Saturday, 19 April 2025 11:03 pm

Pointedly

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The six-point star, or hexagram, is widely known today
To mean the Jewish folk or faith in many a display,
But Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art makes use of it as well,
Especially in diagrams (what for, I couldn’t tell).

In early Christian churches, it can signify creation,
And Mormon temples have it stand for reconciliation.
To alchemists, it melds the classic elemental signs.
Occultists try to block or conjure spirits in its lines.

In Jewish and Islamic lore, it’s on the Seal or Ring
Of Solomon to indicate the power of the king
To order jinn and demons and communicate with beasts.
Historians dispute when this began in the Mideast.

The seal was also called the Shield of David, words that came
From somewhere in the Talmud as the Lord Almighty’s name.
It’s thought to have emblazoned shields of David’s army troops
And coins from when bar Kokhba led a Jewish rebel group.

So how’d it turn distinctly Jewish? See medieval Prague:
A Holy Roman Emperor said Jews could have a flag.
They chose the star, which spread ‘cross Eastern European Jews.
Then gentiles found the five-point star much handier to use.

Some folks would like to see the star replaced with a menorah
Or other Jewish symbol, like a scroll that’s labeled “Torah.”
They deem the star too sullied by its use for other stuff.
But I believe it now is recognizable enough.
Saturday, 12 April 2025 11:54 pm

Using Your Brain

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You probably already know it’s a myth
That we use a mere tenth of our brains,
But where did it come from? Some look to the Harvard
Psychologists Sidis and James.

They studied a prodigy, then said we meet
A small part of our mental potential.
That might be correct, but from there, many jumped
To conclusions that weren’t evidential.

We don’t know the first source to claim 10%,
But it happened by late ’29,
More than 30 years after the study. The myth
Would take decades beyond to decline.

The brain is complex; in some regions, the impact
Of damage is hard to detect.
Most cells don’t do much, and when neurons are local,
Their usefulness could be suspect.

But tech such as PET scans has proven the whole brain
Is always on even in sleep,
And now every region is known to do something.
It doesn’t just lie in a heap.

Besides, brains use plenty of energy; nature
Demands that they carry their weight.
We wouldn’t evolve to excess (and I doubt
That it’s something the Lord would create).

When brain cells aren’t used, they are typically pruned,
And adult brains don’t shrink all that much.
So let’s not trust fiction that cites 10%
Without calling the hooey as such.
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Sorry, Tom Clancy fans, but I gave up on Red Storm Rising. After nearly 250 of about 750 pages, I noticed I was plagued not by boredom but by apathy. There's not-so-Cold War action, all right, but I forgot the sequence of events and why I should care about any particular character. No wonder it became a video game but never a movie.

For a replacement, I picked up my first book by the late Tom Robbins and the only one I'd heard of besides Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. It's also the only book ever recommended to me by a tour guide. I don't recall how much I'd told him about what I like to read, but it sounded pretty quirky.

I didn't know the half )

I might as well throw in a bonus review of what I read alternately and finished at the same time: The Language Lover's Puzzle Book by Alex Bellos. The 100 puzzles range from simple Pig Latin translation to admittedly super-challenging inferences for languages I'd never heard of. About a quarter of the time, I didn't even try before turning to the answer section, which is almost as long as the rest. For me, the main joy was in learning trivia, not least about conlangs. Made for a nice break from my other reading.


Next up is The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik. I'm going from a novel about living indefinitely to one where lots of people young.
Sunday, 6 April 2025 02:02 pm

Not a Barrel of Fun

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I wondered why people say “over a barrel”
For being quite helpless and likely in peril.
My sources have cited two actions at sea.
They’re both rather grim—not surprising to me.
It’s said that a sailor who nearly was drowned
Got draped on a barrel until he came ‘round
From having his lungs cleared of water at last,
Or else, in our late 19th-century past,
The barrel was where one got held down or strapped
For flogging. I must say the image is apt,
But sources keep showing the very same pic
Of a man with a paddle about to give licks
To a man on a barrel who’s wearing just shorts.
I doubt it was common with so few reports.
For my part, I hope that the first story’s true.
If not, well, the phrase is still fine in my view.
Saturday, 29 March 2025 11:22 pm

BMI

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Adolphe Quetelet was a mid-19th-century
Belgian in multiple scientist fields.
He made an eponymous index in search of
The average man as a social ideal.

This index was not called the body mass index
Till nearly a century after he died.
By then, it was favored for medical usage,
In essence a rough adiposity guide.

In light of its origin, one may well wonder
Why doctors still use BMI to this day.
Indeed, many people have said it’s a poor
Rule of thumb that should really be fading away.

For starters, dividing your weight by the square of
Your height makes no sense if you’re not fully flat,
So tall and short people aren’t fairly assessed,
And it makes no distinction twixt muscle and fat.

What’s more, Quetelet based his formula mostly
On data from soldiers of Scotland and France.
It ought to be different for others, especially
Black folks. Do they get called healthy? Fat chance.

A bunch of alternatives have been proposed.
Quetelet even offered a change of his own.
The “new BMI” has a 2.5 exponent,
Scaled to be close to the mean that we’ve known.

The corpulence, Rohrer’s, or ponderal index
Just swaps out the square for a cube. Fair enough?
But tall people tend to be narrow in frame
Next to short folk. Determining fairness is tough.

The BMI Prime compares actual stats with
The threshold beyond which one’s deemed overweight.
Some doctors will focus on visceral fat,
So they measure the waistline (an obvious trait).

A Body Shape Index includes many factors,
The Surface-based Body Shape Index still more.
The modified body mass index has serum
Albumin involved, but don’t ask me what for.

In short, if you don’t trust the most common method,
There’s plenty to choose from for gauging your risk
Of health problems stemming from excess of fat
(Tho some claim the connection just doesn’t exist).
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I had had Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time read to me in late elementary school, but at the time, I found it too weird to follow. Only in adulthood did I read it for myself and become a fan. And only when I saw the immediate sequel in a Little Free Library did I think to check it out.

Cut for length )

Now I've picked up Red Storm Rising. My first non-screen taste of Tom Clancy.
Saturday, 22 March 2025 06:40 pm

23 Skidoo

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A slang phrase, tho American and certainly far from new,
Is the name of a post-punk British band: It’s 23 Skidoo.
I’m not sure who still uses the phrase for having to exit fast,
But the early 1900s had it become a big part of our past.
At first it was two words separately, with meanings much alike.
In 1906, many ads would give the joint expression a spike.
The “skidoo” part’s pretty simple as a variant of “skedaddle,”
But where’d the “23” come from? Explanations leave me addled.
One theory notes the Flatiron Building on New York’s 23rd Street.
Its shape yields swirling winds, which might make exits extra fleet.
The trouble is that the building was finished only in 1902,
Three years too late for “23” and one too late for “skidoo”
(Altho What Happened on Twenty-third Street, a short from 1901,
Depicts a Seven Year Itch-style upskirt draft for racy fun).
In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, a man to be beheaded
Is called by his number, 23—how bland for a fate so dreaded!
A jockey claimed that a track was only 22 horses wide.
A 23rd horse would start behind, with a need for speed implied.
It might be a telegraph shorthand code to mean “Away with you,”
But Western Union has it for “All stations copy”; that won’t do.
Perhaps Skidoo, California, stood some 23 miles away
From a water source on Telescope Peak; the town is gone today.
Another Death Valley town, perhaps, had 23 saloons.
A man might visit them all to have the greatest time in moons.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of the theories behind the term.
Just know there are a lot of them, and none are yet confirmed.
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When I picked up Volume 3 of the Inheritance Cycle, I had assumed it was the conclusion of a trilogy. Well, so had Christopher Paolini before he wrote it. Like Tad Williams with Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, he had more to say than he thought. So much for reaching closure yet, and this tome is longer than each of the first two.

Cut for length )

Now I've started A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle. Yep, another YA fantasy, but this one's way shorter.
Saturday, 15 March 2025 09:36 pm

The Idea of Ides

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In modern times, the only day we’re apt to call “the ides”
Is March 15; in ancient Rome, it typically applied
To 13th days of months, except in those with 31:
March, May, July, October. Yeah, that calendar was fun,
With winter months unnamed for 61 unnumbered days.
I know folks didn’t farm then, but the thought can still amaze.
In broader use, “the ides” could well include the prior week,
Which followed on the nones (Day 5 or 7). How oblique.
The kalends was Day 1; that seems more worthy of a name,
But counting back from each of these evokes a tricky game.
Why subdivide like that? To match the phases of the moon,
Its fullness on the ides. Of course, it wasn’t quite in tune.
The Romans later talked about “the last year of confusion”
Before they changed the calendar. I’d reach the same conclusion.
Saturday, 8 March 2025 11:45 pm

Shrove Tuesday

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Shrove Tuesday, the last of the days before Lent,
Is for thinking of sins that one needs to repent.
So from what did the holiday’s title derive?
Why, the preterit form of dated verb “shrive,”
Which refers to the freeing from guilt once confessed.
I can see why this name isn’t favored the best.
Many call it “Fat Tuesday” or French “Mardi Gras,”
As before a big seasonal fast, they will gnaw
On some rich, fatty foods, the traditional one
Being pancakes. That sure went from solemn to fun!
Saturday, 1 March 2025 07:58 pm

Berries

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I’ve written of foods that are secretly fruits.
Now I’d like to move on to the berry.
It too has a certain botanical meaning
That differs from one culinary.

We tend to apply the term “berry” to fruits
That are edible, pulpy, and small.
But strawberries, raspberries, blackberries—these
Are not actual berries at all.

For starters, a berry is simple and fleshy,
With seeds but without a hard pit.
It comes from one flower containing one ov’ry
And lacks special lines for a split.

Thus, berries include avocados, bananas,
Tomatoes, persimmons, grapes, currants,
And various melons, along with the fruit
Of the nightshade, which has its deterrents.
Saturday, 22 February 2025 11:10 pm

At Sixes and Sevens

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“At sixes and sevens” refers to confusion.
It seems apropos that we’re not certain why.
The earliest version we know is from Chaucer.
The pluralized numbers arose by and by.

One theory’s quite simple: The numbers together
Evoke superstition regarding thirteen.
But why word the phrase in a roundabout fashion?
Were people too worried to say what they’d mean?

Two livery companies came to swap places
In order of precedence year after year:
The sixth and the seventh. Was this how it started?
Some say this was after the phrase first appeared.

Our best bet: A dice game called hazard involved
The most risk with a roll of a five or a six.
The English would garble the French cinque and sice
(As they spelled at the time), so the numbers got mixed.
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The bulk of U.S. presidents
Have had some pets in residence,
Most often dogs and cats, of course,
And early prezes rode a horse.
A bunch kept several types of birds
And livestock often found in herds
And rabbits, fish—but let’s move on:
A badger on the White House lawn?
Raccoons, opossums, lions, bears,
A bobcat and hyena there?
Some alligators lived there too.
Some pets delivered to a zoo:
A wallaby, a little duiker,
Elephants, and two young tigers—
Then again, the last may be
A hoax with similarity
To someone else’s real-life gift.
Those days were ripe to make a myth.
Exotic pets were mostly dealt
To rugged Teddy Roosevelt
And Calvin Coolidge; since their days,
There’s not been nearly such a craze
For presidents collecting pets
That call for very special vets.
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I learned of Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series as the source of the name for a prehistoric woman in Chrono Trigger (Square Enix games sure like synthesis). Further references, not least in Darwin's Radio, made me think I could use the cultural education. Indeed, it's rare for so many acquaintances to show familiarity with a book I'm reading that was published after 1965. This one's from 1980.

Cut for length )

Now I've picked up Brisingr by Christopher Paolini. I trust him to keep to a fair clip for younger readers' sake, and it's been a while since my last dragon book.
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Conceptions of Cupid have varied a lot.
A cherub-type angel? Initially not.
As Eros to Greeks, he resembled a teen,
Still youthful for gods, and was gen’rally lean.

So why’d later artists see fit to reduce
His evident age? We suspect an excuse
To fear the god less. He was once seen as cruel,
Until folks decided that romance was cool.

And where did he come from? It used to be said
That he was the third oldest god, never bred.
How odd that he looked like the youngest by far.
Now brace yourself; details get much more bizarre.

The same Greeks declared his a typical birth
By gods, but which ones? Were they Heaven and Earth?
Or Ether and Nyx? Aphrodite and Ares?
The Rainbow and Zephyr? It totally varies.

The Romans said Cupid was Venus’s son,
Unsure of his dad if he even had one.
Yet Cicero spoke of three Cupids all told.
Three Venuses, too—what a sight to behold.

To think that a pagan god shows up in art
For Valentine’s Day! He was never a part
Of Christendom’s dogma; the saint would decline
To honor him. Still, modern use is benign.
deckardcanine: (Default)
We all know that spinach won’t give us the muscles
Of Popeye, who’s simply cartoony.
In fact, it’s a poor source of iron; relying
On that would, at best, leave us puny.

For decades, the common assumption has been
That the rumor began with a typo:
Around 1890, a decimal point
Got misplaced. Did this start all the hype? No.

Nutritionists botched it before 1870,
Likely without a stray dot.
They may have made errors in methods, including
Some spinach dried up and some not.

I’ll note we can find as much iron in spinach
Per ounce as we’d find in a steak,
But those who eat spinach absorb a lot less.
Guess the error is easy to make.
Saturday, 25 January 2025 08:45 pm

The Great Race

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In lore, ancient China’s Jade Emperor hosted
A race for all critters within his domain.
The first twelve to finish would garner the honor
Of years in the zodiac bearing their name.

The end of the race involved crossing a river.
The ox took his buddy the rat for a ride.
The rat then hopped off to place first with the ox
A close second. Their friendship regardless abides.

You’d think that the dragon would fly to first place,
But it stopped to make rain for a village in drought,
Then blew on a log for a rabbit to ride
Into fourth, with the tiger just beating it out.

The horse didn’t notice the snake wrapped around
A front hoof till it reached the home (literal) stretch.
The sight of the snake shocked the horse, who would settle
For seventh. And I thought the rat was a wretch.

The monkey, the sheep, and the rooster teamed up.
In some tellings, they somehow acquired a raft.
The sheep came in eighth place, the monkey in ninth,
And the rooster in tenth. Did he sit at the aft?

Eleventh place went to the dog, who took time
For a bath in the river. And lastly, the pig
Had stopped for some food and a nap, but at least
It completed the dozen. The honor was big.
Saturday, 18 January 2025 06:29 pm

The Big Five

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The Big Five of Africa aren’t the five largest
Of animals found in the land.
The rhino and elephant certainly count,
But the leopard’s size isn’t that grand.

The lion and buffalo finish the five.
Do you notice who’s not on the list?
Giraffe, hippo, zebra, and ostrich. Just how
Could such prominent creatures be missed?

The answer is simple: The five had been deemed
The most difficult targets to hunt
On foot. Yes, the hippo is harder, but only
A dimwit would try, to be blunt.

Today, all the five receive legal protection,
Tho poaching is still a big threat.
Their moniker’s used more on tours just for viewing.
Let’s hope they’ll have lots of time yet.
Saturday, 11 January 2025 08:29 pm

The Dollar Sign

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The 1770s saw the first use
Of the dollar sign, when it referred
To the Spanish American peso, although
“Spanish dollar” was frequently heard.

You might think the dollar sign looks like an S
With a stroke or two drawn down the middle
Because the initial for “Spanish” is S,
But that’s not how to answer the riddle.

One theory’s that folks would abbreviate “pesos”
To P with a superscript S,
Which soon overlapped till the P disappeared.
That transition must look like a mess.

An alternate theory: The Pillars of Hercules,
Wrapped in a ribbon, appeared
On certain coins made in Bolivia and looked
Like the dollar sign. Gee, that sounds weird.

That mint in Bolivia had also perhaps
Used the monogram “PTSI.”
The S may have come with a line down the center
On coins, though I’d like to ask why.

The other strong theory: The Joachimsthaler
Was sim’lar and bore S and J,
Or else it depicted a snake on a cross,
But these coins can’t be found to this day.

Some five other theories existed at one time,
But experts discredited those.
It’s not from “US” with U’s bottom cut off,
As the fans of Ayn Rand might suppose.
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Sorry, I gave up after reading 100 pages of The Fifth Season. The story is both bizarre and bleak, a deadly combination to my mind. Half the chapters feature second-person narration, which feels condescending to the point of grating, particularly outside of Choose Your Own Adventure, role-playing games, and other activities where the addressee retains some agency. And I got tired of turning to the incomplete glossary.

With that, I decided it was time for another sci-fi novel. I'd heard of Greg Bear but never read anything by him. I also wanted to take one of the thicker volumes off my shelf in preparation for Christmas gifts.

Cut for length )

Since a DR conversation brings up Jean M. Auel, I am now reading The Clan of the Cave Bear. Not the first I'd heard of it.
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