The Voldie Oldie

"Nocturne" (Billy Joel, 1971)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"Reb Dovid Sidney, you don't appreciate schnappes. You go to my friends in the Kirkwood neighbourhood, they will tell you that a bissel schnappes sends you right to Gan Eiden."

- RBP

The Voldie Oldie

"A Matter of Trust" (Billy Joel, 1986)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"The biggest surprise of the test was that we actually got the test."

- GS, re. SG test given after more than week's delay

The Voldie Oldie

"Coal Tattoo" (The Mitchell Trio, 1967)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"Their ability to make fire from scratch by rubbing two boy scouts together was very limited."

- SG, re. the ancients

The Voldie Oldie

"I Will" (The Beatles, 1968)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"I have a PhD in releasing toilets, but I don't like practising my credentials in this area."

- RBP

The Voldie Oldie

"Another Day in Paradise" (Phil Collins, 1989)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"I'm so mad that the only Canadian team left in the playoffs is Colorado."

- DR, re. Maple Leafs still in playoffs

The Voldie Oldie

"Suzanne" (Judy Collins, 1967)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"You know the difference between the in-laws and the outlaws is that the outlaws are wanted."

- RBC

The Voldie Oldie

"We Didn't Start the Fire" (Billy Joel, 1989)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"What kind of test is it going to be?"
"An easy one, of course."

- DS, RBP

The Voldie Oldie

"Carefree Highway" (Gordon Lightfoot, 1974)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"Games, games...silly little games..."

- EM

The Voldie Oldie

"All the Things I Wasn't" (The Grapes of Wrath, 1989)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"And I will not be taking any fanciful theories or mental gyrations you may be having."

- SG, re. opening floor to questions with fanciful theorist present (theorizing specifically on subject of infinity)

The Voldie Oldie

"Penny Lane" (The Beatles, 1967)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"I don't have any money, so I don't have any money problems."

- RBC

Most insightful NHL Playoffs coverage

Here is some really well-informed commentary from our most trusted news source.

The Voldie Oldie

"Arms of Mary" (Chilliwack, 1978)

Hamover

Have you heard the news yet?

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"You need other things in your scrotum."

- EA, re. place where aldosterone made

The Voldie Oldie

"Pretty Lady" (Lighthouse, 1973)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"That's awesome! My initials are almost Y2K. Except for the 2."

- HK

The Voldie Oldie

"Anji" (Simon and Garfunkel, 1966)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"She said she's talked to people who think that the first man on the moon was a hoax. What do they think about the subsequent five?"

- MF the Elder, re. KF

New Thumb Trick Validated

Apparently Captain Salamander thought that my new thumb trick was so much of a trick that it wasn't actually real. I scoff at him:

Bonus: My delicious sfirah goatee/beard thingy.

The Voldie Oldie

"My Back Pages" (The Byrds, 1967)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"You have to practise on a banana or something."

- RBP, re. a father doing his own son's bris

Good Monday

New Thumb Trick

This is my newest trick!

Separated at Birth?

You know those side by side photos of celebrities and regular folk who look remarkably alike? Well here's one of two people who must be identical twins.

This crazy man and one of our fellow bloggers.

Separated at Birth?

You know those side by side photos of celebrities and regular folk who look remarkably alike? Well here's one of two people who must be identical twins.

One of our fellow bloggers and this random nice man.

Separated at Birth?

You know those side by side photos of celebrities and regular folk who look remarkably alike? Well here's one of two hockey players who must be identical twins.

Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks.

Separated at Birth?

You know those side by side photos of celebrities and regular folk who look remarkably alike? Well here's one of two hockey players who must be identical twins.

Olaf Kolzig of the Washington Capitals and Sean O'Donnell of the Anaheim Ducks.

Wiki Daily: Camponotus Gigas

Wiki Daily (May 9th, 2008):

Camponotus gigas:

Camponotus gigas is a large species of ant, native to Southeast Asian forests. It is one of the largest ants in existence, measuring in at 20.9 mm for normal workers, and 28.1 mm for the soldiers. Honeydew makes up 90% of their diet, but they will also consume insects and bird droppings. The ant is an intelligent forager, utilizing both efficient communication and recruitment. A handful of these ants may meet at night to engage in what has observed to be ritual battle. These fights can continue for several months. (Link).

















Caption: Two giant ants in a stunning, ritual fight (Photo M. Pfeiffer, Uni Ulm).

2008 NHL Playoff Pool: Third Round

UPDATE: The deadline to submit your third round picks is Thursday May 8, 2008 at 7:29 PM EDT

Here are the match-ups for the third round:

Eastern Conference
(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers

Western Conference
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) Dallas Stars

Second Round Standings

Here are the match-ups for the secound round:

Eastern Conference
(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers
(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (5) New York Rangers

Western Conference
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Colorado Avalanche
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (5) Dallas Stars



Here are the match-ups for the first round:

Eastern Conference
(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (8) Boston Bruins
(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (7) Ottawa Senators
(3) Washington Capitals vs. (6) Philadelphia Flyers
(4) New Jersey Devils vs. (5) New York Rangers

Western Conference
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Nashville Predators
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Calgary Flames
(3) Minnesota Wild vs. (6) Colorado Avalanche
(4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Dallas Stars

Rules:
(1) To participate in the pool, please post your 8 picks (4 East, 4 West) in the comments below. All predictions must be in before the first game of the first round - so post now! This same procedure will be repeated for the next three rounds, as the pairings are available.

(2) In addition, post your one predicted Stanley Cup winner now.

(3) For the series matchups, one point per correct prediction will be awarded. Two additional bonus points will be awarded for a correct Stanley Cup prediction.

(4) The blogger (or other person) with the most points will be awarded a prize (a jar containing three years of Gaby's collected navel lint).

(5) Of course, also feel free to post criticisms, insults, derogatory remarks, etc. regarding other bloggers' picks.

Mr. Pot and Mr. Kettle

From JewishAnswers.org:

Throughout the ages there have been many critics of the bible who have asserted many things about its authorship.There are two types of biblical criticism – lower criticism, also known as textual criticism, looks at the differences in the available manuscripts to determine what is most likely the correct text for a given passage. The other type of biblical criticism, known as higher criticism, looks at the source of the text, the environment in which the given text was constructed, cultural context, and a few other factors. In general, with the exception of the canonical approach, higher criticism usually seeks to prove that the bible could not have been written by whom, and when, it has been traditionally accepted as having been authored.

Many biblical scholars of religious origin, both Jewish and Christian, feel that the Bible, specifically the Jewish Scriptures or Tanach, have stood up to higher criticism; they have been proven to have been authored by those to whom we have asserted, and in the times that we claimed.

[snip]

Concerning the authorship of the New Testament, while Josephus certainly did live at the correct time, there is ample evidence that the New Testament was not authored by one person, but by several people. While the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are believed to have been written from Matthew’s notes (called the Q document), the style and quality of the writings are still different enough to be attributed to different writers (even though the original source notes may be the same).

"Hello, Mr. Kettle. There's a Mr. Pot for you on line two."
"Oh that's okay, I'll call him black."

Wiki Daily: Erdős–Bacon number

I'm a little too obsessed with clicking the 'random article' link in Wikipedia and I figured it's about time we upped the random-educational-could-be-fiction element of the blog.

Wiki Daily (May 8th, 2008):

Erdős–Bacon number:

An individual's Erdős–Bacon number is the sum of one's Erdős number—which measures the "collaborative distance" in authoring mathematical papers between that individual and Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős—and one's Bacon number—which represents the number of links, through roles in films, by which the individual is separated from actor Kevin Bacon. (Link).

What's your Erdős–Bacon number?

Good Wednesday

The Voldie Oldie

"Tiny Sparrow" (Peter, Paul and Mary, 1963)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"I flunked physics twice, that's why I teach English."

- JJ

Presents from the hospital

It was so nice of the hospital to send us home with a travel bottle bag among the other baby equipment. I just think that they should have given us a taller one.

Words from the wise

hat tip: Harry Maryles

Question. "Why don't Rabbanim take a firm stand on developments in frum life, such as denouncing perversions and corruptions, wrong agendas, wrongdoers?"

This is a question asked in Mishpacha Magazine by a Charedi journalist to leading Poskim in an article addressing the "burning issues" facing Charedi Jewry today.

Rabbi Shlomo Miller - a prominent Rosh Kollel in Toronto - responded that Charedi Rabbanim do indeed take stands on these issues: "Charedi rabbanim opposed the views espoused by Rabbi Natan Slifkin, and rejected him speaking in the name of Orthodoxy."

Not the Parrot Sketch

Good Monday

The Voldie Oldie

"Manic Monday" (The Bangles, 1986)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"I have to congratulate Mister Hassoun on winning the election."

- MF the Elder, re. 1999 Israeli election

Good Sunday

The Voldie Oldie

"Within You Without You" (The Beatles, 1967)

QUOTI OF THE DAY

"Sport is the lesser of all evils."

- RBP, re. students' conversations