Fish for Friday

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

Look familiar? "The Story Behind the World’s Most Viewed Photo, the Windows XP ‘Bliss’ Wallpaper":

From the radio last night [pertaining to "The Nation's T. Rex Invades the Smithsonian"]:

A one-hundred-twenty million-year-old Dinosaur has moved to Washington. The general opinion is that he's thinking of running for the Senate with the other fossils. But, since T Rex has only two fingers on his foreshortened forelimbs, it would be difficult to be effectual, having a hard time pounding on the table.

The difference in time between when Tyrannosaurus Rex and Stegosaurus lived is greater than the difference in time between Tyrannosaurus Rex and now.
    Mammoths went extinct 1,000 years after the Egyptians finished building the Great Pyramid.
    Cleopatra lived closer to the invention of the iPhone than she did to the building of the Great Pyramid.
    The pyramids were as old to the Romans as the Romans are to us.
    At the time the current oldest person on Earth was born, there was a completely different set of human beings on the planet.
    And at the time you were born, you were briefly the youngest person in the entire world.
    France was still executing people with a guillotine when the first Star Wars film came out.

Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

School days are very educational: "High school science teacher suspended for teaching science." Excerpt:

...two of his students made projects that "appeared dangerous to administrators."
    One project used compressed air to propel a small object but it was not connected to a source of air pressure, so it could not have been fired....
Another project used the power from an AA battery to charge a tube surrounded by a coil....
    A school employee saw the air-pressure project and raised concerns about what looked to her like a weapon....

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

More about creativity: "18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently." Excerpt:

While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people. Here is one of 18 things they do differently.
    They seek out new experiences.
    Creative people love to expose themselves to new experiences, sensations and states of mind – and this openness is a significant predictor of creative output.
    "Openness to experience is consistently the strongest predictor of creative achievement," says Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity. "This consists of lots of different facets, but they're all related to each other: Intellectual curiosity, thrill seeking, openness to your emotions, openness to fantasy. The thing that brings them all together is a drive for cognitive and behavioral exploration of the world, your inner world and your outer world."

You don't have to look like me to be my friend.

The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

They were too close to the door to close it.

Have you seen this before? I've gotten it several times:

Lawrence Anthony, a legend in South Africa and author of 3 books including the bestseller The Elephant Whisperer, bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo animals during US invasion in 2003.
    On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died. He is remembered and missed by his wife, 2 sons, 2 grandsons, & numerous elephants.
    Two days after his passing, the wild elephants showed up at his home led by two large matriarchs. Separate wild herds arrived in droves to say goodbye to their beloved man-friend. A total of 31 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles to get to his South African House.

    Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these elephants sensed about Lawrence 's passing, but also because of the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked in such an organized way: walking slowly – for days – making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat to his house.
    Lawrence 's wife, Francoise, was especially touched, knowing that the elephants had not been to his house prior to that day for well over 3 years!
    But yet they knew where they were going. The elephants obviously wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend who'd saved their lives – so much respect that they stayed for 2 days 2 nights without eating anything.
    Then one morning they left, making their long journey back home.
    Something in the Universe is greater and deeper than human intelligence.

[Background: 2012-03-11 obituary: "Lawrence Anthony, Baghdad Zoo Savior, Dies at 61."
    Snopes.com reported in July 2012 that "research is in progress" as regards the extent of the claim that separate groups of wild elephants visited.]

Happy Easter! – so fun to watch this short video:


Limerick of the Week:

Blogging when you're sick – it sucks;
Almost nothing sticks, it comes unstuck;
    you're tired, you have no pluck,
    you're so deeply mired in muck
you hope 'til the very last ticks for luck.

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Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean

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