Heat turns powder into creepy alien creature. No, really.
The first minute and twenty seconds is just a person scooping out the powder into a line, which is rather boring, so you might wish to skip that. You want to watch from the moment that heat is added.
Zachary Quinto vs. Leonard Nimoy: “The Challenge”:
Kudos to Audi for making such an awesome commercial!
Mental Floss posted a list of “contronyms” or “self-antonyms,” namely words that mean their own opposite. Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Sanction (via French, from Latin sanctio(n-), from sancire ‘ratify,’) can mean ‘give official permission or approval for (an action)’ or conversely, ‘impose a penalty on.’
3. Left can mean either remaining or departed. If the gentlemen have withdrawn to the drawing room for after-dinner cigars, who’s left? (The gentlemen have left and the ladies are left.)
4. Dust, along with the next two words, is a noun turned into a verb meaning either to add or to remove the thing in question. Only the context will tell you which it is. When you dust are you applying dust or removing it? It depends whether you’re dusting the crops or the furniture.
10. Fast can mean “moving rapidly,” as in “running fast,” or ‘fixed, unmoving,’ as in “holding fast.” If colors are fast they will not run. The meaning ‘firm, steadfast’ came first. The adverb took on the sense ‘strongly, vigorously,’ which evolved into ‘quickly,’ a meaning that spread to the adjective.
Another strange category of words that I love seem to be called “autoholonyms.” Basically, these are words which refer to both the species and the genus. Here are some examples:
Can you think of other common words that fit that pattern? I want to know more!
Back in November, I snapped a few pictures of my super-awesome farrier, Chad Tuttle, at work shaping Lila’s shoes. By such “hot shoeing,” the farrier gets a better fit than he would otherwise.
I vastly prefer to allow a horse to go barefoot if possible. The horse’s hoof still needs to be trimmed by the farrier every eight weeks, but that’s a much faster and much cheaper process than shoeing. Plus, if the unshod horse kicks man or beast, that might hurt, but it’s not likely to do any serious damage. When the shod horse kicks man or beast, that’s likely to require medical attention.
However, sometimes the horses do require shoes to protect their feet, despite those downsides. Last summer, Lila’s soles were sore. The moment that we put on shoes, she became a vastly better horse — far more forward and free in her movements than she’d ever been. I put shoes on Elsie then too because she’d worn her feet down and gotten quite sore. We just pulled Elsie’s shoes off last week: her feet had grown out, the ground is reasonably soft now, and I’m not riding her much. Still, if she wears her feet down too much, she’ll be back in shoes when the farrier returns at the end of May!
Last weekend, I bought this e-book — Broadcast Voice Handbook: How To Polish Your On-Air Delivery. Speaking live is difficult. Although the quality of my delivery has improved dramatically with the practice of over two years on air, I’ve wanted to put some concerted effort into further improving not just my delivery but also the quality of my voice. Hence, the book.
Also, for anyone interested in the equipment that I use to broadcast and record:
They’re of pretty darn good quality, particularly for the price. They’ve been super-reliable too.
For just basic audio quality, I absolutely must keep my mouth very close to the microphone. Even an inch makes a difference. Alas, I got sloppy about that for a while, until someone pointed out the problem. I’ve been better over the past few months, but I should be even more conscientious. So, if you’ve noticed degradations or improvements in quality, that’s due to user error, not the equipment.
Oh, and if you want to hear an awesome radio voice, check out this video of a homeless man:
The man utterly destroyed his life with drugs and alcohol, but based on this follow-up story, he seems to be on the right track now!
Here’s what I found about it: “Workers shape a snow sculpture prior to the annual Vasaloppet China Ski Festival at Jingyuetan Park in Changchun, Jilin province, on December 25. According to local media, the festival will kick off on January 2, 2013.”
Happy New Year!
This video of behind-the-scenes training and filming of the Clydesdales for Busweiser commercials gives me oh-so-many ideas of tricks to teach Lila this winter!
Wow, thanks to the University of Maryland Medical Center:
The University of Maryland released details today on the recovery of Richard Lee Norris, the 37-year-old man who received the most extensive full face transplant completed to date seven months ago. Norris, of Hillsville, Virginia, was injured in a 1997 gun accident, losing much of his upper and lower jaws as well as his lips and nose. The transplant surgery, completed on March 20, 2012 at the University of Maryland Medical Center, included replacement of both jaws, teeth, tongue, and skin and underlying nerve and muscle tissue from scalp to neck.
“For the past 15 years I lived as a recluse hiding behind a surgical mask and doing most of my shopping at night when less people were around,” says Norris. “I can now go out and not get the stares and have to hear comments that people would make. People used to stare at me because of my disfigurement. Now they can stare at me in amazement and in the transformation I have taken. I am now able to walk past people and no one even gives me a second look. My friends have moved on with their lives, starting families and careers. I can now start working on the new life given back to me.” …
Norris continues to gain sensation in his face and is able to smile and show expression. His doctors say the motor function on the right side of his face is about 80 percent normal, and motor function on the left side is about 40 percent. He eats primarily by mouth and is able to smell and taste.
Norris’ historic 36-hour full face transplant was led by Eduardo D. Rodriguez, M.D., D.D.S., professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and chief of plastic, reconstructive and maxillofacial surgery at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Norris’ surgery marked the first time in the world that a face transplant was performed by a team of plastic and reconstructive surgeons with specialized training and expertise in craniofacial surgery and reconstructive microsurgery.
Richard Norris has regained his capacity to live a full life, thanks to an amazing team of doctors.
I wasn’t convinced that this performance was all that… until they began jumping through rings of fire about halfway through. Then, it gets even better: I can’t imagine taking off my saddle while cantering!
Wow.
