On my way to give a talk the other night, I stopped at Häagen-Dazs to get some ice cream. As I was leaving, I saw this on the Pearl Street Mall’s cobbestones:
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Was it a child who lost their scoop, and cried? Or was it an adult, unhappy but perhaps holding the tears back? Or just someone who lost it, shrugged, and went on home to get out of the chilling drizzle that evening? Maybe it was someone at my talk.
I’ll never know. But it seems like there’s a story here.
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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October 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Looks like the floor has a nipple to me.
Which would also be sad.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I’ve been a regular reader for years, BA… and this is, without a doubt, the strangest, most completely out of left field post I’ve ever seen you make. Is the strain of the book tour getting to you?
What’s next… are you going to post a video of a plastic bag floating around in the breeze?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
It’s a tiny atomic explosion! Perhaps there’s a brick-mite war, afoot!
October 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
That pic is actually kind of poetic, especially when combined with your musings Phil. To whom ever it belonged, I hope they were able to have another and not be left icecreamless, because everybody needs a scoop sometimes
October 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I think posts like this are actually kind of fun. You get to use your imagination. How many things can you think of with the briefest of inputs (just a picture, a few words, etc)?
“For sale: Baby shoes, never used” – Hemingway’s six word novel
(I’ve also seen the word “worn” instead of “used”).
And yeah, that is out of left field as well, but it’s along the same lines as Phil’s post.
Whatever, it’s a quick post and I liked it.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Looks like a ‘miracle’ …. or a very slow news day.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I saw the picture and was ready for something like:
Imagine this dropped scoop of ice cream is the earth. The sun would be a scoop of ice cream 100 meters wide, and dropped three block away at the SuperTarget.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Gravity is a bitch!
October 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I say it’s a little lost comet, looking for its mommy.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I remember one time, when my mother bought two ice creams on a stick, for her and for me. It was a time, where this was no common treat in this part of world (east of iron curtain). I was maybe three maybe four years old. We unpacked them on our way home from the grocery store. Unfortunately my ice cream fell off the stick and splatted against the walk (not as fancy as the in the picture).
I think there was less than a second, before my mum handed me her ice-cream… It took me years to appreciate her act…
Maybe the scoop on your picture has seen a similar story?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
It’s been cold here, too. Lows all the way down into the 40’s, and the highs barely reaching 80. We’ve had to break out the fall jackets.
I’ve said this many times over the years, with all the sinning going on,
“If we’re going to Hell, we’re gonna need some ice cream.”
October 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Out of left field or not… I’ll play along…
“…in a bold attempt, our hero leaps, unseen, out of his cone shaped wafer prison… only to find himself at the mercy of a hardened clay executioner. Thus perishes another victim of Death From the Ground!!!”
October 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
@IVAN3MAN
I see no dogs in that picture, though I’m sure one might be along to lick up the fallen scoop.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I’d still eat it… what a waste!
October 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
@CE
If a bird signifying peace knocked it off the cone, would it be Death from a Dove?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
That fallen scoop is from the cone the girl with the “B” “carved” into her face had. She dropped it there when the big scary black man jumped her… except that was two days ago so she would have to had to drop it this morning… and then that was a hole in her story that the police found, except it was in Pittsburgh too so she would have had to fly…
You know what, Its just easier to call her a flaming retard.
(the girl’s story is now confirmed as a hoax in case you hadn’t heard yet)
October 24th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
@ Todd W
Well… I assume Phil took this in Colorado… at a mall… so conceivably some poor kid was run into by some inconsiderate oaf walking out a s porting goods store without looking, carrying a brand new pair of long, stick-like objects…
Death from the Skis?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I guess someone was going through a divorce, and as a sign of separation, he or she threw it one the ground, since he or she didn’t have a wedding ring. I mean c’mon, obviously ice creams and chocolate are the closes thing to an expensive ring.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Maybe it’s an escape. A scoop struggling to survive and avoid being eaten alive by some rabid human child.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Might be an alien civilization trying to communicate with us by placing something we like in an unusual location (at great expense to their economy to develop faster-than-light transportation and landing systems.) However, they don’t know enough about our culture to realize that the scoop should be in a cone and not on the ground, so our scientists and citizens merely step over it. — — — Or a kid lost her top scoop. Wah!
October 24th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
That reminds me of a story. It’s another one about my daughter, so sorry if kid stories bore you.
I was at the mall with my older one, who was about 18 months at the time. I bought a scoop of ice cream from Dairy Queen, and was feeding her from a spoon. We ran into some friends and I stopped to chat. Apparently, I dropped a spoonful of ice cream, and looked down to find her on all fours, licking the ice cream off the floor of the mall.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
@ToddW
Devoid of ice cream
Pondering its lonely fate,
The Cone of Silence
October 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Sure it’s not a meteorite?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
@Greg
Profound.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Death from Above for the lactose Intolerant.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
None of you saw the Blessed Virgin in it?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
@ Jonathan Lubin…
No… but it clearly is a dead-ringer for a mushroom cloud, as seen from overhead… OH NOES!!!1!
October 24th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
My guess?
BA and Randi have a bar bet on how long it’ll take for someone to growl something like “Stick to science, Telescope Boy!”
October 24th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I scream, you scream, we all scream for dropped ice cream!
October 24th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Oh, wait. I just did, didn’t I?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I think I see Wink Martindale in it.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Don’t fret! Whoever lost that ice cream got another one, free of charge! And he or she had a happy day!
I know there’s no evidence, but gosh darn it, I’m gonna persist in THIS delusion!
October 24th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
It’s like when you see a balloon flying above the roof tops, you just know there will be a crying child on a street somewhere.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
@Thomas S.
What if there were 99 Red Balloons.?
Now try and get that song out of your head for the rest of the day.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
@ GregInVancouver
Dirty pool, old man…
I see your “99 Red Balloons” and raise you “MMM-Bop”.
Take THAT.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Hast Du etwas Zeit für mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst Du vielleicht grad’ an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt
99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man fuer UFOs aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
Eine Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn es so war
Dabei war da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons
October 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
@ Thomas Seifert
isn’t there a line in there at some point in the song about Captain Kirk? Always made me chuckle hearing that tossed in with the German lyrics…
October 24th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Yes… here is the verse…
99 Duesenjaeger
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons
Now THAT’S lyrical genius…
October 24th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
MMM-Bop…. I’ll throw in “Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot”.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
How about a ‘papa oo mow mow’
October 24th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I think this is a great post! Very though provoking.
Maybe it’s Trig’s, Track’s or Bristol’s treat for tagging along with their Hockey mom and some evil leftist socialist pinko smucked it into the ground and said, “HA! That’s yo’ momma’s campaign!”
What? She wasn’t in Colorado? Well, there goes that theory.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Of course, there is not one molecule of gas in that photo.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
October 24th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Well, -I- am not sad. Nosiree! The weather is gonna break for the Bear Mountain Astronomy Retreat Saturday night! Clear Sky Clock’s Green Bank WV clock shows the good news! M31 here I come! Oh baby! W00T!!!
Can you tell I’m excited?
October 24th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Thanks alot! I hate you 99 Luftballoon People! So, just for that, try to het these lyrics out of YOUR heads!
Were no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do i
A full commitments what Im thinking of
You wouldnt get this from any other guy
I just wanna tell you how Im feeling
Gotta make you understand
* never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Weve know each other for so long
Your hearts been aching
But youre too shy to say it
Inside we both know whats been going on
We know the game and were gonna play it
And if you ask me how Im feeling
Dont tell me youre too blind to see
(* repeat)
Give you up. give you up
Give you up, give you up
Never gonna give
Never gonna give, give you up
Never gonna give
Never gonna give, five you up
I just wanna tell you how Im feeling
Gotta make you understand
(* repeat 3 times)
October 24th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Dairy of a non-miracle. My ’scream fell to earth and held it’s shape. Divine intervention.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Admit it, Michael… you typed that out from memory…
October 24th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
BAPunster is rubbing off on me.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
@Celtic:
Can I help it if I have a man-crush on Rick Astley…
October 24th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
REAL NEWS!!!
Stephen Hawking Stepping Down From Academic Post
October 24th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I’ve never known a kid to drop a scoop and not get it replaced, either by the parent or the store. I’ll think of it as a tiny contribution to the fight against global warming.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
@ Michael
Well, who CAN?
October 24th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
This reminds of an episode of Reading Rainbow where Levar Burton got cut off in line for a carnival ride, then he dropped his huge 3-scoop ice cream cone. That made me soooo sad when I was a kid, not realizing what a miniscule portion of the show’s budget the ice cream represented.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
@ Celtic:
Gosh Durn it… it back fired… now Rick is rolling around in my head shooting down 99 Luftballoons…
October 24th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Oh that was my ice cream. Its OK, it was a quadruple scoop, and that scoop was french vanilla and what I really wanted was butterscotch.
October 24th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Although there’s a lot to be said poetically about this particular image, the perceived sadness may just be in our minds. As is often the case with most Ice Cream shops, they will give you another scoop if yours falls on the floor. Sadly, I’m lactose intolerant, so without the lactase enzyme, I’m not going to have too much fun after the ice cream. Still, there are a few places that have soy substitutes, but not a big fan of soy either. I suppose those home ice cream makers with lactose free milk would work, but the whole fun of going to an ice cream place full of different choices, and having people from various walks of life finding themselves with a common goal…eating a confection of mostly frozen water and fat produced by ruminants for their offspring’s nutritional needs.
October 24th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
A moment of silence for our fallen scoop.
….
Thank you.
October 24th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Perhaps there’s a brick-mite war, afoot!
Wow, three posts in, and Spocko won the thread! I think that’s a record.
October 24th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Those are bricks, not cobblestones.
You’re welcome.
- Jack
October 24th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
They’re probably faux bricks, more like tiles made in the image of bricks…
October 24th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Actually, most of the ice-cream looks salvageable – it’s obviously not been in contact with the ground.
What a waste.
October 24th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Hah! So, how far above the Earth does this alleged ice cream extend? Answer me that, Mr. Smarty Pants Astronomer!
October 24th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
You guys just had to do it didn’t you?
This is beginning to look like Scalzi’s place!
You asked for it:
It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears
It’s a world of hopes and a world of fears
There’s so much that we share
That’s it’s time we’re aware
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small, small world
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small, small world
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small, small world
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small world after all
It’s a small, small world
October 24th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Her name was Lola,
She was a showgirl…
Check and mate.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
You guys & gals want lyrics stuck in yer heads?
Go to my blog by clicking on my name above and listen to the song from our buddy George Hrab that’s there! Now that’s more like it for the readers of this blog!
I uncheckmate Autumn and re-checkmate ya all!
October 25th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Aliens!!!!!!!.They came, they saw they refused to concur. What kind os unmeaty species eats this crap.
October 25th, 2008 at 1:32 am
To all those “stick-to-the-science” jerks out there, there are currently 65 responses to this poignantly trivial little blog entry. These people are your fan base, Phil!
As for the post, my first thought was, “10 second rule!”
October 25th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Wow, 66 posts and none address the real issue … what flavor is it?
October 25th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Bigfoot:
October 25th, 2008 at 8:10 am
It just occurred to me, in the Danish cartoon Rejsen til Saturn (Journey to Saturn), aliens try to invade Denmark. They arrive on a hot summer day only to find their flying saucer melting because their technology is based on vanilla ice-cream.
That’s what it is! DEATH FROM THE SKIES!
My apologies to those who have not yet read Rejsen til Saturn or seen the movie for this spoiler.
October 25th, 2008 at 10:22 am
It is an artificial ice ball from micro space.
October 25th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I think Ivan3Man won,,,
GAry 7
October 25th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
A story… Reminds me of the end of Genevieve (1953). (Comedy about the the London to Brighton veteran car run.) Can’t think of any astronomical links except ice cream is subject to gravity – just like apples
October 26th, 2008 at 5:16 am
It’s life Phil, but not as we know it.