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When crafted into a blade, Obsidian can be as thin as 3 nanometers. It’s actually preferred over scalpels by many surgeons.I am aware of how sharp Obsidian is first hand. A few years ago, I was working in Northern California doing emergency fire response. After a little research on the area, I found there were some Obsidian outcroppings nearby. Being an avid rock and mineral collector, I decided it would be cool to harvest some. So I grabbed my hammer and my gloves and I made the short 20 minute drive to a documented outcropping on the side of a small road tucked away in the forest.Once I arrived, I could see huge boulders of Obsidian just waiting to be beaten on by my hammer. So I parked on the opposite side of the road from the outcropping and grabbed my hammer, forgetting my gloves. I walked up to the nearest boulder and gave it a whack. It shattered into a thousand little pieces and shredded my hands.No wonder it’s preferred by most surgeons!

I recall this so vividly! It was ninth grade math class and the teacher passed out a test to everyone. She instructed everyone to “thoroughly read the document before starting”.I was - and still am - an avid puzzle player. And this is the one where once you have READ the entire thing, the last line instructs you to write your name at the top of the page and announce that you’ve finished.I recognized it immediately, wrote my name at the top and announced, “I’m done!”Everyone in the class turned to look at me and the teacher’s jaw dropped. I wasn’t the best student, but far from the worse. But this was a great day for me!

To me the defining moment in The Da Vinci Code came when the protagonist, Robert Langdon, an “expert” on symbols, explains that a downward pointing “V” is a stylized vagina and a feminine symbol, and an inverted “V” is a stylized phallus, a male symbol. And that, he informs us, is why Army chevrons point up.And I thought This guy needs to go rent some old Westerns. I think we can reasonably conclude the Civil War and Indian Wars were fairly testosterone-rich affairs, and chevrons in those days pointed down.Note the chevrons on the first and third kneeling riflemen. Proudly wearing their femininity on their sleeves.The chevrons were reversed about the time of World War I and there are no documents explaining why, but it was probably to avoid confusion with European ranks.U.S. Navy chevrons still point down. Feel free to insert your “In the Navy” joke here. So do Coast Guard and Air Force chevrons. The Marines follow Army usage.Above are Turkish enlisted ranks. If you want to call a Turkish NCO effeminate, be my guest. Just let me get far enough away not to get splattered.When somebody blows such an easily checked fact, there is no reason to take anything else he says seriously.I do think it’s a pity the late Herbert Lom is not with us (Inspector Dreyfus from The Pink Panther). He was absolutely born to play the inspector in The Da Vinci Code.