i was today years old when i lesrned this thing

[billy rubin]

today i learned that there are no major rivers in the yucatan peninsula.

the bedrock is soluble limestone, full of caves and fissures and sinkholes, so all the drainage water flows under the surface

the sinkholes are called cenotes down there. here is a picture of one such, currently infested by that invasive species  Tourista americanus

[Dark Lightning]

Looks like a bad case of las turistas.

[billy rubin]

i learned today that strandbeests exist

[Icarus]

^ I would like  some of  whatever that artist was smoking

[billy rubin]

lookit this

https://i.imgur.com/nrvDzB3.mp4

its a fucking crinoid.

until recently, i had no idea that crinoids even still existed.

today i lerned that some of them move around

this is paradigm shift for me, having assumed crinoids were sessile ever since i were a child.

its like watching a coelocanth crawl up onto a beach

[billy rubin]

the day isnt over


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyzjVL5tFn0

[billy rubin]

in wisconsin, thee are detached and drifting bogs that have to be returned to their starting points every year.

https://www.geoengineer.org/news/lake-chippewas-floating-island-that-has-to-be-boat-pushed-every-year

video of this odd event:

https://i.imgur.com/ij0g0st.mp4

when i saw it, i said, well theyre clearly bogs, but why arent they attached anymore? the aswer is that its an artificial lake, and when they flooded it the bog part, which was floating anyway, floated up more and  and started travelling.

this is like the old cs lewis islands in voyage to venus

[billy rubin]

today i learned that adoplf hitler shot himself with a walther ppk, a 32 caliber semiautomatic pistol.

this is the same gun used by agent 007 in the james bond movies.

its a very small caliber weapon, and supposedly awkward to shoot. i may try one one of these days

[Dark Lightning]

My eldest son has one. I'll have to ask him. I seem to recall that every time he shoots it his hand is hurt by some part of the mechanism. But he has big hands, like his dad.

[billy rubin]

theres nothing to keep the slide from snagging you, for sure. is that where it bites him?

its reputation is that its crude, with a rough action. but the design is over 100 years old, so you cant really hold that against it

[Dark Lightning]

I'll ask him. He's currently deployed overseas. (USAF)

[billy rubin]

today i learned about AV plugs.



when you die, the undertaker screws this giant plug into your arsehole so you dont blow a stream of shit over the mourners as your inner gsses expand.

amazing. they think of everything.

[Icarus]

UGHHHH !

[Dark Lightning]

All the more reason to specify that I don't want to be embalmed, and I'm leaning towards being buried under a tree. Crab apples, anyone? 

[Icarus]

Cremation has become a more and more practical and practiced method for disposal. It is also hugely more economical and far less burdensome for the survivors.

 I, along with my wife, opted for the Neptune Society deal several years ago.  Going price for cremation in my area is about $800 which includes the necessary death certificates and such. A decent Christian funeral in  one of the "funeral Homes" costs a bloody fortune and then you still need to buy a burial plot.