Temper Tantrum Tuesday: Spring

You’re probably wondering how I can bitch about Spring, everyone loves the Springtime.

I’m not so much bitching about Springtime just a lack of it. Back in the North Country New York spring would be a time when the temperature would be in the 50s and 60s and the snow would still be on the ground in some places. This weather would last from the end of March to the beginning of May. Plenty of time to adjust from winter to summer.

Now, I live in Kentucky and Spring lasts from the end of March to the beginning of April. So now we are into Summer, and I have to do the millions of things around the house to be summer ready.

The garden needs tilling, the grass needs mowing, the AC units have to be put in the windows, I have to set-up the solar hot water heater, and sometime before the temperatures get so high I have to seal the house back up I need to strip, stain and varnish the hardwood floors in the kitchen.

All of this is a pain and I wish I had the few months to do it in like I had up north, instead of the couple weeks I have down here.

Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Angelina Jolie and PETA

Sometimes stupid rises to a new level, and the story of Angelina’s new purse made of horsehair really pushes the envelope for stupid.

If you haven’t heard about this, good for you. You’ve spared your brain from some idiotic swill. Basically Angelina received a gift of an Akris ecru horsehair bag, a bag made from horsehair. PETA raised a fuss over that.

I had two ponies when I was young, so I know I little bit more than I want to about horsehair. Horses and Ponies grow a winter coat of hair during the winter just like dogs and many other animals. In the spring they shed this coat, with dogs the amount hair can be annoying, with horses and ponies the hair filled the barn in the spring and we had to rake it up (not a metaphor we had to use an actual rake) and put it out in a pile for the birds to use for their nests.

For the longer hair on their manes they got mats and tangles just like human hair and had to either be braided or cut to stay straight. My one pony loved having his hair braided and tied off with red ribbons. He would prance around all proud for a few days after. My other pony would do everything possible to get rid of the braids so we ended up giving him a trim instead.

Making a bag or any other garment out of horsehair is merely taking the hair that would have to be thrown away and using it for another purpose, if it replaces fur all the better.

So to anyone upset over Angelina Jolie accepting a horsehair bag I say, “Shut-up Stupid, the horsehair is something you get from taking care of your horse.”

Fantastic Future Friday: Easter Edition

Easter is a time to celebrate the original Zombie Holocaust, idea that someone could die and be revived as the living dead three days later. But can it happen in real life?

The answer turns out to be yes. Between Embryonic Stem Cell research, cell cloning, and nano-technology medical researchers are finding new ways to replace dead cells and organs with new ones that are made the persons own cells and therefore don’t need to have intensive anti-rejection drug therapy.

But what about the brain? What good is having a perfect body and nothing upstairs, so to speak? Outside of being a Republican spokeswoman.

Alzheimer’s researchers have found out that like most things in science the death of brain cells is far more interesting than we originally thought. It turns out brain cells don’t just go from being live cells to dead cells, when they first “die” they merely turn themselves off and go dormant. When they go dormant they stop receiving “nerve growth factor” or NGF and act dead. When given NGF these “dead” brain cells come back to life. Using nano-technology it should be possible to administer NGF directly into the dead brain cells and revive them.

With the ability to replace organs throughout the body and revive the brain it should soon be possible to revive a person who has been dead for awhile, under the right circumstances. So the classic horror tale that we celebrate at this time of year of someone dieing and coming back to life three days later could become a reality.

As we push back against finality of death, it will lead to a fantastic future.