The Muse of Lucas

Posted 27 Jan 2012

Commuting, Daily Life, Signs, Weird | 6 Comments 

Is this a cousin of Luke or Anakin? Perhaps a more distant relative.

Conservatory sensory connections

Posted 2 Jan 2012

Daily Life, Places, Signs, Weird | 1 Comment 

It was after dusk, and the room was darkened and steaming hot.

Classical music was playing softly, coming in from far away, yet setting the mood perfectly for romance.

I thought I saw something gleaming on the floor, down amongst a collection of rare and exotic flowers that someone had clearly put a lot of time and effort into arranging for me to see.

And as I moved in closer, I saw written on a tiny note, “Smell me, I’m fragrant!”

I tell you what, if I was not in a plant conservatory and being given this message by a nice-smelling plant, I’d be a little creeped out right now.

The chemical difference between ingredients and poison

Posted 22 Dec 2011

Daily Life, Food, Weird | 1 Comment 

While munching my way through more than my fair share of some Hostess Donettes on a recent Saturday morning, I flipped the package around to take a little study of the ingredients at my less than overly healthy breakfast.

While perusing the lengthy list of chemicals that make up the ingredient list, I was shocked at how so many of the items were just a chemical bond away from being poison. Ok, I am no scientist, but here is my list of initial concerns:

• Does it seem amazing or frightening to anyone else that these donuts have glycerin? How many movies have we all seen where protagonists blow up loads of stuff using the highly volatile nitro-glycerin?
• What is Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate? Pyrophosphate sounds like it must absolutely be explosively dangerous.
• Cocoa proceed with alkali sounds disconcertingly similar to the process by which cocaine is produced.

From Frosty’s view: consideration of a living snowman

Posted 12 Dec 2011

Daily Life, People, Weird | 1 Comment 

Most Americans, and perhaps much of the Western World (thanks to Hollywood) are familiar with the story of Frosty the Snowman. Assembled from three balls of snow of varying size, he was brought to life by a magical hat.

When considering Frosty’s story, several questions spring to mind:

1. How did Frosty know how to walk? Was that also the magic hat’s doing?
2. Where did Frosty learn to speak English? And if he had donned the hat, for example, in Latin America would he have known how to speak Spanish or Portuguese?
3. Well aware of his limited time as a living snowman, what other tasks/adventures were left unaccomplished on his “to do before I melt” list?

What questions would you have liked to ask of the a jolly happy soul, with a corncob pipe and a button nose?

The Mathematics of Drinking

Posted 17 Nov 2011

Daily Life, People, The Little Things, Weird | 5 Comments 

Do you believe that you can tell something about the local environs by looking closely at the graffiti in bathrooms?

Click each photo for a close up photo of the graffiti

What do you think this graffiti above a bar bathroom urinal says about the community?