July 17 2021 - the PhDs in the Darwin Awards

 

I found a number of Darwin Award "Survivors" or "Members" with PhDs.  That is absolutely ironic as Doctor of Philosophy means "love of wisdom" from the original Greek.  Consider that 50% of PhDs have faculty positions so are in charge of creating intelligence and wisdom in the next generation.  So irony seems appropriate for people with PhDs carrying out activities that result in Darwin Awards. Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honour, so the stories are written humorously. Each story has a catchy headline/name to identify it. There is a 2006 comedy film, The Darwin Awards, written and directed by Finn Taylor.  It was based on the website and many of the Darwin Awards stories. I do think that the story below would be an excellent candidate for a movie - The Crazy Darwin-bound Professor.  This one is an unconfirmed entry.  This is the World's Best At-Risk Survivor. Let an amused daughter tell you about her sire. (2009) This weekend was the final straw. Being an extremely cost-conscious person, Dad decided that putting half a can of varnish in the toaster oven to liquefy it was the cheapest approach. You guessed it--the stuff caught fire! I found him in front of the flaming oven contemplating picking up the can with his bare hands. Two-foot flames were shooting out of it, causing me to utter a line spoken far too many times in our house: <I>"What in God's name were you thinking?"</I> Father's attempts at Darwin Fame have included: 1) Tipping a small boat on Cayuga Lake while fishing, almost drowning my brother and himself. At the time, I thought Mom was being too hard on him when she said it was his own fault that he was in the hospital. I have since revised my judgment. 2) Removing a branch from a locust tree by climbing a ladder with a running chainsaw. The branch was not tied off properly, so it fell onto a shed roof that he was trying to avoid. 3) Rolling a lawn tractor on top of himself by mowing a roadside ditch at a steep angle, resulting in a broken rib--and poison ivy for me, because I spent ten minutes thrashing around in the vegetation while we tried to roll the tractor off Dad. Again. 4) Fourth but not last, lighting a fire in a basement trash burner that was not connected to an exhaust pipe. The fire department loves us. 5) Wandering off to watch the evening news after starting some water to boil in an aluminum dutch oven. Note that the Merck Index lists the melting point of aluminum as 660 degrees C. When Mom discovered the situation, the pot walls were glowing bright red, the bottom was melted out, and the kitchen wall was smoking. 6) Testing the efficacy of old Nitroglycerin tablets by swallowing three at once to see if they still worked. I did say he was cheap, er, cost conscious. The EMS came to the rescue because his blood pressure had dropped to an undesirable level and he was passed out at the kitchen table. Mere minutes before, he was planning a drive to the donut shop. Thank God he didn't make it to the car before his blood pressure dropped! He may not yet have used up nine lives, but my father, the PhD, appears to have a running start on Darwin infamy. Taken from the Darwin Awards here:  https://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid2009-14.html About the Author Could there be more from his daughter?   I found her identify on a repeat of the entry on another site:  (Thank Stephanie Schaaf for sharing her eccentric father with us.) I subsequently found Stephanie at Cornell University in Ithaca.  This makes sense as Cayuga Lake is one of the Finger Lakes in upper New York State.  Sadly, I found both her and her father's obituaries.  Her father was Herbert M. Schaaf.  Of course, there is no mention of his escapades or of Stephanie's coverage of them. Today's image comes from Brian's garden in Toronto.  It is filled with Day Lilies, and this is one of his own hybrids.

Lighting the Christmas Tree

Wondering about the interesting news of 2019, a "Noel" retitled "Noeel" Christmas story popped up:     "An electric eel in Chattanooga, Tenn., is sparking a little holiday cheer.  Every time Miguel Wattson the electric eel releases a jolt of electricity, a festively-decorated Christmas tree next to his tank at the Tennessee Aquarium flickers and glows.  "There is a sensor directly in his exhibit that picks up when he produces electricity," Aquarist Kimberly Hurt, who cares for the electric eel, tells NPR.  The aquarium had already connected the sensor to a soundboard and a light board to correspond with Wattson's bursts, says Hurt. "It'll light up the board. It also does make some noise so people can hear when he's producing electricity." So it wasn't a huge leap to also have Wattson's sensors connected to a Christmas tree, for a seasonal spin on the display." More on the story and video footage of the electric eel here. Brian's lily field faces a farm house and garage. I got to wondering what it might look like with a scenic view - facing west to mountains.  Here's an interpretation.

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Lilycrest Garden in Full Bloom!

Welcome to this Monday!

My brother, Dr. Brian Bergman, is a lily hybridizer with a large hybridizing and growing field near St. Catharines. The name of the field and hybridizing activity is Lilycrest Garden.

One of his hybrids is named Blue Flash, as it has a blue luminescence on the petals and this image captures that special quality. We were in the field yesterday, amongst the tens of thousands of blooms. This is the prime season of lily bloom right now! For more information on his work go to:

http://www.lilycrestgarden.shutterfly.com/

If you want to see everything in lilies there is to see, then next weekend is for you! Running on July 11th and 12th is the Ontario Regional Lily Society's annual flower show. It's held at the Royal Botanical Gardens on Plains Road, in the main atrium. There will be over 300 lily stems on display from members' gardens. The show always contains a floral competition with beautiful displays using lilies. For more information on the show times and events, go to their website at:

http://www.orls.ca

I hope you come out to the show and enjoy the RBG and its gardens!