I WISH politics were still like this

Mental_Floss's new issue will be out soon, and Mangesh from Mental_Floss emailed everyone a snippet from the issue. I loved it so much, I wanted to share it.

The Prankster who Outfoxed Tricky Dick

When Nixon sought the presidency, his opponent, John F. Kennedy, hired a mole named Dick Tuck to play pranks on him. The day after the first debate (a contest many felt Nixon had won), Tuck spun the results by hiring an elderly woman wearing a Nixon button to hug Nixon in front of reporters and console him for losing the debate. Two years later, when Nixon ran for governor of California, Tuck had children in Los Angeles' Chinatown greet him with a sign reading "Welcome Nixon" in English and beneath the greeting, "What about the Hughes loan?" in Chinese--a reference to a controversial loan Nixon's brother had received. Nixon, who didn't understand Chinese, posed smiling next to the sign, then tore it up in front of reporters when Tuck told him the translation. During a whistle-stop train tour on the same campaign, Tuck disguised himself as a conductor and ordered Nixon's train to pull away from the station just as Nixon had begun a speech to the crowd. Worst of all, when Nixon ran for President in 1968, Tuck hired pregnant women to show up at his rallies wearing T-shirts that read "Nixon's the One." Nixon, who'd mastered the art of dirty tricks early in his career, came to both despise and begrudgingly admire Tuck. During his 1972 presidential re-election campaign, Nixon ordered aides to develop a "Dick Tuck capability." -- David Borgenicht and Turk Regan

Central Park

I just wanted to share some pics I took of Central Park a couple weeks ago. They're nothing special, but I thought they were pretty.



The sunlight through the trees next to Turtle Pond






A duck taking off at Turtle Pond






The sunset at Turtle Pond




A group of women doing yoga next to the castle at Turtle Pond






An archway in the rambles






A squirrell in the rambles






Shakespear Garden






Flowers in Shakespear Garden




A bee on a flower in Shakespear Garden. If you look closely, you can see the bee's tongue.





Underneath the balcony at Bethesda.






Birds perching on Bathesda.






This is a turtle in the pond next to Bathesda. People kept trying to feed it, and it kept trying to bite off peoples' fingers.






In the rambles






A tree in the rambles that reminded me of sweet potatoes.










A grove of trees by The Mall




Benches near Bathesda






Birds eating near the benches by Bathesda






A butterfly on the balcony overlooking Bathesda. It was a mean butterfly, and kept bullying other butterflies and dragonflies.






The artwork on the stairs leading down to Bathesda.



So, that's it. I hope you enjoyed them.

Mmm...mathy

At the Discovery News website is a science cartoon blog called Raw Materials. I like this cartoon.

Getting my rocks off

You wanna see what a nerd I am? I've mentioned before that I collect rocks. Well, here's my collection. I lurve it so much.

This is druzy quartz (druzy meaning lots of tiny, sparkly crystals covering the whole of the piece) with growths of sphalerite and galena. Sphalerite is usually a pretty red or orange color, and galena looks a lot like graphite. Below is another example, with nice, big chunks of sphalerite.

Here, on the left, is a rock formed from the minerals surrounding a white smoke hydrothermal vent. You can't really tell here, but it's pink, smooth and translucent. On the right is a calcite stalactite.

These two pieces I bought at the rock show at Museum Village recently. The left are two garnets in a matrix, and the right is an example of peacock ore. I love peacock ore.

On the left, this is a specimen of nepheline. You can't really tell by this picture, but each of these crystals is a hexagon, into which you can see. It's really nifty. On the right is vanadinite. It is sooo sparkly.

Below on the right is another example of vanadinite, and is some of the largest vanadinite crystals I've ever seen. On the left is what's called a phantom quartz, because it's clear, and inside it you can see other "ghost" stones.

This is my favorite piece. It's a fluorite stalactite. I love stalactites. I love that they take so long to form, and I love the smooth, waxy feel of them. This one in particular, when wet, has phantoms all along each protrusion.

Below are two more examples of fluorite. The one on the left is in a white chalcedony matrix, and the one on the right is purple fluorite on a quartz matrix.

Here, on the left, is another example of fluorite, this one with phantoms. You can kind of see it in this picture. In the middle is am uncut garnet, and on the right is amethyst quartz.

Below, on te left is a piece of hemimorphite, which is really vibrant, and on the right is cinnabar growing on dolomite. I've been looking for a decent specimen of cinnabar for a long time, because it reminds me of strawberries and cream, and I found this one. You can't really tell by the picture, but it looks yummy. Too bad that the main component of cinnabar is mercury.

So, there you have it. I have more at home, which I've blogged about previously. I love my rocks. I started collecting them when I was a young child, when I started attending a new day care (nursery school? I can't remember). I remember how it started, though. I was really shy, and didn't socialize with all the other kids, so during recess, the teacher gave me a little tupperware container, took me to the playground, the base of which was smooth pebbles, and taught me how to find pretty rocks. I've been collecting them ever since.

Thursday Morning Awesomeness

This morning, I got out of my apartment a wee bit late. I got down to the subway, which was just arriving. I got on, but didn't get a seat, which is fine, so I stood at the pole and read. The train was moving really slow, so I was convinced I wasn't going to get to work on time. Between 125th street and 59th, I look up and see this spanish woman sitting there, staring at me with such loathing. After glaring at me, she looks away, shaking her head. Needless to say, I was a bit confused. I didn't know the woman, didn't recognize her whatsoever, but throughout the remainder of the ride, caught these glances a few more times. We both got off the train at 59th street, and went our separate ways. So I thought. I got to the bus stop at 57th street, and lo! thar she was. Sligthly unsettled from running into her again, I was placated by the fact that she was wearing a black pant suit, a white shirt, and really, really, aweful, ugly, brown loafers. Therefore I figured that she was just projecting her bitterness at her inability to follow basic dressing rules to those around her.

Once on the bus, I got a seat and resumed reading. It was an uneventful bus ride, until we reached E 57th and 2nd Ave. There was a traffic cop in the middle of the intersection, directing traffic against the light. Oh, how that woman danced, bopping up and down, swinging her hips back and forth. It made me smile. I looked around at my fellow passengers, and they were all, also smiling. It was nice to see New Yorkers not look bitter and resentful for once.

At the stop at E57th and 1st ave, a little girl of about maybe 6 gets on the bus with her nanny. She sits in the seat across from me, grips her Beanie Baby Bunny with both hands by the throat, and let loose with a high-pitched, maniacal laugh. Truly, it chilled me to the bones.

Not really.

Then I got to work. On time, thank you very much. I went to the cafe to get my bagel and cream cheese, and got stuck in line behind an older woman who'd had a really bad face lift (especially around the mouth - it looked like an invisible person had stuck their fingers in the sides of her mouth and pulled back towards her ears). She first complained about the price of the coffee - $1.85. Then she tried to pay with a $50 bill. When the cashier refused to take it since she didn't have change, the woman told her that she should get change, and why couldn't she have someone bring it to her. Finally, the woman opened her wallet and sorted through what turned out to be a massive wad of $5 bills, took her $50, exchanged it for a $5, and then complained that now she wouldn't be able to get home.

Now I'm at my desk, answering the questions of all who call.

Such is life.

Wednesday afternoon bacon product

Anyone who knows me, knows of my deep and abiding love for all things bacon, despite my being a Jewess. I came across this alarm clock that wakes you up, not with an annoying screechy alarm sound, but with the delicious scent of bacon.

See, the night before, you put frozen strips of bacon into the clock. Ten minutes before it's set to wake you up, it starts slow cooking the pork strips, and the scent wakes you up. Awesome, yeah?

The only thing that concerns me is the putting of raw meat, especially bacon, into an unrefridgerated receptacle. You really shouldn't do that. So, while I covet this device greatly, I'll probably wait until a model with a built-in refridgerator becomes available.

Dum Dum for Monkey

Recently, my little sister Monkey came to spend a week with me in NYC, and prior to her visit, I had her make a list of various things she'd like to do. I told her, however, that I would not go to a) the Empire State Building, b) Rockefeller Center, c)the Statue of Liberty, d) the Chrysler Building or e) Times Square.

Monkey came up with the following things: she wanted to eat at a good sushi restaurant, she wanted to buy designer clothes, she wanted to get make up at Sephora, she wanted to meet my coworkers, and she wanted to see Dum Dum (from Night at the Museum) at the Museum of Natural History.

We got out to see Dum Dum, and of course, the museum was PACKED with tourists. Everyone wanted their pictures taken with the cast of the Easter Island Head.

Currently, the museum has an exhibit of photos taken throughout its history of their displays and exhibits being created. Here we have Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Clark with the cast of the head in December of 1935. Don't they look doctorey?

See more preparation photos here.