UPDATE: Leave your answers here :-)

Ken loves to do these Rock N Roll Trivia posts, and often I end up scratching my head and feeling somewhat less than inadequate because, well, I usually suck at them.

So here's one of my own, for Ken and the crew:  The Paul Simon/ Simon and Garfunkel Edition (Now with Bonus Questions!)

1.  If I was a Kellogg's corn flake I'd be floating in my bowl doing what exactly?  And to whom would I be talking?

2. Someone told me it's all happening where?

3. Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a park bench quietly? How Terribly strange to be (how old???)...

4.People say she's crazy, why?

5.If you take two bodies and you twirl them into one, what won't come undone?

6.How far away is the Mother and Child reunion?

7. The sign said the words of the prophets are written where?

8.Where are you going with Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme?

9. What do Rene and Georgette Magritte have hidden away in the cabinet cold of their hearts?

10.  The Mississippi Delta shines like what on the way to Graceland?

BONUS:
My father was a fisherman, my mama was a fisherman's friend.  What's my name?

How many ways are there to leave your lover? (Just ask Jack, Stan, Roy, Gus, Lee.....)

The fog's rolling in off the East River Bank.  It covers which street?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:39 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 251 words, total size 2 kb.

Bacon Candy

Ingredients:
1 lb bacon (not thick-cut)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Slice bacon into 1/2-inch strips and dredge in brown sugar until thoroughly coated.
3. Crumple aluminum foil to allow for grease drainage and place it on a baking sheet. Lay out the bacon on the foil making sure not to overlap pieces.
4. Bake until crispy. Allow to cool and harden before serving.

Oh yeah.  Perfect with some bacon vodka.

Or try this.

h/t puppyblender

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:15 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 88 words, total size 1 kb.

Lynne Spears deposition attached to the restraining order against Britney's so-called "Manager".

Horrifying.  Just Horrifying.

This may be the single most heart-wrenching part:

Britney then said again at some point during the night, "When do I get to see my babies?" Sam answered, "Wednesday." Britney then said, "What do I have to do to see them?" Sam responded, "Take the pills I tell you to take." Britney said, "I don't like the pills and I don't like the the psychiatrist. Can't I see anoher psychiatrist so I can see my babies?" Sam responded, "If I told you to take 10 pills a day, you should do what I tell you to see your babies." Jackie (Lynne's friend) then said, "Britney, your parents can help you find a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist needs to get to know you to give you the right medicine." Sam then raised his voice and said, "Why don't uou get back with Kevin."

Britney then said, "I'll do anything to get them back."

No wonder Britney is so screwed up. My God.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:50 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 238 words, total size 1 kb.

The Battle of Pelennor Fields... in Candy:

There's lot's more pictures at the original site.
And they did Helm's Deep, too.

h/t (surprisingly NOT the Llamas) Michael Williams

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.

Fifteen Ineffective Charity Fundraising Ideas

• Dogfight for a Cure
• Jersey City Bachelor Auction To Raise Chlamydia Awareness
• Tats for Tots
• The March of Counterfeit Subway Tokens
• We Don't Have A Problem And We Sure As Hell Don't Need Your Damn Money Gala Ball & Silent Auction
• PeTA and Hamas Pita-and-Hummus Dinner
• Tree of Syringes
• Everybody Get K-Fed: A Tribute Album To Fight World Hunger
• PTSD Father-Son Fun Shoot
• The Genital Warts Memorial Quilt
• Rock Against Xenu
• Enemas for a Cause
• Pledge Drive For Ron McDonald's House, No, Not The Ronald McDonald House, Just This Guy Named Ron McDonald, Whose House Needs Some Work
• First Annual $500,000 By 4:00 PM Or We Start Killing Hostages Telethon
• Take-a-Penny, Leave-a-Penny

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:53 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 148 words, total size 1 kb.

Nature, folks, never underestimate it.

Here's a vocabulary word for you: Albedo

There's a natural cause that may account for much of the Arctic warming, which has melted sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Nature. New research points a finger at a natural and cyclical increase in the amount of energy in the atmosphere that moves from south to north around the Arctic Circle.

But that energy transfer, which comes with storms that head north because of ocean currents, is not acting alone either, scientists say. Another upcoming study concludes that the combination of both that natural energy transfer increase and man-made global warming serve as a one-two punch that is pushing the Arctic over the edge.

Scientists are trying to figure out why the Arctic is warming and melting faster than computer models predict.

The summer of 2007, like the summer of 2005, smashed all records for loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and ice sheet in Greenland. In September, the Arctic Ocean had 23 percent less sea ice than the previous record low. Greenland's ice sheet melted 19 billion tons more than its previous record.

The Nature study suggests there's more behind it than global warming because the air a couple miles above the ground is warming more than calculated by the climate models.

Climate change theory concentrates on warming of surface temperatures and explains an Arctic that is warming faster than the rest of the world as mostly because reduced sea ice and ice sheets means less reflecting solar rays.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:07 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 389 words, total size 3 kb.

So you may have seen that there was much hoo-hah about a float honoring the 2008 Beijing Olympics in yesterday's Rose parade.

I was front and center for the spectacle, and my take on it may surprise some of you.

We left the house at 5:15 am, drove to a nearby church, parked the car and had a lovely pancake breakfast, then we walked to Colorado and Orange Grove, where our seats were located in the Grandstands, just to the side of the HGTV booth.  We were asked to be in place by 6:30 AM so that the Parade organizers could stage the "opening number".  We were in our seats at about 6:15.  I people-watched until the parade got going, and hubby took a catnap or two, wrapped in our warmest USC gear and sitting on a thick blanket instead of a cold metal bench....

What happened was that a protest was organized wherein people were supposed to stand and turn their backs on the float as it passed, a sign that you disagree with China and it's human rights abuses.  There was a pro-float group on our left, and an anti-float group on our right.

Here is the very beautiful and fun float in question:

First of all, where we were, VERY few people stood other than the few who were present specifically for that purpose.  Most of us were too busy taking pictures of an adorable float and the acrobats and dancers hired to accompany it down the parade route.  The few who did stand were real assholes about it, getting in front of people taking pictures and trying to be dickheads.

Which really detracts from a message of human rights and peace, in my book.

I hadn't really known how I was going to react.  I am no fan of China's human rights practices, but at the same time, I had no animus against the float itself or the actors and dancers paid to make it fun.  As the float passed us, and the spectacle unfolded, I came to a realization:  The Rose Parade is not a venue for politics.  The parade is about fun and spectacle and celebration.  It's a moment for the thousands of kids who raised millions of dollars  JUST TO BE THERE IN THE PARADE to enjoy their (cold) morning in the sun.  It's a celebration.  It's for the kids.  Kids and politics shouldn't mix.

There were two beautiful little girls sitting in front of us.  They were enchanted by the lion dancers and plate spinners and acrobats.  As the float in question passed, and the little girls couldn't see it, they were debating their favorite floats.  One preferred the circus float and the other preferred the Princesses and Rose Queen with their bouquets and big pearl crown.  They could give a crap about China.  They just wanted to see the floats and dance to the bands.  Which is what the Parade is all about.

So keep the politics out of the Parade.  Protest before the parade, stage a vigil at the float viewing sheds tomorrow and the next day, but keep it away from the magic of New Year's Morning.

Our kids have so little innocence anymore, and are severely short on magic.  The Rose Parade gives them at least a couple hours of kid fun.

And for the record, this protest was, IMO, a truly cheap political stunt.  Why, you ask?  Well, first of all the float wasn't funded by the Chinese government, it was funded by a coalition of American companies and individuals, most notably the Avery-Dennison Corporation, a worldwide manufacturer of paper and office products based here in Pasadena.  Furthermore, the float didn't promote the Chinese government, either.  It promoted the 2008 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Beijing.  And don't the Olympics themselves promote equality and human rights?  So if they were protesting the idiocy of the International Olympic Committee being bullshitted about human rights improvements by the Chinese government, I'd almost understand the sentiment, but protesting China just makes it a cheap, opportunistic stunt staged for the TV cameras.

More pictures of the Beijing 2008 float can be seen along with the rest of my 2008 Rose Parade pictures here on Flickr.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:46 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 714 words, total size 5 kb.

TBS set records with this year's "A Christmas Story" Marathon:

The marathon scored its best-ever average delivery in total viewers (2.8 million) as well as in such key demos as adults 18-34 (775,000), adults 18-49 (1.6 million) and adults 25-54 (1.5 million), according to Nielsen Media Research.

For the marathon's entire 24-hour run, TBS ranked as the No. 1 ad-supported cable network in 18-34, 18-49, 25-54 and total viewers. (Ad-supported networks include most basic cable outlets with a few exceptions like Disney Channel.)

During the marathon, the most-watched airing of "Christmas" in total viewers was the first telecast (8 p.m. December 24), which averaged 4.4 million viewers. The 10 p.m. telecast that followed was the most-watched among 18-34 (1.2 million), 18-49 (2.2 million) and 25-54 (2.1 million).

The 10 p.m. showing also beat all broadcast programming on Christmas Eve (8 p.m.-midnight) in the 18-34 demo.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:09 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 159 words, total size 1 kb.

Warning: disjointed thoughts ahead!

Over the last few days I've been thinking a lot about the amazing bumper sticker of awesomeness and how we parent our children. When I say "parent our children", I mean in the general sense, that is, how ADULTS guide and direct children towards what's right and instill in them a sense of right and wrong. Not just their parents, biological or otherwise, but grandparents, aunts and uncles, teachers, mentors, and friends. Hillary said that it takes a village to raise a child, and although her application of that message was far more socialist than I agree with, her point is well-taken. Children grow up surrounded by adults. ALL of those adults have something to do with raising them, even just reinforcing proper behavior.

I've often heard it said (and I believe it) that parenting is an act of will. As a parent, you are the boss, and what the kids want is secondary. It seems to me that a hell of a lot of ADULTS are abdicating this responsibility because they just don't want to "hurt the kid's feelings" or they'd rather let someone else be the bad guy.

See, here's the thing, and this is what has come up over and over and over in conversations about the bumper sticker, good kids are NOT kids who never think of doing bad things. Good kids are not kids who say "it's wrong, so I won't do it." At least not all the time. Good kids are good simply because they know what will happen to them if they get caught doing what they want to do that their parents disapprove of. They have rules and boundaries and consequences. Consistent, very negative consequences. I was one of those goody-two-shoes kids. But sure as hell NOT because it was wrong to do bad things. Oh hells no. I was terrified of what my parents would do if they caught me.

Good parents make it possible for their kids to reach the stage in their life, where as adults, they can recognize all of their right and wrong steps in the past and use that knowledge to "parent" other children: their own, nieces and nephews, students, mentees, etc.

I've gone down the road before about no consequences for kids and how THAT turns out. But I'll sum up. Kids who don't understand that their actions have consequences CAN NOT succeed in life. They don't turn in homework, but they expect an A. They can't show up to work on time, but they'll sue you for firing them. They expect hand up after hand up and if they don't get one, it's YOUR fault. Mom and Dad fix everything, from a bad grade to a parking ticket to getting kicked out of college because of academic dishonesty. Kids who don't understand that actions have consequences are precisely the ones who will take a gun and try to make their own.

It's a simple principal of Psychology: Associative Learning. If I get zapped every time I press the red button, pretty soon I'll learn not to touch it any more. It's not just a fancy trick, either. This is how the mammalian brain is wired. We learn by experience, both positively and negatively.

Which brings me to a recent experience. I was involved with a community outreach program sponsored by our school a few weeks back. Two groups of high school students were assigned to be helpers to the college students and faculty involved with the program. One group of kids was from a high-achieving science-related magnet school. The other was from a "cultural" charter school. The difference between the two groups was remarkable, and not surprisingly, correlated with the expectations of the adults around them AND the consequences of their actions.

The "magnet" kids were friendly and polite, they pitched in to clean up without being asked. They were creative and helpful and spoke respectfully to each other and to us.

The charter kids were (with a few exceptions) just the opposite. They were loud and lazy, they yelled at each other and spent their time making messes and trying to break things rather than helping out, and when faced directly with consequences, they ignored requests to sit down and/or be quiet from their teachers and principal. Which, I later understood, because the threatened consequences never materialized.

What you don't know is that these kids all come from the same background: ethnically diverse, lower-middle-class and underprivileged homes. They all live in the same neighborhoods, have the same kinds of "stereotypical" families. What's different about them is the expectation that positive and negative behavior each have their own set of consequences. It couldn't be more striking.

So yeah, it's not about the damn guns. It's about shitty adults who think "kid gloves" means "use with children" instead of "made from baby goats".

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:00 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 814 words, total size 5 kb.

1 EXCELLENT POST! Yeah, I just yelled out loud 'excellent post'.

Posted by: pam at December 10, 2007 12:42 PM (l6NIn)

2 Yeah, apparently most people don't know what "kid gloves" means anymore. Even my husband just learned, when my mom had hers from when she was younger out to look at them. I think he just pictured kid-sized boxing gloves with extra padding or something. But you're 100% right. I could see it from watching the people i was in school with -- especially college. The kids who were pre-med (cough) and just whined themselves to better grades. I saw a lot of it in the undergrads at JHU, too. Um, not to pick on pre-meds. Or doctors. It's just the people I found were around me who did it most!

Posted by: silvermine at December 10, 2007 01:07 PM (4gdyI)

3 Warning: disjointed thoughts ahead! Disjointed? Beg to differ, dear. Very nicely done, and I say that as the father of two wonderful adult children.

Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at December 10, 2007 08:22 PM (Yh9SA)

4 As someone who works with kids in a certain capacity, but does not have kids of her own, I have to admit I sometimes take a bit of issue with the "it takes a village" mentality. An example: some of the kids in my youth group are whispering in church. I specifically DO NOT sit with them (they sit near their parents) because I have other duties during the course of church and I feel that, if their parents are there, it is not my job to "parent" them. But then someone comes up to me after church..."Those darn kids where WHISPERING again. Can you not DO something?" No. When I go to church, I go to worship. I do not go to be the parent, when the parents who are there choose not to. I feel it would be overstepping my bounds to sit behind the kids and knock their heads together...er, hush them...when they are whispering. But, because I'm the Youth Leader, because these individuals know me (and don't necessarily know the kids' parents), and because they know I won't lash back at them, they come to me and make me feel guilty for not being Mama Hen 100% of the time. The lives of those of us who work with students (either little-kid, teenaged, or college-aged) would be SO much easier if parents just took on the responsibilities they are supposed to, and don't let their kids run wild, and expect someone else will be the "bad guy" with the discipline. I've come so close to resigning as youth director BECAUSE it seems that every misbehavior of the kids is somehow my fault, that I could stop it if I really wanted to...even if the parents are sitting right there, oblivious.

Posted by: ricki at December 11, 2007 10:04 AM (O5SYw)

5 For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I press a key, a letter appears on the screen. At the age of 13, my parents punished me for something I did for the last time. It made an impression. I don't remember what I did wrong, but it must have been bad, and the consequences fit the offense. The punishment, a few licks from my fathers FRATERNITY PLEDGE PADDLE. Nothing excessive, but enough to make a deep and lasting impression on me to never ever do what I had done again. And I never gave them a reason to punish me again. Another highly effective consequence I received was "wash your mouth out with soap." At the age of 8 or 9, I cussed at a video game, while my mother was in the other room. She was into the room I was in in a flash, had me by the hand, and into the bathroom for a mouthful of softsoap. I took profanity out of my vocabulary for a long time after that (now I do use it sometimes, as a stress reliever, much better than losing my temper). From my perspective, it comes down to making sure that when a child does something they know is wrong, the consequences should make a deep and lasting impression on their mind, such that when the situation arises again, they have a moment of pause to think, "wait a second, if I do this, it is going to make my life really SUCK afterwards."

Posted by: Petey at December 12, 2007 09:01 AM (tmnSV)

6 well said

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at December 12, 2007 02:30 PM (+MvHD)

7 It doesn't take a village, it takes a boot-camp. Adults who in their moral vanity busily impress themselves with their own sensitivity and broadmindedness do no service to kids - and produce poor, nonperforming results.

Posted by: DirtCrashr at December 12, 2007 04:31 PM (VNM5w)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

I'm guessing this ranking has everything to do with a certain blogger moving to Fresno......

The list below ranks the cities from most dangerously drunk to least dangerously drunk.

Most Dangerously Drunk

100. Denver, CO F

99. Anchorage, AK F

98. Colorado Springs, CO F

97. Omaha, NE F

96. Fargo, ND F

95. San Antonio, TX F

94. Austin, TX F

93. Fresno, CA F

92. Lubbock, TX F

91. Milwaukee, WI F

90. El Paso, TX F

In other highlights, Washington DC comes in at 88, Los Angeles at 65, Las Vegas surprisingly near the middle at 47, and the LEAST dangerously drunk cities are (below the jump!)
more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:20 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 206 words, total size 1 kb.

In the 80's and 90's we had Limousine Liberals.  Now we have Gulfstream Greenies:

Tempo Interaktif reports that Angkasa Pura - the management of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport are concerned that the large number of additional private charter flights expected in Bali during the UN Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) December 3-15, 2007, will exceed the carrying capacity of apron areas. To meet the added demand for aircraft storage officials are allocating "parking space" at other airports in Indonesia.

The operational manager for Bali's Airport, Azjar Effendi, says his 3 parking areas can only accommodate 15 planes, which means that some of the jets used by VIP delegations will only be allowed to disembark and embark their planes in Bali with parking provided at airports in Surabaya, Lombok, Jakarta and Makassar.--emphasis mine, Ed.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:12 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 158 words, total size 1 kb.

Ever seen that stupid "Coexist" bumper stickers with all the quasi-religious and philosophical symbols replacing the letters? How about this one instead?



Click it to embiggen.

Fabulous, no?

h/t sub2change

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:59 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 39 words, total size 1 kb.

1 I like it!

Posted by: Jill at November 29, 2007 09:09 AM (yaQm/)

2 It took me a few minutes to get the "word." But yeah, I like it.

Posted by: ricki at November 29, 2007 10:51 AM (O5SYw)

3 cool

Posted by: vw bug at November 29, 2007 11:53 AM (FPOeI)

4 ROFLMAO - excellent.

Posted by: Teresa at November 29, 2007 12:51 PM (rVIv9)

5 Nifty, I like.

Posted by: Amanda at November 29, 2007 12:55 PM (5PUVj)

6 I'm going to try and hand draw these images, white on black like the original. Then maybe I'll put it up in my Cafepress store.

Posted by: Aaron at November 29, 2007 02:00 PM (x57wb)

7 Cool. I haven't seen the original --- mercifully --- but I've seen my share of Save The Planet crap . . . SSDD.

Posted by: dogette at November 30, 2007 08:36 AM (q/UVc)

8 I've never seen one of those coexist stickers...but then, I live down in the Redneck riviera and the only thing we worry about coexisting with are the gators and the skeeters!

Posted by: Mrs. Who at December 01, 2007 02:37 PM (6zbwL)

9 I have a "coexist" neighbor down the street and it has diminished my faith in them because it's one of the most stupidly facile and retarded bumperstickers ever. They ought to include a swastika next to the hammer-and-sickle -- because everyone knows those two "religions" co-existed so well, at least in 1939 for a while, when it was convenient... Stupid hippies.

Posted by: DirtCrashr at December 03, 2007 10:20 AM (VNM5w)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

See what the writer's strike has wrought, this season on 24....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:46 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 19 words, total size 1 kb.

Meet Princess #2, a Doxy - Terrier Mix named Guinness:

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:32 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
Post contains 16 words, total size 1 kb.

1 What a cutie!

Posted by: beth at November 23, 2007 08:16 PM (mL6ts)

2 Congratulations!!!!

Posted by: pam at November 24, 2007 04:48 AM (l6NIn)

3 I love puppies! That is the cutest little thang ever! I like her name, too!

Posted by: Beth Donovan at November 24, 2007 05:11 AM (RI2Iy)

4 Oh... that is soooo precious.

Posted by: vw bug at November 24, 2007 06:53 AM (FPOeI)

5 oh my goodness! I saw her when I uploaded a pic to Flickr last night and figured I'd see a post about her when I got around to reading blogs

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at November 24, 2007 08:32 AM (0Pi1o)

6 Awwwwwwww. Enjoy that sweet puppy smell!!!!

Posted by: dogette at November 24, 2007 09:57 AM (q/UVc)

7 PUPPY BREATH! I. LOVE. PUPPY BREATH!

Posted by: Margi at November 24, 2007 01:04 PM (Vxef1)

8 OH my, She is so cute. It makes me want to run out and get a dog and I am NOT a pet person.

Posted by: Lukie at November 24, 2007 02:26 PM (WXIEq)

9 Awwww!!

Posted by: Marie at November 24, 2007 02:57 PM (wLjqx)

10 What a cutie! I bet she's keeping you busy!

Posted by: Tammy at November 24, 2007 03:44 PM (r9XZv)

11 Awwwwwwww!!! CUTE!!! I am so happy for all of you!

Posted by: Richmond at November 25, 2007 05:27 PM (j6pQQ)

12 Oh, isn't she sweet! Congratulations.

Posted by: Mrs. Who at November 25, 2007 10:27 PM (6zbwL)

13 Adorable! I am filled with the urge to go to my in-laws' house and scratch their dog behind his cute floppy ears.

Posted by: nightfly at November 26, 2007 12:35 PM (PuuC1)

14 I found you (had to do it tonight or I'd forget the address)! Love the blog and love the new doglet! Great to see you guys tonight!!

Posted by: Amanda at November 28, 2007 01:26 AM (5PUVj)

15 .... wait.... what is it eating??....

Posted by: Eric at November 28, 2007 06:16 PM (g02Hg)

16 Its really very cute, i love pets that too always used sleep with my puppy as like this picture, its also like one of our family member...

Posted by: annie at November 29, 2007 04:40 AM (vTBfv)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

It's not just engineers....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 14 words, total size 1 kb.

I don't really want to be cremated, but folks, if I was into it, I would SO love to have my ashes sprinkled at the Happiest Place on Earth. But I'd rather be on Thunder Mountain or in Sleeping Beauty's Castle than Pirates of the Caribbean!

Disneyland officials will likely never know whether the woman who sprinkled some sort of powder onto the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride was trying to send a loved one straight to Davy Jones' locker.

Disney officials shut the ride down for about 45 minutes Friday after they saw the woman sprinkle something into the ride's water. But they said they couldn't determine what it was because it dissolved so quickly.

Blogger and longtime Disneyland watcher Al Lutz said he received several tips indicating it was human ashes.

Disneyland Resorts spokesman Rob Doughty said he couldn't confirm that. He said the rider, who was not arrested, told park employees she had dumped baby powder over the side of a "Pirates" boat.

Lutz, who first reported the event Tuesday on his Web site miceage.com, said more and more people are leaving their loved ones' ashes behind at Disneyland.

"It used to happen every once in a while at the Haunted Mansion, but now it's happening more," he said.

Without written permission, it's a misdemeanor violation of the state Health and Safety Code to scatter human ashes on private property, but enforcement is difficult. Officials say the ashes pose no health threat.

"I can tell you that we do get people from time to time asking for permission to sprinkle ashes. Our policy is when we are asked for permission, we deny the request," Doughty said. "Beyond that, we don't know."

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:19 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 339 words, total size 2 kb.

1 That's a new one to me. I like burial at sea. Just throw me overboard!

Posted by: pam at November 17, 2007 05:40 AM (l6NIn)

2 Before the movies ever came out, Pirates was my favorite ride at Disney. I could see me wanting some of my ashes scattered there.

Posted by: Contagion at November 20, 2007 04:51 PM (QQZMi)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

How about Professor Tenure-Caused-My-Divorce, or Professor My-Lobotomy-Improved-My-Personality, or my favorite, Professor Your-Life-Means-Less-Than-My-Experiments...

Stolen wholesale from Jon Cogburn (it was just TOO good to excerpt!):

Irritating Assistant Professors- 

1. (from phred)  Professor I'm-a-Fraud-and-Pray-To-Jesus-That-No-One-Will-Figure-It-Out,
2. (from phred)  Professor I'm-Above-This-Place-And-Should-Be-At-Harvard,
3. Professor Rebel-Without-A-Clue,
4. (from Mark Silcox) Professor Only-Teaches-His-G**d***-Dissertation,
5. Professor Promising-Young-Man.

Irritating Full Professors- 

1. (spelling courtesy Mikhail Emilianov) Professor Couldabeena-contenda,
   
2. (from Knecht Ruprecht) Professor Exploits-Grad-Students-as-Cheap-Labor-in-his-Consulting-Business,
3. (from Mikhail Emilianov and rm) Professor I-Have-Five-Stories/Jokes-So-Get-Used-To-Hearing-Them-All-The-Time,
4. (from John Emerson)  Professor I've-Got-A-Nobel -Prize-So-Go-F***-Yourself,-I-Can-Talk-About-Whatever
   -I-Want,
5. Professor Midlife-Crises,
6. Professor Old-Yellow-Notes,
7. Professor Screws-Up-Even-Simple-Things-So-As-To-Get-Out-Of-Service-Work
8. Professor Slum-Lord,
9. (from soup biscuit) Professor Tells-You-Everyday-How-Far-He-Is-From-Retirement,
10. (from Knecht Rupert) Professor Twenty-Graduate-Students-Do-All-My-Research,
11. (from redfoxtailshrub) Professor Used-To-Be-Cool-But-Now-Viewed-With-Knowing-Bemused-Looks,
12. Professor Uses-Tenure-To-Pursue-Hobbies-Or-Job-On-The-Side-Full-Time,
13. (from Mark Silcox) Professor Wishes-He-Was-Rich.

Irritating Professors That Could be Assistant or Full-

1. (from rm) Professor Complains-About-Working-Conditions,
2. Professor Drunk-Pants,
3. (from John Emerson) Professor I-Could-and-Sometimes-Do-Recite-This-Lecture-in-my-Sleep,
4. (from soup biscuit) Professor Laughs-At-His-Own-Jokes,
5. (from rm) Professor My-Jokes-Aren't-Funny-But-They're-All-I-Have,
6. (from cryptic ned) Professor Only-Person-At-Tiny-College-To-Have-Ever-Published-A-Book-In-A-Printing-Of-More-Than-200,
7. (from The Llama Butchers) Professor Seriously-Tardy-With-Grading-Papers-Because-He's-Blogging-on-Useless-Crap-All-The-Time
8. Professor Stared-Into-The-Void-And-The-Void-Stared-Back!-(Though-In-Reality-Void-Finds-Whole-Business-Distasteful),
9. (from Sifu Tweety) Professor Your-Work-Will-Never-Be-As-Important-As-Mine,
10. Professor Watches-Sports,
11. (from Rachel) Professor Wears-Clothes-With-Many-Holes-As-Though-That-Credentials-his-World-of-Ideas-ness.
12. Professor Will-F***-Anything-Young-and-Naive-Enough-To-Admire-Him.

Add your own in the comments, especially you lurking academicians out there!

h/t Los LLamas

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:26 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 159 words, total size 4 kb.

Headline of the Day: "Spears' Lawyer To Judge: 'You're Not A Pop Star'"

Seems poor li'l Brit Brit just can't make it to the drug lab on time. You'd think that since she has cars and drivers a plenty this would actually be an EASIER task for her than it would be for the rest of us who need to drive ourselves or rely on a crappy car or **horrors** take the bus to get where we need to go.

Her justification? That she has a Number One album to promote (sorry Brit, but you're actually #2. Ever heard of the Eagles?) and she's too busy to make time for the drug lab in less than 6 hours. SIX.

The judge rebuffed this claim, saying, "I have to get here at 7:30 a.m. to read (court) papers," implying that getting out of bed to go to the lab is not an unreasonable demand from the court.

Britney's lawyer responded, "But you're not a pop star with a number one album."

No, idiot, he's a JUDGE. Well, technically a court commissioner, but still. He's the judge in charge of whether or not she ever gets to see her kids. I suppose that means your client should act accordingly, huh?

I never thought I'd ever say it, but I'm starting to hope those two little boys take after their Dad in the brains department.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:35 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 236 words, total size 2 kb.

This is about the funniest thing ever on the intertubes. Originally sent to me via email, I had to go find the original blogger and give him some love.

"Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife's grandfather. After a bunch of hours spent in The Hottest Attic In The Universe, he had a ceiling fan that ducted to the side of his house.

While my brother-in-law and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was this:



A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It's not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but holy hell this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:44 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 178 words, total size 1 kb.

Worship me, fellow Nerds.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:56 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 8 words, total size 1 kb.