“Somewhere in Kansas” asks: What’s the deal with apostrophe’s? The apostrophe has become a point of contention between those who believe that punctuation marks should have some meaning and dammit I’m going to make you use them correctly, and those who feel that we should acknowledge reality. It looks like the latter camp is slowly …
Category: silly
Oct 31
Humanist Solstice Songs
Dear Tyler (writes Kendra Monkton of Vinings, GA), I’ve been asked to perform music for a Humanist Solstice celebration. Do you know of any suitable songs? Anything that just talks about the weather any sleigh-bells and such is acceptable, of course, but people get tired of hearing the same few standards. Here are some lesser-known …
Aug 09
Why are some things not visible…
Ralphie, of Topeka KS, asks, Why are some objects not visible to your naked eyes? There are many possible reasons. The object is too small – for instance, a virus, or Snooki’s brain. The object is too far away given its size – for instance, the planet Neptune (if you’re on Earth), or Jimmy Carter …
Jul 07
Star of Vengeance – listen free
In a previous life, under another name, I scripted a series of radio programs. Star of Vengeance, ten episodes of about ten minutes each….
Jul 02
A shot against bad joke telling
Deb Pepe asks: Is there a shot for bad joke telling? Deb, I assume you mean a shot to prevent this scourge. Chloral hydrate will shut them up (or, if you take it, will prevent you from hearing others tell the bad jokes). Unfortunately, I don’t know of any shots that will improve the jokes. …
Jun 09
Walnuts As Housing
Following up to my previous post, which discusses what kinds of fruit might be suitable for people to live in, I will now address Rebecca’s comment about the possibility of using giant walnut shells, which have interior divisions already, and so might not need more walls built. It’s true that walnut shell is a good …
Jun 06
Fruitatious Abode
Nicholas Kim, age 13, asks: Is living inside of pineapples true? Spongebob, a typical childrens show. Well, why cant humans do the same! Its much simpler than building a house, you only need to find a way to make huge pineapples, but in the end it would save the world a lot of resources and money.
Feb 17
What a Young Scientist Needs in Costa Rica
Hilary Moon Murphy asks, “My daughter is going on a science trip to Costa Rican rain forest this spring…. What things would you take along?”
Feb 03
Cats and Video Games
Bret, who knows that Cats are demonic creatures, asks: I want to train my cat to play video games with me. Any ideas?
Jan 25
Canoeing with Elephants
Wesley Deever of Mount Horeb WI, (former) site of the famous mustard museum, asks: Is it safe to canoe near elephants? If you exercise reasonable caution, these gentle giants can actually enhance your canoeing experience. For instance,if you paddle right up next to them and tug on their ears, they will give you a shower …