vaporous entities and musings (in other words - BS)

[Dave (imported)]

I think something very strange happened to the USA overnight.

I turned on the TV and they were discussing the OJ Simpson Trial of 20 years ago.

Have I finally gone nuts or did something happen and the clocks moved backward?

[C&TL2745 (imported)]

....

they were discussing the OJ Simpson Trial of 20 years ago. Have I finally gone nuts or did something happen and the clocks moved backward?

As I understand it, somebody found a knife in a house Simpson used to live in, and there's speculation that it is the murder weapon. It's academic at this point, however. Simpson can't be tried again, even if overwhelming evidence is found.

Sandi

[Dave (imported)]

As I understand it, somebody found a knife in a house Simpson used to live in, and there's speculation that it is the murder weapon. It's academic at this point, however. Simpson can't be tried again, even if overwhelming evidence is found.

Sandi

Tonight, the LA TIMES reports that it isn't true. I must admit that it would be stunning if it was but how could anyone trust the evidence? It's been 22 years and the knife could have been anywhere in that time. Not that I'm playing defense attorney. The Law against Double Jeopardy has attached and OJ Simpson could not be put on trial again.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... story.html

On Friday, police breathed new life into the 1994 case of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman when the LAPD announced that a retired officer recently gave them a knife that he said was buried on the Simpson property.

The knife was reportedly found by a demolition crew worker who helped raze Simpson's Brentwood mansion, authorities said.

On Friday, Weber said he was having none of this knife talk.

“I think it’s a joke. I think it’s just filler … no one on my crew found anything” said Weber, 70. “I had instructed my people, ‘If you find anything, don’t keep it. Tell me, we’ll take the appropriate action.’”

Weber’s crew was at the site for six weeks tearing down the home and reworking the ground, but jobs were being done at the property for at least two years as a new home was built, he said.

“Hundreds and hundreds of people were there after me,” he said.

[Dave (imported)]

Live Science is reporting that Howler Monkeys with larger hyoid bones (that's what makes the voice deeper and louder) have smaller testicles.

http://www.livescience.com/52560-monkey ... estes.html

It's tough out there in the wild, especially for male howler monkeys. A new study suggests that these primates have to make a (evolutionary) choice: deep calls or small balls?

The smaller the size of the testes in a howler monkey species, the larger the size of the animal's hyoid bone, a structure that enables the monkeys to make deep, booming calls — noises on a par with those of a tiger, though howler monkeys are only about the size of cocker spaniels.

The relative sizes of the hyoid bones and testes appear to be related to how the animal lives and reproduces, according to a new study, published today (Oct. 22) in the journal Current Biology. Howler monkey males that live in groups with more than one male invest in larger testes, whereas those that live only with females invest in a booming, attractive voice. [See Mug-Shot Photos of Howler and Other Monkeys]

Booming Calls

Curiosity about the howler monkey's booming calls dates back to at least Charles Darwin, who suggested that the males' cries are used to attract females, which choose mates based on the depth and resonance of these calls. (Females make calls, too, so howler monkey cries are not exclusive to mating rituals.) [Video: See a Howler Monkey Hoot]

Key to these calls is the hyoid bone, a structure that looks like a horseshoe in humans but is larger and more cuplike in howler monkeys. The bone creates a sort of resonance chamber that makes howler monkey hoots and hollers really ring out.

A 3D laser scan of a monkey's hyoid bone.

University of Utah anthropologist Leslie Knapp and her colleagues found that, in howler monkeys, male hyoid bones are up to five times larger than female hyoids, suggesting that Darwin was right in proposing a reproductive role for the monkeys' calls. Next, the researchers measured the size of hyoid bones across 10 species of these monkeys, which live in Mexico and Central America.

Making a trade-off

The results fit a "really exciting" pattern, Knapp told Live Science. The hyoids and testes varied widely across species: The species with the largest hyoids had bones 10 times larger than those with the smallest. And the largest testes were about seven times larger than the smallest testes.

Without exception, howler monkey species with larger testes had smaller hyoids and vice versa. And the anatomical differences showed no relation to environmental factors like food availability. Instead, they were linked to the monkeys' social structure.

Species living in a "harem" structure with one male mating with several females had larger hyoids and smaller testes. Species living with multiple males and females in a group, all mating with one another, had larger testes and smaller hyoids.

It's likely that the harem-heading howler monkeys use their deep calls to attract more females, or perhaps to scare off males that might steal their mates, Knapp said. As a result, they can get away with a lower sperm load — they compete for females before the actual mating act.

For male monkeys living with other males, though, the competition comes after copulation. A greater volume of sperm may give these monkeys a fertilization advantage in a female monkey that has mated with multiple males.

It's probably impossible for howler monkeys to evolve both a large hyoid and large testes, Knapp said.

"If they could, they would," she said. "I think, because they don't, it suggests that you can have one or the other, but you can't have both."

To really nail down the notion that monkeys make this reproductive trade-off, the researchers will have to look within species to see if large hyoids or large testes confer real advantages for males.

"We kind of have answered a question that Charles Darwin pondered in the 1800s, so that is exciting for us," Knapp said. "It also opens the doors to more questions, like what is going on within species? Is there evidence that males with the very largest hyoids are the ones having the most kids?"

The study also raises questions about what humans might have in common with their distant monkey cousins. In people, men with deeper voices are considered more attractive by women than men with higher-pitched voices, studies have found, but men with deeper voices don't have better-quality semen.

[C&TL2745 (imported)]

Live Science is reporting that Howler Monkeys with larger hyoid bones (that's what makes the voice deeper and louder) have smaller testicles. ....

I wonder whether the same relationship exists with loud-mouthed politicians. I understand that during a recent debate more was said about penis size than about substantive issues, but the subject of testicle size wasn't addressed.

Sandi

[Paolo]

Let's not go there, Folks.

[Dave (imported)]

I wonder whether the same relationship exists with loud-mouthed politicians. I understand that during a recent debate more was said about penis size than about substantive issues, but the subject of testicle size wasn't addressed.

Sandi

The absolute last job I would ever take ...

(and let me say that I once mucked out a stable (horses and cows eat and take dumps, all day...), another time I was offered a job analyzing levels of coliform bacteria in a water treatment plant (wouldn't do that), and one time took a day labor job (blisters), and pin boy at a bowling alley with 40 AMF machines, and at one point was asked to take a job with lots of travel to hazardous waste dumps to witness the disposal of the waste (It paid well but I would have been legally responsible for mishandled hazardous waste, so no, not my idea of a job)... end of reminiscences)

... would be measuring testicle size and volume of ejaculate in howler monkeys.

Personally, I consider that the outer ring of Hell ala Dante's Inferno.

[Paolo]

Wanted: Monkey Jerker, full time, with benefits.

(Shivers)

[Dave (imported)]

The Sunday Symphony.

Last Sunday the Pittsburgh Symphony played an All Sibelius concert with conductor Osmo Vanska (He's Swedish and consider the foremost authority on interpretations of Sibelius' work) and violinist James Ehnes (Canadian).

The pieces were:

FINLAND, The Symphony No. 2 and the Violin Concerto with an encore of the Valse Triste

**Finlandia is Finland's magnificent declaration of independence from Russia. When and if you listen to it (it's not long) the low and rather somber tones of the opening represent Russia. The second theme, the happy theme, is Finland.

Sibelius uncouples the common practice of the cellos playing with the basses (fiddles) and pairs the Cellos with the Timpani. Sibelius also decouples the Tuba from the Trombones (the other low horn) and scores the Tuba as supporting the Bass fiddles. The very beautiful Finlandia Hymn (third theme) heard in this piece is Sibelius' music. It is so popular that it has been rescored and has words and is used in Churches.

**The Second Symphony is an stunning piece of orchestral excitement. Vanska achieved crescendos and decrescendos from near piano to triple forte in the space of notes. And the Pittsburgh Symphony follow this lead. Parts of the slow movement are solidly in the grand romantic tradition of the late 18th century. The first and third movements are in 20th century modern music period.

Listen for the characteristic and very signature Sibelius long note followed by short note and motifs or gestures (not complete melodies or themes).

**The Violin Concerto is all technical fireworks for the violin and has not only great power but breathtaking beauty and emotion hidden in it.

**Valse Triste is a very sad and tender encore. It was the lovely and moving end to a powerful concert.

This music was written mostly around 1900.

[Dave (imported)]

I'm not sure that I even have words for this aside from NSFW...

There will be a new animate movie this summer titled: SAUSAGE PARTY...

It's about food in the supermarket and how joyful it is to be picked for the great flag-waving cookout day in summer when food will be blessed by the "creators" and "gods" And taken to eternal bliss and happiness beyond measure...

(hey, I didn't make that up, they did)

first, I think most Seth Rogen movies are trashy ignorant affairs with childish puerile laughs,

Second "R" rated food? Now that's just rotten (Johnny Rotten, kicked, not stirred),

third, warped and amazingly NSFW (danger, Will Smith, Danger), and truly NSFW.

Fourth... deeply philosophical -- this is Shakespearean and makes Veggie Tales and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs look like drivel... wink, wink:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

c7fP9q_LyDc

Did I say NSFW?