Junk Food Diet

A junk food diet
Is about eating junk food
In moderation.

Happy Towel Day!

It’s not about what  you eat but how many calories you eat.  Also, nutritional supplements are useful.

Potpourri and Bath Salts

I keep hearing about people
Who smoke (or snort, I think)
Potpourri and bath salts.

What are they thinking?
I want to know.
Especially of those labeled
“Not for human consumption”.
And the manufactures can’t leave that out
Or they would surely be sued
(If they haven’t been already).

People are now pushing to
Make these things totally illegal.
(Like that’s going to stop people
From doing things that are completely stupid).

Maybe making ingestion illegal
Would be a solution.
But, somehow, I don’t think that would work.
It’s not like the products are marketed that way
And they’re already pushing illegality.

Let’s make aerosol paint illegal
Let’s lock up mouthwash
Let’s get rid of cough syrup
Let’s ban bad foods, while we’re at it.
Maybe these things should be regulated
(If even that’s the right step).

But, wouldn’t it be better
To just make sure people are informed?
Let them know to beware of misuse
Let them know fat, sugar, and calorie content
And other nutritional information.

Let people decide what they wish to expose themselves to,
At least to some extent.

Regulations aren’t always wrong
But they’re not always right either.
If it’s mostly a personal issue
Then it should probably be a personal choice.

Booty Man

I recently heard about The Original Butt Sketch on the news.  I think it’s an interesting idea to draw people’s backside instead of their frontside.  I could even see people posting these sketches on social media sites; that would be fun.

If It Fits, Does It Really Ship?

I recently heard about someone trying to ship a 4 month old puppy.  It reminded me of those ads that say ‘if it fits, it ships’.  But, obviously, it doesn’t always work that way; and, in this case, it shouldn’t anyway.  That’s not the right way to send an animal by air travel; the puppy probably would have died if it had been put on the plane.  It’s all just a reminder that ads aren’t comprehensive, and advertisers don’t always think of all the ways in which they’re ads could be taken wrong.  Stupidity knows no bounds.

Here He Isn’t

I recently heard about Liu Bolin; he’s a Chinese artist who takes pictures of himself painted to blend in with the background.  I think I may have heard of this idea before, and not just because of that veteran’s ad with people painted in the same manner; the picture of him in a grocery store strikes me as familiar.  On another note, it reminds me of people who use body-paint as a form of clothing; if you don’t look too closely, it looks like regular clothing; here‘s an image search (obviously, don’t click on it if you are likely to be offended).  (And, for some reason, I’m also reminded of this.)

What’s Your Sign?

The answer to that old line could be changing.  An astronomer looked into the astrological shift and declared the addition of a thirteenth sign.  But, as I was looking into this, using Wikipedia, I found that this shift has been known about for some time:  ”While Ptolemy noted that Ophiuchus is in contact with the ecliptic, he was aware that the twelve signs were just conventional names for 30 degrees segments (especially since the Aries sign had ceased to be in contact with the Aries constellation already in his time).”    So, the adding of a thirteenth sign would interfere with the 3o degree segments, and the signs haven’t matched up with their dates for a long time.  The dates that are typically used for the zodiac are called tropical or western; the sidereal dates are ones that approximately follow where the constellations actually are; and the IAU dates are more specific and include Ophiuchus (2002 dates):

Tropical Dates:
Aries:  March 21 – April 19
Taurus:  April 20 – May 21
Gemini:  May 22 – June 22
Cancer:  June 23 – July 22
Leo:  July 23 – August 22
Virgo:  August 23 – September 23
Libra:  September 24 – October 23
Scorpius:  October 24 – November 22
Ophiuchus:  N/A
Sagittarius:  November 23 – December 21
Capricorn:  December 22 – January 20
Aquarius:  January 21 – February 19
Pisces:  February 20 – March 20

Sidereal Dates:
Aries:  April 15 – May 15
Taurus:  May 16 – June 15
Gemini:  June 16 – July 15
Cancer:  July 16 – August 15
Leo:  August 16 – September 15
Virgo:  September 16 – October 15
Libra:  October 16 – November 15
Scorpius:  November 16 – December 15
Ophiuchus:  N/A
Sagittarius:  December 16 – January 14
Capricorn:  January 15 – February 14
Aquarius:  February 15 – March 14
Pisces:  March 15 – April 14

IAU Dates:
Aries:  April 3 and 17 – May 13
Taurus:  May 14 – June 19
Gemini:  June 20 – July 20
Cancer:  July 21 – August 9
Leo:  August 10 – September 15
Virgo:  September 16 – October 30
Libra:  October 31 – November 22
Scorpius:  November 23 – November 28
Ophiuchus:  November 29 – December 17
Sagittarius:  December 18 – January 17
Capricorn:  January 18 – February 15
Aquarius:  February 16 – March 11
Pisces:  March 12 – April 16 (but 3)

Constellation		Tropical date	Sidereal Date	IAU Definition
	Aries	March 21 – April 19	April 15 – May 15	April 3 and 17 – May 13
	Taurus	April 20 – May 21	May 16 – June 15	May 14 – June 19
	Gemini	May 22 – June 22	June 16 – July 15	June 20 – July 20
	Cancer	June 23 – July 22	July 16 – August 15	July 21 – August 9
	Leo	July 23 – August 22	August 16 – September 15	August 10 – September 15
	Virgo	August 23 – September 23	September 16 – October 15	September 16 – October 30
	Libra	September 24 – October 23	October 16 – November 15	October 31 – November 22
	Scorpius	October 24 – November 22	November 16 – December 15	November 23 – November 28
	Ophiuchus	N/A		November 29 – December 17
	Sagittarius	November 23 – December 21	December 16 – January 14	December 18 – January 17
	Capricorn	December 22 – January 20	January 15 – February 14	January 18 – February 15
	Aquarius	January 21 – February 19	February 15 – March 14	February 16 – March 11
	Pisces	February 20 – March 20	March 15 – April 14	March 12 – April 16 (but 3)

The dates proposed in the article are as follows:

Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20
Capricorn: Jan. 20 – Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 – March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18

Those dates seem to (mostly, the shift is probably due the the year) correspond with the IAU dates.  So, with all the information I’ve gone through I’ve come to the conclusion that the people who follow the zodiac don’t really need to worry about this new revelation.  Unless they actually want to know which constellation was really in the sky when they were born they can just go on with what they’ve been doing up to now.  And finding out which constellation was overhead at the time of their birth wouldn’t be so easy as to just look at the above list because the solar days don’t exactly match up with the constellations (sidereal).  ”There is one less solar day per year than there are sidereal days“, therefore there is going to be difference between the date on the calendar and constellations overhead any given year.  But, as interesting as all that is, it ultimately doesn’t really have to have an effect on which sign people answer to that age old question.

Newton’s Tower of the Year

I just heard that Newton’s water tower has been named the national 2010 Water Tank of the Year and that the design on it was based off of a sculpture in that town.  Even though I’d never heard of the award before, I thought it was neat that Newton won.

Mustache November

November is now Movember, a month devoted to men’s health issues.  To raise awareness, men are supposed to grow their mustaches for the entire month of November Movember.

Telephones in Iowa Hill

When I first heard about Iowa Hill, the California town that just got phone lines, I wondered why it hadn’t happened sooner.  But, when I found out that it’s a mountain town with only about 200 residents, it all made sense.  It would be difficult to get lines up there, and the low population could have a hard time paying for it.  It’s good for the town because, although many of the residents have cellphones, reception for those phones is spotty.  But what I think I find most interesting about this town is that it doesn’t have electricity; they use solar panels, batteries, and generators.

B.K. Doe

A missing persons,
Who’s lost his identity;
He can’t remember.