Now that I am an "old dude", I realize that "sometimes" I repeat myself (others might substitute the word "often" for "sometimes"). So, today, I found a copy of the famous and now defunct Weekly World News, and thought I might write some notes about this wonderful sheet.
However, just in time, I woke up and remembered that I had already done a blog entry about this very issue. But.. the date of the issue was September 18, 2006, and some things have changed since then. Let me tell you about some of them.
01. Magic! There is an article about what the paper calls "the world's worst magician". They claim that a guy named Victor Baum performed in the Boston area and people came to see him because he was so bad. Once, it took him 52 times before he got a "guess the playing card" trick right!
I hope you remember about the guy I have mentioned before who, in my opinion, is now "the world's best magician." Yes, I'm talking about "The Amazing Stanley". Check him out.. he is good!
www.justforyou.com/magic.htm
02. Power Names. The paper also suggested that you give your children names that could help form their character and drive them to high achievement. They suggested names such as Google, Maxima, Java, or Excel.
I just heard on the radio that a gentleman named Douglas Smith was allowed to change his name to Captain Awesome. Well, I hope it does it for him.
I may have mentioned this before, but when I worked at Social Security, I had the authorization to change names on our records, if requested. A member of a religious order which had a common hyphenated surname for its members asked to have his "like John Doe" name changed. Seeing no reason to deny him this request, I did so.
Suddenly, droves of fellow religious persons descended on Social Security, asking for the same favor now that there was a precedent.. at the same time, a rival religious order found out and had their members petition for changes to names with their own hyphenated designation.
Someone thought that I had established a bad precedent (and the ensuing chaos) and somehow had it rescinded.
BTW: some of you already know that I have had several "names" over the years. The ones I like best are: AHAB (my nom in puzzledom); H.R. Pooner (my long lost brother gave me that one because of my love for whales.. no.. I never wanted to harm them); and S.P. Kerr (a name used when I did Toastmaster activity)....
03. Predictions coming true? The paper also listed some predictions for the future. I'll mention two of them:
Waco, TX 2010: The F.B.I. discovers the cult moviie house and, after a standoff with the audience, fires the projectionist.
Washington, DC 2011: As the political right gains greater influence in the country, many colleges change their curriculum to offer conservative arts programs.
04. Trivia from 2006:
There are more than 1,750 "O's" in a 15 ounce can of SpaghettiOs. (Guess what.. the cans still hold 15 ounces in 2010!)
Ovaltine was called Ovomaltine.. but it was a Swiss product, and when it got registered in the U.S., a clerical error gave it its current name. (I'm sure you were astounded to read that.)
Flamingo tongues were a common delicacy at Roman feasts. (In these austere days, the only persons who continue to be able to eat flamingo tongues are those "fat-cats" who will benefit the most from the continuing "tax cuts for the rich and famous.")
In Australia, the most popular topping for pizza is eggs. In China, it is mussels. In the US, it is pepperoni. (What about anchovies, my favorite?)
An apple, an onion, and a potato all taste alike. (I've heard this before.. if you pinch your nose and take a blindfolded bite of each, you would not know which you are eating. I haven't tried this yet. Let me know if you have.)
..... Well, that's enough for now.. I have to get to my physical therapy session so I can be pushed, prodded, and punched in order to get my muscles working better. They have been withering a bit in the past few years.
......................................................................
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Names and News
Today, I will make comments on the pronounciation of Mucha and Sotomayor, recommend a couple of books to read, and pass on some observations from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, my favorite radio show. (BTW: look up pronunciation and pronounciation online.. then maybe you will be as confused as I am about which spelling is correct.. or which pronounciation of either is correct.. ain't English great?)
At an art gallery in Towson, Elaine and I were recently shown l0ts of works by Alfonse Mucha. The owner spoke Mucha as MOO-CU(p). I speak Mucha as MU-SHA and sometimes as MU-CHA. Since Al was a Czech, I found out that his name in Czech is pronounced: MOO-CA(r). Suggested pronounciation in English is the same as in Czech. So.. we were both wrong.
In any event, the owner has gone to the Czech Republic and brought back lots of Mucha stuff which she has reframed for sale. One of the items is a framed print of a beautiful (zaftig) young lady, a copy of which I paid $4 at a small antique store in Westminster, Maryland. She is selling it for $250! Her prices are a bit out of range for me; but perhaps not for people who live in Towson.
Once, we found a framed print of a mother with her two daughters at an antique mall in Frederick. We paid a very large price for it. Two store stalls later we found the identical item for much much less. Guess what... the first person gave us our money back and we bought the latter print. (It's still my favorite picture because it looks just like my two beautiful daughters watching my new-born son who is in his mother's arms.)
Now that I have learned how to pronounce Mucha, I turn my attention to Ms Sotomayor. Apparently, there is a Conservative commentator who feels that we should not succomb to the temptation to pronounce her name as though we were Puerto Ricans, but rather pronounce it the good old fashioned American way as: So to mayer. OMIGAWD! What next!
Yesterday, we were happy to attend granddaughter Bridget's college graduation. It was a great day and we are very proud of what a fine young woman she has become. Usually on Saturday morning, I listen to my favorite NPR show: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! So, this morning (Sunday) I listened to the show on my PC. I kind of like this better, because it cuts out 13 minutes of unrelated news and advertising. Some of the things I learned today:
01. Panelist Charlie Pierce has published a new book that will anger a lot of people. I have read parts of it, and I highly recommend it for "thinking" people.. the title happens to be: "Idiot America." You will be hearing a lot about this book, I'm sure.
02. Panelist Roy Blunt, Jr. also has published a new book that will be great, especially for those interested in "words" and their derivations and current and past meanings. I read a couple of pages out on Amazon and found it quite enlightening. The title is: Alphabet Juice (had he already used Alphabet Soup?)
03. Somebody on the show mentioned that for 17 years, Jay Leno "has pretended to be funnier and dumber than he is." Elaine and I feel that since the Writers' Strike, Jay's monologues have not been funny at all. However, we also feel that his most unfunny moment is far and away more funny than anything we have ever seen Conan O'Brien do on his "show". Prediction: The demise of the Tonight Show.
04. Prisoners in France will be participating in a 400 mile bicycle race. It is meant as a rehabilitation aid. One prisoner stated: "It's kind of an escape for us." Time will tell.
05. Robert Earl Keen, Austin, Texas, singer and song-writer had a couple of different type jobs while he was struggling to make it in the business: Singing at Yard-Sales and digging ditches. (His father had always told him: If you stick with music, you'll end up digging ditches.) Once he caught his wife shooting at cats while dressed in her underwear. He was inspired to write a Country song about it.
06. I can not vouch for the truth of this, but it was mentioned in a discussion of the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University. They mentioned that H.W. Bush was the "most sexually experienced" member and W. Bush could not decide on an appellation, and was called "Temporary." ??
07. It was mentioned that a DC Councilman wants to ban pizza joints that serve giant slices of pizza, because these deals draw unsavory customers.
08. This I find the most amazing of anything I've heard lately. Apparently, the city of Hardin, Montana, has a new jail that is empty. They have said that they would like to house the Gitmo prisoners in their new facility. They think that this would result in more income to the city from notoriety, tourism, or whatever would be connected with the move.
How about..... gang members and/or drug sellers being sent to Montana to serve their time, at hard labor. It might keep them out of contact with their buddies and girl friends who smuggle cell phones and other contraband when they visit. Russia had the Gulag.. and just think, some of the prisoners might just find the feeling of accomplishment that Ivan Denisovitch finally felt when his building was completed in spite of the bitter cold, etc..... (read: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch... a marvelous book that you would never forget.)
09. People from Yuma, Arizona are called yumans.
10. An inventor in France has invented the Dogomatic dog washer.
11. A three year study at Oxford discovered that ducks like water.
12. The people living on Butt Hole Road in Great Britain have successfully changed the name of the street. (There is a group of people on the Internet who are lobbying them to have the name changed back to what it was before.)
13. A man was caught after slashing the tires of 50 automobiles. When asked why he did it, he said it was because his mother made him wear braces 20 years ago. He even carried a picture of himself wearing the braces. The cops agreed that he looked pretty bad then.
ENOUGH!
PS: if any of my Baltimore readers remember the Electric Park on Belvedere Avenue, please let me know.
At an art gallery in Towson, Elaine and I were recently shown l0ts of works by Alfonse Mucha. The owner spoke Mucha as MOO-CU(p). I speak Mucha as MU-SHA and sometimes as MU-CHA. Since Al was a Czech, I found out that his name in Czech is pronounced: MOO-CA(r). Suggested pronounciation in English is the same as in Czech. So.. we were both wrong.
In any event, the owner has gone to the Czech Republic and brought back lots of Mucha stuff which she has reframed for sale. One of the items is a framed print of a beautiful (zaftig) young lady, a copy of which I paid $4 at a small antique store in Westminster, Maryland. She is selling it for $250! Her prices are a bit out of range for me; but perhaps not for people who live in Towson.
Once, we found a framed print of a mother with her two daughters at an antique mall in Frederick. We paid a very large price for it. Two store stalls later we found the identical item for much much less. Guess what... the first person gave us our money back and we bought the latter print. (It's still my favorite picture because it looks just like my two beautiful daughters watching my new-born son who is in his mother's arms.)
Now that I have learned how to pronounce Mucha, I turn my attention to Ms Sotomayor. Apparently, there is a Conservative commentator who feels that we should not succomb to the temptation to pronounce her name as though we were Puerto Ricans, but rather pronounce it the good old fashioned American way as: So to mayer. OMIGAWD! What next!
Yesterday, we were happy to attend granddaughter Bridget's college graduation. It was a great day and we are very proud of what a fine young woman she has become. Usually on Saturday morning, I listen to my favorite NPR show: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! So, this morning (Sunday) I listened to the show on my PC. I kind of like this better, because it cuts out 13 minutes of unrelated news and advertising. Some of the things I learned today:
01. Panelist Charlie Pierce has published a new book that will anger a lot of people. I have read parts of it, and I highly recommend it for "thinking" people.. the title happens to be: "Idiot America." You will be hearing a lot about this book, I'm sure.
02. Panelist Roy Blunt, Jr. also has published a new book that will be great, especially for those interested in "words" and their derivations and current and past meanings. I read a couple of pages out on Amazon and found it quite enlightening. The title is: Alphabet Juice (had he already used Alphabet Soup?)
03. Somebody on the show mentioned that for 17 years, Jay Leno "has pretended to be funnier and dumber than he is." Elaine and I feel that since the Writers' Strike, Jay's monologues have not been funny at all. However, we also feel that his most unfunny moment is far and away more funny than anything we have ever seen Conan O'Brien do on his "show". Prediction: The demise of the Tonight Show.
04. Prisoners in France will be participating in a 400 mile bicycle race. It is meant as a rehabilitation aid. One prisoner stated: "It's kind of an escape for us." Time will tell.
05. Robert Earl Keen, Austin, Texas, singer and song-writer had a couple of different type jobs while he was struggling to make it in the business: Singing at Yard-Sales and digging ditches. (His father had always told him: If you stick with music, you'll end up digging ditches.) Once he caught his wife shooting at cats while dressed in her underwear. He was inspired to write a Country song about it.
06. I can not vouch for the truth of this, but it was mentioned in a discussion of the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University. They mentioned that H.W. Bush was the "most sexually experienced" member and W. Bush could not decide on an appellation, and was called "Temporary." ??
07. It was mentioned that a DC Councilman wants to ban pizza joints that serve giant slices of pizza, because these deals draw unsavory customers.
08. This I find the most amazing of anything I've heard lately. Apparently, the city of Hardin, Montana, has a new jail that is empty. They have said that they would like to house the Gitmo prisoners in their new facility. They think that this would result in more income to the city from notoriety, tourism, or whatever would be connected with the move.
How about..... gang members and/or drug sellers being sent to Montana to serve their time, at hard labor. It might keep them out of contact with their buddies and girl friends who smuggle cell phones and other contraband when they visit. Russia had the Gulag.. and just think, some of the prisoners might just find the feeling of accomplishment that Ivan Denisovitch finally felt when his building was completed in spite of the bitter cold, etc..... (read: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch... a marvelous book that you would never forget.)
09. People from Yuma, Arizona are called yumans.
10. An inventor in France has invented the Dogomatic dog washer.
11. A three year study at Oxford discovered that ducks like water.
12. The people living on Butt Hole Road in Great Britain have successfully changed the name of the street. (There is a group of people on the Internet who are lobbying them to have the name changed back to what it was before.)
13. A man was caught after slashing the tires of 50 automobiles. When asked why he did it, he said it was because his mother made him wear braces 20 years ago. He even carried a picture of himself wearing the braces. The cops agreed that he looked pretty bad then.
ENOUGH!
PS: if any of my Baltimore readers remember the Electric Park on Belvedere Avenue, please let me know.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
My Saturday Morning Delight
Time flies so fast.. its Saturday again and time for me to enjoy listening to my favorite radio shows: Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, Car Talk, and CSPAN commentary. I also like to use this time to review favorite magazines like This Week and Bottom Line Health. In case you do not have the time (or inclination) to do as I do, let me tell you what I am learning today.
01. The lack of sleep has now been linked to hardening of the arteries. We all need to get at least 6 hours of uninterupted sleep each night. (Ben Franklin didn't think much of sleep. Two of his quotations: "Plough deep while sluggards sleep." and "There will be sleeping enough in the grave.")
02. Time magazine has an article titled: The Future of Work, in which 10 educated predictions are made about the workplace of the future. Widespread working at home will be a major change. Managers who are just as technically knowledgable as their workers will be commonplace. Clashes between Baby Boomers who won't retire, and Generation X'ers. Etc.
03. Atlantic Magazine has an article Do CEO's Matter? Why do companies continue to pay a lot of money to the very CEO's who have taken them down?
04. President Obama has nominated the Republican Governor of Utah for Ambassador to China. He has spent lots of time in China and is respected there.. also, he speaks Mandarin. When he is confirmed, he will be one less potential adversary for the next election. But.. mainly, I think it is a good move in Obama's attempt at making his administration more bi-partisan.
05. Somebody with a Mac computer keeps trying to break into my home computer network. I wonder if there is some way to track by the numbered id. I know that this can be done through some virus checker programs but I don't know yet about Trend, which came with my laptop.
06. Wolfram Alpha debuted last night. It is a new search/computational engine. I went out to http://www.wolframalpha.com/ and tried it out. First, I keyed in my birthdate and found that I was born on a Thursday. (But, I had programmed for that back in the 1970's.. so what else is there?)
Next, I keyed in "New Bedford" and it assumed I meant New Bedford, Massachusetts and not one of the other ones in the US. It told me that the population is now 93,102 (down from 110,000 in its heyday..) and it told me that it is part of a metro area that contains 1.612 million people. Then, it gave me an excellent satellite picture of the city so that I could see the top of a house that I had lived in. (Are Google's satellite pictures from the same source?)
A couple of times, a pop-up said that I had lost connectivity to Wolfram Alpha, but that wasn't true.
Next, I tried the computational part. I keyed in 95,000 x 200. I can multiply this in my head in 5 seconds or less.. the answer didn't come back to me from Wolfram Alpha for almost a whole minute. Perhaps that would not be a problem with a more complicated problem.
Finally, I keyed in General Motors and recieved an enormous amount of information about the compay.. except that it did not give the current price on the market. It also told me that they are currently paying $1 per share dividend. I don't recall ever getting a dividend from them, but I will check it out.
So.. it was kind of fun going to Wolfram Alpha, and I highly recommend it. It will get better and faster in time.
07. A man was attacked in a WalMart store by a nutria.
08. Miss California blamed a gust of wind for her "toplessness".
09. Sexual assault victims in someplace in Texas have to pay $700 to cover the emergency room rape kit used in their case.
10. A 17-year old Amish boy was busted for having beer in his buggy.
11. My screen just had a pop-up that said: Is Santa so jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live?
12. Scientists enjoy looking at the 75 KM high plume of gas and dust that spews from a volcano on IO, one of Jupiter's moons. It's called the Prometheus Plume. (Looks like Old Faithful)
13. Because of its health claims, Cheerios must now come under the scrutiny of the FDA.
14. Toothpicks can now be used by acupuncturists when their patients are scared of needles.
15. If you play on the computer while at work, you are now engaging in "weasure time."
16. A Baptist school suspended a student for dancing at his girl friend's prom. (I was once kicked out of a function for my Baptist church's Sunday school because I had a deck of cards in my pocket. But then again, I was also rapped on my head for nodding off at a Quaker meeting.)
17. The aroma from your home can now be put into an aerosol can and taken with you on vacations. You can then spray it in your motel room so you won't feel so homesick.
18. A HAZMAT crew rescued office employees overcome with noxious fumes from decaying leftovers in an office refridgerator.
19. An irate consumer called his local grocery store to complain that his frozen pizza had no topping. It looked like just baked dough when he took it out of his oven. After ranting and raving for a while, he realized that he had baked it upside down!
BASTA!
01. The lack of sleep has now been linked to hardening of the arteries. We all need to get at least 6 hours of uninterupted sleep each night. (Ben Franklin didn't think much of sleep. Two of his quotations: "Plough deep while sluggards sleep." and "There will be sleeping enough in the grave.")
02. Time magazine has an article titled: The Future of Work, in which 10 educated predictions are made about the workplace of the future. Widespread working at home will be a major change. Managers who are just as technically knowledgable as their workers will be commonplace. Clashes between Baby Boomers who won't retire, and Generation X'ers. Etc.
03. Atlantic Magazine has an article Do CEO's Matter? Why do companies continue to pay a lot of money to the very CEO's who have taken them down?
04. President Obama has nominated the Republican Governor of Utah for Ambassador to China. He has spent lots of time in China and is respected there.. also, he speaks Mandarin. When he is confirmed, he will be one less potential adversary for the next election. But.. mainly, I think it is a good move in Obama's attempt at making his administration more bi-partisan.
05. Somebody with a Mac computer keeps trying to break into my home computer network. I wonder if there is some way to track by the numbered id. I know that this can be done through some virus checker programs but I don't know yet about Trend, which came with my laptop.
06. Wolfram Alpha debuted last night. It is a new search/computational engine. I went out to http://www.wolframalpha.com/ and tried it out. First, I keyed in my birthdate and found that I was born on a Thursday. (But, I had programmed for that back in the 1970's.. so what else is there?)
Next, I keyed in "New Bedford" and it assumed I meant New Bedford, Massachusetts and not one of the other ones in the US. It told me that the population is now 93,102 (down from 110,000 in its heyday..) and it told me that it is part of a metro area that contains 1.612 million people. Then, it gave me an excellent satellite picture of the city so that I could see the top of a house that I had lived in. (Are Google's satellite pictures from the same source?)
A couple of times, a pop-up said that I had lost connectivity to Wolfram Alpha, but that wasn't true.
Next, I tried the computational part. I keyed in 95,000 x 200. I can multiply this in my head in 5 seconds or less.. the answer didn't come back to me from Wolfram Alpha for almost a whole minute. Perhaps that would not be a problem with a more complicated problem.
Finally, I keyed in General Motors and recieved an enormous amount of information about the compay.. except that it did not give the current price on the market. It also told me that they are currently paying $1 per share dividend. I don't recall ever getting a dividend from them, but I will check it out.
So.. it was kind of fun going to Wolfram Alpha, and I highly recommend it. It will get better and faster in time.
07. A man was attacked in a WalMart store by a nutria.
08. Miss California blamed a gust of wind for her "toplessness".
09. Sexual assault victims in someplace in Texas have to pay $700 to cover the emergency room rape kit used in their case.
10. A 17-year old Amish boy was busted for having beer in his buggy.
11. My screen just had a pop-up that said: Is Santa so jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live?
12. Scientists enjoy looking at the 75 KM high plume of gas and dust that spews from a volcano on IO, one of Jupiter's moons. It's called the Prometheus Plume. (Looks like Old Faithful)
13. Because of its health claims, Cheerios must now come under the scrutiny of the FDA.
14. Toothpicks can now be used by acupuncturists when their patients are scared of needles.
15. If you play on the computer while at work, you are now engaging in "weasure time."
16. A Baptist school suspended a student for dancing at his girl friend's prom. (I was once kicked out of a function for my Baptist church's Sunday school because I had a deck of cards in my pocket. But then again, I was also rapped on my head for nodding off at a Quaker meeting.)
17. The aroma from your home can now be put into an aerosol can and taken with you on vacations. You can then spray it in your motel room so you won't feel so homesick.
18. A HAZMAT crew rescued office employees overcome with noxious fumes from decaying leftovers in an office refridgerator.
19. An irate consumer called his local grocery store to complain that his frozen pizza had no topping. It looked like just baked dough when he took it out of his oven. After ranting and raving for a while, he realized that he had baked it upside down!
BASTA!
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