caroljane

Hee hee. This was one of their first seasons, and what happened was there was a rat in the locker room, and one of the players chased it down with his hockey stick and killed it. The story got into the papers, and next thing you know people are throwing rats onto the ice. Great story. The Panthers are a good team, they're leading their division now. Unlike Toronto and Detroit (PDS's team) which are second. Not that it will last. Hockey is one area where rational economics go out the window. The wretched Leafs have sucked for forty plus years and they are the richest team in the entire NHL.

Happily sung with the vocals of the Beach Boys "Wouldn't it be nice" Care to pen the lyrics? "Wouldn't it be nice if we'd just wake up and think with our own minds, and go, "it's dumb to pound and shake up all our heads and our behinds" Oh we could be healthy eee.. and we could be ..maybe insurance salesmen... Oh wouldn't it be... oh never mind."

Plastic -- what else could you expect when you try to play hockey in the degenerate south. Bettman, what have you wrought? Real fans throw real rodents!

Um, hmm, Eau de Schoolmarm swirls about me...nope, can't resist. Wodehouse quotes must be transmitted faithfully. "If this is Upper Silesia, one wonders what Lower Silesia must be like…" BTW the transcripts of the Berlin broadcasts are here: http://www.pgwodehou...com/berlin1.htm Young men, starting out in life, have often asked me 'How can I become an Internee?' Well, there are several methods. My own was to buy a villa in Le Touquet on the coast of France and stay there till the Germans came along. This is probably the best and simplest system. You buy the villa and the Germans do the rest. I knew if I did not look it up you would catch me out. At least I am being kept honest though the Respectability is slipping somewhat. Do I remember this one correctly? When he was badgered about "allowing" the Germans to commandeer his house in LeTouquet, he said, "I didn't ask them to come and scour their damned bodies in my bathtub." ?

Yes.. I've heard you have at times gotten the two confused. There's a reason your photo is up at all the security checkpoints at the Joe Louis Arena. Not even the cephalopods are safe from you!

Thanks for the primer Adam. Previously the only thing I knew about Silesia was Wodehouse's comment, looking around as he was being transported across it to internment in WWII: "Good God! If this is Upper Silesia, what can Lower Silesia be like?"

Hockey etiquette expert Emile Goalpost answers all your questions Dear Emile, I recently got promoted and one of my new responsibilities is to help entertain clients in our corporate box at hockey games. I don't know much about the sport (I'm from Long Island originally) and I'm anxious to make a good impression. One of my colleagues suggested that I should put an octopus in my pants and when the fans start booing, pull it out and throw it down on the ice. Is this a good idea? Rising Young Exec Dear Rising, Octopus throwing is an acceptable spectator activity and might well make a big impression on your guests, if you follow the etiquette guidelines carefully. First, make sure you select a dead octopus. Octopi are wily creatures and many a novice has been fooled by one who was merely pretending to be dead until it got to the arena, causing embarrassing and in some cases incriminating situations which could have been avoided. If no dead octopus is obtainable, a large squid is a reasonable substitute. Don't try to be too fancy when throwing. Simply grab a tentacle firmly, swing your octopus in a complete circle and release to soar onto the rink. (You might want to practice beforehand with a rubber facsimile (plastic is too light). DO NOT aim at any of the players or officials, except Zdeno Chara and that s.o.b. linesman Pierre leChien who robbed us of last week's game. Final tip, wear a long topcoat.to conceal possible tentacle slippage until you are safe in your seat. Relax and enjoy!

Daunce: no breathing Maple Leafs fan can be considered an "eternal optimist." Stop faking reality. Sigh. Just as I was making progress at escaping reality for a while, with the help of my support group, The Hundred Years' War Veterans and Babylonian Ex-Captives.

"Nice guy" is shorthand for "real man" or "mensch." Take a bow, everybody.

John, a question. You have painted a harrowing picture of schooldays in Germany , but thankfully you have survived and are now out in real life.. Is real life in Germany as bleak as your schooldays would have led you to expect? I don't know anything about life there, except you have a good economy and great beer and terrific soccer players. Is the life you live as constricted and menacing as your early life prepared you for?

Not till I get another female into this family. grandson 2 is arriving at the end of January. Bachelor Andy is being heavily programmed to marry a girl with a lot of sisters. Is that scientific?

Huh? At least we're moving up from ants and fish. Dogs now. I have a border collie who can almost predict my actions. His breed is considered one of the most intelligent, rated the same as a 2-3 year old kid. So you want to tell me a 2-3 year old has no intelligence, or can't respond to stimuli, or can't form percepts, or has no emotions? So yes, no reason why a dog is not forming automatic value-judgments integrated by its subconscious. Dumb argument. Huh? At least we're moving up from ants and fish. Dogs now. I have a border collie who can almost predict my actions. His breed is considered one of the most intelligent, rated the same as a 2-3 year old kid. So you want to tell me a 2-3 year old has no intelligence, or can't respond to stimuli, or can't form percepts, or has no emotions? So yes, no reason why a dog is not forming automatic value-judgments integrated by its subconscious. Dumb argument. Barging in here. My son has an English bulldog, than which there is no dumber dog. Your collie is Einstein compared with Bodie.This adorable animal is now one year old, well past the age for being neutered. My son hesitates to do it because he does not want to "ruin his personality." His personality! My son is a 27 year old human, gainfully employed and with many endearing characteristics. But you tell me, who is dumber here?

As to self-taught, I did say that, more forcefullly.(you weren't paying attention, were you)? I said that there is no such thing as teaching, merely enabling to learn. I believe in fact that there is only self-education. But there must be an environment and resources to let that happen, Classrooms and teachers seem to work (except in Germany, according to you), at least until everyone is self-motivated enough to study physics online instead of playing bioshock and visiting dqting sites. The times they are a'changing indeed-- love that song.

What was your score, Champ? Ba'al Chatzaf Not a good time, Baal. Answered in previous post.

I don't think there was a single question I got right because of schooling. I used to be moderately interested in physics and electronics in my adolescence and I read some wikipedia pages about chemistry long after I finished high school. Without extra-curricular interest, there would be much left at all. Schooling only taught me never to become a teacher, which is, however, an important lesson to learn. Oh, John, really. German students show very respectably in international rankings of knowledge in science. Most of them go to public schools. It is too bad that school did not work out for you, but just as you acknowledge there are a few good teachers, surely you must acknowledge that there are a few students who cannot benefit from a system that otherwise works for many others. As for your decision not to become a teacher yourself, I think it was wise.

Phil, Phil! Rise above! Christmas is coming! I agree that "junior high" is a bit much, unless he went to Bronx Science or somewhere, if they have a junior high. All the answers I knew I distinctly remember from high school or university. He is in fact an artist, that is not false. You posted this quiz as a fun challenge in a humorous spirit, try to keep hold of it.

Have I offended you? I don't remember ever having any serious arguments with you about art. My thing isn't "tolerating" those who only consume art, but laughing at those who only consume it yet believe that their rules about art should be taken seriously, and who pose as experts and want to save the world with their tastes as consumers. There's a lot of that in Objectivist circles. But I don't remember that you've ever displayed that attitude, or that I've ridiculed you for it. The only thing that I've ever "tolerated" about you is your Canadianism. J No, of course you haven't offended me. I was making reference to your sometimes impatience with others, yes, but in fact I was backhandedly acknowledging your accomplishments, as an artist and composer, which I admire.. Obviously my slapdash conversational style of posting gave the wrong impression , not for the first time, I apologize if so. And thanks for your acceptance of my gloomy northern ethnicity - it is appreciated that the stranger in your midst can wander the great bazaar, unmolested.

Good grief, is that right? Did she recognize a fellow submissive, "weary of tears and of laughter"? What amazing things I learn on this site!

He was a kinky guy, a death-obsessed masochist in youth, fated to live out a long dull old age.

None of the above. I was always made to play goalie when we played hockey in P. E. class because I was such a bad skater. Never played backgammon and wouldn't know Swinburne from a hole in the ground. J Well, then I guess I don't need to be so ascairt of you. Also I know that you have a lot of tolerance for (most of) us who merely consume but do not create art. "They also serve who only punctuate", I firmly believe. I can't skate either (weak ankles) or play anything more complex than Hearts. I can however recite Swinburne, a lot of which sort of resembles a hole in the ground with dank dark weeds in it. But I only do that to people who I think need it or who really, really annoy me.

No, I'm not that scientifically literate. The test was simple. Perhaps I just have good memory of what I learned back in junior high science classes? J Let me guess .. you can skate too, right? Play backgammon? Recite Swinburne?

The Germans just won the pairs gold medal at the Grand Prix figure skating final. Nonpatriotic John won't care I guess, but Angela might The Americans beat our Olympic champs Virtue and Moir in the ice dance. Grrrr.. Of course a Canadian is the men's champ, as always.

Oh, no! It's the Invasion of the Renaissance Men! Run , run!!

lol. Just keeping you on yer toes with yer britches hitched up. I'm not surprised that Nixon and Bert Lance did not know any Latin, or that criteria will become the new agenda, likely datum will also wend its lonely way across the River Styx. But not on my watch!! Carol Killjoy Pedantress

I got 29 right, which staggered me as I did not know I remembered any of that stuff. It was great fun taking the quiz, it reminded me how much I enjoyed chemistry . thanks Phil-- I suppose you got all 50 right? Go ahead and tell us, never mind ND and Jonathan. If you can't be immodest rationally proud of your knowledge on an Objectivish site, where can you be?