Random Thoughts Options

[Daria]

If we dream in black and white, could there be a parallel universe in black and white which dreams in colour?
If a box has negative dimensions, does it leave a box shaped hole in the universe, or just be inside out? Would it be anti matter?

[Quoth(The Raven)]

If there were a parallel universe made of antimatter, would it really matter?

In Spanish, the word 'Pero' means 'but', and the word 'Pedo' means 'fart'. Coincidence?

[Daria]

Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

[insaneperc1015]

why do you want to go out when you have to stay in, and stay in when you can go out?

[Daria]

Is cheese really as good as it makes you think it is?

[{Gothic Angel}]

'Friday' stands for 'Frigga's day', just as 'Thursday' stands for 'Thor's day'.  Both come to us from Norse Mythology.  'Monday' is for 'Moon's day', and 'Sunday' is for 'Sun's day'. Not sure about 'Tuesday', but I think that's Norse, as well. Same for 'Wednesday'.
The months are also a toss up between Roman, planetary, and Norse, as well.  I can understand Roman influence on our culture, but I wonder how the Norse fits in?

Tuesday is from Tyr, God of war.

The Norse gods were worshipped by the Vikings- who repeatedly invaded us, at least in the rape, plunder, pillage sense, hence the Norse influence. I think the Angles, after whom Angle-land (England) was named were actually Viking descendants, from the tribes which sprang up when the Vikings settled down.

Tuesday is named for Tyr, but for his other name of "Tiw" - hence, Tiw's day, or Tuesday.

Wednesday is "Woden's" (Odin's) day.

January - Janus God of Doors - This month opens the year.
February - Februo (purify) - This was a Roman month of sacrifices and purification.
March - Mars God of War - Start of year for soldiers (no fighting during winter)
April - Aperire (open) - This is the month when trees open their leaves.
May - Maia Goddess of Growth - This is the month when plants really start to grow.
June - Juno Queen of the Gods
July - Julius Caesar, Ruler of Rome - He reorganised the calendar.
August - Augustus Ruler of Rome - He thought he was at least as important as Julius Caesar.
September - Septem (seven) - Seventh month (counting from March)
October - Octo (eight) - Eighth month (counting from March)
November - Novem (nine) - Ninth month (counting from March)
December - Decem (ten) - Tenth month (counting from March)

The old calendar (before Caesar) only had 10 months, hence the weird numbering of September - November.

Mercury - Fast moving, named after the Roman messanger-God of travel.
Venus - "Brightest and most beautiful star in the heavens", named after the goddess of love.
Earth - The name Earth comes from the Indo-European base 'er,' which produced the Germanic noun 'ertho,' and ultimately German 'erde,' Dutch 'aarde,' Danish and Swedish 'jord,' and English 'earth.' Related forms include Greek 'eraze,' meaning 'on the ground,' and Welsh 'erw,' meaning 'field.' (Sorry, not mythology based, so didn't know about this one )
Mars - Red star, God of War.
Jupiter - Biggest planet, so named after the chief God.
Saturn - Father of Jupiter, second largest planet. Some of it's satellites are named after Titans, who were Saturn's borthers and sisters.
Uranus - Discovered later on, named after the Greek god of the sky (Thereby breaking the nice neat little pattern so far). Also started naming satellites after Shakespeare characters.
Neptune - Blue planet, God of the sea.
Pluto - Small, cold, dark planet, God of the underworld. Also able to render himself invisible (Pluto has an erratic orbit making it sometimes invisible from earth). It has a sort of double-orbit around it's satellite Charon (Named after the boatman who ferried the souls of the dead across the river Styx).

Mars has satellites Phobos (One of the horses who drew his chariot) and Deimos (One of his companions)

Jupiter has satellites:
Metis (first wife of Zeus); Adrastea (a nymph of Crete to whose care Zeus's mother entrusted the infant Zeus); Amalthea (a goat in some accounts, a princess of Crete in others, she suckled Zeus as a young child); Thebe (a nymph abducted by Zeus); Io (she was changed by Zeus into a cow to protect her from his jealous wife); Europa (she was seduced by Jupiter); Ganymede (beautiful young boy who became the cupbearer of the Olympian gods); Callisto (she was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a bear to protect her from his wife's jealousy); Leda (seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan); Himalia (nymph who bore three sons of Zeus); Lysithia (one of Zeus' many lovers); Elara (a paramour of Zeus); Ananke (daughter of Zeus and Adrastea, goddess of fate and necessity); Carme (mother, by Zeus, of Britomartis); Pasiphaë (wife of Minos, mother of the Minotaur); Sinope (daughter of the river god Asopus and Merope). There are several others with random names with no mythological significance.

Saturn has satellites:
Pan (the half-human, half-goat god of pastoralism); Atlas (a Titan who held the heavens on his shoulders); Prometheus (a Titan who gave many gifts to humanity, including fire); Pandora (a woman who opened the box that loosed a host of plagues upon humanity); Janus (a two-faced Roman god who could look forward and backward at the same time); Epimetheus (a Greek backward-looking god); Mimas (a Titan felled by Hephaestus); Enceladus (a Titan killed by Athene); Tethys (the wife of Oceanus and mother of all rivers); Telesto (a water nymph); Calypso (a daughter of Atlas and paramour of Odysseus); Dione (a sister of Cronos); Helene (a daughter of Zeus); Rhea (a daughter of Cronos); Titan; Hyperion (a Titan); Iapetus (a Titan); Phoebe (another name for Artemis, goddess of the moon). It has other satellites, again, with irrelevant names.

Uranus and Neptune also have satellites, named after Shakespeare characters, but I couldn't tell you what they are called, my knowledge of his plays is far less developed than my knowledge of irrelevant mythology and asronomy

No, I don't know all the satellite names. I looked them up. But the planet names are interesting. I wonder what else in English has random mythology behind it. *scuttles off to look*

This post brought to you by GothicAngel and Google Search - Your everyday mine of useless information.

[Usurper MrTeapot]

Tuesday is from Tyr, God of war.

[color=purple]The Norse gods were worshipped by the Vikings- who repeatedly invaded us, at least in the rape, plunder, pillage sense, hence the Norse influence. I think the Angles, after whom Angle-land (England) was named were actually Viking descendants, from the tribes which sprang up when the Vikings settled down.

The Vikings were not always Vikings. When they were on a raid or wearing their longship head to scare the spirits and Gods of the land they were invading, they were called Vikings. But when they settled or during peaceful times (as peaceful as you can get) they were known by where they came from, most common were the Danes and the Angles settled later in the South East and spread.

This post has come by the memory of Teapot without help other than some narcotics. BEER METAL ODIN!

[ceddiebear]

Why do we have labels?

[Quoth(The Raven)]

Why do we plaster obvious warning signs on everything? "Caution: Coffee is hot". Well, duh. And then, we put the disclaimer, "Do not try this at home" before any video showing people doing dangerous things? Maybe we should forget the warnings, and allow stupid people to improve the quality of the Gene pool, by removing themselves from it...

(well, we can dream, can't we?)

[SPEAKERfortheLOS...]

If there is only a finite ammount of suffering in the world, why isnt there a sect of people devoted to suffering?

[acid_rain_child]

Eyelids don't offer much protection.

I can see Mars and Venus from my house at night. Their little dots in the sky is just as big as stars several million lightyears away. I think that's odd.

What's keeping Mick Jagger alive?

Boys have nipples because they were a girl in the womb for a while. If boys are girls for a while, but they have to go through many more stages to become a boy, then how come girls take the same amount of time as boys to develop? I mean, they don't have to grow a penis or anything. And, if boys had time to grow a penis, why not time to get rid of the nipples? Is it easier to create than destroy?


Oh, and I'm sure there are perfectly good scientific explanations for all this, but I don't wanna hear it

[Faerieryn]

When I think I think in English. Obviously this must mean that if you are from another country you think in your home language. I can't imagine thinking in a language that isn't english.

WHy is it that virtually no science fiction books are taught at GCSE level?

Why is it that if I eat breakfast I feel sick but if I don't eat it I feel hungry?

How many students does it take to change a light bulb?

[SPEAKERfortheLOS...]

what is sanity?

If I were to jump off a building and miss the ground would I "fly"?

is the answer actually 42?

boredom must be terminal.

[Quoth(The Raven)]

How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb?
Only one, but, first, the lightbulb has to want to change...

There are few things in this world more frightening than a blank computer screen...

Antibacterial soaps only kill the weakest 99% of germs. This means that the strongest one percent has at least partial immunity to the soap, and will pass that immunity on to it's offspring, which we will then wipe out with more of the soap, so that, again, the toughest one percent will survive... Has it occured to anyone, that we're actually doing the Germs a favor, by thinning out their gene pool? And, that we'll have to keep making stronger soaps, to counter the stronger Germs?

If a vampire bites a Werewolf, and a Werewolf bites a Vampire... Do they cancel each other out?

Do monkeys People around?

[Quoth(The Raven)]

Have you ever noticed that people named 'Black', rarely are? People named 'Brown' are usually off-white, and people named 'White' are usually Brown. and People named 'Green' never are...

Why, on those home makeover shows on TV, do the designers seem to deliberately use colors their clients say they hate? And, if there is a Fireplace, why do they cover it up, while they make fake fireplaces for those rooms that don't have them?

Why are Tornadoes attracted to trailer parks? Do they know something we don't?

[eleraama]

I think the tornado thing goes back to natural selection...

(makes grotesque face) If I looked like this, would you still like me?
Do you like me anyway?

Do bacteria get wet, or does water get bacteria'd?
How many roads must a man walk down? Is there a minimum?

[{Gothic Angel}]

If there is only a finite ammount of suffering in the world, why isnt there a sect of people devoted to suffering?

...because nobody wants that suffering to happen to them?

[Greeneyes]

If there is only a finite ammount of suffering in the world, why isnt there a sect of people devoted to suffering?

Don't nuns do this to an extent?

[eleraama]

If there is only a finite ammount of suffering in the world, why isnt there a sect of people devoted to suffering?

Don't nuns do this to an extent?

You would think that some masochist group somewhere would pull together a Sect of the Holy Pinch or something, and take care of it for us. Maybe there is...? That would be a pity, because it suggests taht there is an infinite amount of suffering.

[{Gothic Angel}]

If there is only a finite ammount of suffering in the world, why isnt there a sect of people devoted to suffering?

Don't nuns do this to an extent?

You would think that some masochist group somewhere would pull together a Sect of the Holy Pinch or something, and take care of it for us. Maybe there is...? That would be a pity, because it suggests taht there is an infinite amount of suffering.

Or just that the finite aount of suffering is either 1) very large or 2) defined on a "per person in the human race" basis.

[Quoth(The Raven)]

There is never enough storage space... every time you increase the space you have for storage, or find a more efficient way of storing things, the amount of stuff to store increases on a scale that is at least equivalent to the increase in space...

Life defies natural law. Everything non-living starts as a concentration of matter and energy, that then spreads outward, in an attempt to become less complex. Living systems, however, do their best to become MORE complex, through evolution. So, while the universe tears down, life builds up...

Why is there always more stuff to own then can ever be owned? Is this a reminder that owning possesions doesn't really make us any happier?

[Quoth(The Raven)]

Ghosts in Ultraviolet?


If you had a bucket of Ultraviolet paint, and used it to paint a box, what would you see if you looked at the box? First off, the box would not be invisible in the conventional sense, as light could not pass through it. It would, in fact, cast a shadow, in strong light. And yet, since it only reflects light that the eye can't see, the box itself would be invisible to the naked eye. To complicate matters further, you couldn't look through it to the other side... Because, even though the box would be invisible, light couldn't pass through it. It would continue to block your line of sight. So, while the box would be invisible, you would, instead, see where it was not, like a hole in space. Put it against a blue background, and that background would be interupted by an area of no color at all.

But, of course, sight depends not only on what we see, but what we expect to see, which is why optical illusions fool our eyes. Because it's not the eyes that are tricked, but the brain. The brain 'sees' something it knows can't possibly be, and adjusts the image to make sense.

Would this work for Ultraviolet colored objects? Would our brains, rejecting the vision of a "Hole in space", actually adjust the images we see, to make sense? Might we be looking at something, and only think we see objects through it? Might our mind fill in details we know are there, rather than admit that something we can't see is blocking our sight?

Maybe Aliens or time travelers are already here, out in the open, and we just refuse to see them? maybe those movements we sometimes see out of the corner of our eyes, are actually the processing of mental images catching up? Maybe we actually see a hint of these creatures when they move faster than our brains can process that movement? Well, the thing with optical illusions, is that, when we know what's going on, we can often see through the illusion. So, is that a monster in your bedroom, or your eyes playing tricks? Sweet dreams...

[pgrmdave]

If something absorbs all of the visible light spectrum then we see black. Just like if we are in a sealed off room with no lights on we see black.

[voices_in_my_hea...]

And now for a question that will leave you all thinking for years to come:

Why does Bam Margera have his own show, and why is it popular?

[Quoth(The Raven)]

If something absorbs all of the visible light spectrum then we see black.  Just like if we are in a sealed off room with no lights on we see black.

Ah, but it would be an absolute black, of a kind no living thing has ever seen, as it's impossible to eliminate ALL light. Even a black hole would be defined, not by seeing what's there, but by noticing the absence of light (An area where no stars would shine...). It remains to be seen whether the mind would register such a "black hole' encountered in daily life, or reject it as a delusion, or impossibility, thus rendering it as a blind spot. Blind spots, by definition, are often undetectable, except by instrumentation. It's still an interesting question...