Discoveries
The top headline of this week’s Weekly World News reads “Three new commandments discovered!”
Thought for the day…
From the Annals of Improbable Research, today’s edition:
Investigator Ron Josephson alerted us to the following mathematics-related dispatch, which appeared in the October 11, 2002 issue of “The Salt Lake Tribune”:
The menu at the Coffee Garden at 900 East and 900 South in Salt Lake City has included a scrumptious selection of quiche for about 10 years.
The recipe calls for four fresh eggs for each quiche.
A Salt Lake County Health Department inspector paid a visit recently and pointed out that research by the Food and Drug Administration indicates that one in four eggs carries salmonella bacterium, so restaurants should never use more than three eggs when preparing quiche.
The manager on duty wondered aloud if simply throwing out three eggs from each dozen and using the remaining nine in four-egg-quiches would serve the same purpose.
The inspector wasn’t sure, but she said she would research it.
That explains it…
I just had one of the mysteries of life explained by fortune(1).
The answer to the ultimate question being 42 and the ultimate question being what do you get when you multiply six by nine are consistent iff God has thirteen fingers.
I feel much better now…
News line of the day
“We’re still looking for either a naked man with huge eyes or an emu,” the spokesman added.
Well, I’ve been saying the same for years…
(The full story, here)
Amusing facts about the Mountain View Public Library
The Odyssey is filed under non-fiction. When I asked the girl at the checkout desk about this, she said “That’s weird. That’s, like, science fiction, right?”
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen are filed under fiction, under their author — Baron Munchausen.
The car manuals for Honda Civics are all filed under car manuals, but some years are under “Honda” and others under “Civic.”
The catalogue lists identical books under separate entries, and often multiple copies of the same book are filed in different sections of the library.
Is there a librarian in the house? Anywhere?
(Although to be fair: Apart from the total lack of organization, it’s a remarkably pleasant library. Very good places to sit and read or work.)
Breakfast and the synthesis of opposites
Breakfast today was Horizon organic milk with Froot Loops. There is something wrong in this picture.
On the other hand, perhaps not. It can be interpreted as the visible synthesis of the organic and the unnatural, a symbolic first step in the ever-closer relationship between man and machine, and so it is a deeply relevant cultural commentary.
On the third hand, that sounds very pretentious. Perhaps the organic milk is slowly turning me into a postmodernist critic.
On the fourth hand, where did I get so many hands? That’s the side effect of eating Froot Loops.
Yonatan Zunger’s Blog 