Lightning Rod

That’s the great thing about scientific experiments: if it succeeds, you win praise and a page in the history books. If it fails, you gain superpowers. And several pages in the comic books.

Random piece of trivia:
As a teenager, Ben Franklin wrote letters to a newspaper under the pseudonym “Mrs. Silence Dogood,” a middle-aged widow. Apparently, her writings were so popular that she received several marriage proposals.

Roleplay

We all have our coping mechanisms ;)

On a (slightly) less nerdy note, have you noticed that the phrase “[insert verb]… THIS!” is an epidemic in action movies? Heroes love to shout that line just before landing a finishing blow or launching a missile or something of the sort. It’s almost a code: shorthand for “I am clever with puns and defiant at the same time.”

Here are just a few that are stuck in my head:


[Just before firing a rocket at a robotic drill.] “Dig THIS!”


VILLAIN: “I can read your every move!”

HERO: “Read THIS!”

[HERO proceeds to stab VILLAIN with a knife embedded in a book. I kid you not.]


[Just before destroying some Borg thing.] “Assimilate THIS!”


Can you tell where those quotes came from? They were all major, relatively recent films ;)

Free Parking

(Click to biggify.)

On a standard Monopoly board, New York Avenue sits right next to Free Parking. Coincidence?

On an unrelated note, the orange set is probably the best set in the game. It strikes a perfect balance between affordability and soul-crushing rent rates. The purple set (St. Charles Place & co.) is second on my list. Together, they can lock down the only escape from jail ;)