Ever been on a date and wanted to bust out the double whammy of impressing your dinner companion with your cooking skills and your science knowledge? Then you’re in luck because today’s Science! For Parties! is going to teach you how to do just that. As always don’t try this at home without a sober adult present. Take whatever pan you feel like it and place it on you stove. Turn the stove on high and let the pan heat up. You’ll want to give it at least a few minutes as the cooking surface of the pan will need…
Recent Posts
Wily Wordplay- Opening Lines
It’s Monday here at the Eclectic Eccentric and the start of the work week for most of you out in the world so I thought as a little bit of extra motivation for both you and for me I would share some of my favorite opening lines in all of literature in this month’s edition of Wily Wordplay. As always the quotes are in no particular order. Enjoy! “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I…
We Can Do That Now: Neurogaming
It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with the world of Science! here at the Eclectic Eccentric and a recent conversation got me jazzed to jump back into it with a new installment of We Can Do That Now! Where I discuss something incredibly cool: Neurogaming. Something so cutting edge spellcheck is telling me it’s not a word. I’m gonna go ahead and interpret that as a sign that I should start with a definition. What is Neurogaming? Well it’s a cutting edge branch of the videogame industry that seeks to use Brain Control Interfaces (BCIs) to create comprehensive…
Reflections
Late last night I ended up in three simultaneous text message exchanges with friends who were struggling with both their literal and figurative places in this world. This convergence was a rather rare occurrence for me. While I’m always available to my friends I’m not much of a texter so when three separate 4am conversations occur on the same night I tend to sit up and take notice. Which is why today I’m going to forego my typical type of post and instead reflect a bit about life and our relationship to the world around us. After all knowledge without…
Troping the Riff- Mistaken Identity
Hello there it’s time for Troping the Riff with me The Eclectic Eccentric. Or is it. After all you’ve never met The Eclectic Eccentric and you have no idea if he’s the one typing these words or not. I could just be pretending to be him. I’ll tell you what I’ll be on the corner of Frenchmen and Esplanade in New Orleans on May 15th at 5:00 pm and you can find out for sure. How will you know it’s me? I’ll be wearing a black polo. Hopefully I’m the only one otherwise you might mistake me for someone else…
Character Study- Susan Vance
There are many shining examples of the screwball comedy but only Bringing Up Baby ever managed to team up Howard Hawkes, Cary Grant, and Kathrine Hepburn. In what is undoubtedly the greatest movie ever to feature a leopard as a central plot point Kathrine Hepburn shines as Susan Vance, daffy fast-talking heiress extraordinaire. Or at least that’s my opinion. Hepburn’s role in this film is a surprisingly divisive one. Some find her character over the top and grating. Some find her to be a quick-witted icon for women the world over. And some people think she’s just a funny actress…
How Have You Not Seen That?: Casablanca
Of all the blogs, in all the interwebs, in all the world you stumbled onto mine. And I for one am glad you did because today we’re going to be talking about an all-time classic and perhaps the most quoted movie ever. That’s right in this edition of How Have You Not Seen That? I make the rather easy case for Casablanca. Made in 1942 this wartime film stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid in one of the greatest love triangles ever put on film. Not to mention Claude Rains and Peter Lorre in fantastic supporting roles. Put…
It’s The Economy Stupid- The Unemployment Rate
One of the major indicators that people look to when evaluate an economies overall health is the unemployment rate. And common sense would tell us that those people have the right idea. After all whether or not people are working seems like a pretty good gauge of whether or not people have money. Unfortunately this is not always the case and Unemployment as an economic indicator has several flaws that need to be acknowledged in order for it to have any real usefulness as a tool in discussing the impact of economic policies. In this month’s It’s the Economy Stupid…
A Writer’s Tale: Roald Dahl- Fighter Ace
Roald Dahl is a name that is more often associated with Oompa Loompas and giant peaches than aerial combat but during World War II it was all hands on deck and Roald Dahl was no exception. So this month in A Writer’s Tale we delve into the world of Roald Dahl-Fighter Ace. In 1939 Dahl was working for Shell Oil in what is now Tanzania. When war looked to be inevitable Dahl enlisted himself in military service. After a brief stint as a Lieutenant in the King’s African Rifles Dahl signed up for the Royal Air Force attending flight school…
The Franchise- Star Wars
May the Fourth be with you. How many articles have you read that started off that way today? Remember when being a nerd wasn’t cool? No neither do I. In honor of International Star Wars Day and the fast approaching start of a new trilogy I thought it was time to break down the most famous trilogy of all time in this month’s edition of The Franchise. Core Concept: People tend to think that Star Wars is about the Jedi. It’s not. It’s about the Skywalkers. That is to say that it’s a space opera that draws its inspiration from…