Sunday Surprise...!

How would you classify your neighborhood...quiet or not so quiet. No matter how you rate it, I'll bet these folks would trade places in a heartbeat.

If you live in China, a metro might go right through your apartment building.

Photo Credit: East News

And you thought living near the train tracks was a bad thing – this metro station in Chongqing is located inside a residential building and trains pass through the sixth floor. The solution has also been used in crowded spots in Japan, and residents are typically not too thrilled about the feat of architecture.

I wonder if they charge extra for fast access to the train station?

Coffee inside one more time.

The Killer Was Clueless...!

In a case almost worthy of Sherlock Holmes, this case started off with a missing body and many, many clues. Here is the story from Listverse.

The Case Of The Disappearing Passenger

One July evening in 1864, two men stepping into a first-class train compartment in Hackney, England, stumbled upon a scene of carnage. Blood on the seats and on the door but nobody within—more specifically, no body within. Women in the next carriage even reported having been spattered with red droplets through an open window.

The eerily empty compartment was replete with clues as well as gore. Those included a leather bag, walking stick, and beaver hat. Eventually, the battered body of a still-breathing, 70-year-old banker named Thomas Briggs was found along the tracks, but he died shortly thereafter.

Acting on tips from a jeweler and cabbie, Inspector Richard Tanner pursued a suspect named Franz Muller to New York. Besides leaving his own beaver hat at the crime scene, Muller apparently had been dim-witted enough to keep the silk top hat and gold watch he’d stolen from the victim. His hanging turned into such a spectacle that public executions were banned shortly thereafter.

Somehow I don't think the killer was very smart. In fact, he was about one sandwich shy of a picnic

Coffee inside this morning. More rain coming in.

To Shower Or Not To Shower...!

We have all seen examples of some crazy studies done around the world, I'm sure. This might be one that I can almost see the logic of what they were thinking, but I don't know what to think about the whole thing.

Showering Is Bad

Research by the Genetic Science Center of the University of Utah found that showering could be bad for us. Although it is good to shower frequently, too much showering can kill certain important bacteria and viruses that live on or in our bodies, which leaves us less resistant to diseases. It also increases our risk of heart problems and causes the digestive system to work improperly.

A study on the indigenous people of Yanomami village in the Amazon revealed that they have the most diverse bacteria on their skin as compared to any other human population. They even had bacteria that were resistant to antibiotics, although they had never used antibiotics.

While the researchers believe that excessive showering by Westerners affects the diversity of the human microbiome, they never told us exactly how much we should shower.

So now I have to wonder just how much I am supposed to shower. Could be that my routine is all wrong, as I take a shower at least once a month, whether I need it or not! (Kidding...)

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

The Forever Tree...!

Actually, that's not the name of this tree, but is just my take on it. The tree itself is nothing short of a modern miracle, and is as baffling to scientist as to how it can still exist.

The Indestructible Tree

Photo credit: onlinetrees.com.au

Most people have heard of the Gingko biloba. Popular as the source of a medicinal supplement, this unique species of tree was likely around when the dinosaurs lived.

The most wondrous story about the Gingko biloba, however, starts unexpectedly with the Hiroshima bomb. The Shukkeien Garden in Japan, which was approximately 1,370 meters (4,500 ft) from the atomic blast, had a ginkgo tree. After almost everything in the area was entirely destroyed, the ginkgo tree grew new branches and thrived once again.

To this day, no one really knows how this was possible, but it shows that gingko trees have fantastic abilities to rise from the ashes. Since then, seeds have been collected from the survivor trees and distributed around the world.[9] As these second-generation nuclear trees grow, they are symbols of hope to all those affected by the shocking events of 1945.

If I were to take any health supplement, then I would want to take something from this tree. Seems to be pretty sturdy to me!

Coffee inside again this morning, due to more rain.

Death Of A Legend...!

Few people have a name more recognizable in our early western history that Daniel Boone. Many tall tales, songs, and even some truths grew around this gentleman, and he will always be in our minds as a true pioneer.

1820

The famous frontiersman Daniel Boone dies in Missouri

On this day in 1820 the great pioneering frontiersman Daniel Boone dies quietly in his sleep at his son’s home near present-day Defiance, Missouri. The indefatigable voyager was 86.

Boone was born in 1734 to Quaker parents living in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Following a squabble with the Pennsylvania Quakers, Boone’s family decided to head south and west for less crowded regions, and they eventually settled in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina. There the young Daniel Boone began his life-long love for wilderness, spending long days exploring the still relatively unspoiled forests and mountains of the region. An indifferent student who never learned to write more than a crude sentence or two, Boone’s passion was for the outdoors, and he quickly became a superb marksman, hunter and woodsman.

Never satisfied to stay put for very long, Boone soon began making ever longer and more ambitious journeys into the relatively unexplored lands to the west. In May of 1769, Boone and five companions crossed over the Cumberland Gap and explored along the south fork of the Kentucky River. Impressed by the fertility and relative emptiness of the land–although the native inhabitants hardly considered it to be empty–Boone returned in 1773 with his family, hoping to establish a permanent settlement. An Indian attack prevented that first attempt from succeeding, but Boone returned two years later to open the route that became known as Boone’s Trace (or the Wilderness Road) between the Cumberland Gap and a new settlement along the Kentucky River called Fortress Boonesboro. After years of struggles against both Native Americans and British soldiers, Boonesboro eventually became one of the most important gateways for the early American settlement of the Trans-Appalachian West.

Made a legend in his own time by John Filson’s “Boone Autobiography” and Lord Byron’s depiction of him as the quintessential frontiersman in the book Don Juan, Boone became a symbol of the western pioneering spirit for many Americans. Ironically, though, Boone’s fame and his success in opening the Trans-Appalachian West to large-scale settlement later came to haunt him. Having lost his Kentucky land holdings by failing to properly register them, Boone moved even further west in 1799, trying to escape the civilized regions he had been so instrumental in creating. Finally settling in Missouri–though he never stopped dreaming of continuing westward–he lived out the rest of his life doing what he loved best: hunting and trapping in a fertile wild land still largely untouched by the Anglo pioneers who had followed the path he blazed to the West.

I would say he did make quite a name for himself, despite his lack of book learning. Seems his primary lessons were earned in learning how to survive.

Coffee out on the patio again this morning.

World's Biggest Insect...!

While most of us don't care for insects in general, there are some insects that are scarier than others. That's where this guy comes in.

Largest insect

Little Barrier Island giant weta

The giant weta native to the Little Barrier Island of New Zealand (Deinacrida heteracantha) proudly bears the name of the heaviest and largest adult insect in the world, the record weight for one being of 71 grammes or 2.5 oz and more than 8.5 centimeters or 3.4 inches in length. A relative of the grasshopper and of the common house cricket, the giant weta is nowadays a vulnerable species.

Thank goodness I don't have any of these guys in my yard...or worse, in my house! What a nightmare that would be!

Coffee on the patio this morning.

Strange Forest For Monday Mystery...!

Many forest from around the world have strange stories attached to them. Ghostly tales and creepy legends abound around some of them. Here is one such forest from Listverse.

Pokaini Forest Mysteries

Photo credit: www.latvia.travel

Pokaini forest in Latvia is steeped in myth and mystery. Legend has it that visitors to the forest in ancient times brought rocks with them as penance for their sins. These rocks would then also symbolize the absolution of their sins. Considering that this is just a myth, it remains a mystery as to where the rocks in the forest actually come from.

The rocks are grouped together in a specific sequence around 30 hills. There are rumors that some of the rocks have healing powers (because some of them are hot to the touch) while others have destructive powers. People are advised against taking a rock home as a souvenir, as bad times may befall them if they do.

There is also an old pine tree under which the temperature remains higher than anywhere else in the forest. Some visitors to Pokaini believe that this anomaly as well as malfunctioning watches and compasses mean that the forest could be a gateway to a parallel universe.

I don't think I'll be carrying away any rocks from this forest, even if I were to visit.

Coffee inside again due to the rain.