Ahhh yes...draw closer...leave the world you know...reach out with your mind and seek truth beyond
the physical world...there are spiritual realities to be known...but much mistruth and confusion abounds...
a discerning mind is necessary...do not be fooled...see only that which is true...see only...hmmm?...
yes, a Sixth Sense beyond the five physical senses...yes I know it's the name of a movie...
yes, some of my titles have also been movie titles...no, it's just a coincidence...yes I'm sure...no, this
isn't a "Bruce Willis thing"...yes he was in the Fifth Element and The Sixth Sense, but he
wasn't in The Third Man was he?!?...ahhh your little theory falls apart there doesn't it...*pause*...
huh?...no, I don't want to go rent Die Hard!...what is it with you and movie rentals?
So here's where I'm supposed to give my article intro and give an exciting and interesting segue into
the content to come, tell you how glad I am that you're reading, blah, blah, blah, yackity schmackity...
Quite Frankly I don't give a...
what is it!?!
who?...ooh, Despot...what does he want?
uh huh...
uh huh...
yeah...
really?...
kil my hed?...I see...
Well...*big smile*...It's great to have everyone here today, and we've got a really great installment for
everyone....*big smile*...We've got more questions, more answers, and more smart asses...*big smile*...
I've gotten some great questions already...*big smile*...but I can always use more...*big smile*...
And who doesn't want to see their name "up in lights"?...*big smile*...so, if you've got any new
questions send them to me....*big smile*
The first question today comes from TeachersF15. He (or possibly she) asked me:
where is the largest volcano known to man situated?
This is a tricky little question, but I know the answer. The largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa, on
the island of Hawaii (aka "the BIG island"). It stands 74 miles (120 km) wide at the base, and rises a little over 2 (4 km)
miles over the island, and about 5 1/2 (9 km) above the ocean floor. It's pretty darn big, but it's a placekicker
compared to the offensive lineman that is the largest volcano known to man, Olympus Mons, on the planet
Mars (Did I lose anyone with those football references? Kickers are small, linemen are big...now laugh!).
Olympus Mons is 17 miles (27 km) high and 335 miles (540 km) wide...*pause*...you get that?
That's almost 90,000 sq. miles...The crater
at the summit of the volcano is 53 miles (85 km) in diameter...that's the distance of two marathons
across! In the area of the crater alone, you could fit two Rhode Islands (the state, not the Greek Island)
and still have room to spare...I just happened to take a picture of the volcano during my last visit to
Mars, it's a bit blurry, but here's Olympus Mons:
In the picture you can see the edge of the volcano appears rather distinct, that's because the whole
thing (the outer edge that is) is a cliff face 6 miles high (that reminds me of a Byrds song...the Byrds...
they were a band...*sigh*...you know there was music made before 1991...)
So, that was the first question, on to the second question. Terraghis (that would be such a cool name
for the "bad guys" in a Sci-Fi "B movie"...they could be like, mutated humans that live underground...to
make them really scary, their entire society could be based upon the principles found in teen pop...like
"love comes from above"...that could be why they're dangerous, they spend the entire movie emerging
from the murky depths to look for their "soulmate"...*shivers*...nevermind, that's just too scary)...hmmm?
Oh yes, the question...
If the Celsius Scale is based on the temperature at which water freezes and boils,
and the Kelvin scale is based on Absolute Zero, what is the Fahrenheit Scale based on?
Well, I had to look this up (it being the second question), and it turned out that the explanation was pretty simple.
It turns out, that zero Fahrenheit was the coldest temperature that the German-born scientist Gabriel Daniel
Fahrenheit could create with a mixture of ice and ordinary salt. He also invented the mercury thermometer and
introduced it and his scale in 1714 in Holland, where he lived most of his life.
There's really not much more to say about Fahrenheit, it's not like he was a the cross-dressing, socialite,
love interest of George Sand (no, that isn't a guy...George Sand was a girl...it's a literary pseudonym...
jeez, read a book), Fahrenheit was a pretty boring scientist (most scientists are you know). With little
else to say about him, I figured I'd talk about Holland, the country where he lived.
Holland (also called the "Netherworld") used to be a pretty powerful country (due to it's dominance
of the clog trade), but now is known best for:
Heineken Beer...
Tulips...
Dikes...
And big ol' sleds of cheese.
Congratulations to Terraghis (and all of his subterranean comrades) for asking "The Question I had to
Research" ™. I raise my chalice in your honor...Salude!
I continue to have fun with the "smart-ass" questions, so I'm going to "answer" another one. This one is
not...uh...how do I say this nicely...not quite as...ummm..."moronic" as the questions about Atlantis and Muu
(yeah, moronic...that's the word I was looking for), rather this question is one of those questions that
can't be answered by anyone with certainty. Two different people asked this question of me so right
away I'm thinking "conspiracy", but I'll answer it anyway. Both Psychomonkey and Kylie Griffin (separately)
asked me
What can change the nature of a man?
This is an interesting question, and I figured that first I ought to define exactly what the nature of man is.
There are as many theories on this as there are people in the world. Some philosophies, such as communism
and its kin, hold that the nature of man is good, and that he exists to be productive part of a community.
If that's the case, there doesn't seem much reason for change, everything would work out fine as it was;
that doesn't seem to be the case however. From a purely biological perspective, one might say that the
nature of man is animal, and that no amount of effort can change that underlying fact. Existential
philosophy says that man has no inherent nature, that we are all nothing more than complex gobs of
chemicals. The existence of an inherent "nature" to man implies that man exists with a purpose, something
that existential philosophy denies. The Bible says that the nature of man is sinful (which kinda makes sense
if you look at the world today) and that Jesus Christ died to free man from the effects of that nature.
According to biblical belief man's nature cannot be changed in the temporal world, and that man must
pay for his sins through spiritual death (aka hell), but that through a personal relationship with Christ
through faith, you can be free from the influence of that sinful nature and sin's eternal consequences...
But, all of that seems rather complicated, and far too involved for my purposes at the moment, so I'm
going to go with an answer from the field of chemistry...ahem...*german accent*...To change zee
nature of man...one muzt firzt take zee speczemin and...*cough*...that makes my tongue tickle...
as I was saying, to change the nature of man, take a test subject and then super-heat him. At a
certain temperature the subject's chemical components will change from a solid to liquid and vapor in
various proportions...if enough heat energy is transferred, it is also possible that the matter will become
plasma...in this way you change the nature of a man from solid to other forms of matter...(bet you
really didn't want to know that, did you?)
I was very disappointed to hear about my missing "Naked Ghand." Tell that crybaby StagCraft to
suck it up. It's time for the new kid on the block. (You start singing "The Right Stuff" and I will hurt you...bad!)
*singing under breath* Dum, dum-d-dum-dum...the right stuff...Hmmm, what? Oh yes, Stagcraft then
returned the challenge by stating
I will have my vengeance and win the right to keep my naked ghand. Viva le Morte!
Adios.
As my grandpappy used to say, "Them's fightin' words"...he also used to say "Boy, you'd better get
me s'more whiskey 'fur I make you wear your sister's dress!"... *pause* ...actually, that's not true...
it was my cousin's dress...*pause*...ahem...since both of them correctly identified British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
On to this week's contest. I have quite nearly gone insane with the utter inability of my PDX comrades to
provide me with a title for the quote contest...nearing the end of my rope, and seeing no other solution
to the problem, I decided to contact a legend...a man who literally gave birth to PlanetDeusEx (we've
got video...even more disturbing than Ghand without pants...), the almighty Gwog...
As many of you may know, Gwog has retired from PDX, and is currently living in DELETED enjoying
DELETED with his lovely partner DELETED...(*looks back at line*...I hate censors
...they're such DELETED) Anyhoo, I was able to get a message to Gwog, asking him to reach
into his "almighty bag of tricks" and name the quote contest for me...so, here it is...
**INSERT CONTEST NAME HERE**
*stares*...*stares*...what...went...wrong?...Ooh, it seems Gwog sent a reply in a postcard from his
retirement paradise of DELETED...can we get a shot of the postcard?...
What does the post card say?...
Who in the DELETED are you!?! What the heck are you talking about?!? You
have an article on PlanetDeusEx?!? What the heck is Despot doing over there?!? He's letting the whole
place fall apart!!! I'm going to have come back there and straighten things up!!!...also, why is it that no one
is writing letters in to the mailbag...that's a fine feature that too few people are using...it is the
embodiment of the exchange of ideas that forms the backbone of any vibrant community...I emplore everyone,
write.
Oh man...Gwog's gonna come back...Despot is so gonna hurt me...I've uh...I've gotta go...uh, somewhere...
so uh...*glances behind him*...here's this weeks, uh...this week's quote contest...*pops a valium*...
ahhh, artificial calm, that's the stuff (the "right stuff")...With the recent dominance of StagCraft and the RPGMaster I decided to do
something a little different with this week's contest. This is a relatively well known quote, so it's up to
who ever does the best research. Who ever can
tell me the most about the first person to have said...
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
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