humor
oracknows | August 6, 2006This one's been making the rounds over the last few days, but, Star Wars geek that I am, I found it hilarious enough to post, even though it's shown up in a lot of other places. Enjoy!
j7uy5 | August 3, 2006
Hint: It is literally a hands-on exhibit in a Farm and Ranch museum.
The device pictured above is a milking machine. The idea is,
supposedly, for the visitor to learn what the machine feels like to the
cow.
Somehow, I doubt the experience is very similar.
pharyngula | August 2, 2006
David Berner compiled a list of a few cephalopod based Maakie strips, so I'll pass them on to you. It's two good things at once.
I can almost see why an octopus would find an elephant attractive, although it might look like a heptaplegic to it.
mikethemadbiologist | August 2, 2006Sen. Conrad Burns (R) has to be one of the dumber rocks out there. Who in his right mind insults firefighters who travelled a couple of thousand miles to help your state? Maybe my 'Firefighting Dems' idea wasn't so ridiculous after all...
pharyngula | August 2, 2006Tom Gasaway sent me a link to this cartoon, but I don't get it.
Is it trying to say that Condi is an amazing asset to the US who brings us all kinds of wonderful surprises? Could we get her to give up her current job and come work at the Common Cup in lovely downtown Morris? I'd order lunch there every day, I promise.
evolvingthoughts | August 1, 2006
In which our hero rediscovers history and sociology and damned hot weather...
My travels continued with the usual boring flight to Heathrow, thence to Chicago, and a train trip to visit David Hull, as I said. As I flew into American airspace, I was struck looking out the window by the haze of pollution that covers the entire continent. I saw this also last year and in previous trips. Looking down from 11km, one wonders if the sun can even be seen on the ground, for the ground cannot be easily seen from the air. On the ground, though, the heat indicates that enough energy reaches the ground…
evolvingthoughts | August 1, 2006COSMOS magazine is reporting that the local bank, the Bank of Queensland, has bought a Linnean name for themselves. Yes, that's right: they paid for a spider to be named after them officially.
Now, I don't know what you think of the relation between spiders and banks (some spiders aren't venomous, after all), but this strikes me as a good way to fund research into biodiversity. What next? Naming wetlands after Hollywood movie stars? Bogs after federal politicians?
I can think of a few people whose reputations could only be enhanced by having a slug named after them. But seriously, folks, the…
tsmith | August 1, 2006So, msnbc has a story about a waitress who was given her own--previously stolen--driver's license from a customer who was trying to prove she was 21.
The 22-year-old waitress, whose name was not released, called police last week and said she had been handed her own stolen driver's license by a woman trying to prove she was 21. The woman, who became suspicious of the delay as the waitress went to call police, fled the Moosehead Saloon, but her companion provided her name.
Clearly, this is a case of supernatural intervention, aka "design," as evidenced by this quote from a local police officer…
pharyngula | August 1, 2006Gosh. Maybe I should add Insta-Pundit to the blogroll.
(via Oliver Willis)
pharyngula | August 1, 2006Let's be clear on this: I'm merely the token moonbat in the wingnut parade, OK? You can tell because I actually have the best hat of them all.
grrlscientist | July 31, 2006
Image source.
A published author who now is a friend of mine after I reviewed his book sent me some words that he found in a top-secret copy of the Republican-English Dictionary. He noted that these words and their definitions are useful for those of us who have been recently experiencing difficulties deciphering speeches and news reports delivered by the current administration.
But it's top seekrit, so don't tell them that we know! Shhh!
Words stolen from the top-secret Republican-English Dictionary;
alternative energy sources n.
New locations to drill for gas and oil.
bankruptcy n…
jlynch | July 31, 2006
Believe it or not, the Flying Spaghetti Monster gets hate-mail ... or rather Bobby Henderson does. Check it out here .... it shows a remarkable lack of Christian compassion (and for that matter, spelling and grammar).
Possible "highlight":
As a Christian, I follow Jesus for his teachings of love and tolerance; it is people like you who make me sick, I hope you die in a lake of fire and get your eyes pecked out by crows, so that you may go to hell and exist for eternity in a lake of fire getting your eyes pecked out by crows.
With love,
Charlie
pharyngula | July 30, 2006
You must read Doonesbury today. We ought to be laughing ourselves silly every time those Republicans dredge up a flag burning amendment to distract everyone from their other ridiculous, failed policies.
j7uy5 | July 29, 2006
Here is the video that provides a little comic relief, after reading
about our latest efforts to study biological weapons, as mentioned in
my last post. Here is your army. Here is your army
on drugs.
oracknows | July 29, 2006Via Dr. Flea, I find this rather amusing cartoon: Dr. Id, written by Michelle, who, it turns out, was also responsible for the 12 Types of Med Students and a fairly spot-on portrayal of a medical student's surgery rotation. Dr. Id says what other doctors only wish that they could say and does what other doctors only wish that they could do.
In this case, Dr. Id confronts a mother who brought her children to the emergency room for mild colds...
oracknows | July 29, 2006You know, although I'm not exactly a huge fan of it, I have sometimes in the past liked to listen to a little dose (but just a little) dose of death metal. Sometimes I'm just in the mood for some over-the-top growled lyrics of death, doom, violence, and destruction shrieked over a churning demonic-sounding metal roar. Sometimes, though, it's a bit too harsh, even for me. Apparently I'm not alone. See what happens when a Cannibal Corpse song is "reimagined" as a lounge song:
I have to admit that Cannibal Corpse was a bit too much, even for me, even back in the day.
scientificactivist | July 28, 2006From the archives:
(19 March 2006) Genetic engineering holds a great deal of promise, from potentially curing a variety of human ailments to addressing nutritional deficiencies through transgenic crops. One project even aims to engineer into bacteria the ability to generate a variety of alternative fuels. When it comes to genetic engineering and its emerging potential, it seems that the only real limit to the field is that it can only be used to design or improve something that is actually alive.
Despite this "limitation," some scientists have found that the raw material used in genetic…