you risk staying up all night...

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

"Strange. I've never had that feeling."

Does that somehow belittle those who have similar feelings?

The thread has taken a un-empathic turn, even considering that we're talking about a response to undeniable trollery.

Is the blog supposed to be off-limits to theists? I was under the impression that it wasn't.

Sorry, but I'm going to have to go a bit John Kwok: I went to see Tim Minchin last night; he brought up, amongst other things, the concept of our insignificance in the universe and how accepting that fact doesn't (or, at least, shouldn't) make our lives any less enjoyable.

I just don't get how the religious will argue that our lives are any less meaningful if their invisible sky-fairy and Junior, the bad-performance-art-loving man-god, don't exist.

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Random Chimp #651

I thought bacon bits were soy-based.

I am shocked to discover that there are non-bacon bacon bits.

Ingredients: Textured organic low fat soy flour, salt, natural vegan flavors, caramel color

A sure sign of the Apocalypse.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

We feel shame so surely there must be sin.

Don't tell me you only feel shame because someone told you to. Really don't tell me that.

Nerd, shut up. You're getting repetitive and annoying.

Good night.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete, you dumb ass there is no sin . Your own dumbass savior said it, not me.

And I'm still voting for you to be banned. Gullible twerp.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Wowbagger bragged:

Sorry, but I'm going to have to go a bit John Kwok: I went to see Tim Minchin last night

But did you and Timmy go to high school together?

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Those non-bacon bits look foul.

By Pete Rooke (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Very late to the party.

for she is one of most horrid Christians I have ever encountered--stupid, brainwashed, condescending, and very dangerous.

Regarding Barb,Im with Sastra here,and while I wholeheartedly agree with the above statement,I think she should be allowed to stay,to show new readers and the whole world what happens to a human being that is brainwashed by religion.
Show the rot in all its abhorrent glory.

It's official. Bacon is an honorary vegetable.

Woot!

pete, feeling shame is a simple mechanism required for society to function. all social animals have it, because without a way of preventing selfishness to cause harm to others in a group, the group cannot survive.

so when you do harm, you feel bad. and if you have someone convince you that something you did was harmful, then you feel bad whether what you did really was harmful or not. your priests' definition of what is harmful is what you call "sin". it doesn't mean that "sins" are real, or that doing sinful things is really harmful, only that your brain has been trained to react to them that way.

Does that somehow belittle those who have similar feelings?

I don't see why. I'm just saying I have a hard time imagining such feelings. That's all.

Pete, dream of dancing with Janine. Don't be afraid of being misunderstood -- she's physically not capable of falling in love with you.

Good night.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I don't know. We feel shame so surely there must be sin.

Interesting. Is there some humanity behind ole Pete after all?

Sin is a made-up construct of religion (made by humans, nothing else). Shame is more complicated than that. Shame can come from many sources. As Dan J mentions, shame can be induced by people with perceived authority, often with religious authority.

But, really, if you harmed no one (yourself included) why feel shame? If you can find the source, and it's real (i.e. you harmed some one), make reparations to the one you harmed (human, non-human, organization, whatever) as best you can and don't do it again. If no harm was done, take a real hard look at the source of your shame. It may turn out to be completely illusory.

Clinteas, if we keep Barb, then poor Pete "total fool" Rooke should be banned since he can't seem to get the idea that his opinion is worth far less than the dog shit we might step in if we go for a walk.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

there is no element of salvation in your picture.

Wow. No salvation? How sad your life is that you think only a make-believe friend can help you when life is tough, or forgive you when you mess up.

No wonder you're such a despicable excuse for a human being.

Nerd, I'd rather keep Pete and get rid of Barb. she makes me nauseous.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Pete Rooke @ 613: It is near enough 2am here in the UK. At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality.

Read everything Robert Sapolsky ever wrote. I'd say he's theisim-neutral, even. If you ever get a chance to see him in person, take it: He's not your everyday stand-up anthropologist. The connection between your first two sentences will become more explicitly clear.

Everybody else, ditto, just for fun. Yeah I'm a fan.

Lynna @ 619:

MALE POET ASCENDANT

I greet you with the Snicker of Recognition.

Also, some Rebecca Solnit.

Nerd, I'd rather keep Pete and get rid of Barb. she makes me nauseous.

Yes, I think there's still hope for Pete, but Barb's a lost cause.

Back from the store, beer in hand.

*ahhhhhh*

Okay, banning.

SfO.

end of line.

Janine @661 - Now, that's Satanic. I need to hide my shame...... in bacon dressing.

Every time my mind feels bigger than my head ...

I read Kliban cartoons and consider PI to a few extra places.

And David @657 - that book is required reading for ALL my children and really tops off this thread nicely.

Give us all a warm and slurpy snog!

Tax Religion. No Sin deductions allowed.
Tark

I'm not gastricly capable of falling in love with the brainless git either.

And do try to lay off the Nerd. He's no where near as annoying or repetitive as two thousand years of lying for jezus. *snort*

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Evolution of social behaviour explains shame. Sadly, religion exploits this to convince the credulous of its validity - and this, as Pete has demonstrated, is an effective tool*.

'Tis Himself asked:

But did you and Timmy go to high school together?

Nope. About the most famous person I went to school with was one of the guys trapped in the Beaconsfield mine disaster. Which is really odd considering that school is in Queensland, the mine is in Tasmania and I live in South Australia. Us Bowenites get around!

*Or, if you're feeling snarky, effective on tools.

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

JohnC @ too many posts ago -

No, that's not the Kwok I know (too good-looking). I roomed with a Susan Kwok at JHU about 24 years ago. My husband Tom met her brother, and apparently he's a paleo guy, and even HE thinks she's weird. (Notice he didn't answer me... heehee)

I agree Barb should be banned, not merely because she's a hateful numpty, but because she has the self-examination skillz of a goldfish. To wit:

"But with God, there are no gradations of sin --the arrogant and smug law-keeper is a sinner in God's sight, and He has harsh words for those who think of themselves as better than others."

Oh Barb, we have harsh words for you right here, no need to wait for the Almighty! You know, if you believe in that sort of thing.

Nerd, I'd rather keep Pete and get rid of Barb. she makes me nauseous.

Pete may be surprised to hear this, but I agree with you. Pete needs some humility though. We really don't give a flying fuck about his opinion, so he should acknowledge that, and allow all Pharyngulites to post at his blog without moderation/deletion. Since I don't see the latter happening (golden rule Pete, that makes you a hypocrite), I see two bannings for separate reasons.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Yes I do get the feeling when I think as well. I would like to metaphorically release my thoughts into the open. My brain feels to big for my skull at these times (in all seriousness).

You aren't a vegetarian.

Yes I do get the feeling when I think as well. I would like to metaphorically release my thoughts into the open. My brain feels to big for my skull at these times (in all seriousness).

when this happens to me, it usually is gas.

By Blind Squirrel FCD (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

"I'm just saying I have a hard time imagining such feelings. That's all."

Oh, sorry. It sounds like an anxiety problem, which isn't that uncommon.

My vote would go to Barb, personally.

Janine @ 193

God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) is one of my all time favorite songs.

Randy is wonderful. He did an entire album on God and the Devil, his own special interpretation of Faust. [His funny synopsis at the link.] In one of my favorite songs from that album, Glory Train, God (James Taylor) and his angels are singing a gorgeous Gospel Song:

Lift up your head and stand tall
Let faith be your only guide
With all that love inside you
Salvation cannot be denied
Just when the storm is breaking
Just when no hope remains
Rollin' into the station
Here comes the glory train
[Chorus]
Get on the glory train
Get on the glory train
It's rollin' into the station
Bound for glory, bound for glory
Get on the glory train
[There's a sudden rude interruption]

Devil [Randy]: If I might intrude
Just for a moment
If only to inject a note of reality
On this festive occasion
In all my life
I don't believe I've ever heard such bullshit
Even from you
A master of bullshit
You know it
I know it
It's bullshit
Bullshit

All of the faith and prayer in the world
All of your dumb show and circuses
You know it's a lie
It'll always be a lie
The invention of an animal
Who knows he's going to die

---
Ahhhhhh

Highly recommended. I wish there were an online rendition to link to, but no luck. His latest album, Harps and Angels also touches on religion and mortality a bit, and is brilliant.

David M @ 662,

Nerd, shut up. You're getting repetitive and annoying.

I agree.

Barb sure is a lost cause and a waste of Guanine,as I think AnthonyK said the other day,but there are people out there who have never seen this before,and for that reason I think she should stay.
The obviously mentally ill ones like GIL should go.

Hi, Invigilator.

I liked the story about getting to Georgia. Wow.

OSCE Mission, huh? One of my prized possessions is an OSCE bag that my sister gave to me. If you ever gave one away, thanks very.

It's on my desk now, reminding me of the places I've taken it.

There's an election observation mission forming up for Aceh, in Indonesia, perhaps. Good luck.

By Menyambal (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Best Breakfast Ever.

Toast a bagel. If you want, scoop out the soft insides.

Spread thickly with cream cheese. Chive is good.

Put at least 2 slices of Bacon on top. Three is better.

Top with a tomato slice.

Eat. Repeat.

Barbs' brain is irredeemably, irreparably Christ-contaminated and letting her post here is useless, annoying and counterproductive. She's unfortunatley a total waste of time and energy for the un-Christ-corrupted, vile and lacking in humanity. Fuck her.

Correct above:

Patricia, no I love them. Even though I'm a vegetarian I often add bacon bits under the cheese. Then add Tobasco. Delicio

You aren't a vegetarian.Not quite sure how I did that.

By Blind Squirrel FCD (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

GRAVLAX

Sauce
3 tablespoon (cooking) oil
red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3rd teaspoon salt
pinch of white pepper
3 tablespoon mustard sauce
3 tablespoon minced dill

Blend together all ingredients except dill. After blending, add dill, or serve it in separate bowl.

The Gravlax

2 pounds centercut FRESH salmon
1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 bunch coarsely chopped dill
2 teaspoons crushed white peppercorns

Scale and debone the salmon, cutting the fish into two pieces along the line of the backbone. Do not rinse the fish, instead, wipe or pat dry with paper towels. Mix salt and sugar and rub the fish with the mixture. Sprinkle part of the sugar+salt and some of the dill in a deep enamelware or earthenware baking dish. Place one piece of salmon, skin-side down, in the dish, then sprinkle generously with dill, crushed peppercorns, and sugar+salt. Make sure that there is a thick layer of dill covering the piece. Cover up with the second piece, skin-side up so that they match back together.

Sprinkle the salmon with remaining sugar+salt, then cover with a sheet of aluminum foil weighted down with a cutting board. Allow fluid to leach out of the fish for about 4 to 5 hours, which is then poured off. After that, refrigerate the gravlax for 48 hours, turning it around at least twice during this period.

When you are ready to serve, cut slices free of the skin and saute the skin with butter in a skillet. The sauteed skin is to be used as garnish, along with cucumber slices, lemon wedges and more dill. Serve with gravlax sauce.

Or, if eating uncooked fish is unappealing, one can always enjoy barbecued gravlax. When ready to barbecue, skin the pieces starting at the tail ends, then set the skin aside. Cut the fillet into portion-sized pieces, and wrap them in foil, though leaving the top unwrapped. Cook the fish in a charcoal grill with the lid on in order to capture the smoke-flavor until the flesh flakes easily with a fork. The skin should be cut into strips and sauteed until brown and crispy, with one portion served with one strip and a helping of gravlax sauce. A cucumber salad is strongly recommended as an accompaniment. 5 pounds of salmon will make about 6 servings.

432, I think that one main difference between a religion and a cult is that a religion's beliefs and precepts are public: what you see is what you get. (E.g., flip open a prayer book and read the Nicene Creed, listing the things that church-goers agree to believe in.) A cult has secret beliefs that are known only to an inner circle; and there might be more than one inner circle: newbies, initiates, advanced initiates, adepts, etc. So Scientology is still a cult, with their secret (although leaked) beliefs in aliens, multiple souls, and their commandment that "it's OK to lie to outsiders."

Well, if we're sharing recipes... how about Fresh Donkey?

[T]his looks like the simplest recipe in the world. Ingredients: donkey; Preparation: eat donkey. This is what happens when you leave the recipe to a dude who hates cooking.

Clinteas wins the #666.

Good night ya rowdies.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Bacon FTW!

By Random "Bacon-… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

One of my all time favs (I seem to have a lot of all time favs). Twenty years ago, there was a show called Night Music. On a typical show, one could get Al Green, Sun Ra and Syd Straw. Or perhaps The Residents backing up Conway Twitty. Needless to say, a music show this brilliant could not last. (Will this show ever be released on DVD?) Here is Sonic Youth at the height of their power, they just released Daydream Nation. So here is Kim Gordon doing I Wanna Be Your Dog with The Indigo Girls and the house band backing them up. Great fun!

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

The Rev sez:

I thought bacon bits were soy-based.

Yes, unless they are labeled "real". The flavor is yeast-based and comes in 50 gal. drums. It has to be handled like toxic waste. The person who measures it out has to wear protective clothing. The odor permeates everything. You can get kicked out of a bar after a shift at the plant. I won't tell you how I know this.

By Blind Squirrel FCD (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

432, I think that one main difference between a religion and a cult is that a religion's beliefs and precepts are public: what you see is what you get. (E.g., flip open a prayer book and read the Nicene Creed, listing the things that church-goers agree to believe in.) A cult has secret beliefs that are known only to an inner circle; and there might be more than one inner circle: newbies, initiates, advanced initiates, adepts, etc. So Scientology is still a cult, with their secret (although leaked) beliefs in aliens, multiple souls, and their commandment that "it's OK to lie to outsiders."

well, that would certainly qualify early Christianity at least as a cult, since it was one of the many Mystery Religions popular at that time.

Patricia

And do try to lay off the Nerd. He's no where near as annoying or repetitive as two thousand years of lying for jezus. *snort*

I have been very repetitive on the Science of Watchman thread, as the creobots Alan Clarke and RogerS just won't provide evidence for their imaginary creator. It is their weak point, and I am slamming them on it almost every post for the last few days. And with puerile Pete, I do chase him around too much and point out his general uselessness, but I am not the only one to do so. So DM may have a point. Your support is appreciated in any case. Anyway, bed time.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

624, Pete, live your life so that people will miss you when you die. Leave people better off for having met you. Write an immortal book, if you like (harder than it looks). Find something that hurts people (like being forced to bear children that they don't want) and help to put it right. Hie yourself off to Africa and help to build houses or schools or wells. Or contribute to well-building and a micro-loan bank. Demand reform of a system that allows debt slavery. Learn to bake and give away part of what you make. Teach someone a skill. Teach someone to read. Help out at an old folks' home when it's not Christmas. Get to know your older neighbours and make sure they're OK. Make sure that everyone has the same pay, the same treatment before the law, and the same respect as a white male heterosexual.

Do as you would be done by. Be done by as you did. This is the first and great commandment, according to Jesus when he explained that the rich man was going to hell for not helping the poor and the beggar at the gate was going to heaven.

I wasn't going to get into this since I just filter out people who are guaranteed to be annoying but I saw what Barb posted about Janine on that other thread. She has GOT to go. Barb, if you are reading this, Janine is gay for the same reason that I'm left handed so please try to mind your own business. Please?

I desire a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

I think I am more fortunate than you Wowbagger.
I do not desire such a car, and my lack of desire is entirely satisfied by its continuing absence.
I count myself fortunate in having many many undesires in life pleasingly unsatisfied.
It must be because I haven't been praying to ungod.
At any rate, I'm not doing something right.

Janine said:

Will this show ever be released on DVD?

It seems there was a Petition to reissue Night Music (Sunday Night) TV series on DVD or iTunes, but it seems to have been inactive for quite some time. Like so many other great shows, this one seems to be unavailable for the time being. It seems that it was re-broadcast in Japan a few years ago, so the tapes are still out there somewhere.

Squid in Mushroom Sauce

2 lbs squid
1/2 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
3 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 teaspoon minced parsley
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup dry vermouth
2 tablespoon tomato sauce
salt and pepper
4 ounces canned mushrooms with juice

Cut squids into small pieces, washing well. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, then add chopped garlic, anchovy and parsley. While the oil and stuff simmers, mix the wine and vermouth, then pour in. Next, add the tomato sauce, a generous dash of salt and pepper, and the mushrooms plus their juice. Finally, add the squid. Now cover the pan, and let cook over a medium flame for 10 minutes. Test the squid for tenderness. Serves 4.

@ Blind Squirrel FCD

The Rev sez:

You might want to take a look at who posted that comment about bacon bits again.

Rev.BigDumbChimp and Random Chimp are two very different chimps.

By Random Chimp (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

AnthonyK, @ 421: Great movie! I hear it's a fuckin' fairy tale.

Damn, now I am going through the Night Music clips. There are some treasure. Here is Mary Margaret O'Hara doing When You Know Why You're Happy. It is from the only CD she ever released, Miss America. She is kind of in Jane Siberry territory. And, yes, she is Catherine O'Hara's sister

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Not just bacon. . .CRISPY bacon.

I feel your pain having to fly via Bloomington. My work used to take me to Bloomington, IL from time to time. Usually, I'd fly to Chicago and drive there. One time, for reasons that escape me to this day, I decided to fly.

The experience was somewhat less pleasant than taking the Elbonian slingshot.

But the worst of it was when I was leaving. I'm sitting there at the bustling (cough) Bloomington airport. I'm on time, I'm checked in, I'm good to go. But I notice, as I look out the window, that there's no plane at the gate. Not a good sign for the first flight of the day.

Sure enough, the boardign time passes, then the leaving time passes and they finally announce that there's a delay. duh.

Bored, I inquire at the gate what the delay might be.

I'll credit them for not making up a lie, although given their answer I kind of wish they had.

It seems the ground crew "forgot" to tow the plane over. Yeah, they were just standing around, shooting the shit, and forgot the fucking plane. I can just see this crack team of rocket scientists standing around below the jetway looking at the empty space... Gomer looks over to Bubba and says "Gee whiz Bubba, y'all know somethin' don't look right this mornin'. I wuz sure we wuz s'posed to do somethin'"

Never again.

Random Chimp Sez:

You might want to take a look at who posted that comment about bacon bits again.

Rev.BigDumbChimp and Random Chimp are two very different chimps.

Damn! Screwed the pooch again! This thread is moving too fast for me.(like the rest of the world.) My apologies.

By Blind Squirrel FCD (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Big Mike:

listening to Zoe Keating, http://www.zoekeating.com/ , while enjoying the free for all thread.

Ah, another Zoe Keating fan. Are you a Loopers Delight member by any chance? She posts there when she's between tours. Genuinely nice person. And she makes elegant and accessible music.

Every once in awhile NASA does something uncharacteristically cool. A year or two ago, they hired her to play at the Yuri's Night celebration at NASA ARC.

I always like the story of one of the crews on Skylab back in the '70s. They got fed up of NASA's constant schedule, having every moment of their lives organised. So they went on strike. They put their feet up, watched the earth, relaxed and just...were. NASA crumbled. Space Strike - yeah!

Nick Cave do a slowed down and stripped down version of The Mercy Seat. Wow!

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Greetings from the ass-end of Asia, where I'm currently on assignment. For my beloved Pharyngulists, a porky recipe from Shanghai. China is home to more than a BILLION atheists if you follow the GodisLove nutburger interpretation.

1lb pork belly cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tsp rice vinegar (but go ahead and use whatever vinegar you have, balsamic works fine too)
1 tsp shao xing rice wine (or white wine)
3 tsp dark soy sauce (or regular)
3-4 tsp sugar
1.5 tsp five spice powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper (freshly ground!)
2-8 cloves of garlic (to taste, I LOVE garlic)
2 inches fresh ginger root (peel with a teaspoon, it totally works!)
1 pint water (or so)
a dash of sesame oil
chopped green onions and cilantro to garnish (just as good w/out, though)

1. Pan fry pork cubes (in a little sesame oil) and garlic for a min or two.
2. Add remaining ingredients, simmer very gently.
3. Continue braising for 30 mins.
4. Serve with rice and veg.

5. Marvel that we all have similar moral codes, while having different belief systems. Buddhists don't even believe in a god, yet are not judgmental douchebags.

Wassail! (The English version of bon appetit)

Janine
Y'know, Bootsy even dresses like that when he's stepping outside to get his paper.

By Kitty'sBitch (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Kitty's Bitch

Quote Max Bialystock, That's it, baby, when you've got it, flaunt it, flaunt it!

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Pete Rooke:

It is near enough 2am here in the UK. At these times I often panic at the impending sense of my frailty and mortality. I start to think of myself as not just a thinking mind but a living organism. I almost feel trapped in my skin... Any advice???

Download all the Diamanda Galas you can find, and mainline it. It will help you sleep.

Jo-El Sonnier and Richard Thompson teaming up for Tear Stained Letter. Strange that Jo-El Sonnier had a number one country hit with a cover of a Richard Thompson song.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

@109: Personally, I favour a Shakespeare, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich.

FSM, over 700 comments and no one has mentioned Pig Candy??? Thick rashers of bacon, dredge in brown sugar, broil on rack until bacon is done/sugar has caramelised.

I must admit that this thread has made me regret that I bought 20lbs of beef today, but no bacon. Fortunately, there is some in the freezer.

Goyishe latkes: add crumbled crisp bacon to potato-egg-matzo meal mixture before frying. Serve with apple sauce.

By DominEditrix (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Can osteoporosis and muscle atrophy combine to make an old lady's legs float excessively?

By Scott from Oregon (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I spent 9 hours in a hospital waiting room today. Weekdays at the hospital are very busy, but I had the whole room to myself today. No other people waiting, and an unmanned reception desk.

After 3 hours, a nurse came to talk to someone else's family, but they weren't there.

After 4 hours, I decided I needed to go to the cafeteria before it closed. The food looked good, tasted bland, and sat in my stomach like a rock.

I spent the next hour wondering if that was the time the doctor had come out to speak to me.

By MetalSeagull (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Sastra:

Yeah, I have to agree with Pete Rooke on this one. I did click one of the other videos and found one where she sounds a bit like Janis Joplin, but no way could I listen to an entire cd of The Litanies of Satan.

Reminds me of that old story about somebody listening to a twentieth century atonal classical piece shouting, "All right! Stop! I'll confess!"

It's really important that stuff like this exist. We all need to be knocked out of our complacency once in awhile. And I really do find an odd beauty in her work. It's just that you have to jettison your expectations with regard to conventional tonality, conventional vocal technique, conventional instrumentation, and--well, almost everything else. It certainly isn't meant for casual listening, and I've always found that that type of music demands that you set aside time for it, and listen with the same kind of intensity that went into its making. You have to meet the artist halfway if you want to get much from it.

Bacon?

I say, don't ban the Rooke. I mean, what's more fun than a guy who faints at the sight of a four-letter word? Keep him around. Barb isn't the worst homophobe we've ever had around here, but she seems to have burned enough bridges with everyone. Personally, Facilis is tops on my banination list for sheer obstinate TEDIOUSness.

Rev. BigDumbChimp

Here Pete, you might actually enjoy this one. Not the original composer or performer but really fantastic none the less.

You'd probably like the post-millenial remix: "A Loan Subprime."

John Cale, Shaun Colvin and Richard Thompson doing a very slowed down and haunting cover of Heartbreak Hotel.

Shortly after this, Shaun Colvin was part of the Richard Thompson Band for one US tour. She replaced both Clive Gregson and Christine Collister who had just divorced and ended their musical partnership.

I would like to see a John Cale and Richard Thompson team up for one project.

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Monado, that reminds me, I ready need to get some more Maddy Prior. I have liked what I have heard of her.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

There seems to be a shortage of bacon in this thread, so I thought I'd try to help out. This is from memory so the amounts might be a bit off.

Butternut squash soup with apple and Bacon.

1qt chicken or vegetable broth
4cups (2lbs?) butternut squash, cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Remove peel and seeds.
8 slices of bacon diced. (I advise a bit more, to replace bacon lost through snacking).
1 large green apple (granny smith seems to work well) cored and diced.
1tbs fresh sage.
salt and pepper to taste.

In a large stockpot, cook the bacon until kinda crispy. Remove witha slotted spoon so the bacon fat stays in the pot and set aside.
Brown butternut squash in the bacon fat. Should take about 5 minutes.
Add the apple, sage, salt, pepper. Cook another 5 minutes.
Add broth and scrape the crunchy bits off the bottom of the pot. Boil for 8 minutes.
Let cool for a bit.
Add half the bacon and puree until smooth. A normal blender will work but is a pain in the neck.
Reheat if you need to.
Garnish with remaining bacon
Eat

To complete the meal I tend to go with a simple green salad and some nice bread. I take no credit for this recipe, I got it out of the magazine Fine Cooking. I keep it in my "recipes to serve to company" folder at home, but I'm at work so this'll have to do. Should be close enough that no one will die following these instructions.

Also I'd like to thank all the posters at Pharyngula for keeping me entertained for three very boring days at work.

Janine @697

Sounds like some of the artists on Stay Awake, gathered to cover vintage Disney songs. No lullabies. Let me know if this link to an mp3 of Tom Waits singing Heigh Ho doesn't work.

Interviewer: "Are there any special techniques you use to keep your voice in shape?"
Tom Waits: "Yeah, I gargle with my own urine."

Should be close enough that no one will die following these instructions.

That does not sound overly reassuring however,you know ! LOL

Also I'd like to thank all the posters at Pharyngula for keeping me entertained for three very boring days at work.

Yes,I too have spent many a boring night shift hour on this blog in the wee hours of the morning before the 6 o'clock drama eventually rolls in the door...Pharyngula never stops,its beautiful !

I think the "haunted" version of Heartbreak Hotel must have come from John Cale. I heard it on some old vinyl record that (IIRC) included some people named Mike Oldfield and Niko. I don't know much about them, or it, except that it was a live recording, a concert. I suppose Google can tell us more, but I'm feeling lazy.

Wowbagger, you can find the Smells Like Teen Spirit cover on the Crucify EP.

One of my favorite Tori covers, btw.

Good shit.

By Pimientita (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Ken, the link that says "Heigh Ho" goes to the Amazon page of Stay Awake. But here is a live recording of Heigh Ho.

There is a reason why there is a similar tone with the Night Music clips and albums like Stay Awake and Lost In The Stars. Hal Willner was the producer for the show and those albums. Lost In The Stars was my introduction to Kurt Weill and German Kabaret (As Ute Lemper says; "Kabaret with a 'K'".

I love Stay Awake. I cannot say which I like best. Los Lobos doing I Want To Be Like You. Tom Waits doing Heigh Ho. Suzanne Vega doing Stay Awake. Syd Straw doing Blue Shadows On The Trail. Betty Carter doing I'm Wishing. The Replacements doing Cruella De Ville. Sun Ra doing Pink Elephants.

Hal Willner is also responsible for my second favorite Marianne Faithfull album, Strange Weather. I do not think I have to say what her best album is?

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

[catching up]

I'm terribly disappointed that Pete Rooke didn't put me on his "eviscerate" list. I guess I've been away too long, and he's forgotten that I had him pegged for a deluded fool from day one, and have never had any qualms about mocking him.

Perhaps I don't say "fuck" enough.

Is Pete teachable enough to perhaps be convinced that soap operas aren't real, and that they do not portray or represent the typical behaviors of real people? If so, then I still vote for putting Barb on the Pharyngula Wheel and seeing if she's got what it takes to stay on the island.

Did I forget to mention that Pi Day is to be followed by Mixed Metaphor Day?

Late to the party as clinteas noted - the thread has taken most of the day to get to here and I don't dare hit refresh until I've posted or it will be another 2 hours!

My vote goes for Barb - useful for the uninitiated I agree, but there are plenty like her. Simon is really pissing me off also, and I agree with others, he is just a troll with no interest in debate.

Others I can handle and they are good for developing argument skills.

Janine, the audiophile - Nick Cave rocks. I will check some of the other links posted by yourself and others. The musical interests of phyrangulites is excellent.

By Peter McKellar (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink
Should be close enough that no one will die following these instructions.

That does not sound overly reassuring however,you know ! LOL

Considering the people I know, I felt that was all I could say. After all I couldn't remember the heat that should be used which might let them burn down the house.

I still remember being the first one waking up after a New Years party and deciding to make breakfast for the young ladies who's couch I'd slept on. The fridge was a disgrace, all I managed to scrounge together was eggs, colby jack cheese and processed lunchmeat turkey. So I made omelettes. I woke them up and gave them their omelette and a glass of milk and went back to make my own.

They were very ethuiastic about their breakfast and demanded to know how I'd managed it. This confused me for a bit since it was just omelettes. Eventually the story came out that the last time any of the girls had tried to make omelettes she had burned them so badly that the pan had been ruined and the smoke alarm was set off.

No one getting killed is about the best I ever hope for.

Oh, Ken, I have a copy of Un-Led-Ed. Heartbreaker At The End Of Lonely Street is a scream. Yet it is so well done.

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'll be the one eating the bacon cheeseburger and reading A briefer history of time even though none of the material in it is new to me.
If I had to vote someone off the petri dish, I'd say -- I'll sell my vote to the one who has some thick cut hickory smoke bacon.

Having finally caught up on the thread thunderstorms mean I will need to power down and unplug.

"someone called Mike Oldfield" - that has to be from "tubular bells" fame.

Janine - I saw Marianne Faithfull live about 10 years ago, cafe style with only a few hundred in the audience and she spent half the concert taking requests - absolutely amazing. Some kid in the front row called "Why dya do it?", she glared down at him and said "You weren't even fucking BORN when I recorded that!!!"

best album? Her "Best of" of course ;) That's all I actually have of hers, but brulliant.

By Peter McKellar (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

And another thing. I have a nomination for Best New Handle:

Bone Oboe

Love it, just love it. Don't know why. Just do.

Ok, I do know why. Sort of. One, it suggests anagrams and palindromes, without actually containing any. (Though perhaps it's a play on "bonobo"?) Two, it evokes a visual is both striking and cool. And I bet a real bone oboe would sound bitchin'. (I'm a single-reed player, but do adore the sound of double-reeds. There - I've given myself away!)

Kseniya, Nico was in the Velvet Underground along with John Cale for VU's first album, The Velvet Underground And Nico. Femme Fatale She had her own singing career after leaving VU. You would best know Mike Oldfield for Tubular Bells.

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Janine, thanks for the info. I will have to educate myself on those things. I'm a student of music, but that was all way before my time. I was born in 1984...

My dad's a musician, though, and he loves to turn us on to cool "old" stuff. Ok, old stuff without the quote, too, like Bach and Bartok, along with everything from Traffic to Chicago to Cat Stevens to King Crimson to Eno to Yes to Nick Drake. This month he's been hooked on Led Zeppelin. The fun never stops. No Mike Oldfield, though. That came from a guy I played guitars with.

Dad's cool. He brought the new Neko Case and M. Ward CDs home a couple of days ago. Nice stuff. I love Neko's voice so much. She's a great harmony singer.

Clinteas, amazing what years of smoking, drinking and drug abuse can do to a voice. She only has a rasp now but damn, she knows how to use it. Sliding Through Life On Charm

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Clinteas, amazing what years of smoking, drinking and drug abuse can do to a voice. She only has a rasp now but damn, she knows how to use it

Janine,
are you talking about Marianne Faithfull or Keith Richards? LOL
Nice link to "Sliding",thanks !
Did she just sing "Now everyone wants to kiss my snatch"?

Kseniya, I am also a huge fan of Neko Case. I have been listening to Middle Cyclone often the past couple of weeks. Great album but there are times I wish she would record an other barn burner like Furnace Room Lullaby. There was a time I could hear her sing with the likes of Sally Timms in a storefront in Chicago.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

PZ wrote:

On a related note, we do have a surfeit of fools arguing futilely and ignorantly for creationism right now, and maybe it's time to cull the herd a bit. One suggestion is to play Survivor: Pharyngula for a while and vote off a few. Can you come up with challenges our contestants must meet in order to be permitted to preserve their posting privileges?)

My nominee to be voted off Pharynguland is Simon.

His comments are a creepily revolting amalgam of religionuttery and his obsessions with homosexuality, poop, anal sex, incest, and pedophilia. His idea of a scathing and insightful response to other posters is to mix and match claims about these obsessions and his claims that the other posters--or members of their families--are engaged in, or themselves obsessed with, them.

As for challenges for any of the creationists who comment here, I suggest these for a start:

1. If you make a claim that "god did it," you must back up that claim with actual evidence supporting your claim, beginning with evidence that god exists.

2. You must show that you correctly understand what the TOE actually is before you can argue that it's wrong.

3. You cannot copy and paste information from AIG or DI as support for anything you claim about evolution or abiogenesis.

4. If you have a blog, you must allow commenting with moderation policies at least as liberal as PZ's--no deleting comments solely because they disagree with your blog posts...[ahem}Pete Rooke.

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Clinteas, yes she did. Nobody tell the Rookie.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Ken, the Bonzo Dog Band? Where the great Neil Innes began his career. Sadly, he is best known from writing the songs for the Pre-Fab Four, The Rutles. (You see, they came before the Fab Four.) I dare anyone to say that Ouch! is not a catchy song.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Second the culling of sexopathic Simon.

bastion,

if we apply all those rules,we wont have much fun around here anymore,you know.

I firmly believe this blog can be a great educational,eye-opening tool for people that are already uncomfortable with religion,but for reasons of peer pressure etc are not ready to drop that one god left on their list,and it will help them witnessing how the clever,knowledgeable,educated people here go through and expose the ridiculous arguments of the creationists,or in for instance,Barb's case,witness what happens to a mind brainwashed and destroyed by religion.In Barb's case,it destroys her humanity and morality as well.
If I was a doubter,witnessing this sort of moral bancruptcy would help me make the jump.
Thats why I said keep her.

Bacon

My apologies if The Royal Bacon Society has been mentioned already. I did a Pharyngula search and didn't find it.

But I do feel like an enabler for mentioning it myself.

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Nice one Rev,thanks !

At #767 clinteas wrote:

bastion,
if we apply all those rules,we wont have much fun around here anymore,you know.

Oh, I don't want them applied as "rules" for that must be met in order to be allowed to post here.

PZ asked for "challenges" for the creationists, and I thought that those would be quite...um...challenging...for many our typical creationist posters.

I think it might be rather interesting, and perhaps even amusing, to see if any of them can meet the challenges.

Let me be clear. I think that some of the most interesting. educational,and entertaining threads are those in which the Pharyngulates respond with real knowledge, intelligence, and wit to the creationists' claims, so I wouldn't want the creationists to be blocked from posting entirely.

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Chimpy, we can have an entertaining night of Allen Toussaint covers.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Kwok comes off as the most pretentious poster I've ever seen here. Name dropping, degree dropping, everything. I really don't care who he knows and I don't care about his alma maters or if Ken Miller is at Brown. He's at a blog, I think, where higher education is not an exceptional endeavor.

I second Kseniya's thanks to Janine. I've got a lot of Googling/YouTubing to do.
And Kseniya, Thanks for the nomination You caught me.

That's pretty much all the story behind the nom de plume. Funny play on rendering the phonetics of one of my favorite apes.

Rev. BDC, that Maceo Parker clip is great.

By Bone Oboe (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I will sign off with some Dusty Springfield, The Windmills Of Your Mind.

Get yourself a copy of Dusty In Memphis. It will improve the quality of your life.

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'll sign off by saying thanks again for all the new music to check out.
For just a moment "The Windmills of Your Mind" reminded me of "The Girl From Ipanema"...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9U6URQSF6U
They're not even close, but this late the mind makes untenable connections.

Bonus Nachos (sic) everyone.

By Bone Oboe (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

I just got home from work, now I can relax and have a beer, and everybody is leaving??!!

What am I supposed to do, gop kill zombies with the kids on XBOX.

NO fair

At #217, Janine, Insulting Sinner wrote:

Posted by: The Rooike | March 14, 2009 4:47 PM
Incidentally, has anyone seen Mad Men. Not a portrait of particularly moral people but it did, I think, perfectly explicate the pitfalls of allowing women and men in the workplace alongside each other.

Rookie, there are two countries you can go to in order to find your ideal of not mixing the genders in the work place, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

I have not seen the show but I am sure that the problem is more how the men see women as being merely sex objects and not a parable of men and wemen working in the same office.

You are right, Janine.

While Mad Men is well-done, I find the show quite a depressing reminder of why so I was so unhappy through much of my growing up years.

The series begins in the late 50s and has moved into the early 60s. (Kennedy has just been elected on the show.)

Women are sex objects relegated to serving--and servicing--men at home and at work. Women in positions of authority are few and generally disrespected or held in contempt.

The assumption is that women don't really need to work, and that they only should work until marriage--which is viewed as the ultimate goal for women. The reason women go to college is so they can attract a higher quality man who will be a better provider.

Blacks roles on the show are the elevator operators, cleaning people, and maids. There's a bi-racial couple, but the mounting anti-segregation protests are causing tension.

Antisemitism, racism, and sexism are not only tolerated, but acceptable.

Gays must stay in the closet.

Conformity is "good"; being, thinking, acting differently is to be discouraged, if not outright eradicated. The only time creativity is lauded is when it involves an great idea for a new ad campaign to manipulate the public into buying the clients' products.

Everyone drinks all the time, and working (at least until you are so drunk you can't function at work at all, pee yourself in the office, and--worst of all--almost lose a client)or driving while drunk is OK. Everyone smokes constantly.

No one, male or female seems particularly happy. Heh, looks like pretty much everyone was depressed back then.

But it is a hoot seeing the decor, appliances, clothing, products, ad campaigns from my childhood. I just wish I'd quit getting those depressing flashbacks.

It's nice knowing that so much of what I find so depressing will soon begin to change if the show keeps moving through the 60s.

And Pete sees the moral lesson to be learned from the series as: problems will occur if men and women are allowed work together. [sigh]

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

bastion @ 780:

I've watched snippets of that program but couldn't get interested.

It seemed like it was trying to have a allure, sort of 'good old days' patriarchal soft porn for contemporary loser males.

A lot of people would consider me a contemporary loser male, but fuck them. I ain't got no credit so even when I'm broke I'm 20 to 50 grand up on all those 'winners' out there.

@ 'Tis Himself - Your Toad in the Hole recipe would be improved by preheating fat in the pan before adding the batter mix.

Honestly, americans trying to make yorkshire pudding mix. I don't think you have the right genes to do it successfully ;-)

By David Waldock (not verified) on 14 Mar 2009 #permalink

Beware the Ides of March.

At #626 Pete Rooke wrote:

there isn't another (eternal or otherwise) after you die.
That seems undesirable. And afterlife, or not, there is no element of salvation in your picture.

The realization that a single life on earth is all we get can be a bit disquieting. Contemplating our ceasing to be--forever--isn't exactly pleasant.

That's one of the reasons that people made up religions--to help quell their fear of ceasing to exist. The myth of eternal life can provide comfort to those who can't face the reality that there is no life-after-death.

Yeah, that's not the end-of-the-story we may "desire," but it's time to grow up, Pete, and give up the fairy tales.

So, live the best life you can right now, and enjoy it while you can. 'Cause it's the only life you'll ever have.

"Salvation" isn't necessary. There's nothing we need to be saved from, or for. So, we certainly don't need some savior to save us. Anyone who told you otherwise is just "making stuff up."

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

"i'd suggest not staying up late on the internet by yourself. it's not good for your mental stability."

Uh-oh.

By Nominal Egg (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I saw mention of Chocolate Jesus, but not Butter (or Touchdown) Jesus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq01UYiMyHg

This is up the expressway from me. Every time I pass it, I feel compelled to holler, "I'm melllllllllting!"

So an atheist is working in his garden and digs up a lamp. He starts cleaning it up, and as he's rubbing it a genie appears. The genie says, "Thank you for freeing me. You get three wishes." The atheist says, "I wish I could believe in you!" The genie snaps his fingers, and the atheist believes in genies. Then he says, "I wish all atheists could believe in you." He snaps his fingers again, and suddenly atheists all over the world start believing in genies.

Then the atheist says, "I wish I had a billion dollars!" The genie snaps his fingers, but nothing happens. "Wait a minute!" said the atheist. "What happened?"

The genie said, "Just because you believe in me, that doesn't mean I exist."

By Marylynne (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

@ 786,

Just because you believe in me, that doesn't mean I exist

Wow,nice !!

At #781, scooter wrote:

I've watched snippets of that program but couldn't get interested.

It seemed like it was trying to have a allure, sort of 'good old days' patriarchal soft porn for contemporary loser males.

Except that the male characters seem to be living empty, shallow, generally joyless lives.

They may have prestigious jobs. But they also have unhappy marriages, unhappy affairs, live miserably alone after they are divorced by their wives, get fired from their jobs for drinking too much, suffer from alcoholism, have heart-attacks, are stuck in societal roles they don't like, have to hide or deny so much about themselves....

Perhaps those points are too subtle for "contemporary loser males"? Or maybe contemporary loser males long for unfulfilled, unhappy lives with unhappy women?

It's certainly not an upbeat show. Hardly "Father Knows Best", "Leave It to Beaver" or other shows of the era that portrayed life as it never really was.

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

WAY late to the party, but I brought dessert.

Peach Bread Pudding

3 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
6 thick slices challah
2 Tbs butter
2-3 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, sliced or 1 pkg. frozen mango, defrosted; or other fruit
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Brown bread in butter until golden, tear into small pieces and place in pyrex dish. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice on fruit, add to bread.

Preheat oven to 350º

in a medium bowl, beat the eggs and 1/2 cup of sugar until combined, gradually add the milk; continue beating, and add vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread and fruit.

Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature; serves 6-8

Optional: add raisins (golden) and cinnamon

RBDC way up there.

"If anyone feels like getting me a present (and you know you want to), I highly suggest the bacon of the month club or anything from here.

thanks

I'll keep an eye out for the post man." <-- Why, just in case the bacon doesn't come?

By CosmicTeapot (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I will vote for Barb. I will admit that it is personal.

I'm with Janine on this one. Anyone who tells me that I'm gay through choice or because I was molested is incredibly ignorant.

Currently in the UK, so catching up after most of the US faithful have retired. Morning to the UK and European contingent. Howdy to those further east as well.

Nice to see so many Tom Waits fans. I often feel like I am totally alone in liking him. Even my wife just tolerates him in the car on long trips, her only flaw. Tom's introduction to Nighthawks at the Diner, about self dating, is still one of the funniest bits I have ever heard. The song Take Me Home You Silly Boy, sung by Crystal Gale when she and Tom did the soundtrack for the movie One From the Heart, can still bring tears to my eyes. Especially joyful/painful is this version by Tom on the piano http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=XewO1DB96To

Tom Waits' music probably literally helped save my life, along with my kids and friends. After my last wife's suicide, I listened to his songs of pain and loss, and those of life and joy, and realized that (a) I was not alone in being in pain and, (b) there is still love out there to find. I did find it, even though she is not a Tom Waits fan, possibly because she associates his music with my pain. Two songs that helped were Hold On http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P5jV4lHHR0 and San Diego Serenade. Also, Kentucky Avenue.

OK, this was more personal than I wanted it to be, but what the hell. (smile)

Still voting for Barb to be dropped into the memory hole.

Petey, you just may have promise. Will give you the same advice I tried to give Walton: Get out of yourself a bit. Fall in love, get your heart broken, laugh, dance to Queen's Fat Bottomed Girl with one, dance goofy in front of a mirror when just out of the shower and laugh at yourself, read a Terry Pratchett novel in a coffee shop and actually laugh out loud and let people stare, enjoy what is here and now, take big bites of life, eat more bacon, volunteer at a soup kitchen and reflect on the people you meet and how they got there, see a therapist, do something illegal that hurts no one, taste and feel and hurt and sing. Yeah, this sounds kinda touchy-feely and new agey, not me at all as I look at it, but it does work for me. I spent life being serious and in a serious job and with serious pain and the only way that works for me is to develop that sense of whimsy and keep it live and happy. Oh, you do not have to learn to curse, but get over it from other people in its proper place, this blog being one of them.

OK, shared too much, back to lurking and learning. Ciao y'all

"I know a fair number of English recipes including how to make vegetables inedible by boiling them for forever."

That reminds me, must give mother a call.

By CosmicTeapot (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I have a coworker who insists on discussing science and religion with me. Ever since he found out that I am an ecology major and that I firmly accept the theory of evolution by natural selection as scientifically sound, he has been trying to dissuade me.

How do I tell someone that an insistence in supernatural causation is not scientific? He keeps telling me that the beginnings of the universe and life on earth are not testable therefore not scientific... As to the first, well, I'm not a physics major so I'm not sure. For the latter it seems I remember an experiment done where early earth conditions were simulated and RNA was formed on a clay substrate in the absence of light... hence the beginnings of life.

He insists that because every question is not answered yet by evolution it must be false and that I must accept a supernatural causation. I'm frankly a little pissed off because I'm not good at arguing with fundamentalists and I feel like he is being disingenuous in his presentation. Unfortunately I'm not quick of wit enough to put a stop to it.

Any suggestions?

Damn HTML tags!

RBDC way up there.

"If anyone feels like getting me a present (and you know you want to), I highly suggest the bacon of the month club or anything from here.

thanks

I'll keep an eye out for the post man."

Why is that, just in case the bacon doesn't arrive!

By CosmicTeapot (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Tom Waits' music probably literally helped save my life, along with my kids and friends.

Im with you on that one mate.Very literally.

Clinteas, hiya brother. How is life out your way today?

Excuse me, but I wondered in errr....some time ago, and I don't seem to be able to find the way out - can anyone help?
Wonderful thread, wit, 'larnin, music, bacon, one troll, who ended by swapping recipes, then asking a few "meaning of life without God" questions - hint it's the same meaning of life as it is with god, just infinitely more beautiful - and plenty of votes to kick out Barb.
So...here's something I can add, not done here before - possibly the world's greatest short story. Disagree? Then find one better. It's "Saki's" The Lumber Room:
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/397/
Now, the exit - over there past those skeletons, you say...

DJ #795

If you want answers to specific questions, talkorigins.org is a good place to find them. If you need help developing your debating skills, consider joining the school debate team.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Tis Himself #801

Thanks for the link. I'll look into it. As to the debate team, I'm getting too old for extracurricular activities! (30 isn't really too old, but I'm focussing on other aspects of my education)

I appreciate the assistance.

Hey JeffreyD,

thanks mate,I think you are faring better than me these days,and good on you !

There is something with Waits that can drag you away from that pit of doom somehow,by first slowly lowering you into it,teasing you,then offering you salvation....not in the christian sense mind you lol

And as to how is life out here,it is Waits time a lot these days,and Stones time...

Any suggestions?

Yes. read this blog for a month or so, to see how the pros take down creationists and theists generally (basically, it's ignorance - everything this fellow is telling you is wrong, find out how here - or read a book. I'm on Don Prothero's "Evolution - What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters", which has the advantage of being a nice hardback, full of great photos (including men with tails - really).
Feel free to take a fairly aggressive, well assertive tone - he's just wrong. Ask for his evidence, look at it, and dismiss it with your research. It won't be long before you're up to speed on all the evidence, then, plan your time, and give it to him with all we've got. Look on this as a positive learning experience for you...
Let us know how you get on, any question you post here will be answered most fully.....

Pete Rook

"I would also advocate instituting a filtering system for profane/vile language."

Nonsense, just because I don't use swear words, why should my contributions be filtered out?

By CosmicTeapot (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

AnthonyK,our favourite arms dealer here,cracks me up.....

cracks me up.....

Not today, man. I'm out.

Seriously, has anyone seen my keys? Last time I saw them, I was here.....

Thanks Anthony K.

Typo in post #802 focussing = focusing... me no good at early morning spelling and grammar.

I hate to get passionate about a debate that I quite frankly believe to be over. There just is no reason whatsoever to subscribe to a supernatural view of existence, at least from a scientific perspective. I can see that the willfully ignorant "believe" evolution to be at odds with faith, but I don't give a damn about beliefs. I'm concerned with reality.

I will take the advice of the previous posters and hopefully this issue at work will be resolved. I don't forsee having this debate with others. If one chooses to believe irrelivant mythology over scientific discovery, then in my opinion they have taken themselves out of the realm of scientific credibility.

I've just finished breakfast. Fried eggs (over easy), ginger marmalade on rye toast, and English Breakfast tea. I'm trying to lose 20 pounds/10 kg, so bacon is off the diet.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I quite frankly believe to be over.

It isn't! But in finding out why, like me, you'll learn me so much about everything...
Why I still remember the day, about 8 years, when I found out that there were some people who didn't believe in evolution...ah, happy days - not as happy as now though!

Seriously, has anyone seen my keys? Last time I saw them, I was here.....

If we've told you once we've told you a million times, if you get a key rack and put it by the door, then hang your keys on it when you come in, then you'd always know where they are.

Honestly, kids these days. You can buy them books, you can send them to school, but you can't learn 'em nothing.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

you'd always know where they are.

Oh, I know where they are, it's me I can't find.

Just catching up with this thread after a good night's sleep, and I come across this (Monado #701):

live your life so that people will miss you when you die

That deserves repeating.

By Elwood Herring (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'm just about a third of the way through this blog, and I just want to say, Janine, I love you.

Not quite as much as my wife.

But close.

By CosmicTeapot (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Derr Pharygula,

I would like to feel really smug, judgemental, and ignorant, and I feel I have absorbed all that atheism can teach me. Can anyone suggest a suitable religion?

It has to have pork, and no child sacrifice.

Any advice?

Write an immortal book, if you like (harder than it looks).

Write an immortal scientific paper, if you like -- easy, even though it takes a bit of time. I've done three in two years and am working on the next... :-| (And another which will be a short review of the current state of a field and therefore most likely won't be immortal.)

German Kabaret (As Ute Lemper says; "Kabaret with a 'K'".

Then you need another t at the end, though.

Can osteoporosis and muscle atrophy combine to make an old lady's legs float excessively?

Wouldn't surprise me.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

JeffreyD #793, you pretty much described my life there.

Get out of yourself a bit. Fall in love, get your heart broken, laugh, dance to Queen's Fat Bottomed Girl with one, dance goofy in front of a mirror when just out of the shower and laugh at yourself, read a Terry Pratchett novel in a coffee shop and actually laugh out loud and let people stare, enjoy what is here and now, take big bites of life...

I second all of that. Pete, heed this advice! Life is for living and enjoying, not for feeling guilt and shame and expecting to be punished after death over random events in your life that you had no control over. I know, I've been through all this myself. Shit happens, you deal with it as best you can and move on. I used to feel bad about all sorts of things in my life until I realised that I was the only person in the world who actually remembered those things; I was hanging on to my shame and living in the past. People forget, move on and live their lives. If you feel bad about something you did or something that happened to you, don't cling to it. Find something positive that you can do to balance it, and you will instantly feel better. No shame required.

Remember what Richard Dawkins said: "We are all going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born." You were born, you are alive NOW. You are here in this amazing universe with the ability to see and experience and understand it all. And to share your experiences with the rest of us. Go for it!

Well, AnthonyK, I love to blow my own horn, so, why not join my religion. The 666th Day Adventists. We get pretty smug. We love to cast judgement. I've been accused of being ignorant, although, that's not a tenant.

By fatherdaddy (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'm just about a third of the way through this blog

Uh...

This thread, you mean? Or the one derailed by Barb, maybe?

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I have only been reading Pharyngula for a handful of months now, but I don't think I've ever seen a post with so many comments...817 at my post. Was it the bacon, the cannibalism or the opportunity to vote off a religious troll that fueled the responses? Impressive to me, regardless of the reason.

Oh, I know where they are, it's me I can't find.

+10

Wow, the comments here have reached such lengths I believe the thread is evolving into some kind of bacon flavored lower life form. Soon it shall reach a new stage of growth and spawn exciting advanced flavors of bacon such as "hickory smoked" and "maple flavored."

Hail Bacon!

Forget the Elder Gods, bacon is where it's at.

By Sabazinus (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I love to blow my own horn

Impressive! What religion was that again?

Full title: The First Aaronian Inter-nocongragational Unreformed UFO Church of Dobbs of The Living Smoke, of The Immaculate Sale, The Perfect Hamburger, and The Last Laugh. Branch Aaronian or The 666th Day Adventists for short. Bacon is welcomed, child sacrifice is generally frowned upon. Ovum are usually substituted for the bacon rituals.

By fatherdaddy (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I was an egg once; though, oddly, I didn't get fried until I was all grown up...

Typing too fast. Insert "Inter-noncongregasensationalist".

By fatherdaddy (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Getting fried was a tenant in the early church. Now the bacon and ovum do the frying.

By fatherdaddy (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'm just about a third of the way through this blog

This thread, you mean?

Perhaps CosmicTeapot is a bit like that chap who thought a blog was a single thread and kept starting a new blog somewhere whenever he deemed his single thread on the old one to be too full (which might be code for having had too much of his nonsense exposed and refuted on it).

clinteas, hang in there buddy, let Tom and the Stones do their work. If you need someone to talk to, I think you can find my email and if not, will give it to you. Added another youtube of Kentucky Avenue for for you below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOYcRXzs1Y

Elwood, thanks for the nice comment. Was afraid I got a little bit too personal, but what the hell. Took until my late 50's, but finally learning to relax a bit and let the whimsy flow. Truly enjoying teaching my granddaughters how to make arm farts and enjoy sugar. Problem with the little monsters is they ratted me out to their parents in short order. However, they were already 50 miles into the trip home by then. (smile)

Oh, and have to say, I really, really, really like Janine.

Ciao y'all

Cosmic Teapot - I'm not sure you exist. Is there any convincing evidence you can provide?
Assertion does not count.

Posted by: Pete Rooke | March 14, 2009 4:58 PM
I would also advocate instituting a filtering system for profane/vile language.

B-b-b-but a fuckwit by any other name is still a fuckwit, which rookie, your mother should have told you, the silly bitch!

Holey Crapola what have I missed in the last 18 hours. Recipes! Bacon! A ton of cool music from all kinds of genres! Pete Rooke the uptight prude (didn't they kick all the puritans out of England?)! Barb slagging! Scooter stories (one Texan I'd like to hang with)!
OK so my Monthly Hootenanny is starting a new gig at the Whiskey Junction today and I need some requests. The group is typical West Bank Hipsters, long on Dylan, Dead, John Prine, and Beatles/Stones. I've taught them some VU and Stooges, and we've pulled off some intricate jazzy bits ("A Love Supreme", "Take Five") as well as "A Day In the Life" and "Terrapin Station" so there's some talent involved.
Ideas, please.

I vote Alan Clarke to be the first one off the island.

David M:

John Kwok can stay if he demonstrates he can make 10 comments without name-dropping or other allusions to how important he would like to be.

Agreed. Although the creepy comments about Abbie are a bit too much. How old is John Kwok anyway?

PS. He wasn't kidding about the Facebook page, he has many illustrious friends, including one PZ Myers. Heh.

Eight hundred twenty + comments? Sweet spirits of niter! Don't have time, retired, but still don't have time. Taking a chance that someone else might have mentioned this already but... 'To Serve Man, a cookbook.' The title from the Damon Knight story, which was later a Twilight zone episode. Can't lay hands on my copy at the moment.

By gaypaganunitar… (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Although the creepy comments about Abbie are a bit too much

If there is anyone that should be dumped its the Kwokster,fucking creep.I have seen him at work on ERV for a long time,and he is no good.Totally fucked in the head,that one.

So I'm usually lurking, but have a question for the more regular attendees of this fine Phar-um:

What/where is pete rooke's blog? I'm trying to figure out where he fits in my own wackjob/nutter spectrum.

And by the way: I don't like bacon...I prefer bacon grease because we all know that's where the flavor is! But bacon is a very close second.

By WTFinterrobang (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

KI,

If you're doing Prine, then start off with "Dear Abby," then do "Please Don't Bury Me." Once everyone is thinking you're just being silly, hit them with "Hello In There."

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

My need to rant: My daughter competed in the US Grand Prix of snowboarding this weekend and she called me frustrated with several competitors who wear "JESUS" stickers and talk about things like "Jesus was with me today".

She says there are quite a few Jews on the tour, and several atheists (including her) who have been told by their sponsors they MUST not put stickers on their boards and helmet reflecting their religion (in the case of Jews) or evolve fish or the like in the case of atheists.

She says the kids who aren't "Jesus freaks" are quite put off by those who wear stickers since they know the Jesus types think everyone else is bound for hell.

I'd like to tell my kid to go ahead and put the FSM and IPU and evolve fist etc on her gear, but we are a middle class family and rely on the gear and clothing she gets from sponsors so she can compete.

I'd like to add that my daughter has a chromosome condition called Turner Syndrome and will be a student of higher education until she is 26yo so that she will have health insurance. After that, I have to hope she falls in love with a guy from Finland or a guy from New Zealand or the like so that she can live a full life.

I'm so glad the repugs are imploding!!!

@ clinteas -

Apparently my female friends over at Facebook don't agree with your risible assessment of yours truly. But I digress. How can you stoop so low in criticizing me after agree with my comments regarding how one should contact OK state representative Todd Thomsen in another, quite recent, Pharyngula thread:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/todd_thomsen_would_like_to_h…

I am sorry for pissing Abbie off, especially when she is as attractive as pop tart Katy Perry.

John

P. S. What a bummer. Couldn't get a last minute ticket to the concert I was hoping to go to last night, so missed hearing Beethoven's 9th symphony (again, but this time with a terrific German orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra).

By John Kwok (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

What a bummer. Couldn't get a last minute ticket to the concert I was hoping to go to last night

Poor fluffy. Do you console yourself with a bag of Cheetos® and a session of GTA: San Andreas?

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

AnthonyK> Anthrosophophy? Not quite a religion, but definitely contains elements of smug metaphysical bullshit.... another faculty member at my school prescribes to that, and likes to just smile knowingly whenever we discuss ,well, anything. I honestly had to look it up, so I could have a good laugh.

Chewy bacon. And not the kind you would get from a Wookie.

Although...

By aginghippie (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Re #846, a self evident vote to be banned.

Ciao y'all

As a lurker, my vote doesn't count, but I like most of the creationists. I learn the most when the practicing scientists among the commenters respond to them and offer explanations as to why they're wrong. I think they make great contributions to the overall entertainment value of this blog.

The person I would vote off is John Kwock. That dude is just plain creepy. Plus, I'm not that bright, and even I can see that the commenters here are using the word "creationist" in a broader sense than he uses it. He doesn't have to agree with that usage, but the fact that he won't acknowlege the difference or address its significance shows a tedious cluelessness.

@KI> Throw in some Ryan Adams with a nice Dead style jam in it's midst? I've seen Phil do it, and it was fantastic.

@ Tis Himself -

I consoled myself thinking about the great talk I'm going to this afternoon on paleobiology:

http://www.nyps.org

I also bumped into a couple of friends and acquaintances and had a good time talking to them. One of them recently came back from a vacation in the People's Republic of China which I found quite interesting.

By John Kwok (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

@ windy,

All kidding aside, there is much I do admire about both PZ Myers and Abbie Smith (And I still feel this way, even when I felt compelled to criticize her about her understanding of some aspects of evolutionary biology.). I just wished they wouldn't make it so easy for lunatic creationists who have argued that to "believe in evolution", then you must reject a belief in GOD and become an ardent Atheist and Liberal.

Anyway, off to lunch and a great talk now.

Best,

John

By John Kwok (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

No one likes the gravlax?

Gravlax is an acquired taste that I've never acquired. It's not disgusting like lukefisk but it's not as good as sushi.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Somewhere up in the vicinity of #580, David M. hypercorrected:

Cannabaceae
Cannabinaceae.

Nope. Cannabaceae is correct; has priority (Endl, 1837). Gotta watch that SIWOTI syndrome, dude, sometimes it bites back.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'm going to come back to this thread when my wife is out at work on Tuesday, just to listen to the music.

But now I'm going to cook a full English breakfast for her for dinner, even though it is nearly tea-time here!

But a quick recipe before I go, porridge. No, no, don't pull faces now, this one is from Jamie Oliver.

Put milk, salt and oats in a pan and slowly bring to the boil.

Let it simmer for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, crush up a banana, and mix in some nutmeg.

Add to the porridge, aong with a healthy shot of whiskey.

Simmer for 2 more minutes.

Serve, adding honey to taste.

By CosmicTeapot (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Oh fuck. Wank much John?
And no, I don't care who you're with when you do it.

Correct Dave at 822, a third way through this thread.

Trying to do 3 jobs, and read this, all with minimal coffee.

Whoops, got to go, the bacon is burning.

By CosmicTeapot (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

No one likes the gravlax?
Gravlax is an acquired taste that I've never acquired. It's not disgusting like lukefisk but it's not as good as sushi.

I love gravlax, but the recipe I use is from Jacques Pepin and involves curing for several days in molasses and salt. The end result is divine - the salmon slices are nearly translucent, and I don't even bother with assorted garnishes. Sigh. When I made it once for a company occasion, there were no takers. What an unadventurous bunch of ingrates.

By Lee Picton (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Aw man, did I ever come to the wrong place! I don't like bacon. :(

Anyway, thanks, guys, for not playing "pwn the n00b" on me when I tried to talk to Barb as if she were a sensible person. All the Christians I know are at least a little bit sensible... and I'm not used to this whole internet troll thing.

#843:

What/where is pete rooke's blog? I'm trying to figure out where he fits in my own wackjob/nutter spectrum.

I seem to remember it's called "Religious Thinking"--but you won't find it. It was open at one time, but Pete complained that he was being abused by atheists like me and shut it down to all but his chosen few. All I did was ask if the term "religious thinking" was an oxymoron. A little cheeky, I admit, but I'd hardly characterize it as abuse. I told Pete he needed to be a little less sensitive if he wanted to be taken seriously, but a short time later his blog went "invitation only."

He's an English Catholic with many of the attitudes and beliefs one might expect. Not the least of which is hypocrisy in posting on other blogs but not allowing the same on his.

And he swoons at foul language and insults.
Fucking git.

By castletonsnob (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

and from the "sometimes that Obama makes me feel all fuzzy inside"-series:
Guantanamo inmates no longer "enemy combatants"
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration stopped calling Guantanamo inmates "enemy combatants" on Friday and incorporated international law as its basis for holding the prisoners while it works to close the facility. [...]

though it's mildly pathetic to be so excited by normalcy

he swoons at foul language and insults.

Not swoon enough for me though.

Thanks for filling me in castletonsnob. Seems "poot reek" ranks right up there with barb.

Oh, and Pete I curse in your general direction: Fucking idiot!

By WTFinterrobang (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

but a short time later his blog went "invitation only."

Ah, a golden rule dream. He can't post here unless somebody specifically invites him to. And the invite is never given...

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

KI @ 838: Would that I was not located way the hell over here on the East Coast; I'd drag my accordion down and sit in. (No accordion jokes, please...when properly wielded it's an acoustic B-3.)

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Re Pete the Rookie ....
Wouldn't it be sweeter to leave him on but to totally and abjectly ignore him? Think the team could put their outrage, enmity and snark aside and just refuse to believe in his existence?
We can sure do it for (ah-hem) higher powers, why not nano-joules as well?

Tax Religion.
Tark

Dang, Sven, accordion would be very cool, especially with the pedal steel guy. 'Tis, we played "Dear Abby" last month, but "Hello In There" is a definite possibility today, I'll put it in if the vibe is right. IST, unfortunately, I don't know how to play any Ryan Adams (yet). Finally, gravlax is the snits, lots of dill when I make it.
Off to get some new strings, see ya all later.

Sven DeMilo is an accordionist? I'll start gathering firewood, someone get the tar, someone else get some feathers....

Q. If you throw a lawyer and an accordion off the top of the Empire State Building, which one will hit the ground first?

A. Who cares?

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

At #868, Sven DiMilo wrote:

KI @ 838: Would that I was not located way the hell over here on the East Coast; I'd drag my accordion down and sit in. (No accordion jokes, please...when properly wielded it's an acoustic B-3.)

Here's something I only divulge to my closest friends--so keep this kinda quiet--but I'm a pretty good accordionist if I say so myself, thanks to the seven years of lessons my parents insisted that I take.

Although my accordion skills made me a big hit at the annual Polish Day picnic, it didn't exactly enhance my non-nerdy image. [sigh]

I haven't played for many years though, and more recently have focused on the piano, but I've been looking for a reasonably priced used accordion so I can start playing again.

I've finally reached a point in my life when I can joyfully embrace the kind of music traditionally associated with accordions. And as for music not traditionally associated with accordions--even more fun!

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

At #871, "Tis Himself wrote:

Q. If you throw a lawyer and an accordion off the top of the Empire State Building, which one will hit the ground first?

A. Who cares?

As an accordion-playing attorney, I'm really feeling the love here 'Tis.

By bastion of sass (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Well, I'm not exactly an "accordionist" since I don't do a whole lot with those left-hand buttons (yet). I'm more of a generalist musician who owns an accordion and plays it in situations when trumpet is inappropriate, there are better guitar and bass players involved, and the key is too funky for the pennywhistle.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Ack! The bastion of sass, who fakes being a normal, intelligent, reasonable person so well, is also an accordionist. At this rate we'll be buying tar by the barrel and feathers by the bale.

Q. What's the difference between an accordion and an onion?

A. Nobody cries when they cut up an accordion.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

As an accordion-playing attorney

Now we'll need twice as much tar and twice as many feathers.

Q. What's difference between an accordion and a trampoline?

A. You take your shoes off when you jump on a trampoline.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Q. Why are they using lawyers rather than rats in laboratory experiments nowadays?
A. Becaue there are some things that rats just won't do.

totally and abjectly ignore him?

We can't do that. It's teh rlues.

Those who continue to disparage the accordion ('Tis) have never heard of Richard Galliano.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

How to Play the Accordion

The buttons on the left side are chord buttons. The "C" button has a dimple or nipple so you can find it without looking. (This is a safety feature. Before it was invented, thousands of accordionists suffered painful and sometimes disabeling injuries - much to the delight of the general public). Never use more than three buttons. "Professional" accordionists appear to be using lots of buttons but they are acutally just desperately trying to find the damned "C". "Professional" means they have learned to smile while they do it.

Play the black and white keys. The high notes are at the bottom and the low notes are at the top. (That arrangement isn't supposed to make any sense. Accept it.) Note: If you find the high notes at the top and the low notes at the bottom, you have either put the accordion on upside down or you have tried to repair it yourself. If the former, turn the accordion over. If the latter, pack your accordion up with thousands of dollars and mail it far away for a long, long time.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Those who continue to disparage the accordion ('Tis) have never heard of Richard Galliano.

The inventor of the Harvey Wallbanger?

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

KI> May I suggest adding "Cold Roses" to your repetoire? It'd be a nice fit... meanwhile, check out the 10K Lakes performance by Phil and Friends, if you haven't already... man I love archive.org sometimes...

and you have a pedal steel guy... amazing, and yet again, I live on the wrong damn coast.

I played an accorion once. Wouldn't reccommend it. Fucker didn't return a single shot.
It was pathetic to see it so grief-stricken afterwards, though. The poor thing was all creased up.

Barb has to go. Yes, she's a most excellent example of a Christard, and indeed a cautionary tale for us all, but her head is made of impenetrable stupidanium and stuffed with weapons-grade hate. Janine is Molly-worthy for her takedown rant, but dammit, she shouldn't have to endure that kind of abuse HERE of all places.

John Kwok has to go, too. That last reference to Abbie was way too creepy for me. It's yet another targeted shitstorm, and borderline stalking to boot.

By Leigh Williams (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

891 plus comments, talk about opening the floodgates!
Too much bacon, and too much Kwok.

Recap:

Having just caught up again while eating, Barb appears to be in the lead for banning with John Kwok not far behind and he came on strong near the finish.

Enough people enjoy playing with Petie, Facilis and Simon to keep them on for a while and GIL is ignored or considered a Poe by many.

Ciao y'all

"to Serve Man, a cookbook for people" by Karl Wurf. Somebody mentioned cannibalism, and someone else said something about exchanging recipes. Perhaps they were separate topics?

By gaypaganunitar… (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'm having trouble keeping the trolls straight. Who's the copy-&-paster? That bugs the hell out of me. He should go if he starts that up again.

On the other hand, whoever inspired the long posts by David Marjanović about punctuated equilibrium and some other scientific questions should stay.

Posted by: Leigh Williams | March 15, 2009

Barb has to go. Yes, she's a most excellent example of a Christard, and indeed a cautionary tale for us all, but her head is made of impenetrable stupidanium and stuffed with weapons-grade hate. Janine is Molly-worthy for her takedown rant, but dammit, she shouldn't have to endure that kind of abuse HERE of all places.

Leigh and everybody else who have said similar words, thank you. The kindness implied in the words, well, let's just say that I am touched.

But as it stands, as much as I want Barb booted from this site, the situation remains the same. Many of us have dealt with Barb like people in our real lives. It is much easier to deal with them in the abstract on the screen. And they will always come to sites like this. And they will always leave poison pellets. When you get down to it, which is more inhumane and hateful; a homosexual is the same level of evil as a rapist or that atheists cannot process ethics.

So even if Barb is booted, because of the nature of this blog, there will be more homophobic screeds. They are to be found on any site, gay or straight, where the owners call for equal right for all. Also, I pushed Barb into giving me an answer. I already knew the answer but I wanted her to say it.

As a final note, hearing what the likes of Barb has to say is no where near as agonizing as living with people who act out those words.

Because I do not want to sound like I am be critical, I just want to say thank you for the kind words. As long as you act upon them in real life, that is all I can hope for and want.

By Janine, Insult… (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I'm having trouble keeping the trolls straight. Who's the copy-&-paster? That bugs the hell out of me. He should go if he starts that up again.

Nat in particular but Alan does his fair share. Though Alan hilariously tries to make his seem more legit by cherry picking from otherwise legit sources and ignoring other bits in the same article, and sometimes the same paragraph or sentence, that completely shoot down his assertions.

It is quite funny.

Posted by: SC, OM | March 15, 2009

I'm having trouble keeping the trolls straight. Who's the copy-&-paster? That bugs the hell out of me. He should go if he starts that up again.

On the other hand, whoever inspired the long posts by David Marjanović about punctuated equilibrium and some other scientific questions should stay.

RogerS and Alan Clarke engage in a lot of cut and pasting. But they are also the ones that are inspiring David Marjanović, Josh and Owlmirror for their long, insightful and informative posts.

By Janine, Ignora… (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Rev. BigDumbChimp @894: seek help, bacon is treyf anyways. :-)

RogerS and Alan Clarke engage in a lot of cut and pasting. But they are also the ones that are inspiring David Marjanović, Josh and Owlmirror for their long, insightful and informative posts.

Damn. OK, then I'll nominate Erasmus for being a willfully dense asshole supreme on the "Islam hates women" thread. (No, I'm not really serious, but I hope he takes his idiocy and goes soon.)

Nat in particular but Alan does his fair share.

Nat! That's who I was thinking of! Yeah, he's annoying as all get out.

Barb reminds me of Gandhi's famous remark: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." She proclaims her faith in Jesus and uses it to denounce people she hates as sinners. Janine and other gays were literally compared to pedophiles and rapists. Plus Barb has a cardboard caricature of evolution that she denounces. A truly hateful, stupid person, Barb deserves banning.

While John Kwok is quite annoying with his pompous pretentiousness, he's just killfile fodder. I haven't killfiled him yet because he's such an easy target for mocking. However, I suspect PZ will ban Kwok because Kwok doesn't seem to realize whose blog this is.

Alan Clarke and RogerS are the cause for instruction in biology, paleontology and geology. Once David Marjanović, Josh and Owlmirror stop teaching them and us, then Alan and Roger can be discarded. Fortunately, since the three teachers have incurable cases of SIWOTI, Alan and Roger will probably vanish before class is over.

Facilis is just silly. He's killfile material and I've appropriately dealt with him.

Pete Rooke is like Walton. They're both young, naive, unsure of the world, and with minds full of nonsense. Hopefully they're salvageable. Walton annoys me more than Rooke does but that's because of my anti-libertarian prejudices.

Just my 2¢.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Dammit Sheryl, it's not "DIE-er maker", it's "'JER maker". As in "My woife went off to the West Indies on 'oliday." "Jermaicer?" "No, she went of 'er own accord."

Of all the trolls, Barb is the one that makes me want to plunge a knitting needle through my screen.

By Patricia, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Cannabaceae is correct; has priority (Endl, 1837).

And the botanists accept that? Keep in mind we're talking about people who still insist on Latin diagnoses.

How can you stoop so low in criticizing me after agree with my comments regarding how one should contact OK state representative Todd Thomsen in another, quite recent, Pharyngula thread

This, Mr Kwok, is nothing short of an ad hominem argument. He agrees with one idea of yours and disagrees with another -- if you're too stupid to understand that, what are you doing on a ScienceBlog exactly?

I'm having trouble keeping the trolls straight. Who's the copy-&-paster? That bugs the hell out of me. He should go if he starts that up again.

Well, the one who most excessively copies & pastes from AIG without attribution and then believes he's made an argument is Nat Weeks, but he has so far only posted on the monster thread on Gotelli's response to Klinghoffer, and you recently complained your computer was too old to download and display it, so you can't have seen him...

You could be talking of Alan Clarke, who is most famous for refusing to either read or acknowledge the very existence of this article on radiometric dating from a Christian perspective for eight hundred comments on the Titanoboa thread and another, I think, eight hundred so far on the Science of Watchmen thread.

On the other hand, whoever inspired the long posts by David Marjanović about punctuated equilibrium and some other scientific questions should stay.

:-)

Well, I fear that might have been Barb. I think Barb was it who brought up punk eek as the evillusionist excuse for why there are no transitional fossils and thus utter proof of creation, upon which I tried to set her straight a few days ago.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Not even John's mom says he's cool now.

Pete Rooke is like Walton. They're both young, naive, unsure of the world, and with minds full of nonsense.

I see one big difference between Pete and Walton. Walton knows this is not his blog, and while he bends things occasionally, he still recognizes he is a "guest". Pete seems to not have grasped he is a "guest", and tries to tell PZ how run his blog, by constantly harping on language being filtered, trying to play cop, trying to have PZ ban people he doesn't like, and pretending that religion should have a special place where it can't be criticized. Still, if he would agree to avoid such behavior, I see no reason to ban him.

Barb, thumbs down. Let the door close behind her. As a second choice, the cut/paste expert Nat the creobot.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Kwak'd sez:

All kidding aside, there is much I do admire about both PZ Myers and Abbie Smith (And I still feel this way, even when I felt compelled to criticize her about her understanding of some aspects of evolutionary biology.).

LOL John thinks he knows more about evolutionary biology than Abbie??

Damn! I had no idea Kwak'd was THAT delusional.

Hey, John, in between your flights of fancy where you pretend you are a scientist at various conventions and meetings, why don't you set up a science blog so you can show all of us just how much more about evolutionary biology you know than the rest of us, eh?

chickenshit.

She proclaims her faith in Jesus and uses it to denounce people she hates as sinners.

I don't think that's how she means it. I think she's trying to tell us that absolutely everyone is a sinner (Christian dogma, after all) and therefore urgently needs a savior (also Christian dogma, after all) to avoid going to hell as absolutely everyone deserves (again Christian dogma). In other words, she's trying to prove to us that we need to start praying right now... and that we need to stop disproving her arguments from ignorance right now.

Janine and other gays were literally compared to pedophiles and rapists.

The points being: 1) a sin is a sin is a sin, see above; 2) Barb had no idea that homosexuality is, for example, not limited to humans, and tries hard to avoid facing the fact that one's sexual orientation is something one is born with.

Pete Rooke is like Walton.

A lot more than I used to think, yes.

I wrote:

and you recently complained your computer was too old to download and display it, so you can't have seen him...

Looks like I misunderstood.

By David Marjanović, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Rooke became somewhat more human on this thread. Sure, he's still prissy about c*rs*ng and sw**r*ng and he's going to be a goddist for some time, but there is hope for the boy.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Rooke became somewhat more human on this thread. Sure, he's still prissy about c*rs*ng and sw**r*ng and he's going to be a goddist for some time, but there is hope for the boy.

could be.

I still have a hard time accepting he is 22

Barb repeatedly commits two sins (sic) - she is offensive and she is incoherent. She certainly needs to be banned for long enough to go away and take a course in writing English. OK, I'm a pedant - I like it that way.

Petey and Walton both show occasional signs of intelligence and could probably be saved though it's going to be a long, hard job. Perhaps we could set them test questions.

Walton: Have you ever had to make a decision which involved meeting the different needs of several people and, if yes, was libertarianism any use to you then?

Petey: Did you go to university to learn or to have your half-baked late adolescent notions - don't worry, kid, we've all had them - set in stone? Do you realise that at Kings you are following in the footsteps of both Rosalind Franklin and Radclyffe Hall and that so far you are doing no credit to either?

I still have a hard time accepting he is 22

I always had a picture of our original Pete as a middle aged/older guy. I've had the feeling the latest incarnation is a different person, who might be 22. Meds perhaps?

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Looks like I misunderstood.

What happened was that I clicked on it several times (during which I read those posts, and possibly even commented myself), but that led me on almost every occasion to have to shut down the computer, so I couldn't keep going there. I'm hoping to get a new laptop soon.

Stanton: I love Gravlax. It's good stuff. I do a cured salmon that is related.

Gravlax, where'd i miss gravlax?

OH there.

Shit, I love gravlax and make my own every once in a while. Back when i was a chefy type guy we'd always have some made in the kitchen.

I do some hot smoking of salmon too. I need to alter the smoker to do some cold smoking though. That's the good shit.

I would like to lend my support, however little it may count, for the banning of Barb. Janine's excellent argument has convinced me.

By beanjavert (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

It's got to be Barb, really. No contest. At least Pete and Walton try to engage (especially Walton), and let's face it, things would be a lot duller around here without them. Barb on the other hand is beyond all reason, doesn't engage with anyone and simply posts walls of screaming hellfire. Barb is the wrench in the gears of Pharyngula; the sand in the vaseline of social discourse; the Banquo at the banquet...

Ok, I think I've made my point.

Elwood

By Elwood Herring… (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I agree with Cath @923: Let's vote both Barb & Kwok off the island. The former is not even an amusing godbot and the latter is a smarmy misogynist. Neither of them adds anything to the discourse.

I would go cook some more bacon right now, but I have a cat sleeping on the edge of my keyboard and if I leave, she'll probably post something herself on the lines of "My hooman iz not feed me bacons! Bad hooman!" She's already figured out that things change on the screen when she pats the mouse, making me regret deeply that the shelter spayed her before they let us have her.

By DominEditrix (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Cannabaceae is correct; has priority (Endl, 1837).
And the botanists accept that?

yep
This guy sez:

The family name occasionally incorrectly written "Cannabidaceae" or even "Cannabinaceae" but the above orthography [Cannabaceae] must be used as it is conserved.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Long time lurker, but my vote: 1. Barb, for sheer uncomprehending nastiness
2. John Kwok, who thinks seeing the BRO play Beethoven is something to boast about. When he's seen Rattle conduct the Berlin in the 5th and 9th, then he can come back. Pete I just feel sad for. He keeps coming back because, though he probably can't admit it even to himself, he envies the posters here. He envies your freedom, your easy interaction, your fire, your knowledge. He's trying to work out how to have all that without giving up his faith. Sadly for him, it's not going to work. Pete - I was a student in London in the early 90s. It was great. I snaffled every student ticket deal - theatre, opera, orchestral, ballet, museum openings. I went to the markets on Saturday mornings and the South Bank on Sunday afternoons (the classical buskers are great and the second-hand bookstalls even better). Go to the National Gallery and find the painting 'Christ before the High Priest'. It's still my favourite picture in the whole building. Have you been to Old Street flower market? From there you should wander into the East End, where there is a thriving Bangladeshi community. Buy some food, listen to the language, see the women in their bright saris...go with the flow. Stop judging everything - just exist and experience for a while. The world does not exist to corrupt you, nor does it need correction. It simply is.For those making snap judgements about accordion music, may I present Sharon Shannon?/delurk

By Tassie Devil (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Since I'm in a didactic mood from wrassling with plant names, I'll didactify here and maybe we'll even hit a thousand before PZ wakes up all the way and shovels the walk.

GiL is a troll. Pete Rooke is a Poe. I'm basing the latter on people's reactions to him, taking him seriously.

I'll tellya, though: In my sixteen-count 'em-sixteen years in Catholic schools, I've heard metaphors and similes that were just about as strained as his are, and icky little giveaway phrases like "the knee roll" that gave me all the training an old nurse needs in keeping a straight face when wanting to puke.

More than once I barely resisted walking out on those weird little exercises in rhetorical sadism that religion/theology instructors maybe still indulge in to drive home the sort of point that the infamous Brazilian cardinal (oops; different bird) and more-infamous pope were making when they excommunicated that poor kid's doctors and mother.

That's also the sort of point that Barb keeps making, or trying to, that legalistic (despite when she claims) dead cold rule that masquerades as principle. I won't call it inhuman, because like torture and nerve-gas it's a human artifact, just not one of our better ones. "Step on a crack, break your mother's back" pumped up into a life-or-death puppetshow with consequences to real people. Ugh. (How's that for a strained metaphor?)

Off the Island? Anyone who doesn't bother with paragraph breaks, especially if they're cut-n-pasting from some sanctified bullshit. ESPECIALLY especially if they don't acknowledge their source. ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY especially if it's stuff we've all heard before. It's up to them to figure out what that is, and that's not so hard. Start by not assuming that people not in your cult haven't read its book, if it's all over the place and in hotel rooms.

(By the way, I've met Gideons too. There were some handing out teeny white-leatherette-covered demiBibles—New Testament and Psalms only—outside the doors when I took my LVN-licensure exam.)

Oh, and banning Barb, sure. She's simultaneously disgusting and boring. Janine, if you have to put up with shit like that in person... Wow; how do you keep from projectile vomiting?

Open thread...
So what books have you guys been reading lately?
I've been reading "The Irrational Atheist" by Vox Day. I have already read most of the God Delusion and I thoroughly enjoyed the fisking he gave Dawkins in the book.It was brutal.
I'm also reading "Lord of The Rings".

Wow; how do you keep from projectile vomiting?

why would one want to keep from projectile vomiting onto persons the likes of Barb?

seems like a reasonable defense mechanism to me.

;)

"All you homos are going to Hell!"

response:

*huuuuuuurrrrrrrrlllllllll*

*sploosh*

...and another religiotard gets coated with the "Truth"(tm)

Facilis, you appear to like fiction. Anything by Vox Day falls into that category.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I learnt a lot from Vox Day's book (it is free online ). Including the fact that most pharyngulites have a higher than average score on the Asperger's test.

I learnt a lot from Vox Day's book (it is free online ).

hey! I learned a lot from reading the Harry Potter books, too. Can't say of what value a new take on witch/wizard fiction will be, though.

whaddya know! we have something in common after all.

we've both read fiction!

Who's got the link to that picture of VD with his Mysticke Sword of Holy Redemption?

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

most pharyngulites have a higher than average score on the Asperger's test.

that's directly related to the fact that most Pharyngulites enjoy ripping morons like you, who have a much lower than average score on the Turing test.

Facilis #934 wrote:

So what books have you guys been reading lately?

I recently read Carl Zimmer's Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain -- and How it Changed the World, and followed it with one of Sinclair Lewis' lesser novels, Mantrap (about a fishing trip gone very wrong.)

I learnt a lot from Vox Day's book (it is free online ). Including the fact that most pharyngulites have a higher than average score on the Asperger's test.

Huh? How would he (or anyone else) have tested for this this? You don't have to fill out any health forms to read Pharyngula.

Unless, by "pharyngulites" you mean those embryos in the stage of development which comes after the blastula, and that makes even less sense.

#856: Lutefisk is just an excuse for eating lots of bacon. And drinking lots of beer & akevitt.

By amhovgaard (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I learnt a lot from Vox Day's book (it is free online ). Including the fact that most pharyngulites have a higher than average score on the Asperger's test.

I know it is hard for you Facilis, but put a little effort into not sounding like a complete idiot.

How to determine stupid trolls.
1) They think Expelled is true.
2) They think Vox Dey has something cogent to say.

Add in folks.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Tassie Devil #932

John Kwok, who thinks seeing the BRO play Beethoven is something to boast about. When he's seen Rattle conduct the Berlin in the 5th and 9th, then he can come back.

WIN!

Although Rattle & the CBSO playing anything by Mahler was the absolute top of the tree.

By Elwood, excruc… (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

They will absolutely never answer a direct question unless it's with another question, a Bible verse, or a quasi-related personal anecdote.

#497

They think "The Bell Curve" is sound science.

I've been reading "The Irrational Atheist" by Vox Day...
I'm also reading "Lord of The Rings".

So you're reading a work of complete fantasy and a long tome on which a longer movie was based?

By DominEditrix (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

They will ignore any Bible verse pointed out to them by other posters that contradicts their preconceived notions as to what the Bible actually says.

They believe the Bible is the source for all morality (though shall not kill), except when it isn't (Though shall not suffer a witch to live, or a wizard, and will kill your child it it strikes you or curses you.)

I've been reading "The Irrational Atheist" by Vox Day

What a sad waste of a gradeschool education :(
There is so much wrong with this single sentence - why, I hardly know where to start. But...the verb "read" is misapplied, where what we really mean is "stroked myself along with"....mere reading skills will tell you nothing about this pile of verbiage, aspiring, but never attaining, the description of "thought". Vox Day is of course the synonym for a notorious internet nutcase - banned here, of course - with delusions of relevance to anything whatsoever, other than the power of ignorance and ego.
"Have been", refers to the continuing process of engaging with this opinionated tripe, and suggests coyly that facilis's masturbatory engagement has yet to reach its tragic climax.
The fact that he should consider telling us this at all testifies to the fact that facilis, who if we are honest is hardly among Pharyngula's brighter or more welcome posters, has a dim awareness that this is something irritating and intellectaulish he can state he is doing, so as to continue the miserable war he is having with his own mind over why Jesus told him to come here in the first place - though he clearly enjoys being humiliated and scorned. Jesus Gambit? Only partly. I think he has his own "special needs"....
So facilis - on or off the bus? Any more pleasure to be had form his intellectual self-abasement?
I don't know. If I had a cat that I kept kicking I would seriously think of giving it away to a good home; either that or stop kicking it. This seems unlikely with him so I vote out, along with Barb.
I think I have a hidden cruel streak and I am afraid that he is making me indulge it.
Facilis - go to Rapture Ready. There you can be a real bastion of rational good sense. Here, not so much.

How to determine stupid trolls.

They will post absolutely huge cut 'n paste articles with few or no paragraph breaks, and then respond to questions with more cut 'n paste articles. Bonus points if the article is completely off topic.

Even more bonus points if it appears to be transcribed from pre-18th century apologetics.

So what books have you guys been reading lately?

The Scar by China Miéville, Farthing by Jo Walton and All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.

PS: Accordion!!!

I don't think VD is banned here. He occasionally graces us with a snide, self-aggrandizing comment.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Ooops sorry, blockquotes, and, apperently "Vox Day" isn't banned here. Is that the single possible error which makes my argument all fall down, as with evolution, or is it the single error whcih makes all the rest perfect? I am hardly the one to judge.

VD (very appropriate initials) isn't banned, but his toady VMartin (under many pseudonyms) is. The toady usually tries to get PZ to debate VD.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Huh? How would he (or anyone else) have tested for this this? You don't have to fill out any health forms to read Pharyngula.

Read the book.
He asked a bunch of pharyngula volunterrs
But the book is great.
For example he takes on Sam Harris' red state-blue state argument where he argued that Christian conservatism is bad because red states and cities in red states have higher crime. Day points out that Harris dishonestly ignores the data from the county level and if we examine it at that level ,we find a higher correlation between blue counties and crime. So even by Harris failed measure his agument does not stack up.
Day shows Dawkins' statement that there is not an atheist who would bulldoze a Cathedral or temple is very wrong (41,000 churches destroyed in the Former Soviet Union, more Buddhist temples destroyed in China and North Korea), he cites psychological studies to counter Dawkins' claim that being indoctrinated into Catholicism is worse than child abuse and shows the fractal wrongness (literally) with Dawkin's Boeing 747 argument.
It was one of the most epic books ever.

David: Да! Pie-throwing! Please see my admission of acute perversity elsewhere in this thread. :-)

Including the fact that most pharyngulites have a higher than average score on the Asperger's test.

The fact? LMAO

Yes, yes, for a heavily-customized definition of "fact".

True, Vox is not banned, has done nothing to get himself banned and likely never will, unless he does something like commit an egregious act of slander against Skatje - but we leave those misdeeds to the likes of Sal Cordova.

Facilis, Facilis. You believe the lies of Expelled. You believe the lies of VD. You believe the the lie that you presented your presupposition argument correctly. Nothing but lies. This is what you need to do to stop lying. Acknowledge your god doesn't exist and your bible is a work of fiction. Then you can find reason and logic. Until then, revel in your lies.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

He asked a bunch of pharyngula volunterrs

"Errs" is right. What bullshit. Whatever he did, it wasn't scientific, and means little.

The red/blue county crime thing is likely bullshit, too. Harris may have been wrong, and if so, Vox would have been correct in pointing that out - but the key correlation would be between urban counties and not-urban counties.

And what was being compared, by the way? Raw totals, or per-capita rates?

Need.... more... info... but have to sign off for now.

But I do think the fact that he thinks that there's anyghing wrong with having Aspergers Syndrome is offensive.
I do know that that like everyone who finds something to offend them here, the best tactic is to ignore it and move on, which I will do.
It is offensive though, especially coming from a complete derr-brain like facilis.

Recently finished Recently finished CONTAGIOUS by Scott Sigler. I'm in the middle of THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy.
After that I will read THE CONDITION by Jennifer McHaigh.

I'm a voracious reader and a terrible housekeeper.

Let's keep our trolls 'n' toadies straight: VMartin was a toady of John A. Davison. I forget who used to come over here to blow VD's horn.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Facilis #960:

He asked a bunch of pharyngula volunterrs

I don't think I have to tell you that asking for volunteers to answer a survey isn't a good way to do a scientific study of an entire group. I'm also not sure what the point would be.

Many arguments against atheism are really not arguments for the existence of God. They are arguments which don't depend on whether God exists or not. Instead, the focus is on the rather dubious idea that it is better to believe in God than not, because it will somehow be helpful from a personal or cultural standpoint.

Tell me something: if God doesn't really exist, would you still want to believe in God anyway?

Let's keep our trolls 'n' toadies straight: VMartin was a toady of John A. Davison.

Sven, you are right. *Headdesk*. That should require about fifty "hail ramens" in penance. Better get started.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Ichthyic in #935: [projectile vomiting] seems like a reasonable defense mechanism to me.

Yabbut when used frequently it's hell on one's esophagus and tooth enamel.

Facilis @938

... Including the fact that most pharyngulites have a higher than average score on the Asperger's test.

And your point is?

Regardless of the extremely dubious accuracy of that claim, even if every regular poster here was an Aspie, that wouldn't invalidate a single post they made.

The fact that I have Aspergers is no more relevant to my opinions than my gender, the colour of my skin, or my sexual orientation, and your implication that it is is offensive.

Count this as another vote for Facilis. (Although I've always wondered about the "voting them off the island" meme - wouldn't it be more satisfying to vote them all onto an island, and then just leave them there?)

So what books have you guys been reading lately?

hmm, I've gone off on a bit of a tangent of late...

I've been mostly reading this.

that Walter was a very naughty boy.

OTOH, it's a fascinating, raw glimpse into victorian society.

VD isn't banned; he's turned up from time to time in the last year or so and blathered on in his usual ignorant way and bragged about how many strawmen he's slain with his pseudo-intellectual 'sword of truth'. I got a great deal of pleasure out of reading his predictions of a McCain victory and subsequent attempts to rationalise why he got it so wrong.

His character is just a more aggressive and slightly less stupid version of the one Ray Comfort performs. I hope your copy was downloaded for free, facilis; I'd hate to know that anyone was funding that utter scumbag.

As for books; now we're speaking my language. I've just finished The World According to Garp by John Irving and am now into A Confederacy of Dunces by the late John Kennedy Toole. Read them both before, but haven't had time to hit the library of late so decided to raid the book-boxes* in my spare room.

*I don't have bookshelves - yet. One day.

By Wowbagger, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

The last book I finish was The Ever Running Man by Marcia Muller (mystery buff). I'm also plowing through a large article on the formation of the Michigan basin to refresh my memory on geology (have to try to stay up with Josh), and occasionally dip into a book of verse by our very own Cuttlefish.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

What does everyone think of historiometry as a scientific tool? Has anyone here taken a class in it or gone to school for it?

I've just finished Paul Krugman's The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. Krugman claims that the present financial crisis is functionally similar to the Great Depression. He does not believe that it will be as severe. We now have the financial tools and institutions, and the hindsight, to make for a softer landing. Nevertheless, this crisis has no end in sight yet. The one big thing that everyone seems to know now is that one does not increase taxes and implement budget cuts during a crisis, as Herbert Hoover did.

Depression economics goes against the grain of conventional economic wisdom, and given the current crisis it is coming back into fashion, even among those who preached deregulation and fiscal restraint a decade ago. This theory should be applied sparingly, only in extreme cases. The present crisis probably qualifies. It should not be applied to every minor recession that comes along. The danger of overuse of depression economics is that it can cause a toxic brew of inflation, stagnation and corruption.

By 'Tis Himself (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Seems a shame to let the thread languish so near to the nice round 1000-comment count. I'd like to propose a topic for conversation:

bacon!

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

mmmmmmmmm......I like bacon.

especially with a side of bacon grease for extra flavor!

By WTFinterrobang (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Yep.
It's not just for breakfast anymore!

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Man, no wonder the economy and the airlines are in a funk.

By Anonymous (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I do not think that the economy and airlines are in a funk because of bacon!

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

CSue - somewhere up there, I don't know....

It's Jack, not John, though anything but late for bacon works, and I am not sure how I even managed to see your post in all this mess. I go out for a day of buying stuff, and the thread more than triples in my absence.

I just couldn't resist the Kwok/Kwak relationship - along with your comment about a sister. It was just too good. So is the beer, BTW.

It's tomorrow almost. I am outta here. If the thread doubles again by the time I wake up, it will just take me longer to read it.

JC

I do not think 1000 comments is too much to ask.
A little help, people? Is the Oz shift online yet?

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

My son sent me a website recently that sell bacon jerkey.
And one with bacon lollipops too.

He's a college student and I think he hopes I'll send him some.

We could ...

Tax Religion.
Tark

I love round numbers....square ones too...even the odd rhombus.

Just doing my part to help the comment meter (since all the irony meter are bustifcated).

And looking at #985 has invoked involuntary drool reflex ...

Sweat Fuck, I want to name all you wonderous, glorious peoples in my will and then go and commit baconicide....
\end dramatic interlude

Tax Religion. Dab gentilely at sides of mouth.
Tark

I've gotten all Pavlovian about the maple-bacon lollypops!

I'm going to order some and use them as spoons for my bacon grease.

By WTFinterrobang (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Putting (a)side the bacon ...just briefly...
Way back in this amazing thread the mention of Dawkin's
Unweaving the Rainbow occurred and the other thread about citizen science groups makes me want to really push for everyone to read that book. I thought it was great, but I've had other sensible, intelligent folks come up and tell me that, despite my recommendation, they had a hard time getting through it. Anyone else find this? Am I so ignorant of the extreme of my dorkiness that my perception is skewed about this?
Tax Religion.
Tark

I repeat: bacon.
I repeat: bacon.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Tasmanian shift reporting for duty, sir!

By Tassie Devil (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

And at least I am here meter-pushing with a Hrab Fan...
Thanks for playing WTF Interrobang.

Desiree, where ever you are...TALK SCIENCE TO ME!

Love & Kisses (and bacon)
Tax Religion.
Tark

OK, to push closer to 1000:

Anyone here got a recommendation for a good book for the lay reader on quantum theory?

By Tassie Devil (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Leon Lederer's book The God Particle is pretty good but mostly just a great humorous romp through particle-accelerator history. A good place for context if not theory.

Lay speaking, anayway, (insert your own Groucho voice and joke here)

Tax Religion. W00t!
Tark

Scienceblogger Chad Orzel has a popular book on quantum mechanics coming out at the end of this year, called How to teach your dog about physics or something like that.

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

my work here is done

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

Tassie Devil@997:

Not a book, but as a complement to whatever someone else may recommend, Leonard Susskind did a lecture series on it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h1E3YJMKfA

It's for the public, but still covers the math, and is accessible if you remember your algebra and calc. He takes the time to explain more advanced math involved as it comes up.

By Discombobulated (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink

I don't have a good suggestion for a good quantum theory book, but I do have a GOOD suggestion:

I just went to my promiseland (refrigerator) and found a slice of heaven (bacon) and laying next to it was the second most glorious substance known in the universe (CHEESE). Guess who's a happy man‽

By WTFinterrobang (not verified) on 15 Mar 2009 #permalink