BBB Swell Site

OK, this might come a little late in your planning cycle. If so, why not take the rest of the day off and make your humdrum yard into a spooktacular haunting place for tonight! Not sure what to do? That's where Yard Haunter comes in.
Bru-ha-ha-ha.

News from all over - Firmat

An out-of-control playground swing has families and police in Argentina spooked. The swing apparently rocks back and forwards without being touched - and anxious parents have decided the playground must be haunted.

Police in this north-eastern town were worried enough to call in physics professors - but they have been unable to explain the mystery motions. The swing can keep moving continuously for ten days before suddenly coming to a halt.

And one child has supposedly nicknamed the area the "Blair Witch Playground", claimed teacher Maria de Silva Agustina. She added: "We believe it is haunted."
Source

So Now You Know

One story goes like this ... 700,000 immigrants came to America in the 1800s during the Irish Potato Famine, bringing with them the traditions of Halloween and the use of Jack-O-Lanterns. Traditionally, the lantern was carved from a turnip, potato, or beet and lit with a burning lump of coal or a candle. These lanterns represented the souls of the departed loved ones and were placed in windows or set on porches to welcome the deceased. They also served as protection against malevolent sprits or goblins freed from the dead. Turnips and gourds were not as readily available in the Americas so the pumpkin was used and found to be quite an adequate replacement.

Today in History - 1868

A costume of a different sort goes into service: Postmaster General Alexander Williams Randall approved a standard uniform for postal carriers.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Etymology - Nightmare

The second syllable is an old word for a spectre or hag. A nightmare used to be an evil spirit, in the Middle Ages thought to be a female monster, which was supposed to settle on people during their sleep and produce a suffocating effect. Only in the 16th century did the modern meaning emerge.

Today in History - 1938

Radio program Mercury Theater on the Air presents Orson Welles' production of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds," a fictional drama about a Martian invasion in Grovers Mill, New Jersey. The program sparked a panic among listeners who believed the play was an actual news broadcast. Of the six million listeners who heard the show, more than 1.7 million reportedly believed the story was true.

News from all over - Bad Segeberg

Passengers on a German train mistook a Halloween reveller dressed up as a gore-covered zombie for a murder victim and called the police. The 24-year-old man fell into a drunken slumber on his way home from a Halloween party in Hamburg, police in the northern town of Bad Segeberg said on Monday.

Believing his hands and face were smeared with blood, passengers alerted police after getting no response from him. A first aid team called to the scene soon cleared up the confusion. Police told the man to remove his make-up after which he was allowed to continue his journey.

"Bad Segeberg is in a rural area and Halloween isn't very well known there," police spokeswoman Silke Tobies said. "So people weren't expecting anyone to be dressed up in the train."
Source

So Now You Know

LA AM station, KNX 1070 aired nightly dramas for three decades including "War of the Worlds" every Halloween. October 31, 2003 saw the end of radio drama on KNX. The "all news" station used the time for...news.

BBB Pulp Pick - Horror Stories

Tales of the supernatural, horror, and macabre found their way to the pages of Horror Stories in 1936, three years after the weird menace genre had begun with Dime Mystery Magazine. The Horror Stories title went on to become one of the major pulp magazines of the 1930s.

Today in History - 1945

Eversharp, a maker of mechanical pencils teamed up with Eberhard-Faber in May 1945 to license the design for sales in the United States. At about the same time a U.S. businessman saw a Biro pen in a store in Buenos Aires. He purchased several samples and returned to the U.S. to found the Reynolds International Pen Company, producing the Biro design without license as the Reynolds Rocket. He managed to beat Eversharp to market; the first ballpoint pens went on sale at Gimbels department store in New York City on this day for $12.50 each (about $130 of today's money). This pen was widely known as the rocket in the U.S. into the late 1950s.

News from all over - Noisiel

An American mashup artist let passers-by put words in giant zombies' mouths last week. The show, called Txt of the Living Dead, projected 15-foot-wide, black-and-white stills from George A. Romero's classic 1968 horror flick Night of the Living Dead onto buildings. Text messages from random people on the street then filled comics-style speech balloons that were added to the images in what New York artist Paul Notzold called an "SMS-enabled interactive street performance."

"It's all uncensored, and that's the beauty of it," said Notzold, a 33-year-old art director who also teaches about cell phones at Parsons The New School for Design. "Where else can you write something so spontaneous and anonymous and see it projected so large?"
Source

So Now You Know

A Bic Cristal, also known as the Bic Stic, ballpoint pen contains enough ink to draw a continuous line up to two miles (3,2km) long. In 2005, Bic sold its hundred billionth ballpoint pen - enough ink to draw a line to Pluto and back more than 20 times.

BBB Destination - Austin

Not every museum has a sense of humor about their exhibits. But just off I-90 in southern Minnesota, you'll find one .. and it's dedicated to an American icon .. SPAM. As their website says so well, "It is said that within the hallowed halls of the 16,500 square foot SPAM Museum lies the sum of all human knowledge. After all, SPAM is the cradle of civilization. It is the ultimate culinary perfection. Within these walls, all of life's questions will be deliciously answered.

"Every SPAM Fan needs to make a pilgrimage to the SPAM Museum. It is the very center of the SPAM universe. It is a necessary journey for anyone who loves canned meat."

News from all over - Kent

A local librarian wants an exorcist called in to sort out a haunted lavatory. Gordon Jenns, 61, who has worked at Gravesend library for 14 years, says the ghost flushes the toilet when he thinks everyone's gone home.

"It's happened three times in the past 11 years, always around seven o'clock on a Friday," he told the Bexley Times. "It's very off-putting. The first time it happened I thought someone had broken in the back door so I went with something very heavy in my hand to give them a warm welcome.

"I'm absolutely certain the toilet flushed itself. The door was locked and the cistern was still filling up when I went in. I'm an ex-marine and not prone to hallucinations. I'm guessing the poor fellow only wants to relieve himself."
Source

Today in History - 1825

The Erie Canal opened providing overland water transportation between the East Coast and the Great Lakes region. Under construction for eight years, the project was the vision of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. He convinced the New York state legislature to commit seven million dollars to the construction of a 363-mile ditch, forty feet wide and four feet deep. The canal flowed from Buffalo on the east coast of Lake Erie, through the mountains near the Mohawk Valley west of Troy, and terminated at the upper Hudson River at Albany. A tremendous success, the waterway accelerated settlement of the upper Midwest including the founding of hundreds of towns.

So Now You Know

By 1959, a billion cans of SPAM had been sold. The two billion mark was hit in 1970, followed by three billion in 1980, four billion in 1986, and five billion in 1993 and the seven billion mark is just around the corner. BTW, Hawaii leads the way in SPAM consumption.

Other questions? Don't be shy, bring those queries to the all knowing Book of SPAM.

BBB Geeky Novelty

The run away feel good TV hit of the season is, of course, Pushing Daisies. What question would you ask the dearly beloved if you could revive them for only a minute? Add your own daisy and check out the who and what in the daisy field.

Also, check out the online comic book given at the 2007 Comic-Con in San Diego, which features new mysteries and background information not shown on the televised episodes.

News from all over - Warren

The Central Vermont Community Land Trust usually has no objection to a service animal moving into its apartments. But Patty Cooper's service animal is a horse of a different color: a black and white miniature horse, to be exact.

The nonprofit housing group is trying to figure out whether it can accommodate the disabled woman's new companion amid concerns about the horse's need for grazing space and whether it will be adequately housebroken. Cooper said she has built a stall in her apartment to accommodate the horse.

Cooper's plan is to hook the horse, named Earl, to her wheelchair in horse-and-buggy fashion. Cooper can walk, but spends most of her time in a wheelchair. She said that years ago, she was injured while horseback riding and suffers from a disease that causes her bones to be brittle. She said Earl is trained to pick her up if she falls out of her wheelchair.
Source

Today in History - 1955

The microwave oven was introduced in Mansfield, Ohio at the corporate headquarters of the Tappan Company. It was a large, 220 volt, wall unit for a price of $1,295, and though it could cook eggs in 22 seconds and bacon in 90 seconds, it did not sell well. In 1965 Raytheon acquired Amana, which introduced the first popular home model, the countertop Radarange in 1967 at a price of $495.

So Now You Know

During World War II, John Randall and Harry Boot invented the magnetron, a tube that produces microwaves. Installing magnetrons in Britain’s radar system, the microwaves were able to spot Nazi warplanes on their way to bomb the British Isles.

By accident, several years later, it was discovered that microwaves also cook food. The idea of using microwave energy to cook food was accidentally discovered by Percy LeBaron Spencer of the Raytheon Company when he found that radar waves had melted a candy bar in his pocket. Experiments showed that microwave heating could raise the internal temperature of many foods far more rapidly than a conventional oven.

BBB Swell Site

There was a time when families gathered round to engage their ears and imaginations in mystery, westerns, drama, music, and comedy .. ah, radio. Take a virtual trip to those bygone days from the comfort of your easy chair and computer .. just surf over to radiolovers.com and delight in the experiences of previous generations - those thrilling days of yesteryear.

Today in History - 1929

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was one of the most devastating stock market crashes in American history. It consists of Black Thursday (October 24, 1929), the initial crash and Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929), the crash that caused general panic five days later. The crash marked the beginning of widespread and long-lasting consequences for the United States. Though economists and historians disagree on exactly what role the crash had in the subsequent economic fallout, some regard it as the start of the Great Depression. Most historians, however, agree that it was actually a symptom of the Great Depression, rather than a cause. The crash was also the starting point of important financial reforms and trading regulations.

News from all over - Nagoya

Kaneko Sangyo Co. said Tuesday it has developed a portable toilet for use inside a car that totally conceals the user with a curtain. The new "Kurumarukun" toilet presented the same day at a trade fair in Nagoya is the first ever model of its kind small enough to fit inside a car, the Aichi Prefecture-based manufacturer of plastic car accessories said.

"The commode will come in handy during major disasters such as earthquakes or when you are on outings or caught in a traffic jam," said a company official. Sales will begin online on Nov. 15 at a price of 4,725 yen.

Users are required to assemble a cardboard toilet bowl and to fit a water-absorbent sheet inside. The toilet, to be set up on the back seat of a car, comes with a curtain large enough to totally conceal users and a plastic bag to tightly seal human waste for later disposal. Prior to assembly, the product measures 60 centimeters long, 38 cm wide and 2.5 cm thick and can be carried inside a suitcase, the company said.
Source

So Now You Know

The first practical, affordable and commercially successful car radio was designed and produced in 1930 by Galvin Manufacturing Corporation. The original model 5T71 radio sold for between $110 and $130, and could be installed in most popular automobiles. Galvin Manufacturing Corporation founder Paul V. Galvin coined the name "Motorola" for the company's new car radio, linking the ideas of "motion" and "sound".

BBB Etymology - Call a Spade a Spade

The ancient Greeks had a popular proverb for plain speaking, 'to call figs figs, and a tub a tub'. Plutarch quoted the expression in an episode of Sayings of Kings and Commanders but, when the scholar Erasmus drew upon the work in 1500 for his Adagia (a collection of Greek and Latin proverbs traced back to their origins), he substituted 'spade' for 'tub'.

Today in History - 1971

Walt Disney World is dedicated, by Walt's older brother Roy Disney. Roy declared that it officially would be known as "Walt Disney World" in his brother's honor. "Everyone has heard of Ford cars. But have they all heard of Henry Ford, who started it all? Walt Disney World is in memory of the man who started it all, so people will know his name as long as Walt Disney World is here."

A 1076-piece marching band plays 76 Trombones. Arthur Fiedler conducts the World Symphony Orchestra, formed by musicians from 60 countries.

News from all over - Stuttgart

German police had to round up a cluster of crayfish after the crustaceans broke out of an Asian food shop and scuttled down the street, police said on Monday. A surprised pedestrian notified authorities after seeing the crayfish crawling down the road early on Sunday, a local police spokeswoman said. They had escaped by squeezing through gaps in the grating on their tanks and leaving by the store's front door, which had been left ajar.
Source

So Now You Know

Walt Disney World is big on virtually any scale ...

30,500 acres or 43 square miles of property is what is considered the original area centrally located in Florida ... considered the largest of its kind in the world.

8 million cubic yards of earth were moved to build the Magic Kingdom.

14 feet below ground are the 9 acres of tunnels servicing the Magic Kingdom.

100,000 guests is the max capacity for the Magic Kingdom. The parking lot closes at 75,000 to allow room for Hotel resort guests arriving on buses, boats and monorail.

11,000 firework shows per year makes WDW the largest consumer of fireworks in North America.

7 million hamburgers, 5 million hotdogs and 1.4 million barbecued turkey legs are consumed each year at Walt Disney World.

58,000 employees are employed by Walt Disney world as of 2006.

BBB Pulp Pick - Peter Callesen

With all the ghouls and goblins preparing to make their way to the surface, the work of Peter Callesen seems right on target. In addition to "Looking Back" at left (click picture for larger image), another favorite is "Cradle".

News from all over - Dorset

A teenage-girl just wanted to impress her mother by having the word "mum" tattooed on her back in Chinese letters. After the tattoo was completed, the girl found out that the symbols meant "Friend from hell."

A local paper said Charlene Williams, 19, only discovered something was wrong with her tattoo when a passing Chinese woman shouted at her, "Evil, evil, very bad."

The 19-year old girl said she paid $20.43 when she had the Chinese characters tattooed on her back four years ago in Poole, Dorset. After the horrifying incident, Charlene covered the characters with an image of a leaf design tattoo that cost $81.72.
Source

Today in History - 1883

The Metropolitan Opera House, located on Broadway at 39th Street in New York City, opened on this day with a performance of Charles Gounod's Faust, the tale of a German sorcerer who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge, power, youth, and love. The opera, although composed in French and based on Goethe's German poem, was sung on this occasion in Italian, the favored language of the Met's early management.

Quotable Quote

Opera in English is, in the main, about as sensible as baseball in Italian.
-H L Mencken

BBB Destination - Rutland

The New England Maple Museum offers a trip through over 200 years of maple sugaring history starting with the Native American discovery that maple sap cooked over an open fire produces a sweet syrup. Today, the sweet aroma of sap permeating the air, still harkens the arrival of Spring in Vermont. And a tour of the museum brings it all to life. Plus, where else will you find a "Mr Doolittle", a robotic host to welcome you with his Vermont farm-life anecdotes?

Today in History - 1914

U.S. Post Office first uses an automobile to collect and deliver mail

News from all over - Rotorua

A laptop was stolen from the Croucher Brewing Company in the central North Island city of Rotorua earlier this week. Owners were desperate to retrieve the computer containing designs, contact details and financial information, the Rotorua Daily Post said.

They have offered free beer to anyone giving clues leading to its recovery. Co-owner Paul Croucher said the company would provide a lifetime supply of about 12 bottles a month to anyone who could name the thief.

The company has back-up copies of the material stored on the laptop but these are not up to date, the newspaper said.
Source

Quotable Quote

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
-Benjamin Franklin

BBB Geeky Novelty

With the possible exception of the slide rule, what better symbol of geekdom is there than a pocket protector? And when it comes to such things, John A. Pojman is one guy who knows from pocket protectors. He has an impressive collection of over 500 of these polyvinyl chloride sheaths.

The original pocket protector was invented by Hurley Smith during the Second World War. While working in Buffalo, Smith was concerned not only about the ink and pencil stains that would get on the white shirts that were the required costume for any engineer in those days, but with the fraying around the edges of the pocket that the pressure from items in the pocket produced. Back then, the traditional housewife purchased shirts with the expectation that would last for a long time even with constant washing, bleaching, and ironing.

Plastics used in manufacturing had become quite an exciting development during WWII, and Smith experimented with various materials for solving the fraying/ink-stained shirt problem. He first used a stiff clear colorless plastic. He had tall, thin rectangles of this material made, then used a Pitney-Bowes letter folder to fold it twice, once approximately in half and once on one end to produce a flap that would extend over the top edge of the shirt pocket.

Find out more about the history of this life changing product here.

News from all over - Portland

Thanks to an automated telephone system that started dialing a sampling of criminal defendants of Multnomah County Oregon Circuit Court, the proportion of those who skipped their court dates dropped from 29 percent to 16 percent. The results of the two-year pilot project are so promising that sometime in the next few months, the reminder system will start calling all of the roughly 72,000 people charged with a crime in the county each year.

Last month, county commissioners approved $157,000 to expand the automated reminder system over the next year. The county's Department of Community Justice will oversee the program and is also eyeing the benefits of using the automated system to remind people to show up for their parole and probation appointments, to register with police as sex offenders and to attend drug and alcohol treatment.
Source

Today in History - 1925

The Grand Ole Opry started out as the WSM Barn Dance in the new fifth floor radio station studio of the National Life & Accident Insurance Company in downtown Nashville, a 60-minute show at 10 p.m. The featured performer on the first two shows—before the name "Barn Dance" eventually stuck—was "Dr. Humphrey Bate and his string quartet of old-time musicians." On its third broadcast, WSM added future star Uncle Dave Macon with Sid Harkreader to the bill in a policeman's benefit at the Ryman Auditorium.

On November 5, WSM hired long-time announcer and program director George D. Hay, known on the air as "The Solemn Old Judge," He was only 30 at the time and was not a judge, but was an enterprising pioneer who launched the Barn Dance as a spin-off of his National Barn Dance program at WLS Radio in Chicago. The first appearance of Uncle Jimmy Thompson, a fiddler who was then 77 years old and for many years propped up by Opry revisionist publicists as its first performer, did not take place until November 28, 1925.

Some of the bands regularly featured on the show during its early days included the Possum Hunters (with Dr. Humphrey Bate), the Fruit Jar Drinkers, the Crook Brothers and the Gully Jumpers. They arrived in this order. However, Judge Hay liked the Fruit Jar Drinkers and asked them to appear last on each show because he wanted to always close each segment with "red hot fiddle playing." They were the second band accepted on the "Barn Dance." And, when the Opry began having square dancers on the show, the Fruit Jar Drinkers always played for them.

So Now You Know

On October 2, 1954, a teenage Elvis Presley made his first (and only) performance at the Grand Ole Opry. Although the public reacted politely to his revolutionary brand of rockabilly music, after the show he was told by Opry manager Jim Denny that he ought to return to Memphis to resume his truck-driving career, prompting Elvis to swear never to return.

BBB Swell Site

I'm not very good at "stacking" cards. It always seems to end in that immortal game, 52 pickup. But Bryan Berg, now he's another story. Check out more of his efforts over at cardstacker.com.

News from all over - Washington DC

A small study links the type of bacteria living in people's digestive system to a desire for chocolate. Everyone has a vast community of microbes in their guts. But people who crave daily chocolate show signs of having different colonies of bacteria than people who are immune to chocolate's allure.

That may be the case for other foods, too. The idea could eventually lead to treating some types of obesity by changing the composition of the trillions of bacteria occupying the intestines and stomach, said Sunil Kochhar, co-author of the study. It appears Friday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Proteome Research.

The study was delayed because it took a year for the researchers to find 11 men who don't eat chocolate. Kochhar compared the blood and urine of those 11 men, who he jokingly called "weird" for their indifference to chocolate, to 11 similar men who ate chocolate daily. They were all healthy, not obese, and were fed the same food for five days.

The researchers examined the byproducts of metabolism in their blood and urine and found that a dozen substances were significantly different between the two groups. For example, the amino acid glycine was higher in chocolate lovers, while taurine (an active ingredient in energy drinks) was higher in people who didn't eat chocolate. Also chocolate lovers had lower levels of the bad cholesterol, LDL.

The levels of several of the specific substances that were different in the two groups are known to be linked to different types of bacteria, Kochhar said. Still to be determined is if the bacteria cause the craving, or if early in life people's diets changed the bacteria, which then reinforced food choices.

Kochhar said the relationship between food, people and what grows in their gut is important for the future: "If we understand the relationship, then we can find ways to nudge it in the right direction."
Source

Today in History - 1888

On this day, nine months after the National Geographic Society was founded, the first NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine was published. A studious, scientific journal with a nondescript, dull-brown cover, it bore no resemblance to the color-illustrated periodical it would come to be. On its first two pages, however, was an announcement stating the mission that was to guide the Society and its magazine for the next century and beyond:

"The 'National Geographic Society' has been organized 'to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,' and the publication of a Magazine has been determined upon as one means of accomplishing these purposes. As it is not intended to be simply the organ of the Society, its pages will be open to all persons interested in geography, in the hope that it may become a channel of intercommunication, stimulate geographic investigation and prove an acceptable medium for the publication of results."

The magazine was published on a somewhat irregular basis at first. The publisher waited to publish the next issue until enough material accumulated to fill it.

So Now You Know

It is said that National Geographic Society's map archives have been used by the United States government in instances where its own cartographic resources were limited. President Franklin Roosevelt's White House map room was filled with National Geographic maps. A National Geographic map of Europe is featured in the displays of the Winston Churchhill museum in London showing Churchhill's markings at the Yalta Conference where the Allied and Russian leaders divided post-war Europe.

BBB Etymology - Leave no stone unturned

After the defeat of Mardonius at Platæa (B.C. 477), a report was current that the Persian General had left great treasures in his tent. Polycrates (4 syl.) the Theban sought long but found them not. The Oracle of Delphi, being consulted, told him “to leave no stone unturned,” and the treasures were discovered.

Today in History - 1928

Marvin Pipkin patented the frosted electric light bulb. Pipkin developed a process for etching the inside of a lamp bulb with acid, using a two-step process so that the lamp would not be excessively weakend. In 1947 a silica coating process also invented by Pipkin replaced the etching.

News from all over - Masterton

A local couple returning to their home in Opaki Kaiparoro Rd about 5.30pm on Thursday startled a man who had broken into their house. He bolted before police arrived, though not before he had drunk a bottle of beer and munched his way through some camembert cheese.

An hour later, a resident in nearby Loop Line Rd alerted police to a man hiding in bushes outside his house.
Source

So Now You Know

The newest currency is strange because of it intended purpose. Scientists from the National Space Centre and the University of Leicester have designed the QUID, short for Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination. This money is designed to be used in space, where traveling distances can be too far for electronic transfers. Quid coins have rounded edges, so they won’t damage anything if they float in zero gravity.

BBB Pulp Pick - Edsel Styling is here to stay

It was about this time 50 years ago that Ford Motor Company rolled out the all new 1958 Edsel. The fine print in the Ad reads:

DRAMATIC EDSEL STYLING is here to stay -bringing new distinction to American motoring

In one short year, the fresh and originality of Edsel styling has become a familiar part of everyday American life. Today, everyone recognizes the distinctive Edsel. And everyone knows that Edsel features are out in front, too. Exclusive Teletouch Drive that lets you shift by a touch at the steering-wheel hub, Edsel's high-economy engines, new self-adjusting brakes and comfort-shaped contour seats are the biggest advances in years. Why not enjoy all these wonderful features-and drive the car with the advanced design-right now? Especially since there's less than fifty dollars difference between the magnificent new Edsel and V-8's in the Low Priced Three! See your Edsel dealer about it this week.

Here are a couple of recent articles about the Edsel ...

The Washington Post article
New York Times article
New York Times audio slide show titled "Why Edsel?"

Today in History - 1918

The leading film studios announce they will stop releasing films temporarily because of the influenza epidemic. Many theaters had been closed by cities throughout the country to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Two years earlier, New York City had banned children from theaters in an attempt to halt the spread of polio.

News from all over - America

Put to the test, Americans recalled the seven ingredients of a McDonald's Big Mac hamburger and members of TV's "The Brady Bunch" more easily than the Bible's Ten Commandments.

A survey by Kelton Research found 80 percent of 1,000 respondents could name the burger's primary ingredient -- two all-beef patties -- but less than six in 10 knew the commandment "thou shalt not kill."

Less than half of respondents -- 45 percent -- could recall the commandment "honor thy father and mother" but 62 percent knew the Big Mac has pickle.

Bobby and Peter, the least recalled-names from the fictional Brady Bunch family, were remembered by 43 percent of respondents -- topping the 34 percent who knew "remember the Sabbath" and 29 percent recalling "do not make false idols."
Source

So Now You Know

The scheduled 1960 Edsel Comet compact car was hastily rebranded the Comet and assigned to Mercury dealerships. The Comet was an instant success, selling more cars in its first year than all models of Edsel produced during its three-year run. Styling touches seen in the Comets sold to the public that allude to being part of the Edsel family of models included the instrument cluster, rear tailfins (though canted diagonally), and the taillight shape (the lens is visually similar to that used on the 1960 Edsel, and even retained the embossed "E" code).

Today's Chuckle

BBB Destination - Shartlesville

At the turn of the century, near Reading, Pennsylvania, Laurence Gieringer, age 5, often looked out of his bedroom window at night, gazing toward nearby Neversink Mountain. Going to work at age 16, Laurence, after a start in the printing trade, became a carpenter and painter, work which he felt gave more scope to his particular talents. Always he continued to work on his hobby of making model buildings. Skillfully, he whittled at blocks of wood, fashioning them to his dream of a miniature village … a church … bridges … a horse-drawn carriage … stables … farmhouses. He knew nothing of drawing to scale, yet arbitrarily established a size of 3/8" to the foot, which he adhered to in all his modeling.

So the years went by. Laurence had pursued his hobby for some 60 years, continually enhancing his skill and artistry. The miniature "village" had grown steadily in size and scope, and news of it began spreading through the countryside. At Christmas, 1935, Gieringer as usual set up a part of his miniature display for his children.

Every day through all 12 months of the year, throngs of visitors come to ROADSIDE AMERICA. The exhibit fascinates not only because of its authentic, beautifully crafted miniatures, but because of the excitement of continual movement. Swift trains glide through tunnels and over bridges … a tiny fountain bubbles in the miniature Zoo … a mountain trolley hustles through the woodland … an old-time grist mill slowly grinds grain for flour.

News from all over - Maastricht

A new thesis, entitled "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners", speculates that robots will come to be accepted as suitable marriage partners.

David Levy, a British artificial intelligence researcher, wrote the thesis. Levy based his investigations on 450 publications from various fields, including, psychology, sexology, sociology and robotics. His research is based on identifying certain trends that he feels will inevitably continue into the future.

The trends he identifies are based on human affection for virtual pets, such as the Tamagotchi, along with an increase in liberal attitudes towards sex. The research examines why people fall in love and why they have sex. According to Levy, the reasons for falling in love and having sex will be equally applicable to human and robot relationships in the future as they are to human relationships today.
Source

Today in History - 1937

The longest-running detective show on radio debuted. Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons lasted until 1955 with 1690 nationwide broadcasts. Three different actors played the title role, Bennett Kilpack was Mr. Keen the longest, and Arthur Hughes saw the final show. Phil Clark also played the part.

And here's a link to a broadcast originally aired 9/15/1949. With more episodes here. [Real Audio required.]

And speaking of robots ...

At TED, Hod Lipson demonstrates a few of his cool little robots, which have the ability to learn, understand themselves and even self-replicate. At the root of this uncanny demo is a deep inquiry into the nature of how humans and living beings learn and evolve, and how we might harness these processes to make things that learn and evolve.

BBB Geeky Novelty

Spot the 5 Differences ... refresh the screen and you might get a slightly different challenge!
If the link doesn't work, try here.

News from all over - Space ... the Final Frontier

George Takei already had a place among the stars in the minds of millions of "Star Trek" fans [not to mention Takei's role on NBC's "Heroes" as Hiro Nakamura's father]. Now he's taking up permanent residence as the namesake of the asteroid formerly known as the 1994 GT9.

The asteroid, located between Mars and Jupiter, has been renamed 7307 Takei in honor of the actor, who is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original "Star Trek" series. "I am now a heavenly body," Takei said Tuesday, laughing. "I found out about it yesterday. ... I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky — just like an asteroid."

The celestial rock, discovered by two Japanese astronomers in 1994, joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura). Other main-belt asteroids are already named for science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.

"It's in general considered quite an honor," Lars Lindberg Christensen, spokesman for the International Astronomical Union, said of the latest renaming, which was approved by the union's Committee on Small Body Nomenclature. Unlike the myriad Web sites that offer to sell naming rights to stars, the IAU committee-approved names are actually used by astronomers, said Tom Burbine, the Mount Holyoke College astronomy professor who proposed the name swap. "This is the name that will be used for all eternity," he said.
Source

Today in History - 1884

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City. Orphaned by the time she was ten, the young niece of President Theodore Roosevelt was raised by her grandmother. After attending finishing school in England, she returned to America and began visiting needy children in poor neighborhoods initiating lifelong work on behalf of the underprivileged.

In 1905, Roosevelt married distant cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt. Over the next ten years she had six children one of whom died in infancy. Although her duties as mother and wife took most of her time, Eleanor Roosevelt continued to volunteer for good causes. During World War I she worked with the Red Cross and visited wounded troops in the Naval Hospital. Upon returning to New York City in 1920, Mrs. Roosevelt involved herself for the first time in the women's rights movement.

In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt contracted poliomyelitis (polio) and was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. In order to maintain her husband's political career and to further her own ambitions, Eleanor Roosevelt significantly increased her political involvement. She participated in the League of Women Voters, joined the Women's Trade Union League, and worked for the Women's Division of the New York State Democratic Committee. In addition, she help found a non-profit furniture factory in Hyde Park, New York. During this period she began to act as her husband's "eyes and ears" traveling to places and talking to people her husband now found difficult to reach.

Beginning in 1936, her daily syndicated newspaper column provided a constant means of communication with the American public.

After Franklin Roosevelt's death in 1945, President Harry Truman appointed the former first lady as a delegate to the United Nations. She chaired the Human Rights Commission during drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948.

So Now You Know

Eleanor Roosevelt received 35 honorary degrees during her life, compared to 31 awarded to her husband.

She appeared in a commercial for Good Luck Margarine. The only food she knew how to cook were scrambled eggs and toast.

She refused protection from the secret service. She carried a pistol in her purse and knew how to shoot. Teddy Roosevelt considered her to be the daughter he never had.

BBB Swell Site

What can you get for about $39 $41 these days? Tom Locke found writing 100 letters to companies more or less asking for feebees gets you at least some, ah freebees! Check out the letters and results, over at the $39 experiment web site.

News from all over - Somewhere in Britain

A groom chose his pet dog as the best man for his wedding. Paul Nock told his new wife Kelly years ago that he wanted Scooby by his side on their big day. The health and safety training organiser, from Hull, said: 'I was away working in Dubai when the wedding arrangements were made and didn't think she would let it happen. But when we got into the register office I turned round and there he was walking up the aisle, with the rings tied around his neck.' The 27-year-old added: 'It was a wonderful surprise.'
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There you have it

This Bravia commercial was shot over three weeks in New York, employed 40 animators and took 2.5 tons of plasticine.

Today in History - 1886

The tuxedo dinner jacket made its debut at a ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y.

In 1860, Henry Poole made a short evening or smoking jacket for the Prince of Wales to wear at informal dinner parties at Sandringham. In 1886, a Mr. James Potter (no, not *that* James Potter) of Tuxedo Park, New York visited London and subsequently was invited by the Prince to spend a weekend at Sandringham. He was also advised that he could have a smoking jacket made by the Prince’s tailors, Henry Poole & Co.

When the Potters returned to New York, Mr. Potter proudly wore his new smoking jacket at the Tuxedo Park Club and fellow members soon started having copies made for themselves which they adopted as their informal uniform for club “stag” dinners.

BBB Etymology - Square Meal

In the days of sail, British warships did not have the best of living conditions. A sailor's breakfast and lunch were sparse meals consisting of little more than bread and water. However, the third meal of the day included meat and was served on a square tray. Eating a substantial meal aboard a ship required a tray to carry it all because of the danger of sudden violent movement and the risk of spillage. Being square, the trays were more easily stacked and stored away when not in use and took up less valuable space than more conventional round ones would.

Today in History - 1855

Sewing machine motor improvements were patented by Isaac Singer of New York.

News from all over - Fargo

With lots of stretching and reaching toward blue, red, yellow and green circles, some 450 high school students played Twister on 180 mats in what they hope will set a world record for the largest Twister game board.

Sunday's night attempt took place during a conference held over the weekend by North Dakota DECA, a high school business club. State DECA adviser Kevin Reisenauer, of Bismarck, was confident. "We will break the record." The students won't know for sure until officials at Guinness World Records review a video of the attempt.

The mats formed a Twister board measuring 4,699 square feet. The current Twister board record was set in April 2005 in the Netherlands, at 2,453 square feet. One of the biggest tasks was taping the mats together, organizers said.

"There truly is a process to it, and we learned a lot," Reisenauer said.
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There you have it

Officially the largest filing cabinet in the world, this 65 ft tall monolith in Napa Valley, Ca actually serves a purpose, of sorts. Inside it is a dismantled MG sports car, the parts organized, labeled and filed in the drawers, heaviest to lightest.

BBB Pulp Pick - Dan Dunn

Dan Dunn was the first fictional character to make his debut in an American comic magazine, making him the granddaddy of the comic book heroes. Created by Norman Marsh, he first appeared in Detective Dan, Secret Operative No. 48, a Humor Publications magazine, in 1933, which was canceled after one issue. Later that year he would make his newspaper debut in the Dan Dunn comic strip. He eventually appeared in Big Little Books, which are probably the most readily available source of the character's advantures for modern readers. In 1936, Dan Dunn became the title character of a pulp magazine that lasted for two issues.

News from all over - Seattle

Thieves who took a truck in Seattle may have looked a little flushed when they found out what was in the back: a 7-foot-high, 7-foot-long soapbox racer shaped like a toilet. Five friends built the racer in Colorado Springs for an event in Seattle in late September. It was stolen when the truck it was sitting in was swiped from their hotel parking lot late last month.

Neither the truck nor the toilet-shaped racer have been found. "We're laughing about it," soapbox driver Tom Valentine said Friday. He just wishes he could've seen the thieves' faces when they opened the back of the truck. "My guess is (they said), 'Oh, crap, it's a giant toilet.'"

The soapbox car didn't win any races but was second in the people's choice competition.
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Today in History - 1871

The Great Chicago Fire started this day, killing hundreds and destroying about four square miles in Chicago, Illinois. The fire started at about 9 p.m., in or around a small shed that bordered the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street. The traditional account of the origin of the fire is that it was started by a cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O'Leary.

The fire's spread was aided by the city's overuse of wood for building, the strong northwesterly winds, and a drought before the fire. The city also made fatal errors by not reacting soon enough and citizens by not caring about the fire when it began.

From The Great Chicago Fire by Julia A. Moore

In the year of 1871,
In October on the 8th,
The people in that City, then
Was full of life, and great.
Less than four days it lay in ruins,
That garden City, so great
Lay smouldering in ashes,
In a sad and pitiful state.

So Now You Know

City Gets Revenge on Mrs. O'Leary, 1955 (Universal International Newsreel)

BBB Destination - Louisville

There are lots of reasons to visit Louisville, the beautiful countryside, the horses, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, and Lynn's Paradise Cafe. First off, the name is almost worthy of the journey.

Bon Appetit says, "One of the 100 best neighborhood restaurants in the United States." By all reports, their biscuits are *not* to be missed. And who can argue with a place that makes their Macaroni and Cheese recipe available for the price of access to the web!

News from all over - Cannonball

When Beverly and Ernie Fischer gathered up their cattle this fall in Morton County, they rounded up a little more than they expected. We were moving some cattle, and we got a moose," Ernie Fischer said. "He thinks he is a cow," said his wife.

Ernie Fischer said it was difficult to get the young bull moose away from the cattle, and workers put it in a separate corral until it could be released. The moose also broke fences on the ranch 20 miles south of Mandan.

It's not the only such incident in south central North Dakota this year. Emmons County rancher Sam Gross recently reported a lone bull moose in his cattle herd, and a moose also was spotted in a cattle herd in McIntosh County.
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Today in History - 1877

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Nation surrendered to units of the U.S. Cavalry. Before this retreat the Nez Perce fought a cunning strategic retreat toward refuge in Canada from about 2,000 Army soldiers. This surrender, after fighting 13 battles and going about 1,300 miles (2,090 km) toward Canada, marked the last great battle between the U.S. government and an Indian nation. After surrendering, Chief Joseph stated his famous quote

"Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

So Now You Know

Nez Perce is a misnomer given by the interpreter of the Lewis and Clark expedition at the time they first encountered the tribe in 1805. It is from the French, "pierced nose." This is an inaccurate description of the tribe. They did not practice nose piercing or wearing ornaments.

BBB Geeky Novelty

There's little to add to the copy over at ThinkGeek. Almost as cool as TiVo slippers ... maybe a different slipper style for each foot ... hmmm.

News from all over - Providence

The leader of a Rhode Island artists' cooperative has been placed on probation for trying to find out -- by illegally living inside a secret apartment set up in a parking garage at the Providence Place Mall.

Michael Townsend and other artists started building the apartment nearly four years ago inside a void in the parking garage. The apartment eventually had a sectional sofa and love seat, coffee and breakfast tables, a rug, paintings and a video game system. The artists built a cinderblock wall to disguise their hideaway.

Townsend says members of the collective would stay for up to three weeks at a time. Plans for a one-year stay fell apart when mall security found Townsend last week and detained him. He has pleaded no contest to a trespassing charge.

Police Major Stephen Campbell says while he's surprised by what the artists accomplished, their stunt was still illegal.
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Today in History - 1954

Spring Byington began the successful network TV series, December Bride -- on CBS. The show had started on radio in 1952 before making the switch to black and white TV.

So Now You Know

After Harry Morgan joined the cast of the television show M*A*S*H in 1975, the photo used for Colonel Potter's wife, Mildred, was one of Spring Byington. Morgan had co-starred with Byington in December Bride as neighbor Pete Porter.

Today's Chuckle

BBB Swell Site

Having a favorite word is like having a sock puppet, you occasionally bring it out to show friends and have a few laughs but in general it's a private thing .. something you tell your secret fantasies to .. and know they will remain secret .. else that puppet will pay the consequences, like the time "Roger" flew across the ... wait, where was I? Oh yeah, favorite words.

Mine? Piffle. I've submitted it to My Favorite Word but it may take a few days to be posted. Meanwhile, peruse the plethora of perfunctory penultimates. Go ahead, submit your own .. Roger will thank you later.
Piffle - not only is it a nonsensical word, it's all about nonsense ... and makes a great exclamatory .. "Piffle, sir!"

News from all over - Des Moines

The erotic corn dog-eating contest at the Iowa State Fair might have to go away. After the topic came up Monday during the board’s critique of this year’s state fair, fair manager Gary Slater said he hasn’t seen it himself. "I just heard it was kind of disgusting," Slater said. He quickly added: "It was nothing that was sanctioned by the fair."

The news was tough to swallow for Steve "Round Guy" Pilchen, one of KGGO-FM personalities who invented the contest. But it wasn’t a shock. "I was waiting for that," Pilchen said this morning in a telephone interview from the Urbandale radio station. "While it’s very popular and, I think, ingeniously creative, it makes sense that this would be just the thing that conservative, politically-correct people would be up in arms about."

At first, everyone thought it was a hoax, but the audience size has grown substantially since fairgoers realized "it’s on the level and there’s some visual candy to go with it," Pilchen said.

"We were about to move it to the Bill Riley stage it was getting so big. The grandstand was next," KGGO radio personality Brian James said. "I got several comments about an erotic taco-eating contest for next year."
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Today in History - 1863

Expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln announces that the nation will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday on November 26, 1863.

The speech, which was actually written by Secretary of State William Seward, declared that the fourth Thursday of every November thereafter would be considered an official U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving. This announcement harkened back to when George Washington was in his first term as the first president in 1789 and the young American nation had only a few years earlier emerged from the American Revolution. At that time, George Washington called for an official celebratory "day of public thanksgiving and prayer." While Congress overwhelmingly agreed to Washington’s suggestion, the holiday did not yet become an annual event.

Thomas Jefferson, the third president, felt that public demonstrations of piety to a higher power, like that celebrated at Thanksgiving, were inappropriate in a nation based in part on the separation of church and state. Subsequent presidents agreed with him. In fact, no official Thanksgiving proclamation was issued by any president between 1815 and the day Lincoln took the opportunity to thank the Union Army and God for a shift in the country’s fortunes on this day in 1863.

The fourth Thursday of November remained the annual day of Thanksgiving from 1863 until 1939. Then, at the tail-end of the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, hoping to boost the economy by providing shoppers and merchants a few extra days to conduct business between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, moved Thanksgiving to November’s third Thursday. In 1941, however, Roosevelt bowed to Congress’ insistence that the fourth Thursday of November be re-set permanently, without alteration, as the official Thanksgiving holiday.

So Now You Know

The Iowa State Fair was the inspiration for the acclaimed novel, 'State Fair', written by Iowa native Phil Stong. The novel was later made into three movies, the first starring Will Rogers, as well as a broadway musical Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair. Due to this portrayal, as well as recent media coverage of the fair, the Iowa State Fair is seen as the classic and quintessential state fair of the United States.

While the Iowa State Fair is not the oldest or the largest, some have deemed it a "must-see" event. The fair has been noted in a best-selling global travel book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

BBB Etymology - Hair of the Dog

This supposed antidote to a hangover is an allusion to an old belief that the (burnt) hair of a dog would act as an antidote to the bite of a mad dog if it was placed on the wound. This belief was in accordance with an older Roman one that 'like is cured by like', expressed in Latin as similia similibus curantura.

Today in History - 1950

The comic strip Peanuts, from the pen of cartoonist Charles Schulz began in seven U.S. newspapers. Snoopy, made his first appearance on October 4th.

News from all over - Franklin

A Pennsylvania man cast a stone that skipped on water a whopping 51 times, shattering the old world record of 40. Russell "Rock Bottom" Byars' feat happened July 19, where the Allegheny River meets French Creek in Franklin, about 70 miles north of Pittsburgh. He estimated his stone traveled about 250 feet.

Before declaring him a record-holder, Guinness World Records experts analyzed film of Byars' toss, checking the concentric circles in the water by each skip. "I actually threw 40 stones that day, but that was the first skip that I threw," Byars told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which confirmed the record with Guinness officials.
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So Now You Know

Snoopy has a fairly indifferent relationship with Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown's tormentor Lucy once demanded to know when he would be taking Snoopy to obedience classes; Snoopy wondered what would be the point, since Charlie Brown already did everything that Snoopy wanted. Snoopy almost never remembers his owner's name, usually referring to him as "that round-headed kid".

BBB Pulp Pick - Jerry Lewis

Who knew there were Jerry Lewis comics? Well, at least I didn't. Here he "meets" The Flash but others feature Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Dynamic Duo. Glad to see I've finally found "America's Funniest Comic Mag!"

Today in History - 1889

The Wyoming state convention approves a constitution that includes a provision granting women the right to vote. Formally admitted into the union the following year, Wyoming thus became the first state in the history of the nation to allow its female citizens to vote.

News from all over - Greenfield

The first weekend of pumpkin flinging season ended abruptly Sunday in this part of New Hampshire when one of the operators of a catapault-like device was knocked out in a freak accident.

Chuck Willard of Hancock was hit in the chin by the boom on the Yankee Seige, a remake of a medieval weapon called a trebuchet. It can toss pumpkins 300 yards and it knocked Willard for a loop. He was treated and released and said to be anxious to start tossing pumpkins again.

The Yankee Siege, on Route 31, will be launching pumpkins, weather permitting, every weekend through the end of next month.
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