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I was looking for lesson plan ideas for government class. With my background in airline and airport management, this one just jumped out at me.
If only it were just fantasy for kids.
It may be useful for customer service classes and corporate training, too.
Big, wet and bubbly tip of the old scrub brush to This One Goes to Eleven.
Leave a Comment » | 
Airplanes, Classroom technology, Education, Government, Humor, Lesson plans, Politics, Travel | Tagged: Classroom Manipulables, Education, Government, Humor, Politics, Toys, Travel | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
You can see it here, at the Sneer Review.
What do you think? Is Darwin outed forever?
Gotta run. Someone is knocking at the door — Mencken’s Ghost, probably.
Could be Ben Stein, I suppose.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Kevin Fisher, Texas Citizens for Science.
Leave a Comment » | Creationism, Darwin, Evolution, History, Hoaxes, Humor, Religion, Science | Tagged: Ben Stein, Darwin, Evolution, History, hoax, Religion, Satire, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
— Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorn Clemens),
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain, Library of Congress image
Leave a Comment » | Books, Democracy, Famous quotes, History, Humor, Literature | Tagged: Books, Democracy, Huckleberry Finn, Humor, Mark Twain, Quotes | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Testimony for the new dinosaur/human footprint specimen:
“This work is suitable for publication in the same journals that carry my work.”
“This rock specimen resembles several other examples found in the V. T. Hamlin collection at the University of Missouri Libraries.”
— Dinosaur reconstruction artist
“We have video of similar dinosaur prints.”
Leave a Comment » | Creationism, Humor | Tagged: Creationism, Humor, Satire | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Scrappleface has a feature on global warming hampering the efforts of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
I’ll wager it was U.S.-caused warming, too.
(/hoax mode)
Scrappleface makes a good case for the satire abilities of the right-wing. Alas, where satire is inappropriate, they can’t turn it off. It’s almost impossible to distinguish between the satire of Scrappleface and the press releases from John McCain, or policy arguments from the Heritage Foundation. Can we get someone to repeal Poe’s Law?
2 Comments | Accuracy, Afghanistan, Global warming, Humor | Tagged: Accuracy, Global warming, Humor, Taliban | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Oh, the life of the globe-trotting, Indiana Jones-style archaeologist!
Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub brought you the world’s oldest animation.
MFB brought you the world’s oldest playable musical instrument.
And now, with a tip from Dr. Bumsted at Grassroots Science, the world’s oldest joke. It’s a one-liner about flatulence.
Academics have compiled a list of the most ancient gags and the oldest, harking back to 1900BC, is a Sumerian proverb from what is now southern Iraq.
“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap,” goes the joke.
Perhaps it loses something in the translation from Sumerian. (The oldest animation comes in at 5,200 years, the oldest joke at about 3,900 years — cartoons lacked punch lines for more than 1,000 years?)
“Jokes have varied over the years, with some taking the question and answer format while others are witty proverbs or riddles,” said Dr Paul McDonald, who led the study by academics at the University of Wolverhampton.
“What they all share, however, is a willingness to deal with taboos and a degree of rebellion.”
My students complain my jokes are too dry as it is. Should I try to work these into the presentations?
As today, world leaders make good foils for ancient humour, particularly Egyptian pharaohs, as shown by this 1600BC joke:
“How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? Sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile – and urge the pharaoh to go fishing.”
One Roman jape dating back to the 1st Century BC details the Emperor Augustus touring his realm and coming across a man who bears a striking resemblance to himself.
Intrigued, he asks the man: “Was your mother at one time in service at the palace?”
The man replies: “No your highness, but my father was.”
Full press release on the World’s Ten Oldest Jokes, from the University of Wolverhampton and the full list of the jokes from Dave TV, below the fold.
5 Comments | Ancient history, Anthropology, Archaeology, History, Humor, psychology, Science | Tagged: Archaeology, History, Humor, psychology, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
So, the second-oldest light bulb, the famous Ft. Worth, Texas, Palace Theater light bulb, first lighted up in 1908. For some odd reason the last post that mentioned the bulb keeps having difficulties. It took me four or five times before I realized that this year is the 100th anniversary year. As Robert Frost wondered more poetically, how many times did the apple have to hit Newton before he took the hint?
100 years old in September, 2008 -- the Palace Theater Light Bulb, Stokyards Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
The Stockyards Museum is on the ball, however.
Our famous old light bulb began burning in 1908 as a backstage light at the old Byers/Greenwald Opera House south of the Tarrant County Courthouse. It was never turned off. As the city grew and changed the old Opera House was rebuilt in 1919 into the more modern Palace Theater. All the work was done with the bulb illuminated. In 1977 the Palace Theater was replaced as Fort Worth continued to grow and eventually the Stockyards Museum was selected as its permanent home in retirement.
With any luck, we will be able to hold a super birthday celebration on September 21, 2008.
Mark your calendars: September 21, 2008. How many other lightbulbs do you know that have been burning for a century?
9 Comments | History, Humor, Technology, Texas, Texas history, Travel | Tagged: History, Humor, Technology, Texas history, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
typewriter, originally uploaded by blueblythemonster.
Don’t have an antique Underwood? Make your own. That’s what Blythe Church did.
Her typewriter will never be used to write a novel, but it’s novel enough on its own to merit a look. It’s made from custom-dyed felt, and embroidery.
A soft answer turneth away wrath? Here’s your source of soft words, then, eh?
You can see other works by Ms. Church at her website.
2 Comments | Art, Humor, Technology, Typewriters | Tagged: Art, Humor, Technology, Typewriters | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Three decades out of Utah, who could have seen this coming?
Utah beer brewers make good beer, and they have a wicked sense of humor. Yes, that’s “Provo Girl,” as in the town where the LDS Church’s Brigham Young University calls home. And that winsome woman is smiling before Bridal Veil Falls of Provo Canyon. Let’s just say there’s a lot of history in that drawing.
Face it, brewing beer in a Mormon-dominated state is spitting into the wind anyway (Mormons don’t drink beer, for religious reasons).
Brewers must make money from non-Mormons, and from tourists. Maybe that explains the proliferation of labels that rather stick it to the local religious authorities. Humor seems to be a favored marketing device.
Other labels to watch for :
6 Comments | Food history, Humor, Travel | Tagged: Beer, food, Humor, Provo Girl, Travel, Utah | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
A generalization: Many creationists complain that evolution “can’t be true” because it doesn’t exalt humans enough. This is the old Bishop Wilberforce whine, about whether you are related to the monkeys on your mother’s side or father’s side.
“Nothing good can come from humble beginnings” is the thrust of the creationist argument, apparently with the creationists who make the claim losing every neuron they ever had that held the story of Jesus in their memory.
Nature, art, and life, keep pounding home the fact that the creationist argument is seriously in error. But as Robert Frost wondered, how many times did the apple have to fall before Newton took the hint? Scott Wade has taken the rebuttal to the creationists’ argument to new heights, and made art out of it. From dust, is art:
Credit Barcroft Media via The Daily Telegraph.
Click the thumbnail picture for a larger view: 
Britain’s Daily Telegraph has a slide show with seven of Wade’s works.
Mr. Wade’s own website features a slide show demonstrating the creation of artworks, step by step. Wade lives on a dirt road, a half-mile from pavement. In the course of coming and going, he gets a lot of material to work with.
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If life gives you dust, make art. If life gives you limes, make margaritas.
Leave a Comment » | Art, Creationism, Humor, Life | Tagged: Art, Creationism, Humor, Life, Media | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ken Ham appears to be unhappy that P. Z. Myers called him a wackaloon, but clueless as to why.
Ken, partly it’s because you don’t allow comments at your blog. Open your blog up for discussion, you might learn something.
It ain’t that the majority is silent, it’s that the wackaloons are deaf. Ham seems confused. He thinks Myers is worried that God exists. Myers is worried that Ham is a wackaloon. Those two statements are quite different, and mutually exclusive independent. God’s existence doesn’t change the fact that Ham is a wackaloon, and God’s existence is not conditional on Ham’s being a wackaloon.
Ham is a creationist who spends millions of dollars annually lying to children. Ham, it would appear to a rational person, does not believe God exists, and so thinks there is no penalty to be paid for doing this. “Wackaloon” might be a gentle term.
But, should creationists be allowed into the Pentagon without a full body search? People who don’t think radiation works in predictable ways should be kept far, far away from nuclear weapons and those who play a role in triggering them, I think. What if they required a sanity test before allowing people into the Pentagon?
4 Comments | Creationism, Humor, Rampant stupidity, Religion, Science | Tagged: Creationism, Humor, Ken Ham, Religion, Science, Wackaloon | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
There can be only three or four legitimate banjo jokes possible, right? There’s the one about the banjo player’s Porsche, there’s the one about perfect pitch . . .
Somebody was really ticketed for driving while strumming a banjo and singing into a cell phone? Read the story at The Bluegrass Blog, and be sure to catch the definition of “reckless.”
Tip of the old scrub brush to a perplexed NYC Educator.
2 Comments | Bluegrass, Humor, Music | Tagged: banjo, Bluegrass, Humor, Music | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Utah Phillips died Friday. He was 73. He died at his home in Nevada City, California.
Wonderful tribute at Fifteen Iguana.
Utah Phillips (publicity photo via Bluegrass Today)
Phillips’s website lists planned tributes, memorials and the funeral in Nevada City, California. KVMR Radio’s site has an obit and links to other tributes.
4 Comments | A Good Story, Business Ethics, Citizenship, Current History, History, History and art, History audio sources, Humor, Labor and unions, Life, Music | Tagged: Folk Music, History, Labor and unions, Media, Music, Organized Labor, Politics, Railroads, Utah Phillips | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
No kidding. See it here. High-end hosts, at Nature.com.
I gather they have wi-fi in the cafe at the museum from which he posts.
Charles Darwin sits congenially in the café of the British Museum. Does he blog with wi-fi?
Huxley and Darwin in the cafe at the British Museum; temporary posts for both of them, during some renovations, it turned out — update 2015. Photo from Airminded
In his first post, he complains about the abuse he suffers from Ben Stein’s mockumentary.
3 Comments | Charles Darwin, Darwin, Evolution, History, Humor, Science, Weblogs | Tagged: blogs, Charles Darwin, Evolution, Museums | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Who is this guy?
Are you sure it’s not the same as this guy, below?
Is it possible that England, who thinks it is being led by a fellow named Gordon Brown, of Tony Blair’s Labour Party, is instead being led by Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame?
Are they not the same man? Are you sure?
Have you ever seen director Terry Jones and Prime Minister Gordon Brown photographed together?
Joanne Jacobs was so close to the truth! But she missed it.
It would be so unfair. Britain gets a Python. We get . . . something else.
Update, June 16, 2008: Even better comparison of photos here. I’m having difficulty reading the caption — monitor resolution problems? Can you read the post and translate it here?
5 Comments | History, Humor, Images, Politics | Tagged: Entertainment, Gordon Brown, Humor, Media, Monty Python, Politics, Terry Jones | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
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Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
