2 words of the day - nutraceutical & blackguard

nutraceutical (noo-truh-SOO-ti-kuhl) noun, adjective

1. A food with (or believed to have) medicinal properties.

2. Pertaining to nutraceuticals.

[Blend of nutrient and pharmaceutical.]


blackguard \BLAG-urg\, noun:
1. A rude or unscrupulous person; a scoundrel.
2. A person who uses foul or abusive language.

adjective:
Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, blackguard language.

transitive verb:
To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.

Blackguard is from black + guard. The term originally referred to the lowest kitchen servants of a court or of a nobleman's household. They had charge of pots and pans and kitchen other utensils, and rode in wagons conveying these during journeys from one residence to another. Being dirtied by this task, they were jocularly called the "black guard."

fascinating collection, reprinted frem meredith's journal

A bunch of interesting web search finds. Twill probably bore you to tears, but I find it all interesting.



"Did Caucasians inhabit North America before “Native” Americans? According to the few scientists who have studied the remains of Kennewick man, a pre-Colonial humanoid skeleton, the answer to this confounding question is “yes”. Kennewick Man, along with the oldest six human remains found within present day United States of America, display Caucasian characteristics in a geographical location traditionally viewed by Americans to have supported Indians indefinitely."
http://www.teleport.com/~mcdsandy/english/kennewick.htm

( Read more... )

good news, bad news, no evil news

Well, it looks as if Paul's staying! Hm... I think that's a good idea. Look for another job, then quit. Best time to find a job is when you have one.

I got a voicemail regarding the apartment I want, I have to call him back this afternoon. Man, why does it have to be so complicated? I'd just like to take my stuff and my cat, and just sliiiiide in.

Back on filling out work order record sheets... "Validate your existence" is what it says to me... not really bad news.. it'll be nice to show them how much I do in a given day. Sometimes I suspect that the big cheese thinks that the programming dept does nothing 95% of the time... Right. that's why Kevin (a guy on salary) works sometimes hours after work for no pay to get something pushed through, or why I stay past 8, for virtually no rewards.

Sing-songing -

I saw a woman chewing with nothing in her mouth;
Her teeth were in her hands and her tongue was hanging out;
Then she started drooling and caught it in a cup,
The cup was full of pennies; it spilled when she got up.

Some guy is in the shadows grabbing empty air;
He could be catching butterflies if there were any there.

Evil news...

Shetland Pony Gives Birth to Zebra
=================================
The owners of Tilly the Shetland pony received a double shock when she gave birth. They didn't know she was pregnant – and they certainly weren't expecting a zebra.
Tilly's owners at Eden Ostrich World, a modest visitor attraction on a farm near Penrith in northwestern England had been unaware of the pony's exotic past life at a wildlife park, where she shared a field with a male zebra.
"She was fairly fat when we received her and we thought that she was getting fatter," Ostrich World manager Karen Peet said Tuesday.


You Might Be A Redneck If You Are 19 and Still In High School
=================================
Tom Sypniewski thought his ``redneck'' t-shirt was funny, but school officials deemed it offensive, ordered him to remove it and are now being sued for allegedly violating his free speech rights. Sypniewski, 19, wore the shirt, which listed comic Jeff Foxworthy's ``Top 10 Reasons You Might Be A Redneck Sports Fan,'' to Warren Hills Regional High School on March 22 and was told to remove it.
He refused and was suspended for three days, losing an appeal to the Board of Education in April.

Nut Protests Bad Food And Service
=================================
On 12 separate days, Jack Neu has picketed a Parma restaurant, saying the food served at his oldest son's wedding reception was old, cold and three hours late.
And now the restaurant is serving the Cleveland man with a lawsuit.
...Neu decided to protest outside the restaurant. Neu said that some people "flip me the bird" and others point out that he misspelled "Stancato's" on his sign.


Zoo Animals Shoot Back
=================================
The bullet that killed a 41-year-old woman walking her child at a zoo over the weekend was fired intentionally from more than 100 yards, police said Monday.
The tragedy was compounded later Saturday when Bernita White's mother, Barbara Sims, 67, collapsed and died of a heart attack after State Police in Detroit informed her of her daughter's death.


Branded Woman Sobers Up
=================================
Anybody that pays $5 and gets branded with the mark of a bald-headed man with a mustache and goatee can get 50 cents off any drink for life at a Tucson bar called the Meet Rack.
But a woman is suing the bar owners and the man who does the branding, claiming that she was branded near her navel with a red-hot stamp against her will.

*laughing

Electron Band Structure In Germanium, My Ass. I've handed in at least one essay exam much like this, except mine was on 19th century American Literature.

also - from TSG -

They sure do have a funny way of celebrating Independence Day in the City of Brotherly Love. A brochure detailing Philadelphia's 10-day Welcome America! festivities contains quite a gaffe in its "Kid's Corner" section. A word search puzzle--an alphabetical grid where terms like "flag" and "historic" are hidden--contains the word "nigga." Oops! According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Welcome America!'s ad agency blames free puzzlemaking software from Yahoo! for generating the inadvertant slur (right--the proofreader bears no responsibility). In addition to "nigga," TSG enigmatologists were able to quickly sleuth out three other offending words--all of which we've helpfully outlined in blue.

note to self -

if FROZEN_MAP
base_terrain SNOW_FOREST
elseif TROPICAL_MAP
base_terrain JUNGLE
else
base_terrain FOREST
endif

or the final map looks *REALLY DUMB*

Palm trees in snow. Neh.

Also, to randomise between two maps,

start_random
percent_chance 50
#define TROPICAL_MAP
percent_chance 50
#define SNOW_FOREST
end_random

*giggles

I hope ckirkman doesn't decide to smack me about the "danger will robinson" area. My reply was meant in good fun. :)

Bummer of the Day

another one of my heroes, a villain?

Paula Poundstone was arrested today on charges of child abuse and committing a lewd act with a minor under the age of 14.

I'm heartbroken. She's a great comedian, and a clever wit.

What was I saying about heroes having human failings?

She was one of my favorite parts of Mother Jones Magazine

Well, I'm done with this computer thing for tonight.