Unutterably Silly Corrupt-A-Topic (anymore off-topic and it would be on-topic)

[orlok]

How can it be that the two free-standing standard lamps I bought for the lounge yesterday from IKEA were cheaper than the light bulbs that go in them?

[Solitaire1]

Why do men wear ties? What function do they serve? I'd heard that they were intended for wiping the mouth while eating, but how would you wipe your mouth with a bowtie?

[pholy]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

Why do men wear ties? What function do they serve? I'd heard that they were intended for wiping the mouth while eating, but how would you wipe your mouth with a bowtie?

I was told by a Scots Presbyterian minister that ties and tight collars were worn to keep the wee beasties on the body from crawling up onto the face, thus distracting whomever you were try to a polite conversation with.

[crich70]

As I understand it ties evolved from the neck cloths that earlier men had worn.Cravat

From the end of the 16th century, the term band applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a ruff. The ruff, a starched, pleated white linen strip, originated earlier in the 16th century as a neckcloth (readily changeable, to minimize the soiling of a doublet), as a bib, or as a napkin. A band could be either a plain, attached shirt collar or a detachable "falling band" that draped over the doublet collar. It is possible that cravats were initially worn to hide shirts which were not immaculately clean. Alternatively, it was thought to serve as psychological protection of the neck during battle from attack by a spear.

[WT Sharpe]

Whatever the historical justification, ties and bow ties make no sense in today's world. Neither do summer suits, high heels, and pointed toe shoes. Collectively, all those monstrosities are the Western equivalent of this:

[Dylrob]

Erm, I wouldn't go that far... body mutilation like that is pretty debilitating.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

Erm, I wouldn't go that far... body mutilation like that is pretty debilitating.

Actually from what I have heard the neck isn't really stretched as much as you think with those rings. Every now and then they remove them in order to add more rings (up to a point) and suffer no ill effects. It's more that the shoulders are pushed downward than the neck is stretched (remember neck bones are pretty solid) and it just looks like the neck is stretched by it.

[Solitaire1]

It might seem great to have superpowers. However, it is likely there would be some downsides.

As an example, having X-ray vision might seem to be a wonderful thing. However, in the book "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norman Juster there's a character named Alec Bings who sees through things. The problem is that he keeps running into things like trees because although he can see the tree behind the one in front of him, he can't see the tree in front of him.

Another example is Ultra Boy (a member of The Legion Of Super-Heroes), who has the same powers as Superman with the limitation that he can only use one at a time (his actual superpower is ultra energy that he focuses in a direction, focusing on his muscles gives him super strength, and so on). One time he used superspeed in an atmosphere and he caught on fire due to air friction since he can't use invulnerability at the same time.

Finally, there's Cyclops (a member of the X-Men) who has the extremely powerful optic blasts. The problem is he can't turn them off (the only materials which block them are ruby quartz lens and his own flesh), and so there's always the potential that he could cause massive destruction.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by crich70

Actually from what I have heard the neck isn't really stretched as much as you think with those rings. Every now and then they remove them in order to add more rings (up to a point) and suffer no ill effects. It's more that the shoulders are pushed downward than the neck is stretched (remember neck bones are pretty solid) and it just looks like the neck is stretched by it.

Oh, yeah, 'cuz, that sounds MUCH saner!!! MUCH HEALTHIER!

Hitch

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Oh, yeah, 'cuz, that sounds MUCH saner!!! MUCH HEALTHIER!

Hitch

Well I don;t know how much the bones themselves (in the shoulders) are displaced either. Part of it might be almost an optical illusion based on how the rings get smaller as you go up the neck. There are other modifications that are worse I think. Look at the tribe whose men stretch the bottom lip for example. I wonder where people get some of those crazy ideas.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by crich70

Well I don;t know how much the bones themselves (in the shoulders) are displaced either. Part of it might be almost an optical illusion based on how the rings get smaller as you go up the neck. There are other modifications that are worse I think. Look at the tribe whose men stretch the bottom lip for example. I wonder where people get some of those crazy ideas.

I dunno, but as someone who has now had frozen shoulder first in ONE shoulder (torn rotator cuff-->Frozen shoulder) and then, inexplicably, almost in sequence, in the OTHER (bugger!!! Boy, that hurts...when you hear the name, you think something silly, like stiffness, but it's actually like you're being jabbed with an icepick, repeatedly....), I can only look at that and wince, in either direction. Whether the neck is somehow stretched (ye gods) or the shoulders "pushed down," both make me go OUCH.

OTOH, I did wear stilettos for years.

Hitch

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I dunno, but as someone who has now had frozen shoulder first in ONE shoulder (torn rotator cuff-->Frozen shoulder) and then, inexplicably, almost in sequence, in the OTHER (bugger!!! Boy, that hurts...when you hear the name, you think something silly, like stiffness, but it's actually like you're being jabbed with an icepick, repeatedly....), I can only look at that and wince, in either direction. Whether the neck is somehow stretched (ye gods) or the shoulders "pushed down," both make me go OUCH.

OTOH, I did wear stilettos for years.

Hitch

I can sympathize as I have been dealing with frozen shoulder myself (right one) and know it's no joke. I don't know what caused mine though exactly as I can't blame stiletto heels for my problem. Some how I pulled something and then I didn't move the joint enough and it got tight (though how one can be expected to want to move an injured joint much when it hurts is another question).

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by crich70

I can sympathize as I have been dealing with frozen shoulder myself (right one) and know it's no joke. I don't know what caused mine though exactly as I can't blame stiletto heels for my problem. Some how I pulled something and then I didn't move the joint enough and it got tight (though how one can be expected to want to move an injured joint much when it hurts is another question).

Yes, it's positively shocking how vicious frozen shoulder is, isn't it? I actually broke down over the weekend and bought and downloaded and am using Dragon NatSpeak v13, because I feel that I must be creating some sort of ongoing trauma in the left (mousing) arm. I'm old school; I am a righty who mouses with the other hand, so I can write/mouse at the same time. But although the right-hand shoulder (the torn rotator cuff) took about 15 months to heel up, this one feels as though it's gone on much longer, without the same recovery curve. I could simply be misremembering, though...after you've been in pain for several years, it all starts to blend together in a big blurry nasty haze.

Can't say as I can blame the stilettos for THAT mess. I'm sure they have their own consequences in here somewhere, though.

H

[Solitaire1]

I wonder what the classical composers would think of what their music has been used for by recent recording acts? Some examples:

[crich70]

I wonder is there a topic that hasn't been posted about in this thread?