I've hit upon a nice scheduling pattern for diary topics: A serious, highly-detailed, cerebrally intensive diary that attempts to make some substantive contribution to society...and then two diaries that are primarily entertainment and cool pics, though they might still spark interesting discussions. I've still got my most recent substance diary listed on my signature line, and I feel it a worthy contribution, so now I'm just going to have some sophomoric fun - although still significantly more substantive than a pootie diary.
Danken Sie Gott für Deutsche Frauen (und für FreeTranslation.com):
- Question: Is it true, as claimed in Inglourious Basterds, that Germans sign the number three with the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger, as opposed to the forefinger, middle finger, and ring finger?
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- What's your price?
(All prices indexed for inflation)
Sit through a movie based on a videogame:
Cost of ticket + refreshments + $30
Sit through a wingnut religious sermon: $100 per hour
State my second-deepest, second-darkest secret: $150
State my deepest, darkest secret: $500
Get a ridiculous haircut and keep it for a month: $2000
Pretend to convert to a religion for a month: $10,000
Sincerely convert to a religion for a month: $50,000
Tattoo of your choice anywhere on my body other than face or neck, for five years: $20,000 per square centimeter
Put my writing skills to use shilling for the Republican Party for a month: $100,000
Total celibacy and chastity, including no flogging the bishop or watching porn, for a full year: $200,000
Roll around on cacti butt-naked for half an hour: $300,000 + medical expenses.
Surgically remove one of my toes other than big toe: $500,000 per toe + medical expenses
Surgically remove one of my fingers other than thumb: $1 million per finger + medical expenses
Get circumcised: $2 million + medical expenses
Remove thumb or big toe: $10 million each + medical expenses.
Have 1 testicle removed: $100 million + medical expenses
Castration: $50 billion + medical expenses
Anything worse than that and the price would be meaningless. Feel free to answer these yourself, come up with your own categories, or ask my price on an arbitrary hypothetical.
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- Which of these rockets looks coolest?
Atlas V 551:
Ariane V 177:
Ariane IV:
Delta IV Heavy:
Soyuz:
Taurus 7B:
Long March 2F:
Falcon 9:
Minotaur:
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- No-spoiler review of Mike Judge's new film Extract:
This is a very funny film, but one of three things has happened since I saw Office Space: Either Mike Judge has gone soft, I've gone soft, or we've both gone soft, because this film doesn't seem to have the edge of that earlier masterpiece. I will say, however, that it is still highly entertaining, and the comedy is also more elaborate in many ways - Judge clearly feels more comfortable painting a more detailed portrait.
This is hardly his Chasing Amy, but it's definitely worth seeing. In fact, if you found Office Space as hilarious as I did, I think you owe it to Mike Judge to see this - it's funny, and the comedic style brings back memories. Jason Bateman's superb comic timing is also a treat.
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- Songs
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- Who would win in each hypothetical fight?
- Katee Sackhoff vs. Pink
- Fairuza Balk vs. Eliza Dushku
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- Fun physics challenge:
As always, be sure to read the whole problem before attempting any work, so that you're sure to understand it:
A car weighing 2000 kg total has four passengers, each of whom weighs an average of 100 kg. The car is moving at a constant speed of 100 km/hr in a straight line on the surface of a planet with 170% the mass of Earth, and 110% the mean density. The surface of the road is very slippery, with a friction coefficient of 0.04. The driver of the car notices that the car is approaching a cliff and slams on the brakes exactly 50 meters from the edge, but is unable to stop in time. The cliff is 400 meters high. The four passengers are Dick Cheney, Rupert Murdoch, Erik Prince, and Joe Wilson. Neglecting air drag, determine the following: (a)The car's speed when it leaves the road; (b)the horizontal distance it travels before hitting the ground; (c)its vertical speed when it hits the ground; and (d)how many people give a shit.
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- Movie review of Histoire d'O (The Story of O) (1975).
The most boring and laughable porno movie ever. What's wrong with 1970s French people?
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- Haunting photograph.
This shows Sid Vicious, Nancy Spungen, and a couple of other people - obviously it was taken in the late '70s. If you know the history of the Sex Pistols, and particularly the (real, not movie-based) story of Sid and Nancy, this image is very haunting. Supposedly Nancy Spungen was an extremely mean-spirited, tyrannical person - someone a punk-rock wannabe like Sid would get off on being involved with - and everyone in and around the band was afraid of her. I wouldn't want to read too much into a single image, but it seems like that relationship is present in the photograph. "She was pure fucking evil" - Johnny Rotten, describing Spungen.
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- Don't make me launch my foot where no foot has gone before.