Names

I appreciate trivia and tidbits of knowledge that I most likely will never use in my lifetime. But I think I also have just a mediocre memory, so although I enjoy learning trivial facts, I mostly only remember them sporadically when I try to call them up again from the deep vault of my brain bank. That doesn’t really affect my aspiration to collect data, it just frustrates me while playing board games.

I think I’m a smart enough person, but being good at trivia is a different kind of animal. I know plenty of people who are smart but who are lousy at trivia, and even some people who seem to have a knack for hanging on to random facts but who otherwise don’t seem to be particularly intelligent. I see it sort of like the kids in your class who were good test takers versus the kids who were genuinely intelligent (and yes, I say that on behalf of academic underachievers everywhere). But my point is that success in the one arena doesn’t necessarily imply success in the other — granted, there’s definitely a necessary overlap, but you get what I’m saying. And on a personal note, I must add that it’s especially frustrating for me when I know that I know something but I can’t extract the answer from my head. With my less-than-stellar memory, this seems to happen to me a lot, and so if you happen to be hiding in my bushes while I’m watching Jeopardy! you’ll notice me yelling “daaaah!” at my TV a lot as answers are revealed.

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As with most things on the Internet, Flickr can be very fun, provided that you have a fast enough connection and stay out of the seedier nooks and crannies. Randomly browsing strangers’ photos may sound creepy, but we’re all a little creepy. And besides, that’s why they’re available. If people didn’t want us looking at pictures of their travels, birthdays, and family reunions, they wouldn’t put them online, or they would at least have a 14-year old teach them basic access control.

I’m not starting a new thread to encourage your voyeuristic tendencies though, but to house links to interesting pictures found on photo-sharing sites (although I suppose this could also become a catch-all for all discovered images in general).

To get you started, try searching Flickr for your birth year. My search turned up this beauty shown here.

Anyway, go ahead and let yourself randomly flip through strangers’ online photo albums, tinker with searches, and post any interesting finds here.

And also, if any of you have legitimate albums of your own (on Flickr or elsewhere), feel free to share those too.

Well, I met a girl tonight. Rudy and Maeby alerted me to her presence as she snuck past the house and back toward the grain bins just as daylight faded completely.

Now keep in mind, I’m allergic to cats. But I’m also an animal lover and a sucker, so I followed her out into the field to check on her, to make sure she was healthy and not starving or hurt. After considerable coaxing, slowly inching my way toward her, she started rolling in the dirt and allowed me to creep up beside her. Then I spent some time petting her and getting to know her.

I’m not averse to the idea of having a barn cat. I’m just concerned that come winter the thing will want to live inside and I’ll let it. That wouldn’t be good for my allergies. So I haven’t been seeking one out. But considering the circumstance, I figured this thin, feral cat should probably hang out in the barn, receive my affection, drive my dogs crazy, and take care of any unwelcome, rodental guests I may have living out there.

So I decided to carry her to the barn to get a cool drink of water and eat a little of the BBQ pork I made yesterday. She continued to purr and nuzzle me as I carried her toward the barn, holding her close despite the itching I knew would come as a result. And then I lost her and she darted out into the dark.

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I had to go back and look a couple times to make sure we hadn’t done this yet, but I think we need to make note of our favourite Seinfeld episodes. It’s been… I dunno, how long since the show ended, and yet we still stop flipping through the channels whenever we come across the reruns?

So I guess all I wanna know is what are the best of the best Seinfeld eps. If you can make an actual list of ten, in order, more power to ya. I’d love to see those, but I’m not sure I can commit to that myself at the moment.

And let’s make this the official Seinfeld catch-all in the future too. So you can go ahead and post quotes and general Seinfeld-related stuff here too. I may eventually move past comments here but I’m not terribly motivated to do that at the moment…

I’m currently daydreaming about frying things. Why do I feel guilty about that? The healthy eating goes in phases, but even so, I eat much better than I used to, and rarely just start battering random pieces of food in a fit of culinary madness. But I do still get the urge to return to the olde ways, and I’ll admit sometimes I give in. I’ve been thinking about fried foods a lot lately. Sometimes, late at night, I’ll even find myself driving by a Long John Silver’s that’s not on the way home…

If I may admit, I make very good chicken fingers and fish ‘n’ chips. I have a nice-sized fryer (not a chicken), and I’ve been known to boil the oil on occasion. It’s not remotely healthy, and you always regret it at the end of the night, but there’s something fun about inviting some friends over and almost burning the place down in a grease fire.

Is it stupid to have a thread to celebrate fried foods? I think not. Consider these examples of excellence:

Have you ever been to Claddagh? The highlanders really know how to fry stuff. There can be only one… I highly recommend this place, whether you’re looking for your favourite delectables deep-fat fried, a good selection of beers (I hear they have a lot of good stuff, including the Strongbow on tap) or just some general Irish surliness.

Let’s move on to the faire. The opportunity to consume fried foodstuffs is the main reason I go to any fair or festival. Have you tried these deep fried candy bars? Deep fried Twinkies or other snack cakes? Deep fried cookie dough (which is my favourite)? Or maybe just consider the classics, like corn dogs, elephant ears and waffles.

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That might be an overstatement. But there are things you don’t know about me. They most likely won’t lead to your untimely death, but if they play a part in your timely death, I offer no apologies. I am but a pawn of the reaper. A sexy little reaper.

But I was thinking, a lot of us here don’t know each other very well, and in many cases only know each other through this site. I alone am the catalyst that brings you together. In many ways I am like Professor X, taking freakish mutants under my wing for their own good and for the good of the world. Hmmm… Why can’t I feel my legs now?

Anyway, the purpose of this thread is to share things about yourself that the rest of us might not know about you. Maybe some of us know, but not all of us. Shoot, even those of us who know each other very well may learn some things about each other. You have to play for this to work though…

Monkeys are money. Not a surprise when you look at the two words side-by-side. But did you know it’s that single “K” that contains all of the genetic, alphabetical code that makes the creature so different from the currency? Food for thought…

Okay, but seriously, monkeys are cash money, a fail-safe for comedy, and they deserve a thread of their own. I shall include here my many important monkey-related musings, poetry on monkeys, art featuring monkeys, including updates on a mural in progress depicting the life and times of Bubbles the chimp.

Of course you are all welcome to post the same sort of things, but your most active participation in this thread will come from you filling out the following application for monkey adoption. Applicants are encouraged to attempt to answer all of the questions, as this alone will be used to judge your ability to physically and emotionally care for a monkey.

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Yes, that parenthetical joke belongs to Dave Barry, and much like Your Mom jokes, it just never gets old. If you’re unfamiliar, I suggest you get to know Mr. Barry here and here. (He has the perfect job, BTW.) I will completely cease to be humorous to you, but I’m willing to make that sacrifice for the good of humanity.

Oh, & Dave Barry & bands… Yeah, his is The Rock Bottom Remainders, which includes other writers, such as Matt Groening & Stephen King. Weird combination there…

But back to band names. Oh yes, that’s what this is all about. (For those of you who don’t read but instead skip to the bottom — BEST BAND NAMES!) (more…)

This is gonna be another long-running, slow-going thread, but one that I’ve been meaning to start for a long time. So with The Simpsons on twice a day, quite often I notice particular lines that are just cash money. Of course I always mean to start jotting them down but never get around to it. The time has come, & the list begins here & now. All you Simpsons lovers, join in as you wish. This is potentially a never-ending thread, since there are just so many good ones…