Heard Of Anti-Proverbs...?

I'll bet that you have not only heard of them, but at some point you have probably used them!

Although they sound kinda funny, some of them make sense in a twisted way. Let's see what they are and you'll know what I mean.

Anti-proverb

Anti-proverbs—also called perverbs—are permutations of common proverbs, often towards a humorous end. There are dozens of ways of altering proverbs, and the general gist of an anti-proverb is taking a known saying and twisting it around.

It’s been suggested that the original meaning of the term perverb was to describe two proverbs that had been spliced together like a sort of whole-sentence portmanteau. Take the perverb “every dog has a silver lining,” a combination of “every dog has its day” and “every cloud has a silver lining.” As with the further examples below, you can see that the two hybridized proverbs are not random; rather, they follow a certain format that both have in common:

“A fool and his money is a friend indeed.”

“The road to hell is the spice of life.”

“Don’t count your chickens in midstream.”

Anti-proverbs can take other forms beyond this type of splicing, as in “a penny saved is a penny taxed” and “slaughter is the best medicine.”

See what I mean? If you haven't used one or two, I'll bet you have laughed when someone else did!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. High temps already!

A Sound With No Source...!

Now this seems like a good topic for Monday Mysteries, don't you think ?

I believe that if a sound is loud enough that it wakes folks up, or keeps them from sleeping, the the source should be fairly easy to find. Especially if it isn't spread all over the place. But what do I know ?

The High-Pitched Sound With No Apparent Source

Earlier this year, the community of Forest Grove, Oregon, was dealing with a bizarre situation that kept them up at night. Multiple residents heard a strange noise. One woman was even awakened by the noise several times late at night and became seriously bothered by it. She didn’t believe that it was anything sinister, but she still wanted it to stop.

She went to the police and fire departments of Forest Grove for help. But they were unable to pinpoint a cause. The city’s employees did rule out a gas leak, a water valve, or animals making noise.

The woman who was most bothered by the noise captured sound from a video and sent it to the news. Her husband thought that it was a problem with someone’s brake pads. The sound was long, high-pitched, and screechy—similar to a train at a certain speed. But there are no trains in the area.

Although the brake pad explanation seems plausible, it would still not explain why the woman heard the sound throughout the night at odd hours. Although the sound may not be particularly worrisome, the issue has remained unsolved.

Like I said, seems as though someone somewhere could come up with the cause of the sound and then fix it. I have a hard time believing that with all the high tech stuff we have out there today, something couldn't be done!

Coffee out on the patio, as long as you can stand the heat and the 'skeeters!

Lonely In Montana...!

This might be the very first ad for the "Lonely Hearts Club!" Let's face it...times were pretty tough in the old days!

Move over Facebook and Match.com! Might be a restart of an old trend!

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

Incurable ? Who Gets To Decide...?

Some of the treatments in asylums back in the days past were brutal, almost criminal !

Back as recently as 1921, laws were being considered that would have made murder legal for some folks needing mental treatment. Here is the story from Listverse.

Chained And Stamped In The Face

There should have been more of an outcry against the treatment of people who were made prisoners in insane asylums. Too many attendants looked the other way, or they joined in on the “fun.”

In 1889, there was a small piece in The State Chronicle (North Carolina) about the sickening abuse of some patients of a Dr. Grissom. Although certain political heads were trying to convince people “that the necessary thing to do to make an insane person act rational is to chain him, throw water in his face, or kick and stamp him in the face,” other people were crying out about the injustice and inhumane treatment.

By 1921, there was a debate among politicians and the doctors for the insane over whether or not it would be better to put the incurably insane out of their own misery. As reported in the Norwich Bulletin (Connecticut):Discussion of the matter was started anew last Saturday by the members of the general assembly’s committee on appropriations, the members being divided as to whether or not a law should be passed providing that persons in state institutions found to be hopelessly insane and suffering mental tortures should be mercifully put to death.

Fortunately, they did not commit mass murder on people they deemed incurable.

The treatment has improved quite a bit from the early day, but there is always room for improvement, ya know ?

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. We've had between 8 and 9 inches of rain over the last 24 hours and I'm ready for a break !

Cannibals At Jamestown Colony...!

The harshness and hardships of the first colony in Jamestown is a matter of record, but I wonder if we realize just how rough it really was.

A recent discovery shows clearly that times were more desperate than we ever could imagine. From Listverse this the hard truth.

A Cannibalized Body At Jamestown

Jamestown, Virginia, is known as the first permanent English colony in America. It is now one of the most revered historic spots in the United States, and many researchers still go there to unlock more secrets from that time.

However, in summer 2012, historians made a disturbing discovery in a hole that contained butchered horse and dog skeletons. They knew immediately that this hole had probably been dug during a severe famine, but what they found when they dug deeper only shocked them further.

The body was that of a 14-year-old English girl who had undoubtedly died in winter 1609. The winter was so harsh and the food supplies so low that it became known as the “starving time”. It was well-documented how far the colonists of Jamestown went. In 1625, George Percy, governor of Jamestown during the starving time, wrote a letter describing how colonists ate their horses, vermin, and even leather boots. He then went on to say that some had even dug up the dead in desperation.

The young girl found in 2012 was the victim of this starvation. There had been strikes to the back of her head to get to her brain, which would be the most desired tissue. The attempts were clumsy by whoever was trying to harvest her flesh. It was clear that the person had never done this before.


I'd say that the main reason for the failure of the colony had to be very poor planning on the part of the leaders. Now days we know to plan for the worse, and hope for the best!

\Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Several more inches of rain are headed this way.

The Socks Of John Logie Baird...!

Who would ever think that someone could go from working on the television to making socks ?

However, the socks invented by Baird became so important that we still used them when I was in basic training . Kept our feet dry, but they still smelled!

John Logie Baird’s Socks

Photo via BBC

John Logie Baird is remembered prominently for his work on the television. Although many people had contributions that led to the TV as we know it today, Baird is usually considered the inventor of television for building and demonstrating the first working mechanical television system in 1926.

Most of his later career was spent working on improvements for the television. However, his earlier work was much more varied. Baird made several inventions, including a glass razor and pneumatic shoes for people with flat feet. These never really went anywhere, but Baird eventually found success with a new type of sock.

In 1915, Baird tried to enlist for World War I but was declared unfit for duty, so he instead worked for a munitions factory. During that time, he became aware of trench foot, a common problem for soldiers who had to wear wet socks for long periods of time. If left untreated, this resulted in infection and could even lead to amputation.

That’s how the Baird Undersock was born. It was simply another pair of socks (or “gents’ half-hose,” as it was called back then) that was worn under the regular pair to soak up moisture. It was also coated with borax, which acted as an antiseptic.

The Baird Undersock was very successful and allowed Baird to quit his job and start selling it full-time. It also benefited from a creative marketing campaign that included soldier testimonials and women walking the cities with sandwich boards promoting the undersock.

I always wondered why we had to wear two pairs of socks. I figured it was to prevent blisters. Oh well...you learn something new every day!

Coffee inside this morning. Rain is supposed to start again this weekend.

Joseph Walker For Western Wednesday...!

This ld man may look like he is a little past it, but I'll just bet it ain't so !

His accomplishments are a matter of record and he was an active scout for many years. Truly it was men like Mr. Walker that helped to establish the West into a productive part of the great union we are today !

Joseph Walker

Photograph of Joseph Walker. (Credit: Public Domain)

Like Jedidiah Smith, Tennessee native Joseph Walker was a born explorer who pursued fur trapping and scouting as a way of financing his wanderlust. He first ventured west in 1820 as part of an illegal trapping expedition to Spanish-controlled New Mexico territory, and later served as a guide for the likes of Benjamin Bonneville and John C. Frémont. While working for Bonneville in 1833, Walker led an expedition that bushwhacked its way from Wyoming to California across the Sierra Nevada. His party was forced to eat their horses just to survive, but after exiting the mountains they became the first white men to encounter giant sequoia trees and the wonders of the Yosemite Valley. It was a sight Walker would never forget. He even had the words “Camped at Yosemite” inscribed on his tombstone.

Walker later worked as trapper, scout, wagon train guide and ranch owner, but he continued to explore the blank spots on the map at every opportunity. In 1861, at the age of 62, he set off on a two-year prospecting expedition across New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. By the time his failing eyesight forced him to retire in 1867, he had spent some five decades on the frontier and served as a guide for hundreds of soldiers and pilgrims. Amazingly, during all of Walker’s years blazing new trails and traveling through hazardous territory, only one man is reported to have died under his command.

His isn't a name that I'm familiar with, but I'm gonna see if I can read some more information on Mr. Walker.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. All went well at the heart check-up so we'll celebrate !