“TV Executives, when Jim Henson asks to do a TV project, you say ‘Yes‘!”
What if the project is a 1969 puppet version of the Wizard of Id comic strip?
The answer is definitely yes.
*HT to The Nerdist.
Author: Josh Witten
http://www.thefinchandpea.com
Defining “skepticism”
io9 just highlighted a study about why friends fight. I’m thinking that the quote they pulled out that might cause some fights on its own. From the study’s press release:
This included a list of “triggers”-descriptions of behaviors that someone might find annoying. One example was the word “skepticism” which was described as when someone is overly disbelieving of information that he/she receives, when he/she questions things that are generally accepted, or when he/she is very hard to convince of something.
I think I know some folks in the Worldwide Skeptical Movement that will disagree vehemently with this definition. Thus highlighting the branding issues associated with picking a name historically replete with negative connotations. Still, “Brights” was worse.
Spider-table, spider-table, Does whatever a spider-table can…
I have two small children. The last thing I need is a table that crawls away from me when gently pushed. This may be the worst idea ever.
And I want one. Ever so badly.
I will note that the requirement of brilliant, but petite individuals to recruit burly, but shy lummoxes to assist in the movement of heavy and ungainly objects was crucial to my eventual marriage. So, what I’m saying is that this table is a bigger threat to heterosexual marriage than “the gays”.
Actually, that is probably true.
*Hat tip to my lovely and talented sister.
In which I agree with PZ. . .
This doesn’t happen much on non-biological issues, but I think I can say, without reservation, that I agree entirely and wholeheartedly with PZ Myers’ take on the events that inspired my post “Community”.
Community
I regularly have a problem when trying to fix problems with physical objects that do mechanically things[1]. In attempting to solve the problem, I learn that the problem I thought was the problem is not the problem and discover what the actual the problem is. Not that I then necessarily have any idea how to solve the new the problem, but at least I know what the problem is now.
Its like an episode of House, without the erroneous suggestion that it might be lupus[2].
Or, maybe its like Atheism[3].
One of Atheism’s major problems is that not enough girls are showing up to their parties. Recently, there was a great deal of attention focused on the issue of sexism in Atheism after a dust-up erupted around the reporting of events during a predominantly male “women in atheism” panel. Briefly, a female audience member took vocal issue with some of the panel’s statements and left in some distress feeling that the panel’s responses to her concerns were condescending and mocking.
I’m not sure there is much to learn from this event. There is a lot to learn from the response.
The Finch and Pea 