The Wordsmith's Forge

Inherited predisposition for higher muscle strength may protect against common morbidities

A study showed that a genetic predisposition for higher muscle strength predicts a longer lifespan and a lower risk for developing common diseases. This is a highly comprehensive international study on hereditary muscle strength and its relationship to morbidity. The genome and health data of more than 340,000 Finns was used in the research.


Notice that higher strength (subclinical super-strength) correlates with both longer lifespan and stronger constitution / immune system.  Over in Terramagne, soups often have those latter traits alongside their primary superpower(s).  So now I wonder if this population also has higher calorie needs and/or faster healing. 

Ultra-hard material to rival diamond discovered

Scientists have solved a decades-long puzzle and unveiled a near unbreakable substance that could rival diamond, as the hardest material on earth, a study says. Researchers found that when carbon and nitrogen precursors were subjected to extreme heat and pressure, the resulting materials -- known as carbon nitrides -- were tougher than cubic boron nitride, the second hardest material after diamond.

Possibly a route to dymondine, which is a super-hard crystallized carbon.

A Satanic Abortion Clinic Named After The Mother Of Supreme Court Justice Alito Is Open in New Mexico

The group made it clear why this isn't a troll but is, in fact, an accredited 'religious medical services arm'.

“TST is proud to expand reproductive options for our members. This is just the beginning,” said Erin Helian, Executive Director of Campaigns. “We will remain steadfast as we continue the fight to uphold reproductive justice in the United States.”


See a reference to the Satanic Church of Informed Consent Center for Life Choices in "A Haven That Purifies Emotions" and its setting notes.  The door includes a sign: Visit Your Body, Your Temple -- our Satanic Abortion and Sexual Care Clinic downtown.

The plan was to visit the orchard for apple cider and then get supper at Naf Naf. 

Sadly, the apple cider isn't available yet.  :(  We did find a nice acorn squash for a future supper.  The orchard has changed hands a bit, with some relatives buying out others so it's still in the same family.  The current owners want to expand by adding an antique/gift shop, a cider tasting bar, hard cider, a petting zoo, and other attractions.  Hopefully much of this work can be done during the downtime, since the orchard is mostly open from mid-July through November.  

We drove around Greenup for a while.  It's not big or fancy, but it has some serious perks, like a ton of affordable housing.  We drove through one working class neighborhood that butted up against wooded creeks and a neighborhood park -- the kind of territory that usually has bigger houses for professionals.  This was a jumble of small homes and older farmhouses.  There was one cluster of brick duplexes around a courtyard, and we found another cluster of the same design elsewhere.  This may be a case where a developer simply repeated a good design, but sometimes a town will buy blueprints and pre-approve them for anyone who wants to build, which saves time and money.  Another thing we saw in several places was a set of small red sheds as a storage facility, which is a lot easier to fit into whatever site you have than one big building.  Just little things that reminded me of Terramagne.

We got supper at Naf Naf.  They do a great chicken schwarma.  This time the chop salad had more tomato than usual.  Hummus busters later tonight!  :D

Afterwards we stopped at Dairy Queen because we wanted to try the oreo brownie sundae.  It has soft serve vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, marshmallow cream, crushed cookies, and a brownie.  The flavors blend really well, and the textures are interesting.  It's just a bit challenging to get all the parts on a spoon.  Apparently there's another one done with toffee bits and caramel.  I'd love to try it too.  But I'd love to have this one again.  I may starve to death between two bales of hay.

My partner Doug tipped me to this hilarious breakup song.  WARNING: Do not watch with mouth full!

Meanwhile over in Terramagne, this is a supervillain song.  Obviously.  :D

Today I did some research for advance shopping, since my birthday is next month. These are things that caught my eye.

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This video shows a magic trick using several Quechua words. 

It's the kind of thing that's common in Terramagne -- people using little bits of heritage language in entertainment.  Seeing it here makes me smile.

This short film is adorable. Also a little slice of Terramagne.

I know, the kid looks like a dick at first. There's a reason he's slow on the uptake.

You can watch the movie Prey in Comanche. All of it. Or English or Spanish if you prefer.

This is the culmination of decades of dogged activism by folks like Sacheen Littlefeather and other tribal folks in the entertainment business nagging and yapping at Hollywood to hire more native actors, use reasonably accurate costumes and set dressings per tribe, make positive portrayals, and feature indigenous languages. \o/

Now, it's not the first movie to be shot entirely in a native language. There have been others -- I've even seen clips from some, they pop up periodically when people are talking about language revitalization. Insofar as I know, though, it's the first famous commercial one. The others have been indie productions, often from film departments at tribal colleges or cultural organizations. Plus a few where a native soundtrack was tacked on after the fact, as an extra on DVDs, because some DVD producers like to cram in a dozen or more alternate soundtracks. It makes a great resource for foreign languages. And I will bet you that Prey makes it into most if not all Comanche language classes where the students are old enough not to freak over a dark science fiction movie.

Also, this is hilarious and adorable and well-deserved:

"We have a traditional thing that we do that you see at the end of the movie, and it's called a lu-lu, Northern Plains calls it a le-le, and you’re like, 'Lu-lu-lu-lu,'" Myers adds, trilling her syllables as she demonstrates. "But now Indian people are calling Hulu 'Hulu-lu-lu-lu' for doing this, which I think is so cool."

It's like a little slice of Terramagne. They have a lot more heritage language films and diversity onstage. <3

Today we went up to Amish territory.  It was a pretty drive, lots of horses and cows outside.  It drizzled a bit in the evening again.

We stopped at several stores.  Among the things we found were peanut butter powerballs, honey-roasted peanut butter, and pumpkin pie spice.

I was amused to see a sign for the local wildlife viewing park.  With dinosaurs.  In Terramagne, some of the roadside attractions actually have  dinosaurs.  This seemed to refer to a museum.

The restaurant we wanted for supper wasn't open on Mondays.  :/  So we picked a different one.  We had soft chicken tacos that were quite delicious.  Finally we went to Dairy Queen for dessert.  Malted caramel milkshake was good.  :D