June 4, 2014
Can You Hold It?
Originally published May 27, 2009.
"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder." - Alfred Hitchcock
I saw that quote earlier and it reminded me of this post; I did a quick search and found it and this and several other posts came up in the results. I hadn't realized there were so many "pee+movies" posts...just goes to show you the basic substance of this blog.
I checked the site and it looks like they've done away with their listings on their site, instead going to apps for phones and PC.
I bet everyone has had this problem; you're at a movie you've been wanting to see for a long time and thanks to the tanker car-sized drink you bought to wash down your popcorn, you find yourself needing to go pee.
Before you go to the movie and then have to" go", go to the website RunPee.com. Find the movie you're going to go see and they'll tell you the best time in the movie to make your pee run, missing only those scenes that are not integral to the storyline. They'll be quite specific, giving you the time and a description of the scene that will be your cue to head for the potty.
A nifty feature of the site is how they won't reveal any "spoilers", instead scrambling the part you missed; click a button to reveal a short synopsis of the scenes that are going on while you'll be gone.
It's a new website, so not all movies are indexed, but they do have a decent listing of older movies...although, if you've rented the vid, you could just hit the "Pause" button, couldn't you?
"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder." - Alfred Hitchcock
I saw that quote earlier and it reminded me of this post; I did a quick search and found it and this and several other posts came up in the results. I hadn't realized there were so many "pee+movies" posts...just goes to show you the basic substance of this blog.
I checked the site and it looks like they've done away with their listings on their site, instead going to apps for phones and PC.
I bet everyone has had this problem; you're at a movie you've been wanting to see for a long time and thanks to the tanker car-sized drink you bought to wash down your popcorn, you find yourself needing to go pee.
Before you go to the movie and then have to" go", go to the website RunPee.com. Find the movie you're going to go see and they'll tell you the best time in the movie to make your pee run, missing only those scenes that are not integral to the storyline. They'll be quite specific, giving you the time and a description of the scene that will be your cue to head for the potty.
A nifty feature of the site is how they won't reveal any "spoilers", instead scrambling the part you missed; click a button to reveal a short synopsis of the scenes that are going on while you'll be gone.
It's a new website, so not all movies are indexed, but they do have a decent listing of older movies...although, if you've rented the vid, you could just hit the "Pause" button, couldn't you?
Honey Bee Cam
One out of three bites of food, or one-third of our diet, is linked to the direct work of the honey bee, which makes it imperative that we find out what has been causing a collapse in honeybee colonies. Research now points to a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids being responsible.
June 3, 2014
TV's Greatest Catchphrases
I'll have to admit I wasn't familiar with all of these - mainly because I've never seen many of the shows. I also knew some of the catchphrases even though I hadn't seen the series, but they've entered the pop culture zeitgeist.
June 2, 2014
Royally Useless Trivia
The "Today in History" module tells me that this day marks the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of England in 1953. Coincidentally, my trivia calendar says all the swans in England are property of the Queen.
I don't trust this trivia calendar because I've researched some of the entries and found they weren't exactly true. So, I checked and found out on the official site of the British Monarchy that the Crown retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but The Queen only exercises her ownership on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries. The article goes on to say swans used to be considered a delicacy.
Not long ago, the Amarillo Globe-News Facebook page linked to a letter from someone complaining the city wasn't doing enough to protect the geese, ducks and swans on the Medi-Park lake, saying that there wasn't nearly as many as there used to be. Someone said they probably migrated, but I suspect people were catching the ducks and geese and eating them. That reminded me of an old movie: John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! where American oil executives were served peacock tongues at a lavish banquet.
I'd hate to think someone had eaten those swans; even if they were stolen and cleaned and cooked, they could have bought quite a few steak dinners selling them for a fraction of what they were worth.
I don't trust this trivia calendar because I've researched some of the entries and found they weren't exactly true. So, I checked and found out on the official site of the British Monarchy that the Crown retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but The Queen only exercises her ownership on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries. The article goes on to say swans used to be considered a delicacy.
Not long ago, the Amarillo Globe-News Facebook page linked to a letter from someone complaining the city wasn't doing enough to protect the geese, ducks and swans on the Medi-Park lake, saying that there wasn't nearly as many as there used to be. Someone said they probably migrated, but I suspect people were catching the ducks and geese and eating them. That reminded me of an old movie: John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! where American oil executives were served peacock tongues at a lavish banquet.
| I'm surprised I remembered that esoteric bit of movie trivia; what I most remember about the movie was Shirley MacLaine dressed in a revealing harem outfit. |
 |
I'd hate to think someone had eaten those swans; even if they were stolen and cleaned and cooked, they could have bought quite a few steak dinners selling them for a fraction of what they were worth.
June 1, 2014
I Would've Thought "Empty"
| Your Mind is Spontaneous |
 Your thinking can be a bit scattered and crazy, but it's worth it for the flashes of insight that you get. You're not a linear thinker, and you don't try to fit into any normal mode. You know you need freedom to think well. You thrive in an unstructured environment. Very little of your best thinking is done behind a desk. You don't sweat details or processes. Everything seems to work out in the end if you're open and flexible. |
May 30, 2014
Shot At The Night - The Killers
I like The Killers fairly well, but the reason I searched for this video was because I had just watched a great movie, Beneath Hill 60, a story based upon WWI Australian tunnel diggers and I was floored by the beauty of an actress who played one of the minor characters: Bella Heathcote. She is the young woman in this video.
hokum
hokum [hoh-kuh m] noun
1. out-and-out nonsense; bunkum.
2. elements of low comedy introduced into a play, novel, etc., for the laughs they may bring.
3. sentimental matter of an elementary or stereotyped kind introduced into a play or the like.
4. false or irrelevant material introduced into a speech, essay, etc., in order to arouse interest, excitement, or amusement.
hokum - you can see a lot of it on C-Span
Especially defined by #'s 1 & 4.
May 29, 2014
Making Hay
While the sun shines.
This was in my recommended videos when I checked YouTube just a few minutes ago. I had already seen it, because a few months back I got on a jag of watching all sorts of hay cutting/baling videos. It's a little odd that they'd recommend it because I got my fill of the videos and hadn't watched one since. I've also seen there's a new module for videos on my feed, a "watch again?" list. There's a few videos I've watched a number of times, but the hay baling ones are in the "No thanks, don't care to watch again." group.
I watched a lot of them because it brought back some old memories of when I used to haul hay with my brother-in-law. It wasn't the hardest work I've done in my life, but it sure was the hardest I'd done up until that point in time. I didn't do it full time, but came home on weekends during college and put in a couple of days. If we didn't have to haul the loads too far and everything worked OK and the weather cooperated, we could haul between 800-1000 bales a day, sometimes a little more. I made two and a half cents/bale for that work, not much more than minimum wage, all things considered.
We didn't haul it like the guys in the video, either; my BIL's daddy would bale it up and then we'd come along with a flatbed truck and pick it up. There was only one of us on the back of the truck, too and used a similar loader, but one more upright, called a pop-up loader, much like the one in this video.
I had a coach back in school who was riding us hard on a hot August afternoon and we all were dragging ass, not performing to his expectations. He told us we'd remember those days, that we might or might not remember the good times, but we'd always remember the bad days. I thought he was full of crap then, but he was right.
I remember one day hauling hay; I didn't feel well and was sunburned, dehydrated and probably suffering from minor heat stroke. We were working down on the Canadian River in a lovely meadow surrounded by beautiful cottonwood trees...but it was 105 in the shade and there were swarms of mosquitoes, gnats and biting flies and the ground was bumpy, making a poorly stacked load apt to fall off. On top of everything else, one of the first bales I handled coming off the loader had a live rattlesnake baled with twine, caught by the tail, just enough to where it couldn't make the warning sound. I remembered what the coach said and it hit me that he was right about the bad days. I remember now what else I thought back then, that if I died and went to Hell, it would probably be an eternity right there in that spot.
Please God, no.
I watched a lot of them because it brought back some old memories of when I used to haul hay with my brother-in-law. It wasn't the hardest work I've done in my life, but it sure was the hardest I'd done up until that point in time. I didn't do it full time, but came home on weekends during college and put in a couple of days. If we didn't have to haul the loads too far and everything worked OK and the weather cooperated, we could haul between 800-1000 bales a day, sometimes a little more. I made two and a half cents/bale for that work, not much more than minimum wage, all things considered.
We didn't haul it like the guys in the video, either; my BIL's daddy would bale it up and then we'd come along with a flatbed truck and pick it up. There was only one of us on the back of the truck, too and used a similar loader, but one more upright, called a pop-up loader, much like the one in this video.
I had a coach back in school who was riding us hard on a hot August afternoon and we all were dragging ass, not performing to his expectations. He told us we'd remember those days, that we might or might not remember the good times, but we'd always remember the bad days. I thought he was full of crap then, but he was right.
I remember one day hauling hay; I didn't feel well and was sunburned, dehydrated and probably suffering from minor heat stroke. We were working down on the Canadian River in a lovely meadow surrounded by beautiful cottonwood trees...but it was 105 in the shade and there were swarms of mosquitoes, gnats and biting flies and the ground was bumpy, making a poorly stacked load apt to fall off. On top of everything else, one of the first bales I handled coming off the loader had a live rattlesnake baled with twine, caught by the tail, just enough to where it couldn't make the warning sound. I remembered what the coach said and it hit me that he was right about the bad days. I remember now what else I thought back then, that if I died and went to Hell, it would probably be an eternity right there in that spot.
Please God, no.
May 28, 2014
boondoggle
boondoggle [boon-dog-uh l, -daw-guh l] noun
1. a product of simple manual skill, as a plaited leather cord for the neck or a knife sheath, made typically by a camper or a scout.
2. work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy.
3. a project funded by the federal government out of political favoritism that is of no real value to the community or the nation.
verb (used with object), boondoggled, boondoggling.
4. to deceive or attempt to deceive: to boondoggle investors into a low-interest scheme.
verb (used without object), boondoggled, boondoggling.
5. to do work of little or no practical value merely to keep or look busy.
Only one govt. definition, per se, but other than #1, they all could apply to Congress and this administration.
Gnarly, dude
Punt? I think I'll go for it; it's not as if it's 4th and 25. THAT would be gnarly, dude.
May 27, 2014
First Earthling to Orbit The Earth
The first Earthling in space wasn't a human, but was Laika, a Soviet space dog. Laika died within hours of the launch due to overheating.
Laika was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow and was chosen for her even temperament. Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, "I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live."
The first animals in space were fruit flies sent into sub-orbital trajectory by the U.S. in a captured V-2 German rocket in 1947.
Laika was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow and was chosen for her even temperament. Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, "I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live."
The first animals in space were fruit flies sent into sub-orbital trajectory by the U.S. in a captured V-2 German rocket in 1947.
May 26, 2014
Red Barns
Why are most barns painted red?
Sources:
Mental Floss
Grit
The Old Farmer's Almanac
In the early days of America, most barns weren't painted because using the right sort of wood made painting unnecessary. It was only later that old school methods of barn planning and building fell by the wayside and farmers started painting their barns to help preserve the wood. Ferric oxide (rust), a primary component of red paint, is inexpensive and that appealed to the thrifty farmers of New England, where the practice began. (Rust also kills mold and other types of fungi) Besides being cheaper than other colors, the red served a functionary purpose, in that the darker color absorbed the heat from the sun and kept the barn warmer in winter.
That said, barn colors often are fairly specific to certain regions; white barns are common on dairy farms in Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Shenandoah Vally and is associated with cleanliness and purity. (and, for a while, whitewash was cheaper than red paint) In tobacco regions, such as Kentucky and North Carolina, black or brown barns are the norm, where the darker colors helped heat the barn and cure the tobacco.
That said, barn colors often are fairly specific to certain regions; white barns are common on dairy farms in Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Shenandoah Vally and is associated with cleanliness and purity. (and, for a while, whitewash was cheaper than red paint) In tobacco regions, such as Kentucky and North Carolina, black or brown barns are the norm, where the darker colors helped heat the barn and cure the tobacco.
Sources:
Mental Floss
Grit
The Old Farmer's Almanac
May 25, 2014
bel-esprit
bel-esprit [bel-es-pree] noun, plural beaux-esprits [boh-zes-pree] French
1. a person of great wit or intellect.
Sure wasn't familiar with this word, and it makes me a little sad I don't fit the definition.
OTOH, I'm happy I'm not French!
May 24, 2014
May 23, 2014
Just Don't Thump Me
To see if I'm ripe.
| You Are Watermelon |
 You are adaptable, popular, and very sweet. People always like to have you around. You are simple and genuine. You never need to pretend to be someone that you're not because your personality naturally shines. You are humble and kind. You don't make a big deal about who you are, and you don't look for attention. Your friends love and value you. Everyone knows a good time is in store when you are around. |
May 22, 2014
Bad Spell Check!
A fellow blogger and friend of mine had an exchange the other day about coffee creamer on this post: Hot or Cold Dinks. When I was replying to his comment, I was trying to spell out "hellatious" - which means, at least to me - "hell like". I wasn't for sure how to spell it, having said it plenty of times in my life but I don't recall ever writing it out.
I noticed it was underlined, so I figured the dictionary had the proper spelling. Uh, nope...that's not it.
I went with "heckuva" instead.
I noticed it was underlined, so I figured the dictionary had the proper spelling. Uh, nope...that's not it.
I went with "heckuva" instead.
May 21, 2014
Kissing & Candy Calories Conspiracy
Kissing for 1 minute can burn 26 calories.
One Hershey's KissTM has 22 calories.
One Hershey's KissTM has 22 calories.
Hmmm....very close. A coincidence? I think not.
May 20, 2014
verbicide
verbicide ver·bi·cide [vur-buh-sahyd] noun
1. the willful distortion or depreciation of the original meaning of a word.
2. a person who willfully distorts the meaning of a word.
I thought of several instances of verbicide, but most were curse words or otherwise obscene. (I like to make the comments for these words funny, not offensive - this entry is a little more serious, though) The only other two that came to mind were involving homosexuality; the word "gay" has changed its meaning by the gay community and "queer", once a term for "odd", then became a pejorative for gays, has now been embraced by many in the gay community.
I decided to see if I could find other examples and found this other definition of verbicide:
Facetious. misuse or overuse of a word or any use of a word which is damaging to it.
Words - at least those that AREN'T swearing - are much easier to think of for this definition and the first one that popped into my head was racist; it's been thrown around so much for quite some time and particularly since President Obama was elected that it's lost it's meaning...and that's sad, because simply disagreeing with certain policies and actions of this administration are not racist in nature and it takes away from identifying actual racism. That's as absurd as accusing a black person of racism just because they didn't agree with Bush's economic policies.
I've disagreed with many things from each and every President since I've been voting as well as with many president's actions before I was even born. I take great offense at being labeled a racist simply because I have different political views than the person making the accusation. (I also wonder if the person making the claim is guilty of projection)
It's one thing to call me a racist in a forum or on a message board, but it's another thing altogether to say it to my face. That would be a big, big mistake on your part. That would make me guilty of assault and battery, not racism.
I Scoff at These Results
| You Are a Scoff |
 You have a quirky sense of humor, and it's definitely on the darker side. You laugh at irony and life's craziness. Mainstream humor is not likely to appeal to you unless it's witty, complex, or intellectual. You won't laugh for laughing's sake. You sense of humor is your strength. Humor helps you keep everything in perspective, especially when the world seems against you. You laugh in the face of adversity and when others tell you that you can't do something. Living well is the best revenge! |
Barely Passed
Elvis Presley got a 'C' in his 8th grade music class.
And, from reports, he was trying to pass when he died.
May 19, 2014
adret
adret a·dret [a-drey] noun
a side of a mountain receiving direct sunlight.
I wasn't familiar with this word, but thanks to our Word of the Day module, I do now, as well as finding out the shady side is called an ubac.
The shady side, or ubac , is usually rocky, steep and densely forested, whereas the sunny slope, or adret , is gentler and much more fertile.
-- Pier Paolo Viazzo, Upland Communities: Environment, Population and Social Structure in the Alps Since the Sixteenth Century , 1989
I'd hate to have to make a choice on which side to live; if possible, I think I'd prefer to have half my property on the adret and half on the ubac. I could call it "Adretubac Acres".
On second thought, maybe not - I'd hate to have to keep explaining what the name meant. Maybe Sunny/Shady Acres?
Hot or Cold Dinks
I was just reading an article from one of my recipe sites, Spiced. The recipe was Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream and the author was writing about his favorite ice cream flavor being vanilla, but why wasn't there a vanilla syrup for chocolate ice cream like there is chocolate syrup for vanilla?
Well, I've never used it for ice cream, but there IS such a thing as vanilla syrup and I started to reply and say so...but I didn't want to be one of those insufferable people who feel the need to point things like that out to others.
I mean, I don't want to be one of those people any longer; I'm working on that, honest.
I've seen vanilla syrup in grocery stores, usually in the coffee aisle, right there with the powdered flavorings and creamers and the liquid form is in the milk section along with the other perishable items that need to be refrigerated. A quick search online shows that you can make it yourself, or buy it from Walmart or Amazon. I've never made a simple syrup w/ vanilla, but it sounds easy enough and the closest to an ice cream syrup; personally, I've never cared for the coffee flavorings - they just don't taste very good and leave an aftertaste.
Back in grade school, I fell in love with a girl who sat right next to me. I was far too young to be physically attracted to her, but there was *something* about her that drew me to her. I finally worked up the courage to tell her she really, really smelled good and she told me her mother wouldn't let her wear perfume, so she dabbed a little bit of vanilla extract behind her ears.
That was when I learned a life lesson; boys are either hungry or horny, one or the other, all the time...just not both at the same time.
Maybe that's what I need to do; create a perfume that smells like baked goods. Oh wait, they already have.
Anyway...something caught my eye on the Amazon listing:
(click graphic for larger view)
Well, I've never used it for ice cream, but there IS such a thing as vanilla syrup and I started to reply and say so...but I didn't want to be one of those insufferable people who feel the need to point things like that out to others.
I mean, I don't want to be one of those people any longer; I'm working on that, honest.
I've seen vanilla syrup in grocery stores, usually in the coffee aisle, right there with the powdered flavorings and creamers and the liquid form is in the milk section along with the other perishable items that need to be refrigerated. A quick search online shows that you can make it yourself, or buy it from Walmart or Amazon. I've never made a simple syrup w/ vanilla, but it sounds easy enough and the closest to an ice cream syrup; personally, I've never cared for the coffee flavorings - they just don't taste very good and leave an aftertaste.
Back in grade school, I fell in love with a girl who sat right next to me. I was far too young to be physically attracted to her, but there was *something* about her that drew me to her. I finally worked up the courage to tell her she really, really smelled good and she told me her mother wouldn't let her wear perfume, so she dabbed a little bit of vanilla extract behind her ears.
That was when I learned a life lesson; boys are either hungry or horny, one or the other, all the time...just not both at the same time.
Maybe that's what I need to do; create a perfume that smells like baked goods. Oh wait, they already have.
Anyway...something caught my eye on the Amazon listing:
(click graphic for larger view)
May 17, 2014
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