humor
pharyngula | October 27, 2011You must watch this episode of the Daily Show — it's all about science. Lisa Randall is on it plugging her new book, Knocking on Heaven's Door (she actually doesn't get to say much about it, but I've ordered it for my iPad anyway — I know what I'll be reading on the plane to New Orleans tomorrow), a good section on the recent confirmation of global warming, and my favorite bit of all, Aasif Mandvi blithely leading a chipper Republican operative to agree with the most egregiously ignorant, anti-science claims.
Mandvi: Why are surgeons the only ones allowed to perform surgeries?
Blithering…
pharyngula | October 19, 2011Quick! Come up with a way to pit creationists against climate change deniers!
(Also on FtB)
sa smith | October 18, 2011Sorry, guise. A cold that has been circulating around the department finally got me this weekend. So instead of writing posts this weekend, I was a sneezy snotty mess :(
BUT I would like to thank the 'Occupy ERV' gang for giving me a laugh Sunday morning, as did this SNL skit* (original):
Hell, its no worse than getting dating advice from a middle-aged man who married straight out of college and hasnt dated since well before I was born who strictly and unthinkingly approaches 'dating' from a heteronormative perspective, or a 30-year-old divorcée!
Or the Pope!
Whatever you do, though, dont…
oracknows | October 5, 2011After a near all-nighter working on a grant and another day and night to try to get a talk together that I have to give tomorrow, somehow Insolence, Respectful or not-so-Respectful, fell by the wayside, at least for today. Nothing like two hours' sleep followed by a full day of work. It's a good thing I don't have clinic or the OR today. Of course, if I did, I wouldn't have pushed myself the way I did last night. I do have to admit, however, that this video I came across over at Runolfr's place cracked me up. We really do need a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
I wonder what the Guide says…
oracknows | October 3, 2011Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to get my flu shot.
So that's just what I did yesterday. I decided to brave that evil, toxin-laden, mercury-infused nastiness, all in order to protect myself and my patients against influenze. As you might recall, last year, when I was off to get my flu vaccine, I pointed out that our cancer center required the flu vaccine for all employees who deal with patients, whatever their capacity, from physician to nurse to medical aide to receptionist. Refuse to get the flu vaccine, and you get to wear a mask any time you are in teh presence of a patient. It's…
pharyngula | October 3, 2011I think this new birth control method will face the same problem they all do: the wacky abstinence-only crowd will reject it.
But then I had a brilliant idea: instead of making it with a homeopathic dilution of fetuses, I'm going to market a birth control pill made homeopathically from astronomically well-diluted penises. I've always wanted to be a billionaire.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | September 28, 2011Brilliant! This will balance the budget…and leave me unemployed.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | September 18, 2011And now I've found it.
IHTOASMTIATCOTYHABYWABOL.
Don't get me started on smilies.
(Also on FtB)
oracknows | September 16, 2011A few days ago, Michelle Bachmann laid down napalm grade burning stupid about the HPV vaccine. Today, Funny or Die sums it up perfectly.
Michele Bachmann chooses STD's - watch more funny videos
The not unexpected thing is, instead of retreating under criticism, Bachmann appears to be doubling down on her anti-vaccine silliness.
sastyk | September 14, 2011
Just watch, and understand why the death of what passed for culture in our youth is probably something we can bear with equanimity. Plus, the hair gave us a taste for the apocalyptic - the bangs are exactly what your hair will look like during a zombie attack.
Sharon
sastyk | September 12, 2011Ben Bernanke has the answer. It is all your fault.
Then he said something new: Consumers are depressed beyond reason or expectation.
Oh, sure, there are reasons to be depressed, and the Fed chairman rattled them off: "The persistently high level of unemployment, slow gains in wages for those who remain employed, falling house prices, and debt burdens that remain high."
However, Mr. Bernanke continued, "Even taking into account the many financial pressures that they face, households seem exceptionally cautious."
Consumers, in other words, are behaving as if the economy is even worse than it…
oracknows | September 5, 2011This happens to be a holiday weekend. Believe it or not, sometimes even Orac needs a break from life, the universe, and every blog, particularly this one. I'll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, I realize that I've posted videos like this before (in fact, I'm sure that at some point or another I've linked to this one, but, hey, it's a holiday). However, this one is amazingly prescient, given that it dates back to the early 1990s.
Have fun commenting, and Orac will return on Tuesday--or even possibly before that....
sastyk | August 23, 2011If you have to accustom yourself to the end of growth, the Onion reassures us that it won't be too hard:
63 percent of Americans said they had come to rely upon the familiar sense of dread that came from knowing the country was quickly losing its place as an economic superpower, while 71 percent described finding a kind of tranquility in the steady, predictable cuts to local, state, and federal funding.
In addition, 80 percent reported they had been tightening their belts for so long, the thought of loosening them again after all this time just felt unnatural.
"You get used to sending 50…
oracknows | August 21, 2011I realize that this has nothing to do with science, skepticism, or medicine. However, it's Sunday, and I found it amusing. Nothing like a little fluff before diving back into the usual topics next week. It's also cool that David Mitchell has his own YouTube series of videos.
Given that Christmas is a mere four months away, it's never too early to discuss these issues.
pharyngula | August 11, 2011Isn't it obvious that the story of Planet of the Apes is about apes from one planet dominated by apes finding themselves on a planet dominated by apes of a slightly different species?
Also, this comic bugs me a little bit: I'm flying off to give a talk in which I argue that the hallmark of human evolution isn't brutality and conquest, but cooperation.
(Also on FtB)
pharyngula | August 10, 2011I've had all of these perspectives in my career, so I can tell you that they're mostly right…except for the one about how professors see themselves. You should just substitute the postdoc:postdoc image for the professor:professor one.
Also, I worked my way through college as an undergraduate technician. Even with my lowly status, I really did see all the undergrads/grads/postdocs as spoiled children who were there only to screw up my lab and my precious experimental animals. Especially when they'd leave a pile of gore and blood and dead animal parts scattered all over the surgery, and…
oracknows | August 6, 2011Here's blast from the past.
Interestingly, this doesn't exaggerate all that much...
sastyk | July 27, 2011I knew that goats were the new chickens, the new black, the coolest accessory of all time. That I got. But I admit, I hadn't kept up with the new public role goats have been taking.
Apparently they are out shopping. I've never considered taking mine to the mall, but hey, why not? Maybe I'd learn to appreciate shopping if I had a goat with me!
It couldn't make me enjoy shopping less!
Sharon
pharyngula | July 27, 2011Anybody know if this story is true or just an amusing joke? I like it either way.
In a small Texas town, (Mt. Vernon ) Drummond's bar began construction on a new building to increase their business.. The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.
The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his…