Say what?

Accents: Can you understand them, or is it all bliberty bloop to your ears?

Kudos to "Amy Walker" in the above video above, for smoothly transitioning through so many accents so quickly. I've known people from all of these places, and she does a decent job with the accents.

But back to the original question. Can you understand people speaking with an accent? I know some people who can't understand anything spoken by someone from a different region. I'm oppositely inclined, having yet to hear an accent I could not adapt my ear to within a few minutes. (Proviso: If there is a speech impediment, all bets are off.)

What's the hardest accent for you to understand? And for another example of trouble with an accent, look at this video of a Kiwi trying to train Vista's speech recognition program.

Tags: Accents

What do you think? No, really, I want to know!

They are a variety of people who read this meandering mess of a blog, and I decided that I wanted to probe you various minds and ways of thought regarding hot-topic issues of the day.

What do you think of the various economic plans being proposed to help relieve today's economic crunch? Especially those relating to the energy sector (e.g. a gas-tax holiday, windfall profits tax proposals, diversion of money/profits to research in alternative fuels and renewable power)?

Surely between all three or so of us who read this blog we have some different opinions on what is going on and what we need to be doing both to make things better today and in the future. And it also occurs to me that, being a researcher who works in the energy industry, I could possibly answer some of the questions you've been dying to ask but never knew who to turn to. I could explain the process of drilling for and recovering oil (and in the process, explain why the global oil reserves estimate has not really changed in three decades). Or I could tell you about fuel cells (I've worked with them some, as well).

So, let me pick your brain, and I will let you pick mine. Anyone up for such an exchange?

Tags: Energy, Tax, Oil, Fuel Cell, Drilling, Policy, Profits, Gasoline

Who are you people?

And why do you keep reading over my shoulder?

No, seriously, who are all of you people who read/view my ramblings? According to Feedburner, I hit an all-time high of 30 subscribers to my feed. I don't even begin to have a clue as to who all of you people are, but you must be gluttons for the ramblings of a rheologist to keep checking out what I have to say. (Or, maybe not, considering the interest in my last several posts. Maybe I'm really all alone, here, in the dark and cold recesses of the internet. *gulp* Mommy! I'm scared!)



Okay, so seriously (Wait, I already said that, didn't I? Well, I mean it this time.) who are you and why to you read. It can't be my poor attempts at witty banter, and surely it's not my magnetic personality (although that would be cool). Maybe it's my penchant for parenthetical statements (or not); maybe you are all rambling rheologists just like me. I don't know.

Tell me, please, your name and bailiwick. If not your bailiwick, then what is your milieu? What brings you to these parts of the bloggosphere (should that be one "g" or two)? Finally, what is your perfect sundae?

Tags: Introductions, Feedburner, Baffled, Blogging, Readers, Big Words

Pseudonymity

So, I'm coming clean here: my real name is not Euphrony. I do not sign that on checks or IRS forms, nor is it even listed in my profile on my resume. Whew! Glad that's off my chest.

Okay, I've talked about where Euphrony came from in the past. I want to know about the secret origins of your pseudonym. How did you choose your on-line identity? Or, was it chosen for you? For example: did Kat get her name from a love of Krazy Kat; or did FancyPants take her name from a Bob Hope / Lucille Ball comedy?

And while you are at it, you can take a stab at this question: Which of the following nicknames have I not carried at some point in my life?

1. Orenthal P. Wisenheimer
2. Mr. Fix-It
3. Blond Jewish Whale
4. Popo
5. Funny Guy

Ready? Set? GO!

UPDATED: No winners were found. I guess everyone thought I have been called Mr. Fit-It. Alas, no, I have never held that nickname. Read the comments for full disclosure.

Tags: Quiz, Trivia, Personal Information, Pseudonym, Online Identity, Nicknames

Musical Free Association

Time for a psychology experiment. Free association, music style. I'll start with Musician #1 (singer, songwriter, group, whatever selected totally at random - don't ask how) and then I will list the first musician that comes to mind (Musician #2). Reply in a comment with your association to Musician #2, and the next associates to Musician #3. If you know why that particular musician came to mind, then share.

This is a chance to get you lurkers out of the woodwork and mingle with the regulars. Come on, people, I know more people glance at this rambling blog than pipes up. That means you, sister-in-law. And you, too, Cambridge, Minnesota - I see you pop in every couple of days. California, I'm waiting to hear from you. You can reply anonymously, if you feel the need, but at least give a name and/or a location. Here we go.

Musician #1: Susan Ashton

Hi, I'm Euphrony. I hail from Spring, Texas and:
Susan Ashton --> Garth Brooks

(Susan Ashton going on tour with Garth Brooks was, I believe, her first forayer out of contemporary Christian music and into more secular music; thus Ashton to Brooks. A close second association was the Ashton, Becker, Dente collaboration.)

Now it's your turn. GO!

Tags: Delurking, Free Association, Music, Psychology