Geeky Cat Miusings

A friend sent me a link to a quiz that asks various questions about every day objects with the objective of testing how observant one is in daily life. I know very well I am not highly observant since I often don’t notice what people are wearing, their hair colour, or any weight changes. If they are wearing something beautiful or they have changed their hair colour, I probably will notice, but not as a general rule and I don’t think I would be the greatest witness in a courtroom…though I would probably notice what book the bank robber was reading.

Here is an example: One day last week at work I had an envelope that I needed to mail. I was thinking about my surroundings and trying to recall if I had noticed any mailboxes close to the office. I thought there might very likely be one on the main street but my memory scan of the street failed to produce a mailbox. So then I called a co-worker and asked him if there was a mailbox in the area and he said there wasn’t one right around our work area but there was one at the nearest major intersection. So when I left work that day I planned to walk to the intersection. When I passed the bus stop that I have used every day over the past four months, I saw a mailbox. It has been there all along but I never noticed it!

I think it is time for me to be more observant.

Here is the quiz if you are interested though I can’t vouch for its value:
http://www.blogthings.com/howobservantareyouquiz/

What a spectacular snow storm we had:

I hope everyone will consider making some New Year’s resolutions that helpful and beneficial to the environment. The climate change trend is going to change our life in a very profound way and we all need to make changes in our daily lives to help the situation. I know most of us want to do the right thing for Earth and desire to treat our planet with respect to make sure that it stays vibrant and bountiful. And while good wishes are genuine and heartfelt, we need to be active in order to have an impact on the world. As a friend said to me, all other issues don’t mean a thing if the planet is destroyed: Without a healthy planet to live on other problems such as a poor economy, diseases, poverty, or war are all non-issues.

As per an article in The Toronto Star, here are a few things that will change if climate change continues:

• Guacamole won’t be quite as abundant as it is now. With the hotter temperatures California’s avocado production will be reduced by 40 percent over the next 40 years.
• Two-thirds of the polar bears along the Western Hudson Bay area will disappear by 2050.
• The cold winters have kept the black-legged ticks that carry Lyme disease (which causes serious symptoms like paralysis) from infiltrating Ontario. With the milder weather they will thrive and expand their territory to the point where we would be foolish to go on the grass wearing shorts and sandals.
• The blue-green algae will bloom in Lake Ontario. The water tastes musty and taking a shower is a smelly experience. Not pretty!
• The decline of the Emperor Penguin — with warm winter temperatures breaking up the sea ice early, their eggs and chicks are being swept out to sea.

We don’t want to see these changes, so let’s act now!

PS Happy Birthday, Rowan Atkinson. I love you!!!

Today, we’ve experienced the first snow storm of this winter. It started off as icy rain this morning but it turned to snow as the day progressed. There wasn’t a lot of accumulation within the city of Toronto but some how geeky cat got stuck in traffic, which was especially bad in the north end of the city, and so it took 2.5 hours to get home from work by bus. The experience was almost reminiscent of the truly
nasty storm in February. Tama said I may be interviewed once again for my misadventures, as I was the last time by The Excalibur. But it was not as bad this time…and I really didn’t freeze over because 1) I did not wait so long for the bus and 2) I wore my naughty monkey boots which keep my feet warm. This kitty is learning how to brave the winter.

When Elvis died there were 100 Elvis impersonators.
10 years after he died there were 10,000 impersonators.
Now there are 50,000 - 85,000 (depends on who is counting and how).
If this continues at such an alarming rate, by the year 2020 one in ten people on planet earth will be an Elvis Impersonator (one third according to The Naked Scientists).

Elvis impersonators come in all sizes and variations:

• an Elvis on stilts
• a ten member elite Elvis parachute team
• a lesbian Elvis who calls herself Elvis Herselvis
• a Mexican Elvis aka El Vez, who shares the stage with his three “Elvettes” Priscillita, Gladysita, and Lisa Marie
• and we suspect that when we finally land on Mars we will find some ….Alien Elvis Impersonators

Some people use the plural term Elvii for multiple Elvis impersonators, but this is not grammatically correct. According to the Wikipedia, the plural form is Elves.

“If life was fair, Elvis would still be alive and all the impersonators dead” –Johnny Carson

How much do you think you can tell about a person just by looking at them? Do you think you would be able to sense that a person is a killer just by looking at his eyes? Quite often when I see a murderer on TV I think that the person “looks” like he would do the dirty deed - sometimes there is something dark and sinister about his or her eyes. I don’t think we should start convicting people just based on their looks (I don’t think people just go out and kill just because they took a look in the mirror and saw their killer eyes), but you can test your skills by taking this killer quiz.

Have you ever wanted to disappear in a black hole? I do think about it. After looking at this cool black hole animation I discovered that if you were watching me fall into the black hole, you would see me get closer and closer to the horizon. But no matter how long you wait, you would never see me reach the horizon because the light that I am emitting takes longer and longer to climb back out to reach you. And so even though a long time has passed since I went through the horizon, the light telling you that I have fallen in won’t reach you for a very long, infinitely long time. Sounds like a trip to end all trips!

Did you hear that Microsoft To Buy Facebook For $6 Billion? They turned down attempts by Yahoo in 2006 to buy the company. All I can do is speculate as to what will happen, but it sure will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

The dress code is becoming much more casual than it once was. Jeans were once considered casual but now jeans are worn everywhere and even track pants and lounge wear are becoming the norm. But do you think committing a robbery in your pajamas is just a little bit under dressed considering that there might be cameras taking your photograph?

Here is something for Milene: Have a look at this Low Impact Woodland Home. It took 4 months to build, it was inexpensive, and is designed to have low impact on the environment. Someone had some very neat ideas for conservation - the fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations!

It had to happen sometime, but not by someone I never heard of - Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world’s richest man, worth an estimated $67.8 billion. He has dethroned Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates from the spot in June, according to a respected tracker of Mexican financial wealth on Monday. That is a lot of wealth there. If he could find it in his heart to donate 1 millionth of that to my I haven’t had a vacation since 2001 fund - I could take a much needed vacation every year, for the next 25 years with that money. I, in return, could donate 1 millionth of my salary to someone in need of a vacation (unfortunately, it would not be enough to get them out the door). Puede la buena fortuna estar con usted.

I attended my first drawing class this week and the teacher said that she would know what we are thinking by the way we draw. Boy, am I afraid! I must clear my head of all extraneous thoughts such as kitties, cats, and moodle (some how Blackboard was in there too).

After much seeking (well, really just thinking about it), I have finally found edamame beans. Ever since I had them on a patio on Bloor Street I have just been dreaming of them - they are a delicious snack. They are green soy beans. It’s said that proteins in edamame with vitamins C and B1 help the resolution of alcohol. So, it can be said to be reasonable to drink beer, eating boiled edamame. So yummy!

The Fringe Festival is on! I saw the comedy, Dishpig which is an actual word in the Urban Dictionary. This is what it says: A dish pig is a person who works in the kitchen of any industry, but does anything but cooking. i.e. cleaning dishes, cooking equipment, floors etc. Usually student Chefs. The show synopsis stated that it was about the glories of dish washing - something I do every day and could use some helpful tips for making it a glorious experience. No tips, but it was very funny and I have some jokes I might tell you about when I see you.