The natural sounds of mechanical harmony

Posted 8 Mar 2010

Daily Life, Design, People | 5 Comments 

A well-oiled machine emits a certain sound that indicates it is running well. The smooth, almost elegant sound of mechanical gears and parts is a beautiful noise to some – while the click, clank, clunk of mechanical failure is hard on our ears. Without being engineers or mechanics, we need only listen to a machine to tell if it is running smoothly.

Over the weekend, I had a wonderful interaction with a young boy of two that showed some (at least anecdotal) insight into our perceptions of mechanical harmony. The little boy in question suddenly rushed into the room ‘Emergency! Emergency’ Naturally concerned, I followed the little fellow into a neighboring room. Nothing seemed amiss. The lad pointed to a CD-player. Thinking the boy wanted music, I pressed the play button — and was greeted by the grinding sounds of an improperly-seated CD being jostled by the spinning parts of the player. It was grinding on my ears.

It was only after a moment or two that I realized what had just transpired. A little child, with only two years of life and life experience had heard those sounds of ‘mechanical chaos’ and knew that something wasn’t right. Could there be something inherent in nature that details what mechanical fluidity should sound like? Is the soft, quick and efficient sounds a deer racing through the woods more closely linked to the hum of a modern engine than I could have imagined? These thoughts filled my head this weekend.

Google wags tongue at Olympics?

Posted 3 Mar 2010

Events, Guest Post, People, Places, The Little Things | 4 Comments 

Is it just me or does this ice skater (part of the Google search page illustration) look like she has her tongue sticking out?  Is this a subliminal message about the Vancouver games?

Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader in Michigan for spotting this and submitting the screen-shot to chickenmonkeydog. We LOVE to get submitted pictures and stories about the quirky events in your lives to share with the CMD community!

Year of the Meg

Posted 2 Mar 2010

Blog, Daily Life, Events, News, People | 5 Comments 

Dear Readers,

We have some big news to announce today! We wish we could say it is GOOD news, but let’s just say it is BIG!

Our brilliant friend and humorist Meg, who joined CMD as an author just about one year ago, is moving on to see what else the world of online creative writing has to offer. We’ve had an absolute blast having her on board and enjoyed the Meg-twist on our quirky outlook.

Please join us in wishing Meg a fond farewell! We hope she’ll continue to contribute by submitting guest posts (just like all of our readers can, including you)!

And with a flap of the wing, a beating of the chest, and a wag of the tail we at chickenmonkeydog wish Meg all the best!

Circular postcard distribution

Posted 26 Feb 2010

People, Places, Postcards | 4 Comments 

Overwhelmed by the magnificence of what lay before him, our foreign correspondent felt compelled to capture the grandeur of the Gateway to India in true chickenmonkeydog fashion.

And, dear readers, keep in mind that you too can capture the beauty around you with the red, yellow and blue hues of the chickenmonkeydog postcard. Just follow our simple instructions and a postcard could be winging its way to you.

Going the distance – for soap

Posted 17 Feb 2010

Daily Life, Guest Post, People, Places | 4 Comments 

A reader from Milwaukee submitted this query to the CMD community:

I have noticed lately that  girls, when in a public bathroom and at a sink that is not close to the soap dispenser will “wash” their hands using just water.

Having noticed it once, I now seem to see it everywhere.

Is this just a disgusting habit of the people in my locality or does this occur everywhere? I hope you can help clear up the confusion.

We’ve written quite a bit about washing hands.  We always get a great response from our community and I am sure we can clear this up as well. So good reader, what do you think? Is it a distance-from-soap-dispenser based decision that drives this behavior?

From a guy’s perspective I can assure you that “no hand washing” and “water-only hand washing” is quite prevalent everywhere I’ve been in the world.

Though I am a proponent of thorough and soap-enhanced hand washing, I must admit that the disgusting state in which many establishments keep their bathrooms frequently makes me wonder if my hands aren’t getting MORE dirty by touching the faucet handle and soap dispensers.