Where did I go?

I have taken over another spot on the web! (It was getting aggrivating to have to log out of gmail, and log in using another id, do a post, log out again, go over to gmail again.... life, don't talk to me about life.)

For all future posts see:

42babelfish42.blogspot.com

And this does show up in the old blog... I just felt like confusing myself and anyone else who reads my blog this afternoon!

Why do busses have numbers on the back?

It's almost guaranteed that, if you need to catch a specific bus, it will be the one that arrives at the bus stop early, and leaves before you get to it. It's a Murphy's Law kind of thing.

But why do they need to put the numbers on the back of the busses so you know which one it was that you wanted as you see it leaving?

Isn't this just a bit sadistic? Can't we have non-specific busses that just may have been the one you wanted? The suspicion that you wanted the bus that you just missed is less painful than the realization that you did indeed blow it.

Or is it? It's nice to know where you stand. If you did miss the bus, and you know it, you have time to make alternate plans. Or you can set off on a tirade of curses and spitting. It may help to blow up and get it out of your system. And if there are other people around to witness your blow up they can call for the ambulance that you will need from the heart attack you just had.

It's at times like this, when you've missed your bus, that your true character really comes out.

If you are me... you sit and ponder some of life's questions as you wait for the next bus, and call for the ambulance.

What was the question?

Douglas Adams wrote the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything was 42. The question is still not known.

I've just spend the year - my 42nd year - searching for the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.

From the quirks of evolution, odd parking signs and construction signs, colliding submarines, sound distortions caused by fog... to ghosts and mountains that sneak up on you, I've been finding all sorts of really fun questions this past year. (See the Favourites labeled posts in the Labels Archive on the right for a few of my most fun ones.)

So did I find the ultimate question? ehrm, no.

Did I have fun searching? Yes! I've greatly enjoyed the life view from a questioning position. I think this may be habit forming.

I've let the blog go for about a month now, and I've missed it, so I think I will resume the search for the Ultimate Question... and if I find one that fits the answer 42, I will highlight it in big bold letters for everyone to enjoy!

Is that why otters always seem so happy?

A missing link in the evolution of sea otters and seals has evidently been found. The newly found link shows the ancestors of otters and seals walked on land before becoming sea animals. Is that why otters always look like they are playing all day and just having fun with life?

Douglas Adams wrote that the decision of human ancestors to come out of the sea was the big mistake. In one episode of the old Hitchhiker's Guide TV shows Douglas Adams actually appears in the buff walking back into the ocean. Was he right? Darwin thought it was a natural progression - the transition from land to fresh water to the sea.

Did we get it wrong by leaving the ocean, and sea otters got it right by going into the ocean? Have we missed something? Are we supposed to be somewhere... else?

See this link for more information on the progression to the sea: BBC News

If I watch that plant long enough, will I see that flower bloom?

Glorious sunny days are here at last, so I've been sitting in parks, taking pictures of flowers. Well, many flowers are out, but there is a notable lack of tulips flowering. So if I sit there long enough, will I see the tulips bloom? It's been warm and sunny enough that it seems to be possible. Most of the flowers are late this year and they are all coming out at the same time, which is unusual, so maybe they are willing to pop out while someone is looking!

For those who lack the patience to sit and watch flowers come out, there is a solution I've just read about: a Timelapse Garden Video Camera!

You can set this little camera to take pictures of your plants at intervals from every 5 seconds to every 24 hours. It will make a little AVI movie for you. So you can have a little movie of your tulip blooming.

As yet, there have been no signs of plant protests about violated personal - or plant - liberties against this monitoring.

Of course, if it takes time lapse pictures of plants... it could take time lapse pictures of anything really, or anyone. I can see how some people would complain about this surveillance.

There could even be a time lapse video of me sitting and watching the tulips, waiting for them to bloom... thus defining what would be even more boring than sitting and watching plants bloom. I don't think I have anything to worry about, but it does make you think.

April 23 Update: They came out while I was gone! Sneaky little... I've added a photo of one to this post!

Will I ever eat microwave popcorn again?

I'm thinking NO!

It's not that the chemical laden bags of genetically suspicious popcorn kernels are that bad, but we've found a fantastic alternative: organically grown popcorn dried on the cob from our local farmer's market!

It's just the coolest thing! You put a cob of the dried popcorn corn into a paper bag and microwave it on high for about 3 - 4 minutes until the popping slows down. You then get chemical-free lovely bits of popped corn!

Now popping the corn on the cob doesn't pop all of the kernels, but more pops than when we use our hot air popper. And the bits of popped corn are not the genetically enhanced super-size-me bits of tasteless white stuff that you get at a typical movie theatre, but they taste really good! We popped 2 cobs of the corn and had a nice big bowl of popcorn - enough for the two of us.

I highly recommend the on-the-cob organic popping corn! We are looking forward to many cobs from our farmer's market in the future.

Is it better to be in an empty theatre or an over-full one?

Recently we've been to a very well attended movie - Running the Sahara - where the theatre was so full they had to defrag the audience. Groups of people were asked to get up and move down to free up empty seats and some people had to leave their friends and sit in single empty seats. The place was packed.

I haven't seen a theatre that full since Rocky Horror... but in this one they actually served wine! That was definitely a first for me!

And then about a week later we went to see - Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D - in a matinee showing where there were only about 15 people in the entire audience.

Now that was a fun movie! I loved the 3D experience! The story line was pretty much fluff, but the effects were so much fun (trying to avoid meteorites flying off the screen and into your face is quite the giggle)!

So the packed audience was amazingly quiet... and the small audience was talkative. Does the experience of being packed-in make you quiet for the sake of the other people around you, and a lack of people make you act like you are in your own living room?

I do enjoy having my pick of any seat in the theatre, but the other extreme of audience attendance does have its appeal.