posted
I have met one non-OSC-family Jatraquero, and that was Brock. I did see CalvinMaker at the last OSC signing in Alexandria, but avoided saying hello.
I considered meeting up with some of the DC Jatraqueros when Tom came down-- but honestly, the idea of meeting you people squicks me out.
If OSC ever does come back to VA, I would not object to meeting people there at the signing. But to organize a meeting centered around being a Jatraquero. . . I don't know. It just isn't my style.
Plus, I'm hideous in person. Absolutely, positively atrocious. And bland. I make toast seem like a three week whirlwind tour through the Mid-east.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote: I make toast seem like a three week whirlwind tour through the Mid-east. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott, if that was your idea of a fun filled trip, you ARE bland...
Why does the idea of a meet seem so weird? As long as it is in public, and in a safe location, I'd say go for it. I had a lot of fun at the WMASS Picnic, and that was in a monsoon...
I wouldn't go over someones house, or to a party, just for safteys sake, but a large gathering is as safe as it gets, really.
posted
Ic: the groomsmaid is another issue. She gets to pick if she wants to have her dress made locally, or have Val do it here and ship it to Florida for alterations.
Karl: April 2, 2005; my mother.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
I didn't see a mention of photographer. Was mack doing that? (Honestly can't recall.) Also, are you going to video the wedding? If we're unable to make it (we're trying to figure out a way that we can), we'd at least hope for (read: expect) pictures or a movie....
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Me, too. When you remember it, it will be perfect. If you could look at the video, you'll see all the stammering and tiny mishaps that don't really matter.
posted
I think you should hire someone to make a documentary. Then we could be in it, as the denizens of the place that you met.
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Also, I was going to not mention the chocolate fountain again in hopes that people would forget about it and then not come to the wedding and there'd be more for me!!!
posted
I had a groomsmaid. Nobody escorted or ushered her; she can walk just fine on her own. She did walk in next to a bridesmaid, but there was no implication of dominance or protection or whatever.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote: CT, I have no idea what a Hokie is other than a Virginia Tech fan either <Grin> (And I know there are a few Va Tech fans on this board that will probably yell at me for that)
You would talk about Hokies while I'm in class.
But yeah, the VT page that Dagonee linked to is pretty accurate. This one, however contains a bit more information, particularly about how Virginia Tech became associated with a turkey (hint: it happened after 'hokie' was coined).
quote: Unless of course you meant the Hokey Pokey.
In many parts of Virginia, the preferred spelling is the 'Hokie Pokie.' And there's also the 'Hokie Pokey' where many of the athletes wind up after the local police gets a hold of them...
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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For most birds, copulation involves a 'cloacal kiss', with the male on the female's back & twisting his tail under the female's.
Copulation typically lasts just a few seconds, e.g., Brown-headed Cowbirds (but, there are exceptions, like the Red-billed Buffalo Weaver;
Males in a few species, including most waterfowl & ostriches (see diagram below), have an intromittent organ; most males do not fertilization of the egg usually occurs in the infundibulum --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phony phallus puts sperm ahead in bird orgasm first -- "These birds would be at it for 10-20 minutes," says Tim Birkhead of the red-billed buffalo weaver and its remarkable false phallus. A male uses his organ to rub females up the right way and improve his sperm's chance of success. Few birds are blessed with a phallus; most couples achieve fertilization via a cloacal kiss. So 19th-century reports of a mock member in the buffalo weaver sent Winterbotton et al. (2001) to Namibia. Catching the birds in the act was tough, recounts Birkhead: "In three years we saw eight matings." Living communally in a large stick nest, a frisky pair would occasionally emerge and fly to a nearby tree. "I'd run after them, sweating profusely with my binoculars steaming up," he says. The amorous pair would start bouncing up and down - over numerous consecutive bouts. Compared to the 1-2 second tryst most birds manage, their staying power is unique. Yet, entry of the elusive organ was hard to make out. Even in captivity "they performed beautifully," but the view was blocked, says Birkhead. So they glued a piece of cardboard to an unlucky bird's member. This did not prevent mating, suggesting that the buffalo weaver organ is actually a weapon in sperm wars. By choosing a male who rubs longest or best, females may be selecting top-quality sperm. Paternity testing revealed that female buffalo weavers sire birds from multiple males, suggesting that sperm competition is hot. Time spent courting must be shown to predict sperm transfer or success to really back up the idea. The 1.5-cm appendage lacks blood vessels and has a twisted furrow down its length. Males in communal nests have longer ones than those that live alone, showing that size is a factor in social success. But for males at least, the phallus is for more than foreplay. At the critical moment, the males enter an orgasmic state: "It shuddered and it's eyes glazed over," reports Birkhead. To confirm their observation, the team went to the lengths of manually stimulating the organ. "It's a mystery," Birkhead says - but a unique and stimulating first for birds. -- Helen Pearson, Nature Science Update Additional photos: link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00265/contents/01/00384/supp/
posted
After Turkey castration was clearly not the direction to go, I googled "Avian Castration". And they were able to castrate quail and finches somehow but none of the studies that I can find actually explain how they did it. They use the word "gonadectomized" It looks from the anatomical pictures like it would be difficult, because the testes are up near their kidneys somewhere.
You know I've never actually cleaned a bird (chicken or turkey) myself, only bought them at the supermarket. It would probably be educational to figure it out. I had a friend who would hunt a deer a year for the vennison and I wanted to go with him, or come along after it was well and dead, and not still twitching, just so I could see them gut and clean it. I know its a messy process but the U.S. has become so sterilized about this sort of thing.
(Yeah I know it's probably brought foodborne illnesses way down, but we don't have any Michael Angelos and Davincis any more with their intimate understanding of musculature, because artists can't dissect corpses either on a regular basis)
Posts: 11265 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
It would make sense too, that they would castrate turkeys comercially if it was feasible if it had the same effect on the birds as it does on the steers as far as plumping them up for market goes. But it appears to be way too difficult a procedure. On the other hand zebra finches are tiny so if they could castrate something that small a turkey would be easier.
(though how young would a turkey have to be for the ideal castration age? they do steers pretty young, so they don't become unruly)
posted
*suppresses a laugh* (I'm supposed to be working. And part of me feels like I should. I was just picturing the birds and the bees talk with my niece - her mother would never forgive me.)
posted
I could also see making the inherent difficulties of turkey castration into an absolutely hilarious article for your student newspaper, the day before a football game.
Oh yeah, do you guys honor Ben Franklin somehow too? He wanted the turkey to be the national bird instead of the bald iggle.
posted
The quoted portion of your bird sex link has to be the most naughtiest thing ever seen on this forum.
quote: By choosing a male who rubs longest or best, females may be selecting top-quality sperm. Paternity testing revealed that female buffalo weavers sire birds from multiple males, suggesting that sperm competition is hot.
edit: Try using that in the birds and the bees explanation.
posted
An article like that would be great right around the UVA game, which is (almost) always the weekend after Thanksgiving.
As far as I know, no one really does anything for Franklin, other than reference him when someone says the mascot sucks.
I will say, the absolute best piece of VT lore I've ever heard is that after the school's official name was shortened to Virginia Tech, the school paper ran a contest asking for alternate suggestions. The winning entry was the Eastern Institute of Enlightenment and Intellectual Outgrowth, aka EIEIO.
Hokies are good at laughing at themselves.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
lol, in college I had friends who would write stuff like that for the student paper. The one I remember most vividly, that was relevant to our campus was the suggestion that the National Merit Scholar dropout rate was due to the fact that there was a government conspiracy to turn them into squirrels since it correlated with the huge squirrel population explosion on campus. (and thd squirrels were aggressive mean and vicious, not unlike your dropout national scholar)
(and yes she knew correlation was not causation)
One of Steve ex-gfs wrote some pretty funny columns too, but that directly led to his paranoia of being mentioned in print. (He hit the roof once when he found out I'd mentioned him on hatrack.) But he's finally realized he can retain his anonymity. His name is Steve Jones, possibly one of the more anyonymous names besides John Smith!
We had a resolution condemning animal rights activists who only cared about cute animals. It was from the Junior Adolescent Chicken, Kelp, and Seaweed Society.
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