If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum > General > Fun-n-Games
Reload this Page Should nervous people be allowed to play tennis?
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

Reply
Page 5 of 36 « First < 234 5 67815 > Last »
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #121 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 12:37 AM
Jeff Root Jeff Root is online now
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 3,291
Default
New Jet-Age Aerowax -- So tough, bullets bounce off!
Reply With Quote
  #122 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 04:58 AM
Celestial Mechanic's Avatar
Celestial Mechanic Celestial Mechanic is online now
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 3,909
Default The Answer at Last?
Why didn't I think of this sooner? The answer to the question "Should nervous people be allowed to play tennis?" is really quite simple: if someone is too nervous to even hold the racquet they should not play. Simple enough!
__________________
Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.
Reply With Quote
  #123 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 05:16 AM
Jeff Root Jeff Root is online now
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 3,291
Default
But what if, like me, they are too nervous to let go of the raquet? What
if they think they are supposed to be nervous? What if they just keep
bouncing the ball, and can't get themselves to serve? What if the waiter
never comes? What if we get in the car and I need to use the bathroom?
What if I just can't take it any longer and stay under the blankets all day
and never get dressed even after the whole day is over? What if I forget
how to stand up because I've been in bed so long? What if I decide to join
the Foreign Legion and get lost in the desert? What will I do then? I'm
about ready to start crying. Mommy!!!!
Reply With Quote
  #124 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 06:51 AM
Paul Beardsley's Avatar
Paul Beardsley Paul Beardsley is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Havant, England
Posts: 2,700
Default
Thank you for posting this, Jeff. I was going to post something similar* but lost my nerve.

*My post had "nearly ready" rather than "about ready" in the penultimate sentence.
Or was it the last sentence? After all, the call for mother didn't have a verb in it.
Oh no, why did I start this?
And it's hard to type this with just one hand - I am holding a tennis racquet in the other hand.
Reply With Quote
  #125 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 11:17 AM
darkhunter's Avatar
darkhunter darkhunter is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,101
Default
[this post intentionally left blank]
__________________
"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)
Reply With Quote
  #126 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 02:09 PM
Gemini's Avatar
Gemini Gemini is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Alabama (P3X-797)
Posts: 718
Default
I'm a hippopatomus with noodles on my back

I do love noodles
__________________
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
-Douglas Adams
Aim high (but don't blow yourself up)!- Homer Hickam

In Soviet Russia, UFO report you!- Phil Plait

Clear skies Maksutov.
Reply With Quote
  #127 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 02:10 PM
Gemini's Avatar
Gemini Gemini is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Alabama (P3X-797)
Posts: 718
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Theodorakis View Post
franklin-wilkins-watson-crick structure of dna shows 3.4 angstron periodicity these features cause dna to be tuned to galactic exahertz xray synchotronradiation through quantum resonance. doublehelix dna shown by franklin to be antenna for receiving exahertz radiation these implications caused her to be killed so we couldnt know teh TRUTH about our ability to tune into galactic synchotron xray sources. lhc-fermilab-brookhaven are NOT particle detectors these are synchotron xray sources tuned to exahetrz frequency to control dna to make us easy for un mind control artificial intelligence programs thsi is why the internet was started by DARPA and the worldwideweb was invented by CERN. lhc exaherz synchotronradiation is bounced from ionic atmospheric trails from CHEMTRAIL aircraft and amlpified by fermilab why do you think autism rates are rising is because of DARPA and CERN experimenting with dna control through exahertz radiation. STOP lhc-fermilab-brookhaven so humankind can tune into natural galactic synchoton exahertz radiation and realize full mind potential
End of Line
__________________
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
-Douglas Adams
Aim high (but don't blow yourself up)!- Homer Hickam

In Soviet Russia, UFO report you!- Phil Plait

Clear skies Maksutov.
Reply With Quote
  #128 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 02:16 PM
Ilya's Avatar
Ilya Ilya is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Boston
Posts: 2,893
Default
<Dr. Zoidberg's voice>
They should not!
</Dr. Zoidberg's voice>
__________________
Fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint.
Reply With Quote
  #129 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 03:16 PM
mike alexander's Avatar
mike alexander mike alexander is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: People's Republic of Oregon
Posts: 5,835
Default
Quote:
The answer to the question "Should nervous people be allowed to play tennis?" is really quite simple: if someone is too nervous to even hold the racquet they should not play.
I find this typical defeatist thinking, the same thing that makes people say "Please! You'll NEVER send an aardvark to the Moon. No Ants!" But there are invasive ant species everywhere (at least in the invaded areas) that could be established on the Moon with just a bit of terraforming.

"Ask NOT what the Moon can give you!

Ask what you can give the Moon..."
__________________
The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.
Reply With Quote
  #130 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 03:21 PM
Christopher Ferro's Avatar
Christopher Ferro Christopher Ferro is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: The Space Coast
Posts: 1,232
Default
Millenium hand and shrimp!

CJSF
__________________
Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants
Reply With Quote
  #131 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 05:53 PM
Paul Beardsley's Avatar
Paul Beardsley Paul Beardsley is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Havant, England
Posts: 2,700
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christopher Ferro View Post
Millenium hand and shrimp!
Spare a gold piece, sir!
Reply With Quote
  #132 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 05:59 PM
Paul Beardsley's Avatar
Paul Beardsley Paul Beardsley is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Havant, England
Posts: 2,700
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike alexander View Post
just a bit of terraforming.
Sheesh, it's always terraforming. Some people are so geocentric. I mean, hel-lo-o? Ever heard of Galileo? Got burnt at the stake* for pointing out that Earth is not at the centre.

Well if the Copernican principle of mediocrity has any merit, we can leap to the assumption that some other star - let's say Delta Pavonis - has an Earth-like world in orbit around it - let's say world 6.

So why not say "Delta Pavonis 6form the moon" instead? It rolls off the tongue so much better.

*Okay, so I'm confusing him with G. Bruno. Have you got nothing better to do than spot mistakes and then read footnotes which acknowledge the mistake? I bet you're still reading to see where this is going, aren't you? Thought so.
Reply With Quote
  #133 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 06:15 PM
DyerWolf DyerWolf is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: May 2006
Location: The Dark Side of the Sun
Posts: 912
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Beardsley View Post
So why not say "Delta Pavonis 6form the moon" instead? It rolls off the tongue so much better.
Oh you had to go there, didn't you? You are just like the Vikings with the whole "Greenland" thing. Everyone who's been there knows Delta Pavonis 6 is colder than a well digger's donkey.

While Delta Pavonis 5 may be a bit warm, at least it has a 22% oxygen atmosphere - which is fine if you don't smoke and stay indoors during the 16 hours of daylight.
__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.
Reply With Quote
  #134 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 06:19 PM
peteshimmon peteshimmon is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: uk
Posts: 1,533
Default
Mmmm....No! I prefer terraforming. There are
so few nice words out there! Astrolabe,
crystal, caraway seeds, emoluments, balance,
mandarin...
Reply With Quote
  #135 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 06:35 PM
Jeff Root Jeff Root is online now
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 3,291
Default
Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the freedom fighters
before the start of the rainy season!

And remember -- a shiny new donkey for whoever brings me the
head of Colonel Montoya!
Reply With Quote
  #136 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 06:40 PM
mike alexander's Avatar
mike alexander mike alexander is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: People's Republic of Oregon
Posts: 5,835
Default
Quote:
Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the freedom fighters
before the start of the rainy season!
Why? Are they amphibians?

And before making such wild statements, have you checked if everyone has pliers?
__________________
The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.
Reply With Quote
  #137 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 07:31 PM
Celestial Mechanic's Avatar
Celestial Mechanic Celestial Mechanic is online now
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 3,909
Default
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike alexander View Post
[Snip!] And before making such wild statements, have you checked if everyone has pliers?
Don't crush that dwarf, hand me the pliers!
__________________
Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.
Reply With Quote
  #138 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 07:42 PM
Jeff Root Jeff Root is online now
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 3,291
Default
Pliers? We don't have pliers... We don't need no pliers... I don't have to
show you any steenking PLIERS!!
Reply With Quote
  #139 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 08:01 PM
mike alexander's Avatar
mike alexander mike alexander is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: People's Republic of Oregon
Posts: 5,835
Default
Where's George? WHERE'S GEORGE?

What? He's watching old Porgie and Mudhead movies again?

Forward, into The Past!
__________________
The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.
Reply With Quote
  #140 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 08:03 PM
Jeff Root Jeff Root is online now
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 3,291
Default
Paul,

I think the word "ready" in that penultimate sentence (or final grammatically
complete sentence) was an afterthought. I was about to start crying.
I wasn't nearly to start crying. I'm over it now, though.

Every sentence in this post begins with the word "elbow." Which was a
musical instrument capable of playing around corners, an early precursor
of the oboe. The embow and enboe were never produced in any numbers,
and no numbers are known to have been composed for them. A Bach
toccata was transcribed for the embow, but was never performed publicly.
Reply With Quote
  #141 (permalink)  
Old 16-May-2008, 08:22 PM
mike alexander's Avatar
mike alexander mike alexander is offline
Senior Member
  
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: People's Republic of Oregon
Posts: 5,835
Default
People can be tested for nervousness prior to letting them play tennis. Microsoft introduced a software package several years ago (Windows Nervousness/Tennis, or Windows NT for short) addressing this problem. That's what I think it was for, anyway.
__________________
The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.
Reply With Quote