Snowflake's Forum

 Never heard of the expression? I grew up hearing it a lot. If something was dull, it was dull as cupcakes.  Appropriate, I would say, since cupcakes, no matter how dressed up, ARE dull. Mind you, nowadays, cupcakes is used in a different context, if you get my drift.  Nowadays you can no longer buy anything a dime a dozen. Hell, a dime won't buy you anything. So, without beating around the bush, what "expressions" or "idioms" have you heard or used? Anything slightly out of the ordinary, like the cupcakes one?  Now because I wanted to keep this thread PG, I didn't get too graphic in what expressions or idioms I may have heard from time to time but I won't put that restriction on YOU. So, let your hair down, and let 'er rip. 

  The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto.  One photo of how it looked before the hordes invaded.  The other after.  Thought of this after seeing a photograph of Venice with nothing but wall to wall people. What great places have you been to but now too crowded to do so? J.P. Bunny

Here’s something to ponder for the still-weekend (for most of us here).  I was thinking about song lyrics this morning, while waking up in bed (yes, I do my best “thinking” in bed). No wisecracks Snowy. 😉 I had the windows slightly open and I could hear a train whistle in the distance.   Nothing like that “good feeling” you get inside when you hear a distant train rolling along in the “background of your life.”   That’s probably why many-a-song have been inspired by train sounds: "Good morning, America, how are ya? Said don't you know me? I'm your native son I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done" Add in some birds chirping, a warm breeze coming through, and I gotta ask, does it get any better?   Anyway, back to the subject: song lyrics. I’ve had the privilege of hearing a lot of great song lyrics “In My Life.”   I’d call them more “a version of “poetry”.   Being a child of the ‘60’s, that’s w...

  Simple question.  Bunny’s History of Constitutional Law teacher would come into the classroom, and drone on in a monotone voice for 50 minutes.  No blackboard, no visual materials, no gestures.  No questions allowed.  They were to be saved for office hours.  The guy made a boring topic unbearable. What about you? J.P.  Bunny 

 IN case you missed the memo: https://snowflakesforum.blogspot.com/2024/04/this-is-it.html Also didn't send out invites. I guess those who didn't get them, figured I wasn't posting anything..........important. Good thing it wasn't a test 😏 So. For those who got missed the meme............. Here is PART TWO. Congratulations! You have finally reached the end of the internet! There's nothing more to see, no more links to visit. You've done it all. This is the very last page on the very last server at the very far end of the internet. You should now turn off your computer and go do something useful with the rest of your life. * https://hmpg.net/ I think this time I will send invites. So everyone can use the internet to see that the internet has reached the end.  Aren't I kind? 😋

  Congratulations! You have just reached the End of the Internet.  Congratulations! Finally you can go out and do something useful again! Have a good time and thank you for using the Internet. (Please shut the door on your way out) https://eoti.tms.sx/ You have just reached the  End of the Internet . Congratulations! You have just reached the  End of the Internet . Congratulations! You have just reached the  End of the Internet . Congratulations! You have just reached the  End of the Internet . Finally you can go out and do something useful again! Have a good time and thank you for using the Internet. (Please shut the door on your way out)

  Pairing of Oreo and Sour Patch Kids candies produces new sweet, tart cookies Oreo cookies have been double stuffed, filled with confetti, space-inspired popping candy, and even ground-up Oreos. Now the cookies will be infused with Sour Patch Kids' flavors. The newest  Or eo  mashup may leave a sour taste in your mouth. A Sour Patch Kids taste, that is. New limited-edition Oreo Sour Patch Kids cookies are available for pre-order starting Wednesday, April 24 online on  Oreo.com . The new flavor will hit stores May 6 ($4.50 online; $5.29 in stores). The cookies resemble  Oreo Golden Cookies  but both the cookie and creme filling have Sour Patch Kids flavors and colors, "creating a sweet yet sour taste, inspired by Sour Patch Kids," touts a  press release about the new coo k ies . https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/04/24/oreos-sour-patch-kids-cookies/73430600007/?tbref=hp All I can say to this  is................ To make this a bit more ...

  The title pretty much says it all. For Bunny it was the history teacher that made past events relatable and fun. “Go into K-Mart.  The women wearing curlers and a kerchief, cigarettes hanging from their lips, room slippers, dragging a load of runny nosed kids.  The men chewing tobacco, engine parts in their pockets, scratching their private bits.   Do you want these people running your government?  No.  Neither did the Founding Fathers.  That’s why voting only for land owners.”   Took the boredom out of history.  Now Bunny does the same for his students. What lessons stuck with you? J.P. Bunny 

  In a  paper  published earlier this month, physicist Melvin Vopson, of the University of Portsmouth, offered scientific evidence for a philosophical theory known as the  simulation hypothesis . This, in a nutshell, posits that the entire universe and our objective reality are just super-advanced  virtual reality  illusions. Elon Musk  is among the well-known fans of the theory, which – as Dr Vopson notes in his paper – has been “gaining traction in scientific circles as well as in the entertainment industry”. The university lecturer also pointed out that recent developments in a branch of science known as information physics “appear to support this possibility”. Information physics suggests that physical reality is made up of bits of information. However, Dr Vopson has gone further and is working to prove that information has a physical mass and is a fundamental building block of the universe. He even claims that information could be the mysterious d...

Do you have any favorite names?  For men, for women? A little something to ease into your day. 😉 (by PrimalSoup)

 And does it sound as funny? A rose by any other name and all that. Hope no one here has an odd last name, but if you do, it's you, be proud of it. Not sure if Pecker should be though. Who Is David Pecker? Here’s Why He’s Testifying In Trump’s Hush Money Trial. https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/04/21/who-is-david-pecker-heres-why-hes-testifying-in-trumps-hush-money-trial/?sh=17190c8a1970 If he testifies against Trump, well, you know what he will be called, right? It wouldn't be that he is a Peckerwood, would it? I am sure lots of Pecker jokes will be flying though: https://bustergammons.blogspot.com/2018/08/bad-pecker-jokes.html https://www.mediaite.com/online/twitters-being-really-mature-about-david-pecker-turning-on-trump-pecker-inserted-into-trump-drama/ https://www.thewrap.com/everyone-is-making-the-same-bad-joke-about-david-pecker-because-were-all-terrible/

  Most of us here are old enough to have seen the language change throughout the years.  English is a living language.  That said, what usage or new words just make you want to scream? For Bunny, it is treating data as a plural, as in “the data are correct.”   It is a non countable noun in English, no matter what it is in Latin. What does it for you?

So far, I've seen 3 of Musk's behemoth Cybertrucks puttering around the neighborhood. Them things are big and intimidating. And really ugly , IMHO. Unfortunately for Elon, there's been a slew of problems with the beast.  Standard color is stainless steel silver Note guy at right with green Mohawk hairdo (he looks suspicious) Mashable reports on the woes of the poor cybertruck: The Cybertruck's failure is now complete Tesla's latest vehicle was widely mocked even before its accelerator pedal problem. Now it's a national joke An "unapproved lubricant" used on the Cybertruck's accelerator pad caused it to slip off and get trapped in a bit of trim above the pedal, according to a recall report [PDF] by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If you've been on TikTok this week, you might have seen what that can mean, thanks to a viral video of a Cybertruck owner whose accelerator jammed in the "pedal to the metal" position. R...

Why does just about everyone who is interviewed on TV start their answer like that? “Yeah, I mean…” (then comes their answer). It seems to be a built-in part of starting a sentence in English; maybe other languages too, IDK. Is “Yeah, I mean” the language equivalent of our “Have a nice day,” as departing words with someone?  I’m guessing probably 90% of goodbyes end with that automatic phrase, whether it’s in person or on the phone.  Like you have any real control over whether your day will be nice. 😉  Still, the sentiment seems cordial.  Ya gotta give it that. “So,…” is also a sentence starter.  So (short pause)... then comes the answer.  I think “So” is the new version of the old “Well, … ” Then there’s the fastly rattled off “No-yeah, I mean….”  Or its reverse, the “Yeah-no,” if the opposite feelings are felt about the question.  Talk about covering your bases!  Genius. 😁 Are these (what I’d call) “automatic phrases” now just a given pa...

 It's 4/20!  Time for a doobie and a limerick! Your turn!  Write an original limerick, or steal one from someone else!  Share! AlextheKay, having no taste, loves limericks!

Have you ever been in one? If yes, describe it. Do you remember the magnitude? (by PrimalSoup) 

 In our area. Local hydro replacing some lines or some such, so we got a notice, no power in our area between 9:30 and 3:30 pm. Must be a Canadian thing, never heard of a planned outage before.  It is what it is so I thought I would leave you all with an interesting thread to contemplate: Of all your fellow travelers on here, who do you think has the coolest user name and/or the coolest avatar. I will be back online tonight (I hope) to see the results. No extra points for picking me, though I do believe I have the best username AND avatar. 😁 My choices: Pithy Wititude (we do know what pithy means, right? Wititude seems to be a cross between witty and attitude, just look up wititude quotes), Region Rat . What that last part is all about I hazard to guess but put it all together, that is one Pithy username. As for the coolest avatar:

Boston Dynamics has updated its robot to be less intimidating looking to us squishy humans. This ~25 second video shows how smoothly it can move. Love that hip joint flexibility! Just like real people! And, the pitter, patter of little robot tootsies  padding around the house A Techcrunch article comments : The new version of the robot is virtually unrecognizable. Gone is the top-heavy torso, the bowed legs and plated armor. There are no exposed cables anywhere to be found on the svelte new mechanical skeleton. The company, which has warded off reactionary complaints of robopocalypse for decades, has opted for a kinder, gentler design than both the original Atlas and more contemporary robots like the Figure 01 and Tesla Optimus. Yeah, that's kind and gentle for sure. No robopocalypse there for sure. Trust me, I'm clueless. The old, original scary Atlas puttering around the work site. By Germaine: Scared of Atlas and a bit skeptical  

Well, THAT depends on how active it was BEFORE death, but I degress ........... One question that has baffled mankind is “after-death experience” or the experience after the heart stops beating. There have been anecdotal reports of a person being able to understand and hear what is happening around them even after they have been declared dead. A team of researchers have found that the brain works for a while after the heart has stopped. The research is reported in an a journal paper titled, 'AWARE—AWAreness during REsuscitation—A prospective study.' The team of scientists from New York’s  Stony Brook University of Medicine , looked at patients with cardiac arrests in Europe and the US. They noted that those of the patients who were successfully resuscitated after their heart had stopped beating could recall the conversations around them between the healthcare personnel and were aware of their surroundings. (A question arises, if true, does that mean you have several hours of ag...

Couple more questions from my list of philosophical questions: People say that money cannot buy happiness, but can you ever be truly happy without any money? Would you rather have a job you love that pays very little, or a job you hate that pays a great deal of money? (by PrimalSoup)

The Hill reports that the government has imposed a new minimum LED bulb light output per watt of electricity put in:  New standards for light-emitting diode (LED) lightbulbs announced by the Biden administration last week will likely mean measurable savings for American households, but experts say the bulbs last so long it may be years before consumers notice the benefits. The Biden administration’s final rule for LED bulbs, announced Friday, more than doubles the energy efficiency requirements for the bulbs, taking them from 45 lumens (the unit of measurement for brightness) per watt to more than 120 lumens. The Department of Energy (DOE) has projected the rule will result in about $27 billion in total savings and prevent the release of 70 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over a 30-year period.  Full enforcement of the new LED rule does not begin until 2029, but Vukovich said some manufacturers and retailers will likely take steps toward compliance before then...

I was slicing up a green onion to go on top of my microwaved baked potato with sour cream and found myself fascinated by how it looked inside.   So, I thought it would make for a good “what is it” OP.   No one got the right answer but there were many creative guesses.   I especially liked Dan’s “A zygote having its first mitosis,” and Bunny’s “A flake of scalp skin.” I’ll keep my eye out for other interesting things to zoom in on.   See you then! (by PrimalSoup)

 Just plain ole fashion UGH. You see something or hear something and your first reaction is just UGH. ONE RULE: You can't say Trump. I know Trump makes us all go Ugh. And I am not saying you can't mention some other political leader or public figure that makes you go Ugh.  But I suspect, that without this rule, the whole page would be filled with Trump. I mean the constant mentioning of the man makes me want to go UGH! And that is all I am going to say on that matter. Maybe you are thinking this thread is making you think UGH. Fair enough. Lay it all on the line.  What is Ughworthy to you?

 What is it? Answer coming tomorrow. (by PrimalSoup)

 I know stuff like this happens, but I have to wonder what century we are living in. Guns in the news again. And a white guy freaking out because of a black woman. I feel sick thinking stuff like this can still happen: A 61-year-old  Uber  driver, Loletha Hall, is dead after  Ohio  resident William Brock, 81, allegedly shot her no less than three times in front of his home after both were targeted in a scam call that police say sent an unwitting Hall to her death and led to a  murder  charge for Brock. The tragedy unfolded around 11:18 a.m. on March 25 when Hall — a driver for Uber for nearly 10 years, according to her son — arrived at Brock’s home in South Charleston. The woman was unarmed and posed “no threats or assault,” police said. Footage from a dashcam inside of Hall’s Acura shows her approaching Brock’s home, getting out of her car and then engaging with Brock and attempting to leave. But Brock trailed her closely, pointing his .22 caliber rev...