Ice Under the Bridge

The BBC is renowned worldwide for the high quality of its journalism. Take this article from 2005:

A thirsty thief is being blamed for downing a bottle of water, valued at £42,500, at a literary festival.

The two-litre clear plastic bottle containing melted ice from the Antarctic was devised to highlight global warming by artist Wayne Hill…

Its value was worked out by the artist from the damage worldwide of the entire ice sheet melting – he estimates between £6 trillion and £9 trillion – and the relative amount of damage from two litres of water.

Hmm. Something seems off about those numbers. Let’s check them!

Continue reading “Ice Under the Bridge”

A Very Funny Joke

A long time ago, I decided that if I were ever to get a tattoo, I would get a tattoo of an irregular black splotch.

“Say,” people would ask, indicating my tattoo, “what does that represent?”

“What do you mean, what does it represent?”

“You know, what’s it for, what does it symbolize?”

“This? It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Why’d you get a tattoo of a meaningless black splotch, then?”

“Oh, this isn’t a tattoo. It’s cancer.”

Contrarianism Explained, or Postmodernism: the Drinking Game

(Slightly edited from something I wrote over 20 years ago.)

POSTMODERNISM: THE DRINKING GAME
RULE 1: If anyone, at any time, for any reason, believes in, supports, or likes a person, place, or idea, it’s only because they haven’t uncovered the fundamental contradictions underlying that belief; you are allowed to laugh at them because they are Less Jaded than you.

RULE 1a: If everyone disbelieves in, attacks, or dislikes a person, place, or idea, it’s only because they haven’t uncovered the fundamental contradictions underlying that disbelief; you may support that person, place, or idea, and you are allowed to laugh at the other players because they are Less Perceptive than you.

RULE 2: Never explain the rules.