[Wonderful Labs] WONDERS AND SENSE

[Wonderful Labs]

Dear Wonderbuns,

	What is the origin of a piggy bank?  Why a pig (aside from the obvious
symbol of greed/gluttony)?  What would you use instead?

Sincerely,
The Big Bad Wolf
___________________
Dear Blow Hard,

	The piggy bank began as tribute to U.S. President William Howard Taft,
one of the first American leaders to swallow half-dollars whole. 
 
	What sort of vessel would Mister Wonderful use to collect spare change,
aside from an old mason jar on the bookshelf?  My first instinct is
towards a sort-of "toolbox bank," to remind people that money shouldn't
be an end in itself.  But in the end, I believe my personal Pharaoh's
Tomb of gimcrackery demands something more along the lines of a
heart-shaped bank.  Only put your money in your heart's desires, that's
what that says.

	Or, it says that cash is the metaphorical equivalent of cholesterol. 
Take your pick.

	Pigs, I should mention, only acquired their "greedy" stereotype after
the fall of the Berlin Windmill.  Gorbachicken and the other progressive
Two-Legs sought to reform the Soviet Farm with Grassnost and
Bearstroika, but after hardline pigs failed to sustain their 1991 coup,
the Commonwealth of Independent Farms arose.  All the long simmering
resentments against pigs were then unleashed, along with some rather
rude stories about housing conditions.

	That's the second Orwell reference this week and it's only Tuesday
morning.  What does that tell you, Mr. and Mrs. USA?  



	It tells *me* that I haven't done a book report since 8th grade.

	No matter.  I've still done plenty of reading since.  Well, turning
pages.  Be honest: holding up pages.  With one hand.  But I want to
assure the doctoral committee that I saw the movies.  On fast-forward,
mostly.  Through the dialogue. You know.  Anyway.  Point is.  I have my
own Laboratory.


*********************
WONDERFUL LABS - Like A Ham And Super-Genius Sandwich Without The Bread
Or Ham
*********************

Mister Wonderful Recommends: Writing from the hip.  Not only are these
guys writing good stuff, they're writing important stuff.  Not only are
they writing important stuff, but three of them are from Texas.  The
world continues to shift and amaze.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030326-081450-8569r
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030324-051037-9961r
http://www.jimhightower.com/
http://www.gregpalast.com/
http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=miv

-- 
You can lead a Sarcastic Fringehead to water, but you can't make him a
drunken love god without more effort.

	"If you're a kid living in an 
	environment where you feel alien 
	most of the time, and you suddenly 
	see this guy on telly in a catsuit 
	with no eyebrows putting his arm 
	around another man, it's incredible."

		-Boy George on David Bowie, 
		"Uncut," March 2003


**Worksheds**
See it in stereo
http://www.wonderfullabs.com/tempe.html
Feel the magic
http://www.livejournal.com/~ideaspace
Listen to the colors
http://www.cafeshops.com/apotheosis