natural gas

Today we got a letter from SDG&E warning us that natural gas can cause cancer. So my daughter said: "You mean Paul's giving us cancer"?

She has a good point. It has indeed been a most gassy house of late. Apparently this is noticeable to all. The gas lurks in dark corners of rooms for impressive amounts of time, so that one is temporarily stunned by it when entering a room unprepared.

Just one of the hazards of marriage, I guess.

Which has led me to return to a phenomenon I have found fascinating for some time: apparently it is possible to light, um, the body's own "natural gas" on fire. I remember watching this phenomenon in Fanny and Alexander, one of my favorite films of all time. But I didn't think the scene was based on anything you could really do!

But then one day, as I was idly remembering the scene again, it occurred to me to perform a Google search to see if anyone had perhaps recorded such an activity. Of course they had:

link: fart fire

I'm going to have to make this required viewing for my Chaucer class when we read the "Miller's Tale."

Just kidding, of course!