Wise Old Saws for the New Year
I’ve unearthed new content to spiff up the Quotable page: baseball terms from The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary. The book is a time capsule of evocative phrases from the days of nickel sodas, but does shy away from modern jargon and controversy. Under the entry for “juice,” for example, there is no mention of steroids. You won’t find an entry for “greenie,” either.
There’s also a television section on my About page now. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I watch way too much of it.
Happy New Year, to those that celebrate it according to the lunar calendar. Although most of Japan switched over to the Gregorian calendar with the Meiji Restoration, folks in the rural areas, like my great-grandparents, followed the lunar calendar. When they came to Hawai‘i, they brought this tradition with them. Pictured here are kadomatsu, which are placed on either side of doorways. The pine represents longevity and the bamboo symbolizes health. The kadomatsu are designed to shelter kami (spirits), who will then bring wellness to those in abodes so adorned.
Comments
If you like Mythbusters (as I most certainly do), there is a television show on SciFi you may like called Ghost Hunters. It follows TAPS (pretty sure The Atlantic Paranormal Society), a group of plumbers by day, paranormal investigators by night who are based out of Rhode Island, on their investigations of paranormal activity. It sounds kind of hokey, but they approach each case scientifically in the hopes of finding some actual evidence of paranormal activity. A lot of it is really compelling. Also, they were filming in my town a couple of months ago, so I would give it an 8% chance it was at my old house, after all, there can't be that many haunted places in town, can there?
NU50 ∙ 29 January 2006 ∙ 10:27 PM
“…After all, there can't be that many haunted places in town, can there?” The basis for nearly every haunted house movie ever released.
I don’t think anyone likes (read: obsesses over) Mythbusters as much as you, NU50. I will check out that SF show, but I have to state that I’m on board with the Amazing Randi on matters paranormal.
Joanna
∙ 30 January 2006 ∙
2:44 PM
The fact that I once told a friend that he could burn off all non-essential smooching anatomy for the chance to make out with featured Mythbuster Kari Byron is evidence of absolutely nothing.
And I think one of the reasons why Ghost Hunters draws me in is that the long term goal of the TAPS team is to eventually find proof of paranormal activity, but they approach each case with the mission to debunk it. And rather than relying on "psychics" and what have you, their tools are thermal imaging cameras, motion detection rigs, high end audio recording, and good old fashioned personal observation. It makes for a really interesting show, especially when they find evidence of something in their data that isn't easily explained away.
NU50 ∙ 30 January 2006 ∙ 3:39 PM