You've officially made it when you're a question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Ok, so he wasn't the exact question, but Jonathan Schaeffer just sent this e-mail to the games group here at the department:

Seen the commercial and it was funny but not in a good way. I'm still sitting on the fence about this one.

Look everyone a transforming car! Go here to see it. I know I didn't put much effort in finding this site but who is going to know?

See, Beck, I have almost the opposite problem. I assume that if other people can do something, then I should not have a problem with it. I guess I start with stuff that isn't special and attempt it, rather than turn stuff that is special into the perfectly normal...

(Oh, and the placebo effect is awesome.)

I uploaded this but forgot to post it yesterday. It's an (apparently fradulent) ad for the Volkswagen Polo. (The apparently fradulent bit is because Volkswagen claims they didn't make the ad.) Nevertheless, it stands as a (possibly backfiring) example of viral marketing. (Another example would be the Burger King Subservient Chicken.) This one just might approach bad taste, though.

Bubbles flow in the direction of the strongest component of a vector field. Just because air is lighter then water does not mean they automatically float to the top. Bubbles are still pockets of air that are subjected to the laws of fluid mechanics. The main one being that all substances in a flow go in one direction due to bernouli principle. So no Alison bubbles don't move up unless the water is going in that direction. They can float to the top of the flow but direction wise they must follow where the flow is going. Damn I though I would never have to think about fluid mechanics ever again.

1. What's wrong with having sex with unconscious men? I do it to women all the time. As a third-wave feminist I think we should be equals in this regard. Props to Anna for carrying the pro-choice torch, however one-sided that choice may be! I'm gonna ace this friggin feminist anthropology class. Wait and see, wait and see!

2. I think it's probably millions of little beetles that have infested your plumbing. Make sure when you take a shower tomorrow morning that you let it run for about ten minutes just to get all the beetles out. Their eggs will still be stuck in the pipes of course, so this isn't a permanent solution by any means. By tomorrow there'll probably be more than ever. Trust me. It happened to me once. The only way to fix it was by flushing gasoline down the toilet and then setting the plumbing on fire. That fixes those bastards right good lemme tell ya.

3. Thank GOODNESS someone solved the mystery of whether or not more than one person in the world gets a strange feeling on their tongue when they eat grapefruit! This just proves once and for all, beyond the shadow of a doubt that modern science is a fucking miracle!

4. FUBAR = Fucked Up Beyond ALL Recognition

Alison - everything will be fine.

In other news - did anyone else read the comics in the Gateway today? I thought the Anna cartoon was a little ironic. Hmm, making jokes about having sex with unconscious men? Human rights complaint anyone? Somehow, I doubt it.

Calm down Alison... not everything is out to get you

so what do you do when your plumbing (master drain pipe) starts making sounds like there are little pebbles tumbling down it? It sounds a lot like the noises of the ice rain falling on the windows, crisp little spots of noise, except you can trace a path with the ones in the pipe... because they tumble down. Isn't a plumbing pipe full of water? This shouldn't be happening. And if it's bubbles - our only plausible explanation - shouldn't they be falling up instead of down? I'm a little worried. Both the furnace and water heater are doing just fine. The noises of the rain falling on the furnace chimney are noticeably in a different location, so I know I'm pinpointing the right noise, but what the fuck is it? I've got my adrenaline going, but I think I'll just let it be and try to sleep tonight... ask people about it tomorrow. But I don't get it. I think I've heard it before, but I can't be sure. Do the master plumbing pipes have vents out of the rooves of houses? Yet even then, that ice rain wouldn't be falling in water, all the way through two floors of pipe.

I hate this kind of weather, not only for the icy road and sidewalk surfaces (I dare you to skate, Par), but also because all the little noises sound like sparks of electricity or coals from fires, and the paranoia in me (because I'm the "responsible one" at home now) is starting to act up. If I wasn't in charge, I wouldn't be worried. And if I didn't have such strange ears, I wouldn't have heard the noise through the wall in the first place. I don't get it.

okay, breathe... I'll be okay. But if any of you have any ideas, feel free to share them. I'd like to know what's going on.

ugh. Why is homework so much harder winter semester?

My tongue feels all funny after I eat grapefruit too Al.