The many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XIX

[_random_]

Drink Anchor Steam beer. The non-teenagers were drinking it at my Ars Magica game last night. They seemed to be enjoying it.

 

[Cutlass]

Mixed drinks mostly fall into two categories. 1 is mixed weak enough so that you don't much taste the actual alcohol. Now you can have a lot of these and then be very suddenly drunk off your ass without ever seeing it coming. Or they can be mixed harder, and you taste the booze enough to encourage some caution. But if you are not used to booze, that can taste really harsh.

The advantage of beer for managing your actual booze intake is that you have to drink a really lot of beer in a short time to really frak yourself up. Now this is doable. But it takes dedication.

 

[Farm Boy]

You forgot the third category of drink - those that are typically mixed for women. They're designed to both be very nearly lethally strong while masking the flavor of the alcohol. Yes, everything always comes back to how to get into somebody's pants.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Mixed drinks mostly fall into two categories. 1 is mixed weak enough so that you don't much taste the actual alcohol. Now you can have a lot of these and then be very suddenly drunk off your ass without ever seeing it coming. Or they can be mixed harder, and you taste the booze enough to encourage some caution. But if you are not used to booze, that can taste really harsh.

The advantage of beer for managing your actual booze intake is that you have to drink a really lot of beer in a short time to really frak yourself up. Now this is doable. But it takes dedication.

Oh, I'm quite familiar with the delayed nature of alcohol intoxication, even without drinking such beverages. Apparently it's not a good idea to wash your bare hands with 70% ethanol.

Thankfully this was at a undergraduate lab. I can still proudly say that I've never been drunk at work ever.

 

[Farm Boy]

Psch, take up mechanics or farming instead - ether baby, ether. Talk about a dirty euphoria.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I smelled plenty of ether in my genetics lab. It's used to put fruit flies to sleep. I got slightly dizzy, but never lost any motor control like that handwashing incident did.

 

[Farm Boy]

Your error was in dosage then. Ether is nearly impossible to self-OD on. Granted, laughing gas is much the same and cleaner.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Indeed. High-proof ethanol, pretty close to the bloodstream.

Anyway, can anybody help me identify some historical/mythological items? Specifically these:

Designation: ANG-1430-G
Description: A handwritten manuscript, written in the Punjabi language in Gurmukhī script and dating from the 16th-18th centuries.
Recovery: Amritsar, India

Designation: FLAM-001
Description: Vessels of various sizes, each containing a reddish powder, largely comprised of a rare isotope of mercury.
Recovery: Various locations including the cornerstone of Temple Mount, Jerusalem, and the crypt of the Dominican church of St. Andreas, Cologne, Germany.

Designation: SHI-0259-C
Description: White jade seal, dated to third century B.C. The seal is square, with one corner chipped off and restored with gold. The words "Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may he lead a long and prosperous life" are inscribed on the seal in an archaic form of Chinese seal script.
Recovery: ███████, China.

I am told that all of them correspond to historical/mythological items in the real world.

For example,

Designation: INRH-27-32-66-D
Description: A collection of fragments of cedar, pine and cypress wood which, when re-assembled, comprise two beams, the first being approximately 3.7 meters in length and the second being approximately 2 meters in length, with the two beams having an aggregate mass of approximately 75 kg. The collection also includes iron nails. There is residue of vinegar and human blood on the nails and some of the wood fragments, with the blood matching that from CLX-1337-A.
Recovery: Various locations. Largest single fragment recovered from Gishen Mariam, Ethiopia.

is obviously Christ's cross, while

Designation: ARGO-001
Description: A sheepskin dated to the 8th century BCE, the wool intact being yellowish in color. The sheepskin indicates that the ram had anatomical irregularities in the region of the scapula.
Recovery: Colchis, Republic of Georgia

is the Golden Fleece.

 

[cardgame]

flam-001 = holy grail? :shrug:

 

[Dachs]

ANG-1430-G is the Adi Granth.

SHI-0259-C is the Chinese imperial Heirloom Seal.

I'm not totally sure what FLAM-001 is, but one of the locations, the crypt of St. Andreas Kirche, is where Albertus Magnus' body is interred. He was, among other things, an alchemist associated with the search for the philosopher's stone. FLAM might be a reference to Nicolas Flamel, who is also popularly considered to have been an alchemist. You might want to pursue that line of inquiry.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

flam-001 = holy grail? :shrug:

No, the Holy Grail was the last item mentioned:

Designation: CLX-1337-A
Description: An olive wood cup, dated to 1st century B.C. Analysis indicates trace residue of Levantine grape wine, myrrh and human blood in the cup. An Aramaic-language inscription reads "Joseph of Arimathea". The letters "GALAH" appear roughly carved near the base, with the style of lettering indicating a pre-Norman British origin.
Recovery: [DATA REDACTED]

ANG-1430-G is the Adi Granth.

SHI-0259-C is the Chinese imperial Heirloom Seal.

I'm not totally sure what FLAM-001 is, but one of the locations, the crypt of St. Andreas Kirche, is where Albertus Magnus' body is interred. He was, among other things, an alchemist associated with the search for the philosopher's stone. FLAM might be a reference to Nicolas Flamel, who is also popularly considered to have been an alchemist. You might want to pursue that line of inquiry.

Thank you very much. That last one will occupy me for a while though.

EDIT: Scratch that. I think it's the Philosopher's Stone:

According to legend, the 13th-century scientist and philosopher Albertus Magnus is said to have discovered the philosopher's stone and passed it to his pupil, Thomas Aquinas, shortly before his death circa 1280. Magnus does not confirm he discovered the stone in his writings, but he did record that he witnessed the creation of gold by "transmutation".

According to alchemical texts, the philosopher's stone came in two varieties, prepared by an almost identical method: white (for the purpose of making silver), and red (for the purpose of making gold), the white stone being a less matured version of the red stone.[20] Some ancient and medieval alchemical texts leave clues to the supposed physical appearance of the philosopher's stone, specifically the red stone. It is often said to be orange (saffron colored) or red when ground to powder.

Not sure why it would be on Temple Mount though.

Psch, take up mechanics or farming instead - ether baby, ether. Talk about a dirty euphoria.

Wait, forgot to ask. Where is ether used in those fields?

 

[Farm Boy]

Wait, forgot to ask. Where is ether used in those fields?

Cold diesel engines that are being stubborn about starting.

 

[Civciv5]

If I create a, artificial island in the middle of the ocean and I build a palace and other buildings on it,than do I have my own country?

 

[_random_]

I've heard two separate jokes about Harrison Ford having syphyllis. Is that a reference to anything in particular, or did the writers of Cracked and Family Guy both happen to find the idea amusing?

 

[cardgame]

If I create a, artificial island in the middle of the ocean and I build a palace and other buildings on it,than do I have my own country?

Only if other countries recognize you.

 

[Borachio]

If I create a, artificial island in the middle of the ocean and I build a palace and other buildings on it,than do I have my own country?

Been done, many times. With varying success.

 

[timtofly]

If I create a, artificial island in the middle of the ocean and I build a palace and other buildings on it,than do I have my own country?

Would you be the only citizen? If yes, then yes. If there were others, they would have to agree with you that it was "your country". As for being a "country", that would probably be debatable. It would be your "place", but country sounds grandiose. Having it an island, in today's world, would not make it any more defensible than a country estate would be.

 

[Traitorfish]

Only if other countries recognize you.

De jure or de facto recognition? The former is problematic because it would mean that, e.g. the Soviet Russia wasn't a country until several years after its establishment, but the latter requires further explanation. (It's not sufficient to simply say that any sort of negotiation constitutes recognition, because that would imply that e.g. the Irish Republic of 1916 existed at least until 1998, because the British government have been willing to engage with bodies which claimed to represent its provisional government.)

 

[Flying Pig]

De facto recognition is complicated, but it is the only way we can do this business - if you like, negotiation with the IRA as part of the peace process didn't constitute recognition, because the British weren't negotiating with them over matters which should be the preserve of the Irish government (only matters directly pertaining to the IRA; ie - them stopping shooting us). If they'd talked to them about trade agreements, that would have been de jure recognition of them as the government of Ireland.

 

[Disgustipated]

How do I keep my amplifier/subwoofer cool?

I would ask in the computer thread, but this is actually for the amplifier for my computer's 5.1 sound system. I like to listen to loud music when working out. But if I'm working out a long time (I'm actually drawing it out and posting in between sets), my amplifier/subwoofer tends to overheat. I can smell the burning smell right now which means it may shut itself off soon.

I tried directing the air from my air conditioning towards my amplifier, but that doesn't help much. I keep my house at 78 to 80F, so that's a bit warm I know. But I don't like freezing my male reproductive organs off.

I'm thinking of maybe moving it from under my computer desk so it can get a little more airflow. Any thoughts and advice is appreciated. As a side question, what is the optimum position to put your subwoofer for gaming and listening to music?