Can't Win For Losing...!

Did you ever have a seemingly good idea that turned out to be disastrous? This man did, for sure. From Listverse, here is his story.

Thomas Midgley Jr

Thomas Midgley was an American chemist who invented both leaded petrol and CFCs. Though lauded during his time, he has come to be known as having “had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth history” and “the one human responsible for more deaths than any other in history” due to his inventions. He eventually contracted Polio and lead poisoning and was left disabled in his bed. This caused him to create an elaborate system of pulleys and ropes in order to lift himself from bed. He died at the age of 55 after being strangled by one of his pulleys and is notable for the fact that both his inventions, leaded petrol and his pulley operated bed, contributed to his death.

Seems as if this poor guy was snakebit, if you know what I mean.

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

What A Crazy Speeder...!

Did you know that there was an actual arrest made in the case of the first speeder, and the auto was an electric? Yep...that's right!

The First Driver Arrested For Speeding Was Traveling 12 Miles Per Hour

Photo credit: gizmodo.com

On May 20, 1899, 26-year-old Jacob German was the first motorcar driver arrested for speeding. Officer John Schuessler (aka The Scorcher’s Terror) was renowned for chasing down and arresting those in horse-drawn carriages and on bicycles speeding on the streets of Manhattan.

German worked for the Electric Vehicle Company, a taxi service with an all-electric fleet. He was doing 19 kilometers per hour (12 mph) at the time he was spotted by Officer Schuessler of the Bicycle Squad of New York. At the time, New York laws forbade drivers from exceeding 13 kilometers per hour (8 mph) on roads and 6 kilometers per hour (4 mph) when going around corners.

Schuessler went after German’s car with his bicycle and arrested the lawbreaker. Reporting the news, The New York Times wrote that German was traveling at “breakneck speed” and “so reckless a rate.” German did not get a ticket for speeding, but he spent some time in jail.

Sounds pretty crazy by today's standards, doesn't it? Certainly made sense at the time though.

Coffee out on the patio, but you already knew that...right?

How About Those Stump Houses...?

We all know that coming up with adequate shelter was probably one of the hardest endeavors for the early pioneers. In some cases though, they did have a little help by using the leftovers from logging operations.

Early Settlers In The Wild West

Photo credit: boingboing.net

After loggers swept over the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest in the late 1800s, many pioneers were just coming across on wagon trains to settle down with their families. To their surprise, these early settlers discovered a mauled landscape dotted with enormous, towering tree stumps that the lumber companies had left behind.

Some of these sturdy stumps were 3 meters (10 ft) tall. These old logging sites that had cleared the forest seemed perfect for farmland. So some of the thriftiest pioneers had the wise idea to homestead these areas. They settled in what became known as “stump homes.”

[10]Basically, all the settlers had to do was put a roof on top of the stumps and attach a door. While some lived in these homes with their families, others used them for storage or chicken coops.

For some stumps that remained on the property, the pioneers came up with other creative uses. Some were leveled off at the top into flat platforms where the people would have social gatherings, like “stump dances” to folk music. One of these stump homes became the first US Post Office in the remote Olympic Peninsula, and it still stands today as a historic landmark.

This is a case of making lemonade when life gives out lemons. At least all those stumps could be used for something, right?

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

The Tricky English Language...!

I've heard from many folks that the english language is one of the hardest to learn for people that are primarily english speakers. This little exercise from DidYouKnowFacts will show why.

“I never said she stole my money” has 7 different meanings depending on which word you emphasize when you speak it aloud.

Try it…

I didn’t say she stole my money – someone else said it.

I didn’t say she stole my money – I didn’t say it.

I didn’t say she stole my money – I only implied it.

I didn’t say she stole my money – I said someone did, not necessarily her.

I didn’t say she stole my money – I considered it borrowed, even though she didn’t ask.

I didn’t say she stole my money – only that she stole money.

I didn’t say she stole my money – she stole stuff which cost me money to replace.

I can see how it could get confusing when there are so many different ways this simple sentence could be interpreted, can you?

Coffee out on the patio one more time.

Plant Or Animal...?

Here is a case of nature's ability to confuse us all. This critter can change from plant to anima...and back again. How is that for strange?

Mesodinium Chamaeleon

Photo credit: Ojvind Moestrup/Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology

Microscopic in size, Mesodinium chamaeleon has scientists stymied. It’s not a plant, but it’s not an animal, either. As an animal, it uses its hair-like cilia to swim about, devouring plants. After feeding, it turns into a plant itself and is able to photosynthesize. After a while, it consumes the chlorophyll granules it obtained by eating the plant and reverts into an animal to begin the process of transformations anew. The bizarre creature dwells at the bottom of the ocean. In 2012, it was discovered off the coast of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Scientists are mystified by it. They can’t describe it in detail, and they haven’t been able to determine the amount of energy it obtains from photosynthesis. They also don’t know why it eats the chlorophyll granules it acquires. Further discoveries await “getting this animal-plant established in a culture in our laboratory,” says Ojvind Moestrup, a professor in the Marine Biological Section of the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology.

I found this article over at Listverse. Seems to me this certainly qualifies as a good Monday Mystery, don't you think?

Coffee out on the patio today, where it's gonna be dry and hot.

How About Those Wolves...?

Here is something a bit different for you this morning. It includes a 4 minute video that I hope you'll watch.

Wolves can shape the ecosystem and physical geography of the land they live on.

When wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in ‘95 after a 70-year absence, trees grew faster, animal populations increased, and rivers even changed their behavior because new vegetation helped reduce erosion.



Pretty neat, isn't it? Let nature just do Her thing.

Coffee out on the patio again.

Some Cereal History...!

You wouldn't think that something as common as breakfast cereal would ever cause a controversy, but it has. Some of the controversy goes back to a time long ago.

Elijah’s Manna

Photo credit: New York Times

Cereal controversy has gone on as far back as the 1800s.

Seventh-Day Adventist Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, were trying to develop a food that went with their church-recommended vegetarian lifestyle to feed patients at their sanitarium. They would not go on to officially market corn flakes until 1906, which allowed a former patient, C.W. Post, to take his own stab at the idea.

After C.W. Post finished creating Grape Nuts, he decided to try his own take on corn flakes that he would call Elijah’s Manna. This began a major controversy, with clergymen denouncing the product as sacrilege, and Britain even barred it from being imported into the country. Though Post tried to defend his brand, he eventually gave in, and in 1908, the cereal went on to become Post Toasties.

Some of these controversies seem a bit much to me, but what do I know. I'm more of a bacon and eggs person myself.

Coffee out on thew patio again today!

A Little Known Inventor...!

Once in a while, I run across someone that was very creative in the useful gadgets department, even though their name is mostly forgotten. That was the case with Walter Hunt. I think when you see some of the things he invented, you'll agree.

Walter Hunt

Walter Hunt was an American mechanic born in New York in 1796. Throughout his life he worked as an inventor and he managed to create a variety of different devices. The lockstitch sewing machine, safety pin, a forerunner of the Winchester repeating rifle, a successful flax spinner, knife sharpener, streetcar bell, hard-coal-burning stove, artificial stone, street sweeping machinery, the velocipede, and the ice plough are his most notable creations.

Many of his creations have served as indispensable additions and improvements to basic activities and devices in modern times. This is especially true for things like the simple safety pin and the complicated sewing machine. Unfortunately, none of his extremely useful inventions managed to win him an award throughout his life (nor afterwards).

As many times as I have used a safety pin, I never even though about who invented it. Crazy, huh?

Coffee out on the patio again.

The Mostly Unknown Chief Gall...!

There are so many historically important people from history that we never hear about. Gall was certainly one of those most of us know nothing about.

Gall

SIOUX CHIEF

WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

LAST UPDATED: Apr 12, 2019 See Article History

Gall, (born c. 1840, near Moreau River [in present-day South Dakota], U.S.—died 1894, near Oak Creek, S.D.), Hunkpapa Sioux war chief, who was one of the most important military leaders at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (June 25, 1876).

Orphaned at an early age, Gall was adopted as a younger brother by the Sioux chief Sitting Bull. In many clashes with settlers and the U.S. Army, Gall distinguished himself as an excellent tactician and strategist. At the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Gall is credited with having turned back an initial Indian rout and then luring Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his men into an indefensible position, annihilating his force. After this victory, Gall and Sitting Bull faced continual skirmishes and battles with the military, and in May 1877 he followed Sitting Bull into Canada. The Canadian government would not give them a reservation, the herds of buffalo were gone, and Gall and his people faced starvation. He eventually abandoned Sitting Bull and surrendered to the U.S. Army (c. 1880). Once on the Sioux reservation in South Dakota, Gall urged his people to become more acculturated with the whites. His breach with Sitting Bull (who eventually lived on the reservation) became complete when Gall was persuaded to sign the treaty of 1889 that broke up the so-called Great Sioux Reservation and ceded much territory to white settlers.

One more name that wasn't considered important enough to be considered in history class, I guess.

Coffee out on the hot patio this morning.

Let's Go To The Spam Museum...!

One of my favorite foods actually has their own museum...really! I never knew this until I read this article from Listverse. This is one place I'd love to go, for sure.

Spam Museum

Austin, Minnesota

Photo credit: exploreminnesota.com

Many of us shudder at the thought of eating “Spam,” the highly processed tinned pork that Hormel Foods first introduced to the US market in 1937. While the long-life convenience food certainly had its place as a staple for troops during World War II, the square tin of meat has become a much-maligned product in more recent years.

Yet there is actually a Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota. Hormel Foods first established a small museum in a mall in 1991 before moving to a bigger, more accessible site in recent years.

Here you can learn the history of Spam production and its role during the war years. You can even taste Spam varieties. Yes, there are different types sold throughout the world. Visitors can even pick up some Spam recipes for their next dinner party.

Personally I like Spam, always have! I eat it fairly regularly. Call me crazy, but meat is meat and Spam is made from ham.

Coffee outside before the heat sets in again.

Another Sea Mystery...!

We could study the sea with all of it's mysteries for many years and never really scratch the surface. Here is another one for Monday Mystery, taken from the pages of Listverse.

The Green Flash

Photo credit: Brocken Inaglory

For hundreds of years, men of the sea, most notably pirates, have repeatedly reported a strange phenomenon that has come to be known as the green flash. It is said that when the sky and the horizon are both completely clear, a sudden flare of emerald-green light can flash across the sky as the Sun sets.

Reports of the flash go all the way back to the 1600s, with pirates being the ones who reported it most, as they would have had the longest sea voyages. While this phenomenon has a completely rational explanation, pirates claimed that anyone who saw the flash would gain the ability to read the souls of others.

I'd be interested in knowing what this rational explanation is that they mention, wouldn't you?

Coffee out on the patio before it gets too hot. Fresh peanut butter cookies await!

Your Tax Dollars At Work...!

There is just no doubt among any of us that the PTB waste millions and millions of OUR money foolishly, but some of these outlandish studies are a bit much. When you read this one from Listverse, I think you'll agree.

How Do Shrimps Fare Walking On A Treadmill?

What do you think when you look at shrimp?

For the foodies, it may be all about their texture and what they could be paired with. For the casual observer, they may look like just another one of the countless marine species that have no significant impact on our lives. For the scientists who carried out this study, though, the first question that came to their minds was: “So what if we put them on a treadmill?”

Under the guise of studying the effects of stress on marine life when they were only trying to decisively answer a ridiculous question by one of their kids, a couple of scientists injected some shrimp with bacterial infections and put them on a tiny underwater treadmill to see what would happen.

In a result that would not surprise—or even interest—anyone anywhere whatsoever, they concluded that uninfected shrimp performed better than their infected counterparts. The best (or worst) part? The study got $682,570 of taxpayer funding from the National Science Foundation.

I mean, I know these guys need to study marine creatures for all sorts of reasons, but this is going a tad too far! Just my opinion...

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Bamboo Holds A Record...!

Did you know that a certain kind of Bamboo plant grows faster than anything else you can name? True...! This plant is so versatile because it has so many uses, and sadly we are not making use of many of them. From Listverse, here is a quick rundown of how fast it can grow.

Bamboo Holds A Guinness World Record

Photo credit: Wikimedia

A certain type of bamboo actually holds the world record as the fastest growing plant ever. This bamboo was able to grow as fast as 35 inches in a single day! This translates into nearly 1.5 inches per hour. You could literally sit there and see the bamboo growing before your eyes. If that is put into speed, it comes out at 0.00002 miles per hour.

Bamboo is also able to grow very tall, with the tallest ever recorded in the United States of America at 65-98 feet and 130 feet in Europe. Due to how fast bamboo grows, it is considered one of the most renewable plants on earth. As soon as the bamboo is harvested, it just starts growing again, making it an ideal material for all sorts of uses.

I think you'll agree that this is some pretty amazing stuff. I think I'll plant some in my backyard.

Coffee out on the patio today.

Want Some Bug Bread...?

I like bread...probably too much. My favorite is wheat, but freshly baked white bread is great as well. I don't think I want to try this crazy bread I found over on Listverse, no matter how much I want a sandwich.

Bug Bread

Photo credit: Live Science

Certain bugs are very nutritious but a bit outdated for the modern menu. However, as the global population grows and farming land becomes an issue, the answer could be insect farms that require less space. The problem is selling the idea of eating insects to people who have no desire to buy grasshopper pie.

In 2018, Italian scientists came up with a solution—hide the insects so well that the food appears “normal.” Thus, they baked bread with powdered crickets. While it left no obvious trace of the goobers, there were some drawbacks.

Although highly nutritious, the taste was described as “cat food.” Apart from the flavor fail, the more cricket powder it contained, the less the bread rose. It also lost its chewiness.

The worst danger was bacterial spores. Scientists are working on eliminating spores that might piggyback on insect powders, like sterilizing them with gamma irradiation. But it might be a tougher challenge to make the bug bread taste or even look appetizing enough for shoppers to be fine with sending their kids to school with insect sandwiches.

First they want to use cricket powder in the bread and then they want to shoot it with gamma rays? Sounds like a bad horror film to me! Think I'll pass!

Coffee out on the patio today. No bug bread, I promise!

Second Try At Justice...!

It always amazes me at how quickly folks could turn into vigilantes in the old days. Some of it was understandable, I guess, but so many so-called "reasonable" folks turned so quickly, it seems crazy.

1856

 Second vigilante committee organizes in San Francisco

Angered by the shooting of a prominent journalist, San Franciscans form their second vigilance committee to combat lawlessness.

The need for vigilance committees in San Francisco was obvious. Only two years after gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, San Francisco had grown from a sleepy little village with 900 inhabitants to a booming metropolis with more than 200,000 residents. The sudden influx of people overwhelmed the city. Harried law enforcement officials found it nearly impossible to maintain law and order, and chaos often reigned in the streets, which were lined with saloons and gambling parlors. Attracted by the promise of gold, marauding bands of Australian criminals called “Sydney ducks” robbed and extorted the people of San Francisco with near impunity.

San Franciscans formed their first vigilance committee in 1851. About 200 vigilantes enrolled, most of them from the elite professional and merchant class of the city. They had headquarters along Battery Street, where they could temporarily imprison criminals, and the ringing of the city’s fire bell would summon the vigilantes to action. A handful of men who were found guilty of serious crimes like murder were hanged from a nearby derrick normally used to haul freight into the second story of a warehouse. More commonly, though, the vigilantes simply deported criminals like the “Sydney ducks” back to their homelands.

Whether due to the vigilante actions or because conventional law enforcement became more effective, things eventually quieted down in San Francisco and the first vigilance committee disbanded. In 1856, however, a rigged election put an Irish-Catholic politician named James P. Casey on the city board of supervisors. James King, a crusading editor of the Daily Evening Bulletin, accused Casey of being involved in criminal activity in the city. On May 14, 1856, Casey confronted King in the street and fatally wounded him with a Colt navy revolver.

The next day, angry San Franciscans created the second vigilance committee. This time, however, they could not claim that the city government was not enforcing the law–the sheriff had already arrested Casey and put him in the county jail pending trial. Acting more like a raging mob than an instrument of justice, 500 vigilantes surrounded the county jail and removed Casey from the sheriff’s custody on May 18. After a short but reasonably fair trial, they hanged him.

Some historians have argued that the second vigilance committee was less interested in suppressing crime than in attacking its political enemies. Casey’s election signaled a shift in power to the dominant faction of recently immigrated Irish-Catholic Democrats. The vigilantes, who were largely native-born Protestants, reasserted their control by arresting and exiling their political opponents from the city. As before, they hanged several men.

Regardless of the vigilantes’ true motives, a number of Irish Catholic leaders did leave the city and the Protestant elite managed to regain control of the government. Late in 1856, the vigilance committee formally disbanded and never again became active.

Did you notice the name of the journalist that was killed? He had the same name I have! How about that?

Coffee out on the patio today!

A Sad And Strange Death...!

We often forget about the sacrifices made in the name of science and medicine, but from I have seen and read about over the years, it is never a good idea to experiment on yourself. This story is from Listverse.

Horace Wells (January 21, 1815 – January 24, 1848) [Britannica]

Manner of death: Used anesthetics to commit suicide

An American dentist, born in Vermont and educated in Boston, Horace Wells was one of the pioneers in the field of anesthesia. Weary of screaming patients, (it was known to upset him terribly, he often debated leaving the field of dentistry altogether), he was one of the first practitioners to see the value of nitrous oxide or laughing gas as an anesthetic.

After a failed experiment and falling out of favor with the medical community, Wells became a traveling anesthetic salesman and European expert for his former partner, Gardner Quincy Colton. His ‘investigations’ led to a chloroform addiction that would be his down-fall. In 1848, delirious and deranged after a week of self-experimentation, Wells ran into the street and assaulted two prostitutes with sulfuric acid. He was arrested and confined at New York’s infamous Tombs Prison. Recovering from the drug induced psychosis; the true horror of his actions came home to roost. Unable to live with this shame, Wells committed suicide by first inhaling a substantial dose of chloroform and then slitting his femoral artery.

I'd say this old boy definitely had some problems upstairs, if you know what I mean.

Coffee inside today due to the rain.

Paul Whipkey On Monday Mystery...!

For those of us that enjoy a good mystery, this is a good one. I found this little gem on Listverse and I think you will find it fascinating.

Paul Whipkey

In the early 1950s, Lieutenant Paul Whipkey found himself in a high position within the United States Air Force at Fort Ord, California. He was one of the first men to witness the atomic bomb tests. In 1957, he began acting strangely. He also lost all of his teeth, suffered from constant colds, suddenly lost weight, and developed black moles and warts all over his body. While on post, he was often seen talking to two men dressed in suits, but they have never been identified. Colleagues noticed that he was often tense and not himself after seeing them.

On July 10, he told his friends he was visiting the nearby city of Monterey. He left in plain clothes and never returned. The day he went missing, he had checked into a hotel 560 kilometers (350 mi) away. A day later, a man dressed in military clothing was seen driving Whipkey’s car. That same day, the Army quickly cleared out his apartment. A month later, after no sign of his whereabouts had surfaced, he was classed as a deserter. It took eight more months before the military began to search for him. His car was found in Death Valley with the keys still in ignition and surrounded by cigarette butts, which was suspicious because he didn’t smoke. Even more suspiciously, the Army destroyed all files on Whipkey in 1977. Years later, seemingly out of nowhere, they changed his status from a “deserter” to “killed in action.”

There are many theories on what happened to Paul Whipkey. Even after he started to behave strangely, his family and colleagues insist that he was a perfect soldier who was unlikely to have deserted. Some theorize that he was recruited by the CIA and died in a secret mission, while others believe there was a military cover-up after he died of radiation poisoning.

So what do you think happened to Paul? This is one of those strange mysteries that reek of some kind of government involvement.

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

Strange Salamander...!

We already know that nature can create some wickedly strange critters, but here is one that I thought you might like to read about.

ET Salamander

So far this newly discovered salamander species doesn’t have a name, but it’s been dubbed the “ET salamander” because of its resemblance to ET the Extraterrestrial from the 1982 film. Found in the rainforests of Ecuador, this salamander has one truly incredible adaptation—it has no lungs. Rather, it “breathes” through its skin, absorbing oxygen from the air around it. The researchers at Conservation International described it as “remarkably ugly,” which is definitely an apt description of the tiny amphibian.

So far, we still don’t know much about the salamander, and more expeditions are being planned to explore the unique biosphere of the Ecuadorian rainforest.

This planet is filled with so many strange critters (humans included), we could never know them all.

Coffee inside again due to the rain and hail possibilities.

The "No News Day"...!

Did you ever get the feeling that nothing good was coming out of the news channels? Seems like the folks at BBC have had this happen more than once, so it does seem to be possible.

The BBC Once Reported That There Was No News

The BBC is famous for its news. However, it is also famous for not reporting the news. On April 18, 1930, the BBC did not report any news because it had no news. At 8:45 PM that day, a broadcaster went on the air and said, “Good evening, Today is Good Friday. There is no news.” Then the BBC went on to play piano music for the next 15 minutes.

There is always news, so it is surprising that the BBC said there was none. This was because the BBC had a monopoly on news reporting in Britain at the time. This meant that it also had a monopoly on what it considered newsworthy.

The BBC only reported news it felt would improve the morality of the British. And it was willing to forgo the news instead of reporting on things it considered distasteful. However, some have claimed that the action was actually an attempt by the BBC to prove it was independent of the British government.

At the time, the British government was trying to dispel a scandal that had been covered in the newspapers the previous day. The newspapers did not print on April 18 because it was Good Friday, so the government probably switched to the using the BBC to inform citizens of their position. However, the BBC could have decided to not report the news at all rather than report news to support the government.

I don't think our stations would get away with that in this day and age. Anyway, we always have the Internet, right?

Coffee out on the patio, I think.

No Post Today...!

Sorry folks, but there won't be a post today. I guess this could count as a post, though.

Attack On Columbus, New Mexico...!

Sometimes the people we like to set up as folk heroes...aren't! This story of the attack on Columbus is a good example of how things can get ugly when neighbors turn on one another.

Battle Of Columbus

Photo credit: Bain News Service

Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was active along the United States border throughout the Mexican Revolution and during World War I. Villa constantly infuriated American authorities by conducting raids on trains and causing havoc on the border. However, his boldest move came in 1916 when he attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico.

A garrison of 600 troops was guarding Columbus, but bad information led Villa to believe that he had the advantage with his 400 soldiers. On March 9, 1916, his soldiers cut the border wire, and Villa led them into town. The Mexican attackers stormed through Columbus, looting houses and businesses. Civilians fought off the raiders as the US Army quickly mobilized to repulse Villa’s forces. Commanders organized their men into fire squads, and they even brought in machine guns to fight off the attackers.

It soon became clear that the defenders had the upper hand, and realizing he’d lost the element of surprise, Villa ordered a retreat. The bandit managed to escape with his men . . . but at great cost. He lost nearly 100 troops during the attack.

As for the US, 18 Americans lay dead, and parts of Columbus had burned down. Outraged, President Woodrow Wilson ordered a 6,000-man expeditionary force (commanded by General John Pershing) to enter Mexico and capture Pancho Villa. For a year, the Americans had the full cooperation of the Mexican government, but in 1917, Mexican authorities asked the expeditionary force to leave.

While Villa managed to evade Pershing, the massive military response convinced the outlaw to never attack American territory again.

Sounds to me as though things could have been a lot worse in Columbus. Glad that they weren't!

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Raining outside...

Anus Sausage Anyone...?

Proofreading is one of those things that seems such a minor detail, but skipping it can lead to some major embarrassments. From Listverse, here is a great example.

Anus Beef Sausages

Photo credit: news.com.au

Just one little letter can provide a whole new meaning to a word. It seems that some of us have a bit of a beef with the word “Angus” when describing the meat from Aberdeen cattle.

A number of photos can be found on the Internet of fast-food chains that have misspelled the word on advertising billboards for their burgers. Shoppers in Adelaide, South Australia, could be forgiven for being a little “put off” by a spelling mistake made on supermarket meat packaging.

Sausage casings may traditionally have been made from animal intestines, although synthetic casings may now be more popular. The exact contents of sausages are also questioned at times. However, shoppers were left asking just how much offal was in the sausages labeled as “Anus Beef.”

Someone forgot to spell-check the meat supplier’s labels for their Angus beef sausages. Once again, this went viral on social media with predictable comments.

I think we all wonder what goes into our sausage at times, but I really don't want to see it on the label, ya know?

Coffee out on the patio this morning if it isn't raining.

What The Heck Is This...?

sometimes people find the strangest things and we all start wondering what it is they found. The questions always seem to be where was it found, what was it used for, and what is it? This article from Listverse is about one such object.

The Williams Enigmalith

In 1998, a hiker named John J. Williams noticed a strange metallic protrusion in the dirt. He dug up a strange-looking rock which, upon cleaning, turned out to have a weird electrical component attached to it. The electric device was clearly man-made and somewhat resembled an electrical plug.

The rock has since become a well-known mystery in UFO enthusiast circles. It has featured in UFO Magazine and (according to Williams) Fortean Times, a famed magazine devoted to mysterious phenomena. Williams, an electrical engineer, says the electronic component embedded in the stone has not been glued or welded into the granite. In fact, the rock probably formed around the device.

Many believe that the so-called Williams Enigmalith is a hoax, as Williams refuses to break it (but is willing to sell it for $500,000). Also, the stone device does bear a certain resemblance to heat rocks that are commonly used to keep tropical pet lizards warm. Still, geological analysis has apparently determined that the stone is around 100,000 years old, which (if true) would mean the device inside can’t possibly be of human creation. Williams is confident enough to let anyone research the Enigmalith on three conditions: He must be present, the rock must remain unharmed, and he will not have to pay for the research.

You just never know what you are going to run across on the Web, do ya?

Coffee out on the patio again today!

A "Note-able" Mistake...!

Did you ever stop and wonder just how many handy inventions came about by someone's mistake? I found several on Listverse and I wanted to share one with you.

Post-it Notes

Post-it Notes would have to be one of the most useful items of stationery. The sticky little squares of paper can be found in any home or office. We use them to bookmark pages, stick handy reminder notes to the fridge or computer, and leave phone messages.

Yet this common stationery item was developed by mistake. Dr. Spencer Silver was a chemist working for 3M in 1968. His research into a super-strong glue seemed to have failed when instead he came up with a very weak adhesive that would only stick things together for a short time. What good was that to anyone?

It wasn’t until 1973 that the worth of this new adhesive was recognized. Arthur Fry, one of Dr. Silver’s colleagues, began using this temporary glue to bookmark the pages in his hymnal.

By 1980, 3M was producing small squares of paper lined with a coating of glue along one edge. Today, we use more than 50 billion of these handy little sticky notes each year.

I don't even want to think about how many of these little notes I've used in my lifetime, but it would be a LOT!

Coffee inside this morning. Rain in the forecast.

The " Fake News" Horse Race...!

Ever have a joke backfire on ya and had to scramble to try and cover it up? That's what this next post is all about. Here is the story from KnowledgeNuts.

How A Bad Joke Triggered History’s Greatest Horse Race

BY M.ADMIN | OCT 25, 2014.

In the late 19th century, there wasn’t much to do in Chadron, Nebraska. The town had only come into existence in 1884, in anticipation of a railroad being built in the area. When the railroad was actually built a few miles away, the townsfolk simply packed up and moved to meet it—taking the buildings with them. By 1893, a couple of local cowboys had taken to amusing their buddies by planting wildly exaggerated stories of life on the range in various tenderfoot eastern newspapers. One of their hilarious hoaxes claimed that 300 cowboys were planning an epic 1,600-kilometer (1,000 mi) race from Chadron to the World’s Fair in Chicago. The distance was ludicrous and the article spiced things up by declaring the mild-mannered town fire chief “the deadliest shot in Nebraska” and a local 11-year-old “a daring rider” who was sure to win. Other entrants included such hardened cowpokes as “Cockeyed Bill” and “Dynamite Dick.”

The whole town thought it was hilarious—until thousands of letters started arriving. The jokers had accidentally captured the imagination of the country, and the townsfolk of Chadron faced national humiliation if they backed down. They soon realized that they had no choice but to keep up the bluff and actually go through with the race.

Helped by a generous purse put up by Buffalo Bill Cody, a genuine field of rough riders was soon assembled. The early favorite was Doc Middleton, the infamous gunfighter and leader of the Pony Boys gang, said to have stolen over 2,000 horses in a two-year period. His main rival was Joe Berry, famous as a mail rider during the Indian Wars, who had to borrow a horse to enter. Other contenders included Rattlesnake Jim Stephens (so-named for the rattlesnake rattles that lined his hatband) and an enormously fat cowboy called Joe Gillespie.

Doc Middleton, the Snidely Whiplash of our story, immediately started playing dirty, demanding that Berry be disqualified since he had helped to stake out the route. The judges agreed, but an outraged Berry announced that he was going to ride in the race anyway. Even if he couldn’t win the prize money, he could still prove he was the best.

Thousands of eager spectators gathered for the start, only to be disappointed when the riders all sensibly set off at a walk. Thirteen days and 16 hours later, Berry, too exhausted to even hold his head up, arrived in Chicago in first place. In second was Emmet Albright, who was set to get the prize until it was revealed he had shipped his horses part of the way by train. Third to arrive was the fat man, Joe Gillespie, who might even have beaten Berry if he hadn’t paused halfway to take part in a parade. After attempting numerous cunning tricks (and allegedly trying to poison the other horses) Doc Middleton finished last.

You can read more about this crazy race right here. BTW, the prize was a thousand bucks!

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Strange Smelling Candy...!

As anyone that knows me will tell ya, I do love most candy...especially chocolate. However, I found this strange little bit of information about a strange candy from an article on Listverse.

Musk Sticks

Photo credit: ABC News

What looks like bubblegum toothpaste and has a perfume-like flavor? Musk sticks, of course! The strange candy loved by many Australians and New Zealanders may be off-putting to others. Musk sticks are basically pink cylinders made of gelatin and icing sugar with a musk-like essence.

The candy dissolves slowly in the mouth, and many people associate the taste with a strong cologne. A baker from Australia wrote about a woman in her blog who described the candy as “tasting like the smell of old ladies at the bus stop & yet kind of nice.” It’s weird, and the appeal is hard to understand, but the candy has been going strong for a century in Australia. Woolworths alone sells around 24 million musk sticks per year. If these candies don’t sound appealing, you could always use them as an air freshener instead.

I don't think you can call this a passing fad, since the stuff has been around for more than a century. I might want to smell it, but I don't think I'm up for tasting it just yet.

Coffee out on the patio, but we may have to move inside if it starts raining.

Death By Bird...!

Now this is something I truly do not understand. Why anyone would want a pet bird that is known to be dangerous, even to zookeepers, is beyond me. I'll stick with cats, thanks just the same.

Cassowary Attacks

Photo credit: sciencealert.com

The world’s most dangerous bird is the cassowary. At first glance, it seems a bit harmless, just a large flightless bird with a bright neck. But this Australia and New Guinea native is so dangerous that experienced zookeepers avoid being alone with it. Cassowaries have been recorded kicking tourists off cliffs or cornering them up trees.

In 2019, a man in Florida was killed by his pet cassowary. The severe injuries that cost the 75-year-old his life were probably due to the bird’s middle toe. Each foot has three digits with formidable nails, but the middle one is practically a dagger. A kick can cause horrific damage.

The choice of pet had bird experts shaking their heads. Indeed, Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission views cassowaries as “Class II Wildlife,” which involves danger to people and a lot of permits.

You would think that at his age, he would know better. But I reckon that older doesn't always mean wiser, right?

Coffee out on the patio this morning.