Thursday, November 27, 2008

Alien Life Discovered

Well, not really--it's a rare species of squid. I know, I know, comparing deep sea critters to space aliens is about as witty and original as a sock, but this squid is freaking creepy: Link via Slashdot

New species of squid, or a sign that Dread Cthulhu will soon rise again? You decide.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Only in Russia...

Another excerpt from my fabulous textbook:
"Imagine that you are a spy and that your partner is a double-agent. Your innocent conversation reveals that you are both trying to uncover the other's recent whereabouts. Use the preceding two dialogs as models."

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Excerpt from my Russian workbook

This is a real assignment. For reference, Kevin is the fictitious American exchange student in the textbook's obligatory accompanying soap opera DVD.

"When Kevin can't sleep, he thinks of a Russian noun and combines it with an adjective. He says it works wonders! Do you want to try his method? If you are not asleep by the end of the exercise, think of another dozen Russian nouns and combine them with the following adjectives!"

Excuse me, I'm trying to do my homework, not fall asleep! Yes, anyone who has learned a second language knows that endlessly conjugating verbs and declining nouns is one of the most boring things in the world. But gleefully informing us that the exercise is going to be so boring that we'll probably fall asleep, and then telling us to do it over again if we're not--well, that's rubbing salt in the wound, and then sprinkling some lemon juice on it for good measure. Sheesh.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Does it bug anyone else...

When politicians deliberately drop the "g" off the end of "-ing" words in order to sound folksy? Obama was particularly bad in the last debate: he enunciated everything perfectly except when he was talking about Joe the Plumber, at which point he apparently forgot how to use the letter "g".

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Displeased

Forgive me this rant, if you will. The southbound #6 bus was extremely late arriving to the State and Lake stop, and the situation only got worse as we proceeded down State, trying to cram the two or three buses' worth of passengers that had accumulated along State into just one bus. We had to leave not one but two guys in wheelchairs waiting on the sidewalk because there was simply no room for them.

Getting to Hyde Park late meant that I didn't start my reading for tomorrow until 5PM, which meant that I didn't leave the law school until 8PM. Then, the northbound #6 had a busted bicycle carrier (a situation which seems to be increasingly common as of late), so I ended up biking up the lakeshore to get home. Fifteen miles and an hour later, I'm tired, sweaty, thirsty, and hungry enough to fly to Alaska and go moose hunting with Sarah Palin just so that I could eat one.

And I still haven't finished my Russian homework.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The End of the World

Apparently a girl in India was so afraid that the Large Hadron Collider would destroy the world that she committed suicide. This leads to an interesting question: if you knew for certain that the world was going to end, would you stick around to watch, or would you check out early? Discuss.