The Last Word

August 18 – 22 We reduxed a post by our beloved ex-LWONian, Tom Hayden, about all the shiny new multiplexing gadgets he’s bought and broken.  Turns out the old stupid crap technology? it never breaks, it always works, it stays your friend. Helen bought an ice cream maker as a present but the recipient of […]

Abstruse Goose, Snark Week Edition: The Cat’s Revenge

I mean, LOLCats was severely dumb and stupid but nobody’s doing that any more, right? I hope.   AG’s cat (though a little badly drawn) is thoroughly in the spirit of Snark Week and has the attitude nailed:  if you think soft cuddly Nature loves you and is your friend, you’re not paying close enough […]

Abstruse Goose: Barbie Goes Rogue

I really have nothing to add here.  The storyline is complete. Except I don’t see why Barbie’s expectations are unrealistic, given her great age and many capabilities — doctor Barbie, babysitter Barbie, pilot Barbie, yoga teacher Barbie, princess Barbie.  And why not, though the mind boggles somewhat, a Girl Bilbo Barbie? She’s almost a sort […]

The Last Word

July 14 – 18, 2014 First we domesticated our pets, says guest David Grimm, and then over a long, long period of time, they civilized us.  For which, thank goodness. Christie had a friend who was dying.  In the meantime, how should he stay alive?  Nice answer: by inviting friends over for a Colorado summer […]

Union and Reunion

Splendid, isn’t it. It’s UGC 8335 — one name, so once it was apparently mistaken for one thing though obviously it’s two. They’re spiral galaxies in the process of running into and through each other. This is a photograph by the Hubble Space Telescope; the galaxies are really there; this is real.  You could think […]

Abstruse Goose: Sudokomic Game

Oh this is just purely awful in so many ways.  Let me count them.  Its humor is dumb & puns are always in the very worst taste.  It’s bloody & I hate that.  It’s not only clever, worse, it’s close to addictive.  The mouseover apologizes, says this is the best he could do on short […]

Anti-Copernican Shock

[NOW WITH NEW VISUALIZATION:  see below] Planets around other stars, exoplanets, have given me a long-running case of boredom – how long can you sustain OMG LOOKIT THAT PLANET HAS TWO SUNS? not long.  I keep writing about them anyway.  I do it because 1) sometimes somebody pays me to; and 2) the planets may […]