The only problem is, you can’t be absolutely certain of where the home is and what direction it’s going at the same time.
Category: Entertainment
The Origin of “Nukular”
After a great deal of painstaking research[1], I have uncovered the true[2] origins of the “nucular” pronunciation of the word nuclear.
Nukular turns out to be an abbreviation of “Nuke-you-la’r,” a traditional Texan leave-taking[3]. The phrase is a contraction of “Nuke you later,” and refers to the intense heat of a Texas barbecue grill. Essentially, one is saying that the other person is always welcome at a barbecue.
The word appears to have become conflated with nuclear due to their similarity, much as many people confuse affect and effect, or use infer when they obviously mean imply[4].
Nukular in its original sense has fallen out of use except in some rural parts of Texas, and most speakers are no longer aware of the saying.
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- In other words, 30 seconds of making stuff up.
- No, not really.
- Or greeting. It’s kind of like aloha in Hawaiian: it can be used for both hello and goodbye.
- This isn’t hand grenades, after all.
Flip-Floppers, all of ’em!
Spotted on a school marquee:
Gee, I hope none of them ever runs for office. Some opposing PAC group will dig this up as evidence of constant flip-flopping!
Genuine Muppet Fur Pillow!
I forget where we found this—I think it might have been Linens and Things. Katie (shown here with the pillow) took one look at it and said, “Made of genuine Muppet hide!” It reminded her of a certain sketch from The State.
Whaam!
I’d known that artist Roy Lichtenstein‘s most famous works were done in the style of gigantic comic book panels. Something I didn’t know was that many of those paintings weren’t just in the style of comic panels, but were blown-up copies of specific panels from actual comic books (done, of course, by other artists).
An art teacher named David Barsalou has been tracking down the originals. He has a website, Deconstructing Lichtenstein, which displays dozens of actual comic panels side by side with the corresponding Lichtenstein paintings.
Some are nearly exact. Some depart a bit more, but many of those actually keep the same dialogue or narration. And yet, somehow Lichtenstein’s work has been hailed for decades as “original.”
(via A Distant Soil)
The Call of the Wild Noodle
The name of this restaurant reminds me of two things:
- A “Get Fuzzy” comic strip in which Bucky Katt proclaims that tofu tastes better in the wild. (Rob had to tell him it was an animal to get him to eat it, and of course Bucky had to boast about his hunting prowess.)
- The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest April Fool’s broadcast.
Riddle Me This
I really liked the last two Five For Fighting albums, America Town and The Battle for Everything. “Superman” was quite possibly the only song I’ve heard that made me run out and buy an album without checking other songs first. So I was eagerly awaiting “Two Lights.”
Unfortunately, after listening through twice, I only actually like two songs on the album: “California Justice” and “Policeman’s Xmas Party.” Everything else is just too…sappy.
And “The Riddle” is everywhere. Radio, supermarkets, fast food, shopping malls. I can’t escape it. Worse, it’s one of those tunes that worms its way into your mind and runs around in circles.
But here’s the odd thing: Does anyone else think the verse sounds a little bit like “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “The Night Santa Went Crazy?”