Resurrecting Old Fossils

This little vignette by Jan Moir from the Daily Telegraph did make me laugh.

This week, like some Easter Island statue whirring into life,
Sir Trevor McDonald creaked back on to News At Ten, going head to head against
his old nemesis Huw Edwards on the BBC. "We're not in this to lose," said Sir
Trev. "We've beaten them before and we'll do it again," said Huw, as if we were
all watching a mercifully short version of Gladiator.

Sir Trevor's new screen partner is Julie Etchingham, who
looks as if she once starred in Friends, but apparently has a degree in
palaeontology. She must have; how else could she keep turning to look at an old
fossil with such rapt fascination?

Be Careful. It's a Dangerous World Out There. Always Carry Your Piece.

What if you had to give your last ever lecture?

Randy Pausch is a Computer Sciences Lecture at Carnegie Mellon University who is dying from Pancreatic Cancer. He gave a talk billed as his last ever lecture. It has become an Internet phenomenon, watched, so far, over a million times. The Telegraph link gives a summary of the news story so far. The CMU links to the recording of the lecture.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/02/wdisney102.xml

http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture/

So if you knew your time was drawing to a close, what would be in your last lecture?

vi.cis.si.tude

noun

1. a change or variation occurring in the course of something.
2. interchange or alternation, as of states or things.
3. vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions,
as of life or fortune; ups and downs.
4. regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.
5. change; mutation; mutability

Usage

He remained steadfast through the vicissitudes of life.

vi.cis.si.tude

Sailing home

Sailing home, originally uploaded by Emmr.

con·tem·po·ra·ne·ous

con·tem·po·ra·ne·ous adj.

Living or occurring during the same period of time; contemporary.

*Time* Ticking away...

*Time* Ticking away..., originally uploaded by Mike9Alive.

cred.u.lous

credulous adj.

1. Ready or inclined to believe on slight or uncertain evidence.
2. Based on or proceeding from a disposition to believe too readily.

Swans On The Test

Swans On The Test, originally uploaded by rhys400D.

a·nach·ro·nism

a·nach·ro·nism n. 1. something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
2. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one: To assign

View on the sea

View on the sea, originally uploaded by Kat....

rus.ti.cat.ed

verb

1. live in the country and lead a rustic life
2. send to the country; "He was rusticated for his bad behaviour"
3. suspend temporarily from college or university, in England [syn: send
down]
4. give (stone) a rustic look
5. lend a rustic character to; "rusticate the house in the country"

Usage

She was rusticated until she chewed straw and watched the seasons go by.

rus.ti.cat.ed

the big blue

the big blue, originally uploaded by (nz)dave.

dis·in·gen·u·ous

adjective

lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically ingenuous; insincere:

usage

What he says is consistently disingenuous.

dis·in·gen·u·ous

The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes, originally uploaded by 4StringsGood.

fe.cund

adjective

1. producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in
abundance; prolific; fruitful: fecund parents; fecund farmland.
2. very productive or creative intellectually.

From O.Fr. fecond, from L. fecundus "fruitful, fertile"

Usage

His fecund imagination has conceived of yet another excellent blog.

fe.cund

My Planet

My Planet, originally uploaded by Jeff Fennell.

deign

intransitive verb

1. To think worthy; to condescend -- followed by an infinitive.
2. To condescend to give or bestow; to stoop to furnish; to grant.

Deign comes from Old French deignier, "to regard as worthy," from Latin
dignari, from dignus, "worthy." It is related to dignity, "the quality or
state of being worthy."

Usage

President Ahmadinejad deigned to release the hostages from Iran as proof of
his generosity.

deign

love joy

love joy, originally uploaded by daveparker.

mys·ter·y

noun
1. anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown: the mysteries of nature.
2. any affair, thing, or person that presents features or qualities so obscure as to arouse curiosity or speculation: The masked guest is an absolute mystery to everyone.
3. a novel, short story, play, or film whose plot involves a crime or other event that remains puzzlingly unsettled until the very end: a mystery by Agatha Christie.
4. obscure, puzzling, or mysterious quality or character: the mystery of Mona Lisa's smile.
5. any truth that is unknowable except by divine revelation.

usage

The inner workings of a woman's brain are a complete mystery to me.

mys.ter.y