BBB Destination - Woodstock

Illinois, that is. That's the home of the infamous Dick Tracy Museum. So infamous in fact, it is slated to close in June due to lack of interest. Gotta get one of those yellow fedoras first, though.

News from all over - St. Louis

A sophisticated robotic dog could be a good companion for your dog-loving grandmother who can’t care for a living pet, a new Saint Louis University study suggests.

The researchers compared how residents of three nursing homes interacted with Sparky, a living, medium-sized gentle mutt, and Aibo, a doggie robot once manufactured by Sony that looks like a three-dimensional cartoon.

“The most surprising thing is they worked almost equally well in terms of alleviating loneliness and causing residents to form attachments,” says William A. Banks, M.D., professor of geriatric medicine at Saint Louis University.
Source

Today in History - 1504

Christopher Columbus had a copy of Regiomontanus' almanac containing astronomical tables covering the years 1475-1506 with him when he was stranded on Jamaica. He discovered from studying its tables that on the evening of Thursday, Feb. 29, 1504, a total eclipse of the moon would take place soon after the time of moonrise.

Armed with this knowledge, three days before the eclipse, Columbus asked for a meeting with the natives' Cacique ("chief") and announced to him that his Christian god was angry with his people for no longer supplying Columbus and his men with food. Therefore, he was about to provide a clear sign of his displeasure: Three nights hence, he would all but obliterate the rising full moon, making it appear "inflamed with wrath," which would signify the evils that would soon be inflicted upon all of them.

According to Columbus' son, Ferdinand, the natives were terrified at this sight and ". . . with great howling and lamentation came running from every direction to the ships laden with provisions, praying to the Admiral to intercede with his god on their behalf." They promised that they would gladly cooperate with Columbus and his men if only he would restore the moon back to its normal self.

So Now You Know

A leap day is more likely to fall on a Monday than on a Sunday. This is because the Gregorian calendar repeats itself every 400 years, which is exactly 20871 weeks including 97 leap days. Over this period February 29 falls thirteen times on a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday; fourteen times on a Friday or Saturday; and fifteen times on a Monday or Wednesday.

BBB Geeky Novelty

Skateboards are one of the many geeky items of "generation next" and deconstructing / reconstructing skateboards can be a creative and (hopefully) financially lucrative activity. See if you agree ... check out Skate Study House.

News from all over - Washington DC

The U.S. Mint has rejected the designs for a commemorative D.C. quarter because they include the words "Taxation Without Representation." The D.C. government submitted three designs Monday in hopes that the coins would help educate people about the district's lack of voting rights in Congress. In a statement Wednesday, the Mint said it was taking no position on the merits of the issue, but that "the proposed inscription is clearly controversial and, therefore, inappropriate."

D.C. is being included in the popular state quarter program after 10 years of lobbying. The new coin is set to debut in 2009. One design proposal depicts the "stars and bars" of the D.C. flag. The other two depict astronomer and mathematician Benjamin Banneker, and musician "Duke" Ellington.
Source

Today in History - 1849

Regular steamboat service to California via Cape Horn arrived in San Francisco for the first time. The SS California left New York Harbor on October 6, 1848, making the trip in four months, 21 days

So Now You Know

Predating the first skateboard, a New York Times article reported on May 21, 1893: "DANGEROUS SPORT IN BROOKLYN: Coasting on Lincoln Place May Sometime Lead to Loss of Life.

"Lincoln Place, Brooklyn, is smoothly paved with asphalt from the Prospect Park Circle to Fifth Avenue, and has a slope of about 15 degrees. During the past few weeks small boys from all parts of the neighborhood have gathered on Lincoln Place with little four-wheeled carts, on which they have coasted down the middle of the street."

BBB Swell Site

Don't be put off by the first photo in this intriguing "zero in" site. The more you look, the more you can't turn away ... at least for me.
Requires Adobe Shockwave.

News from all over - Ledgeview

A man using a torch to clear snow in front of a garage door accidentally set fire to a shed on Sunday afternoon, causing $20,000 in damage. No one was injured. Several people were standing outside. Flames were coming from the structure when firefighters arrived.

A 23-year-old man who rented the property for fixing vehicles was using the torch when the garage door caught fire. He was unable to put it out. Two vehicles inside were damaged.
Source

Today in History - 1908

Star #46 was added to the U.S. flag -- for Oklahoma, which had entered the union on November 16, 1907

So Now You Know

You can 'uncook' an egg by detaching the protein molecules from each other by adding a product like sodium borohydride. The egg becomes liquid within three hours. For those who want to try it at home, vitamin C also does the trick.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Etymology - Coffee (and Croissant)

According to legend, coffee beans were first discovered in the town of Kaffa, Ethiopia. As the advancing Arabs had cut off access to Ethiopia (known then as Abyssinia) by the Eighth Century A.D., it first made its way into Arabic as qahwah. By the thirteenth century, the Kaffa beans were brought into southern Mediterranean Europe as cafe. It would take a failed seige of Vienna in the latter half of the Seventeenth Century by the advancing Ottoman Turks to introduce the term and the beverage into German-speaking Europe as Kaffee. Apparently, the Turks had retreated in such haste (according to Austrians--Turks, of course, describe it as a calculated withdrawal) that they left behind, among other things, sacks and sacks of coffee beans; as a result, the Austrians were introduced to coffee and, incidentally, celebrated the event by enjoying a certain puffed pastry created especially for the occasion: the "croissant" or "crescent" to symbolize victory over the Turks whose flags bore a crescent moon.

News from all over - Casma

A circular plaza built 5,500 years ago has been discovered in Peru, and archaeologists involved in the dig said on Monday that carbon dating shows it is one of the oldest structures ever found in the Americas.

A team of Peruvian and German archeologists uncovered the plaza, which was hidden beneath another piece of architecture at the ruins known as Sechin Bajo, in Casma, 229 miles (366 kilometers) north of Lima, the capital.

"It's an impressive find, the scientific and archaeology communities are very happy," said Cesar Perez, the scientist at Peru's National Institute of Culture who supervised the project. "This could redesign the history of the country."
Source

Today in History - 1939

Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution in support of African American opera contralto Marian Anderson. Anderson sang at Europe's most famous concert halls in the 1930s and met great success, but when she returned to the United States she encountered racism, discrimination, and segregation.

In January 1939, Ms. Anderson wanted to give a performance at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., but was told by the manager that she could not use the hall because of a prior engagement. After her request for alternate performance dates was also refused, the reason for Ms. Anderson's dismissal was clear. Marian Anderson could not sing at Constitution Hall because the Hall's owners - the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) - had a policy to not allow African American performers on the stage.

Thanks to the support of the Roosevelt administration, Ms. Anderson gave a concert on April 9, 1939, Easter Day, at the base of the Lincoln Memorial and the concert was broadcast across the country.

Quotable Quote

Bring me a bowl of coffee before I turn into a goat.
-Johann Sebastian Bach

BBB Pulp Pick - The Stylist

But I'm not sure this guy really needs his hair curled or straightened!

Today in History - 1928

The Federal Radio Commission issued the first U.S. television license to Charles Jenkins Laboratories in Washington, DC. The first commercial TV license was issued in 1941.

It's what you see that counts

News from all over - Miami

The Florida Marlins are looking for some footloose fat men. The National League team is creating an all-male, plus-size cheerleading squad to be dubbed the Manatees. Tryouts were scheduled for Sunday.

The team hopes to recruit seven to 10 tubby men to dance, cheer and jiggle during Friday and Saturday home games this season. Men selected for the Manatees won't be paid. They'll get tickets to games they perform at, and the honor of dancing in front of crowds that have been smallest in major league baseball for the last two seasons.
Source

BBB Destination - Sometimes it's the journey

When it comes to travel, some like it hard and some like it soft and some like it trashy. If you are in the third group, here's an RV for you. One wonders how long (if ever) it took to de-scent this high rollin ride. (Perhaps it's a new 'box' on the back or started with a new model.)

News from all over - Paris

Philippe Cordier and colleagues at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution in Paris have made a self-healing rubber band material that can reclaim its stretchy usefulness by simply pressing the broken edges back together for a few minutes.

The material, described on Wednesday in the journal Nature, can be broken and repaired over and over again. It is made from simple ingredients - fatty acids like those found in vegetable oils, and urea, a waste compound in urine that can be made synthetically.

The material can "withstand multiple fractures, needs no catalysts and is otherwise straightforward to produce," Justin Mynar and Takuzo Aida of the University of Tokyo wrote in an accompanying article. "A final blessing is that it can be broken down with heat and easily recycled - so it is environmentally friendly, too."
Source

Today in History - 1879

Frank W. Woolworth opened his first 5 and 10-cent store in Utica, New York. Sales at the first store were disappointing ... so Mr. Woolworth moved his operation to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and then across the country.

So Now You Know

On February 1, 1960, four African-American students sat down at a segregated lunch counter in a Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's store. They were refused service, touching off six months of sit-ins and economic boycotts that became a landmark event in the U.S. civil-rights movement. In 1993, an eight-foot section of the lunch counter was moved to the Smithsonian Institution.

BBB Geeky Novelty

Lego creations have been a "frequent guest" on Geeky Novelty Thursdays here at the BBB and today is no exception. Some find enjoyment in creating movie-themed Lego structures, others the challenge of mapping the real to the angular, but the one featured today must have been inspirational for its builder. Witness, the Lego church!
(Scroll down on page for menu of picts.) - Link thanks to Sharon.

News from all over - Chicago

Older Americans are having less trouble with their memories, and it may be because they spent more time in school, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

They found the rate of cognitive impairment -- which includes a range of ills from significant memory loss to Alzheimer's disease -- fell 3.5 percentage points among people 70 and over between 1993 and 2002.

"We found a clear relationship. The more education people had, the better they performed on cognitive tests," said Dr. Ken Langa of the University of Michigan, whose study appears in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia.

Langa said the research reinforces other studies that suggest people who do mentally challenging tasks early on build up a reserve of brain power that helps them withstand later injuries to the brain, such as a mini-stroke.

"Your brain is wired up differently. You can sustain more insults over your lifetime," Langa said in a telephone interview.
Source

Today in History - 1925

The first issue of The New Yorker was published (its debut was the 17th). Ever wonder about the name of that famous New Yorker dandy? That would be Eustace Tilley.

So Now You Know

The most reprinted New Yorker cartoon is Peter Steiner's 1993 drawing of two dogs at a computer, with one saying, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."

BBB Swell Site

Unless you happen to have a protocol droid handy, it's hard to understand what R2 units are actually saying. Well, it was until you has the R2D2 translator. Enter your favorite phrase and listen carefully to R2-speak. Before long, you'll be bleeping with the best of them.

News from all over - Cheb

Police in this western Czech border town have launched an investigation into the theft of a four-tonne railway bridge. "We are not sure if it was taken for personal use or for its scrap value," police spokeswoman Martina Hruskova said. "It is the first time we have dealt with this type of theft."

The company charged with looking after the bridge, which was on a disused stretch of track near the town, raised the alarm, Ms Hruskova said.
Source

Today in History - 1872

Luther Crowell, the American inventor who obtained over 280 patents for printing press improvements also designed a machine for making the square-bottomed paper bag (U.S. Patent No.123,811 issued this day) still familiar in grocery stores. By 1873, he had devised a sheet-delivery and folding mechanism adopted two years later by the Boston Herald, as the first rotary folding machine that delivered newspapers complete and folded.

So Now You Know

The Pyramid of the Sun (Teotihuacan, Mexico) and the Great Pyramid of Egypt are almost equal to one another in base perimeter (the base of the Great Pyramid is 1.03 times larger than the base of the Pyramid of the Sun). The ratio of the base perimeter to the height deviates only by 0.05% from the value for 2x pi (6.2831853) for the Great Pyramid and also by 0.05% from the value for 4x pi (12.566371) for the Pyramid of the Sun.

BBB Etymology - Grain of salt

From the Latin phrase "cum grano salis." Etymologist Christine Ammer traces it to Pompey's discovery, recorded by Pliny in 77 A.D., of an antidote to poison which had to be taken with a small amount of salt to be effective. Everyone else seems to bypass that explanation and trace "with a grain of salt" to the dinner table, where a dash of salt can often make uninspired cooking more palatable. "With a grain of salt" first appeared in English in 1647, and has been in constant use since.
Source

Today in History - 1473

Nicolaus Copernicus is born in Torun, a city in north-central Poland on the Vistula River. The father of modern astronomy, he was the first modern European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun.

News from all over - SneakerLand

Reebok and Kool-Aid have just partnered up to tap into the sweet tooth of kids and love for sneakers. Reebok packed each of the kicks with extra flavor by creating scent-infused sockliners. The first trio of flavors to launch are Grape, Cherry and Strawberry.
Source

Quotable Quote

To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.
-Copernicus

Today's Chuckle

BBB Pulp Pick - Mechanix Illustrated

Another installment of 1950s inventions popularized in pulp, here we see the "Automoboat". In fact, I recall seeing an "Amphicar" in the early sixties. But mostly, I'm struck by the similarities of the Automoboat with, wait for it, Mike Mercury's SUPERCAR.

Today in History - 1930

Elm Farm Ollie (known as "Nellie Jay" and post-flight as "Sky Queen") was the first cow to fly in an airplane as part of the International Air Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. On the same trip, which covered 72 miles from Bismarck, Missouri, to St. Louis, she also became the first cow milked in flight. This was done ostensibly to allow scientists to observe midair effects on animals, as well as for publicity purposes. The milk was sealed in little paper containers and then parachuted over the city.

News from all over - Bubbenhall

Strange sightings of a spinning orange object shooting from the sky have been reported by a shocked Warwickshire couple.

Terrified Cliff and Carol Sheldon say the flashing orange mass nearly smashed into their car on Monday night. They say it was cylindrical in shape, and about half the size of their Vauxhall Corsa.

The down-to-earth couple from Stretton-on-Dunsmore say they have always been sceptical about UFOs. But the grandparents of-five are in no doubt about what they saw.
Source

So Now You Know

Ufology is the study of unidentified flying object (UFO) reports, sightings, alleged physical evidence, and other related phenomena.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Destination - McHenry

Why McHenry? Because coaster-ing at a ski area - worlds collide for fast, frigid fun! Here's a nifty article from the W Post by Elissa Leibowitz Poma

News from all over - Madison Avenue

Welch's is taking out full-page print ads in People magazine this month that give readers a chance to sample its grape juice by licking the ad. The front of the advertisement shows a huge bottle of the juice, while the back has a strip that peels up and off, with text that reads: "For a TASTY fact, remove & LICK."

Marketers are excited about the prospects for lickable ads, but also have to deal with the "ick" factor. Since magazines are often passed from reader to reader (think doctors' offices) there is a good chance that saliva could be left on the ad. Readers are supposed to peel off the entire sticker on the Welch's ad before licking, says First Flavor, the company that developed the technology used in the ad. If someone doesn't rip off the whole sticker, First Flavor says, the flap can't reseal, giving people an easy way to know whether the ad has already been licked.
Source

Today in History - 1932

George Burns and Gracie Allen debuted as regulars on The Guy Lombardo Show on CBS radio. The couple was so popular that soon, they would have their own Burns & Allen Show. George and Gracie continued on radio for 18 years before making the switch to TV. All in all, they were big hits for three decades.

Quotable Quote

I love to sing, and I love to drink scotch. Most people would rather hear me drink scotch.
-George Burns

BBB Geeky Novelties

On this festive day, don't let your geek be untouched by Cupid's arrow. Create a Geeky V-Card for that special someone. Here's a site to get you started.

News from all over - Des Moines

When Brooks Reynolds was asked the question Des Moines always asks itself - "What does Des Moines need?" - this is what he said: "A festival for bacon."

Thus, the High Life Lounge will hold its first Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival March 1, National Pig Day, attracting bacon lovers from California and Arizona along with a Pittsburgh bacon blogger. To Reynolds, it was no throwaway line. For years, he has gathered his buddies for a summer weekend pilgrimage to a Spirit Lake cabin for "all things bacon," toting along 15 pounds.

When they returned, their wives and girlfriends complained their very skin smelled like bacon grease. "Why not bring it to the masses?" asked Reynolds, 32, a Des Moines insurance salesman.

He spoke to the right man, Jeff Bruning, one of the owners of the High Life Lounge and El Bait Shop, a master of tapping into the nostalgia, guilty consumption and manliness that launched a '70s lounge smelling of cheeseburger baskets and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Source

Today in History - 1847

Esther Allen Howland received an ornate English Valentine from a business associate of her father and began to create and market her own brand of Valentine's Day greeting cards. She employed friends and developed a thriving business which she eventually sold in 1881.

Quotable Quote

Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence
-Vincent van Gogh

Today's Chuckles

BBB Swell Site

It's hard to top the Haiku-O-Matic site featured a while back. How about a work in progress for limericks? 40,000 and counting can be experienced over at OEDILF (the Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form).

My washing machine is sensational!
Its method is quite agitational.
It spins, scrubs, and cleans
Dirty socks, shirts, and jeans.
I find staring inside inspirational!

News from all over - Mississauga

Beverage maker Cott has announced plans to pitch products to pooches with a new line of flavoured vitamin water called Fortifido. The Mississauga, Ont-based company made the announcement Monday in a presentation to investors in Tampa, Fla., noting that the pet industry is valued at $40 billion in the U.S.

The water, which is expected to be priced between $1.49 and $1.99, will make its official debut at the Global Pet Expo in San Diego later this week. The water fortified with calcium and zinc will be sold in flavours including peanut butter, spearmint, zinc and lemongrass and touted for its bone-strengthening and healthy skin properties.

Cott, which has struggled with flagging sales of carbonated beverages, also announced plans to emphasize its bottled water and energy drinks products.
Source

Today in History - 1867

Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz was performed for the first time* at a public concert in Vienna, Austria. It was originally written as a male choral piece but after its performance as an non-choral work at the Paris Exhibition later that year, it became a sensation. Of course, a "modern day" reference was its use in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
*Some say the first performance was February 9, others February 15.

So Now You Know

It is reported by composer Norman Lloyd in his "Golden Encyclopedia of Music" that when asked by Frau Strauss for an autograph, the composer Johannes Brahms autographed Mrs. Strauss's fan by writing on it the first few bars of the Blue Danube. Under it he wrote "Unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms."

BBB Etymology - Warm the cockles of one's heart

The word cockles is used either as a comparison of the shape of the heart with that of a cockleshell, or because the zoological name for cockle is 'cardium' - related to the Greek for heart, as in 'cardiac' - or because the Latin name for the ventricles of the heart is 'cochleae cordis' (the first word of which means snail-shells) because of their appearance.

Today in History - 1880

The National Croquet League was organized in Philadelphia, PA.and some say they had the wit to include croquettes at their banquet.

Croquet gets its name from one of the essential pieces of equipment in the game – the mallet - which, if you squint at it the right way, could be mistaken for a gigantic crochet hook, which if you squint at it (in French) through a magnifying glass, does slightly resemble a croche, or shepherd’s crook.

A 'Croquette' - the edible ‘compound made of delicious Stuff'd Meat, some of the bigness of an Egg, and others of a Walnut’ – has been around for longer – since at least the very early eighteenth century. It also claims a French heritage (which you probably guessed from the pretentious '- ette' on the end), but this word comes from the verb croquer, meaning 'to crackle under the teeth, to crunch'. The actual material from which the croquette is made is immaterial – almost anything will do to provide a base for its singular virtue – the one which gave it its name – the crisp, crackly, crunchy, shell. There is no culinary secret to this shell – all the base needs is a good crumb coating and a good deep frying.
Source

So Now You Know

Based on the rules of conventional croquet Bicycle Croquet probably came about in and around Graz/Austria in the beginning of the 20th century. The modern variation of Bicycle Croquet (from German "Fahrradkrocket") has been played since 1997, when Mike Fugeman (England) and Wolfgang Wendlinger (Austria) reinvented the Sport in Aigen im Ennstal/Austria.

News from all over - Minneapolis

The woman who holds the title as the world's fastest knitter is preparing to cross needles with her rivals to retain her prize. Hazel Tindall, from Shetland, is representing the UK at the international contest in Minneapolis.

She was 52 when she was crowned the world's fastest knitter with 255 stitches in three minutes in 2004. The top knitters from across Europe and America will be taking part in the competition. Mrs Tindall said she was brought up in a family where her grandmother was always knitting.

She told BBC Scotland: "I managed 255 in three minutes when I became the world's fastest ... I think you need to have good technique and move your hands as little as possible. Everyone has their own way of doing it."
Source

BBB Pulp Pick - They'll Do It Every Time

After some 80 years, one of the comix I enjoyed as a kid recently passed on when it's current artist, Al Scaduto died late last year. "They'll Do It" wasn't always that funny but often brought a knowing smile. Hatlo, Dunn and Scaduto maintained a connection with readers who often contributed ideas. Back in Hatlo's day especially good suggestions received a "Tip of the Hatlo Hat". Well, here's a tip of the BBB hat to "They'll Do It Every Time".

Today in History - 1958

Ruth Carol Taylor was the first black woman to become a stewardess (flight attendant) by making her initial flight this day on Mohawk Airlines from Ithaca, NY to New York City.

News from all over - Philadelphia

For the first time, The Academy of Natural Sciences is displaying a scrapbook that has locks of hair from the first 12 U.S. presidents. It will be on view Feb. 16-18.

The presidential "hair album" was assembled by Peter Arvell Browne, a Philadelphia attorney and scholar of the natural sciences who collected thousands of samples of animal fur and human hair in the 1840s and 1850s and organized them in a dozen leather-bound volumes. Browne also wrote to presidents still living during his lifetime - 1762-1860 - and to the families of those who had died. His letters and their responses are included in the book along with the strands of hair.

His requests for hair weren't considered odd, as saving a loved one's locks in a family "hair album" was popular in the 19th century. Because of the scrapbook's age and delicate contents, it will be displayed under glass and opened only to the page featuring George Washington's brown-and-gray locks. Photographs will be shown of the other presidents' hair, from John Adams to Zachary Taylor.

Thomas Jefferson's hair was reddish with gray when he died and James Monroe had dark curls. In his first letter to Brown, Andrew Jackson's son apologized that he could not immediately send a lock from the seventh president, noting that his father recently had a "close cut" that would take a fortnight to grow out.

"There's something very human and touching about it," longtime academy curator Robert Peck said of the collection. "It gives you a sense of who they were as people."
Source

Quotable Quote

The smallest hair throws its shadow
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

BBB Admin Note

Too much goin' on ... the BBB juz ain hapnin this week, dig?

BBB Destination - Peaks Island

Might be a tad hard to get to this time of year but come summer, you can bet I'm heading east towards the Casco Bay Ferry to visit none other than The World's First and Only Umbrella Cover Museum. Umbrella covers currently on display at the Umbrella Cover Museum hail from thirty countries. Regular Museum events include guided tours and the singing of "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella," with accordion accompaniment.

News from all over - The North Star

The Beatles' song Across the Universe will be the first ever to be beamed directly into space next week, Nasa said. The transmission of the song over the space agency's Deep Space Network on Monday will mark the 40th anniversary of the day the band recorded the song.

The song will be aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light years away from Earth, and it will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, Nasa said. In a message to the space agency, Sir Paul said: "Amazing! Well done, Nasa! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."
Source

Today in History - 1884

The first portion, or fascicle, of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), considered the most comprehensive and accurate dictionary of the English language, is published.

So Now You Know

To the Bedouin people of the Negev and Sinai, Polaris is known as "the billy goat". It and Suhail (Canopus) are the two principal stars used for nomadic wandering at night. Due to the fact that it was circumpolar and hence always visible, it became associated with a steadfast nature, as opposed to Suhail, which disappears below the horizon and hence 'flees'.

Today's Chuckles