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#1 2003-08-09 06:15:22

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

*Lately I've been craving cherry Icees and corn dogs.

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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#2 2003-08-09 06:17:55

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

*Wow...patient demographics from the clinic says this patient was born in 2009!  I guess the time machine's been invented.

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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#3 2003-08-09 09:06:03

clark
Member
Registered: 2001-09-20
Posts: 6,374

Re: Apropos of Nothing

clowns make me cry.

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#4 2003-08-09 09:18:43

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Apropos of Nothing

Ahah, trying to catch up on my post count, are ya, Cindy? :;):

Mars is awesome.


Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#5 2003-08-09 09:39:21

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

Ahah, trying to catch up on my post count, are ya, Cindy? :;):

Mars is awesome.

*No.  Actually I've considered making this thread for a while now. 

Yesterday I was reading at a Newsgroup, following an intense and rather vicious flame war (and staying out of it)...when the next post in that thread said, apropos of nothing, "I SAID NO BLOODY ANCHOVIES!!"  I burst out laughing; it was so hilarious -- absolutely unexpected.

Sometimes I just have to make little snide comments or things pop up in my mind that I'd like to express...so here goes.  smile

I'm also very curious to see what other folks will come up with, and where this might go.  So have at it!

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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#6 2003-08-09 20:06:19

Shaun Barrett
Member
From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Registered: 2001-12-28
Posts: 2,843

Re: Apropos of Nothing

To be safe on the roads, you have to understand that 50% of other road users are visually impaired, the next 50% have been drinking heavily ... and the other half have faulty brakes.
    The rest are probably just in a bad mood!


The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.   - Rita Rudner

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#7 2003-08-10 03:29:13

Algol
Member
From: London
Registered: 2003-04-25
Posts: 196

Re: Apropos of Nothing

When im drunk, i sometimes drive on the wrong side of the road.

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#8 2003-08-10 07:59:39

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

Cindy, why do you change your avatar so often ?!  ???

*Because I can't tolerate stasis.  smile  I do the same with my kitchen and bathroom...which always amuses my husband.

I also change the homepage (photo and colors) of my "Age of Voltaire" Group...I'm sure some of my subscribers are still scratching their heads, but they'll get used to it.  Change is good and variety is the spice of life.  smile

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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#9 2003-08-10 09:28:23

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Apropos of Nothing

I can't find my fingernail clippers!


Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#10 2003-08-11 09:43:10

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

Because I can't tolerate stasis.

Sorry to say this Cindy, but I just realized that i asked you that because i actually don't like some of the avatars you used at all. The current one is good enough, and I also remember clearly you had some cool ones. But some more recent ones i didn't like at all. No offence meant, okay ?
smile

*No problem.  And happy 22nd birthday!  smile

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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#11 2003-08-11 11:34:45

prometheusunbound
Banned
From: ohio
Registered: 2003-07-02
Posts: 209
Website

Re: Apropos of Nothing

I like puppies.

I hate hand cream, I can't get over the thought of using it. 

I love cross country.


"I am the spritual son of Abraham, I fear no man and no man controls my destiny"

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#12 2003-08-11 11:39:15

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Apropos of Nothing

I found my fingernail clippers!


Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#13 2003-08-11 16:40:05

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

*I hate spiders, especially seeing one before going to bed...and especially if I or my husband can't squash it before it hurries off.  I fall asleep wondering if it'll come back and crawl on me in the night...  sad  Yuck.

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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#14 2003-08-11 17:05:34

Adrian
Moderator
From: London, United Kingdom
Registered: 2001-09-04
Posts: 642
Website

Re: Apropos of Nothing

I'm astounded that in almost 2000 posts, there are only 20 separating Josh from Cindy...


Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]

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#15 2003-08-11 19:08:08

Josh Cryer
Moderator
Registered: 2001-09-29
Posts: 3,830

Re: Apropos of Nothing

If soph were still around it'd be higher, believe me. :;):


Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
--------
The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

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#16 2003-08-12 07:58:32

clark
Member
Registered: 2001-09-20
Posts: 6,374

Re: Apropos of Nothing

Do vegatarians go to the zoo?

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#17 2003-08-12 12:03:58

clark
Member
Registered: 2001-09-20
Posts: 6,374

Re: Apropos of Nothing

'Appalling plight' of super-fat pigs


for more information

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#18 2003-08-12 18:16:55

dickbill
Member
Registered: 2002-09-28
Posts: 749

Re: Apropos of Nothing

A propos of nothing is really a good thread, you can post whatever you want. So here is an article about the life in the french base in antarctica, Dumont-D'Urville, DDU in short. You all remember how Clark, with the kind and gentle sagacity he always showed, has demasked an impostor who pretended to know that the antarctica base turned out to a "gay village". So here it is, a true report, but in french....duuhhhh.

27 men, 5 women... but no gaypride festival reported, just boredom for some. French allright... but if it doesn't happen in the french base, why would it happen in the US and the russian base?  I don't know but I assume it's pretty much the same in the other bases. Anyway, I am not surprised by that, and I don't post for this topic actually. I post and I translate the last paragraph in bold below, because, here is the real frightening issue: The doctor, Richard Gaud, is the only one in the base to stay more than one season. He has seen how things have evolved with time. Look at what he said about internet.
I translate the french text in bold below the best I can :

Richard  Gaud judges that the cohesion of the community has suffered from the sudden  implantation of internet (in the base)  emails that allow quotidian links with France. "The email breaks everything" he said, "with internet, people 'think' that they communicate with others, but they are not able anymore to knock on the door of their neighbor to say, hey, I am not feeling well".

That's it, how true, how frightening.
Here is the original text (oops... copy paste, Le Monde won't like that, but I am registered, I pay 5 euros/month to get it !, so I think I can post it at that price)

La vie ? Dumont-d'Urville, village prisonnier des glaces
LE MONDE | 12.08.03 | 13h15
Chaque ann?e, pendant huit mois, la base scientifique fran?aise est isol?e du monde. Apr?s l'agitation de l'?t? austral, l'hivernage des 28 habitants, 23 hommes et 5 femmes, s'organise. L'?preuve psychologique est compens?e par la magie visuelle des d?cors.

Base Dumont-d'Urville (Terre Ad?lie) de notre envoy? sp?cial

Ils s'observent. L'un porte un bonnet sur la t?te, l'autre un plumeau de duvet gris. Le premier est chercheur, le second un manchot ad?lie juv?nile qui, dans quelques semaines, se jettera ? l'eau pour ses grands d?buts d'oiseau marin.  Mais, pour l'heure, tous deux vivent en bonne entente dans le m?me village, plant? sur un caillou au pied de l'Antarctique. Depuis un demi-si?cle, la base scientifique fran?aise Dumont-d'Urville - DDU pour les intimes - et ses occupants ont certes colonis? l'?le des P?trels, autrefois domaine privil?gi? des animaux, mais les manchots le leur ont bien rendu.

Nous sommes en f?vrier. Comme chaque ann?e ? la fin de l'?t? austral, la station conna?t l'activit? quasi f?brile des chercheurs venus quelques semaines pour terminer leurs "manips" et des hivernants de l'ann?e pass?e formant leur rel?ve. Les courageux qui assemblent la future station franco-italienne Concordia, ? 1 100 km ? l'int?rieur du continent blanc, mettent la cl? sous la porte et sont rapatri?s sur l'?le des P?trels.

Mesurant moins d'un kilom?tre de diam?tre, celle-ci est un condens? de ville o? tout est ramass? en quelques b?timents sur pilotis. On en fait le tour en une demi-heure. Premier arr?t au dortoir des hivernants, le b?timent 42. Malgr? les cloisons isolantes, les cris des manchots et le sifflement du vent cr?ent un fond sonore continu. Eole se montre tr?s g?n?reux dans cette r?gion du globe. Un jour, l'an?mom?tre a marqu? 315 km/h avant de se bloquer. Les vents catabatiques, ces masses d'air qui glissent et acc?l?rent sur l'Antarctique comme une avalanche, d?passent fr?quemment les 150 km/h.

"Quand la temp?te souffle, raconte Patrice Godon, le responsable des raids terrestres vers Concordia, on a autant de bruit que dans un train de nuit passant sur des aiguillages, dans un tunnel et les fen?tres ouvertes. Et pourtant, on dort..." Le sommeil ou l'isolement sont les fonctions premi?res du b?timent. Confort spartiate : lits superpos?s, ?tag?res, semblant de bureau. Sanitaires et douches sur le palier. Sur les murs des couloirs courent des biblioth?ques.

Au rez-de-chauss?e ont ?t? install?s l'infirmerie, le bloc op?ratoire et le bureau du m?decin. Ce dernier doit tout soigner, du simple bobo ? la crise d'appendicite en passant par les caries dentaires. En plus de son cursus de m?decin militaire qui l'a amen? ? faire de la chirurgie de guerre, Richard Gaud a suivi des stages hospitaliers : "Le m?decin de Dumont-d'Urville est apte ? op?rer et il forme deux ?quipes d'aides op?ratoires qui l'assistent pour les pansements, l'anesth?sie et lui passent les instruments."

Par souci d'?conomie, le m?decin assure aussi les fonctions de chef de district. A ce titre, il contr?le les entr?es et sorties du territoire, sert d'officier de police judiciaire et d'officier de mairie. "Tous les ans, explique Richard Gaud, on re?oit quatre feuillets pour chacun des trois registres : naissances, mariages, d?c?s." Les deux premiers sont toujours rest?s vierges, mais pas le troisi?me.

En 1959, ? Cap-Prud'homme, une petite installation situ?e sur le continent, un homme est sorti un jour de blizzard et n'est jamais rentr?. En 1993, un chercheur venu pour la campagne d'?t? a succomb? ? un infarctus. En f?vrier 1999, trois personnes sont mortes dans un accident d'h?licopt?re. Comme il n'y a, en permanence, qu'un seul cercueil ? DDU, il a fallu fabriquer les deux autres avec le bois disponible.

Deuxi?me halte dans les trois laboratoires de la station. En plus des programmes scientifiques ponctuels, Dumont-d'Urville, int?gr?e ? plusieurs r?seaux mondiaux, assure une fonction de veille, ?tablit ann?e apr?s ann?e des s?ries de mesures, dont les plus anciennes ont d?marr? il y a des d?cennies. Au programme du labo de g?ophysique : l?cher quotidien d'un ballon m?t?o gonfl? ? l'h?lium, enregistrement de l'activit? sismique et des modifications du champ magn?tique. Autre t?che, plus exotique : le chercheur d'astreinte s'occupe de... Radio Base, c'est-?-dire de la musique diffus?e en permanence dans le b?timent de s?jour.

Le laboratoire de glaciologie et de la chimie de la basse atmosph?re stocke une partie des carottes de glace pr?lev?es ? Concordia pour des analyses futures. Un moniteur ? neutrons d?tecte les particules du rayonnement cosmique. Tous les jours sont effectu?s des pr?l?vements d'air. Dernier labo, Biomar, pour Biologie marine, s'occupe de tous les oiseaux mais surtout des manchots, les plus nombreux et les chouchous des chercheurs qui les comptent, d?terminent leur sexe, leur pr?l?vent du sang et suivent leur comportement... Des trous dans la glace permettent de prendre du plancton, p?cher, mesurer la temp?rature de l'eau, sa salinit? et sa composition.

A DDU, quand on a ?tudi? l'eau, l'air, la glace, la terre, la faune, que reste-t-il ? Les femmes et les hommes qui se consacrent ? la science. Dernier arr?t de la visite guid?e : le b?timent vie. Le coin des 4 B (bar, biblioth?que, billard, baby-foot...) mais aussi la laverie, et surtout, saint des saints, le r?fectoire. Le cuisinier est consid?r? par tous comme l'un des personnages les plus importants de la base. En cette fin de campagne d'?t?, il doit nourrir plus de soixante-dix personnes. Mais la population va vite fondre. Dans moins de quatre semaines, le bateau partira pour la derni?re fois de la saison. Tr?s vite, DDU deviendra un village pris dans les glaces, impossible ? rallier pendant huit mois. L'hivernage commencera pour ses 28 habitants, 23 hommes et 5 femmes. "Le jour du d?part de l'Astrolabe, on sert du champagne, sourit Richard Gaud, mais les bulles ne d?rident pas beaucoup les gens... Tout le monde fait la t?te."

La saison difficile de l'introspection psychologique commence. "On ressent plus la solitude, poursuit le m?decin. Ceux qui la vivent mal deviennent diaphanes mais rarement agressifs. Ils se sentent au contraire agress?s par tous. Certains se laissent gagner par la paresse. Le travail n'est pas tr?s prenant : on se l?ve juste pour aller mettre en marche les machines, on engrange les donn?es. Avec l'obscurit? plus longue chaque jour, ceux qui n'ont pas ces imp?ratifs se d?calent et vivent en dehors des horaires des autres." Bien s?r, rares sont ceux qui sont gagn?s par le syndrome d'hivernage, d'autant plus que le chef de district veille, ? la fois confident et symbole d'autorit?. Il rappelle les r?gles ?l?mentaires de l'hygi?ne, v?rifie que les personnes d'astreinte ont nettoy? le s?jour le matin et le dortoir l'apr?s-midi...

L'hivernage est une terre d'amn?sie. On oublie la t?l?, la date, le code de carte bancaire, l'usage des cl?s, celui de la monnaie. Certains font un ch?que pour acheter un timbre ? 46 centimes d'euro... "Le premier jour ici, on pose son portefeuille sur l'?tag?re et il n'en bouge plus, explique Nicolas, un de ceux qui vivent l'hivernage 2003. On est aussi compl?tement d?connect? de l'information. Moi, je suis rest? sur la finale de Coupe Davis perdue par la France en d?cembre 2002..." Partis de France fin 2001, ceux qui sont rentr?s en mars 2003 ont enfin pu d?couvrir les euros et le visage de Jean-Pierre Raffarin, pr?s d'un an apr?s sa nomination.

Cependant, tout est loin d'?tre rude et lugubre. La banquise emprisonne les icebergs et ouvre des espaces extraordinaires. Les excursions sur la glace de mer prennent des airs d'aventure dans un paysage de blanc et de bleu ? nul autre pareil. Chaque hiver invente ses randonn?es, sculpte des montagnes diff?rentes baptis?es au gr? de l'inspiration. En 2002, on visitait la Cath?drale, les Grottes de la famille Ours, la Dent, le Berg ? deux trous, la Tour de Babel, la Muraille de Chine, l'Ep?e de Damocl?s des trois vall?es, etc.

On s'en met plein les yeux. On rentre au pays. Et, en g?n?ral, on ne repose jamais plus un pied en Antarctique. Sauf le docteur Gaud, qui accomplit son quatri?me hivernage en Terre Ad?lie. "Si je reviens ici, c'est pour savoir si je suis toujours capable de vivre avec d'autres dans ce cercle ferm?. Je suis catholique et je pense qu'ici, on peut aider plus intens?ment les autres, parce qu'on garde un ?il sur la personne ? laquelle on a donn? un conseil." Autant que le paysage, la situation humaine exceptionnelle participe ? l'aventure de l'hivernage. Mais Richard Gaud juge que la coh?sion de la communaut? a p?ti de l'irruption de la messagerie ?lectronique qui ?tablit un lien quotidien avec la France. "Les e-mails ont tout cass?, estime-t-il. Avec eux, les gens croient communiquer avec d'autres, mais ils ne sont pas capables d'aller taper ? la porte du voisin pour dire : je ne vais pas bien."

Pierre Barth?l?my

PROCHAIN ARTICLE : Des manchots et des hommes
? ARTICLE PARU DANS L'EDITION DU 13.08.03

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#19 2003-08-12 18:25:08

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

*Mmmmmm.  French is such a sexy language.  ::sigh::

Now if I could only master a few sentences!!

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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#20 2003-08-12 21:08:46

dickbill
Member
Registered: 2002-09-28
Posts: 749

Re: Apropos of Nothing

*Mmmmmm.  French is such a sexy language.  ::sigh::

Now if I could only master a few sentences!!

--Cindy

hmmmm, I think I have translated the most  important, because it is relevant for us: the lack of communication in an area of communication.
The rest is a description of everyday life in an antarctica base. It's too long to translate, sorry Cindy, but most of it, you can figure out, really nothing unexpected in an isolated outpost. But the doctor, being a doctor, I think he would have mention it, I mean the emergence of homosexuality, and he didn't. So...

The trend of the scientists in the base to isolate themself, through internet chat, like we do here in this Mars forum, is much more important in my opinion. I wonder if the US base scientists 'suffers' the same tendancy. Scientists can be very introvert people, so if you confine them in an enclosed base and give them internet chat, they will developp even more their introvertion tendancy. I guess that a team of extravert, action oriented, sportive people, would react differently, but who need a football player in an antarctica base ? that's geeks that matter !

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#21 2003-08-12 22:14:21

clark
Member
Registered: 2001-09-20
Posts: 6,374

Re: Apropos of Nothing

women and children first.

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#22 2003-08-13 05:24:27

Palomar
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2002-05-30
Posts: 9,734

Re: Apropos of Nothing

"Revenge on Telemarketers"

*This guy is a scream.  :laugh:  Way to go (and he can laugh all the way to the bank with it, too)!

--Cindy


We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

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