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Cake day: July 9th, 2023

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  • Septimaeus@infosec.pubtoScience Memes@mander.xyzTitle
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    16 days ago

    Right, I suspect this is voicing a much older consensus about effective storytelling and good art:

    If you want to send a message, use Western Union. — Frank Capra (director of message-heavy films like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life)

    Given his filmography, it’s pretty clear Capra didn’t mean that politics should be avoided when telling a story, just that the story should come first. The idea is that any “message” a writer might convey will naturally be embedded in the stories they tell, whereas writers who attempt to construct a story around a particular message tend to fail at delivering either.





  • Well-outside my wheelhouse mate, but since it’s been 3 days I’m likely all you’ll get…

    Patellar reflex.

    It’s a [muscle] stretch [-correction] reflex (sympathetic response) which occurs in the bones protecting the spinal cord (vertebrae depicted in OP) of many animals that have them.

    Your doctor activates this reflex on purpose by gently striking an exposed tendon beneath the patella (the knee bone) to observe the strength of the response.

    A lack of it (the joke above) is always abnormal and merits further investigation, as it could suggest neuropathy or injury to the central nervous system.