Freakin Weird Blog

August 15, 2005
Amtrak Mooning

If any of you have traveled by public transport recently, you'll probably have some understanding of at least one of the following two points:
a) A train or a bus that arrives on time is about as common as a five legged Panda-Dodo hybrid.
b) Many public transportation employees have "something of the Dahmer (Jeffrey)" about them.

The issue with public transportation is that it has a public image problem. In a nation obsessed with cars and air travel, it's hard to put faith in a service which many deem to be old fashioned, and inconvenient.

But as transportation chiefs attempt to woo the public back onto buses and trains, things such as this probably won't help them earn the respect of the general public.

Every year people flock to Laguna Niguel in Orange County, California to participate in the Annual Mooning of Amtrak event. On the second Saturday of each July, an eager crowd of mooners synchronize belts and zippers and release their cheeks as Amtrak trains roar by.

After 8pm you can witness another giant leap for mankind, when the "night mooning" session begins. People are encouraged to bring lanterns for the evening session, so that the bevy of backsides can be bathed in soft, warm light.

Men and women are all welcome, and if you should fall asleep - don't worry. There's a good chance you'll wake up at the crack of Dawn.

Image from here

posted by Dr. Wei, PhD 16:45 E-MAIL THIS POST

August 8, 2005
The Clone Wars

It was the great French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre who uttered the words "Hell Is Other People." For a man who never had the pleasure of riding on a rush-hour New York City commuter train, or who never waited in line at a Krispy Kreme when the red neon light is glowing, this was quite a prophetic statement.

But I have to find myself agreeing with him. People are generally a very annoying species, and these days it's becoming crystal clear that there are just too many of them.

With that in mind, I got ever-so-slightly edgy when I read how a South Korean company has "produced" the world's first cloned dog. Snuppy the pooch was created after scientists used skin cells taken from the ear of a three-year-old Afghan hound called Tai to create multiple embryos.

In a quote that could have been taken right out of a 50 Cent record, the journal NATURE reported that the South Korean team had transplanted more than 1,000 embryos into 123 bitches. Out of the three resulting pregnancies, one was successful and dear Snuppy was born.

The vocal majority who oppose cloning tend to be against it on moral grounds, but another argument that's often touted is the danger of a crazed dictator like Adolf Hitler, or Saddam Hussein cloning himself and plunging the world into war and chaos. But that's not why it worries me. I'm concerned about something far closer to home. I'm worried that the man on the train who chews gum like a dribbling camel is going to clone himself. Or the woman who sits next to me on the bus and shouts Italian recipes down her mobile phone. Or the 17-year-old mother who's ramming my shins with the front of her baby carriage.

If ordinary people decided to clone ourselves, we're going to really be in trouble. A world full of multiple Franks, Daves, Sharons and Erics is far more worrisome than a couple of Iraqi dictators with moustaches. We need to nip this madness in the bud now, otherwise we're going to be clone out of luck.

posted by Dr. Wei, PhD 15:00 E-MAIL THIS POST