BBB Geeky Novelties

So, you say you know you have geeky tendencies because of your inordinate love for Tetris? Well, if you were truly geeky wouldn't you have or at least want to know how to make Tetris ice cubes? or maybe you'd like to pick up some oversized Tetris blocks? or for the geeky scientist ... "A real-life implementation of the evergreen arcade game Tetris obtained by optically trapping 42 glass microspheres (1 μm diameter) in a 25 μm x 20 μm sized field under a microscope." You go, you wacky microshere scientist person! (be sure to download and watch the video.)

Today in History - 1949

A crowd of 35,000 (some say 45,000) people paid tribute to radio personality Mary Margaret McBride at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. McBride was celebrating her 15th year in radio. Lawrence Tibbett sang and Eleanor Roosevelt was in attendance.

Here's a nice NPR story about McBride.

Just can't get enough ...

News from all over - Bath

In a study of 75 children between the ages of 6 and 7 years old, researchers found that finger length correlated with how well the children performed on standardized tests of math and verbal skills.

Specifically, boys whose index fingers were short compared with their ring fingers tended to excel at numbers and girls with index and ring fingers of similar length tended to do better on the verbal portion of the test.

A number of studies have now found that "digit ratio," or the length of the index finger compared with the ring finger, is connected to cognitive performance, some personality traits, athletic prowess and the risk of certain medical conditions.

Researchers believe hormones explain the findings. Finger length is thought to be determined in the womb, with exposures to testosterone and estrogen playing a key role. Greater testosterone exposure appears to result in a shorter index finger relative to the ring finger, while estrogen encourages more equality between the two fingers.

Prenatal hormone exposure is also thought to influence brain development. Testosterone has been argued to promote development of the areas of the brain which are often associated with spatial and mathematical skills," study leader, Dr Mark Brosnan, explained in a statement. Estrogen, in turn, is thought to affect brain areas involved in language ability, noted Brosnan, who heads the psychology department at the University of Bath in the UK.

Therefore, finger length may serve as a marker of fetal hormone exposures, and possibly our inborn math and language abilities. No one is saying that finger measurements should replace SAT tests, Brosnan added. But finger length does offer "an interesting insight into our innate abilities in key cognitive areas."
Source

Today's Chuckle

BBB Swell Site

Some days you want to challenge the one's you love with a kinder message than the one you have on your mind. When I have that urge, I go to sternestmeanings.com to create an anagram. For example, "Clean your room, or else" becomes "Loony as crueler Romeo". Cool huh?

My favorite today (yes, you can see the funniest and even vote on the best ones submitted) is
webuser: Clint Eastwood
sternest: Old West action!

How Microsoft interns say "Bye, Bye, Bye"

News from all over - Miami

A manager at a fast-food restaurant was shot several times in the arm early Tuesday trying to protect the chili sauce, authorities said.

A man in the Wendy's drive-through argued with an employee because he wanted more of the condiment, police said. The worker told the customer that restaurant policy prohibited a customer from getting more than three packets. The man insisted on 10, reports said. The employee complied, but police said the customer wanted even more.

The manager came out to speak to the man, said Miami-Dade police spokesman Mary Walter. The customer then shot the manager, who was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The customer fled in his vehicle with a female passenger, authorities said.
Source

Today in History - 1806

In Logan County, Kentucky, future president Andrew Jackson participates in a duel, killing Charles Dickinson, a lawyer regarded as one of the best pistol shots in the area.

The proud and volatile Jackson, a former senator and representative of Tennessee, called for the duel after his wife Rachel was slandered as a bigamist by Dickinson, who was referring to a legal error in the divorce from her first husband in 1791. Jackson met his foe at Harrison's Mills on Red River in Logan, Kentucky. In accordance with dueling custom, the two stood 24 feet apart, with pistols pointed downward. After the signal, Dickinson fired first, grazing Jackson's breastbone and breaking some of his ribs. However, Jackson, a former Tennessee militia leader, maintained his stance and fired back, fatally wounding his opponent.

It was one of several duels Jackson was said to have participated in during his lifetime, the majority of which were allegedly called in defense of his wife's honor. None of the other rumored duels were recorded, and whether he killed anyone else in this manner is not known.

BBB Etymology - Stealing one's thunder

John Dennis (1657-1734), best remembered as a critic but also an ineffective poet and dramatist, wrote a dismal tragedy called Appius and Virginia (1709) for which he invented a device for making stage thunder. His bitterness at the play's early demise was enhanced when he heard his own thunder-device being used in a subsequent production of someone else's play. The closely-knit and often malicious literary world of Queen Anne's London would have enjoyed his complaint that his thunder had been stolen - and was in greater demand than his play.

Today in History - 1910

Glenn Curtiss flew from Albany, New York, along the Hudson River, to New York City, to win a $10,000 prize backed by publisher Joseph Pulitzer. He covered 137 miles (220 km) in 153 minutes, averaging nearly 55 mph (89 km/h), then flew over Manhattan Island and circled the Statue of Liberty. Curtiss received the first U.S. pilot's license in 1911 (the Wrights were Nos. 4 and 5).

News from all over - Milwaukee

A thief found out the hard way that robbing a woman isn't the best way to capture her heart.

Two men robbed a U-Haul store around 3 p.m. Sunday, taking an unspecified amount of cash, according the store's owner. But instead of fleeing, one man lingered and tried to strike up a conversation with the woman he had just robbed. "He stuck around and was trying to get the female employee's number," U-Haul general manager Patrick Sobocinski said. "She said he was just saying, 'Hey baby, you're pretty fine.'"

According to Sobocinski, one robber went behind the counter, put his hands around both employees' waists and demanded money. The robber forced one employee to open the register and grabbed cash. Then he forced the workers to the ground and fled, but his accomplice waited for a few moments and then asked one clerk whether she'd go out with him, he said.

"She said he was saying, 'Can I get your number and go out sometime,'" Sobocinski said. No surprise ending here — the woman turned him down, and he fled.
Source

So Now You Know

In 1994 Bill Gates bought the Codex Leicester for $30.8 million. Topics of the 18 page manuscript include:

an explanation of why fossils can be found on mountains. Hundreds of years before plate tectonics became accepted scientific theory, Leonardo believed that mountains had previously formed sea beds, and were gradually lifted until they formed mountains.

the movement of water. This is the main topic of the Codex. Among other things, Leonardo wrote about the flow of water in rivers, and how it is affected by different obstacles put in its way. From his observations he made recommendations about bridge construction and erosion.

the luminosity of the moon. Leonardo speculated that the moon's surface is covered by water which reflects light from the sun, and explains that the crescent moon comes from sunlight reflected off Earth. Waves on the water's surface cause the light to be reflected in many directions, explaining why the moon is not as bright as the sun. Leonardo da Vinci had explained planetshine one hundred years before the German astronomer, Johannes Kepler, proved it.

BBB Destination - Jamestown

There be much talk of pirates these days and while fictional ones do scratch the itch, visiting pirate homes and exploring pirate caves, now that not be for the weak hearted! You may not think of picturesque Jamestown, Rhode Island as a pirate haven but Captain Thomas Paine called it home and it is rumored the dastardly Captain William Kidd came to visit him there and even stashed some of his ill-gotten gains nearby.

Today in History - 1925

John Scopes, a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, was charged with violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools.

Scopes' involvement in the so-called Monkey Trial came about after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it would finance a test case challenging the constitutionality of the Butler Act if they could find a Tennessee teacher willing to act as a defendant.

A group of businessmen in Dayton, Tennessee, led by engineer and geologist George Rappleyea, saw this as an opportunity to get publicity for their town and approached Scopes. Rappleyea pointed out that while the Butler Act prohibited the teaching of evolution, the state required teachers to use the assigned textbook, Hunter's Civic Biology (1914), which included a chapter on evolution. Rappleyea argued that teachers were essentially required to break the law. When asked about the test case Scopes was initially reluctant to get involved, but after some discussion he told the group gathered in Robinson's Drugstore, "If you can prove that I've taught evolution and that I can qualify as a defendant, then I'll be willing to stand trial."

By the time the trial had begun, the defense team included Clarence Darrow, Dudley Field Malone, John Neal, Arthur Garfield Hays and Frank McElwee. The prosecution team, led by Tom Stewart, included brothers Herbert and Sue Hicks, Wallace Haggard, and father and son pairings Ben and J. Gordon McKenzie and William Jennings Bryan and William Jennings Bryan Jr. Bryan had spoken at Scopes' high school commencement and remembered the defendant laughing while he was giving the address to the graduating class six years earlier.

The case ended with a guilty verdict, and Scopes was fined $100, which Bryan and the ACLU offered to pay. The case was appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. In a 3-1 decision written by Chief Justice Grafton Green the Butler Act was held to be constitutional, but overturned Scopes' conviction on a technicality: the judge had set the fine instead of the jury. The Butler Act remained until 1967 when it was repealed by the Tennessee legislature.

So Now You Know

Captain Kidd was caught in New York and returned to England for trial, where he was found guilty and hanged twice - the first time, the rope broke - and his body gibbeted for two years, that is, bound in a wire cage and left to rot hanging in public as a warning to would-be pirates.

News from all over - Bridgeport

A man once called one of the Internet's most notorious pirates of music and movies was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for blowing up a portable toilet.

Bruce Forest, 50, was charged last year with a series of toilet explosions in 2005 and 2006. But under a plea agreement, Forest admitted only to blowing up one toilet in Weston in February 2006. No one was injured in any of the blasts.

Most of the explosions occurred at night in isolated areas, but the last blast in Norwalk occurred during the day in a heavily populated area, authorities said. The explosives involved a mixture of chemicals, police said. Prosecutors said they were detonated by an assault rifle.
Source

Today's Chuckle

BBB Geeky Novelties

Doctor Who fans can rejoice in the ability to order their own Sonic Screwdriver, rc K-9, and dare we say it, a walking, talking EX-TER-MIN-ATE-tor.

News from all over - San Diego

Anakin Skywalker, the Star Wars character who became Darth Vader, had borderline personality disorder, psychiatrists report.

The news comes from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) at its 160th annual meeting. Experts from the psychiatric department at France's University Hospital of Toulouse told the APA's annual meeting that Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader could "clearly" be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness marked by instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. The French psychiatrists — who included Laurent Schmitt, M.D. — based their diagnosis on original Star Wars film scripts.

Schmitt's team describes Skywalker's symptoms, including problems with controlling anger and impulsivity, temporary stress-related paranoia, "frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (when trying to save his wife at all costs), and a pattern of unstable and intense personal relationships," including his relationships with his Jedi masters.

Changing his name and turning into "Darth Vader" is a red flag of Skywalker's disturbed identity, note Schmitt and colleagues.
Source

Today in History - 1883

The Brooklyn Bridge (originally the New York and Brooklyn Bridge), one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, opened on this day. It stretches 5,989 feet and was the largest suspension bridge in the world (50% longer than any previously built), the first steel-wire suspension bridge, and for several years the towers were the tallest structures in the Western Hemisphere.

So Now You Know

On May 30, a week after the Brooklyn Bridge opened, a rumor that the Bridge was going to break down caused a stampede which crushed and killed twelve people.

BBB Swell Site

How can an internet news service simultaneously attract game-loving teens and game-loving 50-somethings? By combining headlines with a Pong-like game! Sound like fun? Of course it does .. surf on over to MSNBC's NewsBreaker for all the action.

Today in History - 1879

Evolving from a four-year course in both agriculture and veterinary science, Iowa State College's Veterinary School was officially founded in 1879. It was designated as the first state veterinary college in the United States and the first veterinary college in the west. At that time, veterinarians were being trained in private institutions and without consistent standards of academic content. The early private institutions ceased to exist by the 1920’s, leaving Iowa State as the veterinary school with the longest record of continuous operation in the United States – a note of distinction the school continues to hold today.

In its first eight years, Iowa State’s veterinary division offered a two-year program. But faculty continually advocated expansion of coursework to include advancements being made in the basic sciences. In 1887 the curriculum was extended to three years, and in 1903 to four years – again setting Iowa State apart as the nation’s first four-year veterinary curriculum.

So Now You Know

The psychological term for fear of garlic is alliumphobia.

News from all over - New York

Police nabbed a suspected burglar after he made off with thousands of dollars in jewelery and other items but left behind his curriculum vitae and keys, New York City police officials said.

Police investigating a robbery at the Brooklyn residence of a local politician on Sunday evening found a set of keys and a computer disk containing the suspect's resume and the police contacted the man using the included telephone number. He asked police if they found his keys.

He was charged with burglary and possession of stolen property.
Source

BBB Etymology - Cynic

From the Greek word kunikos, originally an adjective meaning “doglike,” from kun, "dog." The word was probably applied to the Cynic philosophers because of the nickname kun given to Diogenes of Sinope, the prototypical Cynic. He is reported to have been seen barking in public, urinating on the leg of a table, and masturbating on the street. The first use of the word recorded in English, in a work published from 1547 to 1564, is in the plural for members of this philosophical sect. In 1596 we find the first instance of cynic meaning “faultfinder,” a sense that was to develop into our modern sense. The meaning “faultfinder” came naturally from the behavior of countless Cynics who in their pursuit of virtue pointed out the flaws in others. Such faultfinding could lead quite naturally to the belief associated with cynics of today that selfishness determines human behavior.

Today in History - 1814

Henry Kennedy receives patent for the first reclining chair.
if you go to the linked site, click on "Images" button to see patent.

Quotable Quote

When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied: 'Only stand out of my light.'
-John W. Gardner

News from all over - Braunschweig

A nine-year-old German girl was so upset about having to tidy her room she put up a sign in her window urging passers-by to call police for help. Pedestrians saw the girl crying in the window, holding up a sign up saying "Help! Please call the police!" Next to her sat a small boy.

Quickly alerted, officers rushed to the scene to discover the girl had rowed with her mother about tidying her room and enlisted her two-year-old brother's aid to attract attention.

"The room looked like a battlefield," said a spokesman for local police on Monday. "Officers told the girl to tidy her room. When they came back two hours later to check, it was all cleaned up. And the mother and daughter had made up too."
Source

BBB Pulp Pick - Uncanny

I'm not certain there's much to say about this cover that it doesn't say for itself. But in the game of matching the image with the story titles, well, hmmm.

Today in History - 1901

Connecticut became the first state to enact a speeding-driver law. The State General Assembly passed a bill submitted by Representative Robert Woodruff that stipulated the speed of all motor vehicles should not exceed 12mph on country highways and eight mph within city limits

News from all over - Brisbane

The Bubbles 'n' Babes car wash prompted a flood of complaints with a topless car wash for A$55 ($NZ62) and a nude car wash with X-rated lap-dance service for A$100. "If it was approved for a car wash then I can't imagine how we can stop them," Lord Mayor Campbell Newman told a council meeting with worried local lawmakers.

Professional car washes have boomed in most cities with drought-stricken Australians banned from washing their own cars due to tough water restrictions. Queensland police denied any cover-up in a state where their image has been dented by past accusations of police corruption and involvement with organised crime.

The raunchy wash, set up by a strip-club owner, was screened from the public and used recycled water to avoid breaching water use restrictions, they said. "We don't want any traffic accidents caused by people looking at the girls instead of looking at the road," Superintendent Colin Campbell told local media.
Source

Quotable Quote

My brother was a lifeguard in a car wash.
-Henny Youngman

Today's Chuckle

BBB Destination - Hobbit House

Earlier this month, the BBB gave readers the chance to peek inside windows of a miniature Hobbit House but what if someone took that same attention to detail and built a full-size, well, at least halfling-size house? Check it out.

Today in History - 1912

In response to Ty Cobb being suspended for accosting a handicapped heckler in the stands, Cobb's teammates refused to play as well. So, Hughie Jennings, manager of the Detroit Tigers, hired the baseball team from nearby St. Joseph's College to play in place of the Tigers. St. Joseph's pitcher, Aloysius Travers, was pounded by the Philadelphia Athletics 24-2. Travers gave up all 24 runs -- a single-game record allowing 26 hits, 24 runs, 14 earned runs, 7 walks and 1 strikeout.

News from all over - Canberra

Kopi Luwak, made in Indonesia from coffee beans excreted by native civet cats, is reputedly the world's rarest and most expensive coffee, painstakingly extracted by hand from the animals' forest droppings.

When roasted, the resulting beans sell for around US$500 per pound and brew into a earthy, syrupy, coffee acknowledged by connoisseurs as one of the world's finest. "People who willingly pay the US$50 are uplifted by the thrill of the experience," Australian cafe owner Allan Sharpe said.

Around a dozen people a month try out the exotic brew, with reactions so far 99 per cent favorable. "It's as good as my private life is bad. This is the kind of coffee you renounce your religion and sell your child for," one taster said.
Source

Quotable Quote

The crowd makes the ballgame.
-Ty Cobb

BBB Geeky Novelty

Yep, it's an umbrella "screen" on which you can view images taken with a built-in camera. These can be uploaded to Flickr via a wireless internet connection and within two minutes you can watch downloaded photo-streams on your umbrella screen with a simple wrist-snapping movement.

Today in History - 1938

Way before Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, there was the radio quiz show Information Please which was first broadcast on this day. Until Information Please, radio quiz shows generally posed difficult questions to ordinary people. Information Please assembled a panel of experts and intellectuals and asked them tricky questions. The show ran until 1948.

Enjoy an Information Please episode. Something a bit more recent? Listen to an episode of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

News from all over - San Jose

Andy and Tina Szeto take TV very seriously--so much so that their wedding this past Saturday not only celebrated their new life together, but also their favorite television gadget: TiVo. The San Jose, Calif., couple decided on a television-themed reception, which was held at a San Francisco hotel. "TiVo rules our TV world," bride Tina, 37, said in an interview with CNET News.com. "We describe ourselves as a little bit crazy, a little bit weird."

"Our lives are all around TV, really. All our friends know we enjoy TV. It was only fitting we got to have a TV-themed wedding," said groom Andy, 34. Plus, he laughed, "I knew TiVo before I knew Tina!"

The Silicon Valley-based maker of the iconic digital video recorder donated felt TiVo ears for all attendees. The TiVo antenna headbands were a surprise to the couple. When they arrived at the reception, many of the guests were sporting the black felt ears. "When her 92-year-old grandfather was introduced, he stood up with antennas on his head," Andy said.
Source

So Now You Know

The colors on the letters "TiVo" — red, green, "yellow", blue - are, in ANSI code sequence order - 31, 32, 33, and 34.

BBB Swell Sites

From time to time, the BBB has made note of facial hair and it's sociological role in this post-industrial, digital society. This day is no exception, in fact you can play a significant role in saving legendary facial hairs by "participating" in this game. If saving beards is not an athletic enough activity, try your hand at these.

Enjoy!

News from all over - the UK and the Commonwealth

A search for the scientific basis for happiness has beaten the tale of the world's most famous tortoise and the history of humans in Britain to be named this year's best science book.

Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert received the prestigious Royal Society Prize for Stumbling into Happiness, which questions the idea that any of us know what happiness actually is, never mind how to achieve or maintain it.

Other shortlisted books included Homo Britannicus by palaeontologist Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum: an epic tale of humans on the British Isles, starting when the very first turned up more than 700,000 years ago.

An early favourite for the prize had been Lonesome George by Henry Nicholls, which tells the story of a 90kg, 80-year-old tortoise on the island of Pinta in the Galapagos. He is thought to be the sole remaining survivor of his species and scientists have spent decades trying to find ways of reproducing him in a bid to save his kind from extinction.
Source

Today in History - 1866

The U.S. Treasury Department authorized the minting of the nickel. Actually, I can't make heads nor tails of it.

So Now You Know

A work of writing that deliberately excludes particular letters is called a lipogram. One famous lipogram is the 1939 Gadsby: A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter "E" by Ernest Vincent Wright

BBB Etymology - The Big Cheese

Sir Henry Yule wrote in his famous Anglo-Indian dictionary Hobson-Jobson (1886): "chīz, 'thing.' For the expression used to be common among Anglo-Indians, e.g., "My new Arab is the real chīz"; "These cheroots are the real chīz," i.e. the real thing."

In early 19th century London the expression 'the real thing' was already widely used and once returnees from India were heard to use 'the real chīz' it is easy to see how the two merged and the unfamiliar foreign word changed into the more recognizable cheese. The phrase then migrated to America and became 'the big cheese', as a term to describe the most important person in a group. Like other similar expressions, big cheese was by no means always complimentary and often had derisive undertones.

Today in History - 1856

Angered by the shooting of a prominent journalist, San Franciscans form their second vigilance committee to combat lawlessness.

The need for vigilance committees in San Francisco was obvious. Only two years after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848, San Francisco had grown from a sleepy little village with 900 inhabitants to a booming metropolis with more than 200,000 residents. The sudden influx of people overwhelmed the city. Harried law enforcement officials found it nearly impossible to maintain law and order, and chaos often reigned in the streets, which were lined with saloons and gambling parlors. Attracted by the promise of gold, marauding bands of Australian criminals called "Sydney ducks" robbed and extorted the people of San Francisco with near impunity.

News from all over - Houston

A Texas university's plans for a site to study decomposing human remains have been put on hold due to fears that vultures drawn to the "body farm" may pose a danger to nearby aircraft.

'nuf said but in case you want more .... Source

So Now You Know

A silkworm's cocoon is made of a single continuous thread of raw silk from 300 to 900 meters (1000 to 3000 feet) long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 micrometers (1/2500th of an inch) in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk. Based on 1 kilometer (2/3 of mile) per cocoon, ten unravelled cocoons could theoretically extend vertically to the height of Mt Everest.

BBB Pulp Pick - Man's True Danger

I usually don't go in for this sort of thing but I will admit one of my ongoing pastimes is to try to match pulp pub cover pictures with the stories listed (still a challenge in some 2007 publications). While I don't have a copy of this (or any) edition of Man's True Danger, play along with me ... try to figure out which of the following is a match ...

You Can Score at Hot Vacation Spots
Wild Orgy of the Nude Teen Surfers
Can Miracle Drugs Ruin Your Sex Life?
Treasure City - Under the Sea
Horror Voyage of the Passion Schooner
Dangerous Women - Photo Studies of Three Fantastic Females
The Man-Hanging Women of Dado Creek
Sick Saga of the Subway Sadist (I'm guessing not)

Today in History - 1897

John Philip Sousa's, The Stars and Stripes Forever, was first performed at an unveiling of a statue of George Washington in Philadelphia, Pa.

Hear it here:

News from all over - Ocala

Surely one of the largest Donald Duck collections is on sale on eBay ... right now! Hurry, sale ends May 20.

So Now You Know

It wasn't until 2004 that Donald Duck received his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame joining other characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, The Simpsons, Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog, Godzilla and Snow White.

BBB Destination - Beaver

My apologies. No, not for the cool destination or for it's name or even for the many puns you'll be working on all day ("been there, dung that" is already taken) ... no, sadly, the 38th Annual Cow Chip Throwing Contest has concluded - it was April 21. But I'm certain you can get some of the lowest possible airfares to the Beaver area (like to Amarillo, Tx or Oklahoma City) for next year's competition!

And ready your wardrobe by ordering official merchandise here.

News from all over - Yuma

On Sunday, just a few weeks shy of the 29th anniversary of that night in 1978, Big Tim Cullen recalled when the lights of a UFO rose over the grassy hills and settled alongside his car. He says he got a good look. "It was 100 foot long, 20 foot wide and about 10 foot high." And then it was gone.

Cullen leaned back in the chair and talked of the night the spaceship came down. It hovered along Colorado 59 between Yuma and the smaller town of Joes, Colorado, he says. And even though he doesn't remember this part, Cullen said the aliens took him that night and implanted a strange metal chip in his left wrist - a chip he wouldn't find until 1998.

Cullen isn't alone, of course. Thousands claim they've been abducted by aliens. Hundreds of thousands say they've seen UFOs. Heck, just a few weeks ago a well-respected former Arizona governor said he saw a UFO hovering over Phoenix while he was in office.

"When I saw it, I said, 'this is definitely a UFO,"' ex-Gov. Fife Symington said of the 1997 event. "It was absolutely breathtaking."

And another question: How come it took Cullen 20 years to discover the freaky alien implant in his left wrist? The answer: it took him that long to whack his left thumb with a hammer.

Cullen, 55, stood up Sunday morning and disappeared into a back room of the house where he and his wife have lived for nearly three decades. He came back with an X-ray and held it against the living room window. The images, taken at a Yuma medical clinic, clearly showed a small spot in the wrist, a white triangular image lodged in the tissue above the bones.

Cullen didn't say a word. Not that he's shy about this. He's been featured on lots of UFO-type websites and even on a Learning Channel show called "101 Things Removed From the Human Body."

But sometimes, he doesn't know what to say. Or what to think. "It's all so strange," he said quietly.
Source

Today in History - 1910

Congressional act creates Glacier National Park, the most visited place in Montana and known as the crown jewel of the continent. It lies along Montana's northern border and adjoins Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, forming the world's first International Peace Park.

So Now You Know

Going-to-the-Sun Road is the main parkway through the heart of Glacier National Park and is shown in the opening credits of the film, "The Shining", as Jack Torrance's Volkswagen glides past St. Mary's Lake and up the road, underneath a small tunnel and onward, presumably going to the Overlook Hotel for his job interview for caretaker.

BBB Geeky Novelty

Ever wonder what to do with that annoying spam? Well how about this ... automatically print and shred it!

News from all over - Cherokee

Army safety specialists are expected to close shop today at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma after they remove, dilute and eventually dispose of hazardous blistering chemicals discovered by chance a week earlier.

The 10 vials of chemicals unearthed by a Boy Scout looking for salt crystals April 21 officially were identified as various World War II-era gas samples used to train soldiers for their exposure in war zones.

Between 1942 and 1946, part of the Salt Plains area was used by the military for practice bombing and strafing, said refuge manager Jon Brock of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The mystery, say Corps of Engineers officials, is the area where the vials were found was not a part of the range and, even if it had been, there was no known testing or storing of biological weapons.

On Saturday, park officials continued to maintain closure of the refuge’s selenite crystal digging area to the public, even as a festival celebrating one of the most popular activities at Salt Plains continued at another area of the refuge. The annual Crystal and Birding Festival had to be rearranged at the last minute to avoid use of the crystal flats.

Brock said the digging area will remain closed until the Corps of Engineers conducts a thorough evaluation of the entire salt flats, which encompass about 10,000 acres. About 300 acres is utilized each season from April 1 to Oct. 15 for the public to dig for crystals. Digging attracts up to 30,000 visitors annually that includes many Boy Scouts and school groups.

"I don’t feel like I can allow kids to go out there and dig," Brock said.

During the time of distribution, vials packed in metal shipping containers or wooden boxes were removed, set on poles and detonated as part of a soldier’s training to help him identify, handle and decontaminate chemical agents, Moon said.

They were disposed of by simple burial ... the protocol of the day.
Source

Today in History - 1872

The first woman nominated to be President of the United States was Victoria Claflin Woodhull. She was chosen for the ballot by the Equal Rights Party at Apollo Hall, New York City. Her nomination was ratified at convention on June 6, 1872.

Was the candidacy legitimate?

So Now You Know

Frederick Douglass was nominated as Victoria Woodhull's Vice President. Douglass never acknowledged this nomination. Instead, he served as a presidential elector in the Electoral College for the State of New York.

BBB Swell Site

These kinds of sites scream out, "please verify these statements to see if they are true". They are fun nonetheless, so sit back, relax and enjoy "A Blog on the Oddities of our World".

Oh, and if you really feel the need to do some fact checking, there's always snopes.com to help with the research.

News from all over - Lima

The Livingston County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Office reported an ultra light plane clipped some trees soon after take off. The pilot just missed a barn before slamming into the ground near Routes 5 and 20 behind East End Motors. The pilot, Joseph Orlando, 62, was not seriously hurt and witnesses said he was in good spirits after the crash.

Witness Ron Motz said, "When he just got out of the airplane. He said, 'Hi, how are you doing? Someone put a big barn in my way…'" Investigators said Orlando had just purchased the plane.
Source

Today in History - 1671

In London, Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer better known as "Captain Blood," is captured attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

Blood, a Parliamentarian during the English Civil War, was deprived of his estate in Ireland with the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. In 1663, he put himself at the head of a plot to seize Dublin Castle from supporters of King Charles II, but the plot was discovered and his accomplices executed. He escaped capture. In 1671, he hatched a bizarre plan to steal the new Crown Jewels, which had been refashioned by Charles II because most of the original jewels were melted down after Charles I's execution in 1649.

Blood, disguised as a priest, managed to convince the Jewel House keeper to hand over his pistols. Blood's three accomplices then emerged from the shadows, and together they forced their way into the Jewel House. However, they were caught in the act when the keeper's son showed up unexpectedly, and an alarm went out to the Tower guard. One man shoved the Royal Orb down his breeches while Blood flattened the Crown with a mallet and tried to run off with it. The Tower guards apprehended and arrested all four of the perpetrators, and Blood was brought before the king. Charles was so impressed with Blood's audacity that, far from punishing him, he restored his estates in Ireland and made him a member of his court with an annual pension.

Captain Blood became a colorful celebrity all across the kingdom, and when he died in 1680 his body had to be exhumed in order to persuade the public that he was actually dead.

So Now You Know

The board game Outrage is based on Thomas Blood's attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. And if that's not "outrageous" enough, there's a version billed as the world's most expensive board game ... Outrage Deluxe ... the Crown Jewels are 18 carat gold, studded with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. All other playing pieces are sterling silver. The cards are edged with gold leaf and the laminated board is set in a hand made mahogany cabinet.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Etymology - Ride roughshod over

A horse is said to be roughshod when it has shoes with the nail-heads projecting so that it can get a better grip, in icy weather for example. Cavalry horses could also have shoes like this, not only to prevent them slipping and disrupting a charge, but also to inflict more damage on the enemy as they rode over them. It was from this practice that the expression to ride roughshod over comes; used literally from the 17th century, and by the 19th transferred to mean to domineer, to carry on regardless, trampling down other's opinions or desires.

Today in History - 1939

Clay Puett who invented the electric starting gate saw one of his two-stall working models used for the first time to start races at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, CA.

Before they were "Heroes"

So, where were they *before* they were "Heroes" ... here's a "tell all" site.

News from all over - Edwardsville

For the past several weeks, drivers near Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville have been noticing odd things about some of the roadkill on the sides of the area's highways.

Some of the dead possums and raccoons have been dressed in pet or human baby clothes and have had their claws painted with nail polish. The carcass of a deer has been adorned with gold paint.

The culprit is SIU-Edwardsville graduate art student Jessica May, 24, of West Lafayette, Ind. In an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat, May said she is not an animal rights activist; she is just interested in seeing if people would give more thought to the animals if they were somehow given human attributes.

"I think this is my way of slowing down and paying homage to these animals," she explained. "I don't particularly find it offensive, but I understand why some people who don't understand what I'm doing could find it that way."

May, a 2006 graduate of Purdue University, said she takes precautions in dealing with the carcasses.

"I wear gloves," she said. "I don't know that I could touch it with my bare hands, because by the time I find them, they're pretty far gone."
Source

BBB Pulp Pick - Help is on the way

It just doesn't get better than this...

Imagine sitting in the comfort of your own home listening to the sonorial sounds of a bald headed guy telling how to sell life insurance. Why, the album cover alone tells me all I want to know.

Today in History - 1824

Beethoven's 9th Symphony premiered in the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna.

So Now You Know

Wade Morrison named Dr Pepper after Dr. Charles Pepper who had given him his first job.

News from all over - Kalgoorlie

A 51-year-old woman has rammed a Goldfields brothel with a car, apparently because she was refused a tour. The woman is accused of driving a government car into the Questa Casa brothel on one of Australia's famous red light strip at 2.10pm (WST) on Saturday, police said.

Sergeant Richard Moore said he understood a woman, from Yokine in Perth, had politely asked for a tour of the brothel but had been turned away because they could not do a tour that day. Brothel staff told police the woman appeared pleasant and had appeared to accept they would give her a tour on Sunday instead. "She went outside, had a couple of cigarettes, got into her car and drove it diagonally across the road into the brothel," Sgt Moore said.

Police were still investigating the incident.
Source

BBB Destination - Virginia City

Bob Carter writes ...

In the late 1800s, Virginia City, Montana flourished as one of the richest mining discoveries in the world, yielding more than $2.5 billion in gold by today's prices. It seemed inevitable that into this major gold strike armed robbers would soon be drawn.

Even the town's sheriff, Henry Plummer, was tempted into the corruption. Taking the law into their own hands, a group of vigilantes formed in 1863, and in Kiskadden's Store on Wallace Street they took the Vigilante Oath for the "...laudable purpose of arresting thieves and murderers and recovering stolen property."

For two months the Vigilantes took the law into their own hands. Among those accused and hanged, without the benefit of a legal trial, were Sheriff Plummer and several others. Virginia City residents lined the streets as the Vigilantes hanged the suspects from a beam in what's known as Virginia City's Hangman's Building. Five of the bodies now lie entombed in the community's small Boot Hill Cemetery.

But there is another story ... of Ritchie Doyle and the infamous tale of Speedy, Squeaky, and Sneaky. Ritchie Doyle doesn't consider himself a vigilante. He's a creative performer who often takes part in the Virginia City Gold Rush Medicine Show performed at the Virginia City Train Depot. He's also the innovative executioner of three popular Boot Hill Cemetery residents known as Speedy, Squeaky, and Sneaky. They all lie buried beneath 11-inch high inscribed tombstones and in a special mini-site on the hill.

According to Doyle, "Like the vigilantes of yore, I did them in without due process and without consulting the law or the sheriff." In fact, he admits with a smile in his voice, he did it without warning and without guilt. You see, Speedy, Squeaky, and Sneaky all committed unmentionable crimes at the train station. One was trapped and killed for trespassing, embezzlement, and hazardous defecation; another for smuggling stolen goods and leaving messes; and the third for looting, arson, and crawling up lady's dresses. Without remorse, Doyle took their ultimate punishment into his own hands...."with the help of a trap," he adds.

Today, the three mice graves are found neatly and solemnly arranged atop Boot Hill with other criminals from the past. Their individual names, birth and death dates, and unforgivable crimes marked on separate tombstones. During early mining days, justice was often swift and unforgiving. Perhaps some things haven't changed all that much.

Bob Carter is an award winning travel journalist and the editor of numerous books including Food Festivals of Southern California: A Traveler's Guide & Cookbook.

Today in History - 1864

The U.S. House of Representatives approves the Wade-Davis Reconstruction Bill over Lincoln's objections

News from all over - Seoul

They came from all over the world, poles in hand, and feet ready to inch more than half a mile across a high wire strung over the Han River in a spine-tingling battle of balance, speed and high anxiety.

As part of its annual city festival, the South Korean capital staged Thursday what was billed as the world's first high-wire championship, drawing 18 contestants from nine countries for three days of supreme feats of concentration.

Each acrobat must navigate the 1.2-inch-thick wire that spans the river, with the top prize of $15,000 going to the person crossing it fastest.

While interesting, the real reason I included this article was because of the headline ....

Skywalkers in Korea cross Han solo

Source

Quotable Quote

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known, that, while I am, (as I was in December last, when by proclamation I propounded a plan for restoration) unprepared, by a formal approval of this Bill, to be inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration; and, while I am also unprepared to declare, that the free-state constitutions and governments, already adopted and installed in Arkansas and Louisiana, shall be set aside and held for nought, thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who have set up the same, as to further effort; or to declare a constitutional competency in Congress to abolish slavery in States, but am at the same time sincerely hoping and expecting that a constitutional amendment, abolishing slavery throughout the nation, may be adopted, nevertheless, I am fully satisfied with the system for restoration contained in the Bill, as one very proper plan for the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt it; and that I am, and at all times shall be, prepared to give the Executive aid and assistance to any such people, so soon as the military resistance to the United States shall have been suppressed in any such State, and the people thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Constitution and the laws of the United States,-in which cases, military Governors will be appointed, with directions to proceed according to the Bill.
-Abraham Lincoln

BBB Geeky Novelty

You may already know how some people can become, umm, focused on detail work .. for some it's data, for others watch repair, still others find making miniatures fascinating. Marry the ability to focus on the tiny with the love for a story or movie environment and you may find unparalleled craftsmanship. Welcome to Tiny Bag End.

Today in History - 1939

The Beer Barrel Polka, one of the standards of American music (by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda), was recorded for Decca Records by Patti, Maxine and LaVerne ... The Andrews Sisters.

News from all over - Anamosa

A 135-year-old penitentiary in Iowa changed some of its locks after keys to the maximum-security prison were apparently sold on eBay.

The keys belonged to a locksmith who retired from Anamosa State Penitentiary in 1974. He died two years later and when his wife died last year, an auctioneer was hired to sell off the estate, which included the keys. Someone bought the keys and put them on eBay. Most appear to be antiques.

Jerry Burt, the prison's warden, said prison staff members told him about the keys after they attended the auction, not knowing the keys were there. "I checked eBay and they were listed," Burt said. "We didn't know anything about the auction beforehand."

Burt said some locks at the eastern Iowa prison have been changed since 1974 while others haven't, prompting the recent change. "We did it as a precaution," Burt said.
Source
The lock and key shown is another ebay find from the Anamosa jail.

So Now You Know

Saturday will be a red letter day for numerologists. At 3 minutes and 4 seconds after 2 AM, the time and date will be

02:03:04 05/06/07

And at 9 minutes and 10 seconds after 8 AM, it’ll be

05/06/07 08:09:10

Of course, this applies to PM too if you don't live by a 24 hour clock.

BBB Swell Site

Think of a conference where the focus is ideas ... ideas as broad based as the Consciousness, Sexuality, Software as Art, Free Association, the Future of Space, Creativity, DNA and the Sea, Militant Atheism, Happiness ...

That's TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design ... "an annual conference that brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes". The site is well organized, the videos superb, the ideas often stunning.

Watch just one a day (bet ya can't watch just one) and see if you don't think about the world differently.

Tip of the BBB hat to Jff T

News from all over - New York

A landlord hired a marching band to drown out the sound of his tenants protesting asbestos contamination. Many tenants at the midtown building have been driven out to make room for the construction of luxury condos at the site, the New York Post reported Monday.

The tenants remaining also have complained they have been subjected to airborne asbestos by bad renovation work. "It's a question of health and safety ... . We have four independent tests that show asbestos," said resident Alan Kroll, who was among about two dozen protesters outside the building Sunday. Owner Kent Swig decided to drown out the protesters by hiring the Steppers Marching Band, although the move mostly just drew a curious crowd.

The Department of Environmental Protection has ordered construction halted until the asbestos is cleaned up.
Source

Disney Shorts

John Lasseter is shaking things up a bit over at Disney Animation and one good fall out is the return to producing "Shorts" not only for entertainment but also to develop artists and ideas. One I'm particularly looking forward to is Goofy starring in "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater". Hopefully, it will be released in time for me to get some valuable pointers!

Today in History - 1885

Good Housekeeping magazine was founded by Clark W. Bryan in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

BBB Etymology - Bedlam

While modern usage of bedlam is more about extreme confusion and disorder or uproar, or perhaps in reference to a Marvel Comics mutant character, Bedlam is actually a place, a colloquial pronunciation of the "Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem" in London, founded 1247 as a priory, it was mentioned as a hospital in 1330 and as a lunatic hospital 1402; it was converted to a state lunatic asylum on dissolution of the monasteries in 1547.

Thus, Bethlam Royal Hospital stands as the world's oldest psychiatric hospital.

Today in History - 1883

Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) staged his first Wild West Show.

News from all over - Uh ... all over

"I am so far behind on email that I am declaring bankruptcy," New York-based venture capitalist Fred Wilson wrote in his blog last week. "If you've sent me an email (and you aren't my wife, partner, or colleague), you might want to send it again. I am starting over."

Jeff Nolan, CEO of technology startup Teqlo, followed suit the next day. "From here on out I am going back to voice communication as my primary mechanism for interacting with people," he said.

The term "email bankruptcy" was coined by Stanford Law School professor Lawrence Lessig in 2004, when he was inundated with an average of 200 non-spam emails a day and had spent 80 hours in a week sorting through unanswered email. Lessig is a vocal anti-spam crusader, but ironically his email problems were caused by personal messages.

"Dear person who sent me a yet-unanswered e-mail, I apologize, but I am declaring e-mail bankruptcy", Lessig informed his contacts via email, parts of which were published by Wired magazine. He apologised profusely and said that, by not responding, he lacked "cyber decency".

But some say declaring email bankruptcy is an extreme measure that should be taken only as a last resort. The website Web Worker Daily advised its readers to use an email auto-responder that replies to each message with: "Due to a technical issue, there is a possibility I may never see your email. If it is important, please call me at xxx xxx-xxxx. Sorry for any inconvenience."

This is also a method advocated by Timothy Ferris, author of the mobile lifestyle manifesto, The 4-Hour Workweek. Others say it is just a matter of being more organised and learning to use the technology more effectively.

The Australian firm Adapt Training Solutions provides one-on-one coaching sessions for time-poor executives, training them to apply time management principles to their digital lives. Pricing varies, but $2500 nets you several 90-minute coaching sessions, spread out over three to four months. Harvey Norman chief operating officer John Slack-Smith told The Sydney Morning Herald this month that, by using Adapt's methods, he had regained one hour a day.
Source

Today's Chuckle

So Now You Know

Looking at first quarter 2006 statistics, the number of emails sent per day was around 171 billion.