a reasonably famous piece of hong kong cinema released in 1978, when the martial arts craze was still going relatively strong. the domestic popularity of the film was such that the central cast was propelled to significant local fame

the plot runs as such: the aged master of the poison clan once had five students, each trained to fight like a different kind of venomous animal: the quick-handed centipede, the flexible snake, the stingy scorpion, the really-good-at-climbing-walls lizard, and the, um, *indestructible* toad. however, this aged master is now on death's doorstoop, and he is haunted by a dream that one or more of these students have used his teachings for evil. he calls on his newest, youngest, sixth student to go to the nearby village and investigate to see which, if any, of the five are guilty, which is complicated by the fact that all the students wore masks and their identities are secret.

in case you're curious (but not curious enough to actually watch the movie): scorpion is evil, centipede is a willing accomplice, snake is an unwilling accomplice, toad is murdered and lizard is a hero who teams up with the main character.

When you are above

(adj.) describing something which appears cobbled together from unrelated components, like a quilt made by grandmother, a monster made by frankenstein or a car made by an albanian

(n.) a repository for the unwell, so that their unwellness does not become a source of distress for those whose unwellness is easier to conceal.

(n.) a comic presented to its audience through the power of the web. the web provides a platform on which comics need not be subject to the gimlet eye and cruel iron fist of the newspaper syndicate, thus freeing webcomic creators to fully realize their true creative vision (usually furry porn)

(also: pantaloons)

(n.) an online fashion shop platform, or short for depopulation. take your pick.

There are only two tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it.
(also: life)
(also: getting what you want)

Expression of opinion by means of a ballot. The right of suffrage (which is held to be both a privilege and a duty) means, as commonly interpreted, the right to vote for the man of another man's choice, and is highly prized. Refusal to do so has the bad name of "incivism." The incivilian, however, cannot be properly arraigned for his crime, for there is no legitimate accuser. If the accuser is himself guilty he has no standing in the court of opinion; if not, he profits by the crime, for A's abstention from voting gives greater weight to the vote of B. By female suffrage is meant the right of a woman to vote as some man tells her to. It is based on female responsibility, which is somewhat limited. The woman most eager to jump out of her petticoat to assert her rights is first to jump back into it when threatened with a switching for misusing them.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) the act of relieving someone of their most pressing burden

(n.) a contradiction that, once really accepted and explored and understood, reveals a deeper truth. but, as they say, it's turtles all the way down, so don't get cocky now. your deeper truth probably (99.9999% of the time) leans on an even deeper truth.

(also: koan)
(also: thesis-antithesis-synthesis)
(also: turtles all the way down)

(double U) has, of all the letters in our alphabet, the only cumbrous name, the names of the others being monosyllabic. This advantage of the Roman alphabet over the Grecian is the more valued after audibly spelling out some simple Greek word, like epixoriambikos. Still, it is now thought by the learned that other agencies than the difference of the two alphabets may have been concerned in the decline of "the glory that was Greece" and the rise of "the grandeur that was Rome." There can be no doubt, however, that by simplifying the name of W (calling it "wow," for example) our civilization could be, if not promoted, at least better endured.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) see currency, medium of exchange, storehouse of value, moolah, simoleons, shekels, dinero, cash. something designated as having value equivalent to a certain amount of goods or services; this designated value is considered one of the lies that forms a central pillar of civilization.

an indisputable truth that cannot be argued about, as opposed to an opinion, which is subjective, and pointless to argue about.

A poet regarded with indifference or disesteem.

---

The rimer quenches his unheeded fires,
The sound surceases and the sense expires.
Then the domestic dog, to east and west,
Expounds the passions burning in his breast.
The rising moon o'er that enchanted land
Pauses to hear and yearns to understand.
—Mowbray Myles
(also: rime)
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(v.) involving groups of up to thousands at a time, spreading like wildfire across Europe. the dancing could continue on for hours, days, and apparently even months. people would collapse from exhaustion and injuries (often fatal). adults and children alike.
this mass phenomena abruptly stopped after the 17th century.

One of the most well-known major outbreaks took place in Aachen, Germany in 1374, just several decades after the Black Death swept across Europe. Another particularly notable outbreak occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace in 1518.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania
https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/mysterious-case-medieval-dance-mania-001838

(also: ecstatic dance)
(also: whirling dervishes)

the belief that fetus is a person, but that it's okay to let people die

(n.) a force. the water we swim through, in every conscious and unconscious moment, and take woefully for granted.

(also: death)
(also: this is water)

(n.) those who inhabit the netherlands. also the same place as holland, just so there's no confusion

in many ways, the luckiest and the dankest people in the world

a star begins its life as a nebula, a large ionized gaseous cloud that eventually coalesces and ignites.

after some millions of years of life, the star then 'dies;' either it simply dwindles away to a white dwarf and then a frigid black dwarf, or it lights up and explodes into a cosmic inferno known as a supernova. when a supernova finally clears, all that remains is a black hole.

black holes consist of a star's mass compressed into an infinitesimal point, creating such a tremendous gravitational pull that light cannot escape and the very fabric of spacetime is warped to the breaking point like a saranwrap trampoline that's had a bowling ball dropped on it.

stephen hawking invented them, or something.