I’ve been blogging for almost a year, and here it is, my 300th post.
With all the things going on the last year, I feel like I really needed to blog as a way of working out what’s in my head, and subjecting it to some pretty tough scrutiny from some pretty smart people. So thank you all for reading and (especially) commenting. I hope to be here blogging for many more years.
Every 100th thread is an open thread. Chat amongst yourselves!
11 January 2007 at 4:23 pm
yak enthusiast?
Tell me something I didn’t know about yaks – I’m interested š
12 January 2007 at 1:04 am
Yes. I wondered about that too. Here is an interesting yak fact: Yak skiing and yak polo are interesting tourist attractions in Central Asian countries.
12 January 2007 at 2:17 am
The hair, prized for its high oil content, is often used for fire starting.
I’m working on the Yak FAQ.
12 January 2007 at 10:18 am
Hmmmm, I bet that’s very, um, fragrant.
12 January 2007 at 10:28 am
In Tibetan, the phrase “The yak says it” is an idiomatic way of saying ‘Who knows?”
12 January 2007 at 4:39 pm
kel you could have picked anything… yaks?
I do however enjoy the lightheartedness of this particular thread after keeping track of the last.
Ash, I see your Wikipedia and raise you the discovery channel:
Yaks mate during September and October and their gestation period is 250-260 days.
gnuwv- the smallest of the family bovidae
hey say yak 20 times… sounds weird now?
12 January 2007 at 4:41 pm
‘Yak shaving’ –
the act of performing seemingly unrelated and often annoying tasks which stand in the way of an ultimate goal
12 January 2007 at 10:09 pm
Hey! Leave me alone, I donāt know anything about yaks, and besides, what makes them any less interesting thanā¦ other stuff.
I just like to know things is all. And now I have successfully filled my trivia quota for the day as well.
If I say yak 20 times fast it sounds like some sort of bird callā¦
*changes subject*
So anyway, how about those Type II supernovae huh?
…
*resumes work on phonology essay*
13 January 2007 at 10:03 am
Laura, say any word 20 times in a row and they all sound funny. Try “lurk”, my favourite word. It changes.
I see your discovery channel and raise you my virgin liver and the W-X-Y-Z volume of my 1974 World Book encyclopedia:
The bushy tail of the yak is used as a fly chaser at ceremonial processions in India and as an ornament for a tomb or shrine.
Wiki has an article on yak shaving, although I’m sure you knew that š
Ice-skating on Wednesday night anyone? I’ll pick you up if you fall and I’ll even skate around holding your hand if you’re scaredy.
fhqifj: Profanity of the highest level in Mongolian.
Daniel, is damn still a swear word in America? And how is your swear class list looking? Anywhere near full or have I/we (*nudges Laura*) still got time?
13 January 2007 at 10:07 am
I’d say ‘damn’ is still a swear word in the USA, although a mild one. Any Americans wish to weigh in?
Last I checked, the swearing class had 16 people. This might grow; there’s an article coming up in the Post, either today or next Saturday. I don’t know what the cut-off point is.
13 January 2007 at 12:54 pm
i fold
yeah ash I’m there, if only to hear daniel say something obscene
supernovae really are cool
We still with the yaks? Or swearing?
Let’s try to start a new topic and see if it takes on; the ethics of eating (and other kinds of consumption)
I know vegies and omnivores read this… so why do you choose to eat what you do? Do you think about it?
Personally the animal suffering and horrible environmental impacts of certain farming practices are both part in my vegetarian (wannabe vegan) choices.
*pokes ash near left carotid artery *
13 January 2007 at 2:31 pm
Yes, supernovae are cool, my cosmicbackround nemesis >:× *prepares for fisticuffs*
As for meat eating. Hmmm, itās a hard one. I personally donāt have any problems with eating meat, although I do acknowledge the environmental impacts of it. I donāt have any problems with animals being killed for consumption, although I do believe that they should be treated with a certain amount of dignity whilst theyāre living.
So why do I still eat meat despite all this? I think itās because Iāve never been very opinionated on any subject unless I feel I know a lot about it. I find it hard to make a definite decision on most subjects like this unless I have evaluated both sides of the argument pretty comprehensively. Plus, in issues such as this there are so many subjective philosophical aspects like morals and ethics; things that I donāt know how to analyse yet and that do my head in if I think about them without some sort of direction. I donāt know, Iām still trying to learn and wrap my head around such stuff and I find myself having to prioritise what I want to learn about. So much to learn so little time!
I once read an article about restaurants in game parks in Africa serving up meat of culled elephants, and I said to my friend that I wouldnāt mind trying some. She then assaulted me with a verbal barrage, and I quote āwould you eat a person!?!ā. I have a hard time seeing what separates elephant and whale from cow and sheep and then fish. Apart from their status on the endangered list, but thatās an ecological concern, not some subjective moral boundary.
So all in all it can probably be put down to apathy and maybe selfishness on my part, but Iāll still keep eating meat by default until I decide to learn more about the issue.
However, having said that, I basically eat like a vegetarian anyway, because being a poverty stricken student most of the time I just canāt afford meat! One of my flatmates here actually thought I was a vegetarian until very recently, lol.
On a side note, one thing I do have an opinion of is that I think itās crap that people are so separated from the process of slaughter and think that meat just appears in handy little Styrofoam packages. I think maybe society would have a better view on death if it were something we were exposed to as a natural process. Growing up in the country I saw animals slaughtered, and although itās not pretty, I didnāt find it hard to deal with. Mostly I just thought it was interesting to see what was inside! I mean jeez, I used to have an animal skull collection because they were interesting. Camel, crow, eagle, kangaroo, snake, you name it.
Wow, that was way longer than I meant it to be.
18 January 2007 at 12:58 pm
kel, finally i’m back lol
The problems I have with eating meat are that we no longer need to eat meat; there are healthy alternatives, animals are treated terribly, the immense wastage and the environmentla impacts of farming.
It’s frustrating that it is so hard to determine where any of your food comes from and if indeed even if you try to, you are making an ethical choice. The food industry needs to be better regulated so we know exactly what we are getting.
There are ‘subjective philosophical aspects’ like whether you think it is ‘right’ to eat animals but there are also facts like the 14:1 (in some places) bycatch to shrimp ratio and the huge pollution generated by large scale farming of any kind of animal.
I met a man who goes hunting for his meat. He takes his shotgun and kills a wild animal to eat and makes sure that none of the animal goes to waste. This I respect.
I would prefer not to eat meat by default than to eat meat and be unsure of the harm I am doing to the animal and the earth.
If elephants were being killed ANYWAY due to culling then why on earth would you not eat them? Otherwise it is a horrible waste!
“I have a hard time seeing what separates elephant and whale from cow and sheep and then fish. Apart from their status on the endangered list, but thatās an ecological concern, not some subjective moral boundary.”
People think that fish do not feel, which is not necessarily the case some studies show. It’s something about them being ‘lower life forms’ and probably because they don’t look so much like humans and you can’t hear them screaming when they are suffocated.