All Star Wars fans know what inspired George Lucas' imagery in designing the bad guys. This week, that concept seeped into the real world in a strange little episode in London. The German navy corvette Braunschweig was in Britain, not doing its normal stealth operations, but on a training operation. While transiting upriver on the Thames, the crew stood on deck as the ship passed through London, with the most appropriate (or inappropriate) music playing on its loudspeakers. You will easily recognize "The Imperial March" from Star Wars, also called Darth Vader's theme.
A spokesman from the German navy told the BBC that there was no message implied in the song selection, and that the boat's commander has free rein to select the music. This shows that the reputation of Germans having no sense of humor isn't true- they just don't laugh at jokes. However, it would have been funnier if the Braunschweig was traveling under its own power instead of being towed backward upriver. -via Ars Technica
When you think of television programming for Halloween, of course you think of The Food Network. That may sound strange to you (it did to me), but the cable channel and website has been very much into Halloween for years. The Food Network has released its Halloween programming plans for 2024, appealing to both foodies and Halloween fans.
Halloween Baking Championship will return for its tenth season on Monday, September 16th. It's a baking competition series with a Halloween theme that should end by October 31st.
Halloween Wars is a competition show pitting eight teams against one another. The teams each include a pumpkin carver, a cake baker, and a sugar artist, and they create Halloween displays. The season premiere will be on September 22 at 9 PM Eastern time. Leading into the premiere will be a special called Road to Halloween Wars at 8 PM.
The competition called Outrageous Pumpkins, with 14 of the nation's top pumpkin carvers, will return on September 29th. There's also a special titled Kids Baking Championship: Scary Good that will premiere on Monday, October 7th. Some of the channel's regular series will have Halloween-themed episodes as well. These shows could be inspirational, if your Halloween plans include hosting parties or impressing the kids with spooky treats. -via Halloween Daily News
The fine line between male and female intelligence. 😂
— Figen (@TheFigen_) August 19, 2024
pic.twitter.com/p4RlfazsVI
This is a pretty simple party game. The object is to have everyone on the team pass through a hoop without letting go of each other's hands. Which team can do it the fastest? These folks divided up into teams by sex, and the women blew the men away in their efficiency. Some claim that it's because the women are smaller than the men. Sure, I'd like to see all these men trying to walk through this hoop in a hurry. Others argue that at least one of the women has seen this trick before. That could be true, too, but it really boils down to the fact that men tend to think they already know something or can figure it out on their own, while women tend to be more collaborative in solving problems.
We don't know where this party is, but the source Tweet is in Turkish, so that would be a good guess. Or maybe not, since the people in the video are speaking Spanish (thanks, And now you have a good idea for a game at your next party, but you'll let the other team go first. -Thanks WTM!
Update: This is the Gonzales family from Miami, during a Valentines Day party. Read more about this episode here. The original video is at TikTok.
For a time, we could believe what we saw in photographs. That's not always the case now, and before photography, we relied on paintings. However, if you were to study the history of English livestock by looking at paintings, you would be amazed at the shape of those animals. Were these cows really shaped like rectangles, or were they painted by artists who weren't familiar with cows?
The answer is neither. Wealthy livestock breeders commissioned those paintings, and the artists gave their customers what they wanted. Farmers were busy experimenting with breeding stock and with various diets to produce ever-larger animals. A portrait that showed the ultimate in beef would help them sell cattle. The fact that they aren't at all realistic didn't stop the practice. There are consistent inconsistencies in these rectangular cows, such as a beefy, taut brisket on the creature's chest, when a realistic full brisket would be lumpy with extra skin. As they were painted, the brisket became another corner of the rectangle.
And it wasn't just cows, either. Portraits of pigs made them look round and unrealistically enormous, while sheep were large ovals with tiny heads and spindly legs. Read about this art phenomenon and see a gallery of rectangular cows and other livestock portraits at Rare Historical Photos. -via Everlasting Blort
David Friedman of Ironic Sans (previously at Neatorama) has launched a new daily word puzzle called Gisnep (try to guess how it got that name). To puzzle aficionados, it's very similar to a dropquote or quotefall puzzle. You fill in the letters of a quote by using ta selection of letters for that column shown above the puzzle. This online version also has the source of the quote at the bottom that may help you as you gradually fill it in. Another online innovation is the timer, which might annoy you, so Friedman promises to add a function to turn it off. But the speed of solving this is what you brag about how you compete with other players. The most helpful online function is the "check" button that tells you where you are wrong at any point.
So far, you can only play one puzzle a day. I solved today's puzzle in 5:15, and I'm looking forward to beating that time tomorrow. As of now, you can't play old puzzles, but that will change soon. Try Gisnep out for yourself here. -via Metafilter
The Republic of Kiribati (pronounced "Kirr-ih-bass") is, by population, a very small nation with only 117,000 people. It consists of 33 islands, of which a third are inhabited, stretching across 2,400 miles of central Pacific Ocean near the equator and 1,300 miles along the International Date Line.
Kiribati became famous on the internet a few months ago for its unimaginative place naming practices. Yet it has another claim to fame, too. This both large and small nation is spread across four hemispheres: the northern, southern, eastern, and western. The CIA World Factbook identifies it as the only nation so endowed.
-via TYWIWDBI | Image: Google Maps
Visitors from Europe are always amazed that public restrooms in the US offer so little privacy. The doors on the toilets don't go down to the floor, and usually have notable gaps around the door all the way up. Anyone who is inclined to look can see you doing your business in there. Lucky for us, most people are not inclined to look because that's both rude and creepy. We tell them it's because authorities or business owners want to know if people are in there doing drugs or sleeping or something they shouldn't. But that's not the original reason toilet stalls were designed this way. The first US very public toilet stall design came from architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and his reason for it was a surprise to me.
Yes, we can turn around and ask Brits why their bathroom sinks have separate hot and cold water faucets, which is inconvenient and can be dangerous. We also want to know why public toilets don't have lids, and why the seats have a gap in the front. Read up in the arcane reasons behind these and more burning bathroom questions at Cracked.
(Image credit: MarkBuckawicki)
Tornados are not just an American phenomenal; they happen all over the world. But there are more of them in the US than any other country, and more in Texas than any other state with an average of 124 a year. There are written accounts of twisters and their damage going back to the 1550s when a tornado sank several ships in Malta. Extrapolating from the reports, modern meteorologists estimate the damage at T7 level, meaning a tornado powerful enough to knock over a locomotive, if there had been such a thing in the 1550s.
The deadliest tornado in US history moved through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It was called the Tri-State Tornado, and it left 695 people dead and more than two thousand injured. Its path of destruction went for 220 miles, and left entire towns flattened. But the deadliest tornado anywhere killed 1300 people in Bangladesh in 1989. Tornados tend to kill more people in Bangladesh because of population density and the quality of building construction. Read about all these and more, a total of ten particularly devastating tornados and their aftermaths, in a list at Mental Floss.
(Image credit: Jackson County Historical Society, Murphysboro, Illinois)
The saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon fatalis) was a cat that went extinct about 12,000 years ago. It got its nickname (and probably the species name fatalis) from its fangs that could grow up to seven inches long. But it was still a cat, a mammal, and started out life suckling milk from its mother. Picture that, and also picture that cub growing its saber teeth. It's not easy being a mom.
Like other cats, S. fatalis first grew baby teeth, which were replaced by a set of adult teeth. A fossil discovery from the La Brea Tar Pits shows us that the super-long fangs erupted while the baby teeth were still in use, long before a cub could hunt prey on its own. The image above shows the baby fangs are not pushed out by the adult teeth, but erupted alongside them, meaning that a saber-tooth tiger cub had four saber teeth for some time.
A separate study of S. fatalis fossils found in Ecuador gives us evidence that these cats had an extended period of maternal care compared with modern big cats. Modern lions stay with their mother for about a year, while the saber-toothed cubs ventured out on their own at about two years. This is based on the time that the last molars erupted, which are important in chewing meat. Before those molars come in, cubs get nutrition from their mother's milk. So when the kids drive you crazy, you can be glad you're not a saber-toothed tiger mother. Read more about this research at Smithsonian.
(Image credit: Jack Tseng)
The future is here ...in our dreams. Imagine planning a family vacation trip to the moon! Or, of course it would be more affordable for just two, especially if you really, really wanted to impress someone. This video shows what we might have today if we had unlimited space program budgets and none of the corner cutting that has lead to well-known space disasters. The airline pictured is labeled Pan-Am to make it clear that this is a retro fantasy and not something that NASA has planned or even imagined. YouTuber yukon09 made this animation in the game Kerbel Space Program using imagery inspired by the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both the aesthetic and the music are retro-futuristic as if this adventure were from the 1970s, showing a future we have not yet achieved all these years later. The song is "4:00 AM" by Taeko Onuki from 1978. -via The Awesomer
The short answer is yes, but with some very important caveats. Extracurricular activities help children figure out what their interests are and where their passion lies. However, we have to be open to the idea that, even though they expressed interest in something early on, they might not pursue it further or continue in it because somewhere along the way, they lose their passion for it or get bored.
We have to guide children and model what it means to pursue a certain interest or passion, or even just to walk with them in their journey toward discovering the thing that best fits them. So, in this regard, I would like to share a bit of my story.
I remember when I was in grade school, I was part of this speech and theatre arts club, not by choice but by compulsion, I would say. For one, I was a very impressionable kid when I was younger, and so whenever teachers tell me to do something, I would just do it. My English teacher volunteered me to be part of that club, and so I just went ahead and joined it.
To be fair, I quite liked some parts of that club although a lot of it was embarrassing. Being a shy kid, that was a nightmare for me. But through that experience, I learned how to suck it up and just do what you're told. It also gave me some confidence and provided space for practicing speaking and acting.
In a way, the experiences that I had in that club helped mold my personality and, props to my teacher for pushing us because it really opened up a whole world of opportunities for me. English isn't my first language, but that teacher drilled English into my tongue, my thoughts, and even my behavior and attitude. It's safe to say that it literally defined who I was going to be throughout high school and parts of my college life.
That wasn't the only extracurricular activity I had done in grade school. I was also part of a literature or creative writing club. Again, that was not by choice, but by compulsion. However, my writing teacher wasn't as forceful as our speech and theatre arts teacher. She was more gentle but very strict when it came to judging our essays and other written output.
These two extracurricular activities formed the foundation of what I was going to do and what paths I was going to take in the future. Of course, they didn't determine everything about my life. But they provided several avenues which I was able to consider, and again numerous opportunities.
I remember being ridiculed by people because I spoke in English without code-switching. It hurt since, from the perspective of a 12-year-old, being laughed at for doing as you're told seemed unreasonable. But anyway, things worked out in the end. And even though I had grievances from my English teacher for forcing us to speak in English and essentially, abandoning our native tongue for a time, in hindsight, I think it was a net positive for me.
If I were to be given a choice of which extracurriculars to participate in back then, I probably would have chosen something like the chess club or a special elective for coding and programming. Only later in life did I realize that I hadn't actually explored my passions a lot when I was a kid, and to be honest, I somewhat regret having wasted some time.
If I had been more adventurous and explored many different fields, endeavors, interests, and hobbies back in my pre-pubescent period, then I might have been able to pour all my energy, attention, and resources toward those things, and I might have been able to have a clearer goal in mind with regard to the direction I want to take my life.
Extracurricular activities may be considered as decorations on a person's résumé, something that they can show others to prove their capabilities or talents. But, it's more than that. It's what we use to help us figure out what it is exactly that we love to do. What ignites a burning passion in us to pursue something. It's what helps us find those things that cause us to get up every morning.
For some people, they may even use extracurricular activities as a means of relieving stress, finding community, discovering and bettering themselves, and learning what is truly important to them. So, although it is good for children to dedicate themselves to their academics, balancing that with some extracurriculars can help them.
It's important to note, again, that we also need to be aware of the limits that children have. Just as much as adults get burned out, children do too. Pushing them or forcing them to do something that they find no passion for will just lead to resentment in the end.
In my case, I found some benefit to what I had been forced to do. But, to be honest, I kind of liked it as well. Or, at least, I learned to like it. And I'm greatly benefitting from it today. However, it's really a different experience when somebody is pursuing something out of their own volition and initiative.
So, we too as parents or guardians, need to find the right balance on how to encourage and motivate our children to pursue what it is that they love, and the thing that they find most fulfillment in doing. That's what extracurricular activites are for.
(Image credit: yuelanliu/Pixabay)
I am of the opinion that words are neutral. Just like the saying, sticks and stones may break my bones, and you can just fill in the rest. Some words may sound daunting, other words less so. Words can convey positive or negative meanings. But, words per se cannot swing the pendulum either way.
The way that we use words, our intentions, and the meanings that we want to convey with them, are what gives words their weight. How we say certain words despite how neutral they are can evoke certain emotions from people. So even the most benign, innocuous words can be taken as offensive or hurtful depending on how the speaker says them and how the listener receives them.
There are some words that we don't ever want to hear, because we have attached certain meanings to those words that bring out perhaps negative memories, emotions, or past experiences. Different people may consider different words annoying to them. But there are some words which, by consensus, people have found quite annoying.
The Marist Institute for Public Opinion has conducted yearly polls that asked Americans which words they found the most annoying. And for more than ten years, one word has consistently been elected as the most annoying word in the English language.
That word is "whatever". Now, this is what I mean when I say I believe words are neutral. Because the word "whatever" in and of itself, should not elicit such negative responses from people. However, when we look at the usage of the word and in which context it is being used, you can imagine why a lot of people find it loathsome.
According to the poll in 2019, 34% of Americans said they hated the word "whatever" and found it really annoying. We can try to dissect why that is, but I think anyone who has ever heard that word being said in conversation knows why, and you can imagine who it is that's saying it as well.
In my mind, I see a bratty, teenage girl using that word as a snide remark, or as a means of responding to someone with a sarcastic tone or a condescending attitude. Basically, it's used as a disrespectful comment when somebody doesn't agree with what you are telling them. Just imagine the film Mean Girls.
So yes. Depending on the way certain words are used, they can be very annoying. The second most annoying word or phrase voted on by 20% of respondents was the phrase "no offense but," which is odd because usually the statement that comes after that is quite offensive.
The other words or phrases on the list of 2019's most annoying English words or phrases were "dude" garnering 16% of the votes, "literally" getting 14%, and "please wait, I'll be right with you" with 9%. One particular thing to note about the survey was that, despite the age range, it appeared that "whatever" placed at the top for Americans 45 years and older, as well as those under 30.
So, which words in the English language do you find annoying?
(Image credit: Nagara Oyodo/Unsplash)
The annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest invites aspiring writers to enter the first sentence of the worst novel ever written. Except that novel has not been written; only the first sentence is required. The contest honors the legacy of novelist Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (pictured above) who famously began one of his books with "It was a dark and stormy night..." which continued with a paragraph-long run-on sentence that made little sense. We've been covering this contest for years. The 2024 Grand Prize went to Lawrence Person of Austin, Texas, for this entry.
She had a body that reached out and slapped my face like a five-pound ham-hock tossed from a speeding truck.
That certainly draws a picture for us, although not an alluring one. Person's reaction to winning the award was, "Top of the world, ma. Top of the world…" There are also winners in various categories and plenty of Dishonorable Mentions that you should read at the winner's gallery. -via Metafilter
When I saw the title of this video, I thought, "This has to be about ambergris." Ambergris is a waxy substance produced in the gut of a sperm whale that was once used to make perfumes, preservatives, and medicines, and it was rare and expensive. But this TED-Ed video is not about ambergris at all, just everyday whale poop. You might think that a huge whale dump would be an ocean pollutant, but nature knows better. Whales do the ocean a solid by pooping at the surface, and then leaving the area to eat. That's only natural, but it's also fuels the way the marine ecosystem works. Many species, including whales, have evolved to take advantage of the cycle. If we remove even one part of this system, the delicate balance of nature could falter and maybe even fail. David Biello explains the value of whale excreta, even when it's just poop.
After reading this article by Melissa Dahl on The Cut, I realized that I may have had more friendship breakups than I thought. The concept of a "friendship breakup" never really occurred to me, and I've only encountered it now. But it's a deeply thought-provoking subject to explore.
I know about the act of "cutting ties" with people and this term "FO", short for "friendship over", which some people from my generation use similarly to say that they have cut ties with a friend of theirs. In these contexts, it is usually clearly apparent to both parties that the friendship has ended. So, in my mind, this is what pops up when I read "friendship breakup".
However, as I read further through this article, it became clear to me that there are cases when it's actually ambiguous. Those friendships which just fade away as you gradually drift apart from each other. It's the kind of "breakup" without closure. And perhaps one where you would be hard-pressed to get closure, since it will be awkward to broach the subject with the person in question.
The ambiguity, the feeling of "not knowing" why the friendship just fell apart is probably the main reason why these types of "friendship breakups" hurt more than romantic relationships.
With romantic relationships, it's often understood between both parties why it fell apart because it is made explicitly clear. You talk it out and you tell the other person that it's over. With some friendship breakups, it's not at all clear why you grew apart and just stopped talking to each other.
In my life, I have only considered one person with whom I have completely cut ties. She was my best friend when I studied abroad, and without going into too much detail, things gradually fell apart because it was getting more toxic. We couldn't see eye to eye and the expectations that we had from the friendship were widely disparate. Things accumulated and escalated until such a point when the bubble just burst and there was no other way to repair the friendship. It ended on a bad note.
But as Dahl recounts in her article, there are friendships that end in ambiguity. And that resonated with me because I think it cannot be avoided that certain friendships just naturally drift apart. For one, most of our friendships are formed during high school and college, so once we graduate and go our separate ways, those friendships just fade away until we happen to reconnect or meet in person unexpectedly.
I have made some good friends while in college and high school, and for some of them, although we don't talk as much with each other, whenever we do get to catch up, it feels as though nothing has changed in our friendship, except the physical distance and the frequency at which we see each other.
However, I also have some friends, or at the very least, I still consider them friends. I'm not sure if the feeling is mutual. I feel as though they have become distant, and upon reflection, I think it may be because we just don't share the same interests anymore, or we don't click like we used to.
Another reason why friendship breakups happen, according to the article, is because of conflict. In particular, when conflicts happen, Dr. Beverley Fehr, a social psychology professor at the University of Winnipeg, suggests that the natural response to deal with it, i.e. to talk it out, may not be the best way to resolve the conflict. In some cases, she says that avoiding the conflict may be more appropriate, albeit it's still on a case-by-case basis. But, in general, unlike romantic relationships, the way to address conflicts in friendships is to put some distance in between.
And I can relate with that. I am a very conflict-avoidant person, whether it be in friendships or potential romantic relationships. I don't like conflicts, and there were a couple of big conflicts that I had with friends throughout my life, apart from the friend with whom I cut ties.
When I had a huge fight with my best friend in college, my initial response was actually to try and resolve the matter as quickly as possible. But because we had different approaches to it, we both resorted to avoidance. We stopped talking to each other and we didn't want to be around each other for a whole week.
The only problem with that was, at the time, we were part of a committee working on an event, in which we had to coordinate with each other. So after a week, I decided to try and make amends. Fortunately, we both had the same thing in mind, so we made up and from that point on, we never had any spat that caused us to give each other the cold shoulder.
I don't know how other people deal with friendship breakups. To be honest, I'm not the type to wallow in the pain of losing a friend. From all of the experiences I've had, I have learned to treasure the ones who, despite our differences and past conflicts, still consider me a friend even when they've seen the worst of me.
As painful as it is to lose a friend, I've learned to be gracious to those who may have silently cut ties with me, and to be open to the possibility of reconnecting and rekindling the friendship I've had with some people with whom I've grown apart.
(Image credit: Fabien Maurin/Unsplash)
