Shower thoughts

[adamva]

Cats and dogs are so totally different, I have a hard time comparing them.

[TheSaint]

On 11/30/2022 at 6:49 PM, razark said:

1. Replacing the simple syrup in a whiskey sour with maple syrup is good, but it really needs a reduction in lemon juice.

<Recoils in horror>

Sorry, kind of a purist when it comes to cocktails. Although my wife's usual at our regular watering hole is a drink called an Ol' Smokey, which is a variant on the Old Fashioned which uses maple and smoke flavors. It's not bad.

On 11/30/2022 at 6:54 PM, ColdJ said:

I hope you still have 2 thumbs.

On 11/30/2022 at 8:09 PM, Admiral Fluffy said:

I hope everyone has 2 thumbs.

That's okay, I'm all thumbs, I've got you covered.

[razark]

24 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

Sorry, kind of a purist when it comes to cocktails. Although my wife's usual at our regular watering hole is a drink called an Ol' Smokey, which is a variant on the Old Fashioned which uses maple and smoke flavors. It's not bad.

I was recently given nearly a half gallon of syrup from the local farm near where my mother's family grew up.  I figured I couldn't drink it all straight, of course.

[TheSaint]

2 hours ago, razark said:

I was recently given nearly a half gallon of syrup from the local farm near where my mother's family grew up.  I figured I couldn't drink it all straight, of course.

[adsii1970]

This morning, while drinking a cup of coffee, I was thinking -

There's a hypothesis out there, the name escapes me, that says the reason we have not discovered any advanced extraterrestrial civilizations is because they destroyed themselves shortly after developing the technologies needed. If I remember the theory correctly, it comes from the late 1940s or the early 1950s in a casual conversation between three or four scientists working on the early American space program.  Anyway, my thought is this - the basic premise of the theory was that these advanced civilizations also had the power to destroy themselves - and did - for whatever reason as they began colonizing relatively local space bodies to their home world.

This has me thinking - we are on the doorstep in our own global development of being able to colonize the Moon, yet we are as a world, more divided than ever. Is our species mature enough to take this next logical step in our evolution or will we be taking the next step in our own demise?

 

Edit: After a few minutes of crawling through the web -

The Fermi Paradox: this is the discrepancy between the evidence for the existence for extraterrestrial intelligent life and the extreme likelihood that extraterrestrial intelligent life exists.

But I was adding to it, thanks to being 52 and my bad, scrambled mind thanks to migraines:

The von Hoerner Addendum: Advanced civilizations will probably destroy themselves after developing radio or spaceflight technology.

The Sagan and Shklovskii Addendum: Technological civilizations will destroy themselves within a century of developing interstellar communicative capability or will overcome their self-destructive, war-like tendencies and the civilization possibly will survive for billion-year timescales.

Edited December 2, 2022 by adsii1970
Second cup of coffee kicked in. :)

[kerbiloid]

Or the Cold War people are the last generations able to destroy the world, because zoomers will stick into their smartphones with social networks and forget about everything other, so nobody will come to fight.

Upd.
Tinder with it left-right-right-left-left-right is something opposite to precise aiming and straight walking.

In the best case they won't unexpectedly trigger a trigger with shaking finger.

Btw, about the civil firearms control...

[ColdJ]

On 12/3/2022 at 12:17 AM, adsii1970 said:

Is our species mature enough to take this next logical step in our evolution or will we be taking the next step in our own demise?

As a species we are way too immature, but we rush into everything head first without thinking of the long term consequences.

We should be concentrating on cleaning up all our mess (plastics in the ocean, space junk etc) and transitioning to renewable Hydrogen and Oxygen extraction for use in everything (cars, electricity production etc) (including Oxygen solves the Nitrous Oxide problem in combustion and all the extraction can be done using renewable sources in the oceans and reverse osmosis filters so the water is pure.) before considering colonising other celestial bodies.

We need to lessen bigotry to near zero and stop letting the greedy, slaughter people on a whim, just because they want more real estate. So that we can work together as a planet. History has shown that if you migrate to get away from war and conflict but bring the feuds with you, that you will always be trapped.

Don't worry though. If the scientists are right, then the poles are going to flip in our life times and allow the Sun to irradiate most of us, so that should solve most of our problems.

Best any of us can do is treat others with kindness and hope that that kindness spreads.

[Gargamel]

It'd be weird if every time someone was born, they could immediately look up and see a solar eclipse.

And then immediately come to the forums to tell us about it.

And then get mad when we all start singing.

...turn around...

[razark]

19 minutes ago, Gargamel said:

It'd be weird if every time someone was born, they could immediately look up and see a solar eclipse.

It would indeed be strange if every maternity ward was on the top floor of the hospital, and had skylights.  Or no ceilings.  Very strange implications for c-section births, as well.  Not sure I trust those ORs.

 

22 minutes ago, Gargamel said:

And then immediately come to the forums to tell us about it.

While kids are getting online at younger ages than in the past, I'm still not sure I'd be visiting the newborn section of the forum.

[kerbiloid]

Should the neopaganists greet each other "Good aftermoon!" ?

[Donnyy]

Often I catch myself thinking that in the shower l I think about language, words. Why do people decide that, for example, Jack is necessarily a name, and not something else? How was a particular word coined? It drives me crazy

[adsii1970]

50 minutes ago, Donnyy said:

Jack is necessarily a name, and not something else?

Well, they are something else, too:

   

[Maria Sirona]

What are those rectangular box jacks?

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

 

[Maria Sirona]

This reminds me, i've always called agent Smith "Agent Elrond in Black"

[Ryaja]

Do parrots talk for the same reason we meow at cats?

[ColdJ]

On 12/15/2022 at 6:52 AM, Ryaja said:

Do parrots talk for the same reason we meow at cats?

Yes, yes they do.

[kerbiloid]

Here we have a description of the famous shield of Achilles.
https://poets.org/poem/iliad-book-xviii-shield-achilles

Spoiler

Then first he form'd the immense and solid shield;
Rich various artifice emblazed the field;
Its utmost verge a threefold circle bound;
A silver chain suspends the massy round;
Five ample plates the broad expanse compose,
And godlike labours on the surface rose.
There shone the image of the master-mind:
There earth, there heaven, there ocean he design'd;
The unwearied sun, the moon completely round;
The starry lights that heaven's high convex crown'd;
The Pleiads, Hyads, with the northern team;
And great Orion's more refulgent beam;
To which, around the axle of the sky,
The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye,
Still shines exalted on the ethereal plain,
Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main.

Two cities radiant on the shield appear,
The image one of peace, and one of war.
Here sacred pomp and genial feast delight,
And solemn dance, and hymeneal rite;
Along the street the new-made brides are led,
With torches flaming, to the nuptial bed:
The youthful dancers in a circle bound
To the soft flute, and cithern's silver sound:
Through the fair streets the matrons in a row
Stand in their porches, and enjoy the show.

There in the forum swarm a numerous train;
The subject of debate, a townsman slain:
One pleads the fine discharged, which one denied,
And bade the public and the laws decide:
The witness is produced on either hand:
For this, or that, the partial people stand:
The appointed heralds still the noisy bands,
And form a ring, with sceptres in their hands:
On seats of stone, within the sacred place,
The reverend elders nodded o'er the case;
Alternate, each the attesting sceptre took,
And rising solemn, each his sentence spoke
Two golden talents lay amidst, in sight,
The prize of him who best adjudged the right.

Another part (a prospect differing far)(255)
Glow'd with refulgent arms, and horrid war.
Two mighty hosts a leaguer'd town embrace,
And one would pillage, one would burn the place.
Meantime the townsmen, arm'd with silent care,
A secret ambush on the foe prepare:
Their wives, their children, and the watchful band
Of trembling parents, on the turrets stand.
They march; by Pallas and by Mars made bold:
Gold were the gods, their radiant garments gold,
And gold their armour: these the squadron led,
August, divine, superior by the head!
A place for ambush fit they found, and stood,
Cover'd with shields, beside a silver flood.
Two spies at distance lurk, and watchful seem
If sheep or oxen seek the winding stream.
Soon the white flocks proceeded o'er the plains,
And steers slow-moving, and two shepherd swains;
Behind them piping on their reeds they go,
Nor fear an ambush, nor suspect a foe.
In arms the glittering squadron rising round
Rush sudden; hills of slaughter heap the ground;
Whole flocks and herds lie bleeding on the plains,
And, all amidst them, dead, the shepherd swains!
The bellowing oxen the besiegers hear;
They rise, take horse, approach, and meet the war,
They fight, they fall, beside the silver flood;
The waving silver seem'd to blush with blood.
There Tumult, there Contention stood confess'd;
One rear'd a dagger at a captive's breast;
One held a living foe, that freshly bled
With new-made wounds; another dragg'd a dead;
Now here, now there, the carcases they tore:
Fate stalk'd amidst them, grim with human gore.
And the whole war came out, and met the eye;
And each bold figure seem'd to live or die.

A field deep furrow'd next the god design'd,
The third time labour'd by the sweating hind;
The shining shares full many ploughmen guide,
And turn their crooked yokes on every side.
Still as at either end they wheel around,
The master meets them with his goblet crown'd;
The hearty draught rewards, renews their toil,
Then back the turning ploughshares cleave the soil:
Behind, the rising earth in ridges roll'd;
And sable look'd, though form'd of molten gold.

Another field rose high with waving grain;
With bended sickles stand the reaper train:
Here stretched in ranks the levell'd swarths are found,
Sheaves heap'd on sheaves here thicken up the ground.
With sweeping stroke the mowers strow the lands;
The gatherers follow, and collect in bands;
And last the children, in whose arms are borne
(Too short to gripe them) the brown sheaves of corn.
The rustic monarch of the field descries,
With silent glee, the heaps around him rise.
A ready banquet on the turf is laid,
Beneath an ample oak's expanded shade.
The victim ox the sturdy youth prepare;
The reaper's due repast, the woman's care.

Next, ripe in yellow gold, a vineyard shines,
Bent with the ponderous harvest of its vines;
A deeper dye the dangling clusters show,
And curl'd on silver props, in order glow:
A darker metal mix'd intrench'd the place;
And pales of glittering tin the inclosure grace.
To this, one pathway gently winding leads,
Where march a train with baskets on their heads,
(Fair maids and blooming youths,) that smiling bear
The purple product of the autumnal year.
To these a youth awakes the warbling strings,
Whose tender lay the fate of Linus sings;
In measured dance behind him move the train,
Tune soft the voice, and answer to the strain.

Here herds of oxen march, erect and bold,
Rear high their horns, and seem to low in gold,
And speed to meadows on whose sounding shores
A rapid torrent through the rushes roars:
Four golden herdsmen as their guardians stand,
And nine sour dogs complete the rustic band.
Two lions rushing from the wood appear'd;
And seized a bull, the master of the herd:
He roar'd: in vain the dogs, the men withstood;
They tore his flesh, and drank his sable blood.
The dogs (oft cheer'd in vain) desert the prey,
Dread the grim terrors, and at distance bay.

Next this, the eye the art of Vulcan leads
Deep through fair forests, and a length of meads,
And stalls, and folds, and scatter'd cots between;
And fleecy flocks, that whiten all the scene.

A figured dance succeeds; such once was seen
In lofty Gnossus for the Cretan queen,
Form'd by Daedalean art; a comely band
Of youths and maidens, bounding hand in hand.
The maids in soft simars of linen dress'd;
The youths all graceful in the glossy vest:
Of those the locks with flowery wreath inroll'd;
Of these the sides adorn'd with swords of gold,
That glittering gay, from silver belts depend.
Now all at once they rise, at once descend,
With well-taught feet: now shape in oblique ways,
Confusedly regular, the moving maze:
Now forth at once, too swift for sight, they spring,
And undistinguish'd blend the flying ring:
So whirls a wheel, in giddy circle toss'd,
And, rapid as it runs, the single spokes are lost.
The gazing multitudes admire around:
Two active tumblers in the centre bound;
Now high, now low, their pliant limbs they bend:
And general songs the sprightly revel end.

Thus the broad shield complete the artist crown'd
With his last hand, and pour'd the ocean round:
In living silver seem'd the waves to roll,
And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole.

This done, whate'er a warrior's use requires
He forged; the cuirass that outshone the fires,
The greaves of ductile tin, the helm impress'd
With various sculpture, and the golden crest.
At Thetis' feet the finished labour lay:
She, as a falcon cuts the aerial way,
Swift from Olympus' snowy summit flies,
And bears the blazing present through the skies.

and one of its implementations.

Spoiler

This is what they roll when playing.

Spoiler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knucklebones

It's a tabletop game with world map and dice.
They were playing D&D, and Achilles ordered a premium game board engraved on his shield.

That's why Achilles didn't care about Helen of Troy.
Who needs that dull gal when you have such wonderful game props.

That's why brave Achilles was hiding between the girls to avoid the Troy war.
He was game addicted.

That's why Achilles got that horribly mad when Patrocles was killed, and the Trojans captured the Achilles' armor.
Who wouldn't be? They stole the premium game board and killed the league member. What should Achilles after that do except destroy Troy. _{Khe, a wordplay , "destroy Troy".}

[kerbiloid]

Does a submarine crew see Santa when he is red-colored in red light?

Shouldn't he look like a white noseless and cheekless head, with gaping mouth from white eyes to white beard, floating in air?

Edited December 23, 2022 by kerbiloid

[Ben J. Kerman]

Rudolph doesn't meet FAA or ICAO regulations, right? First of all, is his nose a beacon or is it meant to act as a landing light, or both? He has no anti-collision or nav lights either, and I bet Santa also loads his sleigh with presents over the MTOW often. Does he file flight plans? Does the sleigh satisfy ETOPS? Is it fitted with GPWS? Does he even have a proper pilot license? How is Santa still allowed to fly around?

 

[Ryaja]

4 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

Rudolph doesn't meet FAA or ICAO regulations, right? First of all, is his nose a beacon or is it meant to act as a landing light, or both? He has no anti-collision or nav lights either, and I bet Santa also loads his sleigh with presents over the MTOW often. Does he file flight plans? Does the sleigh satisfy ETOPS? Is it fitted with GPWS? Does he even have a proper pilot license? How is Santa still allowed to fly around?

 

He was grandfathered in.

[kerbiloid]

12 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

Rudolph doesn't meet FAA or ICAO regulations, right?

It even violates the animal transportation rules. All deer should be encased on the cargo deck.

[Ben J. Kerman]

On a different note, I wonder how many people realize that nuclear power plants don't and can't explode like nuclear bombs. 

[TheSaint]

5 hours ago, Ben J. Kerman said:

On a different note, I wonder how many people realize that nuclear power plants don't and can't explode like nuclear bombs. 

Not enough, apparently....

[Ryaja]

Why do things promote a lot of wind turbines, this could cause massive climate change and destroy rainforests by changing weather patterns. And nuclear power is so looked down on even though it is one of the cleanest energy sources, we can handle the waste.