The March of Progress: Aphros 2007

corndog

Years of laboratory and statistical analysis have led to consensus in the scientific community on the subject of corndogs. The Corndog Tastiness Theory stood up to every scrutinizing test devisable and has now been declared a law of nature, taking a place alongside motion and thermodynamics to form the triumvirate pinnacle of scientific achievement.

There is still some dispute on the development of corndogs. Why did they only appear in the late Nineteenth Century? Was there some physical mechanism suppressing their creation? Hardnosed researchers, resembling film noir detectives more than scientists, have at last untangled this daunting enigma.

Axes & Alleys spoke with Professor Samantha Blockart, whose latest paper (co-authored with graduate student Sydney Favre) has sent shockwaves through the laboratories, universities and research-o-toriums of the world. It’s hard to imagine that this fedora-wearing, trench coat wrapped scientific maven, unassuming in most regards, could have finally solved this riddle through her Anti-Corndog Development Radiation Hypothesis, which states that a previously unknown form of energy created by the existence of Vikings prevented the creation of the delectable treat.

“It’s impossible to believe that a wonderful, tasty, self-contained comestible such as the corndog would not have been invented earlier in human history,” says Blockart. “Early peoples had meat and corn, and could easily have created the corndog. Yet all the evidence points to the Fletcher brothers introducing the batter-dipped meat sausage on a stick in 1942.” She concluded that “the means to do this existed beforehand, so why were they not created?”

“See, after looking at this proud progenitor of the moist, juicy dogs we enjoy today, it hit me: corndogs weren’t developed until after Scandinavians stopped going viking, creating polities in their homelands and colonies across the sea. Somehow, Viking warriors prevented corndog development. Nowhere in the sagas do we find a king outlawing corndog research, so it follows that the Scandinavians didn’t even know they were standing in the way of corndogs. The only answer is that by plundering monasteries and raping women from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, they were creating an emission of some sort of energy that prevented corndogs. It’s the only possible explanation.”

For five years, Blockart and her graduate research team have investigated every site of Scandinavian incursion and settlement from Norway and Denmark, to Eastern England and even the old midden heaps of Dublin. They spent several seasons cataloguing artefacts and scanning them with advanced equipment such as eyes and hands.

Their findings have been overwhelmingly positive, as not a single fragment found throughout the Scandinavian regions has any detectable trace of Anti-Corndog radiation, proving that in the ten centuries following the cessation of large scale raids by Scandinavians, all the energy had dissipated. So powerful was this energy that it took more than a thousand years to fade, allowing the development of corndogs to begin in the 1920s.

Mr. Favre said that we should all thank Christianity for the corndog “Without the centralizing authority of the Church, as well as the cultural influence and increased military strength of the Northern and Western Europeans, the Scandinavians wouldn’t have discovered how much nicer it was to settle down, do some farming, and enjoy intercourse with willing, monogamous partners.”

After pulling a fresh corndog from the warming carousel Dr. Blockart has running in her office, Mr. Favre concluded “because of that, their Anti-Corndog Development Radiation eventually disappeared, leading to us being able to enjoy wonderful, wonderful corndogs.” At which point, Mr. Favre took a bite of his corndog with gusto.

My Brunch with Dirk Benedict

dirk

Dirk Benedict came over on Sunday, mid-afternoon. He didn’t take haste in coming, for our time together is leisurely. In answering his knock, I opened the door to find that dashing man upon my verandah. Standing tall and full of life, he sent vibrations near and far.

With bloody maries already at hand I invited him to sit. Oh did we wile away the time, sipping at our cocktails; discussing Aristophanes and macroeconomics. Dirk Benedict, I say, is a masterful economist. with command of theory, practical experience and a rapacious imagination. Later we happily switched to sangria.

I gently bade him enter now, for a fine repast I had awaiting. His eyes were twinkling as he dug right in. His mane is cherubic when he’s eating rye toast and fried ham, and almost laughing at his eggs benedict. Dirk Benedict enjoys that jape, no matter how many times it’s done.
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Gardening Tips with Dave Vendel

Helpful Hints for the Amateur Domicile-Adjacent-Area Horticulturalist

Dave Vendel
Dave Vendel is a Soil and Granule Science expert and member of the Department of the Interior’s Super Soil Action Awareness Team.

Howdy Guys, guess what? It’s spring again and you know what that means. It’s time to dig out that hoe and get those clods a turning. That’s right, it’s time again for all of us gardeners to wage our little wars against nature. So, this month, I’ll be offering some useful information for dealing with those pesky spring gardening problems.

Log Jam
Many small lawns throughout the region occasionally suffer from an affliction termed “log jam.” This unsightly mass of logging castoffs makes many a block party difficult, if not impossible. Log jam makes lawns difficult to traverse, interact upon and mow. Be wary of the snakeoil merchants plying chemical-based solutions to this dilemma. There are no legal controls of such a nature. One may reduce the severity and frequency of the condition by posting armed sentries to control illegal lumber dumps.

Concrete Pest
Check your new concrete walkways for attacks by the orange blood fly. These large flies resemble small flies and will begin laying eggs in your concrete minutes after pouring. An unchecked infestation can result in a pockmarked or wholly non-functional walkway. After the eggs hatch, the giant larvae tunnel out of the con-crete, leaving their molted, gooey exoskeletons on undamaged portions of your lawn walkway. The best solution is to remain vigilant in your yard between March 17 and April 30. Keep a bat handy.

Read the Label
Read the labels of artificial lawn generation products carefully and thoroughly before purchase. Many companies make wild claims about nanotechnology, genetically-engineered “mini-gardeners” or other such artificial methods of lawn creation. Buyer beware! Most such methods do not work, contrary to your intuition.

Hand-Pick Bugs
Look, bugs have been around for so much longer than humanity that you’re just not going to get rid of them, no matter what kind of chemical or pseudo-organic methods you use. The best bet is to hand-pick the type of bug of which you wish to have an infestation. You’ll be better off knowing that you made the choice best for you and the bugs will have a healthy sense of self-worth.

Spring Cleanup for Yards and Gardens
Contrary to the “advice” offered in Poor Richard’s “Almanac,” the home yard or garden is not the best place to dis-pose of deceased relatives, friends or strangers. Corpses can make lawns bumpy and invite pests in gardens. Remember: no corpse, healthy gorse!

Tip o' the Day