h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I like the idea that a baby shower can put out the gender reveal wildfire.

I would say sex is more accurately related to the act of intercourse or similar activity between two people, whereas gender is the biological/psychological identity. Of course people commonly use sex to mean gender, which can cause a lot of confusion.

When I was young enough to have a child bus pass to go to school, there was a box to fill in labelled sex. We thought it very funny to write in 'yes please' or something similar. I notice that forms now are much more accommodating for choice, usually with an option of 'how you identify yourself'.

Identifying myself can be tricky sometimes, but usually I wake up and say “That’s him!”

TIL:

In 1965, Johnny Cash appeared at the El Paso courthouse to face charges on drug smuggling (amphetamines and sedatives bought across the border in Mexico). The news coverage resulted in boycotts and threats, but not because of the drug charges, but because it was the first time many had seen images of his wife, Vivian. She was Italian-American, but some folks seeing her in B&W photos and TV images, assumed she was African-American. A white supremacist group, The National States Rights Party spread the image and called for boycotts of Johnny Cash's albums and concerts.





Even today, I hear folks claim the Civil War wasn't about slavery, but instead it was about "States Rights". Yeah, it was, the Southern States "right" to be white supremacist slave owners. "States Rights" were commonly recognized in the mid nineteenth century to refer directly to the slavery issue and white supremacy as clearly seen in contemporary news publications and other writings.

YIL:

Oh, I nearly forgot another thing I learned yesterday.

So what do cats, camels, bears, and giraffes have in common?



Unlike most quadrupeds who walk with diagonal legs paired, they walk with both legs on each side together, both right legs moving, then both left legs moving, &c.



I learned about this because I've been playing a vidya game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In the game there is a giant mechanized camel. I assumed the game creators had messed up when I noticed the bilateral pace of Vah Naboris. I knew about cats' walking pace, but not about camels, giraffes, and just now, bears.
There are also bears in the game. I will be watching closely next time I spot one. (You can also ride bears in the game, but that's a running pace which pairs front and back legs.)

Millipedes too...

And earthworms...

Today I learned that both the UK and the US have popular comic characters named Dennis the Menace.

What's really wild is both comic strips were created independently in March 1951!

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/04/the-curious-tale-of-dennis-the-menace


While I've never read any of the British DtM comics, just comparing the two characters I suspect I'd like the UK version better. I never particularly liked our DtM as I felt he was just a privileged little who gets out of every bit of trouble because he's precocious and "cute". Blyeuch!

The British one is much edgier. I like edgy.

A lot of us were inspired by the British Version as Nippers.
Pea Shooters, Catapaults .......

Yeah, the US one mostly just "menaced" the retiree neighbor by... *talking* to him or making noise.

And he's still at it. I believe the son of the original comic artist has taken over.

Today I learned that Ashto Villa is a football club as well as being an historic home on nearby Galveston Island.

Trevor Noah mentioned something about them doing well in the Premier League.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that I'm not overly familiar with soccer teams.
A) I'm American
B) I really have no interest in almost any sprots

I'm familiar with only a very few soccer teams. I can list them now.

Man U., Arsenal, Rangers,... Ashton Villa... Liverpool,... The Houston Dynamo...
Yeah, that's about it.

Oh, I forgot the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton_Villa

Mostly I know about Ashton Villa's role in the Great Storm (1900) and how when they raised the island following the storm, they didn't lift Ashton Villa so it now only has a couple of steps leading to the front door when it previously had at least a dozen.

Aston Villa (Slightly different spelling) a football team in Birmingham UK, named after a big house, their ground is on the former park land.
The house still exists as a museum.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Hall

Ah...nevermind.

Today I learned about the whereabouts of Florida Sailor

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55138488

Today I learned Hollywood doesn't understand how defibrillators work.

A common trope on TV and film is someone flatlining (asystole), a doctor applying those shocky-paddle thingies and yelling "CLEAR", and "LIVE DAMN YOU, LIVE!" and the patient's heart starting back up again.

But that's not what defibrillators do. If you apply that shock to a patient in asystole it won't do anything to their nonexistent heart rhythm. A clue is in the name, defibrillator. The stop an irregular heart rhythm, atrial fibrillation. And they do this by momentarily stopping the heart, causing brief asystole, interrupting the irregular rhythm.

I didn't know that either.

I thought that had been covered in this entry

https://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A812800

but quick glance looks not.
Similar to TV medical dramas where unless needed otherwise for the plot, no-one waits for surgery, the op is done with hardly anyone in theatre, over in a short time & Px back on the ordinary ward looking fit & well.

PS And CPR never looks convincing either, but I do appreciate you can't do chest compressions for real on a live actor...

If you want the actor keep on living...

Today I learned that two artists are battling over the rights to use extreme black (and pink and glitter) pigments.

Anish Kapoor, famous for his reflective sculpture in Chicago, "Cloud Gate", aka The Bean, bought the color Vantablack®, the darkest black pigment in 2016. He claimed exclusive use of this ultrablack pigment (so black any 3D object loses depth as there are no reflections or shading to make it appear as a flat black surface) denying all others access to it.

Another artist, Stuart Semple, protested this selfish act by creating his own colors, Pinkest Pink® and Black 2.0®, and the most reflective glitter, Diamond Dust® and made them available to all... EXCEPT Anish Kapoor!
Semple's website, where his products are available for purchase, includes this legal restriction:

“By adding this product to your cart you confirm that you are not Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor. To the best of your knowledge, information and belief this paint will not make its way into that hands of Anish Kapoor.”

Read more here: http://timesofaddu.com/2020/08/08/the-art-war-stuart-semple-vs-anish-kapoor/