They had to be funded somehow.
Tag: Webcomic
Modern architecture likes to brag that it is able to design and build shapes that people never could before, but my response to that is usually “why would they want to?” And I think the inverse boast is also true: if modern architecture is only possible for modern architects and builders, the great buildings of history need to be recognized as uniquely possible for their ages. Looking at the Great Pyramid of Giza, a simple geometric shape that can easily be drawn on paper, I eventually realized that, while ancient, these primitive mysteries would be impossible to create in today’s world. Perhaps a bad imitation could be made, but consider all that went into their production. Think of the millions of carved stone blocks that would have to have been dragged through the desert and assembled with near-perfect precision. Think of all the laborers it would take to do something like that. And then, think of the time and cost. Who could afford all that? What company or government today could convince so many people to work and make such an expense for this great burial chamber?
It had to be paid for somehow. Maybe this is the ancient forebear of today’s pyramid schemes and timeshare-funded resorts.
I’ve always hated this cliché in movies and TV shows. Here’s my satiric, if stupid, twist on it.
I don’t know if many other people have thought of this. When studying Chinese, I often thought about the structure of their language, how their words are built, and how this prevents them from games of hangman, spelling bees, anagrams, palindromes, etc. If there are any pedants viewing this, yes, technically Chinese speakers could sound out a word by calling off the name of each stroke of the character in order. (Each individual stroke in Chinese has a name. In English, this would be equivalent to “dot,” “slash,” “vertical slash,” “line,” or similar terms.)
I’ve never hit a squirrel. Well, with my car, I’ve never hit a squirrel. I’ve tugged on their tails before, and I threw a ripe walnut at one sitting on a high tree branch and hit it in the head, but that covers it. If you’re wondering about the squirrel I hit with the walnut, I rattled him pretty good, but he kept his grip. I laughed at him and then felt bad about it. Then again, there are so many squirrels around my house that squawk at me when it’s my own yard, I almost think they need to be taken down a peg, too.
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