Sometimes, when the world is abuzz with grave concerns like avian flu and terrorism and hurricane after hurricane and rising deficits and missing nukes, it's nice to see that there are some out there who are deeply concerned about, well, lesser things. Easier things. Things such as, you know, society's unfair assumptions of the oboist. Know what I mean? It's just good to see. It's refreshing. Makes you wanna sit back and grin a little, maybe with some tea. Pet a cat. Read some Hesse. Have a scone.

And it's also nice to see that, when the world is frantically preparing for a pandemic, racing to find and produce vaccines, and biotech companies are racing for the prize that is a cure for cancer and diabetes and other nasty things, there are also smart folks out there researching the rectal pressure of penguins. In their study, "Pressures produced when penguins poo: Calculations on avian defaecation", (Link to PDF) Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow and Jozsef Gal conclude that:

"the pressures regularly produced by penguins to expel their faeces on land are considerably greater [than in humans], possibly reaching half an atmosphere. All birds, penguins included, spend a considerable time preening and cleaning their feathers. It seems therefore that these birds propel their faeces as far away as possible (with a minimum amount of effort) lest they soil their plumage."

Here's an excerpt from the study:

It's just nice to see this sort of thing. Let's know our world, and penguin poo is part of the pantomime.

It's also nice to see that terrorists are secretly complaining about a lack of funds and coordination. Hey, maybe this approach is...working...? (By the way, not a bad speech on terrorism, Mr. President, although I know you didn't write it. You should have made this speech a looong time ago. You blew it.)

And it's good to see that Bill Watterson has issued "The Complete Calvin & Hobbes", one of the best comics of all time; a comic that still, more than a decade after turning the lights out, puts to shame every piece of shit "comic" that you'll find in your local paper's "funny pages". This is not opinion, Mr. or Mrs. reader. Watterson stokes the imagination like only a few in the biz ever have—Gary Larson (Far Side) and Berkley Breathed (Bloom County/Outland) are right there, but for me, Calvin & Hobbes was, and is, it. I'm so going to buy this.

And as for chuckles, this is good to see. As is this. And finally, it's good to see there's an easy way to bust some bubble wrap, even if just for a few seconds.

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