Scientists

[cosmolinguist]

The science shows I like to watch on the Discovery Channel and its ilk have gained a new dimension of excitingness recently.

I already knew that most of them are from the BBC, but only now do I realize the implications. It's sort of cool to look at some talking head going on about mummies or space-time or whatever and look at the caption and go Oh, he's from the University of Leicester. Hey, I've heard of that! Or He talks funny. University of Reading? That doesn't mean he's from there, of course. I don't know anything about Reading. Except I think I once got on a train that was going there, by accident. (We got off in time; no harm done.)

Yes, I am still woefully ignorant. But I guess it beats There's a railroad named after that in Monopoly! as a thing to know. This must be why they tell you travel is broadening.

The best part, of course, is that the guy who made me think Hey, he's kinda cute ... and he's a physicist! That's cool! ended up being from the University of Manchester.

Comments

[angel-thane.livejournal.com]

I spent the last hour trying to resist making a 'reading railroad' pun.

I can resist no longer.

[mippy.livejournal.com]

Who was the physicist? Chris Yate? Malcolm Gray?

(runs out of physicists...)

[cosmolinguist]

I don't remember; that one was a little while ago. I think his name was Brian, or something that starts with a B.

[cosmolinguist]

He had dark hair, and a nice smile, and he was talking about Einstein, or something Einstein talked about, or somesuch. And, for all I know, the show is five years old and he's no longer anywhere near Manchester anyway. :-)

[kwakhed.livejournal.com]

the monopoly railroad would be named after reading, pennsylvania -- home of outlet shopping and damn good pretzels. there's also a chinese pagoda on top of the hill overlooking the town. how it got there, i have no idea.

[cosmolinguist]

My idea of things being named for other things is pretty loose and vague, and usually means "this thing has the same name as that one! or at least one similar enough that I thought of it!" rather then "now I shall expound on the true and correct history of these two things and the connection between them."

I do this with places in England all the time: "Hampshire is a kind of pig. It's also the origin of "New Hampshire," I suppose, but the fact that I think of that second is rather indicative of my rural Midwestern origins. Hampshire pigs are black with a light stripe in the middle of their backs. There are kinds of sheep called Oxfords, Suffolks, Shropshires. And, of course, Jersey cows. Worcestershire is a kind of sauce, of course. Everybody knows about Cheshire, because of the cat."

None of this justification for my weird brain makes it any less cool to know there is a pagoda on top of a hill in Pennsylvania. I'm glad you told me.

[itsjustaname.livejournal.com]

There's a pagoda in Milton Keynes too, for equally no good reason. A guy used to know helped build it.