Dick to the Dock to the PhD!

You don't have to be a believer to think that this is hilarious!


"If I was dyslexic, I’d even hate 'dog' too."

Earth Hour ... Today

"A(nother) Whopper!"

Happy St. Patrick's Day ... Oh Boy, Oh Boy

The Best of All Games?

The state of this blog is best described as moribund. It’s been an interesting experiment, but I’m undecided whether I’ll keep it going. While I’m deciding, though, a charming letter by John Rawls recently surfaced. Here it is. (Click here [.pdf] to read the letter in its original typescript.)

Freezing in Grand Central Station

More info about Improv Everywhere is here. Not a terribly deep project, but certainly fun.

The American Civil War in Four Minutes

Did You Hear the One About the Logician Who ...?

Too busy to write much these days, but Jo Wolff's recent Guardian column is very funny.

Check it out here.

Happy Holidays

My favorite duck

Nietzsche for President?

Who says philosophers don't have a sense of humor?



(HT: Leiter Reports)

Chimps 1 – Humans 0

Chimps Outperform Humans at Memory Task

3 December 2007
New Scientist
Rowan Hooper

Young chimps can beat adult humans in a task involving remembering numbers, reveals a new study. It is the first time chimps – and young ones, at that – have outperformed humans at a cognitive task.

And the finding may add weight to a theory about the evolution of language in humans, say the researchers.

Three adult female chimps, their three 5-year-old offspring, and university student volunteers were tested on their ability to memorise the numbers 1 to 9 appearing at random locations on a touchscreen monitor.

The chimps had previously been taught the ascending order of the numbers. Using an ability akin to photographic memory, the young chimps were able to memorise the location of the numerals with better accuracy than humans performing the same task.

During the test, the numerals appeared on the screen for 650, 430 or 210 milliseconds, and were then replaced by blank white squares.

Global Climate Change Cost-Benefit Argument

Hardly the end of the story, but not a bad presentation of the straightforward cost-benefit argument for taking steps to counteract the effects of global climate change:



(HT: Big Monkey, Helpy Chalk)

The Fabulous Moolah

A national tragedy: The Fabulous Moolah, dead at 84.

Here's the New York Times obituary. Money quote:

The Fabulous Moolah enjoyed the mayhem, but she especially coveted the money.

When she started in pro wrestling in the early 1950s, the promoter Jack Pfeffer decided a name change was in order. As she told it in “The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle” (Regan Books, 2002), written with Larry Platt, Pfeffer told her “the name Lillian Ellison wouldn’t do. Not flashy enough.”

He asked her why she was wrestling, and, as she recalled: “Annoyed, I blurted out: ‘For the money. I want to wrestle for the moolah.’”

And here's the great dame in action:

King Tut ... How'd you get so funky?

The face of Pharaoh Tutankhamen is displayed in a climate-controlled case at his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, close to Luxor, 500 kilometres south of Cairo, 04 November 2007. The true face of ancient Egypt's boy king Tutankhamun was revealed today to the public for the first time since he died in mysterious circumstances more than 3,000 years ago. The pharaoh's mummy was moved from its ornate sarcophagus in the tomb where its 1922 discovery caused an international sensation to a nearby climate-controlled case where experts say it will be better preserved. By Cris Bouroncle / AFP / Getty. [HT: The Daily Dish] (And here's the story, in case you missed it.)

But what the researchers have yet to discover is that King Tut was a sax player too! Indeed: "He coulda won a Grammy / Buried in his jammies."

This is an ex-parrot!

Believe it or not, I chanced upon this video as part of some genuine philosophical research. As a bonus, it's hysterical.

"This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late parrot. It's a stiff: bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies. It's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot!"

So much of Monty Python's style has either dated badly or been incorporated into the fabric of contemporary comedy as to seem passé that one forgets how funny they really were!

Portishead

Little reason but for the facts (a) that this is a good video, and (b) that it's been a Portishead kind of day (whatever that means) ...

American Philosophy?

A new documentary (previously excerpted here) appears to be forthcoming. From the trailer, it looks promising, if (perhaps) confused.

It's an interesting topic: is there such a thing as American philosophy (other than in the merely extensional sense that Michael Hodges mentions)? Certainly, in this extensional sense, I'm an American philosopher, but (qua philosopher, anyway) I am decidedly uninterested in the various themes that are mentioned at the end of the clip (freedom, justice, oppression, etc.).

Moreover, it appears to include a somewhat idiosyncratic selection of interviewees, and some of the filmic outbursts seem sophomoric. Hard to tell what kind of tone it's trying to set, or what audience it seeks. Would this really interest a lay audience? Then again, is it likely to inform philosophers?

Also, there's a rather cruel moment (at about 4:42 remaining), where the editor pauses on the image of Prof. Erin McKenna (Pacific Lutheran University), as if to suggest that it's she who is eccentric. (Watch it in context, beginning at 5:54 remaining.)

But maybe, as they say, any press is good press. Maybe. In any case, here's the trailer:

Shasta Take-Down

I'm not much of a Pat Forde fan, but this excerpt from his column on ESPN.com is pretty funny ...

Shasta To Golden Bear: Duck!

If you're even vaguely acquainted with YouTube, you've probably seen the video of the Sept. 1 mascot throwdown between Shasta (26) the Houston Cougar and the Oregon Duck (27). It's gone worldwide, reportedly drawing especially enthusiastic response in Japan.

NOTE: Somehow I managed to miss this footage myself, so, in case you did also, here it is ...



Hysterical. Back to Forde ...

The video shows a one-sided, web-footed whuppin' at Autzen Stadium, with the Duck abusing poor Shasta far beyond the bounds of normal mascot playfulness. Punches, kicks and a flying elbow drop were enough to get the deranged Duck suspended for Oregon's home game against Fresno State on Sept. 15. But according to Houston, it was selective film usage.

"For what it's worth, [Shasta] did stick the Duck at least once," offered Houston sports information director Chris Burkhalter.

As it turns out, Houston has more than just a fake-furred mascot's manhood to protect. The guy in the Cougar suit happens to be a walk-on wide receiver named Matt Stolt (28) -- and you simply cannot have a football player being owned by a duck.

So Stolt explained his relative passivity: "Being a mascot is for the fans, it's to represent the school. If you want to fight, take off the gear. He wasn't fighting Matt Stolt, he was fighting Shasta. Shasta got his licks in, but he wasn't there to fight. If it was just me and him, I'd take off the suit and fight."

Stolt admitted he has "taken a little flak" from his teammates over the fight.

"They said there's no reason I should be taking it from a duck," he said.

This is just another line on Stolt's varied Joe College résumé. He's a mascot, he's a football player -- and for his first two years at Houston he played trumpet in the marching band. The only job Stolt hasn't had at home football games is selling popcorn.

"I just like being a part of something and I like to represent UH," said Stolt, a Texas native who will graduate in May with a degree in kinesiology.

With California visiting Oregon on Saturday for a major showdown, The Dash thought it wise to get Cal's Golden Bear (29) a scouting report on the Duck's dirty tricks. Oskie once got into quite a dustup with the Stanford Tree (30) during a basketball game, but this could be a step up in class.

Here's the dish on the duck from Shasta:

"My advice to any mascot that goes against him is not to worry. There won't be a problem. I think the duck's in enough trouble right now. But if it comes to that, just turn that duck's head around so he can't see nothin'."

Obama's Strategy

In today's Times (UK), Andrew Sullivan has a perceptive, big-picture take on Barack Obama's strategy and standing in the Democratic primary now underway. Here's the money quote:

In a polarized climate, where Rudy Giuliani is already lambasting Hillary and itching for a fight, Obama is sticking to a disciplined message of reconciliation, unity, responsibility.

Is this a mistake? Whoever won a Democratic primary by insisting on being open to Republicans? That is the risk Obama is taking. But when you observe and listen closely, you see this is what he actually means.

He detects an enormous weariness among Americans about their internal divisions in a time of war, overlaid by the anger and divisions that have deepened and widened under the Bush presidency. He suspects that if he can get past Clinton’s aura of inevitability, Democrats will realise he has a much better chance of winning a real national majority in the general election than Clinton does. Clinton polarises the way Bush polarises. She can hope for a Karl Rove-style 51% majority in a deeply divided country. He’s aiming for 55%.

Clinton, in other words, represents payback for the Democrats and liberals after the Bush era, just as Giuliani is emerging as the inheritor of the Bush legacy of divide and rule. Right now, Obama remains to the side, offering Americans something else: not payback, but a new page.

The rest of the article is available here.

I think Sullivan is absolutely correct about the kind of strategy Obama is relying upon, and he's right that it could well fail. The hard question is whether we should prefer to fail with his strategy or to win with hers. My fear is that we are bound to do both.