Kick and a punch for the first day of the month, plus an added bonus of a new competition for May 2012. Be the first enter here!
Maybe being an engineer, I’m too practical to even think of Googling this one (unless of course I’m wearing my cartooning hat at the time). Did you know you can go to eHow to find a set of instructions on how to fix that annoying computer stuck key problem?
What is it with all these scientists exploring the domains of fairy tales and legends?
When I created the invisible cloak cartoon, I discovered that scientists had actually achieved an invisible cloak (well, not exactly, but did a whole heaps of calculations and demonstrated on a small model). Thinking that flying carpets would be a no go zone, I was surprised to find a mathematician (and a team – can you imagine asking for a support team – how would that conversation go with your boss, I wonder) has proven mathematically it is possible. (See Telegraph post for those technically inclined).
To a scientist, this means it’s possible in theory, but to an engineer, this means the next trick is to achieve this in practical terms.
What other cool things in fairy tales do you wish were possible? You may find some scientist and their support team are busy trying to make it true, just for you!
Ever had a feeling of deja vu? Well, maybe you’ll get this feeling if you decide to continue reading. Below is the final version (not the Draft I inadvertently sent out last week!)
It is with excitement that I graciously accept the Awesome Blog Content (ABC) blogger award, kindly bestowed upon me by Crubin from The Write Transition. As per the rules, I need to describe myself using every letter in the alphabet, then pass on the award onto at least another 6 bloggers.
- A – Angelic
- B – Beautiful
- C – Caring
- D – Don’t believe all that you read, especially the above
- E – Engineer – mechanical discipline
- F – Fascinated with all things scientific, weird and unusual
- G – Grateful to receive this award
- H – Half cup full – most of the time
- I – Industrial design degree. Prior to getting my engineering degree, I got one in Industrial design. I think this is why people see me as a frustrated engineer – always trying to address form (and colour) prior to function.
- J – Just outside the box in my cartooning, as in, not too far outside
- K – Klever (hey, I’m en engineer, I can’t spell)
- L – Like receiving lots of ‘likes’ on my blog and Facebook page. Thanks for your support!
- M – Mum of 2 kids
- N – Never give up
- O – Over 30, just 😉
- P – Pink, my favourite colour at the moment
- Q – Quite difficult to think of anything else to say, but here goes
- R – Really good at not giving up and persevering not matter what
- S – Snails. As a child my sister caught me ‘eating’ a garden snail. In my defence, I still protest to this day that her evidence is purely circumstantial. Yes, I was sitting amongst cluster of garden snails. Yes, I had one in my hand. Yes, there was a slight slobbery gleam drooling from my mouth. But No, no one saw a snail in my mouth.
- T – Terrible singer
- U – Urban city slicker
- V – Very grateful that there are only 4 more letters left in the alphabet
- W – Walking the dogs with the kids is one of the great enjoyments in my life
- X – X-rayed twice as a child for fractured bones
- Y – Yellow makes me look sickly
- Z – Zumba. I love taking Zumba classes and dancing around like a girlie.
And as part of the tradition, I now bestow upon the following 6 bloggers the ABC blogger award.
- The Blog of Funny names where unusual names are celebrated for their uniqueness
- Wrong Hands, a delightful one panel cartoon blog
- GD Konstantine’s blog capturing thoughts, photos, reviews and links
- CJDelling a German Comedian with a cartoon blog. You would think this an oxymoron, but I saw her last Sunday perform live and she was great
- Therapy Tales is a cartoon blog about ‘avoiding eye contact’. You’ll get the tagline, when you see the pictures.
- The Owl and the Pussy Cat is a cartoon series about the beloved animals from the famous Edward Lear poem. Unlike the poem, they are 21st century and get up to all sorts of modern-day antics
Three kangaroo facts to amaze your friends with:
- They are the largest marsupial, with the big red species standing over 2 metres
- Kangaroos belong to the animal family Macropus, meaning “big foot.”
- They are like Superman and can leap a tall building in a single bound (well, perhaps not a building, but they can jump 9 metres reaching speeds of 48 km/hr)
You’ve got to love the peculiarities of the english language. Why do you watch actors ON TV, but when you trek to a cinema, you watch them IN the movies?
It shall remain one of life’s many unanswered questions, until someone smarter than this humble engineer (perhaps an english teacher) can please explain!
Did you ever wonder what ACME stood for on the Road Runner show? Well, I looked up ACME in the Acronym Geek website to see what I could find. Of the 320 ACME entries, here were a few possibilities:
- Augmented Collaboration in Mixed Environments
- Antique Caterpillar Machinery Enthusiasts
- Awesome Company that Makes Everything
The last is probably the most likely, but on further investigation, it would appear that the words were added later by others. Back in the early 1920’s when business directories were created, people would come up with names which began with A, in order to get themselves further upfront in the alphabetized listing. Chuck Jones, Road Runner cartoonist, explained it below.
‘We were little madcaps along the beach and we did what we enjoyed doing and could get dirty and could eat hot dogs and so on. Since we had to search out our own entertainment, we devised our own fairy stories. If you wanted a bow and arrow you got a stick. If you wanted to conduct an orchestra you got a stick. If you wanted a duel you used a stick. You couldn’t go and buy one; that’s where the terms acme came from. Whenever we played a game where we had a grocery store or something we called it the ACME corporation. Why? Because in the yellow pages if you looked, say, under drugstores, you’d find the first one would be Acme Drugs. Why? Because “AC” was about as high as you could go; it means the best; the superlative.’
And for 3 time related quotes:
- The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. British author, CS Lewis
- The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. French Poet, Paul Valery
- For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. My favourite American cartoonist, Doug Larson