Whenever I find myself loathing humanity, I like to binge watch animal rescue videos.
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This is a fact that always amuses me. The actual name for the spikes at the end of a dinosaur’s tail is a “thagomizer”. This name comes from a Far Side cartoon. Paleontologists saw the cartoon are realized there wasn’t actually a name for it and they began using thagomizer. It’s now become the official name.
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And just to ruin the childhoods of watchers of Road Runner cartoons, coyotes average 23 mph faster running than road runners do.
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That’s on straight-aways, of course, where rocket-powered roller skates are at their most useful.
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No joke. The term was picked up initially by Kenneth Carpenter, then a paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, who used the term when describing a fossil at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting in 1993.
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Yep, that sounds like Ken. He is a huge Far Side fan. He was also one of the first palaeontologists to break with the idea that dinosaurs were slow, lumbering, stupid creatures. He, along with Bob Bakker and a few others, were early proponents of the idea that dinos were very active and some were possibly even warm-blooded.
I knew Ken for many years until he moved from Denver to Montana.
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So, most people know “spatchcock” refers to a chicken that’s been dressed, split, and basically flattened for quicker broiling.
But I just learned today that “spitchcock” refers to an eel that’s been split and broiled.
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I did not know that. I guess I must now turn in my Most People membership card. I have been relegated down to Some People status.
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Okay, so I’m very very tired, but I read that and thought, “Wait a minute… I thought that was a badminton thing?”
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Apologies! I’ll rephrase as “people who have watched all episodes of Good Eats may know…”
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Shuttlecock, spatchcock and now spitchcock.
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You forgot babcock.
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You gotta remember that “most people” usually doesn’t include yourself.
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I know a lot of Toronto fans who would love to forget Babcock.
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They are, but in dogs the technical term is mlem, not blep. 
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Want some real randomness? I’ve been watching the Royal Ascot races this week, and they have a VERY strict dress code (like, to the size of the hats and everything). It’s all dependent on which part of the track you’re in. Found it fascinating, so here you go.
Hope you have a top hat, gentlemen!
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Good news for any test subjects that get the day off:
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Spurlock? With large fries, please
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