Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Atlas, Amber, Alcyone and Automobiles


Some interesting stuff I learned today and funny enough, it All starts with the letter "A".
It started when I Asked myself, "What's the big deal About Subaru's? Everybody fucking loves Subaru's. What Am I missing here?".
A while back I heard they were marketing to lesbians, but since I Actually know only one Subaru driving lesbian, I thought I'd figure out if there was something else About them that Attracts Alot of people I know. Which led to the following:

Automobiles: Subaru is the Japanese term identifying the cluster of (the car company says six, but I say seven) stars, known as Pleiades. How they decided to use this term for their name is semi-retarded as far as I can see. They say in 1953, 5 Japanese companies merged to form a new corporation, and that's why their logo is 6 stars that look like Pleiades even though there are 7 stars in this cluster, one for each of the Greek mythological seven sisters. I guess they're being visually literal and taking into account that you can only really see six of the seven. Whatever. Sounds lame to me. Maybe they had a different numerical system in 1953.

Alcyone: One of the seven sisters, sometimes known as Halcyone, which is also another name for the Kingfisher bird. The largest kingfisher is the Laughing Kookaburra, which made me laugh so I had to share. Kingfishers kill their prey by beating it to death, which I also think is funny. Yes I do.

Amber: Amber is Latin for Electrum. Electrum in Greek is Elektron. Another of the seven sisters is Electra, which means 'amber'. Some guy (Thales of Miletus, but who cares?) in 600 BC discovered that a rubbed piece of amber will attract bits of straw, thereby discovering static electricity. So which came first, the chicken or the egg? I don't know what any of this means anymore. Elektron= Electrum= Amber= Static Electricity when rubbed= Electricity= Carmen Electra. That must be it.

Atlas: Of course this led to Atlas, whom I'm embarrased to say I didn't know or remember until today, is the father of the seven sisters.

A
nd that is All I learned today. I still don't get the Subaru thing though.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, our Subaru is cool looking and get us from point A to point B safely (with my help) and I love it. Jenn siad it, I believe it, that setteles it. <---- Donna's new mantra. :)

Anonymous said...

and I cannot edit but there are 2 typos in it so maybe I am not that beleivable.

Anonymous said...

believable duh, more coffee please.

Donna Piranha said...

So is Cousin Jenn a Jason/Jenn combo here? BTW, there are 3, that's three, typos in the first comment. I think you need more than coffee. Hahaahahahhaha, I still love you though.
So what made you pick Subaru? Seriously. I want to understand this.
Most cars will get you safely (with your help) from point A to point B.

Anonymous said...

Nope, just me and my extra pounds! LOL. Ummm, we really liked them, J likes to get back in the hard to travel fishing places and we go to the snow sometimes. The body style of our Outback is good looking we thought and while it is kind of weird to have all wheel drive in the flatlands, it is nice to have that capability when and if you need it. The price was right for our needs and it is rated high in safety. We obviously woulnd't have purchased it if we knew Ehren was on the horizon due to space issues and 3 kids. It's almost paid off and we are looking at the Siennas. Talk about copy cats.

Donna Piranha said...

I think I'd like to see Jason "get back in the hard".

Anonymous said...

You have already, remember? LOL!

Donna Piranha said...

I thought that was a starfish or a buckeye...