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Post by Scrappy Amazon on Mar 15, 2008 19:56:07 GMT -6
Come towards the light Madam P. It's safe here.....they know me.
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Post by Phalon on Mar 16, 2008 7:23:53 GMT -6
Yes, I will follow you and Bob the Bee.
Did you know that bees travel an average of 55,000 miles and need to tap over two million flowers just to make one pound of honey?
Seems Bob is one busy bee. Just how long is this trip towards the light gonna take, Scrappy?
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Post by Scrappy Amazon on Mar 16, 2008 10:16:36 GMT -6
Certainly not that damn long. There's a pub up the street. Maybe we should stop for a rest?
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Post by Phalon on Mar 17, 2008 6:47:13 GMT -6
A pub, yes! An Irish Pub! It's St. Patrick's Day! We can raise our pints of Guinness in cheer, and shout "Slainte!", the Irish word for "health", (pronounced "SLAN-cha"), before we slammed them back, and end up slammed face down on the table.
Yes, Guinness is healthy. Did you know that the American Heart Association found that Guinness may be as effective as a daily aspirin in reducing blood clots that cause heart attacks?
Apparently, many people may be using this bit of research to their advantage. 1,883,200,000 (that's 1.9 billion) pints of Guinness are consumed around the world every year. Have another - cure your hangover, and be good to your heart at the same time.
No flashbacks while under the influence, please. Not only could we end up in the god-awful seventies, wearing bell-bottoms and polyester....ok, nevermind that; why they brought those back into fashion I'll never understand....but the music! Bluck. We could be listening to Irritating Ear-Worm Classics such as Muskrat Love. But we wouldn't be doing it in an Irish Pub, drinking our brew of good health - the pubs in Ireland would be closed on St. Patrick's Day, a national religious holiday, then.
And Saint Patrick? Technically, he's not even Irish. He was born in Great Britain - Wales to be exact, (do I hear a wale of disbelief?) When he was sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish brigands, and sold into slavery. After six years, he escaped into Gaul, (present-day France), then returned home to Britain, where he had a vision that he should return to Ireland - not to drive snakes into the sea, but to spread the Christan faith.
The myth that St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland into the Irish Sea, where the serpents drowned is inaccurate - snakes have never been native to Ireland. The snakes were most likely a metaphor for the druidic religions he worked to dissolve by spreading Christianity.
Though, because we are American, we'd most likely be wearing a bit 'o the green, in this Irish Pub on St. Patrick's Day, we'd most likely ruin any chances of having the luck of the Irish by doing so. (Sorry Scrappy - leave those "shamrock antlers" behind). Green has been considered an unlucky color by the Irish - folklore says green is the favorite color of faeries, who are likely to steal people, especially children, who wear too much of the color.
So, La Fheile Naomh Phadraig Shona Daoibh! (Law ay-le nave faw-rig dee-iv.)
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
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Post by Siren on Mar 24, 2008 18:09:29 GMT -6
Here's one in honor of the NCAA basketball championships - March Madness is underway! After basketball was invented in 1891, it took 12 more years before the innovation of open-ended nets put an end to having to manually retrieve the ball from the basket each time a goal was scored. The Oklahoma State Cowgirls are down by only 2 points at halftime in their game today. Meanwhile, my Sooner gals play tomorrow. If they win, the tourney will bring them to Oklahoma City for their next game. *fingers crossed* Both of our men's teams have been eliminated. And have you heard about this clever marketing idea from a clinic specializing in vasectomies? seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004273792_vasectomy11.html
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Post by Phalon on Mar 25, 2008 15:52:08 GMT -6
I will keep my fingers crossed for your Sooner gals too. Hey, it worked for Katina when I kept my fingers crossed for a duration of six weeks for his Cats. Uhm....how long does the tournament last? <remembers painful cramping in hands with a shudder>
I had to laugh, Siren, when it seemed you jumped from basketball to vasectomies out of the blue. Going from one variety of balls to another? Then I clicked on the link and saw the relation. The article stated there is no similar plan for women; I think maybe there should be.
Katina, how long is Cat season? Nine months?
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Post by Siren on Mar 25, 2008 22:10:43 GMT -6
You can uncross your fingers, Gams. *sigh* My gals came up just short against a very game, classy Notre Dame tonight, 79-75. I don't have final stats, but Courtney Paris was great, despite ND doing everything to thwart her. But I think my fellow native Okie, Jenna Plumley, may've been our high scorer. She hit, I believe, six 3-pt shots. And this at just 5'0" tall. *sigh*
So sad to see this season end. But I must say, the gals got farther than I thought they would. Just not quite as far as they wanted.
The Cowgirls prevailed, and will play a very good Louisiana State team Saturday for a chance at the Elite 8.
Gosh damn. *sigh*
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Post by Phalon on Mar 25, 2008 22:35:05 GMT -6
Aw, Siren. I'm sorry the Sooners are out of the tournament. There's always nex.....
I'll let Katina finish that. He's well practiced in that verse, I understand, and just look what happened last time he said it!
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Post by katina2nd on Mar 27, 2008 7:28:09 GMT -6
Bad luck Siren, sounds like your gals gave it their best shot though, can't ask more then that. And just remember, as Gams started to say, *there's always next year* and as she also said, that mantra worked a treat for the Cats last year so hopefully it will do the same for the Sooners next season. To answer your question Lady P, Cat season lasts six months, five for the regular games and a month of finals, so you have until around September to get those digits nice and supple before twisting them into pretzels once more.
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Post by Siren on Mar 31, 2008 19:03:04 GMT -6
Thanks for the sympathy, gang. It is appreciated.
The Cowgirls got knocked out of the tourney by LSU. But it was a record-breaking season for OSU. They have much to be proud of.
Speaking of achievements, my niece hit her first home run! My dad said she really crushed it, in a straight shot 160 feet over the left field fence. Jo's not the kind to show her excitement very often, but she did bring out the softball for me to see yesterday.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 1, 2008 5:51:59 GMT -6
Way to go, Jo! That's the way to use them 'big guns'!
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Post by Siren on Apr 2, 2008 9:03:54 GMT -6
Thanks, Gams! We're all so happy for her! There's a funny story behind the birth of softball. Some young men were hanging out in a gym on Thanksgiving Day, 1887. One threw a boxing glove at a companion, and the guy hit it with a pole. Someone yelled "Play ball!", and the game began. George Hancock tied the glove into the shape of a ball, broke off a broom handle to use as a bat, and chalked off a "diamond" on the gym floor. And that's how softball started. Part of its great appeal was that it was played on a smaller diamond than baseball, making it easy to get up a game most anywhere. www.athleticscholarships.net/history-of-softball.htm
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Post by Phalon on Apr 20, 2008 6:08:15 GMT -6
It's a fact, (Hubs will be pleased to learn this. snicker, snicker) - women can talk longer with less effort than can men.
The reason is not that we necessarily have more to say, (although that is debatable), but it's because a woman's vocal cords are shorter than those of a man. It takes less air to be released through them to carry the sound.
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Post by Siren on Apr 21, 2008 21:33:31 GMT -6
I think that's probably a sign that we were born to talk, and men were meant to listen - or perhaps just answer in short bursts like, "Yes, dear." ;P
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Post by Phalon on Apr 23, 2008 6:08:53 GMT -6
I wonder if a man's ear canals are longer too? That would explain how the words leaving my lips sometimes don't make it all the way through Hubs' ears and into his brain.
Did you know....
Enough Toostie Rolls are produced to pave a 4-lane highway from Maine to California each year.
It takes exactly 211 licks to get to the center of a Toostie Pop. A group of students from Purdue University developed a 'licking machine' that came up with the same number of 'licks' every time the experiment was conducted.
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Post by Siren on Apr 23, 2008 19:58:42 GMT -6
"a licking machine" - LOL!!
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Post by Phalon on May 4, 2008 21:36:03 GMT -6
I came across this and it made me think of Siren, (and Katina too).
How to tell a frog from a toad....other than by kissing it, because if it's a frog, it'll turn into a prince, yes? And if kissed by a toad, all you end up with is warts....or hallucinations.
The quickest way to determine the difference, is the wartier the skin, the more likely it's a toad.
Toads' bodies also tend to be shorter and squatter and a frog's more slender. Because toads spend less time in water than frogs, their feet aren't as webbed. Frogs have longer legs and are better jumpers. Toads also have two bumps on their heads, the parotid glands, which emit poison. Which out, Siren - in small doses, the poisons often cause hallucinations.
A horn.y toad, (one that hasn't been kissed in too long a while), or the horned frog, is neither a toad nor a frog, nor is it assumed to be a sex maniac. It's not even an amphibian, and I'm not fibian. It's a lizard.
Toads aren’t native to Australia, but they seem to be running amok there. The cane toad is an introduced species; in 1935, 101 cane toads were imported to Australia to protect sugarcane from pests. But without any predators, the toad population exploded....which is just as messy as it sounds, but not in a toad-guts-everywhere kind of way. The ecosystem is becoming unbalanced due to the large number of cane toads.
It is thought that the term "frog" often used as a degoratory name for the French came from the fleur-de-lis. Some believe that this symbol of France was derived from three toads on the coat of arms of Clovis, king of the Franks, in the fifth century. At the time, toads were thought to represent Satan. Once the king converted to Christianity, he couldn't very well go around with Satan times three on his coat of arms, so the three frogs were quickly replaced with a lily, (which has three petals), now called the fleur-de-lis.
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Post by katina2nd on May 5, 2008 1:27:17 GMT -6
Sheesh I was relieved when I came to the part about Toads in Australia, until then I was wondering what it was about our little amphibian friends that reminded you of yours truly. The Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) is as you say a serious problem down here, spreading further and further like ....... well like Cane Toads I suppose, wreaking havoc on our native Flora and Fauna. There was one caught last year the size of a small dog, and there have been reports [ unconfirmed ] of some being sighted the size of a Shetland Pony. *Alright the part about the Shetland Pony was just my imagination getting the better of me, but the first part was factual.*
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Post by Siren on May 6, 2008 9:08:22 GMT -6
"Which out, Siren - in small doses, the poisons often cause hallucinations." Well, that might explain some of the goofy thoughts I have. "There was one caught last year the size of a small dog" Now that might frighten even a frog-lover like me!
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Post by Phalon on May 8, 2008 5:58:51 GMT -6
I remember a few years ago - it may have been longer - watching a report on CNN about a "toad-licking epidemic" somewhere down south. It was a popular activity among the highschool crowd; a cheap way to get high.
I know it'd scare the heck outta me! I was startled the other day at work by the first toad I've seen of the season....he hopped out from underneath the Gator as I was getting on, (have I mentioned we've got a third Gator this year - bigger and faster than the other two? I love it). The toad was a big one - about the size of my palm. I'd have freaked if it was a dog-sized toad.
Sheeze, Katina! First the Deadly Enchilada, and now Dog-Toads?! What other monsters have you got hiding down-under?
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Post by katina2nd on May 9, 2008 21:03:47 GMT -6
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Post by katina2nd on May 9, 2008 21:08:19 GMT -6
Sheeze, Katina! First the Deadly Enchilada, and now Dog-Toads?! What other monsters have you got hiding down-under? Oh you'd be amazed, and shocked, at the variety of deadly critters we have down here Lady P, to be quite honest it's a case of taking your life in your own hands simply by venturing out the door.
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Post by Phalon on May 10, 2008 4:34:55 GMT -6
After looking at the photo, yep, I would definitely say I would have freaked if one of these monster toads hopped across my path.
Yes, I've heard tails of those ferocious sugar-gliders, swishing from out of the treetops.
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Post by katina2nd on May 12, 2008 1:19:02 GMT -6
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Post by Scrappy Amazon on May 15, 2008 23:38:27 GMT -6
Hey...those things are deadly...I'm with Kat....Vicious...they might bite your nose off.
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Post by Siren on May 16, 2008 21:15:12 GMT -6
The most shocking thing about those beasts, kat, is that my figure resembles theirs. (Mental note: lay off the fried food!)
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Post by Phalon on May 17, 2008 5:47:29 GMT -6
Ah, yes....those deceptively cute and fuzzy, Siren-figured Fairy Penguins...I've heard stories about them. Horror stories. Morgan Freeman once narrated a documentary about the trail of carnage and chaos they leave in their destructive fairy dust wake: March of the Fairy Peguins, I think it was called.
Did you know some penguins can leap six feet?
Even though they can't fly, there's no escaping these balls of cuteness. Puts the black rat snake to shame.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 12, 2008 19:50:54 GMT -6
I don't know if this is the place, but I'm gonna post it here anyway:
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Post by Phalon on Jun 13, 2008 4:27:03 GMT -6
This place is as good as any, Joxie. "Getting Wordy", the music thread, "What's Stuck in Your Teeth"...with all those idioms about different topics on the site, the link could have fit in almost anywhere....including the 'Kitchen Sink' thread, except 'everything but the kitchen sink' is not included on the list.
Cool - thanks for posting. I love that kind of stuff, and am saving the link to meander through when I have more time.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jun 14, 2008 19:46:47 GMT -6
It ain't? I thought I added it. Yeppers, it's on there.
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