1. Does the fact that an article titled “Monks Pray for Doomed Bull,” (discussing the planned execution of a sacred bull infected with tuberculosis) made the top ten headlines at ABC News this afternoon represent: (a)not much happened in the world this afternoon or (b) someone misinterpreted the recent ABC newseditorialmemoinstructing writers to “showrespect for sacred cows.”
2. Why the Hawaiian name forthe very large BlackMarlin (A’u) contains only two letters, while the name for the Hawaiian name for the very small Reef Triggerfish (Humuhumunukunukuapua’a) contains 21.
3. Ward Churchill: Now Even More Academic. (Statistically, 32% of you got that. The others just turned to a nearby co-worker and asked “You ever heard of Ward Churchill?” – thereby proving my point.)
4. Why the Chinese could care less whether Steven Spielberg quits as artistic advisor to the Beijing Olympics (subtitled: “the fact that you made ‘E.T.’ doesn’t mean you get to run the world”).
5. Dandelions: Flowers, Not Weeds.
6. Why blogging silences the voices in my head, and why we should encourage this on an ongoing basis.
7. A field guide to identification andmigratory patternsof the North American Tube Sock.
8. How long (read: short) we will have to wait for public outcry on the new “fat friends make you fat” study.(Note: In a remarkable show of restraint, I managed not to weigh in on this one.)
9. Bad puns and the people who love them.
10. Why I always seem to end up with excellent lists of twelve items for Thursday 13 posts.
11. The five news stories I cannot discuss, because even mentioning the titles violatesThe Random Yak’s Big Book of Blogging Rules, and why CNN can discuss them even though I can’t. (See also: Taboo-loading, a termreferencing the relative “bang for the buck” associated with use of certain taboo terms and subjects.)
12. How many cookies does it take to choke a yak? (Note: Technically, this qualifies as ‘lab science.’)
13. The difficulty of maintaining a long-established blogging style while eliminating one of the most commonly-used verbsin the English language.
Trackposted to Perri Nelson’s Website, The Pet Haven, and Public Eye, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
I think that an exposition of item number six belongs at the top of the priority list. (Writing that sentence without a form of “to be” was difficult.)
My Thursday Thirteen is up at http://perrinelson.com/2007/7/26/893.aspx.
Thirteen Things about SPAM or is it “spam”.
Comment by PerriNelson — July 26, 2007 @ 3:13 pm