Comments on: Xtolocaturday

By: Laurie

Laurie — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:11:32 +0000

I’ve always loved the word Xoloitzcuintle (SHOH-loyts-KWEENT-lee), the name of a breed of hairless dog in Mexico. I own a Khala, which is a related breed found in South America; he’s one of the most sweet-tempered dogs I’ve ever known.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 09 May 2011 06:19:36 +0000

Tlaloc is totally where it’s at.

By: Angry slippers are angry | Bad Astronomy | moregoodstuff.info

Angry slippers are angry | Bad Astronomy | moregoodstuff.info — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 15:30:53 +0000

[...] Xtolocaturday – Caturday nights all right for fighting – A foxy Caturday – Languid [...]

By: Robert Carnegie

Robert Carnegie — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:32:02 +0000

One does not thank Xtoloc.

By: Julio Vannini

Julio Vannini — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:18:42 +0000

Why wait?

You can start writing your part of the Star Trek story at http://starbase118.net

I’ve been there for many years and it has helped me to improve my English (and of course, to have a lot of fun!)

Astronomy + Trek: what a wonderful pair! :p

By: Rhanor

Rhanor — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:41:10 +0000

I searched for “Star Trek” in Mayan (first had to translate to Spanish), I couldn’t find “Trek”, but “Star Voyage” became “Eek’ Xíinbal!” (Yucatan) .There were other alternatives for”"Voyage”, but I chose “Xíinbal” ‘cos of course it begins with an X!

And yes I know this is just a raw, word-to-word translation.

…and “Star War(s)” is “Eek’ Ba’ate’el”…

By: mike burkhart

mike burkhart — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:53:01 +0000

Phil in a little known chapter of Star Trek history , there was an attempt to bring Star Trek back to tv in the 70s , the new show was going to be called : Star Trek phase 2 but Lenard Nimoy did not want to play Spock again so they were going to replace Spock with a Vulcan named Xon. Well the thing fell apart and the show never got to tv . But in 1977 when a movie called Star Wars became a big hit they decideed to make Star Trek the motion picture and Nimoy agreed to return as Spock.

By: Pilotlars

Pilotlars — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:26:39 +0000

So is Xur and the Kodan Armada Mayan too?

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:55:29 +0000

@23. Grand Lunar : Cute little guy. Got them in Florida too.

Also in the Galapagos – including the surrounding ocean – see :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt_DXCQrPGA

& see :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguanas

For the wiki-basics.

Whilst :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l27KkiVqFc&NR=1

is a tribute to the iguanadon – the iguanas semi-namesake big guys!

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:25:09 +0000

See :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Face_of_Evil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx8-uCjO55c

For more on the Xoanan (& Leela & Doctor) story.

& http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TydbZXR89EU&feature=related

For a good short scene & lines.

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:15:11 +0000

Xoanon from Dr Who – The Face of Evil * was the first time I realised how cool name starting with “X’ and pronounced differently – “Zoanon” in this case – could be. Guess the original spacefarers that generated the Sevateem and Tesh were Mayans – except wouldn’t that have made it “Shoanon” instead?

I always thought it was the X was pronounced as ‘Z’ not “Sh” but then I’m no great fan of the Mayans anyhow. Human sacrifices – frequently captured prisoners – to the Sun God so the blood would make our Sun keep rising and the association with the 2012 nonsense, not such great things.

… [Mayan is] just about the coolest spoken language I’ve ever heard.

Don’t you mean one of the hottest? Given the cultural geography I’d have thought the coolest spoken language would be Inuit! Or maybe Swedish or Finnish?

* Where Leela first met the Doctor (Tom Baker) – a classic & still one of my all-time fave Dr Who epsiodes.

By: Scott Robert Ladd

Scott Robert Ladd — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:09:48 +0000

@KC It’s nonsense. White folk nonsense, too. The Mayan calendar just recycles, like we have a “New Year” between Dec 31 and Jan 1.

By: Crux Australis

Crux Australis — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:49:47 +0000

I would name him “Newton”.

By: KC

KC — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:49:41 +0000

@Scott How does your wife feel about 2012 nonsense?

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:15:26 +0000

Cute little guy.
Got them in Florida too.

“If I ever write a Star Trek story….”

A possible idea for your next work, Phil?
Best of all, you can invoke good astronomy!

By: Thomas Siefert

Thomas Siefert — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:10:13 +0000

Oooh, ahhh, that’s how it always starts. Then later there’s running and screaming.

By: Scott Robert Ladd

Scott Robert Ladd — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:11:12 +0000

My wife is half Mayan and did extensive archaeological work in the Yucatan. Other words words igauna (and probably more common) are o’om and iwam. One of the cebtral Gods of the Mayan religion is Itzam, who has aspects fo the iguana and alligator; some mayans refers to iguanas as “itzam”.

I live with a large green iguana, who insists on proper worship. She dominates the two cats, clearly showing that Itzam is superior to Bast.

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 23:30:52 +0000

In some parts of Spain, including Catalonia and the Basque region, ‘x’ is still used for the ‘sh’ sound. Moreover, they often use ‘tx” in place of ‘ch’.

By: The Mutt

The Mutt — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:57:01 +0000

Actually, that’s a photo of Stacy Keach.

By: Keith Bowden

Keith Bowden — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:39:00 +0000

What a sweetie!

By: GaterNate

GaterNate — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:20:35 +0000

Actually, speaking of Star Trek, that photo is of a cat, just a de-evolved cat.

By: Ad Hominid

Ad Hominid — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 20:31:14 +0000

I never learned me none of this heathen lingo! If English was good enough for Jesus and the apostles, it was good enough for me! Btw, it is probably an urban legend that Texas governor Miriam "Ma" Ferguson said this. If she did say it, she was joking. Ferguson was an educated person and showed relatively little affinity for fundamentalist positions during her term as governor.

By: Chip

Chip — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:16:28 +0000

I looked up the Mayan words for Star “Ek” and Sun “K’íin” – however Moon was “Luunaa” which is modern Yucatan Mayan and probably derived from Spanish.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:07:51 +0000

Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec word. The mayan name for the feathered serpent is Kukulcan, the god after whom the famous pyramid at Chichen Itza is named.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:35:04 +0000

So you have been at he very edge of the crater that resulted from the impact that killed the dino’s as well.

I just happened to show the pictures from my visit to the Maya sites several years ago to my girlfriend the other day. Boy, did I feel privileged to have been able to watch with my own eyes, climb and touch the ruins that are such an impressive landmark in human history.. and to have been able to actually stand on the spot where an event occurred 65 million years ago that made it all possible.