A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.
"House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."
"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."
A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.
Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora") because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ("el computador") because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time, they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
The women won.
*got this from Teble, a lady at my BB.
Quizz time: How's Your Vocabulary?
| Your Vocabulary Score: A |
You must be quite an erudite person. |
How's Your Vocabulary? Take the test here.
Now, I am wondering which one I missed! Why do they never give you the answer to these things?
Anyway, it's not bad to be accused to being diverse and having great knowledge. :)
Thursday Thirteen Vol. 9
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Just how observant are you?
Check answers here. So, how did you do? |
There's not Enough MOney
All this Thanksgiving Season and food got me thinking about some really strange food I've encountered, but not necesarrily tasted in my life.
There's Balut...penoy. All I could think of: those poor babies! I am not eating hairy anything. Noticed that chickens are usually plucked already in it's package? Can you imagine buying chicken breasts or legs with all it's feathered glory?
Just in case you never clicked on the link, here's what those two words means, according to the link above.
This is a perfect diet for FearFactor. There right along with eating spiders!
There's Balut...penoy. All I could think of: those poor babies! I am not eating hairy anything. Noticed that chickens are usually plucked already in it's package? Can you imagine buying chicken breasts or legs with all it's feathered glory?
Just in case you never clicked on the link, here's what those two words means, according to the link above.
"Balut" and "penoy" are eaten as snack food. These are sold together as if one is given a choice of coffee or tea.I don't care how much vitamins and minerals I am getting if I eat dead little duck chicks. In keeping with life-stranger-than-fiction concept, there's a lot of people eating these gross food. Ewww!
"Balut" is an incubated duck egg with 16- to 18-day-old embryo, while "penoy" is an infertile incubated duck egg or with dead embryo. Both are ready for consumption right after being boiled for 20-30 minutes.
This is a perfect diet for FearFactor. There right along with eating spiders!
Thursday Thirteen Vol. 8
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1. To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. The solvent dissolves adhesive. 2. To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let set five minutes and wash clean. The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew 3. To clean your eyeglasses, simply wipe the lenses with a soft, clean cloth dampened with vodka. The alcohol in the vodka cleans the glass and kills germs. 4. Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting your safety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting. 5. Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, and then blot dry.  6. Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face as an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores. 7. Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleanses the scalp, removes toxins from hair, and stimulates the growth of healthy hair. 8. Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle and spray bees or wasps to kill them. 9. Pour one-half cup vodka and one-half cup water in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze for a slushy, refreshable ice pack for aches, pain or black eyes. 10. Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar with freshly packed lavender flowers, fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly and set in the sun for three days. Strain liquid through a coffee filter, then apply the tincture to aches and pains. 11. To relieve a fever, use a washcloth to rub vodka on your chest and back as a liniment. 12. To cure foot odor, wash your feet with vodka. 13. Vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting. Bonus: 14. Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy to remove the urushiol oil from your skin. 15. Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth Allow your gums to absorb some of the alcohol to numb the pain. |
Thursday Thirteen Vol. 7
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Thirteen things about one of my favorite TV shows, House MD. 1. “You get married at twenty, you’re going to be shocked who you’re living with at thirty.” - Fools For Love 2. Factual error: Season 2 Episode 1 - Acceptance: When they do the MRI on the death row guy, House says that the ink will get sucked out due to the strong magnet. This is incorrect; the only thing that can happen is a bit itchiness or skin irritation. Submitted by Ronnie Bischof House is about to inject Ezra Powell (Joel Grey) with what is supposedly a lethal dose of morphine. In the shots where they pan out to show House addressing the room at large, the syringe is very full, almost completely. When they zoom in on House holding the syringe, it is only filled a fraction of that much - maybe a quarter to a third. This doesn't happen just once, but every time they switch between shots. Most of the time, whenever House puts down his Nintendo DS, the angle at which it is bending changes. For example, in one shot, it is not bent at all and in the next it is almost closed.
Both suffered drug addictions (House - pain killers, Holmes - cocaine). Both focus on the patient/criminal's motives and actions rather than physical evidence. Neither can cope with normal society and have sociable sidekicks (Wilson and Watson - Dr Wilson actually gets called Dra Watson once by a patient in the first series). Both are extremely lazy when not on a case (Holmes read the agony aunt columns in the paper, House watches Soaps). Both never call anybody by their first names and finally both live at No 221B.
11. "I picked a reverence for medicine because I rather hero-worshiped my father [a former doctor], and because I admire doctors, I admire study, empiricism and rational thought. I don't admire crystals and chewing willow bark and herbal remedies."
13. And I watch it because I like the looks of these people as they move about in my TV screen.
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Unlikeables
I like Desperate Housewives. You know this because you can see this show's link on my Serial TV list. I noticed though that they put this really annoying character named Nora. She just grates on my nerves, and I had put off watching 4 episodes because I cannot stand her.
Die, Nora, die! That's my thoughts when I see her. It's bad enough I had to put up with Eddie Brit, they have to add Nora too. Last Sunday, I was so glad to note that they have finally killed Nora.
My holy horse! Would it have killed the writers to tone down Nora's character? After all, they did with Eddie, and now we kind of like her.
I was just sitting here, wondering if you have a favorite show, but you cannot stand to watch it now because of some annoying character.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know they're fiction. That's exactly why I want them all to be enjoyable! I used to not like Horatio Caine. Now I do. I watch old and new CSI: Miami series. H grew on me. Now, I actually enjoy him moving about in my TV. If you don't like him before, you should give him another try. He's that good!
Thursday Thirteen Vol. 5
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Because my SIL is going to be a lawyer soon, it's time to get some Lawyer cartoon out! Thanks to this site and a guy named Jason Love, it makes this list quite fun to get. Also, I should get her over her and ask her to explain some of the jokes to me. :) 1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  7.  8.  9.  10.  11.  12.  13.  |
Who's got the MOST Impressive Turn?
Got this today from my cousin's e-mail, and it's too cute not to send.
Italy
Indonesia
Malaysia
Germany
Hongkong
China
Korea
Philippines
Italy
Indonesia
Malaysia
Germany
Hongkong
China
Korea
Philippines
Incentive to Get a College Degree
Twenty-three thousand a year. This is the number that made all the difference between a college degree and a high school diploma, according to a new survey.
Now, for the interesting parts of this report:
Here come the numbers:
It also said:
Now, for the interesting parts of this report:
Texas had the lowest proportion of adults with at least a high school diploma, about 78 percent. It was followed closely by Kentucky and Mississippi.
Here come the numbers:
High school dropouts earned an average of $19,169, while people with advanced college degrees made an average of $78,093.
Non-Hispanic whites had the highest proportion of adults with a high school diploma or higher (90 percent), followed by Asians (88 percent), blacks (81 percent) and Hispanics (59 percent).
West Virginia had the lowest proportion of college graduates, at 15 percent. It was followed at the bottom by Arkansas, Kentucky and Louisiana.
It also said:
Nearly 47 percent of adults in Washington, D.C., had at least a bachelor's degree.Big deal! Did the survey exclude all those Senators and Representatives living there? Otherwise, it would be like bragging how many foreign nationals are present in the UN Assembly compared to the rest of the other states.
Thursday Thirteen Vol. 4
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One of the greatest gift my mother ever gave me, aside from giving me life and giving me a good childhood, is the love of reading. It's one of the things I am thoroughly enjoying. I think life is much richer because of reading. Here's thirteen quotes about reading. Feel free to agree and disagree. 1. Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900) If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.I've enjoyed reading books I'll never re-read. I disagree with Mr. Wilde here. Here's a few book that's enjoyable, but I probably won't re-read. Wally Lamb - SHE'S COME UNDONE, Kristin Hannah - BETWEEN FRIENDS, Mark Haddon - THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME 2. Dr. Seuss (American Writer and Cartoonist best known for his collection of children's books. 1904-1991) The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.I'm with you Dr. Seuss! Books: Arthur Golden Memoirs of a Geisha Jung Chang WILD SWANS 3. C.S. Lewis quotes (British Scholar and Novelist. 1898-1963) We read to know we are not alone.It sounds dramatic, but there are moments in my life, way back when I was a teen, which I could almost be sure that without a book, I'd surely be a most mi 4. Marcus Tullius Cicero (Ancient Roman Lawyer, Writer, Scholar, Orator and Statesman, 106 BC-43 BC) A home without books is a body without soul.Well, this is a little harsh. Didn't this person meet a very poor person before? So poor that as much as they love to have books, they have to buy food instead? 5. Aldous Huxley (English Novelist and Critic, 1894-1963) Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.Witness all the self-help books available...and how some of them actually help some people. 6. Lily Tomlin (American Actress and Comedian. Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2003.b.1939) If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed.Not well-viewed, but certainly well-entertained! I love my House, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, CSI and other things I use to help me occupy when I don't feel like doing anything! 7. Elizabeth Hardwick ( 1916–, American literary critic, novelist, and short-story writer, b. Lexington, Ky.; grad Univ. of Kentucky (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939). The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.Enough said. Well, except for the "cheap" part, as if you're of a slightly obsessive personality, a whole series of romantic fiction which I am addicted to, can be upwards of 100 bucks. 8. P. J. O'Rourke (American political commentator,Journalist, Writer and Humorist, b.1947) “Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”This is like being told to wear underwear without tears because in case you get into an accident and someone sees your undies. I bet you've heard that one before too. 9. Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher, 1788-1860) Reading is thinking with someone else's head instead of one's ownSo, is that bad? Or is it just eavesdropping? 10. E. M. Forster (English Novelist and Essayist, 1879-1970) What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.Hmm, very profound huh? 11. Thomas Carlyle (Scottish Historian and Essayist, leading figure in the Victorian era. 1795-1881) What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with usOh boy, what will ever happened to Sci-fi, erotic fiction, and murder mystery fans? 12. Joseph Addison (English Essayist, Poet, Dramatist and Statesman, 1672-1719) Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.I agree! 13. Enrique Jardiel Poncela quotes (Spanish writer, 1901-1952) When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.Oh yes! Yes! I hate having to work overtime when settling down with a book. |
Front Fence Visitors
One Wednesday morning, my husband was excited about something, asked me to step outside, barefoot, to look at something. It was these newborn birds. They were on our front fence, looking like they're settling themselves home.
These two stayed for almost two weeks. When we gave them food, we have to make it a lot because it brought the squirrel too. Sometimes, the bluejays or the cardinals would show up and try to toss these new residents. They keep coming back, and then they were gone one day. I never knew what kind of birds they were, but they were cute to look at. My kids are enterntained to have them right outside our window.
These two stayed for almost two weeks. When we gave them food, we have to make it a lot because it brought the squirrel too. Sometimes, the bluejays or the cardinals would show up and try to toss these new residents. They keep coming back, and then they were gone one day. I never knew what kind of birds they were, but they were cute to look at. My kids are enterntained to have them right outside our window.
Be Careful What You Ask For
I have to copy this from Zingtrial. It's too good to miss.
Cute huh? I know I laughed my head off after reading this. But what does it say about a Christian G-d?
A man was being chased by a lion,and he knew escape was impossible and so the man, who had never been particularly religious (In fact this just happened to be sunday morning), prayed,
"God, if you make this lion a Christian I will be happy with whatever lot you give me for the rest of my life"
The lion was no more then four feet away from the man when it stopped dead in its tracks, looks up to heavens quizzically and then fell to its knees and prayed in a loud voice,
"O lord, bless this food of which I am about to partake"
Cute huh? I know I laughed my head off after reading this. But what does it say about a Christian G-d?
Thursday Thirteen Vol. 3
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Reasons why I have the best Mom Ever. Happy 55 birthday, Mama  1. Because she cares for all of us, her kids, in her own wonderful way!2. I got my love of books from her. 3. She's always on my side, and when I'm wrong, lets me know how. 4. She taught us kids that we should care for each other. How we should always be able to count having each other's back. 5. She's good with kids. 6. She raised us all to be respectful, caring, and responsible adults. 7. She taught us to respect even the most awful a$$holes, that no matter how much we want to kick some peoples butt, to just let it be. G-d will take care of them. 8. She respects our choices, even if it's not what she would have  liked us to choose.9. She'll always be there for you, in a million different ways. 10. She makes my kids happy. 11. She doesn't intrude on my own family's rules. 12. She helps me a whole, whole lot. 13. She's the person you'd want on your side because she's the best mother there is. |
Bedazzlemia aka Glitter Lung
As usual, I was blog-hopping when I come along this picture above from here. I was worried because I have a lot of kids who's into glitters. One can never be too careful. So, you can imagine my relief when I googled it and found this. I mean, if The Onion wrote about it, I can breath easier. Then there's this. They kind of stopped me from running to the phone and wake up my kids pediatrician to schedule a lung scan right away.
It's very funny though, now that I have stopped hyperventillating about it.
Plus there's this:
Although powdered glitter, not the typical square-flaked glitter, could be inhaled should someone throw a large handful of it into the air, it is not a danger when used as indicated. Furthermore, the larger, most common square flaked glitter is too large to pass down into the lungs and cause lung disease.
You have to admit, it's a tad alarming to see that picture first.
Answers to Thursday Thirteen Vol. 7
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So, how did you do?
A Series of Fortunate Movies
DH and I take advantage of seeing movie whenever we can. It's been a wonderful few movies because we all enjoyed them all. I even get to bring my baby to the movies so he won't have to miss a meal. In the order we saw them this week.
First, there was THE DEPARTED with Jack Nicholson, Leo Dicaprio and Matt Damon. It've very disconcerting to watch as I keep forgetting Matt is NOT Jason Bourne anymore. At least not here. Leo was fantastic. That boy can act!
Second, was THE GUARDIAN with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. This film reminded me why I had such a huge crush on Kevin. You'll be drooling and breathless in this movie. The water scene are fantastic!
Last night, we saw a third movie. JET LI'S FEARLESS.
First, there was THE DEPARTED with Jack Nicholson, Leo Dicaprio and Matt Damon. It've very disconcerting to watch as I keep forgetting Matt is NOT Jason Bourne anymore. At least not here. Leo was fantastic. That boy can act!
IMDB trivia:
As research for his character's occupation, Matt Damon worked with a Massachusetts State Police unit out of Boston. He accompanied them on routine patrols, participated in a drug raid and was taught proper police procedures like how to pat down a suspect.
Second, was THE GUARDIAN with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. This film reminded me why I had such a huge crush on Kevin. You'll be drooling and breathless in this movie. The water scene are fantastic!
Best described as the US Coast Guard version of "Top Gun" with a little "An Officer and A Gentleman" thrown in, "The Guardian" is a passable diversion with the recognition of having parts of the aforementioned films. Kevin Costner plays an aging USCG rescue swimmer whose team is killed in a horrific rescue mission. Immediatley prior to this terrible event, his wife (Sela Ward) also announced that she cannot take anymore. His first love is always the rescue mission. This leaves Costner an obviously emotional wreck. His commender gives him a choice - quit or take a position as an instructor at the USCG training facility in Louisiana. Reluctantly he takes the position. Moving into the school, he immediately increases the 18 week curriculum that routinely fails half of the people that attend. Here he meets a young man (Ashton Kutcher) with unlimited potential, but with some secret that seems to hold him back as a team player. Delving into his past, links are found that make him a psychic twin to the older man. Thrown into the midst of the story is a romance with a local girl (Melissa Sagemiller). Rescue missions punctuate the beginning and end of the story with the training sessions the center of the film.
Summary written by John Sacksteder {jsackste@bellsouth.net}
Factual errors (Goof which won't spoil): Based upon published and televised procedures in Alaska - every fishing boat is required to prove to the Coast Guard that there are survival immersion suits for all members of the crew and that each crew member can get into their suit in less than a short period like 90 seconds. There are a number of scenes of rescues by the Coast Guard in Alaska where a number of the "rescuees" are not in survival suits even though the plot gives the impression that the crew being rescued had plenty of time to don their suits which would have prolonged their ability to survive until the Coast Guard Helicopter with the rescue swimmers could arrive.
Last night, we saw a third movie. JET LI'S FEARLESS.
Already a boxoffice hit in Asia, Jet Li's Fearless, directed by Ronny Yu (helmer of the Hong Kong classic The Bride with White Hair), is Jet Li's final martial arts masterpiece, capping a tremendous body of work in that genre. Jet Li's Fearless reunites the actor and martial arts superstar with producer Bill Kong (Hero) and action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (Unleashed) as he portrays martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia, who became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century. Huo faced incredible personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness and into history, forever defining the true spirit of martial arts. His self-discovery, and the choices he made, inspired his nation.
I sure hope he's not quiting because there's no other good martial arts guy in the wings yet.
Trivia:
Huo Yianjia is portrayed as having no surviving offspring after the murder of his daughter. In fact, he has been followed by seven grandchildren and, as of 2006, eleven great-grandchildren.
Going to movies on week day nights is like having my own private showing. I am starting to really like it a lot.
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