The "Shaggy Dog Jokes" (or are they more appropriately, "Shaggy Weingarten Jokes ?") are fine --- if you have the time. My preference is for the short, sharply etched ones that invite a drum sting (that "ba dum tish") after being told; the ones very much beloved of the legendary Borscht Belt comics. Like:
Man (to doctor): "Doc, it hurts when I go like this."
Doctor: "Then don't go like this." (ba dum tish)
Woman (to a friend): "Ach, the food was terrible. And such small portions."
Or, the classic: "Statistics tell us a man gets hit by a car every 10 minutes. I don't know who this guy is, but he better stay off the streets." (ba dum tish)
My God! Who has a bridge that low? After a few incidents, why not do something about it? Cheaper to lower the road than raise the bridge but it is doable. This bridge must be a relic from the 1800’s, when carriages went under the bridge.
When I worked at VDOT, we talked drivers through the county, giving them a path to follow to the next county, on roads it was safe for them to travel. Why not have a breakaway height tester before the bridge?
I remember all of these stories. I agreed with the chairs, though, since I was in a class when a large man hit the floor when his skimpy chair snapped and threw him to the floor.
Regarding color perception, the most recent episode of NOVA covered this subject with some very interesting examples. See Season 50, Episode 9: "Your Brian: Perception Deception."
As might be expected there is almost certainly a genetic basis for variable color perception --- several other factors like gender, age and even the color of irises, notwithstanding. While three light detector cells called cones are normal, one may be absent and the biology of one or more may be different. There are a large number of possible DNA combinations for the molecule they contain which changes shape when light is received, and which determines a cone's sensitivity to wavelength.
While we're giving Gregor Mendel a tip of the cap --- that distaste for raw tomatoes, cilantro (and as I recall from a collective moue early on in the proceedings here, green peppers) also very likely has a strong genetic component. Researchers have found something like 400 genetic traits linked to food preference or dislike. These, in turn, mapped to specific health traits. Of course there was some variability. For example, those subjects with a preference for vegetables didn’t necessarily like all vegetables (as in the caption from the famous Carl Rose cartoon from "The New Yorker:" "It's broccoli, dear."--"I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.") Which nicely (IMO) segues to capsaicin-detecting receptors -- capsaicin being the "hot" in hot peppers and generally, in spicy food -- which line not only the mouth and throat but other mucous membranes like the eyes. The fewer the receptors and/or the less sensitive they are, the more receptive you are to spicy food (although you can be sensitized to spice to a degree over time) and here too has been shown a genetic variation in sensitivity and number of receptors.
Now word reaches us that the ultimate test of capsaicin receptivity has been unleashed on the world with Pepper X, from Puckerbutt Pepper Company, Fort Mill, SC, outside of Charlotte, NC. While yet to be officially confirmed as the hottest chili pepper (by several magnitudes), it tests at 3 million Scoville units compared to Puckerbutt's current record holder, the Carolina Reaper at 1.64 million units. By comparison the jalapeño or serrano barely registers on the heat scale at 3,000-5,000. The "Pepper of Mass Destruction" is not yet on the market but is described by the one or two foolhardy souls who have dared to even be in the same room with one: "More than simple mouth burn, Pepper X singes your soul."
Pain is not on my list of flavors, but early on I thought people lied about liking hot peppers. later on I decided they had just burned out their taste buds (what ever they are) and could not even taste "normal food." Now, I just do not know. But I do not want to suffer when I eat. So I really am a Gringo.
Truth (and physiology) be told, there would seem to be more than a touch of masochism about downing hot peppers. The body reacts to what it senses is a threat by releasing endorphins and dopamine, the "feel good" chemicals. Capsaicin has also been shown to have several health benefits. Of course, you can get a high, lower your blood pressure and improve heart health in much less painful ways. Taste buds are "simply" clusters of sensory cells and, as an another example of the remarkable resiliency of the human body, recover relatively quickly from insults like burning your tongue with hot coffee --- or hot peppers. Unless there is an underlying issue (e.g. injury, infection), they also normally regenerate themselves every one to two weeks.
"King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 today (Monday 22nd May), on the event's press and VIP day.
Their Majesties were joined by other members of the royal family, including the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. They were met by the President of the Royal Horticultural Society, Keith Weed, who greeted them ahead of their evening tour."
Re colors. One weird fact is why we have seven colors: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. It is because Sir Isaac Newton was a numerologist, and he decided that the spectrum had to have seven colors. Too bad he didn’t like the number 11.
I chose #2 in the poll, but not for the reason stated. YOU SHOULD NOT WRITE IN ALL CAPITALS BECAUSE IT IS HARDER TO READ THAN MIXED Capitals and lower case. Also it is lazy.
Sometimes I hit "Caps Lock" by accident and am watching my fingers and not the screen and get a paragraph of CAPS. I do have Microsoft Office and it can "toggle" for me. But it is tedious. If I were in charge, I would take Caps Lock to another place on the keyboard or go back in time and just shoot the inventor that did this to us. (If I could, that is.)
"Typewriter" is one of my favorite Leroy Anderson tunes, but I was kinda disappointed in the typist. I'm old enough to have used a typewriter like that in my youth, and I know that it went "ding" every time you got to the end of a line. In the video, the typist just hit a bell every place the song called for it, and I realized I was expecting him to do it the old-fashioned way. Probably impossible, I guess.
After a visit to China, I lost all reluctance to mix colors or patterns of any description. Every color in China goes with every other color all the time. Gives you that old Albert Alligator look, "A good-lookin' man looks good in anything he throws on." As to color perception, we first noticed our son's color-blindness on a cross-country trip. Gazing at red cows in green fields, he asked how did the cowboys find the cows? (Is there a Larson offering? This trip predated Larson.) And on a much later trip West, the horror of horizontal traffic lights!
Been there! Son had gotten his license just before the trip, "he can take turns with Dad!" But despite the wind, the weather, and the wildlife, we all made it.
Gene, I’m the guy who submitted the joke about the American, Russian, North Korean, and an Israeli. I did not steal it from you. I heard this joke in 1987 in a country familiarization course when I was posted to Tel Aviv.
Always love 'Tootie Green', but am too ham-fingered to type it in less than 20-30 minutes.
the person who exhibited bizarre choices in clothing....
What was she wearing, before she stole the restaurant tablecloth to make her skirt?
The "Shaggy Dog Jokes" (or are they more appropriately, "Shaggy Weingarten Jokes ?") are fine --- if you have the time. My preference is for the short, sharply etched ones that invite a drum sting (that "ba dum tish") after being told; the ones very much beloved of the legendary Borscht Belt comics. Like:
Man (to doctor): "Doc, it hurts when I go like this."
Doctor: "Then don't go like this." (ba dum tish)
Woman (to a friend): "Ach, the food was terrible. And such small portions."
Or, the classic: "Statistics tell us a man gets hit by a car every 10 minutes. I don't know who this guy is, but he better stay off the streets." (ba dum tish)
My God! Who has a bridge that low? After a few incidents, why not do something about it? Cheaper to lower the road than raise the bridge but it is doable. This bridge must be a relic from the 1800’s, when carriages went under the bridge.
When I worked at VDOT, we talked drivers through the county, giving them a path to follow to the next county, on roads it was safe for them to travel. Why not have a breakaway height tester before the bridge?
To quote Kelly Bundy, “the mind wobbles.”
I remember all of these stories. I agreed with the chairs, though, since I was in a class when a large man hit the floor when his skimpy chair snapped and threw him to the floor.
Perhaps this color confusion is like prosopagnosia - people who don’t recognize faces.
An upsetting story with an amazing aptonym:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lauren-heike-hiker-phoenix-stabbing_n_646d5282e4b0bfd64485b692
Regarding color perception, the most recent episode of NOVA covered this subject with some very interesting examples. See Season 50, Episode 9: "Your Brian: Perception Deception."
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/your-brain-perception-deception/
As might be expected there is almost certainly a genetic basis for variable color perception --- several other factors like gender, age and even the color of irises, notwithstanding. While three light detector cells called cones are normal, one may be absent and the biology of one or more may be different. There are a large number of possible DNA combinations for the molecule they contain which changes shape when light is received, and which determines a cone's sensitivity to wavelength.
While we're giving Gregor Mendel a tip of the cap --- that distaste for raw tomatoes, cilantro (and as I recall from a collective moue early on in the proceedings here, green peppers) also very likely has a strong genetic component. Researchers have found something like 400 genetic traits linked to food preference or dislike. These, in turn, mapped to specific health traits. Of course there was some variability. For example, those subjects with a preference for vegetables didn’t necessarily like all vegetables (as in the caption from the famous Carl Rose cartoon from "The New Yorker:" "It's broccoli, dear."--"I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.") Which nicely (IMO) segues to capsaicin-detecting receptors -- capsaicin being the "hot" in hot peppers and generally, in spicy food -- which line not only the mouth and throat but other mucous membranes like the eyes. The fewer the receptors and/or the less sensitive they are, the more receptive you are to spicy food (although you can be sensitized to spice to a degree over time) and here too has been shown a genetic variation in sensitivity and number of receptors.
Now word reaches us that the ultimate test of capsaicin receptivity has been unleashed on the world with Pepper X, from Puckerbutt Pepper Company, Fort Mill, SC, outside of Charlotte, NC. While yet to be officially confirmed as the hottest chili pepper (by several magnitudes), it tests at 3 million Scoville units compared to Puckerbutt's current record holder, the Carolina Reaper at 1.64 million units. By comparison the jalapeño or serrano barely registers on the heat scale at 3,000-5,000. The "Pepper of Mass Destruction" is not yet on the market but is described by the one or two foolhardy souls who have dared to even be in the same room with one: "More than simple mouth burn, Pepper X singes your soul."
Pain is not on my list of flavors, but early on I thought people lied about liking hot peppers. later on I decided they had just burned out their taste buds (what ever they are) and could not even taste "normal food." Now, I just do not know. But I do not want to suffer when I eat. So I really am a Gringo.
Truth (and physiology) be told, there would seem to be more than a touch of masochism about downing hot peppers. The body reacts to what it senses is a threat by releasing endorphins and dopamine, the "feel good" chemicals. Capsaicin has also been shown to have several health benefits. Of course, you can get a high, lower your blood pressure and improve heart health in much less painful ways. Taste buds are "simply" clusters of sensory cells and, as an another example of the remarkable resiliency of the human body, recover relatively quickly from insults like burning your tongue with hot coffee --- or hot peppers. Unless there is an underlying issue (e.g. injury, infection), they also normally regenerate themselves every one to two weeks.
Is this an inaptonym?
"King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 today (Monday 22nd May), on the event's press and VIP day.
Their Majesties were joined by other members of the royal family, including the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. They were met by the President of the Royal Horticultural Society, Keith Weed, who greeted them ahead of their evening tour."
Re colors. One weird fact is why we have seven colors: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. It is because Sir Isaac Newton was a numerologist, and he decided that the spectrum had to have seven colors. Too bad he didn’t like the number 11.
I chose #2 in the poll, but not for the reason stated. YOU SHOULD NOT WRITE IN ALL CAPITALS BECAUSE IT IS HARDER TO READ THAN MIXED Capitals and lower case. Also it is lazy.
Sometimes I hit "Caps Lock" by accident and am watching my fingers and not the screen and get a paragraph of CAPS. I do have Microsoft Office and it can "toggle" for me. But it is tedious. If I were in charge, I would take Caps Lock to another place on the keyboard or go back in time and just shoot the inventor that did this to us. (If I could, that is.)
When a faculty member sends me all caps emails, I go to HT because they are shouting at me - on purpose.
All ca-s is SHOUTING.
So? We are not allowed to shout? What did your parents do to you?
All caps. Stupid fingers.
See?
Jeez.
"Typewriter" is one of my favorite Leroy Anderson tunes, but I was kinda disappointed in the typist. I'm old enough to have used a typewriter like that in my youth, and I know that it went "ding" every time you got to the end of a line. In the video, the typist just hit a bell every place the song called for it, and I realized I was expecting him to do it the old-fashioned way. Probably impossible, I guess.
Does anyone know why the typist/percussionist had a Nintendo (NES) on his desk?
so he could play Tetris between movements.
After a visit to China, I lost all reluctance to mix colors or patterns of any description. Every color in China goes with every other color all the time. Gives you that old Albert Alligator look, "A good-lookin' man looks good in anything he throws on." As to color perception, we first noticed our son's color-blindness on a cross-country trip. Gazing at red cows in green fields, he asked how did the cowboys find the cows? (Is there a Larson offering? This trip predated Larson.) And on a much later trip West, the horror of horizontal traffic lights!
In some states the horizontal lights are illegal because they cause accidents.
Sounds good to me. Our encounter was about 40 years ago, in an area where it was conceivable that some old cowboy rode out & lit them at dusk.
I was on a trip with a guy who was color blind. He was driving. The area had horizontal traffic lights. Thought we were going to die multiple times.
Been there! Son had gotten his license just before the trip, "he can take turns with Dad!" But despite the wind, the weather, and the wildlife, we all made it.
Gene, I’m the guy who submitted the joke about the American, Russian, North Korean, and an Israeli. I did not steal it from you. I heard this joke in 1987 in a country familiarization course when I was posted to Tel Aviv.
Excellent. I believe you. We tell it exactly the same way! And your hearing it during the cold war makes sense in that regard!
(I am laughing, tho. I was not suggesting you stole it; I thought you might be playing a trick on me. I thought you might be my brother!)