cycling stuff, white espresso, Spinsters, ducklings

This video, comprised of 90 one-second clips taken on as many consecutive days by a National Geographics photographer, is fascinating.

The Tour De France is ongoing, and i've been enjoying following it along with the family T. We were watching it the other night, and i mentioned that i am particularly appreciative of the commentary by retired supercyclist Jens Voigt  (previously mentioned here) when Kelly AT asked if i follow his twitter feed. Looking more into that, i stumbled over another (fantastic) feed, JensVoigtFacts, which tweets blurbs (for example, "Jens Voigt expected to lap himself during #HourRecord attempt, first rider to ever finish before he started. #jensvoigtfacts. ") similar to those memes occasionally for Chuck Norris. i don't really understand Chuck Norris fandom, but can completely get behind the Jens one.

Also in cycling news, apparently Lance Armstrong has recently referred to himself as the Lord Voldemort of cycling - "  “I’m that guy everybody wants to pretend never lived,” he says. “But it happened, everything happened. We know what happened. Now it’s swung so far the other way... who’s that character in Harry Potter they can’t talk about? Voldemort? It’s like that on every level. If you watch the Tour on American TV, if you read about it, it’s as if you can’t mention him.” " Oh, dear.


Grabbing coffee the other morning, we noticed 'white espresso' listed on the menu. Looking further into this, it refers to the darkness of the roast, in this case, " The general consensus is that it is seriously under roasted coffee. " from here.

The source of human/animal tissues to use in scientific research can be a very sticky topic, but i came across this equal-parts-sad-and-inspiring article about an infant who died 6 days after birth due to anencephaly, and whose family made the difficult decision to donate his organs. These have gone to be used in various studies (at Harvard, Duke, and Penn) and his mother takes comfort in this; " "The way I see it," Sarah Gray said, "our son got into Harvard, Duke, and Penn. He has a job. He is relevant to the world." ". Yes.

As i AM a spinster, i found this satirical article mostly applicable, particularly " Q: What if I want to attract a Spinster? Are there ways I can make my home or workplace more inviting for her?
A: The best way to attract a Spinster is to seek her assistance. Successful strategies have included: asking a Spinster to help you check the air in your car’s tires, telling a Spinster that your pet seems down and you’d love it if she would take a look, mentioning that you read Rebecca Solnit’s latest book and you don’t quite get it but you want to, and explaining that you need help navigating Etsy. Make sure to clarify that there’s “no pressure” to stop by but that you are planning on making chocolate-chip cookies ". Chocolate chip cookies are always a win.

"Health Goth" apparently refers to Goths who work out. That's good, though it has hit mainstream, since i saw the term reported by HuffPost.

In other news, the CDC bids that you don't cuddle with your chickens. Despite this;

 me:  you saw this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6zkMXwYwkU

 Bryan:  i did not

now i have

cute, not sure i understand owning a duck though

 me:  it's a rescue duckling?

and, they can be pretty fierce guards

 Bryan:  all legitimate reasons to own a duck i suppose

i don't think i ever will though

 me:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxmYXwqFe9c

totes adorbs

 Bryan:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M79Hp9SaIHI

adorbs-er

 me:  i dunno

 me:  they ARE cute. i don't know if they're more adorbs than ducklings, though

 Bryan:  well, to each our own i suppose

 me:  (nods) Attack ducks, though. Can you imagine the confusion?

 me:  although, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Attack! was apparently a thing

 Bryan:  indeed

firework planar explosions, j-setting, 99 44/100, seedless watermelons

Here is a link to a craiglisting for a dinosaur-shaped bicycle.

Been watching a lot of fireworks lately, 'tis the season, and a discussion came up the other night regarding the plane of firework explosions, to wit, "how does it always look like they're coming toward you?" As was posited during the discussion, it's an optical illusion based on the fact that most fireworks are (sometimes directed) explosions expanding from a single point, but your brain interprets the bits going away from you as just smaller/more distant. This can be nicely visualized by flying a drone into a fireworks show. And bonus, here's a great website that explains how fireworks are constructed.

The NYTimes featured an article yesterday about a group in Mobile, Alabama (the Prancing Elites) who do something called j-setting. This is a sort of linedance originating in the 70s with the dance troupe, the Jaycettes (now, the J-settes),  at Jackson State University. Fascinatingly, Beyonce's Single Ladies music video (and Diva video) follow this dance style, as inspired by a Bob Fosse-choreography called 'Mexican Breakfast' as well as traditional j-setting.


Despite having not heard it for several years, i had the old Ronnie Milsap song 'Pure Love' stuck in my head this week, featuring the line "99 and 44/100ths percent pure love" in the chorus. Because that is a very specific and catchy number (literally), i looked into it. Turns out, Ivory soap was marketed with a slogan featuring that same number, " The product's other well-known slogan, "99 ⁴⁴⁄₁₀₀% Pure" (in use by 1895), was based on the results of an analysis by an independent laboratory the founder's son, Harley Procter, hired to demonstrate that Ivory was purer than the Castile soap then available. ".

Seedless watermelons are a thing. These can be produced two different ways, either by specifically breeding them to be seedless hybrids, akin to a mule (here, a diploid plant is crossed with a tetraploid plant, winding up with a plant that is triploid and unable to produce seeds), or by treatment of young plants with the chemical colchicine, which comes from crocuses, " Colchicine acts by disrupting cell plate formation during cellular division, so that as a plant cell divides into two cells it does not split. This produces a single cell with a doubled nucleus having twice the chromosome number. A plant with the chromosome number so increased by some multiple is known as a polyploid. Do not think of this as a corruption of nature. Polyploidy is a common natural occurrence, resulting from accidents in cell division. About half of all flowering plants have had origins in polyploidy ". i really like that the article makes that last point clear.