Seven random thoughts
Random thought number one: What would life be like if there was no such thing as the placebo effect? I had that thought this afternoon and I've been mulling it over all day. I really can't imagine how different the world would be. So much would be different. Thousands of years of history would be different. It's a remarkably potent aspect of human psychology, and one that often goes unnoticed. Which is appropriate, of course. If you noticed every time you were feeling a placebo effect, it wouldn't be a placebo effect.
Random thought number two: How weird is it that we call our galaxy the Milky Way? I mean, from a certain perspective it's weird enough that most celestial bodies in our solar system are named after Roman and Greek gods, but "Milky Way" is so just so oddly colloquial. It's one of those things that you don't think of as being weird because that's just always been what it's called, but really. Think about it. The entire massive galaxy, this tremendous and awe-inspiring collection of billions of stars and possibly trillions of planets, this ancient grouping of stars across the vast cosmos in which humankind first came to being:
And we named it after milk on account of it looked kind of white.
Although yeah, maybe we can go for a milk=nurturing kind of thing, but no. We call it the milky way cause it kinda looks like milk. Thanks, Chaucer (and Greeks). Way to be poetic.
You know all those astronomers who eventually realized that Pluto shouldn't be considered a planet anymore? Well they need to get together and come up with a new name for our galaxy. I suggest something fierce and threatening. But you don't have to take my word for it:
Begin Simulation
Alien 1: Gleebzat, this puny Andromeda galaxy fell swiftly to our murdertron robots and ionized death transducers. Which galaxy shall we conquer next?
Alien 2: There is this one here. It is a spiral galaxy that looks very much like a milky sort of substance, not that I, as a completely alien biological species would have any concept of milk, but in my intergalactic travels I have learned of its existence, as well as the existence of this galaxy. I feel we should conquer it next, Grand Commander Nrot!
Alien 1: Very well! What is the name of this galaxy that we shall soon be eradicating with pulses from our homicide cannons?
Alien 2: The locals refer to it as the "Galaxy of Alien-Killers," Grand Commander.
Alien 1: Egad! That sounds to be more trouble than it is worth. Redirect our hyperstab engines to the next galaxy over from the Galaxy of Alien-Killers. We will give those fiercesome creatures a wide berth.
Alien 2: Of course, Grand Commander. And might I add that whichever local sentient creature came up with that name, it should be showered with praise by its fellow sexually compatible compatriots for being so clever!
Alien 1: Duly noted, Gleebzat. Duly noted.
End Simulation
So as you can see, getting a tough sounding name is really going to save lives in the long run. It's the same reason why bikers and other tough guys name themselves things like Madman or Shiv or Stabby Stabberson or what have you. You don't want to mess with those guys. They might shiv you or stab you or get really mad at you for no discernible reason. And can I just add for the record that I still think Madman was totally out of line for cursing me out the other day. That dude needs anger managment, for serious.
Random thought number three: I am hereby retiring the running joke of "Maybe the M. in M. McGregor stands for Meredith." I do this because it has come to my attention that some of you may be doing this as a reference to something from Stargate. I will not stand for this. Therefore, if you wish to suggest that the M stands for something feminine, I must insist that you use either Megan, Michelle, or even Madonna. Then we can all have a nice chuckle without having to make me think about Stargate, especially since we all know the M in M. McGregor stands for M. McGregor.
That's right. Recursive acronym, my friends! The best kind of acronym! Jealous? You know you are.
Random thought number four: If there's ever a revolution in this country, I'm going to be completely out of the loop since I don't use twitter, facebook, or myspace, and because LJ folk are much too busy making fanvids or dabbing tears from their eyes with doilies embroidered with pictures of pink ribbons and kittens to engage in the tough-guy activity of overthrowing a government. That's for people who twitter. Twitter's where the jocks of blogging hang out and say stuff like "Omg im totally guna revolt 2day".
That's right, I'm still gonna make fun of Twitter, even when it's being used to coordinate an actual overthrowing of a totalitarian regime. I'm just edgy like that, what can I say?
(Please don't hurt me, Twitter people. I'll go back to writing my Buffy fanfic and talking about going to ren-faires or something, I swear!)
Random thought number five: I keep forgetting that Richard Dawkins isn't famous to a lot of people. I get when people don't know who Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Eugenie Scott, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Shermer, PZ Meyers, or Steven Novella are. But to me, Richard Dawkins is a world-famous celebrity. Then I have to go into this crazy nerd speak where I explain that he's a really famous evolutionary biologist, which is not exactly the coolest of sentences I have ever said.
Or, depending on your point of view and levels of nerddom, THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SAID.
Random thought number six: Look, I like that the Huffington Post is keeping up with a lot of the new-media stuff and is acting as a kind of aggregator for the piecemeal info coming out of Iran, but this does not change the fact that the Huffington Post is an anti-scientific rag that also happens to be full of poor journalism and ridiculous editorial stances.
They let Jim Carrey write an article about vaccines and autism. No, not Doctor Jim Carrey, MD. Jim Carrey, the guy who got beat by Jamie Foxx for title of "First In Living Color castmember to realize they aren't funny and could actually get an Academy Award if they just act in a serious film."
That Jim Carrey. So fuck the Huffington Post. They could break the next Watergate scandal and I'd still hate them for promoting pro-childhood disease activist Jim Carrey. (See I stole that technique from the abortion arguments and changed it from anti-vaccine to pro-childhood disease. Goddamn I'm devious.)
Random thought number seven: What does it say about me that I think playing the lottery is very aptly described as "taxes for the stupid," have never played the lottery or bought a lottery ticket in my life, and yet will often fantasize about what I'm going to do "when I win the lottery?"
Actually, I guess the odds of me winning the lottery are only slightly lower than my odds of finding an unclaimed winning lottery ticket floating on the breeze, so maybe it's not that crazy.
Lucky seven, baby!
Random thought number two: How weird is it that we call our galaxy the Milky Way? I mean, from a certain perspective it's weird enough that most celestial bodies in our solar system are named after Roman and Greek gods, but "Milky Way" is so just so oddly colloquial. It's one of those things that you don't think of as being weird because that's just always been what it's called, but really. Think about it. The entire massive galaxy, this tremendous and awe-inspiring collection of billions of stars and possibly trillions of planets, this ancient grouping of stars across the vast cosmos in which humankind first came to being:
And we named it after milk on account of it looked kind of white.
Although yeah, maybe we can go for a milk=nurturing kind of thing, but no. We call it the milky way cause it kinda looks like milk. Thanks, Chaucer (and Greeks). Way to be poetic.
You know all those astronomers who eventually realized that Pluto shouldn't be considered a planet anymore? Well they need to get together and come up with a new name for our galaxy. I suggest something fierce and threatening. But you don't have to take my word for it:
Begin Simulation
Alien 1: Gleebzat, this puny Andromeda galaxy fell swiftly to our murdertron robots and ionized death transducers. Which galaxy shall we conquer next?
Alien 2: There is this one here. It is a spiral galaxy that looks very much like a milky sort of substance, not that I, as a completely alien biological species would have any concept of milk, but in my intergalactic travels I have learned of its existence, as well as the existence of this galaxy. I feel we should conquer it next, Grand Commander Nrot!
Alien 1: Very well! What is the name of this galaxy that we shall soon be eradicating with pulses from our homicide cannons?
Alien 2: The locals refer to it as the "Galaxy of Alien-Killers," Grand Commander.
Alien 1: Egad! That sounds to be more trouble than it is worth. Redirect our hyperstab engines to the next galaxy over from the Galaxy of Alien-Killers. We will give those fiercesome creatures a wide berth.
Alien 2: Of course, Grand Commander. And might I add that whichever local sentient creature came up with that name, it should be showered with praise by its fellow sexually compatible compatriots for being so clever!
Alien 1: Duly noted, Gleebzat. Duly noted.
End Simulation
So as you can see, getting a tough sounding name is really going to save lives in the long run. It's the same reason why bikers and other tough guys name themselves things like Madman or Shiv or Stabby Stabberson or what have you. You don't want to mess with those guys. They might shiv you or stab you or get really mad at you for no discernible reason. And can I just add for the record that I still think Madman was totally out of line for cursing me out the other day. That dude needs anger managment, for serious.
Random thought number three: I am hereby retiring the running joke of "Maybe the M. in M. McGregor stands for Meredith." I do this because it has come to my attention that some of you may be doing this as a reference to something from Stargate. I will not stand for this. Therefore, if you wish to suggest that the M stands for something feminine, I must insist that you use either Megan, Michelle, or even Madonna. Then we can all have a nice chuckle without having to make me think about Stargate, especially since we all know the M in M. McGregor stands for M. McGregor.
That's right. Recursive acronym, my friends! The best kind of acronym! Jealous? You know you are.
Random thought number four: If there's ever a revolution in this country, I'm going to be completely out of the loop since I don't use twitter, facebook, or myspace, and because LJ folk are much too busy making fanvids or dabbing tears from their eyes with doilies embroidered with pictures of pink ribbons and kittens to engage in the tough-guy activity of overthrowing a government. That's for people who twitter. Twitter's where the jocks of blogging hang out and say stuff like "Omg im totally guna revolt 2day".
That's right, I'm still gonna make fun of Twitter, even when it's being used to coordinate an actual overthrowing of a totalitarian regime. I'm just edgy like that, what can I say?
(Please don't hurt me, Twitter people. I'll go back to writing my Buffy fanfic and talking about going to ren-faires or something, I swear!)
Random thought number five: I keep forgetting that Richard Dawkins isn't famous to a lot of people. I get when people don't know who Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Eugenie Scott, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Shermer, PZ Meyers, or Steven Novella are. But to me, Richard Dawkins is a world-famous celebrity. Then I have to go into this crazy nerd speak where I explain that he's a really famous evolutionary biologist, which is not exactly the coolest of sentences I have ever said.
Or, depending on your point of view and levels of nerddom, THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SAID.
Random thought number six: Look, I like that the Huffington Post is keeping up with a lot of the new-media stuff and is acting as a kind of aggregator for the piecemeal info coming out of Iran, but this does not change the fact that the Huffington Post is an anti-scientific rag that also happens to be full of poor journalism and ridiculous editorial stances.
They let Jim Carrey write an article about vaccines and autism. No, not Doctor Jim Carrey, MD. Jim Carrey, the guy who got beat by Jamie Foxx for title of "First In Living Color castmember to realize they aren't funny and could actually get an Academy Award if they just act in a serious film."
That Jim Carrey. So fuck the Huffington Post. They could break the next Watergate scandal and I'd still hate them for promoting pro-childhood disease activist Jim Carrey. (See I stole that technique from the abortion arguments and changed it from anti-vaccine to pro-childhood disease. Goddamn I'm devious.)
Random thought number seven: What does it say about me that I think playing the lottery is very aptly described as "taxes for the stupid," have never played the lottery or bought a lottery ticket in my life, and yet will often fantasize about what I'm going to do "when I win the lottery?"
Actually, I guess the odds of me winning the lottery are only slightly lower than my odds of finding an unclaimed winning lottery ticket floating on the breeze, so maybe it's not that crazy.
Lucky seven, baby!