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The Best of American Science and Nature writing 2004
Non-fiction book Review: The Best of American Science and Nature writing 2004.

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1075817#1075817

A wonderful book for those who don't need or want to become an expert in a subject. but want to learn more about those who are and wonderful writers as well. It's not all egg-head stuff. The Cape Cod Bird Watcher column writer is a hoot.

BBB

Well, here's a fact for you, C.I. Do NOT take Celebrex for pain.

As to the music behind the musical e-card, I know that melody. Just can't put a title to it.

My word, our janitor has a delightful new avatar. Seed, you look delightful in those Nt'l Guard fatigues--the weekend warriors. Is that where you are? Or peeking at Montana.

BBB, I would have subscribed to Lawson, but I don't do business on the internet.

Ok, musical aficionados. Guess who this song is about, and you will receive a free anecdote about Letty's experience with that bunch.

BERLIN IRVING - ANGELS OF MERCY (1941) LYRICS


Angels of mercy, there's so much to do
The heavens are gray overhead

Angels of mercy, they're calling to you
So march with your crosses of red

March where the darkness shuts out the light
March where there is no dawn

Angels of mercy, the world's covered with night
But your mercy goes marching on
Angels of mercy thru darkest night
Your mercy goes marching on

Item:

Rock-a-billy is alive and well and living in Florida. Check this out fans:

http://www.skinnymcgee.com/band.asp

Afraid of flying?
Afraid of flying?
By Prof. Max Tegmark
Dept. of Physics, MIT

Each domestic US flight cuts my life expectancy by about 13 minutes.

Each hour I spend driving on a US interstate freeway cuts my life expectancy by 19 minutes.

Each hour I spend driving in US local city traffic cuts my life expectancy by 8 minutes.

Each hour I spend riding a motorbike in the US cuts my life expectancy by 5 hours!

You'll find my calculations below.

How will I die?

Causes of 1000 typical US deaths:

Cardiovascular diseases 516
Cancer 206
Strokes 98
Pneumonia 28
Other medical causes 31
Accidents, total 55
Suicides 14
Homocides 11
Total 1000

Breakdown for accidents:

Motor vehicles 26
Falls 7
Drowning 4
Fires, burns 3
Ingest. of food, object 2
Poison (solid, liquid) 2
Poison (gas) 1
Firearms 1
Other accidents 9
Total 55

Highlights:

About one person in 70 commits suicide (30 000 a year in the US)

One man in 45 will commit suicide, but only one woman in 144.

Although 76% of all suicides are male, women try more often.

About one person in 90 will get murdered.

About one man in 13 will die in an accident, but only one woman in 30.
37% of those killed in motor vehicle accidents are between ages 15 and 24

70% of those who die in accidents are male and 84% of those who drown are male - the testosterone factor?

Source: US Department of Health and Human Services. Statistics are for 1979. Compiled by Max Tegmark 02/11 1991.

Life expectancy calculations:

When deciding to take a risk (fly, drive, travel to the Middle East, etc), I ask myself whether the corresponding reduction of my life expectancy is worth it.

Each domestic US flight cuts my life expectancy by only 13 minutes. Calculation: according to the 2004 US air traffic report, domestic US flights transport about 512 million passengers per year. If they typically kill 250 people (probably an overestimate; 7-year average is 170, 2001 was 531, 2002 was 92), that gives me a one in 2 million chance of dying per flight. My remaining life expectancy is about 50 years, so a flight cuts it by a rather negligible 50*365*24*60/2000000 ~ 13 minutes.

Each hour I spend driving on a US interstate freeway cuts my life expectancy by 19 minutes. Calculation: for this number and the two following ones, I used the tables in chapter 2 of the 2002 national transportation statistics report, using the fatality rates per 100 million passenger-miles and assuming a mean speed of 60 mph on freeways and 25 mph in city traffic. Each hour I spend driving in US local city traffic cuts my life expectancy by 8 minutes.

Each hour I spend riding a motorbike in the US cuts my life expectancy by 5 hours!

The Stinky Meat Project
The Stinky Meat Project:

http://www.stinkymeat.net/

All I want for Christmas is:




Dear God, you made many, many poor people. I realize, of course, that
it's no great shame to be poor... but it's no great honor, either. So what would have
been the difference if I had... a small fortune?

If I were a rich man,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn't have to work hard,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
If I were a biddy-biddy rich,
Daidle deedle daidle daidle man.

I'd build a big tall house with rooms by the dozen
Right in the middle of the town,
A fine tin roof with real wooden floors below.
There would be one long staircase just going up
And one even longer coming down,
And one more leading nowhere, just for show.

I'd fill my yard with chicks and turkeys and geese
And ducks for the town to see and hear,
Squawking just as noisily as they can,
And each loud "pa-pa-geeee! pa-pa-gaack! pa-pa-geeee! pa-pa-gaack!"
Would land like a trumpet on the ear,
As if to say, "Here lives a wealthy man."
Oy!

If I were a rich man,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn't have to work hard,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
If I were a biddy-biddy rich,
Daidle deedle daidle daidle man.

I see my wife, my Golde, looking like a rich man's wife,
With a proper double chin,
Supervising meals to her heart's delight.
I see her putting on airs and strutting like a peacock,
Oy! What a happy mood she's in,
Screaming at the servants day and night.

The most important men in town will come to fawn on me--
They will ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise--
"If you please, Reb Tevye?"--
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye?"--
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes--
(chanting) Ya va voy, ya va voy voy vum...
And it won't make one bit of difference
If I answer right or wrong--
When you're rich, they think you really know.

If I were rich, I'd have the time that I lack
To sit in the synagogue and pray,
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall,
And I'd discuss the learned books with the holy men
Seven hours every day--
That would be the sweetest thing of all...
Oy!

If I were a rich man,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn't have to work hard,
Daidle deedle daidle
Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
Lord who made the lion and the lamb,
You decreed I should be what I am--
Would it spoil some vast, eternal plan,
If I were a wealthy man?

The Tycho Brahe expose
The Tycho Brahe expose:

Tycho Brahe, Danish Astromer 14/12 1546 - 24/10 1601

http://www.nada.kth.se/~fred/tycho/index.html

Does the universe contain almost no information?
Does the universe contain almost no information?

http://www.hep.upenn.edu/~max/index.html

Wow! edgar. That parody reminded me of Janis Joplin's "Oh, Lord Won't ya Buy me a Mercedes Benz." to the tune of fiddler on the roof. I am amazed at how many lyrics you can superimpose.


BBB, You're postin' them links so fast and furiously, that it's hard to get a handle.

BBB, This is the Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen. The three people in the picture is the bus driver, our tour director, and the local city guide.

Good Morning WA2K listeners.

It is 7 degrees here in PA this A.M. with a windchill factor of 14 below. The good news is that the temperature will climb to 18 degrees by 4PM today. A good day to stay tuned to WA2K.

And now, the Celebrity Birthday feature for today:

Born on December 20:

1868 Harvey Firestone, industrialist and tire manufacturer (Columbiana County, OH; died 1938)
1881 Branch Rickey, baseball executive (Lucasville, OH; died 1965)
1898 Irene Dunne, actress (Louisville, KY; died 1990)
1902 Max Lerner, journalist (Minsk, Russia; died 1992)
1922 George Roy Hill, filmmaker (Minneapolis, MN)
1935 William Julius Wilson, sociologist, writer (Derry Township, PA)
1946 Uri Geller, psychic/clairvoyant (Tel Aviv, Israel)
1952 Jenny Agutter, actress (London, England)
1966 Kiefer Sutherland, actor (London, England)


An aside: Just listened to CI's Lawson E-Card and recognized Chopin's Minute Waltz in the background.

Raggedy, I never cease to be amazed at the info you provide our listeners. Chopin? Minute Waltz? Thanks a bushel.

Folks, did you realize that Kiefer Sutherland was from the UK?

We're glad to see that Grand Duke is back with us and getting his life sorted out.

Question for the day:

Would you rather be a colonel with an eagle on your shoulder or a private with a chicken on your knee? That's one song that never made it.

Please read the caption below.
It is verbatim from the Boston Globe website.

A herder offers a sodium-snack (human urine in a tin cup) to reindeer,
which in turn jockey for position to get to the treat.
(Globe Staff Photo / Essdras M. Suarez)

Good grief, George! Talk about marking one's territory!

c.i.
c.i., thanks for the photo of the Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen. Too bad it didn't exist when my children and I spent a few days in Copenhagen in 1968.

BBB

Speaking of Denmark, I wonder where Hebba is? He dropped in; did the Watusi and left.

A conemporary Christmas Carol....just spreadin' the love....

All I Want For Christmas Is The Gift Of Death


Dear Lord, I ask for only one thing this Christmas.
For the love of Yourself, please take me off your **** list.
I've heard you have a plan, and for me it's to suffer.
I wish my fate was like the guy dead-center in "The Last Supper".
I'm poor and diseased, habitually unpleased.
I deserve to be struck down, I'm pleading on my knees.
You've taken my job, my wife, and my home,
That's why, for you, I've written this poem:

All I want for Christmas is the gift of death,
The gift of death,
The gift of death,
Lord have mercy, I've got nothing left.

Treat me like the puppy I got for my son,
Accidentally killed by my neighbor's gun
Or how about my son himself?
Being crushed by a falling Home Depot shelf.
Why can't I be more like my brother?
By his wife with a pillowcase he was smothered.
Carbon monoxide, hey give me a whiff,
Or let me go drinkin' and driving off a cliff.

All I want for Christmas is the gift of death,
The gift of death,
The gift of death,
Lord have mercy, I've got nothing left.

This year I've lost it all,
Being beaten by punks at the local mall.
After being diagnosed with Hodgekin's
Catching my wife in bed with the mailman, and the UPS guy watchin'.
I got nothing to live for.
I just can't take any more.
if my Christmas doesn't end in execution,
It'll become my New Year's Resolution.

All I want for Christmas is the gift of death,
The gift of death,
The gift of death,
Lord have mercy, I've got nothing left.

OK, Bi, Now don't tell me you wrote that. (Laughs nervously then covers mike with hands) Hey, bear--we got believers here on WA2K radio.

Ladies and gentlemen, BPB is our resident Lenny Bruce..He's just being a bit cynical today. His wife has a thread going that made him a bit nervous, I think.

Stay tuned. We'll feature a mini series from the church of what's happening now.

News item:

Walmart has made another coup. Target stores did not allow The Salvation Army bell ringers to stand in front of their store, so Walmart not only allows them to do their ring, but promises to match all the donations put into that black kettle.

and now, a song from Credence Clearwater Revival:

Jeremiah was a bullfrog, he was good friend of mine.
I never understood a single word he said but I helped him drink
his wine. He always had some mighty fine wine. Sing it Joy to the
world...all the boys and girls now , joy to the fishies in the deep blue
sea and joy to you and me.

And if i were the king of the world , i tell you what i would do. Id throw
away the cars and the bars in the world and id make sweet love to you.
Sing it now : Joy the the world , all the boys and girls , joy to the fishies
in the deep blue sea , joy to you and me.

Yah know I love the ladies , love to have my fun ... Im a hard knock
flyer and a rain bow rider ... a strait shootin son of a gun , i said a
strait shootin sun of a gun.

Joy to the world , all the boys and girls , joy to all the fishies in the
deep blue sea , joy to you and me.

Joy to the world , all the boys and girls , joy to the world joy to you
and me

Joy to the world , all the boys and girls , joy to the fishies in the deep
blue sea joy to you and me.

Joy the the world , all the boys and girls , joy to the world , joy to you
and me.

Joy to the world , all the boys and girls , joy to the world , joy to you
and me.

SCHIZOPHRENIA:
Do You Hear What I Hear?


MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER:
We Three Queens Disoriented Are


GRANDIOSE:
Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me


MANIC:
Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants
and...


PARANOID:
Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me.


PERSONALITY DISORDER:
You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why.


SOCIOPATH:
Thoughts of Roasting You on an Open Fire...


OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER:
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock...

okay letty is this better?

They said there'll be snow at christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin's birth
I remember one christmas morning
A winters light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that christmas tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

They sold me a dream of christmas
They sold me a silent night
And they told me a fairy story
'till I believed in the israelite
And I believed in father christmas
And I looked at the sky with excited eyes
'till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful christmas
I wish you a brave new year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'll be snow at christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
Hallelujah noel be it heaven or hell
The christmas you get you deserve