Did you know that a baby whale is called a calf? Isn't that strange?

A baby swan is a flapper. A baby goat, of course, is a kid. A baby fish is called a fry. huh? A baby beaver is called a kitten. What?

It gets stranger. A group of alligators is officially called a congregation, which I think is funny. A group of apes is called a shrewdness. Really? A group of bears is called a sloth? Who gets to make this up? A group of camels is called a flock?? Isn't a flock a group of birds? How the fuck does that work?

WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE???

A group of cheetahs is called a coalition, which sounds very political to me. But a group of crows is called a murder. How cool is that? How did they get that name? You'd think that would be a group of...um...things that kill. LIke humans. But no.

I'm not sure why this interests me, and I may be the only one here. But did you know that male dinosaurs are called "bulls" and females are "cows". A cow is also the official name for a female elephant, a hippo and a dolphin. That just seems wrong to me.



Anyway. In other news George Carlin died last week as everybody knows. Carlin was a real hero of mine because he was fearless. He broke down barriers of thought in my own mind and constantly, constantly made me question all my assumptions, be they about religion, capitalism, democracy, "dirty words", "morals" or anything else. He was someone who saw the inherent bullshit in pretending that a certain group of people know what's best for us and that these people deserve our obedience. "To live outside the law you must be honest, " Bob Dylan once said. George Carlin was a little more direct- "All authority is bullshit". And he lived it. Do yourself a favor and spend some time today looking up Carlin clips on You Tube. You'll thank me later.

You know what Carlin's death made me appreciate, though? Manko. Yes, Manko. Losing one original only makes me appreciate the others I know all the more. Manko is one of those blessed few people I know...

Did you know that a baby whale is called a calf? Isn't that strange?

A baby swan is a flapper. A baby goat, of course, is a kid. A baby fish is called a fry. huh? A baby beaver is called a kitten. What?

It gets stranger. A group of alligators is officially called a congregation, which I think is funny. A group of apes is called a shrewdness. Really? A group of bears is called a sloth? Who gets to make this up? A group of camels is called a flock?? Isn't a flock a group of birds? How the fuck does that work?

WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE???

A group of cheetahs is called a coalition, which sounds very political to me. But a group of crows is called a murder. How cool is that? How did they get that name? You'd think that would be a group of...um...things that kill. LIke humans. But no.

I'm not sure why this interests me, and I may be the only one here. But did you know that male dinosaurs are called "bulls" and females are "cows". A cow is also the official name for a female elephant, a hippo and a dolphin. That just seems wrong to me.



Anyway. In other news George Carlin died last week as everybody knows. Carlin was a real hero of mine because he was fearless. He broke down barriers of thought in my own mind and constantly, constantly made me question all my assumptions, be they about religion, capitalism, democracy, "dirty words", "morals" or anything else. He was someone who saw the inherent bullshit in pretending that a certain group of people know what's best for us and that these people deserve our obedience. "To live outside the law you must be honest, " Bob Dylan once said. George Carlin was a little more direct- "All authority is bullshit". And he lived it. Do yourself a favor and spend some time today looking up Carlin clips on You Tube. You'll thank me later.

You know what Carlin's death made me appreciate, though? Manko. Yes, Manko. Losing one original only makes me appreciate the others I know all the more. Manko is one of those blessed few people I know who dares to think for herself and refuse to accept anyone else's notions of morality and propriety as her own. I mean, that can be said to a greater or lesser degree about most people on this site. But Manko really walks the walk. Every day someone else like that comes along is a day we inch closer to our real potential.

So that's my little Manko appreciation of the day.


"The very existence of the flamethrower means that at some time someone said "There are some people over there that I would really like to set on fire, but I'm much to far away to get the job done. If only I had a device that would let me throw flame on them." -George Carlin