{"id":1115,"date":"2006-09-14T17:49:30","date_gmt":"2006-09-14T22:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/zotz\/"},"modified":"2006-09-14T17:49:30","modified_gmt":"2006-09-14T22:49:30","slug":"zotz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/zotz","title":{"rendered":"ZOTZ!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because I’m an absolute freak, weird phrases stick in my memory for years. For example, there’s a paragraph that’s stuck in my mind from a New Yorker article about Mars exploration<\/a> SIX YEARS AGO:<\/p>\n

“It’s a difficult road to Mars,” Charles said. “There are many years of hard work ahead of us.” Already, though, there’s active discussion within nasa about what kind of astronaut would be best prepared for deep space. “If young,” he continued, “they may be the most fit. But then you run into the problem of radiation, which could zap their gonads, so they would not be able to have kids.” A case could also be made for choosing older astronauts, seasoned by previous missions, for the first Mars voyage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why did it stick out? Because of that line about cosmic rays zapping someone’s gonads. Just thought it was funny.<\/p>\n

Until yesterday. That’s when I received an e-mail from a friend of mine in his mid-60s, in which he wrote<\/p>\n

Sorry I’ve taken so long to get back to you. But yesterday morning at ten, I got my prostate nuked. (They fill you full of painkillers and antispasmodics, then do it — by sticking a microwave coil up your pecker — right in the doctor’s office. Takes an hour — and it’s a bitch!) Supposedly the sucker is now two-thirds the size it was before, and in two or three days I should be able to pee like a normal fellow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have nothing to add to that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because I’m an absolute freak, weird phrases stick in my memory for years. For example, there’s a paragraph that’s stuck in my mind from a New Yorker article about Mars exploration SIX YEARS AGO: “It’s a difficult road to Mars,” Charles said. “There are many years of hard work ahead of us.” Already, though, there’s … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “ZOTZ!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s4C7K-zotz","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1242,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/mars-bitches","url_meta":{"origin":1115,"position":0},"title":"Mars, bitches!","author":"Gil","date":"December 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Gregg Easterbrook writes about the incredibly misguided lunar base initiative: In deadpan style, the New York Times story on the NASA announcement declared, \"The lunar base is part of a larger effort to develop an international exploration strategy, one that explains why and how humans are returning to the moon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":572,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/women-are-from-venus-islamofascists-are-from-mars","url_meta":{"origin":1115,"position":1},"title":"Women are from Venus, Islamofascists are from Mars?","author":"Gil","date":"June 13, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Evidently, Steven Spielberg believes that his new War of the Worlds flick reflects post-9\/11 angst, instead of just being a summertime special effects monstrosity.I think the movie poster shows that we have plenty in common with these aliens: we both like bowling.Meanwhile, this makes me laugh more than the other\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1769,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/is-that-you-streaky","url_meta":{"origin":1115,"position":2},"title":"Is that you, Streaky?","author":"Gil","date":"November 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Men are from Mars, women are from Venus . . . . . . and Siegfried and Roy are from Krypton. This may be the greatest photo I've ever taken.","rel":"","context":"In "Las Vegas"","block_context":{"text":"Las Vegas","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/travel\/las-vegas"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/images\/sigroykrypton.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1655,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/you-want-fries-with-that","url_meta":{"origin":1115,"position":3},"title":"You want fries with that?","author":"Gil","date":"September 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I will gladly link to any site that includes the text, \"Click here for more info linking Twin Tower tragedy to Atlas, Atlantis, 7 - 11& 9-11 Hercules & Mars.\" Just so you know.","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/you-want-fries-with-that#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2075,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-it-is-52608","url_meta":{"origin":1115,"position":4},"title":"What It Is: 5\/26\/08","author":"Gil","date":"May 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"What I'm reading: Lord Jim, Joseph Conrad, and vol. 1 of Cromartie High School, an incredibly funny manga. What I'm listening to: That new Portishead album again. What I'm watching: Kung Fu Hustle, which remains one of the most entertaining flicks of all time, and The Big Lebowski, which I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adventures in Rufus and\/or Otis"","block_context":{"text":"Adventures in Rufus and\/or Otis","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/adventures-in-rufus-and-or-otis"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0016HNOXQ","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2604,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/unrequired-reading-oct-10-2008","url_meta":{"origin":1115,"position":5},"title":"Unrequired Reading: Oct. 10, 2008","author":"Gil","date":"October 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Ready for this week's serving of links? Just click more! Steven Millhauser on the nature of short stories. His novel Edwin Mullhouse is one of David Gates' faves (at least it was 10 or so years ago; that sorta thing can change). Anyone read him or it? * * *\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0679766529","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}