I couldn't make this shit up
Is Vermicomposting Compatible with Feng Shui?
Somebody's wife is complaining that the worm bin is not good fortune. Well, I guess that depends on whether my ancestors and their silly friends knew about the benefits of vermicomposting. Or whether the right worms were actually present in China at the time. Some quick googling and shaking down of wormy websites reveal that the common red worms being used are more often than not of either European or North American nationality. There is also the African Nightcrawler and the Indian blue, which is probably the likeliest candidate for Ancient Chinese composting, since it originates from the Himalayas...
No mention of vermicomposting by the ancient Asians could be found, however. All there is some mention of Cleopatra, who I believe was actually Greek, putting the worms on the pedestal and calling them sacred in 50BC... and Aristotle calling them, rather romantically, the "intestines of the earth". There's also some mention of Charles Darwin studying the squirmy things, but still no mention of leftover cai xin composting.
Of course, all this research, while fun was probably quite unnecessary, since the wife of said vermicomposter was probably just using the ancient Chinese method of relieving the gullible of the burden in their pockets as an excuse to get rid of the worms! Because she was too much of a wuss to admit it! So much that she felt she had to lie, because obviously feng shui is a better excuse! Because it is obviously more selfless than saying, "Honey, I'm a wuss, will you remove the worms please?" and so much more difficult to say, "Honey, can you put those things in the closet or something? You know I'm afraid of the jiggly stuff!". Because feng shui is obviously not stupid and its revival has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with vacuous, vapid tai-tais with full purses and empty heads.
.REF.
What is a tai-tai?
A tai-tai is a local colloquialism (originating from Cantonese, I believe) that refers to an ostentatious woman, usually Chinese and Chinese-speaking, who doesn't work, spends her massive free time living it up on her husband's income, and wears lots of gold jewellery. Also has extra-long fingernails, well-honed mahjong skills, and can tell you all about the best spas and high teas in town.
-Info pulled from this link.
Red worms (pictures!!!)
How to spot pseudoscience
Article with short history of Vermicomposting and the worms being used
Oh and just because I can, a link to Penn & Teller's Feng Shui experiment. I love these guys!
Somebody's wife is complaining that the worm bin is not good fortune. Well, I guess that depends on whether my ancestors and their silly friends knew about the benefits of vermicomposting. Or whether the right worms were actually present in China at the time. Some quick googling and shaking down of wormy websites reveal that the common red worms being used are more often than not of either European or North American nationality. There is also the African Nightcrawler and the Indian blue, which is probably the likeliest candidate for Ancient Chinese composting, since it originates from the Himalayas...
No mention of vermicomposting by the ancient Asians could be found, however. All there is some mention of Cleopatra, who I believe was actually Greek, putting the worms on the pedestal and calling them sacred in 50BC... and Aristotle calling them, rather romantically, the "intestines of the earth". There's also some mention of Charles Darwin studying the squirmy things, but still no mention of leftover cai xin composting.
Of course, all this research, while fun was probably quite unnecessary, since the wife of said vermicomposter was probably just using the ancient Chinese method of relieving the gullible of the burden in their pockets as an excuse to get rid of the worms! Because she was too much of a wuss to admit it! So much that she felt she had to lie, because obviously feng shui is a better excuse! Because it is obviously more selfless than saying, "Honey, I'm a wuss, will you remove the worms please?" and so much more difficult to say, "Honey, can you put those things in the closet or something? You know I'm afraid of the jiggly stuff!". Because feng shui is obviously not stupid and its revival has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with vacuous, vapid tai-tais with full purses and empty heads.
.REF.
What is a tai-tai?
A tai-tai is a local colloquialism (originating from Cantonese, I believe) that refers to an ostentatious woman, usually Chinese and Chinese-speaking, who doesn't work, spends her massive free time living it up on her husband's income, and wears lots of gold jewellery. Also has extra-long fingernails, well-honed mahjong skills, and can tell you all about the best spas and high teas in town.
-Info pulled from this link.
Red worms (pictures!!!)
How to spot pseudoscience
Article with short history of Vermicomposting and the worms being used
Oh and just because I can, a link to Penn & Teller's Feng Shui experiment. I love these guys!