Back from a talk on the fun that was the IAU meeting in Prague this year. Specifically, the Pluto thing. It was very funny. The speaker, a coworker of mine, poked a lot of fun at himself, the issue, the IAU and just generally mapped out the whole thing. Oh, and mocked just about every side. I'll bet you never associated cell phones and prairie oysters with Pluto, right? (It came up in the discussion of linguistics.)
In the question session was a disgruntled planetary scientist who'd been at the meeting as well, complaining it had been "hijacked by dynamnicists " which earned a gentle rebuke. (Note, the speaker candidly admitted he was pro-the side that lost, so you can't call him unsympathetic.) I nearly had to leave the room, because I was having a hard time keeping my laughter silent.
People= CRAXY.
I think Clyde would have loved it.
That last link reminded me of this crazy kitty.
Anyone know Italian? WTF is going on here?:
Babelfish says:
The brain of a man - Donovan, the millionaire of Los Angeles, expert in an aircraft incident - is from a doctor, face to abstruse scientific searches, put to "cultivation" in one incubatrice and, connected to a encefalografo, studied in its tinier reactions. And the miracle happens: the brain of Donovan not only alive, but is developed prodigiosamente; and with the continuous brain to living the personality of Donovan, with it's memories, it's odii, it's frightful ambitions. This monstrous personality gets hold of the doctor, than, like ossesso, it is forced to act like Donovan: it becomes Donovan. Crimes, monstrous fights, the horror dominate every page of this capolavoro of the modern "gotica" literature: until the destruction of the brain monster and to the liberation of the scientist its succube.
I think I like "its memories, its odii, its frightful ambitions" the best.
Mr T Virtual Playset: [link]
And from Wikipedia, a much more prosiac entry:
Donovan's Brain
Donovan's Brain is a 1942 horror novel by Curt Siodmak. The story revolves around an attempt to keep alive the brain of millionaire megalomaniac W.H. Donovan after an otherwise fatal plane crash. Gradually, the increasingly evil brain develops telepathic abilities and becomes able to control the mind of Dr. Patrick Cory, the character who is keeping the brain alive.
The novel has been filmed on several occasions, most notably as The Lady and the Monster (1944) and Donovan's Brain (1953), the latter starring Nancy Reagan.
Gradually, the increasingly evil brain develops telepathic abilities and becomes able to control the mind of Dr. Patrick Cory,
Of course. Doesn't everyone know that if you take a brain out of a body and keep it alive,
it will become telepathic.
Hell, even a severed head that's kept alive will probably develope the ability to communicate telepathicly with any monsters that happen to be locked up nearby.
Clearly you're still paying for all the gelato and lovely scenery.
Yes, between that and the plague, the vacation is clearly over.
Well, now I'm completely unsupervised and proofreading documents about joint tenancy because I'm bored.
