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rongo rongo
Daemon
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25 + 17 points

Counting by rongo rongo

January 1st, 2011 10:44 AM

INSTRUCTIONS: Count or measure something that has never been counted or measured before. How many CDs can you label with one sharpie? How long does it take for all the ketchup to run out of the bottle? How many times does a trafic light change in an hour? How many licks does it taket to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

What do you wonder about? Find out and let us know.

Bunny Dragon and I set out to investigate the important question of how many items from the Harvard Museum of Natural History's Harry Potter scavenger hunt were more like French Toast or a Spanish Omelet. (If you've never played the French Toast game, with or without the Spanish Omelet variation, well, you might consider going on more road trips.)

We spread a little extra fun around the museum. Quite a few kids and families were doing the scavenger hunt, including one young child who wanted to ask us a question but was too embarrassed. His Dad later came over to ask us if we were students at Hogwarts. We explained that of course we'd been there, but it had been quite a few years since our school days. A different Dad asked if he could get a picture of his young son standing with us, but then the boy was too embarrassed to stand near the funny looking people, so instead Dad got a picture of his older sister with us. It was fun seeing so many kids excited about going around a museum, dragging their parents from one display to the next.

Final tally:
5 more like French Toast (thestral, Nagini, Snape's Patronus, Dobby, Harry's wand)
6 more like Spanish Omelet (invisibility cloak, dragon, Hedwig, werewolf, Ron's boggart, sword of Gryffindor)

Conclusion: The intersection of items in a natural history museum and Harry Potter are surprisingly evenly divided between resembling French Toast or a Spanish Omelet.

- smaller

French Toast? Or a Spanish Omelet?

French Toast? Or a Spanish Omelet?


Rubies

Rubies

The Mineral Hall has an extensive collection of crystals, including rubies (featured in the sword of Gryffindor). We decided that the rubies on display were more like a Spanish Omelet, because there were components (crystals) embedded inside a matrix (rock) in the same way that onions and potatoes are embedded in an omelet.


Tools of the trade

Tools of the trade

The museum is famous for its glass flower collection (which is more accurately a collection of botanically accurate glass plant reproductions).


Harry's wand

Harry's wand

Holly is more like French Toast than a Spanish Omelet, because the holly plant sometimes has berries, and so does French Toast.


Giant spiders have pointy fangs

Giant spiders have pointy fangs

Giant spiders are more like a Spanish Omelet than French Toast, because they are round.


Skeletal horses

Skeletal horses

Thestrals are more like French Toast than a Spanish Omelet, because although the idea sounds kind of disgusting (bread dipped in egg goop?), they turn out to be pretty nice.


Bizarre animals

Bizarre animals

Here is a bonus picture of a bizarre animal.


Dragon fossils

Dragon fossils

Dragons, even fossil specimens, are more like a Spanish Omelet, because they might involve flipping over a high flame.


Big gulp

Big gulp

Large whale skeletons are suspended over displays of stuffed mammals, with birds around a second floor balcony.


Owls

Owls

Owls are more like a Spanish Omelet than French Toast, because they are closer to the essence of an egg.



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posted by Kate Saturday on January 1st, 2011 11:46 PM

you are a hugenormous geek, and it's charming. you're also incredibly knowledgeable, gracious, and generous. respect.

my favorite part of this is the explanations for why things more closely resemble one kind of breakfast.

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posted by rongo rongo on January 2nd, 2011 12:44 PM

Thanks!
When I was explaining this at a NYE party, someone suggested that perhaps I had limited the scope too much by using two different types of breakfast foods, but my feeling was that if I had selected two wildly different objects as standards, there was a good chance that every single museum item would have been closer to the same one of the two.