At Your Leisure

Culture

by William Hirsh | Sep. 19, 2013

Word of the Week:

Ubiety (noun): the state of existing.

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Sentence: Mark pondered his ubiety while dozing off in his Camera Obscura 101 course.

Quote of the Week:

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”

-Mark Twain

Reporter Recommends: Take a Page From Bokonism

Anyone familiar with the classic Kurt Vonnegut novel “Cat’s Cradle” will have heard of the fictional religion of Bokonism that is peppered throughout. Created by the character Bokonon when he was shipwrecked on the island state of San Lorenzo, the calypso-ridden religion enthralled the islanders and was a taboo used to keep them at peace with one another.

One of the most noteworthy philosophies that came out of Bokonism was the concept of the karass, a group of people called together cosmically even when the links between them are not evident.

Now with that in mind, apply it to the world around you. Look to the people you rely on the most and think about how you came in contact with them. Then, imagine who you might rely on in the future. In a lot of ways, this is the only beginning for your karass. As the years go by, never forget those people who left an impression on who you are today, but also be ready to accept more people into your life. You might not know when someone will come to your rescue during the “busy, busy, busy” times in your life — or, translated from Bokonon, the most complicated.

Stream of Facts:

While a mule is the result of cross breeding a female horse and a male donkey, a hinny is when a male horse and female donkey are bred together. Hinnies are generally more horselike than the typical donkey but are unable to reproduce.

Hybrid animals like the hinny and mules cannot reproduce because they have different numbers of chromosomes. The mule, for instance only has 63 whereas the donkey has 62 and a horse has 64. This differences in chromosomes interferes with the reproductive development of these animals.

In the state of Washington, people can settle their differences by squaring off in public. This is legal under the mutual combat law. Fighting in public is generally discouraged though.

Harrison Ford, while seemingly gruff in public interviews, actually suffers from public speaking anxiety. Its root might be from the mixed success he experienced in Hollywood, which resulted in him taking up carpentry.