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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: You learn something new every day
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Evensong
Shipmate
# 14696
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Posted
I am the epitome of suave and I know it all.
Yet sometimes I'm genuinely surprised by something I've learnt in the course of life. Sometimes its a tiny, silly thing that tickles me pink for no reason or sometimes its a really big deal.
So today my husband gets back from work and tells me he's seen an elderly woman in clinic. She is generally well functioning for her age ( runs a household, finances etc with some help from her husband and daughter) and is independently living at home yet she comes to my husband cos she feels something's not "quite right".
So my hubby has a CT scan done and discovers that her frontal lobe is almost entirely non-existent. According to current medical brain theory, the woman should be a vegetable.
Yet hubby tells me he wasn't that surprised (seen it before) and this is why Medicine is sometimes called an "art".
How cool is that??
So what cool little or big thing did you learn today?
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a theological scrapbook
Posts: 9481 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2009
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
I learned that my anti-rabbit plant spray doesn't taste good to humans either.
Although I'm not sure that qualifies as a cool thing to know...
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
Yesterday I met two guys from Canada who are planning to kayak from Brazil to Florida.
I never knew that it was possible to kayak on the open sea like that! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Sarkycow
La belle Dame sans merci
# 1012
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Posted
I learnt recently that Nigella Lawson is 53! 53!!!
When I think of her (not often, granted), I picture her as a sultry 30-something, pretending to orgasm over making soup or cake or something...
How did she get to 53???
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“Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.”
Posts: 10787 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
I have had reason to purchase a hammock, so I asked the t'internet and discovered:
They are meant to sag ! And you are meant to lie in them diagonally !
I slept in the new hammock (on its stand) in my spare room last night, it appears to be slightly more comfortable than my double bed.
Unsolicited advice: never buy a hammock with a spreader bar and/or made of net, buy a mayan cloth hammock - it will be a transformational experience.
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sarkycow:
I learnt recently that Nigella Lawson is 53! 53!!!
When I think of her (not often, granted), I picture her as a sultry 30-something, pretending to orgasm over making soup or cake or something...
How did she get to 53???
She remains gorgeous - in fact I think she has become more attractive as she has aged. She'll be staggeringly beautiful when she's 70.
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
quote:
Originally posted by Sarkycow:
I learnt recently that Nigella Lawson is 53! 53!!!
When I think of her (not often, granted), I picture her as a sultry 30-something, pretending to orgasm over making soup or cake or something...
How did she get to 53???
She remains gorgeous - in fact I think she has become more attractive as she has aged. She'll be staggeringly beautiful when she's 70.
She's taken care of herself but if anything has helped it has been that she has never tried to be stick-insect thin. If her BMI is under 25 (ie, in the "healthy" range) I'd be surprised.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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LutheranChik
Shipmate
# 9826
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Posted
I learned that charcoal-grilled meat can be frozen and repurposed and not taste awful. We'd barbecued some pork a couple of months ago that we just couldn't eat in two days, so I vac-packed the leftovers and froze it. I was expecting some inedible mess when I cut the package open today, but it was fine. I cut the meat into small pieces, threw some cilantro/lime sauce on it and made terrific pork tacos. I hate wasting a good charcoal fire on only one part of one meal, so this experiment told me I can grill a number of meats as long as the fire holds out and freeze some of them for later use.
[ 24. June 2013, 02:09: Message edited by: LutheranChik ]
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Simul iustus et peccator
http://www.lutheranchiklworddiary.blogspot.com
Posts: 6462 | From: rural Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
And I learned that the word 'repurposed' does actually get used outside of programmes on the Food Channel!
![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Only ever heard it on 'Chopped'!
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
I went to an interesting lecture on the Beatles and the making of the album "Revolver".
I learned a few things, most memorably that the string section of "Eleanor Rigby" is very similar to Bernard Hermann's soundtrack for "Psycho".
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
I learned yesterday that if you're making a fruit cake and intend to put marzipan on top, a thin layer of apricot jam will make the marzipan stick better.
I have no intention of making a fruit cake, but it's nice to know.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
The flavour of apricot has an affinity with almond, so is better than other jams.
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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angelica37
Shipmate
# 8478
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Posted
if you use roll out chocolate fondant icing on a sponge cake nutella sticks it on nicely
Posts: 1351 | From: Suffolk | Registered: Sep 2004
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que sais-je
Shipmate
# 17185
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Posted
That 'happy', 'haphazard' and 'perhaps' all have the same root 'hap' meaning 'lucky'.
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"controversies, disputes, and argumentations, both in philosophy and in divinity, if they meet with discreet and peaceable natures, do not infringe the laws of charity" (Thomas Browne)
Posts: 794 | From: here or there | Registered: Jun 2012
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
Also hapless.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
Not to mention 'to happen'. The Indo-European root of these words is *kob- which indeed means 'good fortune'.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
While researching for this word, I found out that there exists an organization that has developed a modern form of the Proto-Indo-European language, and that tries to stimulate its use.
You learn something new every day.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
well this is so cool it's frozen.
I vaguely knew that some insects could survive being frozen because they have their own anti-freeze, but I didn't know that there is an alpine wetan NZ that survives being frozen not because of anti-freeze but because it's tissues ae not damaged.
Weta are cool insects anyway - not the biggest in the world but the heaviest and arguably the ugliest.
Weta info
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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que sais-je
Shipmate
# 17185
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
While researching for this word, I found out that there exists an organization that has developed a modern form of the Proto-Indo-European language, and that tries to stimulate its use.
You learn something new every day.
Much more interesting than my post.
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"controversies, disputes, and argumentations, both in philosophy and in divinity, if they meet with discreet and peaceable natures, do not infringe the laws of charity" (Thomas Browne)
Posts: 794 | From: here or there | Registered: Jun 2012
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churchgeek
Have candles, will pray
# 5557
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Evensong:
So today my husband gets back from work and tells me he's seen an elderly woman in clinic. She is generally well functioning for her age ( runs a household, finances etc with some help from her husband and daughter) and is independently living at home yet she comes to my husband cos she feels something's not "quite right".
So my hubby has a CT scan done and discovers that her frontal lobe is almost entirely non-existent. According to current medical brain theory, the woman should be a vegetable.
Yet hubby tells me he wasn't that surprised (seen it before) and this is why Medicine is sometimes called an "art".
I'm only an interested consumer of whatever information on brain science gets produced for the general public, but doesn't another part of the brain often take over for a damaged part?
It occurs I could use the word repurpose here, perhaps, in a non-food context.
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I reserve the right to change my mind.
My article on the Virgin of Vladimir
Posts: 7773 | From: Detroit | Registered: Feb 2004
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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churchgeek
Have candles, will pray
# 5557
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Posted
You learn a lot on cracked.com. I learned yesterday that parrots name their young, and the whole group uses the names. The individual parrots eventually alter their names a bit, making something like nick-names for themselves. They didn't say, though, whether the mother, father, either, or both together come up with the name - or whether they discuss it at all.
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I reserve the right to change my mind.
My article on the Virgin of Vladimir
Posts: 7773 | From: Detroit | Registered: Feb 2004
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.
I have heard that groups of loitering teens will go elsewhere if Bach is played on loudspeakers.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.
I wonder if this would work for bats...
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Beardybard
Apprentice
# 17737
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Posted
I have learned today that the most effective measure for a person to avoid being spied on a cell is to drop it into a tin can during the important conversation, which will mess with the signal.
Posts: 6 | From: London | Registered: Jun 2013
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Starbug
Shipmate
# 15917
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Posted
I learned that ants can 'farm' aphids by clipping their wings to stop them flying away and then 'milking' them for the nectare they collect. Apparently they are doing this on the rose bushes in my front garden.
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“Oh the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?” ― The Day of the Doctor
Posts: 1189 | From: West of the New Forest | Registered: Sep 2010
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John Holding
Coffee and Cognac
# 158
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Starbug:
I learned that ants can 'farm' aphids by clipping their wings to stop them flying away and then 'milking' them for the nectare they collect. Apparently they are doing this on the rose bushes in my front garden.
Milking for nectar, yes. And they will actually pick the little suckers up and move them from place to place. But most aphids are not winged (just like most ants), despite infestations of them being called "greenfly".
John
Posts: 5929 | From: Ottawa, Canada | Registered: May 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I learned yesterday that if one plays Bach very loudly, the unsupervised rugrats playing loudly in the sanctuary will suddenly disappear.
I have heard that groups of loitering teens will go elsewhere if Bach is played on loudspeakers.
Moo
The downtown MacDonald's here suffered some notoriety. They had a fair number of hip hop teenagers hanging out outside the store. To dispel them they played Country Western music on the loudspeaker system.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Beardybard
Apprentice
# 17737
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Posted
I have started studyingphotoshop basics from a selection of tutorials here, some easier, some less so, but I at least I am taking the planned steps, listening to that james blacke retrograde track that fits the Saturday so well, I might break the repeat button ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
[ 29. June 2013, 15:10: Message edited by: Beardybard ]
Posts: 6 | From: London | Registered: Jun 2013
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
I just learned that when the players of the Spanish national team keep their mouths shut while their National Anthem is played, they have an excuse for it. Their Anthem doesn't have lyrics (at least not ones that are officially recognized).
I actually lost a bet learning that.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I think the NZ national anthem would be improved by having no words.
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
I think the US national anthem would be improved by having no music.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
I think the US national anthem would be improved by...
...changing it to the song the late Ray Charles favoured,
America. It is actually singable by a middle-aged bass!
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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.
Posts: 30517 | From: White Hart Lane | Registered: Oct 2002
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