Guess what, guess what? I’ve learned ten new things! Time to share…
- The coconut crab, Birgus latro, is the largest land-living arthropod in the world, and is probably at the upper limit of how big terrestrial animals with exoskeletons can become in today’s atmosphere. <– That’s interesting, but I mostly wanted to say imagine taking out your garbage and finding this!
- So first, I saw a post on Oatmeal.com that listed 5 reasons pigs are more awesome than I am, and that led me to Google in search of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Did you know cows worry about the future? Octopuses can be taught to open soda cans? Dolphins play practical jokes? And, yes, pigs are smart too. Piglets can identify their mother’s voice from birth.
- For $7,634, you can buy a sex robot named Roxxxy that looks weirdly like Chrissie Hynde. What? You can.
- For considerably less than that ($1.99 to be exact), you can download the “SarcMark” to you computer – punctuation for your sarcasm. (Me? I’m holding out for a sarcasm font, which I’ve always thought would be cool.)
- In Florida, cold iguanas fall from the trees. That is all.
- Thirteen hands have been severed throughout the course of all the Star Wars movies.
- The world’s oldest female triathlete is a nun. In 2005, Sister Madonna Buder, otherwise known as “The Iron Nun,” broke the world record for the oldest woman ever to compete in an Ironman competition. She’s been back twice since then. She is 78. (She is my hero.)
- Relax. Humans are not dense enough to sink all the way under in quicksand. (Holy cow! I wish someone had told me that a long time ago. When I think of the time I’ve wasted worrying!)
- According to the Global Language Monitor in Austin TX, 2009’s most used word, both online and in print, is Twitter. (Huh.)
- And maybe you’ve never heard this song (which I love) or watched this delightful video by Ingrid Michaelson. Just in case, here you go. Listen. Watch. You deserve it.
I always feel a little empowered by learning the ten new things! And, the fact that you used “sex robot” as a tag makes me laugh hysterically at the people who will be visiting your blog over the next few days. But, I love Ingird Michealson and that’s one of my favorite songs so…
OMG! I shouldn’t have read this right before bed. It is almost impossible to sleep with so much knowledge in my head. I didn’t know any of that.
Awesome!
Thanks. Can’t imagine WHY I would need to know some of it, but . . . . thanks! :-)
Wonderful 10 things, as usual. I had to go check out #6 first. Wow, somebody take the Red Bull away from that guy!
And I too have spent a life in terror of quicksand, so I was relieved to read #8 … but you have a typo. Humans are not dense enough to sink all the way.
Have a great weekend!
Starting off my Saturday with a 10 Things post from j = yay!! (no sarcasm font needed)
Crabs, pigs, sex robots and a nun….oh, my!
I love Ingrid Michaelson, but had never seen the whimsical video…what a delight.
Thanks, j. You made my day. :)
Awesome! I love learning new stuff, and now I’m going to check out the other Things You Might Not Know posts! :D
Becky, I couldn’t resist. ;-)
Terre, the beauty of the 10 things is they’re always applicable. Toss one out anytime. Except during Nia. It would be distracting to think of giant crabs or severed hands then.
Linda, Thank you. I corrected it. When will I learn not to write posts after midnight?
Hippiechick, And isn’t it comforting to know that if we ever go on a road trip, we won’t fight over the music? (Or sink in quicksand!)
On the contrary, J. During Nia is a GREAT time to think of giant crabs. In fact I might use that in my next class.
You could BE one, you could run from, you would walk like one, you could talk like one, you could imagine you are the color of one—-GIANT CRABS in Nia it is.
Also, I could actually see the use for bringing up severed hands in Nia. One would have to function differently if they had a severed hand or if your hand was newly severed you would certainly move in a creative way . . . . . but, I don’t think those are the images I am ready to bring into a class.
:-)
Jordan, be careful your head doesn’t explode. (That’s why I space these out.) :-)
Perfect way to start my Saturday! Thanks J!
Awesome J! Though how you stumbled upon the robot, I don’t wanna know! Oh, and that’s one scary crab!!!!!!
Cool stuff! “Iron Nun” sounds like it should be a heavy-metal band or something.
Was reading recently about bacterial conjugation for work, and learned that some bacteria undergo a process called “sexduction.” But the process sounds neither sexy nor seductive. Maybe these bacteria could gain some intelligence from hanging out with pigs…
Caroline, my pleasure!
RSM, Someone sent me the robot link. Feel free to send me interesting 10 Things (or Caption This pics). I’m brilliant with the help of my friends!
Dave, I like the word sexduction, though. I might start using. Incorrectly, of course.
Apparently we’ve all watched the old B (?D) movies with people sinking under the quicksand cuz it seems to be a universal fear. I bet if you tweet about this, you could become an international icon. But wait, aren’t you already? Thanks for the list, J. Well, except for no. 1 and no. 3. But the rest are great! ;-)
Okay, I’m still thinking about some of these. Before I start worrying about cows worrying … I want to know HOW they know that! Or … maybe I don’t.
Okay, I’m still thinking about some of these. Before I start worrying about cows worrying … I want to know HOW they know that! Or … maybe I don’t. I’ll just go worry about cows, now.
regarding item #5 —
I get that sarcasm does not always have its full effect in black and white. The subtle nuance of a smirk, eye roll or vocal tone, during a sardonic or acrid remark, doesn’t quite come thru in print. But if I have to start adding a certain “sign/mark” after a line in a post, so the masses can be spoon fed that a comment contained a sarcastic element, I may be forced to only send video replies from now on!
Dani, I know! What’s up with our unreasonable fear of quicksand? Too many Gilligan’s Island reruns, me thinks.
Linda, They kvetch, cows do. Sit with them over a pint, and all they talk about is their fears of the future. It’s really quite sad. Never drink with a cow.
Bobby, Assume understanding, I say! (I’m often misread. Sarcasm is harder to get in writing. That’s why we have smileys and “ha!”) That said, YES! Video responses are welcome. I’m sure my blog numbers will skyrocket if you’re here in living color!
— thanks, I was just being sarcastic in my post! ha! wink! smiley face! lol! audible “geeez”! smirk! elbow nudge!
So…. no video?
Sure am racking up the stuff I don’t know. Might have to figure out how to come up with about 7800 bucks. I ain’t pretendin’. ;-)
Cheers
George
Besides my lifelong fear of The Hand and The Blob, quicksand was also always a threat. Thank you for clearing that up.
As far as sarcasm goes, I always preferred the use of ittalics to get my idea across. A stressor of a point per se, which for me is always sarcasm.
J. I too am always curious how you come to find these gems but then again I just like being surprised by what you write. As always you’re the best!
Mairi
We had a teeny tiny fiddler crab as a pet. The cool thing is he would wield a lego size sword. Once upon a time we had video of him maurading through lego town.
Now I’m imagining that coconut crab with a sword….
bwahahahahah….
1. Reminds me of the “argument” I had with my 6th grade science teacher after seeing one of those B movies with the giant spiders. His argument – “a spider could never get that big because it would be crushed by it’s own exoskeleton”. My argument – “Nuh-uh. It could EVOLVE to get that big”. In hindsight, I would have had way fewer nightmares if I had just believed him.
2. I am fascinated that there’s a site called Oatmeal.com Makes me wonder what other foods have their own domain name? (Perhaps something for your next 10 things list.)
3. If someone can make this robot – why can’t I have a real R2 unit yet? (Pleeeeeease!)
4. Not necessary – I’m fluent in sarcasm. (Which according to their commercial makes me un-American. Unless they were being sarcastic. Hmmm….)
5. I see a market niche for iguana umbrellas!
6. I’ve seen Star Wars waaaaay more than 13 times and didn’t know this. And yet, I’m okay with that.
7. A tri-ing nun, wow! Definitely on my hero list. (Along with whoever builds me a real R2 unit. I’m just sayin.)
8. Okay. But is quicksand one of those situations where “a little bit” is enough? (Sorry. Now you have to go back to worrying about quicksand and add giant spiders, too.) And doesn’t it depend on the density of the person. I’ve met some pretty dense people. Oh wait. You mean heavy.
9. Twitter, twitter, twitter. (Just doing my part for 2010.)
10. The video is neato – thanks!
karen: would love to see the lego-sword wielding crab video! :-)
George, You make me laugh (in a coffee-spitting sort of way).
Tricia, Maybe we just all need to get better at delivering sarcasm so there’s no confusion…
Mairi, It’s a team effort. I stumble across a lot of it, but people push me too. ;-)
Karen, EXCELLENT visual!
jb, I thought of that too. Rush Limbaugh would sink. Definitely. ;-)
A friend who reads the blog but usually comments to me off-blog had this to say about Roxxxy:
“I got my biggest kick outta the 5 different personalities. The end was pretty sad though…inspired by 9-11??? If I wanna remember a loved one killed in a tragedy, I’ll have my sacred little place with a picture on the wall, not be able to pull ‘em outta the closet for a quickie!!!”
That made me laugh (and also, I thought it was sad too, weird and sad).