Curations from the Human Jungle
[In April, 1968 golfer Roberto De Vincenzo, lost The Master's golf tournament when he signed an incorrect scorecard. When informed of his mistake, De Vincenzo coined the classic phrase that I have invoked many times in my life. SB SM] Today's encore selection -- from Brilliant Blunders by Mario Livio. A blunder by the world’s greatest chemist,... Continue Reading →
[Another of those items to file away for when you are fianlly selected as a contestant on Jeopardy! (Making you a Jeopardian.) SB SM] Demonyms, or the names that identify your place of origin, can be tricky. In the United States, some demonyms have an official status —those of states, for example—while others are a... Continue Reading →
[One of my favorite subscriptions is The Browser. Every few days I receive something in my Inbox that gives a brief desciption and access information for a piece of writing or a video that they recommend. I pick up a lot of my best ideas from them. Become a subscriber! You'll get a lot of... Continue Reading →
[Remember Shaggy Dog stories? You don't hear them any more. They don't work on TikTok. For those of you who never stayed awake until 3 am in a college dorm room with four other people doing absolutely nothing other than wasting each others' time, a shaggy dog story is an anecdote that goes on for... Continue Reading →
[We dedicate today's post to Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, Bill Barr, Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche, and all the others who have accepted money to defend our President. (Apologies to the hardworking, scrupulously honest Silverback barristers in The Jungle.) SB SM] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8_3jS9wd9w I am dying LAUGHING!!! HOW DO COURT RECORDERS KEEP STRAIGHT FACES???? These are from... Continue Reading →
The Outside Story Spring’s Late Riser: The Meadow Jumping Mouse By Loren Merrill Spring is often portrayed as the season of rebirth, and for many organisms it is. But spring is also the season of reawakening for those species that spend the winter in some form of hibernation or reduced metabolic activity. We have reached... Continue Reading →
[Everyone loves a story about the crazy genius who does remarkable things. "I Build the Tower" is a documentary film made by a college classmate. Initially, I thought this too fantastic and fanciful to be real. Now, it's on my bucket list. SB SM] https://vimeo.com/631488045/dc7d31ff23?&login=true#_=_ For more about the film and how to stream and... Continue Reading →
[There's an important lesson here-- if you're going to commit a crime, make it a small one. I consider this fellow Silverback-worthy. SB SM] Kaushik Patowary May 4, 2026 https://www.amusingplanet.com/2026/05/emerich-juettner-one-dollar.html In fiction as well as in real life, counterfeiters have always been portrayed as master forgers and artists who reproduced banknotes with astonishing precision. They were... Continue Reading →
[Epic Blunder Story #1: 1969. I am enrolled in the NROTC (Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program at my college). For my required eight weeks of active duty in the summer I am assigned to the USS Kitty Hawk, currently on deployment in the Gulf of Tonkin. Every day, advanced fighter jets, including the F-4... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOlO_kN0KiA The Outside Story Loren Merrill If you live near a large meadow, hayfield, or grassland, you may have recently noticed some bubbly robotic noises emanating from those areas. It might sound like an overexcited android, but the real source is a medium-sized songbird, the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). One of the few avian grassland specialists... Continue Reading →