Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Happy Halloween
Jack O' Lantern Facts:
History
Wikipedia -
An Irish legend tells of Jack, a lazy but shrewd farmer who used a cross to trick the Devil, then refused to free him unless he agreed to never let Jack into Hell. The Devil agreed. When Jack died, the Devil wouldn't let him into Hell. So, Jack carved out one of his turnips, put a candle inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He was known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern....
In England, Scotland, and Ireland, there is a long tradition of carving lanterns from vegetables, particularly the turnip, mangelwurzel, or swede. But not until 1837 does jack-o'-lantern appear as a term for a carved vegetable lantern,and the carved lantern does not become associated specifically with Halloween until 1866. Significantly, both occurred not in the British Isles, but in North America.
Historian David J. Skal writes,
"Although every modern chronicle of the holiday repeats the claim that vegetable lanterns were a time-honored component of Halloween celebrations in the
Trivia:
On October 21, 2006, Boston set the World's Record for most Jack O' Lanterns lit at one time - 30,128. Yahoo.
Danger Will Robinson
As of June this year, a list of the safest/most dangerous cities in America.
According to the report, the safest city in America is Brick, N.J, population 76,119 (2000 Census). Wikipedia.
My hometown of Billings, MT (wikipedia) was reported at number 92, while Fort Collins, CO (wikipedia), recently named Money Magazine's Number 1 city in the nation because of its "Great schools, low crime, good jobs in a high-tech economy and fantastic outdoor life..." came in at 139.
Other cities of note include:
98. Madison, Wis
291. St. Paul, Minn.
303. Denver, Colo.
318. Milwaukee, Wis.
345. Minneapolis, Minn
The top five most dangerouns cities:
367. Camden, N.J.
368. Compton, Calif.
369. Flint, Mich.
370. Detroit, Mich.
371. St. Louis
Link via Freakagriep.
Oklahoma: Last State to Legalize Tattooing
OKLAHOMA CITY - The law legalizing tattooing in Oklahoma goes into effect Wednesday and the state Department of Health has been busy fielding questions from people who want to get licenses to practice the ancient art.
Oklahoma was the last state to legalize tattooing.
Requirements for a license include professional experience in tattooing or completion of an approved apprentice program. There is also a standardized test and requirements for certificates in CPR, first-aid and in dealing with bloodborne pathogens.
A surety bond of $100,000 is also required, along with an initial licensing fee of $1,000 and a $500 charge for annual renewal.
Can't Beat the Real Thing
Having effectively spent the last 3+ years of my life in the Twin Cities, I consider myself fairly informed of new fried food trends (I have had fried Snickers and Milky Ways, Alligator as well countless other "on-a-stick" variations). However, this one, which was reported on Yahoo earlier this week, completely caught me off guard...
A new fast food is making its debut at U.S. fairs this fall -- fried Coke.
Story.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
The Hills Have Eyes!
Mount Rushmore's got nothing on this amazing natural wonder.
Courtesy of neatorama and google earth.
Notice how the road, or whatever that is, coming up from the bottom gives the impression that the "person" is listening to an iPod.
Also, if you go to the google earth photo, linked above, and you zoom out you will notice that this is very near Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada which, coincidentally, is directly north of my home state, Montana. Now, wasn't that a fun fact?!
Enjoy.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
galilee
How bout this...Jesus used to see this same type of scene...the sun setting over the Sea of Galilee...
The Reason I'm a History Major
My love of history started at a very young age. I spent many of my days at my grandma's house where I would spend the morning watching Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street and dozens of different old cartoons, including Rocky and Bullwinkle. One of the "skits" which frequently showed up on Rocky and Bullwinkle was Peabody's Improbably History in which Mr. Peabody and his side-kick Sherman travelled back in time using their "WABAC (Wayback) machine." They travelled to all kinds of different events in history; Ancient Greece and Rome, the American and French Revolutions and even the Battle of the Little Bighorn. There were also all kinds of clever jokes added into the show, for instance, in the episode where they visited the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Mr. Peabody pointed out "Custer's Last Stand" which was a hot dig stand...
Later on in life came Histeria...
This show took an even more hilarious look at history. Using its many characters as well as cameos by historical figures to explain historical events. If it comes out on DVD in time I just might consider using it as a teaching tool in my classroom. Amazingly, you can watch episodes for free at AOL's In2TV.
happy thoughts...
In the Senate office, there's a list of "Happy thoughts" on one of the white boards. Here's my list of thoughts (feel free to add to it)...
"real" dogs (no chihuahua's or little ugly yappy ones)
hot apple cider
roller coasters
trains
ice cream (eating a pint of it at a time!)
sailboats
hockey
making fun of modern art
goats (someone pointed out to me how funny they are)
Tom and Jerry
skipping class (hehhe...er...just kidding)
coffee!!!
getting a package in the mail...or getting any mail at all!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the movies)
frisbees
stilts (have you ever walked on stilts? my dad made me some when I was "little"...fun!)
ewoks
reading backwards
Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham
swing music
mountains
motorcycles
Five Iron Frenzy
words like "homoleguemena"
(it's not completely complete, but here are a few things that make me smile...and it doesn't usually take a lot).
Note to Self...
...Don't come to school dressed as Captain Underpants.
Three high-school seniors in California were sent home after they came to school dressed as Captain Underpants on "Superhero Day." Story
A similar phenomena occurred a couple of weeks ago during homecoming week when we had Superhero Day as one of our Spirit Days.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
In the News.
Toddler Gets Stuck in Vending Machine
Three-year-old Robert Moore went fishing for a stuffed replica of Sponge Bob and ended up trapped in a vending machine. The toddler's adventure began with a Saturday evening shopping trip with his grandmother, Fredricka Bierdemann, and three siblings.
Bierdemann ended the trip by giving each child a dollar and telling them to have fun in a retailer's game room.
A stuffed Sponge Bob in a vending machine's bin caught Robert's eye. He tried without success to fish it out with a plastic crane.
"I told him I could get it for him," his grandmother said. "He's a character. He said, 'Oh no, I can get it.'"
When she turned her back to get another dollar for a second try, Robert took off his coat and squeezed through an opening in the machine. He landed in the stuffed animal cube.
Pelican Swallows Entire Pigeon Live
Families strolling through a London park were left shocked when a pelican picked up and swallowed an unsuspecting pigeon.
The Eastern White pelican struggled with the desperately frantic pigeon in its beak for more than 20 minutes before swallowing it whole.
The moment was caught on camera by photographer Cathal McNaughton, who was taking pictures of the wildlife in St James's Park.
The pigeon was still alive when it reached the pelican's stomach, he said.
Courtesy of YouTube; LEGOS!
Michael Jackson's Thriller - It's pretty long, I would advise fast forwarding about 7 or 8 minutes.
Monty Python's Knights of the Round Table
Les Miserables
This one is kinda weird, but I have to admit its also amazing! All of the Dead
Montana Principal Gives Wedgie
According to articles on Yahoo and The Livingston Enterprise, a principal in Livingston, MT has returned to work after giving a student a 'wedgie' earlier this month.
The articles state that Eric Messereli got caught in the moment at a school soccer game, and was horsing around with the student when he pulled his soccer jersey over his head and then proceeded to tug on the elastic wasteband of the boys underwear.
This is a very interesting story. Obviously Messereli went too far in his rowdiness with this student, but how far is too far?
Full Stories:
Yahoo
Livingston Enterprise
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Sean Connery's Got Nothing on This Guy.
Could the former James Bond have done this?
A 70-year-old British pensioner, trained in martial arts during his military service, dispatched a gang of four would-be muggers in a late-night attack in Germany.
We'd all like to think so, but honestly, I wonder if he was really just acting tough in all those movies.
Full Story.
Monday, October 23, 2006
German Ingenuity
I found this site through mental_floss which shows even more useful ways to get every penny out of those everyday items that you might have otherwise thrown away. I don't know how serious this is because the site is completely in German, here is the site.
And here are a few of my favorites...
For the hard of hearing:
For when you learn how to swim and don't need them anymore:
For a cheap costume, or if you just really like looking like a vampire (those are plastic fork tines):
In case you have a cold:
And the creapiest one of all! When you want your baby to stop using a pacifier? ouch.
Food For Thought: Alvin and the Chipmunks
Hit the link to find out what the Alvin and the Chipmunks recording sessions really sounded like...this is insane?!
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The Cut-throat World of Pro Sports
In game two of the World Series last night Fox highlighted the fact that Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers had some brown substance on his hand. What was this substance? The world will probably never know. Did the substance give him some kind of unfair advantage? The answer, in my opinion, is a resounding NO!
In the first inning Rogers pitched a walk to Albert Pujols and allowed a single by Scott Rolen, and that was with the "smudge." After cleaning it off between innings he was able to pitch SIX hitless innings. Does that look like an unfair advantage? He pitched WORSE when he had the smudge.
Here is my theory, prior to the game Rogers was doing his pre-game warm up and was stretching out on the field. It had rained in Detroit, and there was a chance of more rain and snow during the game, therefore when he leaned down to do his stretches he braced himself against the ground and may have gotten a bit of mud on his hand. Its as simple as that, but instead of giving the guy the benefit of the doubt all these sports analysts cry foul and say that he was cheating in some way.
For more information go here or here.
In other sports related news; yesterday Seattle Seahawks Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was injured when linebacker E.J. Henderson rolled into his knee. At the time, I thought nothing of it; it just seemed like a part of the game, something that happens when you play at the highest level. Then, this morning I was watching a show on ESPN called "Cold Pizza." The show is a lot like Sportscenter but is based more on the format of an early morning network news show. One of the segments that they do every morning is called First and 10 and features sports analysts Skip Bayless and Woody Paige. Generally I find myself disagreeing with Skip Bayless, and that was definitely the case this morning. According to Bayless, Henderson injured Hasselbeck on purpose and that this was a malicious action intended to injure the quarterback. Frankly, I don't think so. If you look at the video, Henderson begins to look downfield as Hasselbeck throws the ball, as he turns to look downfield he is hit from the side by a Seahawks lineman, momentum forces him to the ground where he tries to stop himself, in my opinion, from running into Hasselbeck. Unfortunately, his foot slips and he does roll into Hasselbeck's knee, but come on, there is no way he did that on purpose!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Turn Right NOW!
In the last month two German motorists have crashed their cars because instead of watching the road they followed their on board navigation systems.
October 10:
AN 80-year-old German motorist has obediently followed his navigation system all the way into a huge pile of sand, abrubtly bringing his trip to an end.
The motorist ignored a motorway "closed for construction" sign and crashed his Mercedes into a pile of sand further down the road, police have said."The driver was following the orders from his navigation system and even though there was a sufficient number of warnings and barricades, he continued his journey into the construction site," a police spokeswoman has said.
October 22:
A German motorist followed the command "Turn right now!" from his navigation system and crashed into a small toilet hut by the side of the road -- about 30 metres (yards) before the crossing he was meant to take.
The overly obedient 53-year-old from Freiburg drove his sport utility vehicle off the road onto into a building site, up a stairway and into the small toilet shack, police in the eastern town of Rudolstadt said on Sunday.
Modern technology is great, but sometimes you have to pay attention to your God given senses; ie - sight.
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