This and That

Two links.

This

and

That

The first one, by turns enrages and depresses me. The second one tells me don't worry, all those people will die in a fiery super nova one day and so will their close minded ideaology.

Forty Two

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, is where I wish I was somedays.
You know those days. . . when something ends, or dies or goes horribly amiss? Yah. Those days. Because at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe you have certainty. You see that the universe is ending! You marvel at the spectacle of the universe and come to see it as some enormous, benevolent beast who's heaved it's last breath. When it sighs it's last, galaxies contract and expand, and as it dies the lights go out. . . everywhere. It must be like being in a womb, but who knows. . . is something ejected from the universe at the end? Something we obviously can't see but maybe are a great part of? Does it breach some unseen opening and burst forth into another place of great lights and overwhelming noise and sensation?

I'd like to think so. That way I could get on with my day.

Guide

Movie

Blog

Spacey Stuff!

If you're into astronomy like I am, you should probably have a look at (if you haven't already) this site. I've only just realized you can buy really cool stuff from them, like desktop replicas of rockets and the shuttle AND the ISS (international space station).

One of the coolest things that I saw and am probably going to get (!!) is this awesome Mir flight jacket! It gets cold enough here in the winter that I can use it too. Oh man, it is so awesome.

Oh yeah, they also make an ipod and cell phone case. I don't have an ipod, but if I did. . . ! Here's what they say about it:


Adapting their Soyuz parachute-constructed messenger bags first introduced in April 2004, everQuest is offering smaller size holsters and cases specifically designed for cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and yes, even iPods.
Like their larger cousins, the new compact Soyuz series features swatches of space-flown parachute that returned astronaut Michael Foale and cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri from the ISS to terra firma. Black Cordura nylon exteriors and soft black cotton-nylon linings insure your device has its own safe touchdown.
EverQuest is selling two models: a cell phone holster and a wider e-device case. Both the holster and case are held closed with velcro; the case also has elastic side panels for a snug fit. Each ships with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Kaleri testifying to the origin of the well-traveled front flap material.

Exploring And Hunting

While NASA succeeds in space,
Jesus's representative in the U.S.A. cuts their funding on Earth.

And the hunting of our closest relatives continues. . .I suppose it will until they're all gone.

Meantime, meet two 'talking' apes, Washoe, who taught her adopted infant to use sign language. (a first ever event). And of course, Koko who's been talking for years.

Bizarro World

So on the other side of the pond . . . Bizarro
(via boing boing)

Cat Tales

I have a friend. Well, I have several. But one in particular that I'm talking about, and I asked him, because this sort of thing interests me, 'how do you think cats see us? You know what I mean? I've read that they see us as big cats, cuz maybe they don't think beyond the species. . . but then, they recognize and fear dogs or want to kill them. They don't like other cats. . . why don't they acknowledge our speciel differences?' ( I may have made up that word - speciel. not special but 'of or pertaining to species' is what I mean).

Then again you know, if a cat grows up with a dog, they don't hate each other, they either like or tolerate one another, like married humans do.

Anyway, his response was, 'ehh, they're just dumb. they see you as a food machine, or a big pillow.'

Now that's a thoughtful response. I guess maybe we just don't like to think about the same things. Well, my cats are anything but dumb.

I'll tell you that one of them has figured out, that when the telephone rings in a funny way (when my doorman calls up it rings three short bursts), it means someone is coming to the door! And she loves to go out in the hallway, so she bolts for it.

I'm serious. I pick up the phone and say, 'send them up' and she goes for the door. I make no motion towards the door, or at least no discernible body language that says 'someone's coming' (that I know of) and she's on her way!

Usually what I do is quickly finish cleaning up what I've been cleaning, cuz I'm expecting someone. So either she's figured out the subtle hints of my body language - which they're quite good at, that's how they communicate with each other as well- or she recognized and has catalogued the special phone ring in her little brain. Either way, seem dumb to you?

This is the same cat who knows that when things turn off, you hit them in a certain place to make them go on again. . . like a space heater. Even my friend the naysayer was silenced by witnessing this one cold winter morning.

Another friend, a different one, pointed out to me that cats evolved meowing after they became acquainted with homo, that they don't use the meow with one another. . . and they don't! I'm looking up the research as we speak.

They seem to be able to tell time as well. They know when it's feeding time (same every day) and how to piss me off and where to sit on me to get me out of bed, when I apparently have forgotten how to tell time.

They're smart, not dumb. And some animals are smarter than humans even. Well, most of them because they don't watch TV - most of them don't. My friend from the first paragraph watches a lot of TV.

Adventures in time travel

I can't believe this. I don't know whether to be really excited and fascinated or furious and appalled. There's this guy who's selling "First Contact" with uncontacted tribes in Western Papua New Guinea. You'll have to read up on it to get the whole picture. . . against the prime directive isn't it?

Link (via metafilter)