August 24, 2006

We need a new mnemonic

After making a point of saying that he was "right" and that Pluto would remain a planet, Colbert's not going to be a happy camper over the ninth planet losing its status. But that's his problem. Ours is coming up with a new mnemonic to remember the names of the planets since "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nice Pickles" has become moot.

Now the obvious fix is to come up with a new food for "N." "Just Served Us Noodles." Or "Nuggets." Or "My Very Ethnic Mother Just Served us Nachos." But you know what? I think it's time we come up with something completely different. Like "Motor Vehicles Everywhere Must Jump Sharks Until November." Or something equally idiotic.

Go to it.

PAD

Posted by Peter David at August 24, 2006 07:02 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commenting
Comments
Posted by: David Van Domelen at August 24, 2006 07:10 PM

Many Vehemently Enraged, Maddened Just Since Union Nipped (Pluto)

Not that the Mi-Go care what we classify Yuggoth as.

Posted by: Jay at August 24, 2006 07:22 PM

Actually I think we should just bitchslap whoever was in charge of making this idiotic decision to suddenly invalidate decades of public education science class.

Posted by: Matt Adler at August 24, 2006 07:43 PM

Miracle Vaccine Engineered, Medic Jonas Salk Uplifts Nation

Posted by: Will "Scifantasy" Frank at August 24, 2006 07:48 PM

Jay: Huh? How does this "invalidate decades of public education science classes"? verything you learned in biology still applies. So does everything from chem, 99% of physics and probably 90+% of astronomy. It's not as if there was much study done about Pluto anyway.

The fields which took the biggest hit are astrology and numerology, but since the alternative was raising the number of planets to twelve, they were doomed anyway. Besides, they're not science.

I've been half-following the entire planetary discussion, and while I can understand the people having fun getting into the spirit of argument (John Scalzi, for example), I really don't get the people who have been acting as if this was the greatest space-related issue of our times, and would have any measurable effect on our lives.

Posted by: Gracecat at August 24, 2006 07:59 PM

Technically it only changes very basic science for the older elementary kids. It certainly doesn't begin to invalidate any science. ALL science changes. As our technology progresses, so do the text books. Or else students across the country wouldn't scramble to purchase the newest edition before class :)

Looking at Chemistry, even the standard peridodic table changes and it doesn't even have to be an element that is in existance outside a laboratory or for more than a few milliseconds at a time.

Pluto was always a strange duck. I'm surprised it's hung on for this long.

*Too baby-brainfried to conjure up a decent mnemonic*

Posted by: Gracecat at August 24, 2006 08:03 PM

Ugh. I didn't finish my first thought.

Technically it only disrupts basic science for the older elementary kids. And that's minor and probably specific to the teacher taking additional time out to explain WHY the book is wrong and Pluto is no longer a planet.

I'm curious how many years it's going to take public schooling to update their science books. I bet my four month old is going to bring home one that still classifies it as a planet.

Posted by: joelfinkle at August 24, 2006 08:43 PM

I was taught "Mary's violet eyes make John stay up nights pining", but leaving the "pining" off still works, pretty much.

At least they'll never take my resistor code mnemonic away: "Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet goes willingly" (Black -- which sometimes, in a non-PC way replaces "Bad", Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, White)

Posted by: Bill Mulligan at August 24, 2006 08:51 PM

Many Vain Educators Make Jack Suffer Uncontrolled Narcolepsy

I'm just gald they didn't go ahead with the dopey idea to make one of the asteroids a planet. feh! It was only about 500 miles in diameter. There ought to be a law that nothing can be a plenet if Tiger Woods has a good chance of hitting a ball into orbit off of it.

Posted by: The StarWolf at August 24, 2006 09:06 PM

>I'm curious how many years it's going to take public schooling to update their science books. I bet my four month old is going to bring home one that still classifies it as a planet.

Wouldn't be surprised. Our high schools still had the Soviet Union in their Geography texts three or four years back.

As for the harm done ... nothing new, but think of all the science fiction stories that have joined the others into the ranks of the obsolete just by mentioning humans come from a system of nine planets ...;

Posted by: Nat Gertler at August 24, 2006 09:23 PM

Major Victory Expected; Marines Just Shot Up Nebraska

Posted by: Tim Lynch at August 24, 2006 09:30 PM

If you'll allow a HS physics and astronomy teacher to weigh in here...

My reactions are basically the following in chronological order:

1) This isn't that big a deal, but I can see why it might be considered important given all the extrasolar planets being discovered these days.

2) If they had to pick a definition, I think this is the one I'd have used. Certainly much better than the one being proposed last week -- the hairsplitting that made Charon a planet and not the moon struck me as entirely too legalistic. (On the other hand, Michael Brown referring to it as a "No Ice Ball Left Behind" policy was absolute gold.)

3) That said, I think there's something to be said for leaving Pluto as "grandfathered in", so to speak.

Oh, and you can bet that at some point, my astronomy class will have a debate assigned about what definition they'd use. That's not doing harm to science education -- it's giving us opportunities for more of it.

Now, a mnemonic -- I've never been good at coming up with them (or using them), but here's a shot:

Monsters Veering Eccentrically, Muppets' Jam Sessions Under Night(sky)

Ehh. It's a start. (Bill, yours is splendiferous.)

Marvin's Very Explosive "Martian Justice" Solution Unwittingly Nipped?

I'd also like to suggest that we toss in an "A" or "AB" after the second M for the asteroid belt.

TWL

Posted by: Daniel at August 24, 2006 09:31 PM

I'm still going to make use of the classic.
Mr. VEM J. SUN lost his little dog Pluto.

Posted by: Sean Scullion at August 24, 2006 09:34 PM

Earthpeople May Just Need Silly Mnemonics Until Vacation.

Or something.

Posted by: John at August 24, 2006 09:47 PM

Science hasn't changed. Language has.

All the scientific facts we knew yesterday about the solar system, we still hold true. Though the universe being the way it is, we are likely to find out we are wrong about something eventually.

And we finally have a useful definition of planet. When we find a new object, we can observe it scientifically, and easily put it into the appropriate category. Does it have enough mass to be spherical in shape? Does it orbit around the sun? Has it cleared the neighborhood around its orbit? Is it a satellite? With the answers to these four basic questions, we know what to call it.

There may be some dispute over the appropriateness of the names, but we could call them Pickles, Oranges, and Pterodactyls. That would really confuse everyone. So?

Moses & Vishnu Emerged. Mohammed & Jesus Slept. Utu Nibbled.

Dwarf Children Prefer Xylophones.

Posted by: Will "Scifantasy" Frank at August 24, 2006 10:01 PM

(On the other hand, Michael Brown referring to it as a "No Ice Ball Left Behind" policy was absolute gold.)

Heh!

Tim, I tend to agree with your thoughts--especially that this will lead to opportunities for more and better scientific education--but I've heard from a few people that the definition actually isn't so clear. "what does 'clearing its local neighborhood' mean," and some such. Also that apparently the text of the adopted resolution only discusses this star system and isn't quite expandable to others. Have you heard any of that?

Posted by: Tim Lynch at August 24, 2006 10:16 PM

Will,

I haven't looked at the full text of the resolution yet, but my suspicion is that said resolution clears up those ambiguities.

I'm not sure it's so much "clearing its local neighborhood" as "clearing its orbit," meaning that it is unquestionably the dominant object in that particular path. That may not sound like a totally clear definition from a layman's POV, but orbital mechanics are such that it'll be an effective one.

I can't speak to the "only discusses this star system" part, but the distinct impression I got is that the final resolution was intended to correct that problem, where the first one was clearly a workaround specifically designed to keep Pluto in with all the cool kids. I'll have to give the full resolution a look later.

And another mnemonic, courtesy of a friend who's annoyed that Pluto's lost its planetary status:

May Vultures Eat Men Just Sizing Up Nothing!

TWL

Posted by: Lee Houston, Junior at August 24, 2006 10:40 PM

Mad, Vexed Educators Murder Juvenile Scientists Undoing Naming (Pluto).

Posted by: Eric Gimlin at August 24, 2006 10:57 PM

Well, just for my two cents: I think the astronomers are a bit full of themselves if just saying Pluto isn't a planet will make people accept that it's not a planet.

If you must, stipulate that Pluto is in on a grandfather clause with the new definition. But you don't get to tell us it's a planet for 76 years and then go "Oops".

I fully intend to continute thinking of and calling Pluto a planet. At this point, saying it isn't is just rewriting history.

It's weird, I'm suprisingly worked up about it in a very minor, low-key way. In practial terms, a ball of rock that far away doesn't make much difference. It's like I'm having a passionate, emotional reaction to them saying Pluto isn't a planet, only without the passion or emotions. Very odd.

Posted by: Will "Scifantasy" Frank at August 24, 2006 11:01 PM

Thanks, Tim. I'd be curious to hear what you think of the wording.

Posted by: R. Maheras at August 24, 2006 11:11 PM

Too bad Uranus is closer than Neptune. If it wasn't, a good mnemonic for 1980s comic fans would be: "Marvel very eagerly marketed Jim Shooter's New Universe."

Oh, well.

Posted by: Bill Mulligan at August 24, 2006 11:32 PM

Doesn't Uranus sometimes actually end up further away than Neptune?

Better question--shouldn't I know the answer to this?

I wonder if this is being partly driven by the idea that I've heard that there could be literally hundreds of pluto type planets out there circling the sun.

Posted by: B at August 24, 2006 11:34 PM

Can we just get over this and go back to looking for the aliens?

Posted by: John at August 24, 2006 11:45 PM

I fully intend to continue thinking of the city that served as the capital of the Russian Empire prior to Moscow as Petrograd. At this point, calling it St. Petersburg is just rewriting history.

For that matter, the Soviet Union still exists!
Hillary Clinton is Senator of New Amsterdam!
And Prince Rogers Nelson's name is still that stupid symbol!! He can't change it back, damnit!

Posted by: Brian Czako at August 24, 2006 11:49 PM

You can leave most of the original in - 'My Very Excellent/Educated Mother Just Served Us Nothing'

Brian

Posted by: Sean Jackson at August 25, 2006 12:08 AM

First, the original was always for me:
Many Very Eager Men Jumped Swiftly Under Nine Planets (see, it even told you how many planets there were).

But I must agree with Warren Ellis when he says:

'You’ll Have To Pry Pluto Out Of My Cold Dead Education: I will fight anyone who tells me that Pluto is not a planet.'

Posted by: Jason Tippitt at August 25, 2006 12:43 AM

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nosh.

Just to make Mel Gibson fume. :)

Posted by: BrakYeller at August 25, 2006 12:44 AM

Likewise... I'm just going to go Cartman with this and say "screw you, academia, I'm going home and Pluto's still a planet!" I mean, really, is this decision legally binding? Will you go to jail for continuing to refer to Pluto as a planet? Seriously, the 'grandfathering it in' suggestion seems to have the most merit to me...
...on the other hand, it must be great to be an astrophysicist: when you don't know the answer to something, you can just MAKE IT UP!
"Crap, we can't account for 95% of the matter in the universe!"
"Weeeeeellll... that's because the other 95% of matter in the universe is *DARK* matter, and we just can't *see* it!"
"Dark Matter! Genius! F'n brilliant!"

I've got to find a way to get in on this racket... I think I could really take it places.

Posted by: JosephW at August 25, 2006 01:29 AM

John posted:
I fully intend to continue thinking of the city that served as the capital of the Russian Empire prior to Moscow as Petrograd. At this point, calling it St. Petersburg is just rewriting history.

Um, actually until 1914, the city was known as St Petersburg. It was renamed Petrograd due as a result of the outbreak of hostilities with the German Empire in August 1914.
Technically, your decision is also rewriting history since the city was known as Leningrad until just shortly after the dissolution of the USSR. If you're against the restoration to St Petersburg, then you really should retain Leningrad.

Posted by: Neil Robertson at August 25, 2006 02:03 AM

It's my understanding that, in the 1800s, astronomers proclaimed Ceres was a planet. I wonder how long they complained about dropping that name from whatever mnemonic device was fashionable then.

Posted by: TallestFanEver at August 25, 2006 03:58 AM

doesn't the removal of Pluto just screw up astrology alot? What about the alignment of planets as to how it predicts our future and all that jazz?

Those poor, poor psychics. Guess they never saw this one comming.

Posted by: TallestFanEver at August 25, 2006 04:03 AM

oh, and my go at mnemonic is: "Major! Victor Eats Mice! Just Shocking! Ugly Nut!"

Wow, I suck at this.

Posted by: Rex Hondo at August 25, 2006 04:18 AM

Well, if astrology could survive the relatively recent inclusion of Pluto as a planet, I'm sure it'll find a way around its not being classified a planet any more. :P

-Rex Hondo-

Posted by: Rex Hondo at August 25, 2006 04:22 AM

Besides, poking fun at astrology is making fun of somebody's religion, which is an ugly practice. Especially when there are others that deserve it so much more, like Christian Science.

Posted by: Tim Lynch at August 25, 2006 07:53 AM

Doesn't Uranus sometimes actually end up further away than Neptune?

Nope -- you're thinking of Neptune and Pluto. Pluto's orbit is eccentric enough that there's a 20-year stretch where it's closer to the sun than Neptune is.

I wonder if this is being partly driven by the idea that I've heard that there could be literally hundreds of pluto type planets out there circling the sun.

Absolutely it is. In 1930, nobody knew about the Kuiper Belt. At this point, if something like Pluto were discovered, very few astronomers would be in favor of calling it a planet. (The one that almost made the list last week is significantly larger than Pluto, as in something like 50% bigger.)

TWL

Posted by: The Rev. Mr. Black at August 25, 2006 09:04 AM

1 Back when the prodigiously prolific and paranomasiaphilic Isaac Asimov was writing a monthly science column for, I think, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (or was it Analog?), he wrote one about the largest asteroid titled "The World, Ceres.".

I did like Colbert's mnemonic: My Very Educated Mother Just Said "Uh-oh: No Pluto". Of course, ironically, it doesn't work because, well, there is no Pluto.

The Rev

Posted by: Brandon Scott Berthelot at August 25, 2006 09:36 AM

I think this Pluto stuff is bullcrap. It will always be a planet to me.

And I never got this mnemonic thing. Whats to hard to remember about Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. I remember seeing a Saved By The Bell Episode where Zach did not know all the planets and I was amazed. I had known them since I was 6. Did the writers of that show think a teenager would not know?

Posted by: spiderrob8 at August 25, 2006 10:42 AM

From what I understand only aboput 5% of the astronomers in this group were able to vote, and many of the rest are vowing to challenge this decision.

The debate will go on.

Posted by: The Rev. Mr. Black at August 25, 2006 11:09 AM

As I understand it, the problem is that we can no longer have a 9-planet system if Pluto is deemed to meet the criteria for planethood. Xena (the triumph of pop culture) is slightly bigger than Pluto and would have to be included. Charon and Ceres are of a size and who knows what other pieces of oversized rocks are floating around undiscovered. A 12-word mnemonic, anyone?

Regards. The Rev.

Oh, and we better stop adding elements to the periodic table. Mendeleev is unhappy about it.

Posted by: Matt Dow at August 25, 2006 11:11 AM

How about:
"Major Victory Expires, Major Justice Super Union Nominee"

Or, for those that want an "A" for the asteroid belt:

"Magic Variously Enigmatic Mysterious And Jumbled, Science Unexpectedly Normal"

Matt

Posted by: Yogzilla at August 25, 2006 11:17 AM

It won't stick. After all, in the year 3000 there's a penguin preserve on Pluto.

Oh, and remember that Uranus will be renamed in 2620...

Posted by: Brian Douglas at August 25, 2006 12:08 PM

In your face Pluto!

Posted by: tac at August 25, 2006 12:18 PM

You folks have it backwards.

Now
Understand,
Some
Jerk
Always
Makes
Everything
Very
Messy,
See?

Posted by: Peter J Poole at August 25, 2006 12:28 PM

Well, you shouldn't discount the underdog quite so easily: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5283956.stm

Looks like the Pluto issue could be the IAU equivalent of Civil War...

Posted by: Bob Ingersoll at August 25, 2006 12:31 PM

Peter,

I just switched the classic, "Many Very Eminent Men Are (for asteroids) Justly Satisfied Using Novelty Paperclips" to "Many Very Eminent Men Are Justly Satisfied Using Novelties.

Bob

Posted by: Sasha at August 25, 2006 12:47 PM

Oh, shit! I just realized:

The Schoolhouse Rock! classic "Interplanet Janet" is totally hosed now.

Now that's depressing. :(

Posted by: Doug Burton at August 25, 2006 01:35 PM

I remember reading an Asimov story, in one of his mystery collections, Casebook of the Black Widowers, where they were trying to figure out what the phrase "Many Voters Earn Money Just Showing Up Near Polls" stood for. Of course, their all-knowing butler helped them figure out it was a mnemonic for the nine planets. I suppose it could be changed to "Many Voters Earn Money Just Showing Up Nearby" now.

Posted by: John Coner at August 25, 2006 02:11 PM

well not to belay my leftist leanings but...

May, Victory, Elude, Maniacs, Just, Shouting, Unreal, Nonsense....

Posted by: Elayne Riggs at August 25, 2006 02:34 PM

I like Jim Henley's menmonic best:

My Very Easy Method Just Seems Useless Now.

Posted by: Luigi Novi at August 25, 2006 04:34 PM

Jay: Actually I think we should just bitchslap whoever was in charge of making this idiotic decision to suddenly invalidate decades of public education science class.
Luigi Novi: The recent change in status of Pluto does not invalidate science, it underscores it, since one of the most fundamental aspects of science is its provisional approach to knowledge, and its capacity to constantly revise itself in light of new information that is continuously being gleaned. Saying that the recent event "invalidates" decades of science education is akin to saying that the newest update of an encyclopedia "invalidates" everything you read in the previous volume.

Rather than seeing this as a form of invalidation, one can view these events as an exciting time for students (and everyone interested in science), to witness such a seminal event in the history of astronomy in their lifetimes.

Posted by: TAC at August 25, 2006 05:23 PM

Oh, by the way. All of the above mnemonic devices re: the order of the 9 "planets" are wrong. At the moment, Pluto is inside the orbit of Neptune and will remain so for about the next 5 years.

Posted by: Tim Lynch at August 25, 2006 06:11 PM

TAC,

Actually, the order is fine, for two reasons:

1) The mnemonics would presumably be referring to MEAN distances, not the occasional exception. Given that Pluto is only closer than Neptune for a bit under 10% of its orbit, Pluto is quite justifiably referred to as more distant on average.

2) Pluto crossed back outside of Neptune's orbit in 1999, so it's further out than Neptune at present anyway. (Reference: http://science.nasa.gov/NEWHOME/headlines/ast17feb99_1.htm)

TWL

Posted by: KIP LEWIS at August 25, 2006 06:42 PM

1 Maybe they just read Our Worlds at War or whatever that mega-crossover in DC was a few years ago where Pluto was destroyed and replaced with Warworld. :)


Maybe
Vinnie
Eats
Mild
Jalapino
Salsa
Under
Nachos

Posted by: Rex Hondo at August 25, 2006 11:03 PM

Well, if we go with the "Would Galactus eat it?" criterion, we're probably down to two or three planets in the solar system at best anyway.

-Rex Hondo-

Posted by: Alex A Sanchez at August 25, 2006 11:41 PM

Here's a mnumonic with a political meaning (which doesn't necessarily reflect my own opinion):

Mexican Vultures Eat Many Jobs, Supplaning Non-immigrant.

Posted by: The StarWolf at August 26, 2006 01:09 AM

>Also that apparently the text of the adopted resolution only discusses this star system and isn't quite expandable to others. Have you heard any of that?

I'm not sure if it was the final resolution, but one I saw in the papers several days ago showed them using the names of our solar system's planets in qorking out definitions and it seemed to me then that, as we discover more worlds around other stars, these definitions will be shown to be too narrow.

As for clearing their immediate neibourhoods, it would seem to me Mercury wouldn't count as one would expect nearby Sol had done most of that for it.

Posted by: The Mutt at August 26, 2006 08:11 AM

My Very Excitable Monkey Just Shot Uncle Ned

Posted by: Dwight Williams at August 26, 2006 03:22 PM

Bleep the mnemonics. This is ridiculous.

And if it triggers the IAU's version of Civil War, I'm not losing much sleep over it. They still haven't gotten around to setting up a naming convention for extrasolar planets either.

Posted by: Kim Metzger at August 27, 2006 10:42 AM

First, as far as astrology goes, I was into it for a, thankfully, brief period. I snapped out of it when the book "Love Signs" by Linda Goodman said that Virgos (my sign) were still waiting for the discovery of the sign's true ruling planet, Vulcan. Not Spock's. This Vulcan is supposed to exist between the sun and Mercury.

We do still have the New Horizons spacecraft heading to take a closer look at Pluto (and, one assumes, anything surrounding it). Maybe things will change after it flies by the area.

I think I've heard that Charon is supposed to be one honking big comet in dormancy. (And we should be hopeful that it stays that way. If it came to life, it could make things nasty for the rest of the solar system.)

Finally, part of me was hoping Pluto would stay a planet so Xena would be a planet -- hopefully with a moon they could name Gabrielle. (And a little moon around it named Joxur?) But I can accept the change the other way.

Though Pluto not being a planet also means ALF got things wrong.

Posted by: Tim Lynch at August 27, 2006 12:50 PM

First, as far as astrology goes, I was into it for a, thankfully, brief period. I snapped out of it when the book "Love Signs" by Linda Goodman said that Virgos (my sign) were still waiting for the discovery of the sign's true ruling planet, Vulcan. Not Spock's. This Vulcan is supposed to exist between the sun and Mercury.

Quite a number of scientists in the late 19th and early 20th century thought there was such a planet, actually -- Mercury's orbit looked like it was getting perturbed in ways which might suggest it.

Once Einstein published his theory of general relativity, though, the discrepancies went away, and nobody since then seriously believes there's a planet closer than Mercury.

You may well have known this, Kim -- just a side point.

TWL

Posted by: Grev at August 27, 2006 01:09 PM

How about actually drilling the planets' actual names into the back of the kids' heads so they won't need idiotic mnemonics? Would that work?

Posted by: Nick at August 27, 2006 02:36 PM

"Oh, by the way. All of the above mnemonic devices re: the order of the 9 "planets" are wrong. At the moment, Pluto is inside the orbit of Neptune and will remain so for about the next 5 years."

This is false. Pluto was closer to the sun than Neptune from 1979-1999. The next time this happens, our grandchildren will be dead (248 years from 1979).

There is historical precedent for "demoting" a planet. Ceres was discovered in 1801 and classified as a planet. Around 1850 or so, too many asteroids were being discovered so Ceres was reclassified as an asteroid.

Posted by: Luigi Novi at August 27, 2006 09:51 PM

Sorry for being so dense, but I didn't understand the meaning of this blog entry's title, or the subsequent rumination on mnemonics, cuz I just wasn't paying close attention to it.

What was the old mnemonic? "My Very Ethnic Mother Just Served Us -----what?"

Posted by: Tim Lynch at August 27, 2006 10:38 PM

Luigi,

'Twas originally "...Just Served Us Nine Pies", or sometimes "Nine Pizzas." (At least, those are the two I grew up hearing.)

Oh, and I've generally heard it as "My Very Easygoing Mother", or sometimes "Very Educated Mother".

TWL

Posted by: Robert Fuller at August 27, 2006 10:44 PM

I'd very much like to see a movie called "My Very Ethnic Mother Just Served Us What?!". It makes me giggle.

Posted by: Daddy G. at August 27, 2006 11:05 PM

The following USA Today piece has an AP sidebar item listing potential mnemonics...

The universe has room for change
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-08-27-pluto-changes_x.htm

Here's what AP lists---my favorite is the last one:

My Very Extravagant Mother Just Sent Us Nachos.

My Very Elderly Mother Just Sits Up Nights.

Major Volcanoes Erupt, Making Jolts, Shaking, Unsteadying Nerves.

Make Very Extraordinary Meals of Jell-O, Strawberries and Unsalted Nuts.

Mary's Violet Eyes Make Jack Stare Until Noticed.

My Very Exotic Mistress Just Showed Up Nude
(perhaps this one is for college kids).

Posted by: Luigi Novi at August 28, 2006 02:32 AM

Thanks, Tim.

Posted by: Craig J. Ries at August 28, 2006 03:04 AM

Well, I'm back from a two-week vacation to New Zealand, and man am I glad there's something to read here other than political discussions (even on the near-other side of the world, you can't get away from US politics in the news).

Now, how long will it be before all of us start really picking sides about whether Pluto stays or goes as a planet?

And Xena as a planet name? What loser thought that up? ;)

Posted by: spiderrob8 at August 28, 2006 12:05 PM

The current public will still consider Pluto a planet. You just can't take that designation from it.

Furture generations may not, but the current public will.

and the astronomical debate is still going on

Posted by: Bill Myers at August 28, 2006 12:39 PM

The numerous mnemonic devices offered up by you kind souls has done nothing more nor less than scramble my brains, ensuring that NO mnemonic device will EVER help me remember the planets in our solar system every again.

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Posted by: Sean Scullion at August 28, 2006 01:08 PM

Bill, I'm SURE a smart guy like you won't have any trouble remembering the planets. Trouble is, if you try to teach anybody ELSE, though, you'll have a complete mishmash of mixed mnemonics. That, however, did not work out to be the nifty alliteration that I'd hoped for. Darn silent letters.

Posted by: furious styles at August 28, 2006 01:09 PM

I think this Pluto stuff is bullcrap. It will always be a planet to me.

behold: the power of truthiness.

Posted by: Rex Hondo at August 28, 2006 02:14 PM

I imagine that Pluto will remain a "planet" in much the same way the thumb is a "finger" and that the year 2000 was the "new millennium." None are truly accurate, but they are so ingrained in the popular vernacular, it'll be ages before they change, if ever.

-Rex Hondo-

Posted by: Bill Myers at August 28, 2006 02:26 PM

Pluto will always be Mickey Mouse's gay dog to me.

(Why "gay?" It's an allusion to a funny bit of dialog from a television show. I'll give one hint only: it's a show no longer on the air.)

Posted by: Doug Burton at August 28, 2006 02:47 PM

"Brothers", on Showtime... a great show. I remember the scene well. Joe's daughter Penney (played by Hallie Todd...) is trying to explain to her father (played by Robert Walden, who just found out his younger brother is gay) how lots of famous people were gay, including Plato.
"Plato was gay?"
"Yep"
"Mickey's dog Plato was gay?"

(Well, I guess you had to be there...)

Posted by: Bill Myers at August 28, 2006 03:37 PM

Actually, no, I was referring to the 1970s T.V. sitcom "Soap." There was an episode where the character Jody (played by Billy Crystal) tells an airheaded character named Jessica (played by Katherine Helmond) that Plato was gay.

Jessica's response: "Mickey Mouse's dog was gay?"

Jody smiled and replied, "Yes, and Goofy was his lover."

Huh. I suppose it's possible "Brothers" lifted a gag from "Soap," or both of them lifted the gag from another source. Or it could just be one of those things that happens from time to time. Coincidence, synchronicity, whatever you want to call it.

Posted by: Tim Lynch at August 28, 2006 07:45 PM

As I recall, Bill, Jodie didn't actually say the "Goofy was his lover" bit until actually trying (and failing) to get Jessica to understand who he was really talking about.

For the younger folks here that don't remember "Soap", besides being a fantastic spoof of typical soap-opera fare, it was also the first show (or at least the first comedy) with a regular gay character -- the aforementioned Jodie Dallas -- and was one of the best-written shows of its era with a terrific ensemble cast.

Damn, I miss it.

TWL

Posted by: Bill Myers at August 28, 2006 08:15 PM

Tim, you recall correctly. Jodie was a remarkably sympathetic portrayal of a gay man given the time period. The 1970s doesn't seem that long ago, but it wasn't until 1973 that homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Posted by: R. Maheras at August 28, 2006 10:29 PM

Unmentioned by me earlier is the fact that I've never needed a mnemonic to memorize the order ot the planets. I guess when I learned it decades ago, I was able to visualize the order in my mind's eye.

I did, however, need a mnemonic to memorize the aforementioned, and much more abstract, resistor color code. By the way, I'll bet that because of the mnemonic, few electronics technicians ever willingly (pun intended) name their daughters Violet.

The power of a name cannot be underestimated, I suppose.

Posted by: Doug Burton at August 29, 2006 09:45 AM

A more PC version of the resistor color code was given to me by a high school electronics teacher: Bold Boys Race Our Young Girls But Violet Generally Wins. Go See Now. (The latter portion being for the tolerance portion: Gold Silver None.) I started using that for a while, until surface mount resistors rendered the color code moot.

Posted by: Gunter at August 29, 2006 09:46 PM

Poor Pluto.

A victim of retconning.

Posted by: Alex A Sanchez at August 31, 2006 04:21 AM

Pure gold, Gunther. Pure gold.