This a traditional letter column.
You are encouraged to write a letter of comment on anything that you
find worthy of comment. It will (may) be published in this column along
with my reply. As editor I reserve the right to delete material;
however I will not alter the undeleted material. E-mail to me that solely
references the contents of this site will be assumed to be publishable
mail. All other e-mail is assumed to be private. And, of course, anything
marked not for publication is not for publication. Oh yes, letters of
appreciation for the scholarly resources provided by this site will be
handled very discreetly. This page contains the correspondence for
March 2002.
From: Warwick Wise
…just a quick (and uninformed) query: what happened to the Piltdown Man
fossils? Are they still in existence somewhere?
From: Marie Pacha
i just love the world the puter has opened to me….found your
site and poetry on google…
my site is http://www.pagerealm.com/dragonsaerie/
my friends call me emme…………..
these are some of my poems…i hope you will enjoy them as i
enjoyed yours
I liked your site and I hope that you (?) the new life you are building
for yourself. The question mark in parentheses signifies that I do not
know what verb to use. Indeed, the right verb is one for you to discover.
I liked your poems.
From: Miroslav Provod
Menhirs and their development
Apart from the generally familiar places where menhirs had been
constructed, they can be found in many various parts of the world, such as
in the mountain plains of India, in the La-Chung Plain of Tibet at an
elevation of 6,000m; there is the 60-ton Ha-Heun dolmen in Korea, or the
Arab, Palestine, Abyssinian, Caucasian and other dolmens. Pyramids, which
are also menhirs from the standpoint of our research, have also been found
in China and Australia. It would perhaps be simpler to list places where
menhirs have not been found. Archaeologists date the age of megalithic
monuments to the period following the neolith, that is 1500 to 2000 years
B.C. Palestinian megalithic structures are probably among the oldest
ones, as their age is estimated at 4500 to 5000 years. According to the
prevailing assumption, menhirs had been utilized for iconic, calender- and
farming-related and astronomic purposes. Such an explanation appears not
very convincing, and archaeological literature has presented numerous
challenging arguments on the issue.
Our research has shown that stones and boulders of all sizes, as well as
agglomerations of artificial soil mounds that the ancient man had placed
in the countryside, had an energy generating function. This follows from
the finding that flowing water is a source of a so-far unknown kind of
energy, which is also accumulated by rocks (see
http://www.pribram.cz/centrum ) .The new concept of the utilization of
menhirs allows their development to be classified according to the types
occurring in nature.
[The remainder of this interesting and informative letter deleted.]
From: Anthony R. Lewis, PhD, FN
I call your attention to
http://www.ladonia.net/content/content.htm
From: Becky O’Day
Where is that story about the elephant trainer with the mania for
suppositories? I think that’s my favorite one of all time. Thanks in
advance.
From: Sqeeky123
when did u think of it and how.
Index of contributors
Other Correspondence Pages
Date: 03/15/2002
Subj: Piltdown man
They are still in existence in the British Museum. They are, after all,
historically important artifacts.
Return to index of contributors
Date: 02/27/2002
Subj: soul of the dragon
I always wonder how people find my site. Some things in it are
standard reference pages but not, I would imagine, poetry.
Return to index of contributors
Date: 03/06/2002
Subj: New conception megalithic culture
Thank you for writing. Your thesis is not just in the ordinary way
of things passing my desk.
Return to index of contributors
Date: 03/12/2002
Subj: Whimsy
Thank you, sir. Perhaps I should alert the SD Secretary of State.
I am certain that a trade agreement between Ladonia and South
Dakota would be to the mutual benefit of both parties.
Return to index of contributors
Date: 03/12/2002
Subj: Story re elephant trainer shat to death
It sounds vaguely familiar but I don’t have it (or if I do I can’t find it). I
did some searches and can’t find it on the web. Maybe I will find it
later.
Return to index of contributors
Date: 03/12/2002
Subj: (no subject)
Which “it” are we talking about?
who r u
I am Richard Harter. The question I have is:… continued on next rock …
Who are you and why are you sending me strange email?
i have not been sending u strange mail
how did u get my email adress
I am replying to email that you send me.… continued on next rock …
r u the person who invented the kittylitter cake
No. My source for the recipe is Carolyn Wyman’s “The Kitchen Sink Cookbook: Offbeat Recipies From Unusual Ingredients”. I don’t know where she got it from.Return to index of contributors
From: Giggles101862
Date: 03/13/2002
Subj: mountain oysters vs. calf fries
i am in need of some help.i was raised to believe that mountain oysters were from pigs,and calf fries are from bulls.i have a bet on this.if you can clarify this,i would really appreciate it.thank you.please reply even if you dont know the answer.
I’d be interested in knowing where you were raised; I’ve never heard of anybody making that distinction. As far as I know, mountain oysters, aka prairie oysters, are testicles from any domesticated meat animal, i.e., goats, sheep, pigs, and cattle. I’ve never heard of the term “calf fries”. It doesn’t seem terribly accurate since bulls are definitely not calves. Mountain oysters gathered from calves are tenderer (and much smaller) than those gathered from bulls.Return to index of contributors
From: Alyxandra
Date: 03/06/2002
Subj: Fonny Stuff !
Just a note to say how much I have enjoyed your site! Question: what is the origin of the posting A jaundiced look at military history ?
Thanks for having such a great collection of genuine humor out there ! I have shared the link -w- many others and all have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it.
I’m pleased that you like the selection. I don’t know the origin of “A jaundiced look at military history”. I got it from a friend about twenty years ago – it was one of those things that circulated by xeroxed copy. I had originally planned to use it in my fanzine, Personal Notes. When I decided to make the move from print to the web I lifted it out of my files.Return to index of contributors
From: Anthony R. Lewis, PhD, FN
Date: 02/22/2002
Subj: Distaff
the male line of ascendency is technically referred to as “spear” just as the female line is “distaff.” I know your liver would be constricted until you learned this.
My liver now senses a great feeling of freedom and thanks you profusely.Any evidence of pedigree collapse in your family tree?
None that is official; the records don’t record the irregularities. I wouldn’t expect that there would be until you go back quite aways – my ancestors moved about a great deal. I will take it kindly if you do not inquire too closely in the circumstances that impelled those moves.Return to index of contributorsI expect to be at Minicon. I may be travelling a fair bit after that. I haven’t yet decided what I am going to do when I grow up.
Tell Suford to inspect the Reincarnation Game to see if she can spot where I stole from the Seven Samauri, Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, and Cinderella. It’s a pity I didn’t think to put them all in one life.
From: Danny Hartney
Date: 02/25/2002
Subj: Bill the Conqueror
My response to the history prof would be:
William would not have acquired the name “William the Conqueror” had he lost the battle. Not a hard question, if you think about it.
It does seem like a big, glaring clue, doesn’t it. There are people, though, that really don’t feel that it is necessary for history professors to know history.Return to index of contributors
From: Carl Schroeder – GeoStrategies
Date: 02/25/2002
Subj: research
i’m doing some research and stumbled across your site, and I’m hoping you can help me out. I’m trying to assemble some information on 2-celled animals. I don’t know what your specific specialty is (if microbiology is one of your disciplines), but could you point me to any information on currently-living 2-celled animals. At the moment, it appears that there are none.
in advance, thanks for your help.
I’m not sure what you mean by a 2-celled animal. Quite a number of bacteria form clonal colonies. Some protists have a two cell form although it is not obligatory. If you are really want two celled life-forms in the kingdom animalia my thought would to be to look at a “tree of life” site.Return to index of contributorsMy apologies for not being of more help.
From: Rubye Maxwell
Date: 02/28/2002
Subj: 5 year diary
My husband has kept a 5 year diary for over 20 years. We can no longer find a 5 year diary. Do you know where a source is?
Try http://www.stardesk.com/diaries.htm.Return to index of contributors
From: Yasir Ghalani
Date: 02/27/2002
Subj: Algorithm
I need help on building an Insertion Sort algorithm using Pseudo code only, which has 6 numbers to be sorted. The algorithm has to keep the original array (unsorted) and also a new array with the numbers sort (in ascending order).
This sounds like homework; my reply will probably be a bit too late to help you. Rather than give you some pseudocode let me outline a way to approach the task.Return to index of contributorsTasks like this often have four major aspects. These are the steady state component, the boundary conditions, initialization, and termination. In this case the steady state component is inserting an element into an existing array; there are two ways this can be done, pushing up or pushing down. Boundary conditions arise when the element to be inserted lies outside the boundaries of the existing array, either because it is bigger than the biggest or smaller than the smallest. Initialization requires that the data be brought to a condition where the steady state component may be applied. In this case you have to worry about inserting into an array with 0 elements and possibly 1 element. Finally, in this case, the termination is simple. However you must ensure that the steady state component leaves the array being built in a proper state for termination.
From: Russell T. Arndts
Date: 02/25/2002
Subj: Evolution sites
I would like to visit the place where the Piltdown bones were “found.” Is there a marker or a museum or something to see while we are there?
The Piltdown marker is on the property of the Barkham Manor vineyard. I’m not sure what the status of the gravel pit is these days. The bones themselves are still in the British museum but AFAIK they aren’t viewable by the public. My website has a map of the Piltdown region.… continued on next rock …
Thanks so much for the information you sent. We do plan to visit the Piltdown cite. Your web page indicated that you are interested in the topic of origins. You may know of other Evolution sites in England. If so I would appreciate it you would clue me in.
We plan to got to Cambridge and see what they have there about Darwin and we have visited Shewsbury and Down House on a previous trip. But if you know of others, I would appreciate knowing about it.
That rather depends on what sort of sites you would be looking for. If it were me I would write to the British Museum, a place you should visit in any event.Return to index of contributors
From: Herb Thiel
Date: 03/03/2002
Subj: Mate Match
Is the audio file on that “Mate Match” available anywhere? The written scenario is down right funny and I’ll bet to actually hear it would be even funny yet. Do you know where I can get it?
Apparently it is an urban legend and never really happened. I’d like to think that it did, though.Return to index of contributors
From: Benjamin Tepolt
Date: 03/03/2002
Subj: A Critique of Creationist Propaganda
Perhaps you are familiar with the comic book “Big Daddy?”, authored by Jack Chick and co-authored by Kent Hovind. In it, a debaucherous image of an Evolution professor is portrayed. Since it is in comic-book form and it is displaying a debate between a Creationist and a biology professor, and since this comic book was written by rather vindictive Creationists, it makes an attempt to make those who believe in Evolution look cruel and heartless and make Creationists look brave and triumphant. I have critiqued this comic book, though, in a medium sized essay. It can be found here. Since your website has to do with Evolution, if you would post a link to it on your website, I would be much appreciative.
One problem with trying to seriously refute a Chick comic is that the sort of mind that can take them seriously and not burst out laughing is almost immune to reason. Be that as it may a link to your essay will appear on my web site.Return to index of contributors
This page was last updated March 16, 2002.
It was reformatted and moved November 29, 2005.