I can do the Vulcan sign with both hands WHILE curling the edges of my tongue when sticking it out...
Oh yeah, well I can do the Vulcan sign with both hands while curling my tongue, while crossing my eyes, while walking and chewing bubble gum all at the same time.
Star Wars is stratospheric, Star Trek is intergalactic.
A perfect distinction! Thanks Bill... I guess I never had to think about it as I was an original Trekkie and never got excited about the Star Wars Triology (or whatever it is now).
Shoshannah in my first posting as a 'star traveler' (well, okay, journeyman...but star traveler sounds much more exciting & romantic since I'm going where I've never gone before and meeting many more new life forms than I ever thought existed...)
suzanne pomeranz, tourism consultant
jerusalem, israel - suztours@gmail.com
Now, Bill, THAT's funny - you understand the distinction without knowing what it's all about! You are right on one level - but in this case, the Star Wars mentioned is a movie - well, a 'triology' about a battle between good & evil, as it were - the first one (which was not actually the first one in the triology as I understand it) starred Harrison Ford... but the truth is, I never saw any of them! So, I'm sure someone out there can fill you in on this, better than I can!
What I do find interesting is how these words (from movies like Star Wars and TV shows like Star Trek) creep into our daily vocabulary as if they are real words or we are talking about real people and real events - such as that Vulcan hand gesture (well, it was a real hand gesture, as I mentioned in a previous posting... but it was NOT, as far as we know, first done by Vulcans).
How many of us may talk about the characteristics of a Vulcan or (over here with the weekly showing of the program Star Gate - is it on anywhere else in the world?) discuss the effects of going through the gate or the how it must feel to have another being living in your stomach?!
Is there a thread already started for this type of discussion - that is, how words from science fiction, primarily TV or movies, have become part of our daily vocabulary?
Shoshannah
suzanne pomeranz, tourism consultant
jerusalem, israel - suztours@gmail.com
I saw and enjoyed the Star Wars movies. But for a long time now, "Star Wars" was contemptuous name for the antimissile program Pres. Reagan started, and it has been said Pres. Busch might revive.
Sparteye wrote : another being living in your stomach?!" -- pregnant? [glad-I'm-not-going-there-again emoticon] Me too, Sparteye. Oh, the kicking and the heartburn! Would not change a thing tho, two handsome sons and enough fodder to lay guilt for a lifetime when I want something! Chuckle chuckle, wow
Okay - if you're slinking, so am I 'cause I can do the Vulcan sign with both hands WHILE curling the edges of my tongue
That is so easy! (to anyone yet to try this) I've heard that curling your tongue is genetic, so if you can't do that it's hopeless. It also seems that some people can't do the vulcan sign. I have no explanation to that.
While I can curl my tongue, I was miffed as a child to discover that I do not have the (apparently) genetic ability to wiggle my earlobes. I also envied a friend who could wrap his thumb around the back of his little finger, and was the only person I have ever met who could twiddle both thumbs simultaneously in opposite directions (clockwise and anticlockwise). The hours I spent trying to do that!
Dear Max: Wiggle your earlobes? I've known some muscleheads, but none with muscles attached to their ear lobes! I have seen pictures of some really pesky flies in your part of the world, but I doubt they could be driven away with the most vigorous ear movements of any human I have ever seen.I know a couple ancient corny jokes about ear movements, but they are neither clever enough or chaste enough to include in this post.You must be content with your already generous endowment with talent.
Do Vulcan ears have such an ability? I'm trying to picture Leonard(?) Nimoy flapping his Star Trek ears.
(1) Are you suggesting that this person could stretch his thumb *backwards* (across the back of his hand) to hook it on his pinky? egads....
(2) (and i'm honestly not trying to be obtuse, here) What exactly is twiddling? Isn't it when you lace your fingers together then twirl your thumbs? The natural pattern would be to twirl them in the same direction, one on top of the other, but it's not difficult to reverse one, provided you open your hands a bit to allow sufficient space between their rotating tips so as not to bump into one another. Am I doing it incorrectly? Even when i curl my tongue while twiddling one clockwise and the other counter-clockwise in this manner, i can't see where the problem might lie...
I'd appreciate your input, before my thumbs develop acute tendonitis
Yes, my friend could, and often did, stretch his thumb *backwards* (across the back of his hand) to hook it on his pinky? He would also demonstrate his ability to bend all his fingers backwards to touch the back of his wrist. Congratulations on the asynchronous twiddling. I keep asking people to try, and no one has demonstrated the gift, you are blessed. Perhaps you could upload an mpeg of a command performance for us?
Be careful what you wish for, my dear... i have a great deal of time on my hands and a new digital camera i'm experimenting with. of course, i haven't bothered to get a manicure for weeks, so the mpeg won't be coming in the immediate future....
seriously... i'll admit that it's not as natural as having both thumbs moving in the same direction, but the trick is simply to concentrate on the one that's moving counterclockwise; the other one will naturally move clockwise, if you just ignore it. (or is this indicative of some major brain dysfunction on my part??? [introspective glance, followed by a cavalier shrug])
>twiddle both thumbs simultaneously in opposite directions (clockwise and anticlockwise)
not to pick nits (well, of course, that's exactly what I'm picking ;), but when twiddling one's thumbs, aren't they naturally going "simultaneously in opposite directions (clockwise and anticlockwise)"? (at least from the POV of each hand or thumb -- keep them spinning and point them both away from you!)
Let us now praise pediculocide shampoos. I was reading a history book not long ago, about Julian the Apostate. He described humorously his problem with lice: "I put up with the lice that scamper about in (my beard) as though it were a thicket for wild beasts." Imagine an Emperor, in elegant Constantinople, joking about being infested with lice!
No not in the least! I have done nit picking--my children had lovely fine hair-- so fine that tha fine toothed comb wasn't fine enough to remove nits-- so I sat and nit picked..
given a choice, i would much rather change a stinky diaper than nit pick-- one is over and done in a few minutes-- the other goes on for hours!
Did you know lice are facetious-- they prefer clean hair? and while Bill is happy about effective shampoo's they are serious chemical to apply to young childrens scalps..
I can't wiggle my ears, but I can twiddle my thumbs in opposite directions. AND: I can appear to twitch my nose by moving my upper lip back and forth, just like Elizabeth Montgomery used to do in Bewitched.
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(to anyone yet to try this) I've heard that curling your tongue is genetic, so if you can't do that it's hopeless. It also seems that some people can't do the vulcan sign. I have no explanation to that.
