Educational Wednesday, Part Three

I was watching a PBS documentary where a guy in a tobacco field was talking about the ingredients of dirt.

That’s not what we are here to learn today, though.

A different part of the same documentary dropped the knowledge that camels originated in North America, not the Middle East.

Good night.

 

 

 

Educational Wednesday

Did you know that rabbits cannot vomit due to their very muscular cardiac sphincters? Now you do. The same goes for chinchillas, and rodents in general. Horses also have the same thing going on.

This has been Educational Wednesday.

What Pumpernickel Really Is

Pumpen is a German synonym for being flatulent. Nickel, or Nicholas, is equal to a devil, goblin, or demon.

Therefore pumpernickel has been known in some circles as “the devil’s fart.”

I learned that on The Big Bang Theory.

Fartlek Training

From the Swedish, meaning “speed play,” fartlek is a method of exercise using bursts of intense physical effort, followed by a period of laid-back, more relaxing work.

 

You Learn Something New Every Day

The phrase “you learn something new every day” really is true. For instance, at about 1:30 this morning I learned two things:

1) My friend Ben shaves his armpits.

2) If you shave your armpits, never, ever, announce it at a party, because you will get made fun of. A lot.

Book Review: All Facts Considered by Kee Malesky

All Facts Considered – The Essential Library of Inessential Knowledge, by NPR librarian Kee Malesky, covers a wide variety of interesting facts, some worth knowing, some not. Here’s a small spray of topics covered:

–The abbreviations et al. (Latin, et alii or et aliae) and etc. (Latin, et cetera) have the same basic meaning: and others, and the rest, and so on. The difference is that et al. should be used when referring to people, and etc. when referring to things.

–The platypus and the anteater are the world’s only monotremes, or mammals that lay eggs.

–Male seahorses get pregnant.

–A cheese connoisseur is called a turophile.

–It takes nearly a year and about 450 different laborers to make a Steinway grand piano, which has over 12,000 parts.

–18th century physicians used a tobacco smoke enema to revive drowning victims.

–Frankenstein is not the name of the monster, it’s the name of the scientist who fabricated him; in the book, he named his creation Adam.

–Martin Van Buren was the first president born in the United States; all the earlier presidents were born in the colonies.

There are many, many more. Good book.

The Ventriloquist

A large number of people are familiar with Bruce Wayne’s traumatic childhood and rise to heroic chiropteran vigilance. There exists in the world of DC Comics another, lesser known character who had a similar beginning, yet whose grief manifested itself in a far, far lamer way than the sworn ideal of heavy-handed justice to criminals.

Who: Arnold Wesker, aka The Ventriloquist

Similarities to Bruce Wayne: Arnold Wesker and Bruce Wayne were both born into privilege, AW into the Mafia, BW as the son of a doctor. AW witnessed the assassination of his mother, BW saw both of his parents murdered by a mugger.

This is where the two fork off — Bruce Wayne became Batman. Arnold Wesker, taciturn by nature, vented through the art of ventriloquism. He lets the dummy that he has absolute control over abuse him, both mentally and physically. Wesker has no superpowers, other than being talented at ventriloquism, and even there he is limited. While ventriloquizing, he is unable to pronounce a “B” sound, so the dummy has a speech impediment, and pronounces “Batman” as “Gatman.”

How long until Hollywood scrapes the bottom of the barrel and makes a movie out of this guy?

Friday Fun Facts – William Tell

It is said that on this date in 1307, William Tell shot an apple off his son’s head with a crossbow. Flash forward over 600 years later: William S. Burroughs, the writer, would attempt a similar stunt with a gun at a bar in Mexico City. Long story short, he ended up killing a woman named Joan Vollmer. True story.

Friday Fun Facts – If A Tree Falls In A Forest And No One Is Around To Hear It, Does It Make A Sound?

     The answer is no, it does not. It will cause a vibration. Vibrations are taken in by the body’s auditory system and transformed by the brain into what we know and love as sound. Therefore, if no brain is present to form the vibration into sound, then there can be no sound. I’m outta here.

Friday Fun Facts – September 16

Welcome to the 259th day of the year. 2 + 5 + 9 = 16. Math. Well, here’s a list of stuff that has happened on September 16 throughout the annals of history.

1620 – A bunch of disease-ridden vanilla-faces set off for America aboard the Mayflower.

1810 – Arrrrriiba! Mexico began an 11-year war that would give them freedom from the dastardly Spaniards. For some reason they celebrate the day the war began, not when it ended. That is why today is Mexican Independence Day.

1925 – B.B. King was born.

1956 – David Copperfield was born. I read an illuminating story about him on Wikipedia. In April of 2006, D-Cop and two of his female assistants were robbed at gunpoint after a show. The girls gave up their money and cell phones. David said in the police report that he didn’t give up anything, because he had used sleight of hand to conceal his valuables. Now THAT’S a magician.

1964 – Molly Shannon was born. I wonder what she is doing at this exact moment.

1971 – Amy Poehler was born. She’s married to the guy who played G.O.B. Bluth, so she’s alright in my book. Plus she’s got a kid named Archibald.

1975 – Papa New Guinea was able to escape the cold clutch of the Australians, so it’s Independence Day there as well.

1981 – Fan Bingbing was born. She’s a Chinese person. She acts or something.

Double Blong (Blog Song) today. Here’s the first, a live performance from Thanksgiving 1972 at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York. Only hardcore badasses do prison shows. B.B. King – How Blue Can You Get?

And here’s the second, which uses a sample from the first. Primitive Radio Gods – Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand.