Nothing funny about feldspar

Earlier this week, James Henry posted about this Flight of the Conchords video:

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I was listening to my iPod Shuffle in the waiting room while Plagioclase and his mother were in the doctor’s office (she’s improving), when this song came on:

I laughed out loud, because I realized that not only were Flight of the Conchords parodying Pet Shop Boys (which I knew when I saw their video), but they may well have been sending up this song.

And then, since I was the only person who could hear the song (and have the context), I looked around in embarrassment and shut up.

Silent giggles ensued.

This Week’s Challenge: Think of a six-letter word ending in a vowel that names something worn outdoors. Change the vowel to a “G” and you’ll name a popular outdoor activity. What activity is it?

Hint: “something worn outdoors” by confident women.

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I’m watching a lecture series on DVD (The Teaching Company’s Great World Religions: Hinduism). In the second lecture, the professor, Mark W. Muesse, talks about how “cleanliness” isn’t necessarily related to hygiene, at least not in the context of “clean vs. unclean” items such as pork or other taboos.

He then goes on to talk about how “cleanliness” is valid only in context. He says (and I paraphrase, since I’m not quick at transcribing stuff), “If I’m eating salad, the salad is ‘clean’ on my plate, it’s clean on my fork, it’s clean in my mouth, but if I drop it on my tie, it is suddenly unclean.”¹

I wonder if the five-second-rule counts.

1. I’ve heard a similar progression of “clean vs. unclean” involving spitting into a cup. I think I prefer the salad version.↩