History of Poisons, Thursday Per 2

[glacial_queen]

The class would be grateful that today's class was in the Danger Shop today, at least once they saw their teacher sporting the very latest fashion. In bee keeping attire, anyway. Blue, of course, because why have a color scheme if you didn't keep to it?

"Kiss kiss," she said when they arrived. "You're all relatively smart, I'm pretty sure that you can guess what we'll be learning about today." On the off-chance her clothing didn't give it away, the low done of bees coming from nearby should provide that last, needed clue. "Some of you might even be confused, because, traditionally, honey has been considered incredibly healthy, with useful in closing wounds, treating burns, easing coughs, helping with respiratory illnesses, even treating cancer. Modern medicine has trouble proving efficacy under laboratory settings, but many of Kaeleeran healing tonics and salves use honey as a base or a major ingredient. However, even honey has a dark side."

Turning around, she led the class further into the inside, where multiple Langstroth hives sat; small, blocky box towers humming with bee activity. Around the hives were multiple flowering bushes and shrubs, many of which the students would recognize from previous classes. There were also enough bee suits on a nearby table for each student, on the off-chance they thought this was going to be a lecture-only class.

"First of all, raw honey should never be given to infants and people with suppressed or compromised auto-immune disorders," she said. "Many types of bacterial and fungal spores can be found in raw honey which present no problems to people with healthy immune systems, but can be dangerous or even fatal to those without. Most doctors suggest waiting until a child is at least a year old before introducing raw honey and it's benefits. Of course, that's not what we're going to talk about today. There's also a naturally occurring phenomenon called toxic honey, which is what happens when honey made from certain plants is eaten by humans. The plants have no affect on bees or bee larvae, but to humans they can call hallucinations, paralysis, sickness, even death. There's extensive historical record of people falling prey to toxic honey. While some, like honey made from evergreen yew or wolfsbane look, smell, or taste unpleasant, most toxic honey is indistinguishable from honey made from non-poisonous blossoms."

"Now, bees, for all that they are industrious workers, aren't going to go further for pollen than they have to," Karla continued. "Most beekeepers place their hives in the middle of fields of plants that will have no ill-effects. Even a single rhododendron plant in a field of daisies isn't going to affect anyone, as there won't be enough poison present in the honey to harm anyone. But beekeepers who don't know about the local flora can end up with toxic honey if they set their hives near a stand of, say, belladonna plants, mountain laurel, or azaleas. And then there are the beekeepers who deliberately set their hives there in order to facilitate the production of toxic honey." She grinned at them. "Now get suited up. Today, we're learning to harvest hives of honey."

Independent Study: Thursday - Period Three

[wandering-stone.livejournal.com]

The usual tea and pastries were set out for the students as Jones typed out an email back to the Court on some matter.

"Our last class is coming soon. At this point you should be well into the writing process for your presentations," Jones said barely looking up from her computer monitor. "If you have anything to share I will be happy to review it with you. Otherwise you are welcome to return to your room to continue your work. At this point you should be more than done with your research. If you need any assistance, I am here to help."

Self Defense, Thursday, Period One

[suitably_heroic]

They didn't really need the Danger Shop for this week's class, so Atton had relented and gone with the gym. Saved him a few hours of programming time he could spend working on something else.

There were mats laid out all over the gym itself-- one to each student.

"Today, we're working on a little less obvious part of self defense," he said. "Knowing how to take a fall, whether it's because you just got hit, or because you're literally falling off of something."

He stepped up to one of the mats. "This is never going to be completely painless, but there are ways to do it that minimize the pain and the damage, and leave you in a position where you can strike back if necessary," he said. "Now, there's a couple of important things to keep in mind. One: always keep your head up. Hit your head, and you might knock yourself out or do serious damage. There's a couple of ways to get around this-- you can train yourself to keep a hand on your head when you fall, or tuck your chin against your chest. If you're falling forward, always turn your head a little, so you don't smash your nose to powder."

He demonstrated by turning his head. Just a little. Not the whole way.

"Two, you're usually going to automatically reach out when you're falling forward. That's a good instinct; keep it in there. But make sure your palms are facing outwards. This slows your fall, and keeps you from doing something bad like breaking your wrists. Then there's the nitty-gritty, full body stuff. When falling, try to make yourself small. Fold yourself inwards as much as you can. That way, you diminish the distance between yourself and the ground before you actually hit it."

Which would be good, if only to diminish the chances of actively breaking something.

"If you're higher up, you need to roll. Yes, especially if you're falling backwards. Use whatever grip you still have on yourself to squat and curl your back."

He studied the class. "Okay, those are the basics," he said. "I'm going to demonstrate. After that, I want you guys to pair up. Just for the sake of safety. While the first person falls, the second person keeps an eye on everything going right. If it looks like it might work out badly, interfere, but don't hover too much."

Atton sat down on the mat. "First, practice the rolling thing," he said. "You want to wind up in a good position when you're done with the roll. No strain on the back. So stretch your arm out as you roll, and keep one of your legs up." He demonstrated with a quick roll back, all limbs and yet, perfect balance.

"Now, if you're going to roll forward, you have to do that differently," he said. "You plant your palm on the ground, stick the other arm between the first arm and your leg, and then let the motion carry you forward."
He rolled back forward with ease, winding up in his original position.

"Okay, practice time. Start off sitting and practice those rolls. Don't start actually falling until you're confident you got it right, and your partner agrees with you. Go."

The Art of BS, Thursday, April 9, 2015

[professor-lyman.livejournal.com]

"One of the toughest tasks when BSing in a group is to make sure everyone has an equally strong poker face and the ability to improvise," Josh said. "So today we're going to practice. I'm going to ask you a question and you're going to provide an excuse, everyone adding something, until it becomes implausible or someone ruins it by laughing or looking guilty.

"Soooo," he said, turning and glaring at the nearest student, "why did you eat the very last box of Girl Scout cookies?"

Taking Josh's Samoas was srs bsns, apparently.