Ask a Question, Get Deep!

[Deepfreeze32]

It's...a thing. I think if you think it helps you, great. If not, no big deal. I must admit as someone who wasn't raised Catholic (Or Lutheran, or Anglican, or Orthodox, or Methodist), Lent is a bit of a strange concept to me. I partook in it once, for the fun of it, and it was...ok? I guess maybe it would be better if I were actually participating in mass or something to kind of drive it home.

[RedPlums]

Ever heard of Bad Lip Readings?

[Deepfreeze32]

Yeah, they're...ok. Not really my favorite kind of humor.

[RedPlums]

Ever heard of Honest Trailers?

[Deepfreeze32]

I've seen a few of those. They're ok. I'm not super duper into them, but they're ok.

[RedPlums]

24 hour News programs?

[Deepfreeze32]

Ewwwww. 24-hour news is what has lead to the mess that is Fox News, and most other networks trying to maintain that kind of viewership by doing ridiculous stuff. Not everything is newsworthy, and we don't have to be reading the news all the time. For goodness' sake, alarmist news is one of the most annoying things about the modern world.

[RedPlums]

Winter or Summer Olympics?

[Deepfreeze32]

I'd say I generally prefer summer, but I do think there's a lot of cool (pun not intended) stuff at the winter Olympics as well.

[RedPlums]

The most ridiculous Summer Olympic game that you've seen?

[Deepfreeze32]

So I didn't actually see this, but I think it's worth mentioning: The men's marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics

Allow me to steal from Wikipedia:

The first to arrive at the finish line was American runner Fred Lorz, who had actually dropped out of the race after nine miles and hitched a ride back to the stadium in a car, waving at spectators and runners alike during the ride. When the car broke down at the 19th mile, Lorz re-entered the race and jogged across the finish line. Hailed as the winner, he had his photograph taken with Alice Roosevelt, daughter of then-U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, and was about to be awarded the gold medal when his subterfuge was revealed. Lorz immediately admitted what he had done and said he had only been joking; the AAU responded by banning him from competition for life (although they reconsidered and lifted the ban a year later).

British-born Thomas Hicks of the United States ended up the winner of the event, although he was aided by measures that would not have been permitted in later years. Ten miles from the finish Hicks led the race by a mile and a half, but he had to be restrained from stopping and lying down by his trainers. From then until the end of the race, Hicks received several doses of strychnine sulfate (a common rat poison, which stimulates the nervous system in small doses) mixed with brandy. He continued to battle onwards, hallucinating, barely able to walk for most of the course. When he reached the stadium his support team carried him over the line, holding him in the air while he shuffled his feet as if still running. The judges decided this was acceptable, and gave him the gold medal. He never ran professionally again. Hicks had to be carried off the track, and might have died in the stadium had he not been treated by several doctors.

Another near-fatality during the event was William Garcia of San Francisco. He was found lying in the road along the marathon course with severe internal injuries caused by breathing the clouds of dust kicked up by the race officials' cars.

A Cuban postman named Andarín Carvajal joined the marathon, arriving at the last minute. After losing all of his money in New Orleans, Louisiana, he hitchhiked to St. Louis and had to run the event in street clothes that he cut around the legs to make them look like shorts. Not having eaten in 40 hours, he stopped off in an orchard en route to have a snack on some apples, which turned out to be rotten. The rotten apples caused him to have strong stomach cramps. Despite falling ill from the apples he finished in fourth place.

The marathon included the first two black Africans to compete in the Olympics: two Tswana tribesmen named Len Tau (real name: Len Taunyane) and Yamasani (real name: Jan Mashiani). They were not in St. Louis to compete in the Olympics, however; they were actually part of the sideshow. They had been brought over by the exposition as part of the Boer War exhibit (both were really students from Orange Free State in South Africa, but this fact was not made known to the public). Len Tau finished ninth and Yamasani came in twelfth. This was a disappointment, as many observers were sure Len Tau could have done better if he had not been chased nearly a mile off course by aggressive dogs.

Arriving without correct documents, Frenchman Albert Corey was not included as part of the French team. He is inconsistently listed as performing in a mixed team in the four mile team race and performing for the US in the marathon

Just...just take a moment and let all this sink in. This all happened in ONE RACE.

[MrFixit]

When people say that 6 was afraid of 7 because 7 ate 9, how was 6 able to feel afraid? And how did 7 even manage to eat 9? What are your theories?

[Chozon1]

The merits of Chug-A-Mug, and how it should be applied to daily life?



If the school system adopted this approach for testing...

[Deepfreeze32]

When people say that 6 was afraid of 7 because 7 ate 9, how was 6 able to feel afraid? And how did 7 even manage to eat 9? What are your theories?

That...hmm. I'm not much of a mathematician, but I imagine it would be something related to functions or derivatives. Could even be partial differential equations.

Sorry, I keep trying to make a good joke here, but my brain is not cooperating today. XD

The merits of Chug-A-Mug, and how it should be applied to daily life?



If the school system adopted this approach for testing...

lol, that is such a cruel quiz method. I mean, I can't deny that the incentive is there, but I could see things going very wrong with the contents of the "wrong mug." Just...ergh. I don't like consuming mystery substances. XD

[RedPlums]

That is just... really... astonishing. All of that going on in one race, how ridiculous.

If you could compete in any Olympic game, what would it be?