It's my half-birthday. Ask me anything.

[SteppingRazor]

My life is an open book, and I know everything there is to know. Including the average airspeed velocities of BOTH African AND European swallows.

On edit: Subject line edited because I just realized it is, in fact, my half birthday.

[bigwillq]

1. What is your favorite....

Book?

[SteppingRazor]

2. Hmm....

Sci Fi: William Gibson's cyberpunk trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Over Drive)

Nonfiction, politics: tough one. Right now, I'm reading Ya Basta! Ten Years of the Zapatista Uprising by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein. I wouldn't say it's my favorite, but it's definitely interesting.

Nonfiction, other: Check the avatar. Gotta go with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Although, to be fair, that's more a nonfiction/fiction blend.

Fictionalized nonfiction: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid test, by Tom Wolfe

Poetry: Love Is a Dog from Hell by Charles Bukowski

[bigwillq]

3. Some good choices there!

Ok, if you could become any book character...

who would u be? :shrug:

[SteppingRazor]

5. Winston Smith!

Kidding, of course. Who the hell would want to be that poor bastard?

I think I'd want to be Harry Potter. I've never actually read any of those books, but I think it'd be pretty sweet to live in a world where anything is possible. In any case, whatever character I picked, it'd probably be from some sort of Fantasy literature. I used to be big on that stuff a long time ago. Kind of outgrew it, but I still think it'd be nice to have a little magic in the world. Things are kinda dreary without it.

[bigwillq]

4. What is this half-birthday all about?

:shrug:

[SteppingRazor]

6. You never had half-birthdays when you were a kid? n/t

[bigwillq]

8. No!

So your birthday is in six months? :shrug:

[SteppingRazor]

10. Precisely!

[bigwillq]

12. Oh ok.

Was a bit confused! :)

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. A very merry un-birthday to you!

[SteppingRazor]

24. Thanks, GPV...

Is it your un-birthday too?

[RedCloud]

9. Why is our sister galaxy Andromeda on a collision course with us?

And why is she so much younger?

And why won't some aliens fix this problem?

Or have the aliens already deserted to another place?

[SteppingRazor]

13. Wow! Four questions at once!

OK, we're on a collisikon course becuase of gravity, pure and simple.

Andromeda is younger because not all galazies formed at the same time -- it depends on how much gas is in the area, and at what density.

Aliens won't fix the problem because they can't -- I don't care how advanced an alien civilization is. Even if it's been around for trillions of years, it still won't have figured out a way to change the course of galaxies.

And, no, aliens probably haven't left the area -- intergalactic travel is almost definitely an impossibility.

On the plus side, Earth will probably survive the impact! Believe it or not. Here's a great summation from the University of Toronto's Web site on what it will look like from Earth:

When will this collision occur? Plausible orbits and models of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies suggest that the big event could occur in as soon as 3 billion years. The Sun will still be burning brightly when this collision occurs and maybe life of some sort will still be around on Earth (or at least within the solar system) at that time. So what would people see in the night sky during this billion year galactic dance? As Andromeda approaches, it will grow in size and just before the collision the night sky will be filled by a giant spiral galaxy. When the two galaxies intersect, our familiar Milky Way arch over the sky will be joined by a second intersecting arch of stars but this will only last for 100 million years or so and will be a very confusing state of affairs for galactic astronomers. Finally, when the two galaxies merge our view will depend on which direction the Sun is thrown. There are two possible fates fort the Sun which depend closely on the details of where it is in its galactic orbit at the time of the collision. In the first case the Sun may take a ride on a tidal tail and be ejected into the darkness of intergalactic space. In this case, our star would be all alone with few stellar neighbours so the night sky would be very dark with few stars to see -- maybe like the disappointing view of the nightsky from an urban centre like downtown Toronto. In the second case, the Sun may be thrown right into the centre of the merging pair where a great starburst will be underway. The huge number of stars forming will result in supernovae going off at a rate of a few per year in the new merged galaxy. While these will likely not present a direct hazard to the Earth, they will truly light up the sky letting you read at night but probably frustrating the endeavours of backyard astronomers!

And, from the Hubble Telescope, here's what it would look like to someone outside the galaxies:




Hope that answers a few of your questions, and thanks for asking Dr. SteppingRazor!

[RedCloud]

14. Amazing display of erudite thinking!

:thumbsup:

That's a more optimistic outcome than I had expected.

[progmom]

11. what does your screen name mean?

[SteppingRazor]

15. It's the title of a song by Peter Tosh...

Peter Tosh was a reggae artist (along with Marley and Desmond Dekker, one of the greatest of all time, IMHO). He played lead guitar and sang some of the tunes in the legendary act The Wailers -- which also included Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer -- before they all went solo.

Marley's solo work took a more love-and-peace approach. Tosh was a lot more militant. Although best-known in the USA for his marijuana-legalization anthem "Legalize It," as well as other pro-pot songs such as "Bush Doctor," a lot of his best work was pro-revolutionary tunes like "Equal Rights" and "Downpressor Man."

But aside from all that, he also wrote some great love songs ("Brand New Second Hand") and a lot of the requisite "tough guy" anthems that almost every reggae artist to come out of Trenchtown felt obligated to pen. One of these was "Stepping Razor."

Stepping Razor

If you wanna live
Treat me good
If you wanna live, live
I beg you treat me good

I'm like a walking razor
Don't you watch my size
I'm dangerous
Said I'm dangerous
(2X)

If you are a bully
Treat me good
If you are a bully, a bully
I beg you treat me good

I'm like a stepping razor
Don't you watch my size
I'm dangerous, dangerous
(CHORUS)

If you are a chucky
Nobody chucky from me
If you are a chucky, a chucky
Nobody chuck from me, Yea

CHORUS

I'm like a chopping razor
Don't you watch my size
I'm dangerous, dangerous

If you eat asphalt
I beg you treat me good
If you drink lead soup
You better treat me good

CHORUS

If you are bull bukka
Nobody buk from me
If you are duppy
You move away from me

CHORUS

I'm like a stepping, walking
I'm dangerous, dangerous

If you wanna live
Treat me good
Warning you if you wanna live You better treat me good

I'm like a stepping, walking, cutting, flicking,
jumping,chopping, walking
I'm dangerous(2x)
I'm like a stepping, jumping, flicking, bumping, oh Lord
I'm dangerous(2x)

If you drink mortal
Treat me good
And if you eat brick
Treat me good

I'm like a flashing laser and a rolling thunder
I'm dangerous(2x)
I'm like a stepping razor
Don't you watch my size
I'm dangerous, dangerous

Treat me good
If you wanna live
You better treat me good

Talking: ...You don't through a fifth of the tribulation
I go through...
Only a name would be here to represent...

If you wanna live
You better treat me good
You could a drink lead soup
I'm dangerous
You could a eat asphalt
I'm dangerous
You could a eat brick crackers
I'm dangerous...
I saw the sun...Fucking dangerous...

[RagingInMiami]

16. But you still need to read up on ....

[SteppingRazor]

19. Lovely picture of me, Ragin'!

And damn you for remembering my biggest pet peeve of DU!! :argh:

[Ron Mexico]

17. Can a four-ounce bird carry a two-pound coconut, or not?

[SteppingRazor]

20. Well, no...

I mean, in order to maintain airspeed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times a second.... I mean, I suppose an African swallow could carry one, but African swallows are non-migratory, so it couldn't bring a coconut back anyway.... Hey, maybe two birds could carry the coconut together, by a strange of crepe paper held under the dorsal guiding feathers!

[Ron Mexico]

21. WHAT - is your name? WHAT - is your quest? WHAT - is your favorite color?

[SteppingRazor]

22. Stepping Razor!

I seek trolls in order to tombstone them!

My favorite color is green ... no ... blue!


AAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......

[Ron Mexico]

23. If I stumble upon the Castle Anthrax,

can I stay for just a little of the peril?

[SteppingRazor]

25. Screw that...

If I stumble on Castle Anthrax, I'm freaking WALLOWING in the peril :evilgrin:

[Ron Mexico]

26. But I'm told it's too perilous!

[Shine]

18. Have you ever heard of the "golden birthday"?

that's when you turn the age of the day of the month you were born.

Unfortunately, for you, it happened at a very young age. ;) Your Golden Birthday was your 1st birthday.

:hi: