Would You Repeat That, Slowly?
“Hold on, I have to use summary on Dialga.
“I gave Dialga 3 PP Ups on Roar of Time.
“Right now he has 3 out of 8 PP on Roar of Time, but he has 8 PP total, so I’m going to give him an Ether, to make him have 8 PP total, because Ether restores 10 PP, but he only has 8 PP (Power Points, Mama), so it won’t restore 10 PP, so it’ll just restore 5 PP.
“And I’ve got 18 Revives, and 11 Max Potions.”
I stop typing, and look over my reading glasses at The Kid.
“Good?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes at her clueless mother, and sighs The Sigh of the Preteen. “Good. Yes. Good, Mama.”
If you thought I was trying to lose you—or ferret out which of you know a GBA from a DS, bonus points if you know what game The Kid was rattling on about—No.
There is, in fact, a point.
Tweet
Quidditch
These are not the droids you want
Be Whacky
Men Are From Mars…
Sharpen the Saw
kthxbai
Can you invent a language? It isn’t just for geeks, though admittedly it’s easier to think of geek-jargon in regular use.
It flies in the face of Never Alienate the Customer and Never Make the Customer Work Hard to Understand You. Words and phrases that are insider-only are going to make some people feel like outsiders.
An invented language can help your fiercest fans band together, and make (some) outsiders desperately want to get in. It’s a bold strategy.
If you want your fans to become loyal Propheteers, give them the words to talk to each other, and stand back. They’ll spread the word(s) on their own.
Which insider languages do you speak?
What do you get from sharing a language with other fans?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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22 January 2009, 7:42 am
We do this at work, where “we” is every corporation. Secret code words and phrases.
“Expectations”
“Unacceptable”
“Deliverables” (my personal hatred goes out to this one)
“On the same page”
“Singing from the same hymn book”
Although these ones sometimes backfire, because the people you’re trying to turn into fans can see right through the BS.
Don’t think I mean to say I don’t agree with your point though! I do agree with what you’ve said, if you can create the right kind of magic, it really works.
e.g. I’m a Mac fanboy and I really do live in a “reality distortion field”… people not in the know don’t get the joke but I still laugh every time someone talks about that and The Steve.
Your opening paragraph kind of reminded me of something from a couple of years back at work. One of the guys “squared” himself on a table if you catch my drift, and he fell down on the floor and started rolling around.
As an old D&D player, I blurted out, “oooooh, natural 20″ (a critical hit) without even thinking. A couple of people knowingly looked at me and laughed, but no one else got it…
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
22 January 2009, 7:55 am
Brett,
The funny thing is, I could argue the other side (and have!) just as easily.
Listening to her speaking her funny language, though, I realized it has a kind of a magic to it, being able to speak to others like a secret handshake.
The Steve has said something to the effect of you have to have “other” to push against if you want real devotees. This (can be) one way to create other if there isn’t a natural enemy like PCs.
Natural 20: LOL! I wouldn’t have gotten it but the picture is great. I mean, awful.
Regards,
Kelly
22 January 2009, 8:00 am
Kelly,
With the work lingo it can go either way – if you know the cyberdroids really do believe in what they’re saying and you know that there is truth behind the words “World Class”, then you can get all excited about it – but if you can see the cracks in the walls and you know they’re just trying to snow you until the layoff notices are ready…
Good point about “other”, you know. Create an enemy (like 1984′s Eurasia/Eastasia) – hmm… I’ll be using newspeak all day now, doubleplusgood that!
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
22 January 2009, 9:17 am
What if you (theoretically) raised two babies in a room (alone, in isolation)?
And you came back 20 years later?
What kind of language will they have developped, on their own?
…Makes for an interesting “Thought Experiment”, doesn’t it?
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
22 January 2009, 9:48 am
I’ve started it with the whole name thing – it’s no longer just procrastination – it’s Someday Syndrome!
And the thing I’m working on for the summer, well that’s going to have a whole bunch of other tribal language.
I notice as I type that you’re and official SOB…
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post…Girls Aloud give us all a kick in the pants
22 January 2009, 9:49 am
@Brett and Kelly
When managers talk in their “language” that nobody else understands, I think it’s often an indication that they’re not that bright.
And that they’re hiding behind a bunch of complicated-sounding words, to make themselves appear smarter than they are. Which justifies their high-paying jobs.
For example (and no, I’m NOT making these up!)
- Action Orientation.
- Functional Implementation Team
- Functional Model.
- Organizational Interfaces.
- Interfacing Organizations
- Functional Aligment
- Proactively collecting inputs
- Associated accountability…
Someone PLEASE explain to me WTF these mean in ENGLISH!!
But you see, they can’t. (Or won’t!)
Because THAT way, the paper-pushers will know something that we stupid PhD’s and Enjineers don’t.
And knowledge is power.
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
22 January 2009, 10:21 am
@Alex,
Too funny…
@Friar,
Yeah, they couldn’t handle those technical engineering terms like “just do your fracking job”.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
22 January 2009, 10:38 am
@Brett
I’d like to see those bosons grasp the concept of “Enthaply….Kilojoules…First-order Differential Equation”.
Except that our language takes years of technical training understand (unlike Management-Speak, which any Lab-Chimp off the street could learn, once they were allowed into the Old Boy’s Club).
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
22 January 2009, 11:58 am
Look no further than this blog:
VisionPoints
propheteer
gorilla
monkey
McDonald’s
Blame Canada
purple boots
fudge
not that Kelly Erickson
curling
red leather box of chocolates with a see-through window and wrapped in a silky pink bow
Yes, some of these words and phrases are used elsewhere, but somehow they conjure up completely different images here…
~Graham
(PS – did I miss any?)
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Where Web Designers (and Designees) Can Go For Inspiration
22 January 2009, 12:51 pm
@Graham,
You forgot “big banana”
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
22 January 2009, 1:00 pm
@Brett
An INFLATABLE banana, perhaps? (You know, to go along with the gorilla).
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
22 January 2009, 1:16 pm
I knew I missed something.
BTW Friar, came up with some definitions for you:
- Action Orientation — It’s last call, is anyone up for a nightcap at my place?
- Functional Implementation Team — wow, that’s what I like about you guys. You know it’s your turn to bring the donuts and hey, you bring ‘em!
- Functional Model — wow, you’re tripping over your 17-inch heels much less than your coked-out friend over there…
- Organizational Interfaces — Have your people call my people.
- Interfacing Organizations — Your people are on the phone with my people as we speak.
- Functional Alignment — I’m a Leaf fan tonight because my buddy’s boss isn’t using his season tickets…
- Proactively collecting inputs — Anyone who wants to play softball this year, sign below.
- Associated accountability — Now that he is out of the room I can safely say yes, I was there and it is his fault.
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Where Web Designers (and Designees) Can Go For Inspiration
22 January 2009, 1:19 pm
@Graham..
Wow!! Thanks for clearing that up!
I wonder what would happen in my company, if someone like you explained what all theses terms meant.
Would they promote you?
Or FIRE you?
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
22 January 2009, 1:22 pm
lol — why not print them out, post them in the coffee room with someone else’s name attached, and find out…?
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Where Web Designers (and Designees) Can Go For Inspiration
22 January 2009, 1:30 pm
A quick read you Factory workers and sympathizers will appreciate:
The Gobbledygook Manifesto by David Meerman Scott
Brett,
“World Class” is one of my personal least favorites. If you mean it, come up with a world class way of saying it. Otherwise, skip the lip service.
Friar,
Babies: In Romania (I think?), years and years ago, weren’t there orphanages where the staff never talked to the little people?
Besides having social disorders, they discovered that they had made up their own ways of speaking, if I remember correctly.
“Associated accountability”? Eeew.
I agree wholeheatedly, language can also be used in manipulative ways to destroy the camaraderie of the “world class” organization, too. Words are unbiased things, but people rarely are.
Alex,
Liz’s language—on my site! Hey, this stuff works!
Yes, you are started on your own language. I even refer to it in email sometimes—my own Someday Syndromes—so it’s getting under at least one person’s skin!
(I have my t-shirt, of course, so if the weather warms up maybe I can spread the word and you can wind up with a whole bunch of midAtlantic groupies!)
Graham,
Moi?
Never crossed my mind.
LOL “not that Kelly Erickson.” Barely a day that goes by that my search engine results and my spam filter don’t remind me of her.
I hope she’s feeling the same pain, but I rather doubt it.
Yet.
Until later,
Kelly
22 January 2009, 1:32 pm
Graham again—ROFL. That’s beautiful.
22 January 2009, 1:37 pm
@Graham,
Oh *man*, that was good – best laugh today
@Kelly,
My personal least favourite too.
I’ll tell you why – it is because of two interrelated things – first, I know that people will be saying it at the next “town hall” meeting that we regularly have (an all-staff thing where we get the “state of the union”) – and second, because there is a modified CAUTION: Wet Floor sign in the middle of the hallway, modified to say “Loose Floor Tiles” – and I honestly cannot remember when it appeared there, it was so long ago.
So it is plainly obvious to me that “world class” means nothing in so many ways.
But…
I’ve finished that email I was going to send! So get ready, Mr. CEO… my plan to save you a few million dollars!
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
22 January 2009, 1:43 pm
Brett,
Bon voyage to bon email!
I wish your CEO wisdom.
Later,
Kelly
22 January 2009, 1:46 pm
Kelly,
Thanks – it took me a long time to get it right, but it has to be just right
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
22 January 2009, 1:46 pm
@Kelly – Perhaps on the contrary, the other Kelly has found you through her own Google Alerts and is finding ways to maximize her own customer experience.
(Hmm, purple boots… that’s a great idea!)
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Where Web Designers (and Designees) Can Go For Inspiration
22 January 2009, 1:50 pm
ROFL I *really* can’t think about that. Please, no.
Goodbye, semi-serious comments…
22 January 2009, 2:58 pm
@Brett
Hope your realize, that whatever you send to the CEO…it goes on your “permanent record”.
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
22 January 2009, 2:59 pm
@Friar,
I’m counting on it, actually
(Because when I submit good ideas through the normal channels, I’d might as well wipe my bum with them.)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
22 January 2009, 4:20 pm
@Brett
No..that’s what O&C and Im-packed forms are for!
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
23 January 2009, 8:45 am
My young adult children have their own language. “For schizzle!” “I am cereal for that.” Cereal for that?!
One thing I try not to do on my blog is use too many pop culture references. I try to keep in mind that my audience is global, and references to North American TV and movies may not be understood.
Heck! I find that just with the Lion, silly Frenchman that he is.
23 January 2009, 12:33 pm
copasetic
making groceries
Hoovering
lagniappe
all y’all got that?
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
23 January 2009, 1:33 pm
Panther,
Lost me on cereal. Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
I try to avoid jargon and localized references here, too, unless I can slow down a bit to make them make sense… and they move my point forward. Otherwise, no.
You’ll be glad to hear that I’m probably five words up on my goal to conquer French by the time I’m 117.
Québec tribal French… *sigh* Probably slowing me down. Might have to live until I’m 132.
Janice,
“Making groceries.” I haven’t thought of that phrase in forever.
N’Awlins does have a regional language, true—and an instant sense of place and belonging from using localisms, which really does work for some business there. Can’t get a proper po’boy or a beignet or a nice coffee with chicory anywhere else. But can it be translated into something more specific to one business? Hmm. Thinking.
Side note: My grandmother used to say “I think I’d better run the carpet sweeper.” Fifty… maybe sixty years after she got her first Hoover.
Until later,
Kelly
23 January 2009, 1:46 pm
@Janice – lagniappe? Looks like a combination of French and Finnish. If I were to make a guess at it, I’d say it is a type of sauce made from cream, butter, cajun tarragon, and salt fish…
@Kelly – A lot of the N.O. language has its roots in Canada too. French Acadians were expelled from the Maritimes way back when, and some of them up and went down to the Big Easy (don’t know why — quite the trek! But maybe that was the point…) Hence, of course, all the French-like words.
In fact, I’m not 100% sure but I’ve always thought the word “Cajun” has its roots as a slurred version of “Acadian”. Try to say Acadian with a Louisiana drawl (drop the first “a”) and you’ll see what I mean.
Yes, the Canadian influence is everywhere…
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Can Your Own Customer Stories Help You Sell More?
23 January 2009, 1:51 pm
Yes, Blame the Canandians. LOL
Lagniappe is a little something extra you throw in for free.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
23 January 2009, 2:17 pm
@Janice – It’s a recurring theme: Blame Canada! (That’s okay. We can take it.)
Just looked up “Cajun” — seems my suspicions about its origins were right!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Can Your Own Customer Stories Help You Sell More?
23 January 2009, 2:21 pm
Blame Canada, and their 20-foot tall inflatable gorillas with the big bananas.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
23 January 2009, 3:12 pm
Graham,
Yep. I have Acadian ancestry. When everyone else was kicked out, my G-G-grandmother zigzagged over to Boston, so I wouldn’t be born in N.O.
Little did she know I’d develop a love of the place anyway. Robbed of being a Cajun!
Later,
Kelly
23 January 2009, 3:22 pm
lol – robbed of your Cajun heritage, but denying your Canadian one. Ah, the irony!
(At least I’ve never heard that story before!)
Though it does explain why you are such a Canadian magnet. Something tells me you might want to see how many of these you can check off:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/canajuneh.htm
I especially like the bit about the snowblower stuck on the roof. Hasn’t happened to me personally (yet) but I know it happens…
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Can Your Own Customer Stories Help You Sell More?
23 January 2009, 4:06 pm
@Janice
(*said in a southern twang*)
“Foh-tunately, I keep mah feathuhs numbered, for just such an Ee-muh-gency!”
@Graham
What?….you guys don’t get your milk in bags like we do?
There’s also an urban legend, of Canadian tourists being able to pay for things in Canadian Tire money to unsuspecting merchants in the US.
Tabernac…Lagniappe!
23 January 2009, 4:09 pm
LOL.
Hm, you know the critics and art writers ( and you know how fond I am) try to use exclusionary language all the time. It reeks of academia and pardon me who’s got the biggest…um, dictionary.
Makes me crazy.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
23 January 2009, 4:15 pm
@Friar- ROFLOL
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
23 January 2009, 5:46 pm
Graham,
I never deny my Canadian heritage. Ethnic background just doesn’t come up too often in conversation at MCE.
Love the link. ROFL.
“You think sexy lingerie is tube-socks and a flannel nightie with only 8 buttons.” << And this is a problem how?
Okay, no tube socks. Sheepskin moccasins.
Later,
Kelly
23 January 2009, 6:54 pm
@Friar – Yes, I drink my milk one bag at a time, just like everyone else. And my chips come in boxes. (Don’t think you see Old Dutch in your neck of the woods too often, eh?)
@Kelly – Sheepskin moccasins? Nope. Purple boots is the only way to go. Besides, they’ll give you better grip when you’re snowblowing the roof.
(I have a feeling you are just setting me up to say “purple boots” now. But orange you glad I didn’t say banana?)
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Can Your Own Customer Stories Help You Sell More?
23 January 2009, 7:10 pm
@Graham,
Strangely enough, they do have Old Dutch at the Krusty Mart but they don’t come in boxes. They did, when they first came to Ontario – but it seems we like our chips in plastic bags, I guess.
Purple boots – or Crocs
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
23 January 2009, 7:41 pm
When I lived in Hammy Town, I used to bring back hords of Old Dutch chips — you couldn’t really find them down east back then.
That and Bull’s Eye BBQ sauce. Best sauce ever.
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Can Your Own Customer Stories Help You Sell More?
23 January 2009, 7:45 pm
@Graham,
I had a thought though. I wonder if OD chips here are the same as out West. Kind of like Kokanee beer (it is good in BC, but in Ontario it just sucks because it’s brewed by Labatt).
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
23 January 2009, 8:13 pm
I know ours are — they come straight from Winnipeg which is only 7 hours away (yes, we should be part of Manitoba…) I don’t think that they are made down there, otherwise you’d see a lot more of it, I think.
You’re right about Kokanee. I drank it when I visited my buddy when he worked Whistler for a season. Great stuff. Tastes like Crystal here though. Funny that, considering Crystal is only popular in Thunder Bay. Slap a Kokanee label on — who would know…?
~Graham
23 January 2009, 8:14 pm
*trying to remember back to my grand plans for the comment section at MCE in fall 2007*
My poor, poor search engine results. i pity the folks who come here for Labatt’s and Old Dutch chips.
Dear Graham,
I am in sheepskin moccasins right now. Warm and soft. Very sorry to disappoint you. The minute I can get out of punishing heels, I run for them. The legs are the same as if they were finished with purple boots, though.
Thankfully for your far-too-elevated image of me, I own no tube socks.
Brett,
Kokanee? Are you making that up?
Sounds totally made-up.
Later…
23 January 2009, 8:25 pm
@Graham,
Now you’ve got me thinking – I’ll have to buy some OD chips and read the label (oh, and eat the chips too…)
@Kelly,
You mean the name? Nope, they really did call it that (now, whether it’s named after the fish or that part of BC, I’m not sure).
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
23 January 2009, 9:19 pm
@Brett — heheh ya, I could go for some of those right about now. And a Kokanee, now that you mention it.
@Kelly — well, you’re right. Since purple boots is only a euphemism anyway, I guess moccasins are just the same. As long as they aren’t one of those crazy knee-high ones…
@both — I believe the Kokanees are a mountain range, like the Kooteneys and the Cascades.
~Graham
23 January 2009, 9:31 pm
BTW, just did a search for “purple boots” — you’re nowhere to be found, so not to worry. Even tried “purple boots banana banana gorilla” and nothing.
“purple boots kelly” though puts you in third.
“purple boots the other kelly” — you may be surprised to find that phrase gets you first place…
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Can Your Own Customer Stories Help You Sell More?
23 January 2009, 9:35 pm
Graham,
So much for a business blog! I shall now go to bed crying. In flannel jammies and mocs.
(I’m sure “purple boots banana banana gorilla” must turn up some gems.)
Later…
23 January 2009, 11:46 pm
@Brett and Graham
Can’t remember the last time I saw Old Dutch chips in a Box. You’re right..we dont’ have them up in Splat Creek.
And I have a theory why Kokanee tastse better out West. Because you’re on VACATION and happy to be in Beautiful BC. (I know I am when I visit). (I’m going there in a week,actually….mabye I’ll buy a case while I’m there)
@Kelly
Actually, Kokanee is a type of Salmon. AND a beer.
Kootenay is a mountain chain in BC. So are the Bugaboos. But Yoho is a National Park.
(..speaking about Tribal Languages . Heh heh.)
23 January 2009, 11:52 pm
Friar,
Bugaboos?
Would it sound terribly U.S.-centric of me if I said No Way?
‘Fraid it would.
Well then I’ll pretend I knew that all along.
Much later…
24 January 2009, 12:30 am
@Friar – Alas, they are going the way of the bag here too. You can still find the boxes though, except now they use foil bags on inside instead of the regular plastic kind.
BTW – I looked up Kokanees — it is a salmon and (perhaps unofficially) a mountain chain in Kokanee Glacier Provincial (BC) Park. Michel Trudeau was swept down off of one of these mountains into Kokanee Lake. Not many references to it though, but found this one:
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/plocal/CTVNews/20030407/ctvnews851517/20030407/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
so i guess it’s a fish, a beer, a mountain (maybe), a mountain chain (maybe), a glacier, a park, a lake, and another SEO keyword that is going to haunt Kelly for years to come.
Hey, drop a two-fer when you’re flying over T-Bay, will ya? lol
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Can Your Own Customer Stories Help You Sell More?
24 January 2009, 7:37 am
@Friar,
Your vacation idea sort of makes sense, except that (to me) Bud still tastes like crap whether I’m on vacation or not
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
24 January 2009, 7:50 am
One. Pint. of Guinness.
G’nite.
Who the heck wants watery beer?
24 January 2009, 7:52 am
‘zactly
(Hmm… I can have a pint of Guinness with bacon and eggs, right?)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
24 January 2009, 7:55 am
There must be Irish in you, Mr. Legree. Make sure there’s plenty of potatoes on that top o’the mornin’ plate.
24 January 2009, 8:31 am
You are wise, Ms. Erickson.
Mr. Legree = 50 percent Irish + 50 percent (some mix of French-Canadian and Algonquin Indian, but not enough Algonquin for a tax break!)
Plenty of potatoes is the way of life for me. Seriously, it is so funny, it must be ingrained or something. I could live on spuds.
If I go to an expensive buffet or something, I just can’t help it. Lobster? Meh. Give me potatoes!
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
24 January 2009, 10:22 am
@Kelly
No Way to “Bugaboos”?
Yes.
…Way.
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/bugaboo/
24 January 2009, 10:24 am
@Brett
awww…POTATOES?
Forget about the cheap starch fillers (noodles, rice, potatoes). That’s what they WANT you to fill up on (to make money).
When I’m at a buffet, I strategically target the expensive proteins (Seafood, steak, chicken, fish).
Friar’s last blog post…18 Tips Guaranteed to Save the Planet……and Make you Miserable!
24 January 2009, 10:32 am
@Friar,
Can’t help it, I’m half-Irish… heh heh
Not that I don’t like the meat, but I can’t fight my DNA!
Lobster though – I will eat it, but it’s one of those funny things that makes me go “hmm”. Two reasons why – first, it’s basically a big sea-spider with an extra set of legs, and second – ask anyone who grew up in Newfoundland in the 40′s or 50′s.
Lobster was what poor people ate because they couldn’t afford chicken or beef – anyone could catch bottom feeding sea-spiders. So literally if you brought lobster to school people laughed at you and called you poor.
Kind of a funny example of supply and demand, eh?
Reminds me of something else – diamonds vs. gold or platinum. I saw an advert for precious metals once, and it was quite clever and true. All the gold, all the platinum, silver etc. – guess what? It was made at the dawn of time, in the stars. We ain’t making any more of it, err, until we can get some really cheap high-powered accelerators. But diamonds? Feh. We can make those, and we can make them *better* than mother nature can. So the precious metals guys were basically poo-pooing diamonds.
So if anyone is reading this, your diamonds are worthless chunks of transmuted carbon. Please send them to me and I will dispose of them for you…
^ ^
. .
^
o
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
24 January 2009, 10:36 am
@Brett
Lobster was considered “Garbage fish” for the longst time. They used to bury it in gardens as fertiziler.
I spoke to my Mom’s friend. He’s in his 70′s and grew up in Cape Breton. He told me the rich kids would bring sandwhiches to school made from store-bought bread and Bologna and tuna. The poor fishermens kids would have home-baked-bread and lobster sandwiches.
He said imagine how much a fresh-baked lobster sammitch would cost TODAY?
Friar’s last blog post…18 Tips Guaranteed to Save the Planet……and Make you Miserable!
24 January 2009, 10:42 am
@Friar,
Exactly – funny how that worked out, eh? Remember when the aristocracy used to use aluminum cutlery before a cheap process was developed to refine it? I suppose if you showed people from the 19th century plastic forks, they’d probably pay you handsomely for them
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
24 January 2009, 11:10 am
@Brett
Codfish used to be the big thing in Eastern Canada. But that got fished out in Eastern Canada. So now the they’re after turbot (which used to be considered a garbage fish).
What happens when turbots get over fished? Maybe we’ll go after Sculpin.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sculpin_in_hand.JPG
Once we run out of that, mabye the next big thing will be Krill or something. And so on…and so on…
Friar’s last blog post…18 Tips Guaranteed to Save the Planet……and Make you Miserable!
24 January 2009, 11:18 am
@Friar,
I read something interesting about overfishing. We started with the largest fish, then the next largest, etc. – going down the food chain.
Now we’re finding in some places that the *jellyfish* are taking over, and they’re changing the chemical makeup of the waters where they live. In some places it is believed that the seas resemble the primordial waters from billions of years ago now.
So what are the fishermen doing? Catching and selling jellyfish! People do eat them in Asia, and they reproduce like crazy, so some folks are thinking that in 20 years time, that’s all we’ll have left to eat from the sea.
My kids will be telling their kids, “children – eat your jellyfish or there’s no ice cream!”
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
24 January 2009, 12:48 pm
Nutritionally it probably wouldn’t work, but if you told me I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be potatoes.
I give up on following this train of comments. Y’all left the station ages ago.
Later…
24 January 2009, 12:54 pm
Kelly,
It’s funny you know – I went looking one time to find a diet I could eat that consisted of 10 things or less that I could grow myself. Potatoes were a big part of it – peas too, some beans – chickens (for eggs mostly).
I believe potatoes are the #4 most important source of calories worldwide (after rice and a couple of other things, soybeans I think and I forget the third – corn or wheat maybe).
Oh yeah… not only did the train leave the station, it left the tracks and is flying through space.
Anyone remember an animated show called The Secret Railroad?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Voyages_du_tortillard
That train did that. Cool show.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
24 January 2009, 12:56 pm
No but Friar is out skiing right now. In-20 degree weather. !!!!
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
24 January 2009, 10:24 pm
Brett,
Never heard of it (CAN only, prob’ly) but I love “Monsieur Globetrotteur.” Great name.
Friar,
How are those old frostbite-bugaboos treating you?
Bugaboos. Heh. A “bugaboo” is a “minor problem,” where I come from. Always thought it must be a word from Australia. Kangaroos, bugaboos…
Must stop before my delightful Canadian readers think I’m a goofball.
Which I am.
Later,
Kelly