#82328
09/30/2002 7:02 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
September reports in the New York Post and the Toronto Star, quoting parents' Web site "reviews" of the Mattel $19.99 Nimbus 2000 plastic-replica broomstick from the latest Harry Potter movie, highlighted its battery-powered special effect: vibration. Wrote a Texas mother: "I was surprised at how long (my daughter and her friends) can just sit in her room and play with this magic broomstick." Another said her daughter fights her son for it but complains that "the batteries drain too fast." A New Jersey mother, sensing a problem, said her daughter could keep playing with it, "but with the batteries removed." Still another mother, age 32, said she enjoyed it as much as her daughter. [New York Post, 9-7-02; Toronto Star, 9-7-02]
OK. NO Hairy Putter jokes!!!!
"Hello, Mattel? I just called to say 'Thank you.'"
TEd
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#82329
09/30/2002 7:21 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Reminds me of the "Tickle-Me Elmo" craze of a few years ago. A friend's son was given one for Christmas, and when she invited myself and another girlfriend over for the evening and we discovered the toy, a brief struggle ensued....  If you can't see the bright side, polish the dull side.
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#82330
10/01/2002 9:29 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
Tickle-Me Elmo"Ha-ha-ha ha-ha-ha, it tickles!" "Ha-ha-ha Pleeeease!" [brrrrrrrrrrr-brrrrrrrrr]  Vibrating broomsticks, indeed. The designers clearly need to get out more.
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#82331
10/01/2002 9:41 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Vibrating broomsticks
Wait'll the religious right gets ahold of *this one.
Or either they set it up in the first place so they could weep and wail and gnash their teeth.
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#82332
10/01/2002 9:47 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Yeah, they'll have to drown the broomsticks with the witches, won't they? Still, religious nutters are nothing if not resourceful in their pursuit of what they perceive to be their goals ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#82333
10/01/2002 1:32 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
They'll now have to ban all broomsticks for association with witchcraft and erotica, and if anybody wants to sweep they'll just have to use hand-brooms!
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#82334
10/01/2002 3:17 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
That's gonna be a problem. Nature abhors a vacuum.
TEd
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#82335
10/01/2002 3:38 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
Sqwaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!
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#82336
10/01/2002 4:45 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
>>Nature abhors a vacuum<< Guess that makes Nature my middle name What about brooms and dustcloths?
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#82337
10/01/2002 5:41 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Do they come batteries included, Nancy? 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#82338
10/02/2002 10:54 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
Don't need no steenkin batteries, CapK! Some things should only be manually operated 
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#82339
10/03/2002 1:26 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Some things should only be manually operatedN, I cannot believe you said that!  Care to give us some examples? [leer]
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#82340
10/03/2002 8:49 AM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
I think nancyk meant man-ually operated......
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#82341
10/03/2002 11:09 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
man-ually operated......
Ohhhhhhhhhhh, yeah...! Prezackly what I thought. [chortle]
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#82342
10/04/2002 11:41 AM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
>>man-ually << Thanks, Connie. I forgot the rule about using a hyphen when the meaning would otherwise be unclear
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#82343
10/30/2002 4:29 PM
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 27
newbie
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newbie
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 27 |
A semi-relevant sidenote:
Throughout most of history, witches were traditionally portrayed as riding their brooms side-saddle and with the straw part facing forward. Possibly the turn-around resulted from people generalizing the appearance of the straw part with the exhaust of an engine? Just a guess.
And, of course, vibrations are an even more recent development. Brings new meaning to the cry "I'm melting! Melting!! What a world..."
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#82344
10/30/2002 4:43 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Come, come, come! Only really frigid witches would ride a vibrator broomstick sidesaddle.
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#82345
10/30/2002 5:33 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
michal pollen is the author of "botany of desire", a book about humans eons long interactions with plants.. he contends that plants, have evolved strategies for animals to transport and nurture their seeds. (squirrels with oaks, say)
in the book, he focused on plant qualities that humans value, and how plants meet our needs. specifically four desires, sweetness, (the apple), beauty (the tulip), nurishment (the potato) and intoxication (marijuanna).
there are plenty of other plants that could be substituted, (cane or beets say for sweetness, but apples are more universal, corn, or wheat or rice for nurishment, but he didn't want a grain).
he had a lot of documentation to support the idea that witches' were the old herbalist healers, who found themselves being put out of business by the catholic church, for several reasons.
their herbal remedies, harkened back to, and used recipes from pagan times, people were supposed to pray for healing from god, and not look to earthly cures (an idea that persisted in christianity, right up to 150 years ago, when many doctors and theologians thought it wrong to use any pain relief drugs during childbirth, since in the bible it states childbirth is part of the punishment for eve's sin)
and finally, the remedies often included drugs like opium and marijuanna, the were mind altering... again, a religious no no.
and to make matter worse, was how the drugs were taken. to get past the problem of use, (if you ingest, most of active ingrediants will 1) either make you sick, and cause you to vomit them out, or 2) will be neutralized by the liver before they have much effect.)the witches used
'broomsticks' coated with mixtures of opium and herbs (marijaunna, mushrooms and others botanicals) and took the drugs internally, by passing the digestive system all together. the flying-- was metaphoric, but i suspect they often got "high as kite"... and for a religion that frowns on satisfying sexual desires, the means of taken the drugs made them.. well punishable by death.
the aztecs and majans also used drugs, and they too took them interally, usually via an emema. (there was a facinating article, unfortunately not available on line about the mezo americans drug use in Natural History earlier this year) and the spanish were appalled by both the drug use, and the way it was administered!
but this is pretty far off base for a word forum!
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