Great list, but it omitted Goldsmith's "Star Trek: Voyager," the theme music to "The Avengers" (paricularly the Diana Rigg episodes), and season one of "Space: 1999."
Just kidding, of course. I know of two situations that could result in the absence of a pupik:
1. The navel is a type of scar; in some cases the umbilical cord detaches without leaving much of a trace, resulting in a very tiny or nonexistent navel. 2. There's a condition related to cleft palate in which the skin of the abdomen does not close in front. If the infant survives being born (The insides would be contained by a membrane & muscle in these cases), surgery is done to close up the opening. The child would have no belly button (the umbilical cord was attached at the membrane, not the skin). The child might be left with a large scar, but since this is done while the child is a newborn, in many cases the scar may clear up so much as to be unnoticeable. (Some forms of makeup may conceal it as well.)
A woman with no navel appears in Alejandro Jodorowski's film "Holy Mountain," for those who can stand to watch it. (If you've seen the movie and missed that detail, she's an older woman who dances naked in the scene where we are introduced to the nine world leaders ["My planet is Mars," etc.]. I think she's acting like a dominatrix; I'll have to watch it again to be sure.)
Many of Aesop's fables are actually jokes, and quite a few have not been watered down for children and fitted with a "moral." One of my all-time favorites:
Zeus and Hermes get into an argument about which of them is held in higher esteem by mortals. They decide to settle the matter by disguising themselves as travelers and visiting a sculptor's studio. Inside the studio, they inquire about the price of a statue of Hermes. "Ah, Hermes, messenger of the gods," says the sculptor. "He's 20 drachmas." Hermes and Zeus don't know if this is a good price or not, so they make more inquiries. They ask about a statue of Hera nearby. "Hera, queen of the gods... She's 30 drachmas. All that curly hair takes longer to carve, you know." Zeus smirks to himself, thinking, "My wife costs more than Hermes does!" Then he points to a statue of himself and asks the price. "Ah, Zeus, king of the Olympians... Tell ya what --- If you buy Hermes and Hera, I'll throw in Zeus for free."
Oh, that's too funny! All the Finns I've met are very bright, though --- I'm sure the target audience (considering that the series was from the 1970s & early 80s) is about my age and has actually seen the show and would not be deterred by the "Adults Only" label. Hopefully they'll get word of this and think it's very funny too.
My siblings and I all watched LHOTP while it was in syndication (Apparently it's still shown, but on daytime TV with these 10-minute-long "save the children" commercials so it's heavily edited). Anyway, we loved the show, but after seeing each episode about five times we found ourselves "Rocky Horror"-ing it, shouting additional dialogue at the screen and making off-color comments. One of my brothers even "scripted" Little House erotica to amuse his friends at college. THAT is what this article's headline reminded me of!
Re: Oliver and Laroo212 - I agree with Oliver's statement, and I'm not sure if that was an intentional joke on Laroo212's part: "of" should be "have." (Should have, shouldn't have) For reasons unknown, a LOT of people get it wrong! Maybe it's because too many people slur their speech.
Let's see... "Now then" can be kind of annoying to some people. I really find "the whole package" to be just too darn silly, especially when someone uses it when earnestly trying to voice their appreciation of someone. "My bad" was funny ONCE, when I first heard it, in 2001. It very quickly became old, and is now invariably used as an insincere apology by people who need a good boot in the rectum. These two are just incomprehensible: "Cool beans!" and "built like a brick s---house." Both are meant to be complimentary, but how is it a compliment to say that an attractive-looking woman is constructed in a manner not unlike that of a ceramic defecatorium? Please to explain? I guess "Please to explain?" could go in there, too, except that I haven't heard it much. "That's random." Especially when it's actually relevant to the topic at hand, which is the opposite of what "random" seems to imply. (I think it's code for "I'm not listening, but I'm going to try to pass some sort of blame off on you rather than admit that I was being inattentive.") "Liberal" in the case of "liberal media" and "God-d---ed liberals" that I hear political crackpots bandying about. These people are out to proseletyze, but not one of them has been able to define what they mean by "liberal," which to me is an adjective meaning "generous," "forgiving" or "freedom-loving." Are these attributes bad things to these people, or is it a case of "I don't think that word means what you think it means?" "Don't go there." If the first person I'd heard say that had simply looked up from her computer (I thought she was talking ineffectually to something on her monitor) and phrased it "I don't wish to hear the rest of your anecdote, even if everyone else in the room is hooked," it would have saved both of us much embarrassment.
Amazing stuff! I read an article some time ago about a parabolic mirror being used to heat a Stirling engine (which turned a generator). The system generated enough electricity to run an average-sized house all day long and then some; if hooked up to the power grid, it actually would have contributed to the available power. (In theory, the electric company would owe you a little money...) The one drawback I could see with this is the possibility of fire from a piece of falling debris like leaves or tree branches.
The "hot spot" is at the focal point, where all the reflected rays of sunlight converge. Outside of that focal point, the temperature is significantly lower. Therefore, the device would make a poor "death ray". I suppose if the curvature were adjusted so the focal point could be moved, it might be effective --- but I imagine the temperature would become exponentially less hot the farther that focal point was moved from the mirror.
Heh... kind of reminds me of the sort of tactics that got that pesky G.W. Bush into the White House twice! Sneak around, change the paperwork behind honest voters' backs. Yep, the guy's definitely a bone-headed Republican supporter, willing to completely undermine his country for his country.
Sheesh. In researching our family history, we found that one of our ancestors married a woman who went insane and killed their newborn baby by throwing the child out of a window. Another ancestor was a Republican politician. We grimly joke that we can't decide which of the two is the bigger blot on the family escutcheon.
There was a National Geographic special aired a year or two ago along these lines, part of a trilogy called "In the Womb." One was about a single human foetus; the second was called "Multiples" and showed the development of human twins, triplets and even quadruplets; and the third was called "Animals" and showed the development of a litter of puppies, a dolphin and an elephant.
While fascinating to watch, I did want to see more, especially something outside the Order of placental mammals. It looks like this should help satisfy that wish!
I'm sure that at least some of the crowd arguing about whether a foetus is "alive" are joking... but, without dragging ethics into the equation, here it is: Yes, an embryo or foetus is considered to be alive in the scientific sense. However, it cannot sustain itself outside of the womb until it reaches a certain point in its development.
And regarding the "4-D scanning technology" --- In the earlier videos, and possibly this as well, we saw 3-D computer animation that was based directly on scans of the actual embryos and foetuses. As Jenny said, they basically cleaned up the scanned images. The result was a little better than most CGI.
Hey, Ringo did make a point of answering his fan mail. And, yes, he's apparently still getting it. His little video may be a bit peremptory, but in his true "nice guy" style, he did make it clear that he appreciates that he still has fans. (Yeah, I would have sounded a bit more APPRECIATIVE myself --- but hey, he's not known as the most eloquent Beatle. No offense intended.)
He's earned a break. He's also pushing 70. He may have a few decades left in him, but it's time to start taking it easy, relaxing in his octopus' garden in the shade.
Re: Ted --- The kid went to the zoo with the intent of killing the animals and feeding some to the crocodile. He wasn't there on an outing with his parents during visiting hours; he sneaked in after it had closed for the night. Although the security cameras taped him, his small size allowed him to get through the perimeter undetected. He set off no alarms, and his activities were discovered only in the morning when the zookepers showed up for work. A police investigation located the boy afterward.
The sculpture of a pregnant woman with no arms or legs was of fellow controversial artist Alison Lapper. She has phocomelia, and is therefore limbless. However, she did conceive a son (through artificial insemination, I think, as I've read nothing pertaining to a husband or even boyfriend), and a photographer friend made a very touching series of photographs of the pair of them playing together. One realizes, when viewing the photographs, that she has never physically held her son except inside her.
There was a lot of fuss made over the appearance of the sculpture on the fourth plinth. Opponents may like to think that it was eventually removed due to their protests. However, the Royal Society of Arts has never kept a statue on the fourth plinth for very long. Wikipedia has a more detailed & explanatory article on the "Fourth Plinth Project" in Trafalgar Square. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_Square
Re: Martin - Mars is smaller than Venus, which is slightly smaller than Earth. Mars is just a little larger than our Moon, so sci-fi movies showing people exploring Mars should portray them getting around much as we would on the Moon. (They never do, and this has often bugged me. Unless, of course, Mars has a much higher density to boost its gravitational field...)
--- Spock to Edith Keeler, "The City on the Edge of Forever"
Just kidding, of course. I know of two situations that could result in the absence of a pupik:
1. The navel is a type of scar; in some cases the umbilical cord detaches without leaving much of a trace, resulting in a very tiny or nonexistent navel.
2. There's a condition related to cleft palate in which the skin of the abdomen does not close in front. If the infant survives being born (The insides would be contained by a membrane & muscle in these cases), surgery is done to close up the opening. The child would have no belly button (the umbilical cord was attached at the membrane, not the skin). The child might be left with a large scar, but since this is done while the child is a newborn, in many cases the scar may clear up so much as to be unnoticeable. (Some forms of makeup may conceal it as well.)
A woman with no navel appears in Alejandro Jodorowski's film "Holy Mountain," for those who can stand to watch it. (If you've seen the movie and missed that detail, she's an older woman who dances naked in the scene where we are introduced to the nine world leaders ["My planet is Mars," etc.]. I think she's acting like a dominatrix; I'll have to watch it again to be sure.)
Zeus and Hermes get into an argument about which of them is held in higher esteem by mortals. They decide to settle the matter by disguising themselves as travelers and visiting a sculptor's studio. Inside the studio, they inquire about the price of a statue of Hermes.
"Ah, Hermes, messenger of the gods," says the sculptor. "He's 20 drachmas."
Hermes and Zeus don't know if this is a good price or not, so they make more inquiries. They ask about a statue of Hera nearby.
"Hera, queen of the gods... She's 30 drachmas. All that curly hair takes longer to carve, you know."
Zeus smirks to himself, thinking, "My wife costs more than Hermes does!" Then he points to a statue of himself and asks the price.
"Ah, Zeus, king of the Olympians... Tell ya what --- If you buy Hermes and Hera, I'll throw in Zeus for free."
My siblings and I all watched LHOTP while it was in syndication (Apparently it's still shown, but on daytime TV with these 10-minute-long "save the children" commercials so it's heavily edited). Anyway, we loved the show, but after seeing each episode about five times we found ourselves "Rocky Horror"-ing it, shouting additional dialogue at the screen and making off-color comments. One of my brothers even "scripted" Little House erotica to amuse his friends at college. THAT is what this article's headline reminded me of!
Let's see...
"Now then" can be kind of annoying to some people.
I really find "the whole package" to be just too darn silly, especially when someone uses it when earnestly trying to voice their appreciation of someone.
"My bad" was funny ONCE, when I first heard it, in 2001. It very quickly became old, and is now invariably used as an insincere apology by people who need a good boot in the rectum.
These two are just incomprehensible: "Cool beans!" and "built like a brick s---house." Both are meant to be complimentary, but how is it a compliment to say that an attractive-looking woman is constructed in a manner not unlike that of a ceramic defecatorium? Please to explain?
I guess "Please to explain?" could go in there, too, except that I haven't heard it much.
"That's random." Especially when it's actually relevant to the topic at hand, which is the opposite of what "random" seems to imply. (I think it's code for "I'm not listening, but I'm going to try to pass some sort of blame off on you rather than admit that I was being inattentive.")
"Liberal" in the case of "liberal media" and "God-d---ed liberals" that I hear political crackpots bandying about. These people are out to proseletyze, but not one of them has been able to define what they mean by "liberal," which to me is an adjective meaning "generous," "forgiving" or "freedom-loving." Are these attributes bad things to these people, or is it a case of "I don't think that word means what you think it means?"
"Don't go there." If the first person I'd heard say that had simply looked up from her computer (I thought she was talking ineffectually to something on her monitor) and phrased it "I don't wish to hear the rest of your anecdote, even if everyone else in the room is hooked," it would have saved both of us much embarrassment.
The "hot spot" is at the focal point, where all the reflected rays of sunlight converge. Outside of that focal point, the temperature is significantly lower. Therefore, the device would make a poor "death ray". I suppose if the curvature were adjusted so the focal point could be moved, it might be effective --- but I imagine the temperature would become exponentially less hot the farther that focal point was moved from the mirror.
Sheesh. In researching our family history, we found that one of our ancestors married a woman who went insane and killed their newborn baby by throwing the child out of a window. Another ancestor was a Republican politician. We grimly joke that we can't decide which of the two is the bigger blot on the family escutcheon.
While fascinating to watch, I did want to see more, especially something outside the Order of placental mammals. It looks like this should help satisfy that wish!
I'm sure that at least some of the crowd arguing about whether a foetus is "alive" are joking... but, without dragging ethics into the equation, here it is: Yes, an embryo or foetus is considered to be alive in the scientific sense. However, it cannot sustain itself outside of the womb until it reaches a certain point in its development.
And regarding the "4-D scanning technology" --- In the earlier videos, and possibly this as well, we saw 3-D computer animation that was based directly on scans of the actual embryos and foetuses. As Jenny said, they basically cleaned up the scanned images. The result was a little better than most CGI.
He's earned a break. He's also pushing 70. He may have a few decades left in him, but it's time to start taking it easy, relaxing in his octopus' garden in the shade.
Homer Simpson: (sounding disconcerted and bewildered) I... don't know!
(From the "Mr. Plow" episode, after Homer views a really surreal commercial that's supposed to advertise his snow-plowing service)
There was a lot of fuss made over the appearance of the sculpture on the fourth plinth. Opponents may like to think that it was eventually removed due to their protests. However, the Royal Society of Arts has never kept a statue on the fourth plinth for very long. Wikipedia has a more detailed & explanatory article on the "Fourth Plinth Project" in Trafalgar Square. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_Square