Passed on by Kim Darnell, a “desktop ally” from the goofy Red Rocket Farm (whimsical on-line site and store):
Archive for the ‘Silliness’ Category
The Penguin of Revenge
August 28, 2016Our playful entomologists
July 25, 2016In the August 2016 Funny Times, a wonderful piece “The Name Game” by M.K. Wolfe, about binomial nomenclature for living things, but with special reference to the taxonomic names of insects (there are, after all, so very many of them). A copy of the piece (which you should embiggen for easier reading):
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An entertaining tour of playful, even silly, names that have been adopted. As far as I can tell, these are all entirely accurate, even the insects Agra vation, Lalsapa lusa, Pison eu, and Vera peculya.
On the question of packing peanuts
May 22, 2016Earlier today, a goofy Zippy in which styrofoam packing peanuts figured prominently. I was horrified by the idea that Zippy might have discovered a way to cultivate them in his garden so that they, omigod, multiplied. That reminded Benita Bendon Campbell of an excellent Breaking Cat News in which cats and people find themselves at cross purposes on the question of packing peanuts.
Morning name: ivermectin
April 22, 2016My morning name on the 18th, a very useful medication. From Wikipedia:
Ivermectin [generic name; various brand names, e.g. Stromectol. Mectizan] is a medication that is effective against many types of parasites. It is used to treat head lice, scabies, river blindness, strongyloidiasis, and lymphatic filariasis, among others. It can be either applied to the skin or taken by mouth.
Ivermectin was discovered in 1975 and came into medical use in 1981. It is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system. The wholesale cost is about US$0.12 for a course of treatment. In the United States it costs $25–50 [an economic/political side note, but an important one in light of the medication’s utility against some serious scourges].
More on the medication, then some flagrant silliness based on my understanding the name of the medication as a proper name Ivor MecTin, which will lead us to Ivor Novello and a gay world that was at once highly public and deeply secret.
Two Thursday cartoons
March 17, 2016From my King Features feed today, two cartoons of linguistic interest: a Mother Goose and Grimm with a POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau) and a Zippy that happens to use a playful verb with, it turns out, a long history:
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(#2)
On the campaign trail with Vermin Supreme
November 25, 2015
Annals of advertising and poor taste
June 25, 2015A recent tv ad for the candy Skittles lies, for me, somewhere between absurdly silliy and just plain creepy. The premise is that there’s an epidemic of Skittles pox, which manifests itself in an outbreak of Skittles on the face. The unlikely ad copy:
Warning signs of a Skittles pox outbreak include Rainbow colors, increased dating prospects and loud “Mmmm” sounds from the afflicted. Contract the Rainbow. Taste the Rainbow.
The equivalent of a pustule in this infection is an individual Skittle — entirely edible, hence the enhanced dating prospects and the appreciative noises (and, for me, the creepiness).
Oh yes, it’s contagious.
(Earlier on Skittles, its “Share the rainbow … Taste the rainbow” campaign, and rainbow food composed of the candies, in this posting.)
A still from one ad:
and the video:
Peeps time in Japan
March 23, 2015As Easter approaches (April 5th this year), Peeps naturally come to mind (substantial posting on Peeps here). Peeps are endlessly versatile; here’s Grace Kang on Serious Eats, taking Peeps to Japan, in the form of Peepshi (Peeps sushi):
(Hat tip to Beth Linker.)
Yes, they’re appalling. But cute.
The thieving sap spitter
February 26, 2015Today’s Bizarro, which is, well, bizarre:
Not only do we have a thieving bird that carries off letters of the alphabet, we have one that takes them from the cartoon itself. Bizarre indeed.
