Tag: just for fun

The Solar Eclipse Was Off the Charts Cool

Did you really think we were done with eclipse coverage? (Actually we still will not be, there were some other neat eclipse coverage pieces I want to look at.) But today is Friday and so we look to lighter (and I find humourous) coverage, this week from xkcd.

Off the charts
Off the charts

My only quibble would be that the partial solar eclipse could be nudged further up the y-axis. I thought it was rather fantastic to witness. (But you better bet that come 2024 I will be travelling to see totality.)

Happy weekend, all.

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

The Solar Eclipse

If you have not heard, the entire continental United States will, weather cooperating, be able to see at least a partial solar eclipse on Monday, 21 August. It is still too far away for an accurate weather forecast, but I am hoping that we have good weather in Philadelphia that day. Or else why bother working from home that day?

In the meantime, enjoy this eclipse-related piece from xkcd that ties together my love for astronomy things with my love for political things.

This weekend will be crazy town
This weekend will be crazy town

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Hot Summer Days

We made it to Friday, folks. So here in Philly it is, of course,  hot and disgusting. (Please refer to Tuesday’s post about the increasingly hot weather in summers.) Thankfully we have ThisIsIndexed to explain what happens in hot weather.

To be fair, I'm not sure misanthropy couldn't be in any other overlap…
To be fair, I’m not sure misanthropy couldn’t be in any other overlap…

Credit for the piece goes to Jessica Hagy.

Stabby Stabby Sexy Sexy Stabby Stabby

Happy Friday, all.

This past Sunday Series Seven of Game of Thrones began. And, no spoilers here, but it basically served as an episode to set the table for this series and its plot lines. But this piece from the Washington Post does a good job of summarising the deaths in the show over the previous six series. That does have some spoilers, but I chose my screenshot from minor characters in Series One. So I should not be ruining it for too many people.

MInor deaths and story locations, no spoilers for those of you who want to start watching the show
MInor deaths and story locations, no spoilers for those of you who want to start watching the show

Credit for the piece goes to Shelly Tan.

Not Alone for Trivia

Well after the last two weeks of recording solo trivia performances, I decided that this week I would showcase a team effort.

A non-solo performance
A non-solo performance

And we finally placed, ending the performance tied for first place. But if you look closely you will see the final score has us at second. Why when we were tied with the same number of points? Because tiebreaker. And after I was selected to represent the team, I needed to respond, within three seconds, with the names of Tom Hanks films in a back-and-forth response.

I could name only Saving Private Ryan and Castaway. My competitor, she named three. They won.

Another Solo Pub Trivia Performance

This past Wednesday I once again ended up playing trivia at the pub solo. Once again, I decided over the final pint that I would attempt to visualise my performance.

One thing to keep in mind is that on Wednesday there were fewer teams competing—five instead of nine. And while I never placed higher than tied for third, this week’s bar charts show how I was incredibly competitive until the final music round.

Music and celebrity are clearly not my strong suits
Music and celebrity are clearly not my strong suits

Despite an abysmal performance at naming celebrities as they were as children, my near-perfect second round kept me only five points behind first place. And a perfect fourth round meant heading into that final round I climbed back to being only three points back. Thankfully I knew more of the songs this past week. And enough to not finish last. But, I was close enough that a perfect round would have been enough to still place first.

Super helpful that Lord of the Rings questions appeared a few times.

Clear the Cache

Some of the aforementioned work that has been keeping me busy is the design of a new part of a website. And one of the most common things I hear when I ask why something is not displaying as I intended is “Have you cleared the cache?”. And that is why this Friday’s piece from xkcd is super relevant to me.

I could have used this table earlier this week
I could have used this table earlier this week

Credit for the piece goes to Randall Munroe.

Pub Trivia Performance

Wednesday night I had the dubious honour of playing the weekly pub trivia solo. Accordingly my team name was Hats Solo. (After I opted not to wear my fedora one night, another regular team called itself Where’s Your Hat?) I started strong, had a second wind, but still faded to a seventh place (of nine) finish. As I finished my G&T, I decided I would visualise the results. Here, two days later, are my results.

History and geography are usually my strong suits
History and geography are usually my strong suits

Credit for the highlights, mine. The lowlights, someone else.