Conference back40::soapbox

    
    
    Did you know that:
    
    The average human mouth can hold seven Tater Tots-providing that
    they're not too hot?
    
    It would take 1.166 billion Tater Tots laid end to end to circle the
    Earth at the Equator?
    
    That it takes 1.761 million Tater Tots to fill a football field?
    
    That it takes only 13,958 Tater Tots to reach the top of the Empire
    State Building?

    Graf Otto v. Bismarck was almost 2m tall.

    I'm 203 cm tall.  And 100 kg.

    But you're no fun, that's a fact :-)

	RE .1



	What is a Tater Tot, please ?



	JPC

    <- a juvenile Idaho potato (sans the "e") :-)

    
    I HATE Tater Tots; the smell makes me nauseous 8^p.

    The first ever public train passing the euro-tunnel was more
    than half an hour late.

    re. .7
    
    And not only that, the smell makes you feel like throwing up!



    Gilligan

    But if you could throw a Tater Tot up to the top of the Empire State
    Building  -  what would you do with the remaining 13,957 ?

    Do the same thing and charge admission.

	RE .1

	Ok, thanks.

	JP

>    The first ever public train passing the euro-tunnel was more
>    than half an hour late.

Big deal.  The last train ride I took was more than three hours late,
and it didn't even have any new tunnels to go through.

Albany to Boston.  Left Albany ten minutes late, ran into a speed
restriction because of track maintenance earlier in the day on the
Amtrak-only "shortcut" up the hill, and, as a result, ended up behind
slow freight trains the rest of the way back to Boston.

/john

RE .8 :


	Two years ago I worked on the fire detection project for Eurotunnel, and
	they told me this joke :

	The train stops in the middle of the tunnel. After a few minutes the train 
	crew make an announcement :

	"Ladies and gentlemen, we're experiencing some trouble. We have good news
	and bad news.
	Bad news : we have a fire on the train.
	Good news : there's also a big leak in the tunnel."

re: .8

If you had to pass the Euro-tunnel, you'd be late too.

Bob

Most of those tater tots circling the earth at the equator end up getting
very soggy from the sea water.

    how many does it take to fill the arizona meteor crater? 

    Billions and billions.
    
    
    Carl Sagan

    Carl would say that with a big B as in mouthfull of TT's "Bbillions"

    
    I wish we didn't have to talk about tater tots 8^p.

    
    
    mmmmmmmm.....i just *love* tater tots...yum yum...especially when
    really crisp, but not burnt... :> :>:>
    
    

    
    I'm coming over there to smack you.  I am.

    Why does she get all the luck?

 I like 'em with lots of ketchup.





Jim

 give her a little pinch on the arm for me too, will you?

	The only thing Tater-Tots are good for is during a 
food fight..............%^)

    Why does she get all the luck?

    
    
    ya promise, deb?!!?!   
    
    i can't wait!1  :>:>
    
    

    
    
    oh yes!!!!  do that again!!!
    
    
    

    
    Mission accomplished, including the extra little pinch for lady di.

    Why does she get all the luck?

    
    Now Glenn, I've done more than smack you - I gave you an aural
    experience you'll never forget.

    What's an aural experience?????

	A visit to the dentist.....%^)

    
    You had to be there.

    That's oral idgit... :-)
    
    Aural is hearing... an aural experience is what I get everytime I stay
    out late... :-)
    
    -b

	That explains why my ears are always ringing when I leave
the dentist..............%^)

    It's not always heard mind you..... At least I couldn't hear anything.

    The Michigan shore line is longet than the Eastern seaboard not
    counting nooks and crannies.  
    
    The combined shorelines of the Great Lakes is greater than the
    East and West coasts of the U.S. 
    
    Brian
    
    

    It's possible to swallow half of a canned pear whole.  It is a unique 
    feeling--it feels like it won't make it, but it does.

    If you explored 1000 acres a day, 365 days a year, it would take you
    1000 years to see Alaska.
    
    The wildlife reserve there is approximately the size of the entire
    state of California, slightly larger.

    
    
    fitchburg massachusetts (my current hometown) is the 2nd hilliest city
    in the country, possibly the world.  san francisco is first.
    
    the guiness book says so...
    
    

    <--- I knew that! 

    Fact: If you scowl long enough, your face will really freeze that way!!
    

	I thought that only happened when the clock struck 12...

    Unfortunately, it was an ever-occurring problem

    why is Alaska always so small in my atlas, then?

    Re; the frozen frown... would that mean the hairy palm thing
        is true too? Can someone in here verify this?

    >> <<< Note 117.50 by ANNECY::HUMAN "I came, I saw, I conked out" >>>
    
    >>    why is Alaska always so small in my atlas, then?
    
    
    because your atlas suqs
    
    

    Okay -- on small(er) town fun facts --
    
    Don't know if it still is, but when I lived there 10 years ago,
    Turlock, California (in Central San Joaquin Valley) was in the Guinness
    Book *twice* -- once as the Turkey Capital of the World (more turkeys
    raised per capita, etc., etc.).  Second time for having the most
    churches per capita; at that time, it ws 52 churches, and 20,000
    citizens.
    
    Turlock is also the home of the only Harnessed Turkey Races in the
    US of A, maybe the world.  Quite a sight to see, those races.
    
    M.

    > it ws 52 churches, and 20,000 people
    
    Wow, we have 38 churches and 9,000 people.

    
    120,000,000 addresses in the u.s.  180 billion pieces of mail moved by
    the u.s. post annually.

    wasn't that Scruggs & Lawson et al

	i know pi to 50 places.  this is always a fun fact at parties.
	right.

	i thought i was weird for memorizing it, but i meet people
	periodically who are just as weird.  maybe it's like the birthday
	thing, so if you're in a room with 23 people, the odds are two
	of them will know pi to 50 places.

	anybody else in the 'box know it?  joe? ;>

    I think I've eaten pie in at least 50 places...
    
    -b

    Is that why you always hang out with tarts?

    	Joe me?
    
    	Sorry no.
    
    	But I had a friend who memorized it to 314 places.  He figured
    	that was an appropriate place to stop.

    
>>    	But I had a friend who memorized it to 314 places.  He figured
>>    	that was an appropriate place to stop.

	neat!  okay, now i have my work cut out for me, i see...

    the 1 millionth digit of pi is a 5
    

    
    >>Is that why you always hang out with tarts?
    
    
    HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    

    Another fun fact...
    
    What is 12 inches and white....
    
    
              Ans:   Not much
    
    
    
    
    Sin-te-da

    Did you know that DOOM is MOOD spelled backwards?

    -1
    
    :-)  Not only do I know that, I think its appropriate during PMS!!!
    
    

    Did you know that TULSA spelled backwards is A Slut..

    RE- a coupla ago...
    
    I didn't tell ya that I had a nose that sat up near my 
    forhead...
    
    Sin-te-da

    If you flushed a toilet in the southern hemisphere it will drain the water 
    in a counter clockwise position vs the northern hemisphere, which
    drains in a clockwise position. 
    
       

>    If you flushed a toilet in the southern hemisphere it will drain the water 
>    in a counter clockwise position vs the northern hemisphere, which
>    drains in a clockwise position. 
    
 

   My ex told one of my kids this a while back..I told him not only that
   but in the southern hemisphere when they play baseball, they run in a
   direction opposite of that in which we run ;-)



 Jim      

    	In a survey of major movies from 1933 through 1958, the line
    	"Let's get outta here" was used in 81% of the movies.

    .70
    
    actually, it's the other way around.  coriolis force drives whirlpools
    and hurricanes and tornadoes and toilet bowls in the northern
    hemisphere counterclockwise, and it drives those in the southern
    hemisphere clockwise.

And it has to due more to the design of the drain.  Only if you let the water
sit idle for a while will coriolis force begin to matter.

    Which way does the water exit if the toilet sits on the equator?
    
    -- Jim

    ... depends on the pressure :-) (vertically?)

    >Which way does the water exit if the toilet sits on the equator?
        
    Down. ;^)
    
    C

   re. 117 speaking of pressure.
                         
    
                        Now wew wiw conduct an expewament
    
                              Sucking vs Blowing
    
 (Pwease keep your minds out of the guwwer, it's not what you think)
    
 You wiw need the fawowing:
    
 1 - awuminum packaged Capri Sun juice dwink.
    
 1 - straw
    
 Instruction:
    
    Pierce the spot provided on the container (Be carefow to maintain a
    airwa tight sealw)
    
 If you just want to dwink the juice, suck it through straw (Booorwing).
    
 Now if you want to be a "Cweative Pressure Appwication Genius", that anowa 
 stowy.
    
    By blowing airwa throw the straw, you wiw cweate pressure inside a
    contained enviwament.  Seawing your wips around the straw and releasing
    the pressure (Stop blowing) wiw cause the pressure inside the container 
    of juices to force the juices throw the straw into your mouth.
    
     
 There you have it anowa find Scientic Fact.
    
    

    

	Hey Scott, that sort of validates the b*** job theory !!

	%^)	%^)	%^)


	Sorry, can't get my mind out of the gutter, I live there.

    the train station platform at Basingstoke is the same height above
    sea-level as the top of St Pauls cathedral

    did you get that fun fact from mad meg?

>    did you get that fun fact from mad meg?



  Meg is mad?

    refer your question to kovertski, jim.  mention mad meg and basingstoke
    in the same sentence, he oughta be able to splain.

From "Ruddigore" or "The Witch's Curse"

  Mad Meg: "Shall I fly at him? Shall I tear him limb from limb? Shall I
	rend him asunder? Say but the word and---

  Sir Desmond Murgatroyd: "Basingstoke!"

  Mad Meg [suddenly demure]: "Basingstoke it is!"

  Sir Desmond Murgatroyd: "Then make it so."

  [later]

  Des and Meg sing: 	We shall toddle off tomorrow
			From this scene of sin and sorrow
			For to settle in the town of Basingstoke!

For more information, you might attend the Harvard Radcliffe production
of Ruddigore, which I think is this weekend.

/john

    
    
    did you know that angel hair (the white stuff some people put on their
    christmas trees) is made out of spun glass???  it's glass!!!!  does
    that mean you could buy tons and tons of it and insulate your ceilings
    and walls???
    
    
    

    <- Great pasta too!

    
    
    most people i know that eat glass are on tour with the wringling
    brothers....{{shudder}}
    
    

    
    <-- is that a troupe of professional laundrymen?

    Most people *I* know that eat glass hang out in =wn=!!  :-)
    
    |-{:-)
    

    and if you put it up your nose you could pretend all your nose hair had
    gone white, eh?

Eating glass will cause you to get a pane in your stomach.

    .91
    
    GROAN
    
    

    Eat glass - sore ass
    

    Eat nails - hammer out a tune.

    RE: .93
    
    Reminds me of an event my roomate described to me while on summer break
    from college.  My roomie was a laborer for a mason.  It seems one of
    the carpenters had to go to the bathroom really, really badly.  He
    ducked into the as of yet unfinished, dirt floored basement to relieve
    himself.  It dawned on him that there was no toilet paper available in
    the immediate area so he used the next softest thing handy, fiberglass
    insulation.  I believe he was in the hospital for two weeks.  
    
    Brian

    Here's a fun fact.
    
    If you were to take all of the women in the world and line them up,
    naked.... I'd be right over!
    
    Glenn

And Di's dubbing Gerald the box wit . . . 

>            <<< Note 117.58 by PENUTS::DDESMAISONS "too few args" >>>
>
>
>	i know pi to 50 places.  this is always a fun fact at parties.
>	right.

I had a friend in college who had transferred from RPI.  He used to describe
the female engineering students as "the type who know pi to 50 places."

Did you go to RPI?

    i memorized pi to 65 places specifically because my older brother knew
    it to 50.  it's a guy thing, right?

 ;> no, i didn't go to RPI.  i just like memorizing stuff.

    >i memorized pi to 65 places specifically because my older brother knew
    >it to 50.  it's a guy thing, right?
    
    Pi envy?

    Whats a PI?

    Geez Brian, that must've hurt... How ya doin'? :-)

    twern't me thanxs.  I did give a sympathy cringe though when I heard
    the story told :-).
    
    Brian

    Personal Inventory???

    Pun Intended

    .106
    
    What pun?

    Personal Injury
    
    

    Re .102:
    
    > Whats a PI?
    
    
                <<< RUSURE::NOTES1:[NOTES$LIBRARY]MATH.NOTE;7 >>>
                            -< Mathematics at DEC >-
================================================================================
Note 92.8                           About PI                             8 of 55
XENON::GAUDREAU                                     145 lines  11-JUL-1984 09:03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Your Amusement or Edification - PI to 10,000 places using Stan's algorithm.

   When I get Petr Beckmann's book from the company library, I'll check each
and every digit but I don't think I'll find anything wrong here...

 Joe
 -=-


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547119621844396582533754388569094113031509526179378002974120766514793942590
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763478708108175450119307141223390866393833952942578690507643100638351983438
934159613185434754649556978103829309716465143840700707360411237359984345225
161050702705623526601276484830840761183013052793205427462865403603674532865
105706587488225698157936789766974220575059683440869735020141020672358502007
245225632651341055924019027421624843914035998953539459094407046912091409387
001264560016237428802109276457931065792295524988727584610126483699989225695
968815920560010165525637567

                          -=*=- EOF -=*=-

Something appeared to be missing from that reply . . . 

    	Was that computed by a pentium chip?

    re .110
    
    Exactly my thoughts :-)
    (For what other reason would somebody read 100+ lines of Pi ?)
    
    Heiko

    
    A study showed that squirrels fail to retrieve about 75% of the 
    nuts they bury.  This is considered good news for reforestation,
    refoliation, etc.
    

    As an aside to the switch between NBC and CBS affiliates in Boston,
    does anyone know which major station has been an affiliate of
    all three major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC)?
    
    Answer appears below..
    
    
    
    	Channel 7... was an ABC affiliate when channel 5 was
                     the CBS affiliate. They switched sometime
                     in the 70s (I think). Now, channel 7
                     has switched from CBS to NBC.

The Universe - some information to help you live in it

1 AREA: Infinite

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy offers this definition of the word 
"Infinite"
Infinite: Bigger than the biggest thing ever and then some. Much bigger than
that in fact, really amazingly immense, a totally stunning size, real "wow,
that's big," time. Infinity is just so big that, by comparison, bigness itself
looks really tichy. Gigantic multiplied by colossal multiplied by stangeringly
huge is the sort of concept we're trying to get across here.

2 IMPORTS: None

It is impossible to import things into an infinite area, there being no outside
to import things from.

3 EXPORTS: None

See Imports.

4 POPULATION: None

It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there
is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every on of them
is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any
finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so
the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be
zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also
zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the
products of a deranged imagination.

5 MONETARY UNITS: None

In fact there are three freely convertible currencies in the Galaxy, but none
of them count. the Altairian Dollar has recently collapsed, the Flainian Pobble
Bead is only exchangeable for other Flainian Pobble Beads, and the Triganic Pu
has its very own special problems. Its exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu
is simple enough, but since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin six thousand
eight hundred miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own
one Pu. Ningis are not negotiable currency, because the Galactibanks refuse to
deal in fiddling small change. From this basic premise it is very simple to
prove that the Galactibanks are also the product of a deranged imagination.

6 ART: None

The function of art is to hold the mirror up to nature, and there simply isn't
a mirror big enough - see point one.

7 SEX: None

Well, in fact there is an awful of this, largely because of the total lack of
money, trade, banks, art or anything else that might keep all the nonexistent
people of the Universe occupied.
	However, it is not worth embarking on a long discussion of it now
because it really is terribly complicated. For further information see Guide
Chapters seven, nine, ten, eleven, sixteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty-one to
eighty-four inclusive, and in fact most of the rest of the guide.

    
    <- that's really weird.

    Every atom in your body was once inside a star (and I don't mean
    Tom Cruise or Michelle Pfeiffer).
    
    						Thom...

Watch out, Thom - the creationists are coming.

    Shouldn't bother them really. If I were God, I'd get my matter from the
    same places.
    
    Glenn

   >>     Every atom in your body was once inside a star (and I don't mean
   >>     Tom Cruise or Michelle Pfeiffer).
    
    Hey, don't even worry about the thumpers.  Go right to your own
    evolution topic.  Some of our box evolutionists have themselves ruled
    out the big bang theory because of the findings from the Hubble.
    
    Aaaaaahhhaaaaaaaa!!!!!
    
    
    Nyahhhhhhhhhhhh!!

    .120
    
    > Some of our box evolutionists have themselves ruled
    > out the big bang theory because of the findings from the Hubble.
    
    jack, i wish you'd try to cut back on the causistry, i really do. 
    saying that evidence from the hubble casts doubt on the big bang
    theories that are currently held does not rule out the big bang.  it
    says, as does all theoretical discussion, IF THIS IS THE MECHANISM WE
    THINK IT IS, THEN WE DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS.

>>  Watch out, Thom - the creationists are coming.
    
    Okay, sorry about the Nyaahhhhhh and the Aaaahaaaaaaaa!!  I do that
    with tongue in cheek.  But keep in mind from above that I am the
    responder here!
    
    -Jack

RE    <<< Note 117.120 by MKOTS3::JMARTIN "I lied; I hate the fat dinosaur" >>>

>    Hey, don't even worry about the thumpers.  Go right to your own
>    evolution topic.  Some of our box evolutionists have themselves ruled
>    out the big bang theory because of the findings from the Hubble.
    
  I don't think they are talking about the big bang. They are talking about the
theory which is generally accepted that all matter in a given area heavier than
helium was created by a supernova that resulted when a star collapsed on itself
and exploded. 

  If this is true then our Sun is a 2nd generation star. There would once have
been a larger star, probably a blue giant, in this place in the sun's orbit
through the galaxy. That star went supernova creating the matter that is us
today, the dust collapsed back in and our solar system was created.

  At least that's one theory,
  George

    re.55
    
    Wow, I come from a town who's mainstreet was only a mile long but it
    had fifteen pubs and on my 21st birthday I did a pub crawl, when I got
    home my Mother took one look at me and said "Well I hope your Happy
    now"
    
    Joan

    RE:. all the replies to my reply .117.
    
    Ok, ok, I take it back! All the atoms in your body were once either
    inside Tom Cruise or Michelle Pfeiffer!
    
    Whew, that was a narrow escape (it WAS an escape wasn't it?).  ;^)
    
    						Sir Thomas...

    -1 there IS no escape.... hehehehehehe...
    
       

Hope this helps.

adverse:  unfavorable
averse:  opposed

affect:  to influence
effect:  to cause

aggravate:  to make worse
annoy:  to irritate

allusion:  an indirect reference
illusion:  an unreal impression

anxious:  apprehensive
eager:  avid

complement:  to make complete; something that completes
compliment:  to praise; praise

capital:  the seat of government
capitol:  the building in which a legislative body meets

discreet:  prudent
discrete:  separate

disinterested:  impartial
uninterested:  without interest

emigrate:  to leave for another place of residence
immigrate:  to come to another place of residence

elicit:  to draw or bring out
illicit:  illegal

denote:  to mean
connote:  to suggest beyond the explicit meaning

farther:  more distant in space
further:  an extension of time or degree

historic:  an important occurrence
historical:  any occurrence in the past

imply:  to relay information but not explicitly
infer:  to understand information that is not relayed explicitly

imminent:  ready to take place
eminent:  standing out

incredible:  unbelievable
incredulous:  skeptical

include:  used when the items following are part of a whole
comprise:  used when the items following are all of a whole

ingenious:  clever
ingenuous:  innocent

insidious:  intended to trick
invidious:  detrimental to reputation

literally:  actually
figuratively:  metaphorically

oral:  spoken, as opposed to written
verbal:  referring to skill with language, as opposed to other skills

prevaricate:  to lie
procrastinate:  to put off

pestilence:  a contagious or infectious epidemic disease
petulance:  rudeness

prostrate:  stretched out flat, face down
prostate:  of or relating to the prostate gland

qualitative:  relating to quality
quantitative:  relating to number

    whew!  i'm prostrated just reading through that list!

    gland to hear it!
    
    ;-)

    
    <-- 8^)

    That made me larf Mr !!!! :*)

    My glands explode with delight!
    
    ;-)

	MY EYE IS BURNING!!!!!!

    Take the iron out of it then.

Fun Fact for today -

     If a paper wasp swoops down onto your bathroom vanity in February
     and you invert a drinking glass over him and leave him that way,
     he'll continue to live for almost nine days without food or water.

    
    
    re:         <<< Note 117.135 by MOLAR::DELBALSO "I (spade) my (dogface)" >>>
    
    
    	Oh man, watch out for the PETA folks coming out of the woodwork...
    
    
    

    .135
    
    except that HE will actually be SHE.

Que?

 one senses that herr binder is about to enlighten us as to
 all things sexual concerning the paper wasp.  this could be good.

    male wasps are all drones.  they are (quite literally) manufactured in
    small numbers and only in preparation for mating, which happens in the
    autumn.  they die within days of their emergence.  hence, a february
    wasp is female.

    I thought a paper wasp was like a weak white anglo saxon protestant.

    
    I read today that the British hit of the telly season delves into
    the sex lives of plants.
    
      bb

So, it won't be just PETA, but NOW, as well, who will be after me.

Mercy buckets for the added knowledge, dick.

    This brings back fond memories of Gene's cockroach that
    lived in a jar.
    
    PETA won't be able to attack Jack's situation for awhile,
    though.  Still quite busy stopping those demon forces
    that make silkworms produce silk and bees produce honey.
        

    
    
     P People for
     E Eating
     T Tasty
     A Animals
    
     Seen on a T-shirt in Colorado (and agreed with)
    

    re: .142
    
    The Private Life of Plants
    
    David Attenborough
    
    Six 55-minute program(me)s
    
    Incredible photography - DON'T miss it if it comes your way
    last episode was on British TV two weeks ago...
    
    Dave
    

    
    The Earth and the moon have drifted apart by 1 metre since 1969, when
    a laser reflector was placed on the lunar surface.  Each year, tidal
    friction causes the moon to drift 4 centimetres farther away.
    

    
>>    The Earth and the moon have drifted apart by 1 metre since 1969, when
>>    a laser reflector was placed on the lunar surface.  

	hmmmph.  who'da thunk it would have had any impact?

    ;-)

How do we know that the laser reflector isn't sinking into the moon at a rate
of 4 cm/year?

Bob

    
    Or light is slowing down roughly 1 ppb/year  ?  bb
    

    Wouldn`t the speed of light decrease if there was more polution
    released into the atmosphere? Would/could that be enough to slow it to
    the 1 ppb/year?

    If you slow down the speed of light with pollution then some sort of
    pollution drive could be used to travel faster than light.

    Hmmmmm.
    
    But then the stars would be farther away wouldn't they?
    
    
    Nevermind.

    That means that a billions of years ago, the moon was on the other side
    of the earth.  

    My brain huuuurrtttsss.

    
    .154:
    
    Actually, Steve, it was only two weeks ago.
    
    :^)
    

    Wasn't it on the other side, just today?  8^)

    Didja know that comic actor Jerry Lewis invented the technology
    known as "video assist", which is widely used in filmaking
    today?

    Video assist is a method where video cameras are mounted on
    the side of a film camera, and video is run to video monitors
    so that the director can instantly see what is being recorded
    on film. Further, in today's technology, the video camera shares
    the optics with the film camera, and the output of the video
    camera is sent to videotape, allowing the director to review
    "rushes" on the set. Thus, the director does not have to
    wait for film to be developed to know exactly what he/she has...

    This was all pioneered by Mr. Lewis when he was directing and
    starring in his own films.

    -b                                            

    Didja know that Elton John's "Captain Fantastic and the
    Brown Dirt Cowboy" was the first album ever to enter
    the Billboard Charts at #1.
    
    -b

    Didja know that the thin colored lenses used in theatrical
    lighting are known as "gels" and that the type of lamp
    they are used in is known as a "fresnel".
    
    -b

    
    
    >>Didja know that the thin colored lenses used in theatrical 
    >lighting are known as "gels"
    
    
    uh-huh...
    
    

    Didja know that the song "Pop Goes The Weasel" had it's
    origins in war-time Britain? "Weasel" was a euphemism
    for "iron" (as in, what you iron your clothes with).
    It was the most common item to "hawk" at a pawn shop
    when a household needed money... hence "Pop goes the
    Weasel".

    -b

    Didja know that the nursery rhyme "Ring Around The Rosie"
    refers to the Bubonic Plague? The rhyme refers to the
    dark ring which form around the red boils and skin lesions,
    the pocket full of posies refers to the flowers that
    were placed in the victim's hands when they were laid
    to rest, and ashes to ashes, we all fall down is in
    reference to Genesis.

    -b

    	re .164  Yes, I knew that!

    	Didja know that the Statue of Liberty's philtrum is over three
    	feet long?

    
    
    .160
    
    I knew that.
    
    And did you know that the items that made the mountain, clouds, sun, and
    moon on The Mikado scrim are known as Gobos?

	Did you know that since Jerry Lewis came up with his invention there is
now a reason for all of his films to exist?

    Didyouknow 
    
    That Orson Welles special effects were so good no-one knew
    they were special effects until they watched the movies years after
    they were made.
    
    
    joan

>	Did you know that since Jerry Lewis came up with his invention there is
>now a reason for all of his films to exist?

Jerry Lewis films are a plot to keep the French from becoming a world power.

HAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAA!!!!!!!! Gerald, GREAT ONE! 

    
    Did you know that the French are not as big of fans of Jerry Lewis as
    other European countries?
    
    jeff

    What is the European love affair with Lewis anyway?  And don't the
    French think that Mickey Rourke (sp?) is hot stuff?
    
    Dan

    the platform at Basingstoke train station is the same height above
    sea-level as the top of St Paul's Cathedral
    
    ric

    
    Mr. Rosch, will you please answer my queries in 382?
    
    jeff

<----now there was a fun fact!

    
    <-----
    
     Maybe jeff is taking lessons from someone else??
    

<----- Andy, wouldn't that have to be obsessed???? 

    RE: fresnel lenses....
    
    For bonus points, where else can they be found and where was the first
    one put into service in the U.S.?

> where else can they be found

Just about every conference room at a DIGITAL facility . . . 

In the rear window of lots of vans.

    Good, good, keep going though.

    
    Fresnels (and their hard lense equivalents, called "licos")
    are also used to light outdoor scenery. Mt. Rushmore, the
    Hoover Damn, the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument,
    etc.
    
    Gels (which you may be referring to as "fresnel lenses)
    are used extensively in photography as "color filters".
    
    -b

    .186 has the answer I was looking for.  Where was the first one in the
    U.S. installed?  

Near the ocean?

	Didja know that if you take a man's capillaries and stretch
	them out end-to-end...that man will die?!

	:-)
Mark

    re: Jerry Lewis and video assist
    
    I saw his special on The Disney Channel where he claimed to have
    invented video assist.  He may have refined it a good deal, but he
    wasn't the first person to use such a beastie.  That honor, as far
    as I can determine, goes to some unknown DuMont engineer (or perhaps
    even DuMont himself) for what came to be known as the Electronicam
    system.  It coupled a conventional film camera with a television
    camera, so that a live signal could be sent out over a TV network
    while simultaneously filming the scene, from the same camera mount,
    for posterity (this was in the pre-videotape days, and although
    kinescopes were available, their quality was pretty bad).
    
    Its most famous usage was to televise and film the most-frequently
    viewed 39 or so episodes of "The Honeymooners" in 1955.
    
    Now, even though Lewis may not have invented the concept of the device,
    he was almost certainly the first one to use it for what was more or
    less the inverse of what DuMont was doing, i.e., using the video to
    help him with setup and blocking and the like (his initial setup
    lacked the "new" videotape technology but was added later, if I
    recall).  So he gets points for that.
    
    As for his popularity in Europe, he believes that it has to do with
    the fact that much of his humor is non-verbal and universal, and does
    not rely on any particular cultural context.  I have to admit, I have
    a somewhat higher opinion of him after watching this special than I'd
    had before.  Maybe I'll rent one of this movies now... :-)
    
    The "Animaniacs" cartoon series, of all things, did a fairly biting
    satire of Jerry Lewis on one of their episodes, which is also on one
    of their videocassettes ("The Warners Escape").  Odd...
    
    As for a "neat fact", I just found out (if I was hearing the radio
    right) that the old 60's song "Needles and Pins" was written by
    Sonny Bono.  I didn't know thaaaaaaat.
    
    Chris

    
    The only episodes of the series Wiseguy that I watched were the five
    connected shows that featured Jerry Lewis in a straight dramatic role.
    
    I thought he was outstanding.  
    
    

    .190 hey Mark, would a woman survive?
    
         Chip

    
    
    hey...i remember those episodes on "wiseguy"...i used to *love* that
    show...ken wahl...yum...
    
    

Jerry Lewis was good in a straight role in "The King of Comedy."

| <<< Note 117.194 by GAVEL::JANDROW >>>



| hey...i remember those episodes on "wiseguy"...i used to *love* that
| show...ken wahl...yum...


	I agree with raq on this... yum. :-)

| <<< Note 117.195 by NOTIME::SACKS "Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085" >>>

| Jerry Lewis was good in a straight role in "The King of Comedy."


	Jerry Lewis has done gay roles??? Or is that gay rolls???? :-)

Re: Wiseguy

Outstanding show. But, I thought the Sonny Steelgrave series was 
by far the best storyline and the final episode was excellent.
The Mel Profitt series was great as well.

It's too bad Wahl packed on the pounds and copped an attitude.
Last I heard he was still living the the Boston area and still 
married to a late 80's Playboy centerfold.

Daryll

    
    
    <--
    
    yes...the sonny steelgrave series!!!  i was gonna mention that, but
    couldn't think of sonny's last name...sonny spoon kept coming to mind
    but i know that was a different show all together...and the final
    episode was terrific!!!!  everytime i hear "nights in white satin" by
    the moody blues, i still picture them in the bar (or whatever it was)
    floor, all bloody...i get chills...
    
    all in all, "wiseguy" was a great show...loved the lifeguard...
    
    wahl's living in the area???  hmmmmm....glen, wanna go hunting???  :>
    
    
    

wise guy/fun facts snarf!

| <<< Note 117.199 by GAVEL::JANDROW >>>



| sonny spoon kept coming to mind

	I used to LOVE that show! Mario Van Peebles was great in that. He was
pretty hot as well!

| wahl's living in the area???  hmmmmm....glen, wanna go hunting???  :>

	Sure raq! And we can go to Newton and look up Matt LeBlanc from
Friends! It seems he lives there...... yum...2 for 1!


Glen

RE: .193

	I don't know.  I suggest an experiment.  Any volunteers? :-)

ME

Salsify grows wild in Pocatello.

    
    better not get caught with any though, especially in Nashua.

    Today's fun fact:  All mammals except giraffes can swim.

    
    All mammals except giraffes, Natalie Wood and Mary Jo Kopechne...
    
    -b

	SCREAM!!!!! Brian!!! You had me rolling! Now you have me cleaning diet
coke off of my screen....

    I know for one that mose can swim.  We almost ran aground on one during
    a race on Lake Champlain.

    
    
    giraffes don't need to swim...their necks are so long, they always stay
    above water...
    
    

    .210
    
    Yes, bats can swim.  Not well, but enough.

    
    <--------
    
    Do they ping the water for obstructions??
    

    I saw it happen once when the Penguin had the dynamic duo trapped in a
    pool of frigid water.  They used the Batsnorkel to breathe through
    until Batwoman showed up and freed them.  

    Ban elk rots

    I've never seen a mose before. Around Lake Champlain you say?
    
    ;-)

Mose Allison.

    It was a mooooooooose!  It was doing the back stroke.  

    
    >until Batwoman showed up and freed them.  
    
    
    	BatGIRL!!
    

    Get with the times Shawn, these are new and exciting days where it's
    good to be PC

    
    	So it should have been BatPERSON, correct?  Or BatBEING.
    

or Ms Bat!

    .224
    
    hahahaha like it!
    
    ric

    
    	Not very PC, but I think Yvonne is an old bat by now.
    

    
    Bat"don't you opress me, my sisters have been opressed for
    years squirting out little monsters for the likes of you,
    and don't forget to put the seat back down you fat git, for
    I am"woman.
    

    So why was Mose Allison swimming in Lake Champlain? Not that there's
    anything wrong with that.

>    	So it should have been BatPERSON, correct?  Or BatBEING.
    
Batperoffspring.

Chris.

    
    	RE: Chris
    
	>Batperoffspring.

    
    	See what happens when I leave SOAPBOX for a year or so?  I for-
    	get all the rules.  8^)
    

    As long as I had that TV commercials book out the other night,
    I browsed through it a bit, and learned that the Cocoa Puffs
    Cuckoo Bird was developed during a creative session in the
    General Foods boardroom with the GF board and the ad agency.
    
    One ad agency guy started sketching on a pad, saying "Here we
    have a bird... a cuckoo bird".  A writer from the ad agency
    popped in with "The cuckoo bird says, 'I'm cuckoo for Cocoa
    Puffs!"
    
    Another writer from the ad agency jumped up onto the General
    Foods boardroom table and, flapping his arms wildly in the air,
    ran and danced crazily from one end of the table to the other,
    shrieking "I'M CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!  CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!!
    CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!!!"
    
    The General Foods Board of Directors was so impressed with this
    display that they immediately approved the ad campaign, and the
    rest is history.
    
    People get paid lots of money for this.
    
    Chris

Those guys on the General Foods BoD must be real cards to go along
with that . . . 

    >I'M CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!  CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!!
    >CUCKOO FOR COCOA PUFFS!!!"
    
    I was as a kid. Maybe that is one of my problems. :-)>
    
    ...Tom

    Makes you wonder how the GF Kool-Aid "Pitcher" ad campaign came about.
    The same ad agency writer probably crashed himself through the boardroom
    wall.  Probably got himself a nice raise, too!
    
    Chris

    If one is travelling from Massachusetts to Florida via the highways
    in the Washington, D.C. vicinity, and one's rented recreational vehicle
    passes a high-rise style office building situated near The Beltway in 
    Greenbelt, Maryland with a |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| logo atop it, and a passenger 
    in said vehicle calls out "Hey, I wonder if that's where Wannamonkey 
    works?", the other passengers will make very strange facial expressions
    in the direction of said calling-out passenger. 

    I can make very strange facial expressions, perhaps you can compare
    those with mine?

    
    
    
    Prolly will.  And I don't know this wannamonkey fellow, but I do work
    in that building.  If you stop by, chances are I might even buy you
    lunch.
    
    
    Mike

    
    
    
>    Prolly will.  And I don't know this wannamonkey fellow, but I do work
>    in that building.  If you stop by, chances are I might even buy you
>    lunch.
    
    
  I can't make it, wanna, but maybe you can just send me the money? ;-)

    
    
    yeah, maybe.......hold your breath muppet man. :')

 ;-)

    I passed up Free Lunch?!?!?!  
    
    We actually passed that revered site around 8PM on Easter Sunday, so
    I doubted you'd be there, Mikey....   ;^)
    
    Could've kidnapped you at Casa Wannemacher and brought you fishing
    in the Keys though, eh?
    
    j.j. (not k.)

    <-- Hey! HEY!

Right here in Prime time!

    I'm bring Duplos and ColorForms to the bash to keep Onondaga out of
    trouble.  The rest of you Richardsons are on your own.

> The rest of you Richardsons are on your own.

Inna that an oxymoron or sumpin?

    > Right here in Prime time!
    
    Hoping to catch Gwen in action, Jack.  ;^)
    

    You no bring um Floam or Gak Aunt JoJo?
    
    Onondaga

    Aunt Debra say no mess.  You play quiet toys.
    No poopy Gak.
    
    You play nice, I give you Dole Juice Bar.
    

    Me like um fruit role ups too Aunt JoJo.
    
    Onondaga

>    You play nice, I give you Dole Juice Bar.

Please limit it to one. I hear they go through him like
water.

    Which brings us back to that tricky diaper issue.  Maybe
    Shareena would be willing.  I hear she'll do anything for money.
    

    Well don't _that_ just blow yo socks off!
    
    Harumph!
    
    Shareena

    Yes, I read that somewhere also.  

    Listen, honey, I've a ten-dollar-bill (real US currency, not that
    weird, rainbow-colored, phony maple-leaf play money) that'll bring
    you around.  Now give it a rest.
    
    
    

    Oh. Well. Why didn't y'all say so inna first place?
    
    Shareena

    
    No.  NO bribery at my house!  On that point I am adamant.
    

    
    
    jojo, you coulda done that, yup you coulda.  I'd have had to go, after
    all I'm sure you would have had me at fish hookpoint....  :')
    
    
    Mike

    Next year, Mike...  but we also gots to bring Glen to Key West.  ;^)

    
    
    I'm sure you can keep Glen amused......bring a rubik's cube or
    something.
    
    
    
    Mike

    Key West? You must be talking about Silva. Glen, is there some sort of
    Rubik's cube activity now?
    
    This troubles me.

    
    I'd like to go to Key West.

    Got a Rubik's cube? 

| <<< Note 117.245 by XEDON::JENSEN >>>


| Hoping to catch Gwen in action, Jack.  ;^)

	I knew yesterday was a bad day to take a class!!!! :-)

| <<< Note 117.257 by XEDON::JENSEN >>>

| Next year, Mike...  but we also gots to bring Glen to Key West.  ;^)

	Yes jojo... please bring me to Key West..... :-)  

| <<< Note 117.258 by GRANPA::MWANNEMACHER "NRA member" >>>



| I'm sure you can keep Glen amused......bring a rubik's cube or something.


	Already figured that one out years ago..... hmmm... maybe I should ask
what you mean...... :-)

| <<< Note 117.259 by POLAR::RICHARDSON "Indeedy Do Da Day" >>>

| Key West? You must be talking about Silva. Glen, is there some sort of Rubik's
| cube activity now? This troubles me.

	Maybe Richard Gere got tired of gerbils and moved onto something else.
Other than that, I don't know what Mike is talkin about.....

    Debra, me too!

    
    
    Er, don't look for something that's not there, folks.  Was just
    something to keep her occupied.  Maybe I'll bring one of my kids Barbie
    Dolls......er, maybe a Ken doll as well.
    
    
    Mike

    mike,
    
    something about talking about don't go looking for something that's not 
    there and Ken dolls in the same paragraph tickles my funny bone :-)

    Box bash at the end of the world!  Well, Mallory Sq. seems like the end
    of the world at any rate.....  There is enough weirdness there that you
    folx would blend in real well, even the Richardson's.  

    Have I mentioned my jealousy-and-loathing-that-knows-no-bounds for
    anyone who's spending time in the BVI's?         ;^)
    

While I've not spent any time in the BVI's, I've spent a considerable
amount in the BVD's.

    
    Darnit, somebody hand me a towel, please.

    There will be no BVDs in the BVIs at least not on this cowboy..... My
    packing list has them listed as an optional item and since I like to
    pack light, they're staying home.

As was peach melba.

    blood clots
    

 
thickened plots

Mr. Topaz has changed drugs.

chiken pox

    bollox

    mister donald topaz

    anagram:  a mild zap to rodents

    re .288
    
    A cultured man I see ! :*)

    I hope to pull a pint or two with you some day Martin. 8^)

    eyyy-by-gum lad, we'll have doin' that in nowt time atall !!!

    Is this the "Fun Facts" or "Free Association" note?

	why yes it is.

    re: Fun fact
    
    Mick Jagger sang backup vocals on Carly Simon's "You're So Vain".
    Since the DJ said he was clearly audible and slightly off-key, I'll
    assume he's singing the "low part" of "I'll bet you think this song
    is about you, don't you, don't you...".
    
    
    re: Free association
    
    I never associate freely, I always charge a fee.
    
    Chris

 re .295  The song was *about* Mick Jagger as well..



 Ah, does that song and the album on which it appeared bring back memories..




Jim

    Re: .296
    
    I thought it was about Warren Beatty.

 oooh...you may be right, Chelsea..my mistake.  Guess I was too wrapped up
 in the memories to think correctly.




 Jim

 You're so..

 Snarf!

 Coincidentally, You're so Vain was just on the sattelite music service we
 have piped into our phone system.

  Taller than the Empire State Building?  Or, is Manhattan not considered
  mainland?

    It's an island, it doesn't count....

 I figured something like that :-/

Was Carly married to JT when she sang "You're so Vain", or had they
already split?

    
    I don't think they were married yet.  It came out in about...1972 or
    so, maybe 1973.
    
    I was only in 7th grade and was greatly impressed by her breasts on the
    album cover 8^).

[I have no reply to that.]

    >> I was only in 7th grade and was greatly impressed by her breasts on the
    >> album cover 8^).
    
    Gee, she only signed mine...
    
    Chris

    And she's still not saying who she was singing about :-)
    
    

 The song came out well before JT and she were married. It was in 71/72, I
 think..lovely album, one which I've been tempted to pick up again.




Jim

Since the directory topic is write locked, I'm putting this here.
The 25 topics with the most replies, as of a few minutes ago:

    11  VAXWRK::HARNEY       17-NOV-1994  5028  Things to Like Today
    12  VAXWRK::HARNEY       17-NOV-1994  4826  Things to Hate Today
    17   TROOA::COLLINS      17-NOV-1994  4791  Things To Wonder About
    34    HAAG::HAAG         17-NOV-1994  2653  OJ Simpson Trial
    20   TROOA::COLLINS      17-NOV-1994  2401  Abortion
    14  ACESMK::CHELSEA      17-NOV-1994  1915  News Briefs
    15  OOTOOL::CHELSEA      17-NOV-1994  1777  1-800-SOAPBOX
    30    HAAG::HAAG         17-NOV-1994  1458  Newt Gingrich
    42    HAAG::HAAG         17-NOV-1994  1192  What are you wearing today?
    21   TROOA::COLLINS      17-NOV-1994  1171  Gun Control
   393  SX4GTO::WANNOOR      19-APR-1995  1105  OKC bombing
    32    HAAG::HAAG         17-NOV-1994   911  BoxBashes
    56   AIMHI::JMARTIN      18-NOV-1994   907  Gay Issues Topic
   319   SMURF::BINDER       28-FEB-1995   853  The truth of the Bible
    80    BIGQ::SILVA        21-NOV-1994   844  FOOD!!!
    52  GRANPA::MWANNEMACHER 18-NOV-1994   832  Movies
    79  MILPND::CLARK_D      20-NOV-1994   820  Wacky News Briefs
    18   TROOA::COLLINS      17-NOV-1994   814  Bill Clinton/Hillary Rodham
    49  HANNAH::MODICA       18-NOV-1994   805  Politics of the Right
    50  GRANPA::MWANNEMACHER 18-NOV-1994   793  Balanced Budget Amendment
    37    HAAG::HAAG         17-NOV-1994   777  Susan Smith Murders Sons
   214    HAAG::HAAG         22-DEC-1994   733  Have you ever...
    64   TROOA::COLLINS      18-NOV-1994   703  Evolution
    33  COVERT::COVERT       17-NOV-1994   626  Separation of Church and State // School Prayer
    41    HAAG::HAAG         17-NOV-1994   611  Good Bye

 thanks for reminding me to update the dir.

    
    	It's about time ... geez!!
    
    	How am I supposed to function as an employee if the directory
    	note isn't updated in a timely manner??
    

	According to _The Great Chile Book_, a Scotch bonnet is not
	the same as a habanero, though they are related.  Scotch bonnets
	are smaller, paler when yellow, and not always as hot as 
	habaneros.

    <-----  She's a fountain of culinary knowledge, not just a baker
    	    of pies.	;^)
    

Talking of pies, if anyone has any going spare I'll have them (I've
run out of convenience foods, it looks like I'm going to have to
cook something tonight.  Scary!)

Chris.

  .317  i luv the way you guys talk, oh yes i do.

    She's just trying to curry favour with you.
    

re .317:

But can she bake a chile pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?

	er, how about I/aye and a/eh?

I used to work with a Canadian, I never heard her end a sentence
with `eh' though.  There's always someone who has to be different
I suppose!

Chris.

	there's also ay/eh.

    eh is better than huh.

    No, but it's a fun fact though, huh?

	depending on which references you consider acceptable...

	there's pho/faux.

    
    Since someone mentioned Canada... We/Oui.
    
    I know... that's stretching a bit.
    
    W.
    

>>       Pho, like in Pho Pasteur? 

	No, pho like in "Pho!".  Interjection expressing disgust or
	contempt.

	it's in Chambers.  U.K. publication.

       
       tut-tut to the concise OED or tut-tut to Chambers or tut-tut
       to me?

    Yes.

	sure - watch this:

	that that that

	see?  nothing happens

    > PLUGH
    
    Nothing happens.

re: Tut-tut

As in, to Steve Martin.

    ZZ       The Michelin Man's name is Bibbendom 
    
      Bibbendom...an Amorite god.
    
    

    Listening to the 70's station yesterday.  The group Lynard Skynard was
    named after a gym teacher in Florida who used to pick on them as teens
    for their long hair!
    
    What a dubious honor!!
    
    -Jack

	Lynyrd Skynyrd

    ...and the Pillsbury Doughboy's name is Poppin' Fresh.  I've
    always wondered what being fresh has to do with popping, and
    vice versa.
    
    Chris

    Uhhh....sorry

    maybe the poppin' is connected to those little tubes that the dough
    comes in (that occasionally explode on their own)?
    
    Chip

    
    The 70's station will be having a disco show on Sunday nights now 8^).
    

	sunday night fever?

    Oh what am I to do?  I am only half way thorugh listening to my Zamfir
    boxed set and now this, disco on Sundays.  These decisions are tearing
    me apart.  

    
    Yes, Sunday Night Fever!  I'm going to have to start blocking off
    Sunday evenings in my calendar so I can listen in.

    Free Denny Terrio!

  .358   already have one, thanks.

    -1 :-)

    
    	Have you 'BOXers always been this funny?
     

    
    good one, di...took me a minute (no smartass comment from you, shawn,
    tyvm)...
    
    

    The 70's station also had folks calling in today with anecdotes about
    drive-in movies.  I larfed myself silly when someone called to
    mention gaining admittance to the Rt. 133 "XXX-Rated" Drive-In in 
    Georgetown, Mass.  ($5 per person, ID's WILL be checked).  Why yes, 
    I do seem to recall attending a performance there in about 1978.
    
    (Try explaining to a 7-year-old why his mother would know such
    a place existed.    ;^)    )

    Nobody went there to watch the movie, did they???

    
    Did you know that a `leap year' has 366 days?
    

    
    	No ... please tell me!!
    

1/170 of the working people in the U.S. are employed by the Postal Service.

    That's one way to stamp out unemployment I guess.

    
    It depends on how you address the issue.

    
    
    who gave their stamp of approval to this?

    this doesn't make a lick of sense.

You're 12 days too late.

    
    Gerald, you're good.  Yes you are.

 You guys are pushing the envelope..must be a package deal.




 Jim

    It's all in the delivery.

    
    
    If you guys (and gals) keep this up, I do believe
    I'm going to become disgruntled.
    
    

    
    .378
    
    Ah yes, a man in need of a good gruntling.

    Let's get out of here post haste!

    
|1/170 of the working people in the U.S. are employed by the Postal Service.
    
    That's remarkable.
    
    Consider that each of us have finally gotten around to delivering
    about two alphas since alpha was announced.
    
    
    Of course, compared to the numbers of m's an employee of Mars/M&M
    delivers, I suppose the Postal Service looks pretty bad.
    
    								-mr. bill

    
    Take it to the `conspiracy' topic.
    
    :^)
    

    
    
    
    Doesn't that belong in the conspiracy note?

    
    You know, now that you mention it, the weirdest things have been
    happening to me vis-a-vis M&Ms.
    
    Tuesday night on my way out I was walking down the hall and I passed a
    yellow M&M on the floor.
    
    Wednesday morning I walked into my office and there was a yellow M&M on
    my floor.
    
    And this morning I was rooting around in my bag for a pen and in the
    bottom of my bag was...you guessed it...a yellow M&M.
    
    I haven't had M&Ms in ages.  And even if I had, that wouldn't explain
    the one in the hall.  
    
    What the heck is going on?

    
    
    RE: .382  What's the saying?  Warped minds think alike?

 .384  it's kind of like _Hansel and Gretel_, only different.

    You're being monitored by people who would melt in your mouth but not
    in your hands.

    Ever watch the X-Files?

    
    <-- wow, did that ever give me an idea.

    
    oo er!
    

    It used to be more than 1/170 until they started killing each other
    off.

    They should learn to follow the letter of the law.

	Deb, they just want to do a commercial with ya. They have gotten tired
of Lilith, and now want to do a commercial with a woman that possesses REAL
class! 

    And good looks.

    
    Oh, Columbia, the gem of the ocean!
    

The home of the brave and the freeeee,
A shrine of each patriot's devotion,
The wo-orld offers ho-omage to thee.

	if you drop a needle randomly over several parallel wires spaced
	such that the distance between the wires is twice the length of
	the needle, the ratio of the number of times you drop it to the
	number of times it will hit one of the wires will equal pi.

	no wait - that's a theory, not a fact.  it's fun though, isn't it?

    
    My head is spinning.

    My bed is winning.

    
    My Keds are sinning.

    
    My meds are winning.

    My hair is thinning

    
    My mare is whinnying.

    My stairs are shimmying.

    
    my jams are jimmying.

    
    My yams are yummy.
    
    <ooo err>
    

    My Spams are scummy.

    >	if you drop a needle randomly over several parallel wires spaced
    >	such that the distance between the wires is twice the length of
    >	the needle, the ratio of the number of times you drop it to the
    >	number of times it will hit one of the wires will equal pi.


    Consider this:

    The circumference of the circle formed by the possible landing
    positions of the needle (assuming the needle is dropped horizontally)
    is 2*PI*R (where R is the length of the needle). However,
    there is a wire on either side, meaning that there is half the
    probability that it will hit either wire, so the arc which
    represents the possible landing positions is really just PI*R.

    All of the occurrences of actual landings (if they are truly
    random) would form the points of the circumference. So the
    ratio of actual landings, compared to those that actually
    hit the wire is:

    	2 * PI * R

    	----------

          2 * R

    There ya go!

    -b

    
    My head is spinning.

    Of course, I left factoring out 2 * R in the final equation
    so everyone could have the orgasmic joy of rediscovering 7th
    grade algebra! :-)

    -b

    <--- That doesn't rhyme.

  .411 actually, the formula that solves it is a tad more complex. ;>
       i used to have a Fortran program that simulated it, but that was
       many, many years ago.  sigh.

    Perhaps it explains her twisted mind. 8^)

    I understand she was Linda Blair's head spinning coach...

    Who was the projectile vomiting coach?

    
    that would be Chowder Chunderhead
    

Not Karen Carpenter?

    
    Mr. Creosote
    

    Oh dear... I've trodden in monsieur's bucket.
    
              [The Maitre D claps his hands.]
    
    Another bucket for monsieur...
    
              [Mr Creosote is sick down the Maitre D's trousers.]
    
    ...and perhaps a hose...
    

    
    How are you today, monsieur?
    
    Better!
    
    Better?
    
    Better get a bucket!
    
    -b

    
    Oh, Mz. Deb, do you think we could talk you into singing
    "the song"? :-)
    
    -b

    
    I got scolded last time 8^).

    I kin allllmost remember it...  Most amusing is all I recall...:-(
    
    Howzabout at least *1* line, just fer <r.o.>s & grinz plezzz...?
    

    What a frightfully witty little ditty that is.

    
    Did he ditty?  Would he woody?
    

    no and no.

    
    If you are ever using a dog to save you from drowning, grab the fur
    on its rump, not on its front.  Grabbing from behind keeps the dog's 
    front legs up and it can swim you back to shore.
                                                   

    
    I used to live on Washington Street in Newtonville.

    How many "Cornish"es are there in NH??
    

    The maximum theoretical efficiency of the Otto-cycle automobile engine
    is about 35%.  The Stirling engine, invented in 1819 by a Scottish
    minister, has a maximum theoretical efficiency of greater than 60%.  It
    also burns much cleaner because it is an external-combustion design,
    and its power and torque curves are such that a 100-horsepower Stirling
    can provide driving performance about the same as an Otto engine of 200
    horsepower.

    
    What about the Wankel Rotary engine?
    

    The Wankel is more efficient than the Otto but less so than the
    Stirling.  And, of course, it's internal combustion.

I probably should know this, but what's the difference between an external
combustion engine and an internal combustion engine?

Thanks,

Bob

    They have ENGINES that do that???!!
    

    
    re: .439
    
    It's sorta like the Polish Wood Stove advertised extensively awhile
    back...
    
     guaranteed to burn for a minimum of 6 hours!!!

>>                    <<< Note 117.433 by CALLME::MR_TOPAZ >>>
>>           Boston has 5 different streets named `Washington Street'

	   as opposed to 5 of the same street?
           

    .439
    
    An external-combustion engine's fire is outside the power plant.  A
    steam engine is an external-combustion engine; it has a fire that heats
    water in a boiler, and the steam released is directed to the actual
    engine to drive a piston or spin a turbine.
    
    Ordinary automobile engines (Otto-cycle, Wankel, and Diesel) are
    internal-combustion engines; they burn their fuel directly within the
    power plant.

    Neither Reading F.C or Preston North End have to play in their away	
    kits if they so wish.
    
    Preston N.E `cos they were the 1st team in the football league 100 odd
    years ago. Reading `cos they come from Royal Berkshire.
    
    Fascinating,eh?
    

re: .443

Thank you.  When I read 'external combustion engine', I immediately thought
of the Stanley Steamer.

Bob

	Please Bob, don't bring Bob Stanley into this.... :-)

The five different Washington Streets are in parts of Boston which were
once five different towns/cities.

/john

    Fun for me has just been redefined.

    ;-)

    zzzzzZZZZZZIIINNGGGGGG!!!
    
    |-{:-)
    

    
    Last month, The Daily Telegraph calculated the average age of the 
    British cabinet as 52 years and 2 months, compared with 52 years 
    and 6 months for the Rolling Stones.
    

    
    According to `Good Housekeeping', the average couple devotes four
    minutes per day to meaningful conversation.
    

    According to the last two notes, you read some really sad stuff!

    
    .451
    
    It's not the age, it's the mileage.

    .117
    
    And Keith Richards' face looks like 1,000 miles of baaaaaad road :-)
    

<---- it's a Big Mac attack!

Take it from someone who grew up in the county of that name.

It's properly pronounced -

	Ah-nahn-DAH-gah

(Gerald can corroborate this.)

Were you to stop in Nedrow, New York (US Rte. 11) in the heart of the
Onondaga Nation and pronounce it anything elsewise, it's unclear as to
the condition in which you "might" leave.

    Lucky Jack is correct as usual.

    Bzzttt.... WRONG!!!!!

    Nice "Bzzttt...." there Mike but who's the wrongster youses refurring
    too?  

    It's spelt "o-n-o", but I pronounce it "ahn-ah."
    

    
    According to `Escape' magazine, these are the Top Ten coffee-drinking
    countries, with their per capita consumption in pounds:
    
    Finland     (29.36)
    Sweden      (24.46)
    Austria     (22.11)
    Denmark     (21.18)
    Norway      (21.18)
    Netherlands (20.59)
    Gremany     (17.43)
    Switzerland (16.55)
    Cyprus      (13.78)
    France      (12.63)
    

    >>>    Gremany     (17.43)
    
    I didn't remember Gremlins drinking that much coffee when I saw the
    movie!  :*)

    
    <haed hnug in sahme>
    

    ni
    
    nnttm
    

    
    Hey!  the US of A didn't even make the list ! ! ! ! !
    
    OK!  WHO'S BEEN SLACKIN' OFF !
    

    All 'dem Brits wot first got off the boat taught us to drink tea!!
    

In a survey recently done by the Kato foundation.

The young people of today are more likely to believe that UFO's exist than 
that they will receive social security when they reach retirement age.

Unless the world's most famous houseguest has started a foundation, I think
that should be the Cato Foundation.

>  <<< Note 117.470 by NOTIME::SACKS "Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085" >>>
>
>Unless the world's most famous houseguest has started a foundation, I think
>that should be the Cato Foundation.
                    ^^^^

Thanks:-)

>       Reynoldsburg, Ohio (cf 14.3227) advertises itself as
>       "Birthplace of the Tomato."

Then they're liars.  Tomatoes originated in Mexico and/or South America.

    Perhaps it should be:
    
	Reynoldsburg, Ohio (cf 14.3227) advertises itself as
    	"Birthplace of the Green Tennisball which grows on vines."
    
    Nice thing about three year olds.  They see a red tomatoe on a vine,
    they know *exactly* what to do about it.  Pick it.  Eat it.  Immediately.
    
    								-mr. bill

    Prollem with 2 year olds is you can't convince 'em to wait until the
    tomatoes turn red...

>>    Prollem with 2 year olds is you can't convince 'em to wait until the
>>    tomatoes turn red...

	i knew a dog like that too.  he'd just pick 'em right off the
	vine and chow down.  i think maybe they're colorblind though.

    Of course, tomatoes used to be considered poisonous...

    Well, the leaves of a tomato plant are poisonous.

    Yes, but until fairly recently, the fruit (/vegetable) was also
    considered poisonous.

    
    That's because there were all these two year olds who got sick after
    eating raw green tomatoes.
    
    								-mr. bill

    
 1995 World Standardized Rules - 8-Ball
 
 DISCLAIMER: This file contains property copyrighted by the Billiard Congress 
 of America. Any modification or sale of the information herein is strictly 
 prohibited by the laws governing that copyright.  However permission is given
 to distribute this information as public domain granted this disclaimer 
 remains attached.  Please direct questions regarding interpretation of the 
 following, or information on how to receive the current BCA "Billiards - The 
 Official Rules and Records Book" to the Billiard Congress of America at:
 
    1700 S. 1st Ave.,
    Suite 25a, Iowa City, IA 
    52240.
    Phone: 319-351-2112
    e-mail: BCA@netins.net
    Web Page: http://www.netins.net/showcase/bcahome/
 
 Except when clearly contradicted by these additional rules, the General Rules
 of Pocket Billiards apply.
 
 1. OBJECT OF THE GAME - Eight Ball is a call shot game played with a cue ball
    and fifteen object balls, numbered 1 through 15.  One player must pocket 
    balls of the group numbered 1 through 7 (solid colors), while the other 
    player has 9 thru 15 (stripes).  THE PLAYER POCKETING HIS GROUP FIRST AND 
    THEN LEGALLY POCKETING THE 8-BALL WINS THE GAME.
 
 2. CALL SHOT - In Call Shot, obvious balls and pockets do not have to be 
    indicated.  It is the opponent's right to ask which ball and pocket if he 
    is unsure of the shot.  Bank shots and combination shots are not considered
    obvious, and care should be taken in calling both the object ball and the 
    intended pocket.  When calling the shot, it is NEVER necessary to indicate
    details such as the number of cushions, banks, kisses, caroms, etc.  Any 
    balls pocketed on a foul remain pocketed, regardless of whether they belong
    to the shooter or the opponent.
 
    The opening break is not a "called shot."  Any player performing a break 
    shot in 8-Ball may continue to shoot his next shot so long as he has 
    legally pocketed any object ball on the break.
 
 3. RACKING THE BALLS - The balls are racked in a triangle at the foot of the 
    table with the 8-ball in the center of the triangle, the first ball of the
    rack on the footspot, a stripe ball in one corner of the rack and a solid 
    ball in the other corner.
 
 4. ALTERNATING BREAK - Winner of the lag has the option to break.  During 
    individual competition, players will alternate breaking on each subsequent
    game.
 
 5. JUMP AND MASSE SHOT FOUL - While "cue ball fouls only" is the rule of play 
    when a match is not presided over by a referee, a player should be aware 
    that it will be considered a cue ball foul if during an attempt to jump, 
    curve or masse the cue ball over or around an impeding numbered ball that 
    is not a legal object ball, the impeding ball moves (regardless of whether
    it was moved by a hand, cue stick follow-through or bridge).
    
 6. LEGAL BREAK SHOT (Defined) - To execute a legal break, the breaker (with 
    the cue ball behind the headstring) must either (1) pocket a ball, or (2) 
    drive at least four numbered balls to the rail.  If he fails to make a 
    legal break, it is a foul, and the incoming player has the option of (1) 
    accepting the table in position and shooting, or (2) having the balls 
    reracked and having the option of shooting the opening break himself or 
    allowing the offending player to rebreak.
 
 7. SCRATCH ON A LEGAL BREAK - If a player scratches on a legal break shot, 
    (1) all balls pocketed remain pocketed (exception, the 8-ball: see rule 9),
    (2) it is a foul, (3) the table is open.  PLEASE NOTE: Incoming player has
    cue ball in hand behind the head string and may not shoot an object ball 
    that is behind the head string, unless he first shoots the cue ball past 
    the headstring and causes the cue ball to come back behind the headstring 
    and hit the object ball.
 
 8. OBJECT BALLS JUMPED OFF THE TABLE ON THE BREAK - If a player jumps an 
    object ball off the table on the break shot, it is a foul and the incoming
    player has the option of (1) accepting the table in position and shooting,
    or (2) taking cue ball in hand behind the head string and shooting.
 
 9. 8-BALL POCKETED ON THE BREAK - If the 8-ball is pocketed on the break, the
    breaker may ask for a re-rack or have the 8-ball spotted and continue 
    shooting.  If the breaker scratches while pocketing the 8-ball on the 
    break, the incoming player has the option of a re-rack or having the 8-ball
    spotted and begin shooting with ball in hand behind the headstring.
 
 10. OPEN TABLE (Defined) - The table is "open" when the choice of groups 
    (stripes or solids) has not yet been determined. When the table is open, 
    it is legal to hit a solid first to make a stripe or vice-versa.  Note: 
    The table is always open immediately after the break shot.  When the table
    is open it is legal to hit any solid or stripe or the 8-ball first in the
    process of pocketing the called stripe or solid.  However, when the table 
    is open and the 8-ball is the first ball contacted, no stripe or solid may
    be scored in favor of the shooter.  The shooter loses his turn; any balls 
    pocketed remain pocketed; and the incoming player addresses the balls with
    the table still open.  On an open table, all illegally pocketed balls 
    remain pocketed.
 
 11. CHOICE OF GROUP - The choice of stripes or solids is not determined on 
     the break even if balls are made from only on or both groups.  THE TABLE
     IS ALWAYS OPEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BREAK SHOT.  The choice of group is
     determined only when a player legally pockets a called object ball after
     the break shot.
 
 12. LEGAL SHOT (Defined) - On all shots (except on the break and when the
     table is open), the shooter must hit one of his group of balls first and
     (1) pocket a numbered ball, or (2) cause the cue ball or any numbered
     ball to contact a rail.
 
     PLEASE NOTE: It is permissable for the shooter to bank the cue ball off a
     rail before contacting his object ball; however, after contact with his
     object ball, an object ball must be pocketed, OR the cue ball or any
     numbered ball must contact a rail.  Failure to meet these requirements is
     a foul.
    
 13. "SAFETY" SHOT - For tactical reasons a player may choose to pocket an
     obvious object ball and also discontinue his turn at the table by
     declaring "safety" in advance.  A safety shot is defined as a legal shot.
     If the shooting player intends to play safe by pocketing an obvious object
     ball, then prior to the shot, he must declare a "safety" to his opponent.
     If this is NOT done, and one of the shooter's object balls is pocketed,
     the shooter will be required to shoot again.  Any ball pocketed on a
     safety shot remains pocketed.
 
 14. SCORING - A player is entitled to continue shooting until he fails to
     legally pocket a ball of his group.  After a player has legally pocketed
     all of his group of balls, he shoots to pocket the 8-ball.
 
 15. FOUL PENALTY - Opposing player gets cue ball in hand.  This means that
     the player can place the cue ball anywhere on the table (does not have to
     be behind the headstring except on opening break).  This rule prevents a 
     player from making intentional fouls which would put his opponent at a
     disadvantage.  With "cue ball in hand," the player may use his hand or
     any part of his cue (including the tip) to position the cue ball.  When
     placing the cue ball in position, any forward stroke motion contacting
     the cue ball will be a foul, if not a legal shot (also see Rule 39 in
     the General Rules of Pocket Billiards).
 
 16. COMBINATION SHOTS - Combination shots are allowed; however, the 8-ball
     cannot be used as a first ball in the combination except when the table
     is open.
 
 17. ILLEGALLY POCKETED BALLS - An object ball is considered to be illegally
     pocketed when (1) that object ball is pocketed on the same shot a foul is
     committed, or (2) the called ball did not go in the designated pocket, or
     (3) a safety is called prior to the shot.  Illegally pocketed balls remain
     pocketed.
 
 18. OBJECT BALLS JUMPED OFF THE TABLE - If any object ball is jumped off the
     table, it is a foul and loss of turn, unless it is the 8-ball, which is a
     loss of game.  Any jumped object balls are spotted in numerical order
     according to General Rules for spotting balls.
 
 19. PLAYING THE 8-BALL - When shooting at the 8-ball, a scratch or foul is not
     loss of game if the 8-ball is not pocketed or jumped from the table. 
     Incoming player has cue ball in hand.  Note: A combination shot can never
     be used to legally pocket the 8-ball.
 
 20. LOSS OF GAME - A player loses the game if he commits any of the following
     infractions:
 
     a. Fouls when pocketing the 8-ball (exception: see 8-Ball Pocketed
        On The Break).
 
     b. Pockets the 8-ball on the same stroke as the last of his group
        of balls.
 
     c. Jumps the 8-ball off the table at any time.
 
     d. Pockets the 8-ball in a pocket other than the one designated.
 
     e. Pockets the 8-ball when it is not the legal object ball.
    
     Note: All infractions must be called before another shot is taken, or
     else it will be deemed that no infraction occurred.
 
 21. STALEMATED GAME - If, after 3 consecutive turns at the table by each
     player (6 turns total), the referee judges (or if no referee, both players
     agree) that attempting to pocket or move an object ball will result in
     loss of game, the balls will be reracked with the original breaker of the
     stalemated game breaking again.  The stalemate rule may only be used when
     there are only two object balls and the 8-ball remaining on the table.
     PLEASE NOTE: Three consecutive fouls by one player is not a loss of game.
 
 

    kangaroo poop is odorless.
    
    

    
    > kangaroo poop is odorless
    
    Raq, how did you come to possess this gem of information?

    there was a guy on the radio this morning who raises them down in
    atlanta.  he originally started out selling them to zoos, but then
    realized their (the 'roos) manure made good fertilizer and it didnt'
    stink.  so now he does both, sells the 'roos to zoos and also promotes 
    "'roo doo"...soon to be available nationwide via catalogue...
    
    i also found out that a gestation period of a kangaroo is only about 30
    days and the joeys are only the size of a bumble bee when they are
    born.
    
    :>
    
    -raq
    

    .484
    
    > gestation period of a kangaroo...
    
    Which is why the mother roo carries the kid in a pouch for an extended
    period.
    
    Hamsters, on the other hand, have a gestation period of 14 days, and
    the babies are about the size of a bumblebee.  Which is why raising
    hamsters as food for your Burmese python is a wise investment.

    <--- That made me chuckle fiendishly !!

    When you go to Disneyworld or Disneyland and meet the various
    Disney characters in costume, you might be interested to know
    that frequently (if not most of the time), female actresses
    portray the male characters, and vice versa.
    
    One woman visitor who was flirting around with one of the male
    characters asked the character about his real identity.  The
    character gestured to its "eye", to get the woman to move in
    for a close look through the mostly one-way eye.  Surprise!
    
    So remember that, ladies, next time "Mickey" flirts with you
    or gives you a great big squeeze.
    
    Chris

    
    most of 'em are female... not vice versa... in general the
    woman look better in the outfits...
    
    (i've been "backstage" at disney... years ago, i was working
    for a company that sold them some equipment... we got to
    walk around in the tunnels underneath the park that the
    disney employees use to get around...)
    
    -b

    Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
    
    HELP ME !!! Minnie Mouse gave me a kiss at Disney World !! It's true
    promise... I gotta go to the bathroom... I suddenly fe

    
    don't feel bad...last trip of mine to epcot, while in scotland, goofy
    piq'd out a couple of gals to dance with him and his buddie...i got to
    cha-cha with the goof-ster...my friends busted me the rest of the day,
    saying i was maqin' goofy howl...
    
    as embarrassing as it was, it was fun... :>  
    
    oh, and i got my piccie taqen with big blue (sp) from the jungle booq
    and with either chip or dale...can't remember which one has the marroon
    nose...
    

    
    raq, you got you picture taken with the Chippendales?  When they were
    marooned in the jungle?  I'm confused....

    %*}
    Dan

>    oh, and i got my piccie taqen with big blue (sp) from the jungle booq
>    and with either chip or dale...can't remember which one has the marroon
>    nose...

Maroon.  It's Dale.

    
    
    mercy, gerald...thought marroon looqed odd, but i had originally typed
    'red' nose and didn't feel liqe being bombarded with the rudolph
    notes...
    
    :>
    
    

    
    The average 18-hole golf course has the potential to provide oxygen
    for the daily requirements of over 11,000 people.
    

    
    A recent study, quoted in `The Medical Post', has found that telling
    parents they should put sunscreen on their children to protect them
    from skin cancer won't work as well as telling them it will protect
    against a sunburn.
    

    Makes sense -- a near-term effect that happens all the time is bound to
    be more of a motivator than a long-term effect that might or might not
    happen.
    
    Same principle would seem to apply to other things parents can tell
    kids too...  :-)

    
    
    I was going to put this in the 'Jokes' topic, but since it's so true, I
    thought this was a more appropriate topic.  :*)
    
    
    
    Why do so many women fake orgasms??
    
    
    
    
    Because so many men fake foreplay!!!
    
    
    :*)
    Terrie
    

    I don't.

    Re: .-1, Auto-foreplay don't count.

Children have more tastebuds than adults.

    I don't make love to cars.

    Drive, as in thrust?

    I have.

    It would cause a ruckus.

    
    Cats don't count...
    

    Of course they don't. They don't have any fingers.

    
    Cows fart in the key of C!
    
    -b

    
                          (__)
                          (oo)
                   /-------\/ 
                  / |     ||  
                 *  ||W---||  
                    ~~    ~~  

    

    yes, yes, yes, but does he use a cowndome?
    
    

    
    I'm afraid to find out what that picture would look like....
    

    Cows fart in the key of C,
    The reason is so plain to see,
    Just before they pass a doot,
    They like to give a lilting toot.
    
    So if you hear a tuneful fart,
    It won't B minor on her part
    The time has come for you to scat,
    She's just about to drop A flat.
    
    

  .514  G

    .514 No sense being Welsh if ya can't sing :-)
    
    

                                    /
                         __       //
                         -\= \=\ //
                       --=_\=---//=--
                     -_==/  \/ //\/--
                      ==/   /O   O\==--
         _ _ _ _     /_/    \  ]  /--
 BLAAT  /\ ( (- \    /       ] ] ]==-
       (\ _\_\_\-\__/     \  (,_,)--
      (\_/                 \     \-
      \/      /       (   ( \  ] /)
      /      (         \   \_ \./ )
      (       \         \      )  \
      (       /\_ _ _ _ /---/ /\_  \
        \     / \     / ____/ /   \  \
         (   /   )   / /  /__ )   (  )
         (  )   / __/ '---`       / /
         \  /   \ \             _/ /
         ] ]     )_\_         /__\/
         /_\     ]___\
        (___)

    
Particleboard, waferboard and fibreboard
August 1995
 
Waferboard production in August totalled 264 877 cubic metres, a 6.3% increase
from 249 125 cubic metres in August 1994. Particleboard production reached
142 670 cubic metres, up 9.9% from 129 864 cubic metres in August 1994.
Fibreboard production in August amounted to 5 473 000 square metres (basis 3.175
millimetres), a 44.3% drop from 9 818 000 square metres in August 1994.
   For January to August 1995, year-to-date waferboard production totalled
2 197 620 cubic metres, up 10.3% from 1 992 820 cubic metres a year earlier.
Year-to-date particleboard production amounted to 1 116 329 cubic metres, up
15.9% from 963 111 cubic metres a year earlier. Year-to-date fibreboard
production reached 68 236 000 square metres (basis 3.175 millimetres), down 7.0%
from 73 388 000 square metres during the same same period in 1994.
 

    
    	That is very interesting stuff, Joan.
    
    	Is there a web page where I can keep up to date on this stuff
    	in the future, in case you're out for a week or something?  I
    	don't think I could wait until you got back.
    

    
    http://www.statcan.ca/
    
    ;^)
    

    
    	Whew ... thanks!!
    

    11% of Americans that suffer from indigestion would rather retake the
    SAT than watch a Jessee Helms filibuster.

       
       `Cleave' is the only English word that's its own antonym.

    
    'Tis true. It can mean "split asunder" or it can mean "to cling
    or adhere," which I guess makes it an antonym. I leave you
    Mz. Deb as a living example of this potentially vexing verb.

    -b

  .523  "chuffed" is one, too.

    
    Thank goodness I'm not a living example of chuffage, too.
    
    

  .526  oh she's a witty one, she is.  yes.

    
    	What's "chuffed" mean?
    
    	The good ol' American Heritage Dictionary doesn't list it.
    

    
    
    Ask mz_deb.... She's usually not as chuffy as many in here...
    

    
>>    	What's "chuffed" mean?

	it means both "disgruntled" and "pleased".  a brit thing.

    	Well nowadays, "bad" is also such a word.

    
    hmm  Di, disgruntled and pleased, kinda contradictory, but then we
    are talking about the brits. :-)

    The strongest gust of wind ever recorded was atop Mt. Washington. 

    232 mph

       re .533:
       
       Ironically, the meteorologist who measured this
       was named Gustave Wynde.
       
       --Mr Topaz

 and those of us who make New Hampshire home are reminded of the big wind
 each anniversary of it's occurance.




 Jim

    >232 mph
    
     I thought it was 229, but it may have been 232. (Like it would be a
    significant difference...)

    Probably would have been higher had the annometer not gotten blown away
    by the storm.
    
    Bob

    I just checked my world almanac and it says 231.
    
    8^/

    Encyclopedia Brittanica claims 225. :-/

    
    Web pages claims 6,387,767.9765 mph.
    
    								-mr. bill

    Yellow Pages claims Joe's Garage, Visa & MC accepted. No checks.

    
    "Checks", Glenn?  "Checks"?
    
    You been spendin' too much time amongst the unculturati.
    

    That's what it said in the yellow pages.
    
    Cheque it yourself.

    
    Just make the check out to the Ministry Of Housinj.
    

    Housinj?

    
    It was spelt like that on the van (I'm *very* observant).
    

Fun Fact #739
   Eating seed corn is not a healthy practice. They usually coat it
   with some gross fungicide-pesticide stuff which will make you sick.

    oh sure.  _now_ you tell me.

    fun fact #740
    	Seed corn goes right through me. I feel sick, but it's just cramps.

    
    Male drunk drivers outnumber female drunk drivers 9 to 1.
    

    
    	Convicted, I'd assume?
    
    	I'd say men are more likely to get stopped for drinking/driving
    	since they're more apt to do stupid things [like racing and/or
    	excessive speeding] when drunk OR not drunk.
    

    
    	Now, I'm not saying that men are worse drivers, but I am saying
    	that they're more likely to get caught speeding and/or racing.
    

    
    .552

    	>Convicted, I'd assume?
    
    Charged (Canadian stats, for 1994).
    

    I doubt that these are the circumstances for the data. When the police
    set up road blocks, they don't check for certain cars, they pull over
    as many as they can.

    
>>    	Now, I'm not saying that men are worse drivers

	no - i, for one, would never have thought you were saying
	that, trust me.

    
    I'd be glad to say it if Shawn doesn't want to.
    
    Men are worse drivers.
    

    
    Bull feces!

    But then again, it depends on your definition of good and/or
    bad. Good to me is someone who either sticks the pedal to
    the floor or stays the hell out of my way while I do it.
    I don't care whether you have a John Thomas or not, just move
    your ass or stay out of the way...
    
    Your mileage, as they say, may vary. :-)

    BTW, ALL Minivan drivers suck!!!! :-)
    
    -b

    
    > Men are worse drivers.
    
    Only when they have some WOMAN in a rodeo blocking up traffic....
    
    ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    
    

    
    :-)
    Hi hun...

    
    	Glenn, roadblocks aren't the only way one gets stopped for drunk
    	driving.  There's also the guy that's doing limit+5 who gets
    	stopped for speeding and the cop realizes he's drunk.  Or the
    	guy who's weaving all over the road.
    
    	And Deb ... men get most of the tickets, because policemen are
    	basically immune to men batting their eyelashes at them and act-
    	ing like complete ditzes.
    
    	8^)
    

    
    ... except maybe for the cop in the Village People...
    
    -b

    
    Shawn,
    
    Crash statistics, epsecially those involving alcohol, might provide
    an interesting, and perhaps more meaningful, overview of the *actual*
    drunk-driving ratio of male to female.
    
    Do you have any?
    

    
    Oh, I have NEVER batted or ditzed to get out of a ticket.  The officer
    just decides on his own not to give me one, that's all.
    
    8^)
    
    So what's the deal with insurance rates being higher for young male
    drivers than anyone else in the world practically?
    

        Well, the fact is, women are less prone to taking risks. 9 to 1 ratio
    tells me that women are less likely to risk driving drunk. Heck, I know
    a few women who refuse to drive on a major 4 lane highway much less
    get in a car under the influence.

    Men are always trying to beat the system.

    
    	Deb, I'm sure you meant you don't go out of your way to act
    	like a ditz.  Yes?  8^)
    
    
    	And insurance rates are artificially high anyways, partially
    	going back to the "men get caught for speeding more often"
    	reason.  So I don't think that's relevant.
    
    	It's more of a "potential risk" than anything.  Young guys
    	usually have the fast cars, or at least are expected to drive
    	them as if they were, and the insurance companies expect them
    	to have more accidents.  Maybe they do ... I wouldn't be sur-
    	prised.
    

    
    	Joan, what are you looking for ... drunk driving stats, or those
    	instances that resulted in an accident?
    
    	The numbers for those 2 scenarios are quite different.  Especial-
    	ly when you consider that a driver could be cited for driving
    	under the influence even if the accident wasn't his/her fault.
    	Or a driver could be very drunk without being involved in an
    	accident.
    

    
    > Oh, I have NEVER batted or ditzed to get out of a ticket...
    
    Yes, but did you {ahem} inhale deeply as he approached ?!?!
    

    
    8^p
    
    It's just pure luck, I tell you.  Could happen to anyone.
    

   deb, there's no sense arguing about it.  men are genetically
   programmed to be "better" drivers - everyone knows that - they
   just... are.  you know.  

   it's one of those unexplained phenomena.  

   this is a little-known fun fact.

    
    Shawn,
    
    Assuming that the stats re: charges have been confounded by hormonally-
    motivated peace officers, I would submit that an accident is at least
    as likely to result when a drunk woman is behind the wheel as it is
    when a drunk male is behind the wheel, assuming similar levels of
    impairment.
    
    If stats don't bear this out, then either women don't drive drunk as
    often as men, or they don't drive *as* drunk as men (when they do).
    
    I would think, anyway.
    

    
    	I'll have to think about this one and maybe do some reasoning
    	to figure out what the stats seem to be saying.
    
    	RE: Diane
    
    	Now you're starting to understand.  8^)
    

    
>    	Now you're starting to understand.  8^)

	well, i up'ed the anti-ditz medication last week.    

    are there antidotz to anti-ditz?

upped.  nnttm.

    9 to 1 Sean, 9 to 1. I know it's difficult to accept, but could it be,
    women aren't as likely to be stupid and drive drunk?

    
    	so, you ordered the suppositories ?
    

  thanks.  at least you didn't get up'ity about it.

    i'm going to a bob dylan concert friday evening.  i hope he
    enunciates this time.  he was awful last time.  

   .578  oh, c'mon, you probably know all the words anyways.

    RE:  Young male drivers

    I heard the stat once that for every young male driver there was 1.08
    accidents involving a young male driver (some guys get into multiple
    accidents).

    RE: .558 

>    badGood to me is someone who either sticks the pedal to
>    the floor or stays the hell out of my way while I do it.
	...
>    BTW, ALL Minivan drivers suck!!!! :-)

    You're being inconsistent.  I drive a mini-van and have been known to
    take Garlock road at 90 (Garlock road being defined as a 22 mile
    stretch of road out in the middle of the Mojave desert.  It has a nice
    long straight stretch in the middle, some really small hills at one end
    and nice corners at the other end).  The corners that say "35 mph" I
    took at 60 last week-end in the mini-van.  If you don't know the road,
    you won't keep up.  And, oh by the way, once I learned the road nobody
    has ever stayed on my tail or passed me on that road.

    -- Dave_who_doesn't_drive_as_fast_as_he_used_to

    yeah but, sometimes he speeds up the slow songs and slows down
    the fast songs and sings like he has a pigeon roosting in his
    mouth.  so it takes you a while to even recognize the ditty.
    
    cool opening act, tho...patti smith!

    
    > It's just pure luck, I tell you.  Could happen to anyone.

    Ohhh, don't sell yourself short my dear!  Few people have the stunning
    physical attributes which you possess, your beautify face, deep
    penetrating eyes, musical voice, and those teeth....  I'm all ashiver
    thinking about those incredible teeth...

    No my dear, it could NOT happen to anyone, but it most certainly SHOULD
    happen to you.  Any male officer who could give you a ticket, should
    report immediately to the Medical Examiner's office, because HE'S DEAD!

    Your lowly and obedient servant

    
    Bob Dylan enunciate?  OXYMORON ALERT!!!! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!!
    
    -b

re .582:

Thus writes the Jupiter of the 'box.

>>Thus writes the Jupiter of the 'box.

  the planet, the god, or the vacuum cleaner?
  

    Three kids is just the right number.  Preferably, one of
    each.

  .586  i bet that third kid'll eat ivy too.

    
    >Bob Dylan enunciate?  OXYMORON ALERT!!!! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!!
    
    
    	You beat me to it.
    
    	It just isn't possible for Bob to enunciate.
    

    
    It would depend, I imagine, entirely on Ivy's mood.
    
    -b

kiddely divy two.

nnttm.
     

Wuss 'pon ti'
'dresso fi
dooda monk' shi
inna pri

Dinn oo?

Pee'l ah
say bewaa
[dadada]
bu theyss aa

Kinn oo!

Damn...  I could use that somewhere if I could unnerstan it.

/john

    
    	Words can't describe songwriting like that.
    

    
    RE: .591
    
    
    BWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    
    -b

             <<< Note 117.592 by COVERT::COVERT "John R. Covert" >>>

>Damn...  I could use that somewhere if I could unnerstan it.

	You could write James Brown for a translation.

	;-)

Jim

    .591
    
    hey that's one of my faves!!  i guess if he's in a good
    mood and feels like up to enunciating, you're in luck.
    if not, too bad.
    

    unch upn atym n yr prym ddnt yoooooooo

re: .592, /john

How does it feel?

 .590  wooden shoe?

>dooda monk' shi

  ;>  "do the monkey shine"? ;>  i thought it was "threw the bum a dime".

    aaahhh, to be on your own!

    
    Incidentally (and this doesn't necessarily apply to driving, although
    it may), my 1990 mortality stats for Canada show that men start their
    lives almost twice as likely to die in an accident as women do, and
    climb to more than four times as likely in the 25-29 age group.  Men 
    remain *always* more likely to die accidentally until we reach the 85+
    age group, when women finally overtake men in that category.
    
    I suspect that U.S. stats are similar.
                   

    
    Ban men!
    
    

    I use Right Guard. 8^/

    
    	Oh, is THAT the way you interpret that data, Deb?
    
    	What I got from that is that the women drivers were killing
    	the male drivers and quite possibly switching seating posit-
    	ions in the car to make it look like the male was driving.
    

    
    OK, ban all men except for Glenn.