CSotD: Facts, Fallacies and Folklore
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John Auchter repeats the concept that the machines are listening to us, which I continue to insist is a myth. However, should the fellow donate $25 to the candidate, it will indeed be Katy-bar-the-door time. I’ve heard several people say they’re sorry to have donated to a candidate because of the spam that results.
I’m not entirely sure you have to actually donate, however. As a journalist, I was never a member of a political party, but after I retired, that ethical constraint was lifted and I’ve since regretting declaring a party because of the flood of junk mail it unleashed.
And I do kind of wonder how many email and texts Abdel Farrah el-Sisi has been getting since he made that donation to Trump’s campaign.
Joy of Tech, on the other hand, makes the absolutely correct connection between searching for products and courting spam.
Also suggesting a pretty good prank if you know someone prone to leaving their phone around and unlocked.
Deflocked (AMS) had a banana peel gag based on how old banana peel gags are, and the answer is that they go back to about 1870, when the fruit was first made available in the US and became extremely popular.
This Mental Floss article goes into depth on the gag itself, noting that “A fresh banana peel might seem non-threatening, but a rotting banana peel was a slime-covered booby trap” and continuing
Which, you’ll note, rather undercuts Mamet’s dreams of riches, though I suppose it was harder to sue companies back in them that days.
Pedro X. Molina (Counterpoint) cautions us against slipping on this rotting thing, but we’re not doing politics today, so please don’t look at it.
Still on the topic of potential lawsuits, Lola (AMS) presents a thought-provoker, because it would be possible to argue that you’re safer on a carnival ride than on a ride at an amusement park because it’s just been set up and the county insists on inspecting the rides.
Unless, y’know, the county doesn’t, but then they probably don’t insist on inspecting the rides at the amusement park, either.
Oh well. Whether you’re headed to the county fair or an amusement park, you’re sharing the road with self-driving cars. I wouldn’t worry too much about the roller coasters.
Getting there is half the fun.
Juxtaposition of the Day
I mentioned Jones Beach the other day, but I haven’t been there since I was little, nor have I braved the crowds of Atlantic City in half a century or so, though I did go to Old Orchard Beach a few years ago, which is long enough that you can walk away from the crowds, a factor also true of the dunes in Southwestern Michigan, where we could find a dune that’s ours (and softly she would speed the stars ’til morning.)
Of course, if you go in the off-season you avoid the crowds, and, while it may be too cold to go in the water, the sand won’t burn your feet, either.
I can segue into the Barn (Creators) because I was on a beach in California that had a sign saying babies had to be diapered to go in the water, which made me wonder how the herd of sea lions were handling their sanitary needs.
Rory might be less aghast if he’d seen Kevin Costner in Waterworld, but I don’t think many people, and even fewer sheep, did. Anyway, salts in a swimming pool would be diluted to a safe level, so no worries.
We’re still all at sea and I’m not sure what motivated Jeremy Banx to speculate about what if Noah indeed had brought dinosaurs on the Ark, but there is so much absurdity packaged in this cartoon that I find it absolutely delightful.
It starts with the age of the Earth and the Flintstone Theory, which is that dinos and humans existed simultaneously, plus the belief that Noah really did build an ark and managed to cram every animal on Earth into it.
Except the unicorns, and Charles Addams’ estate should get 10 cents every time someone rips off his gag on that topic, and 25 cents from everyone who thinks Shel Silverstein was Irish.
But my rant mode is wide and also takes in the nincompoops who can’t distinguish between folklore and history. Obviously, the Ark is folkloric, as are Adam and Eve, but I’d be a little cautious in dismissing David and Goliath. After all, most of the Iliad is folkloric, but there really was a city of Troy destroyed in warfare.
Those who haven’t read histories written in ancient times ought to sample a few. If you believe that, because Jesus wasn’t born of a virgin, he didn’t exist, the counter is that because Washington didn’t chop down that cherry tree, he didn’t exist either.
And if you believe everything in Suetonius, you might as well believe everything said on Fox and Friends.
Rant mode off, but we’ll stay in the water:
First Dog on the Moon generally veers from politics to sociology but often with a heapin’ helpin’ of ecology, and this episode makes use of a story in his paper, the Guardian, that included a link so that you, too, can swim with the sea lions.
And speaking of separating folklore from fiction, is it necessary to point out that sea lions don’t actually talk or operate computers, despite First Dog suggesting that they do? Or that this in any way undermines the other things he’s telling us?
Finally, today’s Bizarro (KFS) sets off one more rant. I got a laugh out of the cartoon, but there’s some real inconsistency behind the gag.
People complain about men being afraid to show their feelings but then mock classic country-and-western songs for being about men being completely open about their emotional issues. I don’t mean the faux-country soft rock schmaltz playing in your dentist’s office, but real old classic C&W songs like
Before the Next Teardrop Falls
Last Friday, I included a classic Ned Miller country song in which his father taught him “never be afraid to cry,” and that’s part of the genre.
Even when the singer is making intentional fun of his own pathetic situation:
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