Day: September 28, 2009

The McBournie Minute: History That Happened in the Past (1980-1989)

For an entire generation, the 1980s was a blur. It was a blur because so many were lost in these new-fangled “games of the video,” while still others have tried as best as they can to block out this decade because they had a really, really bad haircut. We’re talking Flock of Seagulls bad.

This generation is called The Lost Generation, because even those that survived the decade had lost something deep down inside of them. That missing piece was something they knew they would never get back. It was much like the generation that fought World War I, only rather than seeing thousands killed by the machine gun, The Lost Generation had to deal with smiley faces.

Check your Swatch, hang up your car phone and hit the jump. Continue reading The McBournie Minute: History That Happened in the Past (1980-1989)

Bear Whisperer discovered?

That was the potential bear whisperer's previous offense.Doctors at an undisclosed San Francisco hospital are evaluating the mental abilities of a man who survived jumping into the grizzly bear pen at the city’s Zoo.

Police described the 21-year-old man as a transient, a recluse with a record of warning people that they were getting too close, presumably by standing on his rear feet. And when he jumped into the grizzly display, the bears merely approached him and sniffed him, almost as if he were one of their own!

It’s clear what’s going on. Science may have discovered the first bear whisperer in recent history. The question is, whose side is he on?

We hope the doctors in San Francisco can find out for certain.

Dinosaur with feathers turns out to be more delicious than anticipated

A dinosaur that lived between 160 and 151 million years ago could be the missing link between birds and dinosaurs. Scientists in Beijing announced that a four-winged creature called Anchiornis huxleyi could finally prove birds are descended from dinosaurs. Allow SG to put this in different terms for understanding purposes:

–Scientific viewpoint: This offers new data into the evolution of feathers as well: for the first time, we have fossil evidence of feathers as being merely elongated scales. The feathers here are symmetrical and blunted-ended, rather than the slightly asymmetrical and pointer proto-feather we see in Microraptor and Archeopteryx (and modern birds). It is rather interesting that the longest feathers of Anchiornis‘ wing come close to its body, rather than further down its limbs. This is more the configuration of modern birds, rather than the expected formation of other known paravians. All of which suggests that the development of flight took place in a rapidly evolving world of paravians, with many different variations on the theme and many side-branches of evolution along the way. Very fascinating discovery.

–Bible thumper viewpoint: Remember that one fast food joint mentioned in the Book of Paul? Jesus Fried Chicken? Popular place until the Italians decided they wanted pasta to reign supreme.

A brain is a terrible thing to waste

The Guys don’t recommend drinking and driving, but we do recommend drinking and getting someone else do drive you. And now, science backs us up.

According to a recent study, if you are in an accident and have head trauma, you are less likely to have brain damage if you have a buzz going. This means that you have medically provable reason to do shots riding shotgun, or on a plane, or while operating heavy machinery.

Go forth, drunken masses!