Categories
Meaning of Life Scholarship/Erudition

Categorization of Fools

Life is a river that simply flows. – Eternalised In a moment of self reflection, the entire WLBOTT board meditated on the question “What Kind of Fool Am I?” We got our research department on this topic, toot-sweet! They found a very illuminating video, by a the creater Eternalised. Eternalised identifies different archetypal fools: In […]

Categories
Meaning of Life Scholarship/Erudition TechnoBLOTT

1-0000000000000-666-0000000000000-1

Gentle People, if you are like the staff at WLBOTT, you probably spend several hours a day memorizing large prime numbers. Last night we came across a doozy…. 1000000000000066600000000000001 1-0000000000000-666-0000000000000-1 One, followed by 13 zeros, followed by 666, followed by 13 zeros, followed by a one. The number is also a palindromic prime (same forward […]

Categories
Book Club Gods, Goddesses, and Mythical Heros Lasting Love Scholarship/Erudition

Major and Minor Daisies

In the WLBOTT canon, there are three major Daisies and a plethora of minor Daisies. The three major Daisies are [A peripherally related flower is found in Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, which features anti-gerasone, a substance made from mud and dandelions that prevents aging. The world gets even more crowded […]

Categories
Book Club Scholarship/Erudition

A We Bit of Confusion

Elder DZ was excitedly describing a book he had liberated from the UCSB book swap, called We. This book swap is a regular feature amongst institutions of academic freedom. They are sometimes referred to as: When in serious pursuit of free knowledge, Elder DZ often brings his Druid entourage, his retinue, his emotional support chickens, […]

Categories
Austria Meaning of Life Scholarship/Erudition Vienna

A Blott about Blots

Today we begin a 27-part series on one of WLBOTT’s most requested topic: Sin. We did a brief survey of all major religious traditions, and they are pretty much against it. But before we begin the Nuts and Bolts of Sin, we decided to give our AI companions a Rorschach test. Using only the word […]

Categories
Fine Arts Food History Scholarship/Erudition

The Ukrainian Tater Tot (part 3)

[Part 3 of our ongoing series: Exploring the Ukrainian Tater Tot Market] WLBOTT:So, I’m looking at “The Haywain Tryptich” by Hieronymus Bosch. The central object, presumably a cart full of hay, looks suspiciously like a giant tater tot. Thoughts? Elder G:You have just unlocked an art-historical conspiracy! Honestly, if you squint a little (and maybe […]

Categories
Fine Arts Scholarship/Erudition TOTOT

Out, Damned Spot. Macbeth: Act 5, scene 1, lines 30–34

WLBOTT:Good morning, G. I’ve got an idea. It’s probably a terrible idea, but what the heck. Elder G:Good morning, Elder JZ! Lay it on me. The best terrible ideas often have a certain… twist of brilliance. WLBOTT:Okay…. So, I went to first grade in Montgomery, Alabama. I remember quite distinctly learning how to read using […]

Categories
Germany Mildly Interesting Music Scholarship/Erudition

The Second Sleep

Let’s talk about the historical phenomenon known as “segmented sleep” or “biphasic sleep.” It was quite common in Europe, especially before the Industrial Revolution. Let’s step back those 350 years and take a look at what was happening in the candlelit hush of a winter night. First Sleep and Second Sleep: A Forgotten Rhythm In […]

Categories
California Scholarship/Erudition Will there be a buffet?

Cheese Gate

An esteemed Elder was…. steamed. Celebrating the beginning of a new semester, the faculty threw a mixer. Our Elder summarized the event in two words:“Cubed Velveeta.” Let’s step back and look at the UCSB Chancellor, for ultimately, he is lactose-responsible. Let’s put all these numbers in context. Let’s assume Prof. Yang works 40 hours per […]

Categories
Agriculture Fashion Scholarship/Erudition Texas

Troubling Tassel Turmoil

Following yesterday’s detasseling BLOTT, we would be remiss if we failed to relay the tassel confusion that occurred at Texas A&M University several years ago. As the official Event Coordinator for Texas A&M‘s commencement, Callahan ‘Cactus Jack’ Kleberg had one job: order tassels. Being an agricultural school, Cactus Jack thought they were corn tassels. You […]