looking for safe excitement? november is fig(1) month at the dull men's club, a place in cyberspace(2) for men who feel "born to be mild" and enjoy watching grass grow and photographing garden sheds.
"figs are good for you. high fibre and high nutritional value ... fat-free, sodium-free, cholesterol-free ... not to mention the great taste. and they are portable," enthuses the dull men's club web site (http://www.dullmen.com) just above its choice of "anorak(3) of the month".
while the rest of the web teems with hazards -- trojans, viruses, bots, phishers, spyware and other people - this monochrome(4) haven boasts "no violence or scary scenes" and does its best to exclude exclamation marks.
instead, an analysis of baggage carousels(5) at 376 airports globally discovers that 44.8 percent rotate counterclockwise(6), 29 percent clockwise(7). the site also reveals the reason for that orientation.
"many people - corporate executives and celebrities i've heard about - enjoy doing the dull things," the site's author lee carlson, also known as grover click, told reuters.
"it's an ordinary subject taken to extremes. here's one: take a bucket, fill it with water, put in some wood, and watch it warp."
for the dull men's club, watching water freeze is stimulus enough, as is discovering the history of soap.
visiting museums is a favourite dull men's activity, and the site contains references to a plethora of resources, from safety razors through aprons to water hydrants(8), via a comb museum in china and jerusalem's tax museum.
"one of the museum's purposes was to be a place to learn about the routine work of the tax department. wow ... it doesn't get much better than that," enthuses the site.
women are excluded from the site's host society, the "national council of dull men, washington, d.c."
carlson - a semi-retired former tax accountant -- founded the society with a few friends along the lines of gentlemen's clubs in london and new york, to share common interests.
"our view is that women are not dull. women are exciting. moreover, we think women would be offended if we said they were dull ... that it would be politically incorrect to refer to women as being dull," the site says.
"we also question what they might do if they were in one of our meeting rooms. the first thing they probably would do is rearrange the furniture. we like our furniture where it already is."
渴望享受安全的刺激吗？闷蛋俱乐部是自认为“因温和而生”的人组成的网络空间，这里的人喜欢观察草木生长，喜欢为花棚摄影。11月则是他们的无花果月。
打开闷蛋俱乐部的网页（http://www.dullmen.com），“本月连帽雪衣”上方写着：“无花果对身体有好处。高纤维、高营养…无脂肪…不含钠、胆固醇…”味道鲜美。并且方便携带。
当其他网站被特洛伊、病毒、蝇蛆、钓鱼者、间谍软件等等危险充斥着，这个色彩单调的避风港宣称“这里没有暴力恐怖画面”，并全力抵制任何惊叹号。
一项机场包裹传送带分析报告显示，全球376个机场中，44.8%的传送带为逆时针转动，29%顺时针转动。本网站还为此分析了原因。
网站创始人lee carlson，也被称为grover click对路透社说：“很多人—公司执行官和我所听说过的名人们—都很喜欢做琐碎的事情。”
“平凡到极点也就不平凡了。例如：找一个水桶、灌满水、放入一些木头、观察它们移动。”
在闷蛋俱乐部，观察水结冰和研究肥皂的历史都是很刺激的事情。
参观博物馆是最受会员欢迎的活动，因此网站中提供大量信息参考，从安全剃须刀、围裙到消防水龙头，从中国梳子博物馆到耶路撒冷税务博物馆。
网站称：“其中一个博物馆的目的是让我们了解税务部门的日常工作。喔…再没有比这更好的了。”
女人无法进入网站主流社会—华盛顿无为全国理事会。
半退休税务会计师carlson和几个朋友出于分享共同兴趣的目的创立理事会，遵循伦敦和纽约绅士俱乐部的传统拒绝女士参与。
“我们认为女人根本不沉闷。女人总是很兴奋。而且，我们认为如果女人听见我们说她们沉闷会不高兴的…从政治层面讲也不应该说女人沉闷…”
“我们很质疑如果女人来参加会议会发生什么。首先她们很可能会重新摆放家具。我们很满意目前家具的摆放位置。”