Adventures in Ethics and Science announces "It's a nerd-off." And I have to admit that Stemwedel is pretty nerdish.
But seriously, does she bring out the fabulous work of Tom Glazer or Marais and Miranda to enlighten her science labs? No, I think not. Who but a nerd god would dare attempt to use bizarre '50s and '60s educational music to inform sophistumicated modern youth?
And who but a nerd god would get such joy out of "Song of the Rocks," whose lyrics proceed:
"I am mica-schist" cracks me up every time. The old-guy voices explaining "we're cinnabar" always sends me off to figure out if the rocks that identify themselves in the plural are actually composites of some sort. And whether the voices' genders are supposed to tell me something about the properties of the rocks they represent.
That's how big a nerd I am.
As for the various jokes circulating, here's a personal favorite:
Living on a small tropical island has its rewards. Life is simple, the grass huts let the wind blow gently, and everyone gets along.
In honor of his status and general excellence, the king of our particular island has a second story on his grass house. One year for his birthday, the people get together and decide that, given his general benevolence and all around excellence, he deserves a throne that's a bit less ratty. So they secretly construct a new one, and on the anniversary of his regal birth, they present the new seat of power to their king.
The king, overjoyed and honored by his subjects' display of affection, has the old throne stored on the second floor, and proceeds to use the new throne while ruling the island.
As the year rolls around again, the people remember how happy the king was with his birthday present, and decide to make it a tradition. Every year they make a new throne, and the king has the old one placed in his attic.
All goes well for years, the winds still blow gently and life is still simple. That is, until the weight of years of thrones causes the king's house to collapse, squashing him.
The moral is simple: people who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones.
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