Wickedpedia

Dear and Discerning Readers,

Madame L thinks you may be interested in this article, "Wickedpedia: The dark side of Wikipedia."  Read it and weep.

As you know, Madame L has ever and before and will forever and after disparage the utility, based on accuracy and informative content, of the website Wikipedia. Madame L's experience as a college instructor  has only served to reinforce her distaste for and distrust of any so-called "facts" gleaned from the online pages of Wikipedia.

And now, it turns out that some Wikipedia insiders are writing articles for Wikipedia, guaranteeing that what they write will turn up at the tops of lists generated by web search engines. What's more, these people don't accept the contributions of the real subject matter experts in some areas.


Madame L is not surprised, is glad to see these facts come to life, and wonders why these people thought they wouldn't be found out.

Oh well, whatev,

Madame L

P.S. Madame L admits to having used information from Wikipedia to help answer some of her Dear Readers' questions and to find photos. Madame L will not do this again.

Weird Word of the Week: Clowder

Dear Readers,

Oh, if only Madame L had a picture of a CLOWDER of cats to go with this definition.  (Hint, hint)

Yes, that's right, a "clowder" is a group of cats.

Here's a list of all kinds of groups of animals, with some of their traditional and made-up names.

Please note some of the other cute names for groups of cats: a clutter, a pounce, a dout, a nuisance, a glorying, and a glare. Wild cats are a destruction, and kittens are a litter (of course), an intrigue, and/or a kindle.

Book Review, March 24, 2013: Louise Gluck: Poems 1962-2012

Madame L, Poetry's # 1 Fan,  has found another great volume of poems she thinks her Dear Readers who are also fans of poetry will enjoy: the collected poems of Louise Gluck, poems written between 1962 and 2012.

The book is over 600 pages long. That's a lot of poems. Madame L has not even come close to reading all of them. Madame L can't devour poems the way she does novels. She has to take a nibble here, a nibble there, a long nap, and then a few more nibbles, to let her mind digest the nectar, to let the beauty sink in deep.

Aw, see what Madame L just did? She started waxing poetic, just because she was writing about poetry --- and just because she has been reading so much of it lately. But that's not bad, and Madame L encourages her Dear Readers not to fear the magical ability of poetry to transform them, too.

Some poems Madame L really enjoyed were "The Queen of Carthage," "Persephone the Wanderer," and "Gratitude," which she will copy right here so her Dear Readers can enjoy it, too:

Gratitude

Do not think I am not grateful for your small
kindness to me.
I like small kindnesses.
In fact I actually prefer them to the more
substantial kindness, that is always eyeing you,
like a large animal on a rug,
until your whole life reduces
to nothing but waking up morning after morning
cramped, and the bright sun shining on its tusks.

You can also find information about Louise Gluck on the Poetry Foundation's website, which has links to interviews, articles, and other poems.

Madame L checked this collection out of her local library because she thought it was too expensive to buy (just under $30 at Amazon.com), but she has to take it back to the library this week, so she's going to buy a couple of the smaller collections in paperback so she can keep nibbling at these words. 

Madame L also thinks it's easier to nibble at words when they come in little paperback books. The huge volumes are as intimidating as a giant sub on a full stomach.

Delays in Answering Questions

Dear and Patient Readers,

Madame L apologizes for the delay in answering questions some of you have sent her. Her only excuse is that she has been busy with other duties which have kept her off line for most of the past week.

Madame L did answer the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue immediately because it was so disturbing to her, and hopes you'll understand.

Madame L should be back online and answering all your questions within a few days.

Thank you for your patience,

Madame L

S.I. Swimsuit Issue at B&N

Dear Madame L,

I was browsing through the magazines at my local Barnes & Noble store earlier this evening, and was shocked to see that the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue was displayed prominently at a child's eye-level in the very front of the magazine section.

I talked to the guy who sells Kindles about it. He wouldn't even let me finish what I was saying before he pursed his lips like an angry old man and said, "We're told where to put them." 

I said, "Really? The store tells you to put that right where it's perfectly visible for little kids while adults have to kind of lean over to see it?" 

He said, "Yes. This is a company policy. I can't do anything about it."

I said, "No problem. I turned all of them around so the back cover is showing."

Then he REALLY got mad and said, "Then I'll just have to turn them back around again."

I said, "You can do that, of course, but I will never bring a child into this store if I think they'll be subjected to images like that."

He said, "You don't have to."

I said, "I know that. And I know that you can talk to someone in management and tell them that you have a customer who has talked to you about this and asked it to be changed."

He said, "I'll do that."

Madame L, I was outraged. What can a person do about things like this?

Sincerely,

Like I said, Outraged


Dear Outraged,

Madame L joins you in consternation and suggests that your next step would be asking to speak to the store manager. Madame L will also go to her own nearby Barnes & Noble store as soon as she has an opportunity, to see if the same situation exists there.

Madame L sincerely doubts that a big corporation like Barnes & Noble would really force its store managers to place offensive magazines where they are clearly visible to children. Even Madame L's local grocery store manages to find a way to display magazines with suggestive or objectionable photos high up by the check-stand and even put some kind of plastic covering over the objectionable material.

Dear Readers, does anyone else have any suggestions for this Outraged Reader?

Thanking you in advance,

Madame L

Weird Word of the Week: Obelus

The obelus is the mathematical symbol for the division operation, the ÷ symbol. 

Madame L came upon this word in an article about a math problem which looks easy but which has different potential answers depending on how you interpret those good old math rule you learned in school, you know, the PEMDAS rule:

Parenthesis first, Exponents, Multiplication and Division (left to right), and Addition and Subtraction (left to right).

Using this method to solve the problem 6 ÷ 2(1+2), Madame L gets the answer 9.  Here's what the calculation looks like: 6 ÷ 2(1+2) = 6 ÷ 2 × (1+2) = 6 ÷ 2 × 3 = 3 × 3 = 9

Another method is to divide everything to the left of the ÷ symbol by everything to the right of it.  Using this method to solve the problem 6 ÷ 2(1+2), solving the 2(1+2) part of the equation first, Madame L gets the answer 1.

Madame L, always an iconoclast, is pleased to find an example of the "pure logic" of math giving different answers to the same question.

Book Review, March 18, 2013: Proof of Heaven

Madame L finally got this book from her local library, after putting a hold on it a month ago, and she's glad she had a chance to read it.

"Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife" is the vivid account by Dr. Eben Alexander of his near-death experience after his brain was shut down by a massive bacterial infection. 

Madame L was prepared to be skeptical for two reasons: 

First, Madame L believes a person of faith does not need the "evidence" of yet another New-Age-y doctor who has finally seen the light and who, in the arrogance of his profession as a neurosurgeon, believes that his experience will somehow be more convincing than those of the many others who have had such experiences in the past.

Second, Madame L has read several reviews of the book by other doctors who have panned the book, saying he has it all wrong, his experience can be explained away scientifically. 

What made Madame L decide to read the book in spite of her skepticism was the fact that "A Christian Rebuttal" had been published, claiming to show how everything Dr. Alexander claims to have experienced could not possibly be true because it contradicts that other author's understanding of Scripture.

Madame L read the excerpt of that second book, made available on Amazon.com, and could hardly believe the short-sighted, narrow-minded, world-blinded dogmatism displayed by that author.

Will Madame L's Dear Readers enjoy "Proof of Heaven"? Madame L thinks so. It's well written and convincing and lacks that arrogance Madame L feared she would find.

However, Madame L thinks it's not a book worth buying. Check it out of your public library, as Madame L did, enjoy it, and then return it. You won't need it to confirm your faith in God, or Heaven, or the eternal love we know God has for us. It will be an interesting novelty.

Madame L also welcomes comments from any of her Dear Readers on this topic and other books on the subject.

Coach Laura: Week Before a Race

Dear Coach Laura,
 
I have been preparing to participate in a 5K next Saturday, March 23. The training program that I've been (trying to) follow tells me to do two training runs next week, one on Monday and a light 20-minute one on Wednesday. I'm sure that's so I can be well-rested for the 5K, but the problem is that the training program thinks that my 5K is on Friday, a day earlier than it really is. Should I still work out just twice next week, and then have a three-day rest before the actual run? Or should I try to squeeze another workout in there somewhere? 

Also, do you have any advice as to what and when to eat the day before and the morning of the race? Does it matter? I want to maximize any energy that I can, you know, have enough but not so much that I'm bogged down the morning of. 

Any other advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. The race starts at 9 a.m.

Thank you!

Signed,

Hoping to Set New Records for Myself

 

Dear Record,

 

Woo hoo! Congratulations on running a 5K this week! It sounds like you've been working hard towards this goal. 

 

You're right about your training program - it seems counter-intuitive to ramp down your distances leading up to the race, but the idea is that if you run less miles in the week leading up to the big day, you'll be more well-rested. If you think that waiting 3 days from Wednesday until your run on Saturday is too much, then mix it up a little bit. You could do the suggested runs/walks on Tuesday/Thursday instead. Whichever schedule you opt for, do make sure you take Friday (the day before) off and rest completely. On Monday and Wednesday, you can do some strength-training or stretching/yoga exercises those two days. 

 

Nutrition-wise during the week - I recommend lots of fruits all week long. The natural sugars in those will give you energy all week long and help get you pumped up. Another high-energy food you can add to your meals are beans. If you're worried about the negative side-effects of those, try adding parsley or cilantro to the beans. Try to eat as natural/clean as you can all week. Cut out sugars, etc., except for those good ones from fruits. Also make sure you're hydrating well all week long. The recommended amount of water is half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you need to drink at least 75 ounces of water each day. I personally recommend at least 100 ounces of water each day. Try to not do all that at one point in the day - hydrate throughout the day. Start hydrating now if you haven't already. 

 

Morning of the race - A warm shower in the morning can help loosen up your muscles. Have a piece of fruit before the race for breakfast. Don't eat a huge, heavy breakfast. For a 5K, there's no need to "carb-load" the night before or week of, more than the fruits, beans and healthy eating we've discussed. If a piece of fruit isn't enough or feel enough, have a piece of toast with some almond butter or something similar.  Allow yourself plenty of time to park and get to the race start. The last thing you want to do is feel rushed and stressed that morning. 

When you get there, do some light jogging/walking to warm up. You don't need to stretch out before - just warm up the muscles you'll be using. 

As for the actual race itself, don't start out too fast. It will be hard not to with all the excitement and energy, but remember you've got three-plus miles to go, so start out easy. 

Having said all this, you know best of all what you're capable of, what food, etc., will work best for you. Listen to your body and just do your best. You're going to do great! Just go out there and have a great time! 

To your health,

Coach Laura

Coach Laura: Working Out and Pain Medication

Dear Coach Laura,
 
I've been trying to increase my workouts and get stronger, but I hate the sore feeling that comes afterwards. Is it okay or beneficial or not so good to take something like aspirin or Ibuprofen before working out, to forestall any inflammation that may come from the workout?

Thanks,

I'm So Sore 
 
Dear Sore,

First of all, great job on increasing your workouts! The soreness you experience is called DOMS. Sounds serious, doesn't it? Don't worry - it just stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Although it varies among exercises and individuals, the soreness usually increases in intensity in the first 24 hours after exercise. It peaks from 24 to 72 hours, then subsides and disappears up to seven days after exercise.

As far as taking ibuprofen or aspirin before working out, studies have been done recommending that you don't. One reason is that NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium [Aleve], and ketoprofen [Orudis KT]) can prevent the body from manufacturing prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are substances produced naturally by the body that act as mediators for a variety of physiologic functions including protecting the stomach lining, and regulating blood pressure. They also mediate pain and inflammation.  Therefore, taking NSAIDs can sometimes cause stomach upset or gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. The risk of stomach irritation or GI bleeding increases with long-term use of NSAIDs. (Source.)

So, does taking an NSAID really improve athletic performance? Does it prevent or reduce muscle soreness? So far, the research doesn’t support the use of NSAIDs for athletes. Here’s what they have found so far: 

• Several studies have found little actual performance benefit of taking ibuprofen and warn that it may mask pain, which can lead to increased risk of injury.
• Further studies have cautioned that the use of NSAIDs during ultra distance exercise, such as an Ironman Triathlon, is associated with an increased risk of exertional hyponatremia. Researchers believe that this effect is likely due to altered renal (kidney) function. The issues related to altered kidney function in athletes are not hard to imagine. Poor fluid transport and restriction can lead to dehydration, hyponatremia and at the extreme, kidney failure.

A study published in 2003 in "Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise" found that taking ibuprofen before exercise did not reduce muscle soreness or inflammation. The authors also found evidence that the practice may inhibit muscular growth in response to exercise.

Other researchers monitoring ultramarathon racers found no reduction in muscle damage or soreness among athletes who took ibuprofen the day before and on race day. Their study, published in 2006 in "Brain Behavior and Immunology," also found indications of increased inflammation among the ibuprofen users.

A study published in January 2013 in the "British Journal of Sports Medicine" also concluded that taking prescription-strength ibuprofen before strenuous exercise results in increased markers of muscle damage and inflammation in the bloodstream and does not reduce post-exercise muscle soreness.

The most convincing real-life study may have been the one conducted during the running of the 100-mile Western States trail running race. Researcher David Neiman measured the influence of ibuprofen use during the grueling race by studying runners in three groups: a control group, a group taking 600 mg of ibuprofen one day before and on race day and a group taking 1200 mg of ibuprofen one day before and on race day.

• Both groups taking ibuprofen had higher plasma levels of markers (serum C-reactive protein, plasma cytokine and macrophage inflammatory protein) for muscle damage.
• Reported DOMS was the same across all groups.
• Serum creatine kinase levels was the same across all groups.
• Race times did not differ among the groups.
• Ratings of perceived exertion did not differ among the groups.

The bottom line was ibuprofen use by endurance athletes did not affect performance, muscle damage or perceived soreness but it was associated with elevated indicators of inflammation and cell damage. It’s a reasonable assumption that using NSAIDs has no positive effect on sports performance. It may, in fact, cause a serious health risk in some endurance athletes.

Alright, that's a lot of science-speak. The best way to overcome DOMS is to, believe it or not, keep exercising. Gradually increase the intensity of any new exercise - don't go all out the first time you're trying something new.

Here's the most important thing I'm going to tell you in this long-winded answer. Neither Madame L or I are doctors, nor do we play one on TV. This is not meant to replace any medical advice you may receive from your doctor. So, ASK YOUR DOCTOR! The two of you together can decide on the best course of action for long-term health and fitness.

To your health,

Coach Laura

Watching for the Comet

Dear Readers,

If the sky is clear, and you live in the mid-northern latitudes, you should be able to see the PanSTARRS Comet tomorrow night (March 12) and through March 18 just after the sun sets. 

Sky and Telescope Magazine has a great piece online about how to spot the PanSTARRS comet . The main thing is to "...look out west around twilight...around 30 to 45 minutes after sunset." 

The crescent moon should help you see it.

Madame L hopes you'll follow this link to the NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day from a few days ago to check out the beautiful photo of the PanSTARRS and Lemmon comets together over the Atacama Desert. (Madame L would post the photo here herself except that it's copyrighted.)

Also, Madame L hopes you'll check out NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day  (APOD) EVERY DAY. Today's APOD shows a volcano erupting, with lightning bolts shooting down through the eruption. 

Happy Viewing,

Madame L

Madame L: Poetry's Number One Fan

In place of a book review today, Madame L would like to offer some thoughts on poetry. 

Madame L is such a sucker for poetry that she will buy used books of poems by poets she's never even heard of based on simply opening the book and reading a couple of poems.

Madame L even --- gasp! --- checks books of poems out of the library. This she does in an even more random manner: As she's walking around looking for something entirely different (most lately, a book by Lance Armstrong on training for bicycle races)* she makes a point of walking by the poetry section and picking out three or four books to bring home. These stay in a pile on her kitchen table for about a week and a half, until the day before they're due, and then she pulls them out and reads some of the poems.

*Dear Readers, please do not be upset. While Mr. Armstrong is no longer in Madame L's pantheon of sports heroes, she notes that he left out of the book the parts about drugs, doping, and so on, so she accepts his non-druggie training advice.)

Most recently, Madame L has not had the best of luck with the library books. 

For example, Madame L is not particularly interested in poems written by an effete American snob in Paris who, while eating exquisitely small baby back ribs with white asparagus and truffles in an expensive restaurant on the Rue d'Whatev,  dreams of Texas barbecue --- especially since everyone in his or her right mind knows that North Carolina barbecue is the only kind worth eating. 

Likewise, Madame L does not give a fig, or any other fruit or vegetable, either, not even a rutabaga, for some wordy guy's recollections of his grandfather's house in Wisconsin or Minnesota or wherever. Or anywhere.

Madame L wants to scream at some of these poets: Words count! So count your words! Cut out about fifty percent of them, and if you need someone to tell you which ones, then tear down your "I'm a Poet" sign. 

Madame L spent an amazing afternoon yesterday talking to a REAL poet, and she will write more about that experience, and him, sometime soon.

Meanwhile, this afternoon Madame L chanced upon an amazing new way to write poetry for your own amusement:

---Read some random poems from anywhere, and if you can find some really pretentious ones, for example from The New Yorker magazine, so much the better. 

---Read them until you're about sick to death of them. 

---Then pick up the Sunday paper and read any article at random. 

---Note how it seems like poetry. 

---Now, write some random thoughts of your own, based on something that has recently happened to you, spaced out with the lines broken wherever you like.

And, voila! a poem! Here's how Madame L did it today:

The Nursery

Little kids twirl and whirl 

like dervishes 

because they have all that energy to burn off

and I am soaking it up.

Write on, Dear Readers, 

Madame L

Dear Jeff,

Who Is Not Chopped Liver,

And All of Madame L's Dear and Beloved Readers,

Madame L is extremely sorry for not mentioning in her post "Technical Question about Blogs" that any and all of you can have Madame L's posts sent directly to your e-mail addresses.

Please let Madame L know if you'd like this service, as she would never foist it upon anyone without being sure.

Just send a message to [ellemadame] at [gmail.com] or write a comment asking for the e-mails, and Madame L will accede to your wishes in that regard.

Additionally, Madame L herewith and hereby invites all her Dear Readers to read, and to request the same service for, a blog written by Madame L's Less-Evil Twin Sister Aunt Louise and a blog written by Aunt Louise's  Dear Husband Jeff.

Sincerely, and with love,

Madame L

Dear Anonymous:

Dear Anonymous:

Madame L would like to thank you for using her blog as grist for your mill, fodder for your feed lot, compost for your back yard heap, pennies from heaven, or whatever you think it is.

When you write, for instance, "I absolutely love your blog and find many of your post's to be just what I'm looking for..." and then you conclude with the fact that you are a bad credit mortgage broker, you cannot imagine how Madame L's heart sings.

Or when you write, "You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having side-effects," and then thoughtfully offer to consolidate Madame L's private student loans, well, you probably cannot imagine, either, what a relief it is to Madame L to be able to tell you right here and now that, if she had any private student loans, you would not in a month of purple Sundays be the person she would ask for help with them.

And, Anonymous: Madame L thanks you particularly for your "God Bless you man. Have a nice day." With such a benediction, how could Madame L NOT have a nice day?

And, in return, Madame  L refrains from hitting any nails upon the top and from correcting your idiotic spelling and grammatical errors, you nitwit.

Sincerely,

Madame L

 

Technical Question About Blogs

Madame L,

I am technologically challenged, so I must ask:  Can your blog be sent to me automatically via email, or do I just log on to your blog site when moved upon to do so?

Thanks,

and Love,

Maurice

Dear Maurice,

Madame L is glad to know she's not the only technologically challenged person around here! 

Thanks to this question from you, Madame L may have just now figured out how to have her latest posts sent directly to your email address.

(Please let Madame L know if this actually works...)

Keep those questions coming,

With love,

Madame L

What Color is the Martian Sky?

Madame L,
 

Great blog! Thanks to Jeff for introducing me to it.  

I do have a question, and who better than you to answer it?

If you were standing on the surface of Mars and staring into the sky, would the sky be blue?  (And why?)

Sincerely,

Not a Martian

Dear Fellow Earthling,

Thank you for reading Madame L's blog, and thanks for your question. 

Madame L has been asking these kinds of questions ever since was a little girl asking her daddy why the sky was blue. He gave a long explanation which was unconvincing to Madame L's four-year-old self, even though it was probably the right answer.*

Mars Pathfinder panorama of landing site taken by IMP

Check out this photo taken by NASA's Mars Pathfinder. Is that eerily beautiful, or what? The sky is a kind of yellow tinged with brown, and here's the answer to your second question:

This color is caused by a small amount of magnetite in the dust particles in the atmosphere.

Madame L was fascinated to read, though, as she researched this topic, that getting an image to show the "true" color of the sky of Mars is really difficult. Maybe when we actually have people there, we'll have a better idea of the color.

*By the way, the reason our Earth's sky is blue is Rayleigh scattering of sunlight. 

Keep those questions coming! (But please don't ask about Rayleigh scattering, which makes little to no sense at all to Madame L.)

Sincerely,

Madame L

Another Weird Word of the Week: Thanatopsis

Madame L thanks Jeff for suggesting this word. It's the title of a poem written in 1814 by William Cullen Bryant. 

The word "thanatopsis" comes from the Greek words "thantos" (death) and "opsis" (seeing).

Thus, Thanatopsis: Seeing (or Thinking About) Death.

Here's the entire poem, thanks to the VCU English Department: 

If you want to skip the poem and go straight to Madame L's interpretation, below, Madame L is sure the VCU English Dept. won't mind. 

Because they won't know, will they. Speaking of which,  Madame L hereby deletes most of the poem "Thanatopsis," which she had originally included here in its entirety. And you know why? Because Madame L thinks this poem takes up too much space in the world already.

THANATOPSIS

by William Cullen Bryant

To him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
...When thoughts
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, ...
Go forth under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around--
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air,--
Comes a still voice--Yet a few days, and thee
The all-beholding sun shall see no more
... The oak
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mould.
Yet not to thy eternal resting place
Shalt thou retire alone...Thou shalt lie down
With patriarchs of the infant world--with kings
... The golden sun,
The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,
Are shining on the sad abodes of death,
Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread
The globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosom....and what if thou shalt fall
Unnoticed by the living--and no friend
Take note of thy departure? All that breathe
Will share thy destiny. ...
So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves
To the pale realms of shade,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustain'd and sooth'd
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
1814

Dear Readers, Madame L has just cut out more than half of this poem, and she is still having a hard time facing it---- and she was an English major in college! 

Here's the gist of it: 

When you're afraid of dying, just remember that it won't be so bad. 

In fact, if you die young, so much the better. 

Nature this, nature that.

Nature here,

Nature there,

Nature everywhere.

Nature warning you, 

Nature comforting you. 

More nature. 

And more nature. 

Blah blah blah blah.

And nature.

And blah blah blah blah blah.

Bryant wrote his first draft of this poem when he was 17 years old, added some bits later. Why? Madame L has no idea.

Here, thanks to schmoop.com, are links to some other poems/songs dealing with facing death:

• "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult (listen or read the lyrics)
• "Dust In the Wind" by Kansas (listen or read the lyrics)
• "When Death Comes" by Mary Oliver
• "Because I could not stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson
• "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

Then, as Jeff mentioned in his comment, there's the fictional thanator, the "dry mouth bringer of fear" on Pandora.  Great name for a great creature in a great movie!

Who Is Col. Quaritch?

Dear Madame L,

Someone wrote a comment about a post from the blog of your less-evil twin sister Aunt Louise about Col. Quaritch and eyes like jujubes. And I just want to ask, Huh?

Sincerely,

Puzzled

Dear Puzzled,

Madame L actually had to look that one up, as she has watched the movie "Avatar" far fewer times than some of her acquaintances. This quote comes from a scene toward the beginning of the film, when Col. Miles Quaritch is giving the newbies their freshman welcome speech. Here's the quote, thanks to the folks at imdb:

"You are not in Kansas anymore. You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact every second of every day. If there is a Hell, you might wanna go there for some R & R after a tour on Pandora. Out there beyond that fence every living thing that crawls, flies, or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes."

Great bad-guy character, isn't he, and played to the hilt, and thanks for asking, 

Madame L 

Weird Word of the Week: Luddite

Madame L, according to some people who know her well and have tried to call and/or text her on her wonderful modern "smart" cell phone, is a Luddite.

As always, Wikipedia has a lot to say about this topic, including some dubious history.

If you read that, you'll know that Madame L is not actually a Luddite. She has nothing whatsoever against modern technology and only once has she ever destroyed a machine on purpose.

You're right, that wasn't Madame L, and the machine she may or may not have destroyed was not a computer. She just wanted to have an excuse to show that video.

Madame L still does, however, subscribe to the notion that the first step in trying to fix any machine is to kick it.