Quickies

Skepchick Quickies 6.5

Amanda

Amanda works in healthcare, is a loudmouthed feminist, and proud supporter of the Oxford comma.

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19 Comments

  1. Not “Champie” again. Jeez. :-D

    You have to love the “scientific” term “cryptozoology,” though.

  2. Yay! Thanks very much Skepchicks, the Merseyside Skeptics Society appreciates the shout-out!

  3. Hey… never posted before, but I love this blog!

    I just wanted to point out that the boy was chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader. The next Dalai Lama won’t be chosen until after the current Dalai Lama dies.

    Still feel bad for him though…

  4. Not sure what it is either, but “a swimming mammal of some kind” seems likely. It’s hardly a monster though. If you want to see a real monster come down to the Potomac River sometime! We’ve got snakehead fish! According to the Sci-Fi channel movie “Snakehead Terror“, snakeheads can punch a hole through the bottom of a speed boat! Also, they growl before they eat you… sigh.

    I also have to say that I feel bad for the guy who played Babylon 5’s Captain John Sheridan. He must really be slumming these days if he’s starring in Sci-Fi original movies.

  5. The wild kitties are so cute!!! :)

    And I always thought our prudish attitude towards sex was messing up our kids.

  6. When I first started the video, my first thought was “Otter.” An earlier SGU mentioned that lake monsters are most frequently cited in lakes that have otters in them.

    Also note that the video is right at sunset, so the length of the animal may be exaggerated by its shadow.

  7. Dammit. Sighted, not cited. Although it would be awesome if lake monsters were frequently cited.

  8. The lake monster looks like an elk or a caribou swimming – the short face and really small ears (unlike a deer or moose). Though, I guess there aren’t any caribou around Lake Champlain, so maybe elk? Are there elk there?

  9. Also, that article about the man experiencing menopause really squicked me out. I think he means well – hey, when they have these hormonal swings they really do suck, they’re not just whining! – but on balance, I just kinda felt like, oh great, another article about women and their craaaaaazzy hormones that make them crrraaaazy! And gluttonous fatsos! This was like an homage to the fucked up horror of being a woman, so hey, go easy on them guys.

    I mean, I have yet to hear a man actually doubt the reality of the hormonal symptoms (at least, no man who has actually lived with pregnant or PMSing woman). The problem has always been convincing them that, while yes, most women do experience these extreme hormonal swings at some point, whether nearly every month with PMS, or at some point during pregnancy or menopause, we’re not like that the rest of the time . Whenever I express a thought a man doesn’t like and he rolls his eyes and says “Rrraarr, PMS”, it’s not because he thinks I’m lying about having PMS (I actually don’t experience it – yay for the Pill!), it’s because he thinks I’m obviously too chock-full of disgusting female irrationality and overblown emotion to be capable of a valid thought (yes, I’m bitter, my dad and step-dad are big fans of explaining that their opinions are true because they’re based on logic, and mine are untrue because they’re based on emotion. The definition of emotion being, of course, “woman thought” and definition of logic being “man thought”.)

  10. @SaraDee: After being married for 30 years and raising two daughters, I’m certain about the hormonal swings. I also understand the timing and that much of the time, that’s not a problem.

    I hate the “women’s thought” crap. One thing most people need to learn to do is listen. Most people can hear, but fewer can listen. Listening is hard work – so hard that I took a three credit course in college on how to do it effectively.

    And by the way, as a man hitting midlife, I can assure you that I’m getting a close, personal look at hormonal shifts and personality/mood swings. If I didn’t sympathize before, I certainly do now…

  11. @SaraDee: Looking at the range maps on wikipedia its almost more likely to have Caribous in the Lake Camplain area, Northern New York / Western Vermont / Southern Quebec. Thought the lake isn’t in their range either, just much more close.

  12. @marilove: Yeah, I meant I feel sorry for the boy. After all, I’m not positive of this, but I bet all of the reincarnated souls he hung out with were men… That must have really sucked.

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