I was browsing my google analytics page to see how people are getting to my website, when I came across a delightful forum post at 99chan.org.

A young working-class lad of perhaps 23 sets himself up at a table and typewriter in my city of residence and, dressed in gentlemanly clothes and armed with a 17th century dictionary and copies of Shakespeare's comedic works, proceeds to produce for passersby unique, off-the-cuff "Shakespearean Insults" typed onto small slips of paper.

Some months ago while out for a promenade with the young lady I was courting at the time, We came upon this young man and he proceeded to produce for us, at no expense, two insults, and then instructed us to read them to each other "with gusto."

Well, my good sirs, I happily say we did just that and to this day the insult he had me read to my lady remains tacked to the corkboard in my study.

Anyhow, to get to the heart of my tale, my friend the OP might consider arming himself with the following phrase, provided to me free of charge by this most whimsical young Shakespearean Insulter:

"Thou errant doghearted flax-wench!"

As an aside for any who may be curious, here is the young man's website.
http://alejandroerickson.com/joomla/personal-projects/88-insulting-people-for-money

I have since retired the insult machine in favour of more lucrative pursuits, but I am nearly ready to revive it now.  It appears my audience took some creative liberties that I approve of.

18th Century French mathematician, Buffon, asked "What is the probability that a needle which falls on the floor, crosses one of the lines between the floor boards?".  It turns out that this number can be used in a Monte Carlo method to approximate π.

We dropped our "needle" 100 times, and got an approximation of 3.22, which is pretty close to 3.14 (considering the small number of trials).

You can read more and find a proof at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffon's_needle

I discovered this cool fact on http://io9.com/5862070/find-pi-with-a-sewing-needle which was posted on http://joindiaspora.com

I have been practicing a brazilian martial art, called capoeira, fairly regularly for about 1 year.  I have been with two groups, Axé Capoeira and Grupo Cativeiro Capoeira, both in Victoria BC, and previously I trained a few months with Ache Brasil, in Vancouver.  Each group has its merits, and I have the first belt from Axé and now also from Cativeiro.

Our group, associated with Cativeiro, is very grass roots and intimate, with classes in Victoria and Duncan, BC.  Our graduation ceremony (called Batizado and Troca de Corda), was held in Duncan this past weekend.  My ceremonial fight was with invited Professor Formiga (which means Ant).  The take down he uses on me is called a tesoro (spelling?), and yes, the landing was a bit rough.  It is a common tradition that you are taken down by a professor or higher when you receive a belt.  At the end I was asked to name a capoeira god mother, and as you can see I was quite surprised by this.  I pointed at the nearest and fairest lady in the crowd (thanks!).

Capoeira is a combination of martial arts, dance, and brazilian folk music.  There is an uplifting energy that is felt when one plays capoeira, especially when you can put a few moves together.  I recommend it to anyone who is serious about doing regular exercise and rising to challenges.

Prof Formiga says "I sharpen my feet," at the start of the fight, and I avoid his take downs a few times before he gets me.

I'm a few months late finding this video, but I need to make a comment about it.  We used to dance sort of like this at raves in the late 1990s in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Our way of doing it was called the Vancouver Bunny Hop (we did do a bit more of a hop).  Now LMFAO has brought it back for their Party Rock Anthem :)