BBB Destination - Houston

This might seem a little morbid but then my uncle and aunt owned and operated (and now my cousin and his children run) the Sevier Funeral Homes and some of my favorite TV shows include Pushing Daisies and Six Feet Under. But enough about me ...

When in Houston, you wouldn't want to miss the National Museum of Funeral History. Not only can you check out how coffins were made 100 years ago, but also see a 1921 RockFalls Motorized Hearse (with hand carved side panels), artifacts, fantasy coffins and a host of items from the gift shop, including some pretty cool die-cast (ha) vehicles and clothing with slogans like "In Dog Years I am Dead". And there's so much more ...

News from all over - London

A mobile phone service which alerts people to the nearest public toilets was launched on Thursday. The scheme works via text message requests from shoppers, workers and tourists.

Texting the word 'toilet' to the number 80097 prompts a quick-response text with details of the nearest facilities and their opening times. Phone technology – dubbed SatLav – locates the texter and finds the nearest loos to them. The service covers London's Westminster Council and texts cost 25p each.
Source

Today in History - 1835

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, popularly known as Mark Twain, was born this day in Florida, Missouri and spent his childhood in nearby Hannibal. Twain enjoyed immense public popularity, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."\

Quotable Quote

On the afterlife ... I am silent on the subject because of necessity. I have friends in both places.
-Mark Twain

BBB Geeky Novelty

Not sure why this is geeky but it feels like it ought to be - maybe it's just a cool site I couldn't wait til next week to share? Maybe the Muppet Wiki is more geeky and this more of a cool site for this week. Who knows? Let's just accept it and have fun at this cool, geeky, down under site featuring well animated characters ... with attitude. That's what you'll find at Transience.

Today in History - 1929

After completing his first flight over the North Pole three years earlier, Lt. Commander Richard E. Byrd flew over the South Pole on this day in 1929. He became the first American to achieve such a feat.

News from all over - Norrbotten / Västerbotten

Officials in northern Sweden have just given the all-clear for the construction of the world's largest moose. Perched on top of a mountain, the 148-foot moose will double as a restaurant and concert hall that can seat up to 350 guests. From its antlers, more than 500 metres above sea level, visitors will be able to enjoy the spectacular view over the valleys below.

For over three years, officials from two northern counties have discussed the implications of having a gigantic moose straddling their border from its vantage point on top of Vithatten mountain. After years of uncertainty, Norrbotten county's decision on Monday to follow Västerbotten's lead and green light the project came as something of a shock to founder Thorbjörn Holmlund.

"This is such unbelievably good news. My whole body is shaking with joy," he told The Local.

As the owner of the Svansele wilderness centre, Holmlund has long organized safaris for visiting tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the king of the forest in its natural habitat. But he himself hoped for nothing more than to see the silhouette of his monumental moose looming over the mountains above.

Though its future may have been in the balance, the oversize moose has long had a name: Stoorn, which translates as 'The Big One' in the local dialect.

With its front legs in Norrbotten and hind quarters in Västerbotten, Stoorn will be be positioned to bite on an enormous pine tree. A lift will then transport visitors through the tree to and from the creature's mouth. The reception area is to be located between the teeth and the tonsils.

In the belly of the beast is the conference center, which - like the concert hall - will also hold up to 350 people. Visitors will be able to move through the levels using spiral staircases located inside the moose's legs.

With the initial paperwork finally out of the way, Stoorn's creator expects construction to begin before the end of the year. And as befits an area in which forestry is the main industry, the moose will be built using local wood. The cost is expected to come in at around $6.5 million and is to be financed entirely through private investment.

"We have so much to offer up here, with all our cheeses, the gold of Lapland, and so much more besides. I think Stoorn will help us attract lots of international tourism," said Holmlund.
Source

Quotable Quote

A static hero is a public liability. Progress grows out of motion.
-Richard E. Byrd

BBB Swell Site

New wikis seem to pop up most every day but one that's been around a while is the Muppet Wiki, proudly stating "15,672 articles since December 5, 2005". Everything Jim Henson (and pals) is documented here and you too can join in. From "Mah-Na Mah-Na" to the Muppet Mobile Lab, you'll find all your favorites.

News from all over - Clearwater

A local bank teller had a million reasons not to open an account for an Augusta, Ga. man Monday, authorities said. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill, said Aiken County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank.

The employee refused to open the account and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, Frank said. The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill, Frank said.
Source

Today in History - 1922

The first skywriting in the U.S. was demonstrated over Times Square, New York City, by Capt. Cyril Turner of the Royal Air Force. Flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet, he wrote letters in white smoke a half-mile high. The smoke was formed by oil, controlled by levers, dropped on the plane's hot exhaust pipe. The message in the sky was, Hello, U.S.A. Call Vanderbilt 7200. (Turner first used skywriting for advertising for a newspaper's name, Daily Mail,over England in May 1922.) In New York, Major Jack Savage was trying to sell this advertising idea to a skeptical George W. Hill, head of the American Tobacco Co. Savage had invited Hill to the Vanderbilt Hotel. Hill was convinced by the 47,000 telephone calls in less than 3 hours.

So Now You Know

So if you were to guess, how many Muppets would you say have been created? Is it closer to 50? 150? 500? 1050? Pass your mouse over the black rectangle for the answer. Close to 500! Check out a list here.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Etymology - Make the grade

From the vocabulary of railroad construction, in which grade meant gradient. The huge task of linking the east and west coasts in the 19th century involved numerous calculations to ensure that railway engines could make or surmount the gradients being planned.

Today in History - 1910

On December 12, 1901, Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) president Alexander Cassatt announced the railroad's plan to enter New York City by tunneling under the Hudson and building a grand station on the West Side of Manhattan, south of 34th Street.

Beginning in June, 1903, two single-track tunnels were bored from the west under the Hudson River and four single-track tunnels were bored from the east under the East River. This second set of tunnels linked the new station to Queens and the Long Island Rail Road, which came under PRR control, and Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where trains would be maintained and assembled. Electrification was initially 600 volts DC–third rail, later changed to 11,000 volts AC–overhead catenary, when electrification of PRR's mainline was eventually extended to Washington, D. C. in the early 1930s.

The tunnel technology was so new and innovative that in 1907 the PRR shipped an actual 23-foot diameter section of the new East River Tunnel to the Jamestown Exposition near Norfolk, Virginia to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement. The same tube, with an inscription indicating that it had been displayed at the Exposition, was later installed under water and remains in use today. Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnel on October 9, 1906, and on the East River tunnel March 18, 1908. Meanwhile, ground was broken for Pennsylvania Station on May 1, 1904. By the time of its completion and the inauguration of regular through train service on Sunday, November 27, 1910, the total project cost to the Pennsylvania Railroad for the station and associated tunnels was $114 million (in 1910 dollars), roughly $2.5 billion today.

So Now You Know

The original Penn Station structure was made of pink granite and was marked by an imposing, sober colonnade of corinthian columns arranged in Doric order. The colonnades embodied the sophisticated integration of multiple functions and circulation of people and goods. McKim, Mead and White's Pennsylvania Station combined frank glass-and-steel train sheds and a magnificently proportioned concourse with a breathtaking monumental entrance to New York City. From the street, twin carriageways, modeled after Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, led to the two railroads that the building served, the Pennsylvania and the Long Island Rail Road. Its enormous main waiting room, inspired by the Roman Baths of Caracalla, approximated the scale of St. Peter's nave in Rome, expressed here in a steel framework clad in travertine. It was the largest indoor space in New York City and, indeed, one of the largest public spaces in the world covering more than seven acres.

The demolition of the original structure in 1964 created international outrage. As dismantling of the grand old structure began, The New York Times editorially lamented:

"Until the first blow fell, no one was convinced that Penn Station really would be demolished, or that New York would permit this monumental act of vandalism against one of the largest and finest landmarks of its age of Roman elegance."

Check out these photos and drawings.

News from all over - Perth

Dave Downey has beaten the rest of the world with his chimney-climbing skills and gentle nature at the World Santa Claus championships in Sweden. "Three years in training to be a Santa and now it's all paid off," the new Father Christmas told the Ten Network.

Prospective Santas tried not to trip over their beards as they battled it out in five sports: chimney climbing, reindeer racing, kick sled racing, porridge eating and Santa's Christmas Eve.

Asked how he practices, Mr Downey replied: "Kangaroos, sheep, porridge eating, of course, the usual Santa activities. It's just a bit harder in the heat that's all." But Santa Games official secretary Elisabeth Landby said that after three years of competing, Mr Downey had grown into the role of Santa and had the style judges were looking for.

"He was in third place during most of the time during the competition, but he impressed the judges during the chimney climbing and jumped to first place," Ms Landby said. "He was popular among the children ... the children thought he was a good Santa." As well as the title of top Santa, Mr Downey wins a gold medal, a diploma and a hand-made sculpture of Santa.
Source with video

BBB Pulp Pick - Country Gentleman

Norman Rockwell had lots of competition when it came to magazine covers - after all, there were lots of magazines with hand drawn covers. Over at Country Gentleman, Rockwell produced 34 covers between 1917 and 1922. This cover for October 1934 was titled Full Moon Romance by artist Phil Lyford.

Country Gentleman originally was a farming and rural magazine which ran occasional poems and extracts from novels; under Curtis (when it became a companion to The Saturday Evening Post) fiction became a strong feature. Authors included Ben Ames Williams and Zane Grey, a number of whose westerns were serialized here. It's main run was from 1853 to 1955.

News from all over - Idaho City

Candace Jennings was sleeping on the couch when she was nudged awake by her dog, Anna, to find her mobile home engulfed in flames early Thanksgiving Day. The blond heeler, an abused stray dog Jennings had adopted from an animal shelter, whined and howled until they ran outside. "I had an awful headache. The place was filled with smoke," she told the Idaho Statesman.

But Jennings said she ran back into her burning home to save some items. "I’m a janitor in town," she said. "I had everyone’s keys in my backpack. I had to go back and get them." She crawled back into her burning home in Idaho City, about 40 miles northeast of Boise, with Anna close at her side. But Jennings said she became disoriented and was nearly overcome by smoke. She tried to get back out but crawled in the wrong direction, heading toward the pantry instead of the door. Anna showed her the way out. "She pushed on me; she nudged me out the door," Jennings said.

The roof collapsed as Jennings, barefoot and wearing only pajamas, ran to some trees in the 15-degree weather. Jennings suffered burns to her feet and then frostbite. Anna and two other dogs Jennings has were not injured. "She’s a hero," said Jennings, an artist who has lived in the mountain town since 1975.
Source

Today in History - 1864

Charles L. Dodgson sent a handwritten manuscript to Alice Liddell. The manuscript was titled Alice's Adventures Underground. It was an early Christmas present to the 12-year-old girl. Later, the manuscript was renamed Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

So Now You Know

Charles Ludwidge Dodgson never publicly acknowledged that he was also Lewis Carroll. He seldom signed his books, and never gave away his portrait. Dodgson did acknowledge his pen name among his friends (especially in the letters to his child-friends which he signed with that name) but publicly denied any connection with the Alice books. Hence, he regularly returned strangers' mail addressed to him as Lewis Carroll with a printed leaflet that asserted, "Mr. Dodgson is so frequently addressed by strangers on the quite unauthorized assumption that he claims or at any rate acknowledges the authorship of books not published under his name, that he has found it necessary to print this, once and for all, as an answer to all such applications. He neither claims or acknowledges any connection with any pseudonym, or with any book that is not published under his own name."

BBB Swell Site

Already feeling a little piqued and worried about what may go wrong on Thanksgiving? Nothing solves a potential disaster like a new kitchen tool. Wondering what tools could save Thanksgiving? Look no further.

gadgets for cooking the turkey
gadgets to help with side dishes
gadgets to help with desserts

News from all over - Akron

They're a hallmark of the American holiday, those giant balloon wonders of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.And now, some of their inflatable cousins will rule over Akron's Thanksgiving weekend parade to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Lighter Than Air Society, a club founded by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. mechanics and pilots who worked on the company's blimps.

Four 48-foot balloons -- Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, the Happy Dragon, Dino the Dinosaur and a Giant Candy Cane -- will star in the Welcome Santa Parade on Saturday.

"It's a slice of Americana," said Dave Osterland, chairman of the 800-member Lighter Than Air Society. "It's what we were raised with, which is what makes this thing so exciting."

The appearance of the helium-filled characters also is a sort of homecoming, Osterland said, since Goodyear workers in Akron made the balloons used in the Macy's parade from 1927 to 1982.

The Macy's parade was three years old in 1927 when employees decided to abandon the practice of rolling lions and tigers from the Central Park Zoo down the parade route, said Macy's spokesman Orlando Veras. The live animals scared the children.

So Tony Sarg, Macy's window designer and puppeteer, imagined inflatable animals. At first, they were carried on sticks, like upside-down marionettes, Veras said. But in 1928, Goodyear used the technology it developed for rubber-coated fabrics to make the giant animals fly.

"That's why Macy's called them," said Ron Syroid, a trustee of the Lighter Than Air Society. "They'd gotten all that attention about blimps and dirigibles in that era."

Over the decades, the balloons built at Goodyear's Wingfoot Hangar and Airdock depicted iconic characters, from Felix the Cat to Underdog. When television came into vogue, they became a familiar part of Thanksgiving. Today the balloons range in size from 15 feet to 78 feet tall. "We're the opening act of the meal, per se, and we're part of the family," Veras said. "It's always flattering when others would like to add that kind of tradition to their events."

The rubber company left the balloon-animal business in 1982, and a South Dakota company now constructs Macy's wonders. The balloons that will be parading through Akron will be accompanied by 2,500 pounds of sandbags, 150 volunteers, 40 tanks of helium and a whole bunch of pickup trucks.

Other Lighter Than Air anniversary events include a display of balloon photographs and artifacts at the Akron-Summit County Main Library throughout November.
Source

Today in History - 1783

French physician Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier and François Laurent, the marquis d' Arlandes, make the first untethered hot-air balloon flight, flying 5.5 miles over Paris in about 25 minutes. Their cloth balloon was crafted by French papermaking brothers Jacques-Étienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, inventors of the world's first successful hot-air balloons.

Quotable Quote

When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today's Chuckles

BBB Admin Note

The BBB will be taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. Let me say thanks to the readers who have shared in the journey this year ... it's a first .. a complete year (sans vacations) of BBB entries ... WooHoo!

BBB Etymology - Talk Turkey

The large bird which is now commonly eaten was domesticated by the American Indians before Europeans reached the country. The settlers called it turkey from confusion with the fowl they had known in Europe; this was actually guinea-fowl (a native of Africa) but called turkey at the time because it was thought to come from Turkey. Such was the settler's taste for it that serious barter with the Indians, on whatever subject, became known simply as 'talking [about] turkey'.

Today in History - 1919

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Woodrow Wilson in recognition of his Fourteen Points peace program and his work in achieving inclusion of the Covenant of the League of Nations in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.

So Now You Know

Before pie was America's favorite dessert, fruit pies were commonly eaten as part of breakfast in the 19th century.

Today's Chuckle

News from all over - Henniker

The owner of a New Hampshire turkey farm is using beer to fatten up his birds. "The turkeys, as well as other animals, like beer," says owner Joe Morette. "I'm one of them."

He goes through between 50 to 60 cans a day for the nearly 300 birds on his farm. "It slows them down a little. They're enjoying their life," says Morette. At least until Thanksgiving.
Source

BBB Pulp Pick - Comic Cavalcade

Kinda seems "overkill" for any of these three to be chasing the bird, eh?

Today in History - 1850

Alfred Lord Tennyson becomes Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, a position he held until his death in 1892.

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower -but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.

Not Exactly News

Just in time for the holiday meal ... Bacon-Wrapped Turkey with Pear Cider Gravy.

So Now You Know

A spooked turkey can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. They also can burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Destination - Oklahoma City

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum houses more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility boasts the most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies in the world. The Museum collections focus on preserving and interpreting the heritage of the American West, including the hardships and rough life of taming and living in the western United States, and its effects on people living there.

News from all over - Fredonia

When rancher Bill Inman decided to show there's more to America than the gloom-and-doom on the nightly news, he hopped on his horse and started riding. Some 1,700 miles later, he's burning through his family's life savings as he collects stories of hardworking, honest everyday people in rural America.

"The scenery in America is changing and I'm really proud we're taking a snapshot at slow motion of this time period, because 20 years from now it will be different," he said. Inman soaks it all in atop Blackie, a 16-year-old thoroughbred-quarter horse mix who's averaging 20-25 miles a day along backroads from Oregon to North Carolina.

Hundreds of interesting people have greeted Inman along the way. They include a Dodge City man who collects bridle bits, spurs and barbed wire; a Wyoming deputy sheriff who drove 25 miles through a rain storm to bring dinner to the Inmans; and a Wyoming woman who gave Bill a pair of stirrups she bought as a Christmas present for her grandson before he was killed in car wreck.

Inman arrived in this rural town with a sweat-stained Stetson and a weathered face that left no doubt ranching has been part of his entire life. The couple rely on media coverage and word-of-mouth to let people know when they reach a new town.

Raised on a Texas ranch, Inman worked cattle, herded wild horses and managed a ranch on an Indian reservation in Nevada before he moved to Oregon last year and began selling horses there. He's also an auctioneer and has done horse shoeing for nearly 30 years.

Inman ticked off a list of what's been bad about the trip — temperatures ranging from 108 degrees to freezing, insects, water shortages, crossing mountains and desert, and riding in a lightning storm. People aren't on the list. "I haven't run into any bad people," he said.
Source

Today in History - 1907

100 years ago today, Oklahoma, the Sooner State, became the 46th state to enter the U.S. The word, Oklahoma, is a combination of two Choctaw words meaning red people. Then, why Sooner? Many, many Oklahoma homesteaders thought sooner was better than later, better to stake their homesteads first, before it was legal to do so. When that wind comes sweeping down the plain, it picks up the state bird, the scissor-tail flycatcher, ruffles the fur of the American Bison, the state mammal, and spreads the parasitic state flower, the mistletoe.

Quotable Quote

When the Oakies left Oklahoma and moved to California, it raised the I.Q. of both states.
-Will Rogers

BBB Geeky Novelty

Model building fascinates the geeky side of most and the java-based models folks build and share at Sodaplay are fun to control. Not to mention you can create your own.

News from all over - Rouses Point

A Canadian firetruck responding with lights and sirens to a weekend fire in this New York town, was stopped at the U.S. border for about eight minutes, U.S. border officials said Tuesday.

Fire officials battling the blaze called for help from fire departments in nearby Quebec, using a longstanding and often-used mutual aid agreement. But the first truck that arrived at the small Rouses Point border crossing was delayed as officials checked documentation of the firefighters and their truck, officials confirmed.

Two other trucks that arrived at the crossing next were cleared in less then two minutes each, a time that one fire official said was still too long considering the situation.

"It's embarrassing," said Chris Trombley, chief of the Champlain [New York] Volunteer Fire Department and deputy fire coordinator for Clinton County Emergency Services. "We're calling for help from another country and the first roadblock they hit is at our border."

The Canadian firefighters "were asked for IDs," Trombley said. "I believe they even ran the license plate on the truck to make sure it was legal."
Source

Today in History - 1939

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial. Roosevelt thought that Jefferson deserved a monument and on June 26, 1934, following his initiative, Congress passed a resolution to create a monument commemorating Jefferson.

So Now You Know

Thomas Jefferson was the first president to shake peoples hands instead of bowing to them.

BBB Swell Site

My favorite part of flying is marveling at the patterns modern agriculture makes on the land. But when artists (domestic or alien) create crop circles, the results can be stunning.

News from all over - West Haven

Eight cows escaped from a trailer when the rear gate opened as the driver pulled into a northern Utah McDonald's. It took about two hours to round them up.

The roundup was called "Operation Hamburger Helper." A nearby resident even hopped on his horse. Wayne Sanders says he couldn't believe the sight. He was at a truck stop next door when it happened. He says the cows probably weighed 800 pounds were on a good trot.
Source

Today in History - 1943

Leonard Bernstein replaced an indisposed Bruno Walter as conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Thus began a legendary career and worldwide appreciation for Bernstein's many compositions with the orchestra.

So Now You Know

Though there are as many theories of their origin as there are actual crop circles, in 1991, more than a decade after the phenomenon began, two men from Southampton, England announced that they had conceived the idea as a prank at a pub near Winchester, Hampshire during an evening in 1976. Inspired by the 1966 Tully Saucer Nests, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley made their crop circles using planks, rope, hats and wire as their only tools: using a four-foot-long plank attached to a rope, they easily created circles eight feet in diameter. The two men were able to make a 40-foot circle in 15 minutes.

The pair became frustrated when their work did not receive significant publicity, so in 1981 they created a circle in Matterley Bowl, a natural amphitheater just outside Winchester, Hampshire - an area surrounded by roads from which a clear view of the field is available to drivers passing by. Their designs were at first simple circles. When newspapers claimed that the circles could easily be explained by natural phenomena, Bower and Chorley made more complex patterns. A simple wire with a loop, hanging down from a cap - the loop positioned over one eye - could be used to focus on a landmark to aid in the creation of straight lines. Later designs of crop circles became increasingly complicated.

Bower's wife had become suspicious of him, noticing high levels of mileage in their car. Eventually, fearing that his wife suspected him of adultery, Bower confessed to her and subsequently he and Chorley informed a British national newspaper. Bower has said that, had it not been for his wife's suspicions, he would have taken the secret to his deathbed, never revealing that it was a hoax.

BBB Etymology - Heydey

From the old Germanic word "heida," meaning "hurrah!" In 16th century England, "Hey!" or "Heyda!" was a common interjection, a cry of joy or excitement. Later on, "heyda" came to mean a time of celebration, and the "da" was gradually replaced in English by "day," giving us "heyday."

Today in History - 1940

Walt Disney released Fantasia. One critic called the film "As terrific as anything that has ever happened on the screen."

News from all over - South Kitsap

A 66-year-old man shot himself in both his legs Saturday afternoon while trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut with a 12-gauge shotgun. Kitsap County sheriff's deputies were called to the scene after the shooting was reported to 911 emergency dispatchers, said Deputy Scott Wilson, a sheriff's office spokesman. "Nobody else was there and he wasn't intoxicated," Wilson said.

Deputies at the scene reported the man blasted "double-ought" buckshot at the wheel from "arm's length," Wilson said. The deputies described the man's legs as "peppered" from his feet to his mid-abdomen with pellets, pieces of the wheel and other debris. Some injuries went as far up as his chin.

The man had been repairing the Lincoln Continental for two weeks, and had removed all the lug nuts on the right rear wheel except for one. "He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," Wilson said.
Source

So Now You Know

At the beginning of the Chinese Dance segment of "The Nutcracker Suite" in Fantasia, Hop Low, the little mushroom, does a little jump while criss-crossing his legs. Animator Art Babbitt got the idea from The Three Stooges - it's one of Curly Howard's signature moves.

BBB Pulp Pick - TorC

If you enjoyed the BBB entry on Friday about Truth or Consequences, you will love the guest appearance our Man of Steel made to the show back in it's radio heyday. ... There are so many ways it's wrong being shot with seltzer water while wearing a maid's apron!

News from all over - Bihar

Villagers at a wedding decided the groom had arrived too drunk to get married, and so the bride married the groom's more sober brother instead, police said on Monday. "The groom was drunk and had reportedly misbehaved with guests when the bride's family and local villagers chased him away," Madho Singh, a senior police officer told Reuters after Sunday's marriage in a village in Bihar's Arwal district.

The younger brother readily agreed to take the groom's place beside the teenage bride at her family's invitation, witnesses said. "The groom apologised for his behaviour, but has been crying that word will spread and he will never get a bride again," Singh said by phone.
Source

Today in History - 1799

Andrew Ellicott Douglass, an early American astronomer born in Vermont, witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys. Douglass, who later became an assistant to the famous astronomer Percival Lowell, wrote in his journal that the "whole heaven appeared as if illuminated with sky rockets, flying in an infinity of directions, and I was in constant expectation of some of them falling on the vessel. They continued until put out by the light of the sun after day break." Douglass' journal entry is the first known record of a meteor shower in North America.

Quotable Quote

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
-Jack London

Wait for it ...

BBB Destination - Gippsland

Not only is it fun to say, Gippsland must be a fun place to visit being one of the few unique and diverse regions in Australia. It contains snow fields, wilderness, rain forests, beaches, industrialized areas, farm land and more.

One can explore the Gippsland Lakes and soak up the sun on the beautiful Ninety Mile Beach. Visit the largest concentration of Open Cut Mining & Power Generation activity in Australia. Or Journey to Phillip Island and catch a glimpse of the unique penguin parade.

And while the penguin parade would be something to see, mostly, I'd go for the giant Gippsland earthworms. They normally have a length of about 6.5 to 10 feet, and about .8 inches in diameter, however the longest worm on record was 13 feet long. Their skin is a pinkish-gray color and the head is a deep purple. They live underground in red, gray or blue clay under banks of streams and in south or west facing hills. They need water to live so they never really leave their moist underground maze. If you stomp the ground above them you will be able to hear a gurgling sound coming from under you. This sound is made by the worms moving through their lubricated tunnels as fast as possible away from the disturbance.

Today in History - 1948

This is Your Life debuted on NBC radio. Ralph Edwards hosted the radio show for two years and for nine more (1952-1961) on television.

There you have it

So Now You Know

Ralph Edwards also created the game show Truth or Consequences which first aired in 1940 and continued for 38 years on radio and television. Contestants were asked to perform some ridiculous stunt for prizes of cash or merchandise.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Geeky Novelty

Some become movie geeks, others focus on legos, some even go in for the world of Manga. But for me, it's all about the silver ball. And I'm here to tell you, there's no better place to get the flip on pinball offerings than over at The Internet Pinball Machine Database.

Also known as the IPD or IPDB, this is a comprehensive, searchable listing of virtually every (upwards of 5,000) pinball machine ever made. It is an ad free, popup free, registration free resource. The database continues to expand and includes images, game related files and links to other pinball web sites, all arranged by machine. The database covers pinball including pitch & bat baseball games, cocktail table machines, bingos and payout machines.

Data in the database have been gathered from books, collectors' photographs, flyers, web sites, pinball manufacturers, collectors' personal records, and of course the machines themselves.

News from all over - Lisarow

Mark O'Dwyer was waiting at Lisarow train station when he fainted and toppled two metres from the platform onto the tracks below, as a freight train bore down on the station.

Julian Shaw, travelling home from school with classmates, leapt into action. "I jumped down on to the tracks, lifted him off the ground and put him on my shoulder - he was heavy but there was enough adrenaline rushing through to help me," said Julian, who is in year 9 at Lisarow High School and plays guitar in punk rock band Checkered Fist.

With the train "just a couple of metres away", Julian moved the North Gosford resident to the edge of the track and rolled him under the platform. "[As the train roared past] the noise pierced your ears and there was a suction that pulled us in," Julian said. "I'd seen that on MythBusters, so I stayed right back and pulled Mark back towards me."

"What an amazing young man," said Mr O'Dwyer, recovering at home with a back injury, three fractured ribs, a fractured shoulder, damaged knee and general bruising.
Source

Today in History - 1793

After more than two centuries as a royal palace, the Louvre is opened as a public museum in Paris by the French revolutionary government.

The Louvre palace was begun by King Francis I in 1546 on the site of a 12th-century fortress built by King Philip II. Francis was a great art collector, and the Louvre was to serve as his royal residence. The work, which was supervised by the architect Pierre Lescot, continued after Francis' death and into the reigns of kings Henry II and Charles IX. Almost every subsequent French monarch extended the Louvre and its grounds, and major additions were made by Louis XIII and Louis XIV in the 17th century. Both of these kings also greatly expanded the crown's art holdings, and Louis XIV acquired the art collection of Charles I of England after his execution in the English Civil War. In 1682, Louis XIV moved his court to Versailles, and the Louvre ceased to be the main royal residence.

In the spirit of the Enlightenment, many in France began calling for the public display of the royal collections. Denis Diderot, the French writer and philosopher, was among the first to propose a national art museum for the public. Although King Louis XV temporarily displayed a selection of paintings at the Luxembourg Palace in 1750, it was not until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 that real progress was made in establishing a permanent museum. On this day the revolutionary government opened the Musée Central des Arts in the Grande Galerie of the Louvre.

So Now You Know

Seeing the need to prevent damage to pinball machines and to prevent people from cheating to win prizes, Harry Williams invented a device to sense this movement and stop the machine's current play.

This new device was called a "Stool Pigeon" and consisted of a small metal ball resting on a non-conductive pedestal above a metal ring. Excessive nudging of the pinball machine shook the ball off the pedestal and onto the metal ring, thus completing the circuit and causing the play to end.

But the Stool Pigeon proved to be unreliable, and took too long to reset. A new way had to be found...

The Plumb Bob was first used as a Tilt Mechanism in 1935. This new design (also by Harry Williams) was far more reliable, easier to adjust, and didn't have to be reset.

The Plumb Bob Tilt works on the same principle as a construction Plumb Bob but is a metal rod attached to the pinball machine cabinet at one end (top), with the weight at the other (bottom). It has a metal ring surrounding the weighted end.

The Plumb Bob works as a switch contact. The metal rod is attached to one half of the switch wiring, while the metal ring is attached to the other half. When the Plumb Bob swings due to movement of the pinball machine, it eventually touches the metal ring, closing the circuit (switch), and tells the pinball it has been "tilted".

Harry Williams called this new version "Tilt" after he overheard some players saying that the machine had "Tilted" after nudging it too much.

BBB Swell Site

Tests With Inorganic Noxious Kakes In Extreme Situations, or T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S., is a series of experiments conducted during finals week, 1995, at Rice University. The tests were designed to determine the properties of that incredible food, the Twinkie. Not only can you see how tests of gravitational response and maximum density (and more) were conducted, you can even enjoy the results as haiku. Now that's science!

Today in History - 1946

A coin-operated television receiver was displayed in New York City. To sneak a peak at various test patterns and a model of Felix the Cat, folks dropped in a quarter. Why Felix? Well, back in 1929, RCA transmitted its first experimental television by station W2XBS (New York-Channel #1). A 13" Felix the Cat figure made of paper mache was placed on a record player turntable and was broadcast using a mechanical scanning disk to an electronic kinescope receiver. The image received was only 2 inches tall, and the broadcasts lasted about 2 hours per day.
[And they say Reality TV is unimaginative!]

News from all over - Near Los Angeles

At age 75, the Kit-Cat Klock keeps on ticking. Sixty times a minute, the eyeballs roll and the tail wags side to side. Made by the California Clock Co., the whimsical timepiece, which debuted during the Depression, comes in classic black or red plastic, plus newer shades of orange, turquoise and pink. There is now also a Lady Kit-Cat.

Company President Woody Young credits lifetime sales of "well over 10 million" clocks to the feline's "disarming smile. I've had people say they talk to Kit-Cat because with its eyes and tail moving, it gives the sense of being alive; you feel like it's got a heart beating. This is something you don't get from a regular clock."
Source

So Now You Know

According to Hostess, the maker of the vanilla filled sponge cake, it takes forty-five seconds to explode a Twinkie in a microwave...maybe less if you have a high powered microwave.

BBB Etymology - Left in the Lurch

Alludes to a 16th-century French dice game, lourche, where to incur a lurch meant to be far behind the other players. It later was used in cribbage and other games, as well as being used in its present figurative sense by about 1600.

Today in History - 1905

The original stage production of Sir James Barrie's Peter Pan opened in New York. Maude Adams played Pan. Maude Adams was arguably the most beloved and most successful actress of her day. To her legions of adoring fans she was best known as simply "Maudie."

News from all over - Hell

Life in Hell just got a little easier for John and Sue Wilson. The couple, who live in the unincorporated town 45 miles west of Detroit, were blessed with a $115,001 windfall from the Michigan Lottery.

They won the big prize in the Fantasy 5 drawing held last Wednesday — that is, Halloween. "How cool is that?" said Sue Wilson, 43, a teacher's aide. Her husband is an electrician.

The couple said they plan to use their winnings to pay off bills, make some home improvements, buy a video game system for their 13-year-old son and possibly visit relatives in Georgia.
Source

Today's Chuckle

Quotable Quote

Avast belay, yo ho, heave to,
A-pirating we go,
And if we're parted by a shot
We're sure to meet below!

-Pirates from Peter Pan

BBB Pulp Pick - Captain Satan

Oh to be a child of the thirties, one of the golden ages of pulp. A time when Strange Detective Mysteries briefy morphed into Captain Satan, King of Adventure. A former criminal himself, Caray Adair waged an unceasing war against crime in the guise of the seemingly superhuman Captain Satan, along with his reformed gangster pals Doc, Happy, Frenchie, Soapy, Big Bill, and Gentlemen Dan. Captain Satan took the Robin Hood route by turning the ill-gotten profits of the mob bosses he defeated over to the poor. His calling card was a devil figure projected onto the wall over his pummeled victims by a flashlight with the symbol taped over the lens.

Today in History - 1930

Sinclair Lewis, novelist, playwright, and social critic, won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was the first American to win the prize and went to him "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."

News from all over - London

An airline crew faced a rebellion when they told passengers they were going to fly on a jet that had lost its wing tip in a runway crash.

The SriLankan Airlines customers had been on the Airbus A340 a day earlier when it sliced through a wing of a stationary British Airways 747 at Heathrow, delaying departure by 24 hours.

So they were amazed to be boarding the same plane next day for the ten-hour flight to Colombo. Club-class passenger Ian McKie, 54, from Loughton, Essex, said: "We were put up in hotels the night of the crash and next morning we were told we would be on a different plane that day.

"We only realised that we were actually going on the same aircraft when we got to the Club lounge and saw the plane but without its wing tip."

SriLankan Airlines insisted there was no danger in flying without a wing tip. "They are purely for aerodynamics and to keep fuel costs to a minimum. There is no impact on safety at all. Safety is our absolute priority."
Source

Quotable Quote

You cannot fly like an eagle with wings of a wren.
-William James

BBB Destination - Baker

Easily spotted from the Interstate between Barstow and Las Vegas, the world's tallest thermometer has a digital readout that displays the outside temperature. It is 134 feet high, the same number as the highest air temperature ever recorded in North America, measured in 1934 at nearby Death Valley.

News from all over - Memphis

It all started when the man crashed his car into a pole and started banging on the door of a nearby house. After he kicked in a window, homeowner Leroy Bruce shot him. Bruce said the man ran off and left his pants and other clothing behind. The bleeding suspect fled to a McDonald's and threw a rock through the front window.

Witness Lisa Fuqua told WMC-TV that the man was easy for police to identify and that he 'had to be on some high-powered something." The suspect, who wasn't identified, was taken to the Regional Medical Center. Police said they'll charge him when he's released. Officers said when they found the man at the restaurant, he had stripped to his shirt and undershorts.
Source

Today in History - 1920

Pittsburgh radio station KDKA broadcast the results of the 1920 presidential race between Warren G. Harding and James M. Cox. This was the first significant public radio news broadcast. The following year, Americans spent $10 million on radios. By 1922, some 500 radio stations were broadcasting programs, and the era of electronic entertainment had begun.

So Now You Know

Ever wonder why so many pirates have colorful nicknames like "Blackbeard" and "Black Sam"? The main reason was to prevent government officials from identifying and persecuting their relatives back home.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Geeky Novelty

Although the Transportation Security Administration website says scissors with blades less than four inches are allowed on airplanes, the individual officers conducting the screening have the authority to confiscate anything they think could be used as a weapon. As a result, hundreds of pairs of scissors are confiscated daily at American airports.

This spider is made from 8 pairs of stainless barber scissors that were confiscated at an airport security checkpoint. Check out more of Christopher Locke's work.

News from all over - Daytona Beach

"He stated that he wanted to open a savings account because, basically, he wanted the $50 they were offering to open the account," explained Det. Dale Detter, Daytona Beach Police Department.

Scott Riley didn't have the ID he needed to open an account at the bank and get the free $50, so he left and came back with a note. "It stated, I want the money, I want all the money in the bank," Detter said.

Riley then took his note and left without any money. "He figured he'd spent too much time in there," Detter said.

Two hours later, one of the tellers driving home actually spotted him at a gas station. She called police and they held him.

Riley was never armed, except with a note, but he's facing a charge of robbery and resisting arrest.
Source

Today in History - 1957

The Mackinac Straits Bridge, between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas, opened to traffic. At the time, it was the world's longest suspension bridge -- and is still one of the longest in the world -- at five miles long, with a main span of 3,800 feet,

Quotable Quote

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.
-Winnie the Pooh