Tvindy

Random Tidbits

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. For the past few weeks I've been experiencing some fairly severe back pain, and while my disk herniation nine years ago has taught me to be very accepting of chronic pain, I'm still not able to be very productive while experiencing it. Fortunately, my chiropractor expects that I'll make a full recovery. (He's about 80% sure.) In the meantime, here are a few unrelated tidbits to fill some space:

• I just finished reading Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson (one of my favorite authors). The notable thing about this book is that one of the characters is absurdly similar to Snowball's X. The parallels just go on and on. I laughed and laughed as I read his scenes, many of which could have been lifted directly from Snowball's blog. (Except, of course, she doesn't work in a secure government facility dedicated to studying an extraterrestrial in its native habitat.)
• Today I had what I refer to as a three-hour salad. I call it that, because it's so huge that that is the minimum amount of time it takes to consume it. (I go off my super low-fat diet every ten days or so.) Considering it filled a large mixing bowl, it was quite an ordeal, but I got through it okay.
• Today is Mardi Gras in Muncie (and some other places, no doubt). Apparently it's really big. There should be about 11,000 people there, and it's only a few blocks away from my house. I find it strange I haven't yet heard so much as a peep coming from that direction. Local churchgoers want to shut it down. I'll be heading over there is a few hours to do my part. If even a single booby is released in my vicinity, I will rush over and cover it with my hands to protect people from the offensive sight.

Ham and Eggs

'mouse has provided me with a couple of very interesting links. First is this one which explains how you can cook an egg using two cell phones and a radio. I'm a bit skeptical since nowhere in the article is there any kind of explanation for how this occurs. I'm not planning on trying it either for fear of damaging a couple of perfectly good cell phones. If true, this may be an even more extraordinary method of egg cooking than the one I discovered last month. I wonder if there are any medical applications. Perhaps a person afflicted with a brain tumor could put a cell phone up to each ear and melt it into oblivion.

The second link relates to my antique ham. Apparently there are even older canned goods in the world. Some British guy just ate a 50-year-old canned chicken. He and his wife received it as a wedding present whereupon he put it aside, promising to eat it on their fiftieth anniversary. He kept his promise. Interestingly, the article says nothing about whether or not he shared any with his wife. 'mouse thinks this fellow has me beat, but as I see it, he may have had a head start, but he's already dropped out of the race. Who's to say I won't eat my canned ham when it's 51 years old. Who knows? I may even eat it on my 51st wedding anniversary. (And I'm not even married yet!) I do have a bit of concern, though. Unlike the canned chicken, my ham can is a bit rusty (a result of being kept in an antique refrigerator for many years) and also bulges at the seams. Perhaps at some time in the distant future, I could just send it to Will and let him do the honors. (It's my understanding that if you send him a ham, then he will eat it. After all, he's already ingested far worse.

Thank you, 'mouse!

Compromising Search Terms

Today I came across this interesting article (via Michael), and it made me wonder what sorts of things the CIA would uncover if it ever got its hands on my Google search records. With this in mind, I went to Google and scrolled through my search cache. Below are ten of the more interesting searches I have conducted:

• "can remain conscious for fifteen to twenty seconds after being decapitated"
• dead dog rescucitate
• Donald Duck's middle name
• electric berimbau
• giant popsicle
• hallucinogenic
• "Itty Bitty Shitty Committee"
• "pooping croutons"
• strider monkey honeypots
• watermelon soda rancher

Cool

Although I haven't been blogging much lately, I did get to guest-blog yesterday over on Will's blog where I wrote a review of the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. While I was researching that post, I came across a truly amazing movie of someone making it all the way to the end of Super Mario 64 (an earlier Mario game) in under 17 minutes. If you've ever played that game, you'll see moves that you never thought possible. This may be even more mind-blowing than baked eggs.

On an unrelated note, if anyone wants a free invite to Newsvine, I can hook you up.