Zorros

Nope,not more nostalgia for TV shows of the past (The Zorro TV series ran from 1957-1959).
Today it is about some cute critters that live in South America. Zorro is the Spanish word for fox,though the zorro is a false fox it is more closely related to the canine family than true foxes. Zorros live in several areas of South America from Columbia to north Argentina and parts of Chile.They are omnivores eating mainly rodents,birds and rabbits but will also eat seeds,berries,armadillos,insects,scorpions,lizards,frogs and bird eggs. They are mainly nocturnal and live in burrows and dens,they mate in the fall and after a 2 month gestation have a litter of 2-6 which both parent care for.

Ventriloquist Dummies

This is not a pretty subject,now you can't say you weren't forewarned. This came about in my usual wandering way,what started it was looking in the mirror and thinking how the more I age the more my mouth looks like that of a ventriloquists dummy. Then I was trying to remember the famous ventriloquist and his dummy's name and all I could come up with was Edward G. Robinson and I was fairly certain that wasn't it. The duo I was thinking of was Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
Edgar Bergen,the son of Swedish immigrants taught himself ventriloquism from a pamphlet when he was 11. A few years later he commissioned a Chicago woodcarver Theodore Mack to make a likeness of an Irish newspaper boy he knew. They started their career in vaudeville,but their real success was on the radio,and how odd is that considering ventriloquism is a visual skill for the most part.
I would like to leave you with this thought today...If it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile,isn't frowning better exercise?
  Also pictured,Mortimer Snerd.

Conch vs. Concho

I don't know if anyone will be able to follow how I got to today's blog,but here it goes. I was reading and came across the word concho but for some reason my brain told me it was conch,which was out of context with the rest of the sentence. I started thinking how close the two words were in spelling and wondered if they shared something I wasn't aware of. So off I went.
First of all you need to picture me in a dunce cap as I didn't know that conch was pronounced konk,never mind I have been to Key West and should have heard it said correctly,but I must have been absent that day.
Though a gastropod the conch doesn't move in the slow creeping motion as most gastropods do but jumps when it moves. Conchs have many uses,food,various decorative items are made from them and also they can be a horn providing you know how to blow it.
 Conchos are decorative usually round, silver objects used for making belts and several different articles of horse tack,and no I found no connection to conchs,but I have never been very good at the 6 degrees game.
                                                                     
                                                                     

Spotted Hyenas

Hyenas are very intelligent,the proof to some would be their clans are led by the females! They are highly skilled hunters and kill 95% of their food,but are better known for their scavenging.
They are genetically closer to felines but their behavior is more like canines. They live throughout much of Africa and eastwards through Arabia to India. But none of this is what brought them to my blog today. In the course of my "studies" I came across a hard to imagine fact. Males in most species of hyena are larger than females,except spotted hyenas as the female is larger and dominates the male,also the female spotted hyena's external genitalia closely resembles that of the male. How can that be,you ask? Sorry I don't know,and couldn't find out any more about that aspect of them,which may be the final nudge I need to topple on over the edge! I just can't get a mental picture of this...but maybe that is just as well.
I did find out with a little further research that mating between hyenas involves a number of short copulations with brief intervals. The cubs are born almost fully developed,with their eyes open and erupting teeth,though they lack adult markings. I will let you know if I happen to stumble across more on this in the future.

Danger! Danger!

I can never say "danger,danger" without thinking of the TV show "Lost in Space". The show ran for three seasons between 9/15/1965-3/6/1968. Will Robinson was the young boy on the show and he was forever getting into dangerous situations usually at least somewhat involving the bad guy of the show Dr. Zachary Smith. The robot would always frantically wave its arms and say "danger Will Robinson,danger".
But that is not what I meant to blog about today. See how easily distracted I am? It was that more accidents happen in the bathroom than any other room in the house,mainly due to the presence of water,which can cause slips and falls and also hazards with electrical appliances. This has always been a curious thing to me as I would think the kitchen would be a bigger danger with hot things to burn you and never even mind the sharp things! Then of course there is the bedroom where many accidents of another nature happen,but that is for a different time and perhaps a different place!

One Hand Clapping

Nope,I am not going to ask you to do any Zen meditation,nor am I talking about the novel by Anthony Burgess. This is something I saw on TV awhile back,it might have been on Millionaire though I can't say for sure,nor does it matter. This guy demonstrated how he could clap one handed,then went on to say that he was no where near the world record for being able to do it the fastest,nor could he do it with both hands. I tried it and didn't have any luck at first,then accidentally while doing something else I noticed that I was making a clapping noise with one hand. Are you with me so far? I decided I had to see if I was doing it right as enough time had passed from when I had seen it that I didn't remember if I was doing it right. You would not believe the number of people who can do this that are on You Tube demonstrating their skill,it is crazy! The way I do it is not the recognized way,but there are two schools of thought on that as well,and I of course belong to the second school where if you can make noise with only one hand,then you are clapping. I know,pretty weird but just another little something to add to my resume.
 This is an example of how to clap the old fashioned way!

Pop Culture

Regular readers will know that I am fashion challenged,at best. If fashionista describes a person that is into fashion then I guess I would have to be either a fashionotsa,or a unfashionista. I have a similar though less troubling problem with pop culture. I can not retain names of people that most talk about like they are their close friends,once again I just don't see the point. Sure I know most of the big stars and have even been known to say that I would pay to see George Clooney read a phone book,and probably pay double if he was scantily clad (kind of like the difference between 2D and 3D). I suppose the only reason I have even noticed this about myself is from watching "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" where there are often questions on pop culture and I rarely have a clue. I have tried to study it but it doesn't stay with me,but that I am sure is back to the zero interest in it,my mind refuses to reserve space for what it has always discarded in the past. I really shouldn't complain there are certainly things a lot more important that I could have no interest or ability to retain. Just letting you in on yet another of my dirty little secrets!

Pottos

I ran across these critters on my trivia site and of course had to check them out,I had never heard of them before.
Pottos inhabit the canopy of the rain forest in tropical Africa,from Guinea to Kenya and Uganda into the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are nocturnal and arboreal,sleeping during the day and almost never leaving the trees.
 Pottos grow to a length of 1 foot-1.3 feet,their maximum weight is 1.7-3.7 pounds. Pottos have an odor that some have likened to curry. Their diet consists of mainly fruit,but they also eat tree gums and insects. Pottos mate face to face while hanging upside down from a branch.

Eye Colors

The book I am currently reading mentioned that only 2% of the world's population has green eyes. Being a member of such an exclusive group I was sceptical of that fact as I had never heard it,and have known others with green eyes so of course I had to investigate.
Eye color is genetically determined by a combination of two forms of melanin. About 75% of the eye color range is dependent on genetic variants in one small region of chromosome 15.
The most common eye color is brown,(my sister and my mother both had brown eyes) followed by blue or gray (my brother and father had gray eyes). Scientists originally believed eye color was determined by just one gene,but research has proven that eye color is determined by a number of genes,so parents can have children with any number of eye colors.
Eye color can change with age. Babies born with blue eyes that darken to brown are simply developing more melanin as they age. Eye color can also change in adults,this usually occurs in people with light eyes that darken as they age. (Once again I am rare in that my eyes used to be a darker green and have lightened with age.)
Heterochromia is when an eye is more than one color,for instance a blue eye with a brown spot in it,and complete heterochromia is when the eyes are different colors one brown and one blue or whatever combo it might be. I knew a gal with different colored eyes and always meant to ask her what her driver's license said her eye color was.

Ogopogo

The Ogopogo was first know as Naitaka (meaning lake demon) a traditional native American name given to it by the local Okankane tribe. The name Ogopogo comes from a 1926 English music hall song called "The Ogo-Pogo:The Funny Fox Trot"
The most common description of Ogopogo is a 40-50 foot long sea serpent. Some think it may be a kind of serpentine whale,however physical evidence is limited to unclear photos and film which could be common animals or even floating logs.
Several TV shows have been made about the mystery. There are many similarities between Ogopogo and Scotland's Loch Ness monster. Though Nessie is perhaps the more well known of the two, Ogopogo made its media debut in 1926 long before Nessie,and has records of sightings as far back as 1872.
I don't know what it is about the different legends that fascinates me but there are many of them on several continents. I guess I just love a mystery.

A Few Fun Facts

Most everyone knows the basic facts about our planet,it is the 3rd planet from the sun at a distance of about 92,897,000 miles and the 5th largest planet. Earth is called the blue planet or marble as from space the oceans and our atmosphere make it appear blue. Most folks also know that the Pacific is the largest ocean,and the lowest point on earth is the Mariana trench (36,196 feet deep) in contrast the highest point ,Mt. Everest at 29,028 feet above sea level.
Now for some lesser known facts. The center of the earth is approximately 3,900 miles from the surface,with the crust varying from 2-70 miles thick. The northernmost,easternmost and westernmost points of the U.S. are all in Alaska. The country of Brazil was named after the nut rather than the nut after the country. The worlds highest tides are in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. Almost 1/3 of the earths land surface is covered with desert,the Sahara desert is just slightly smaller than the entire U.S. In contrast about 70% of the earth is covered by saline waters.

Some Animals of Madagascar

Some of the worlds most interesting animals live in Madagascar. About 75% of the animals found there exist nowhere else. Since everyone enjoys it when I include pictures I will include a brief description of a few of these animals and a photo.

Aye-Aye have bate like ears and rat like teeth. They have a long bony middle finger that they use to find insects by tapping on tree bark,it listens for movement of the insects,then gnaws into the bark to find its meal.

Black lemurs live in the tropical forests of northern Madagascar. Males are black while females have reddish brown fur with a black and white face.

The Indri is the largest living lemur,it is famous for its eerie wail that sounds like the song of a humpback whale. It is endangered due to habitat loss.

Finger Monkeys

I received a forward of these critters yesterday and figured it was not for real,but they were so cute I had to see if they really existed. These are the smallest monkeys in the world,the body weight of adults in the wild average only 4 ounces,and they are only about 5 inches long not including the tail. They are hard to observe in the wild due to their size. They inhabit the Amazon rain forest in Columbia,Ecuador,Bolivia,Peru,and Brazil. Their diet consists mainly of sap and gum of trees,they also consume insects when available. These monkeys DO NOT make good pets as they do bite and throw feces. They are not happy in captivity and are hard to care for.

I am hoping these pictures are a little more to one readers liking...not to mention any names JANE!

Pig Phrases

Before I get into the pig phrases and quotes I would like to point out something else that seems interesting. Pigs are classified as porcine,which the ine ending is pronounced like een (rhyming with obscene). Most of the other classifications of everyday animals ending in ine are pronounced with a long i like in nine,ovine (sheep), bovine (cows), canine (dogs),feline (cats), and equine (horses). Just a little something to ponder.
What is it about pigs that make so many saying about them? They are really intelligent animals,so maybe that some how relates.
"When pigs fly",meaning something is unlikely. "Making a silk purse out of a sows ear",act of making something unattractive more appealing,which also includes the meaning of the phrase "It's like putting lipstick on a pig,when you're through,it's still a pig." "Pig in a poke",an offer or deal that is accepted foolishly without being examined. "Pearls before swine",a high quality item which is offered to someone who cannot appreciate it. "Pig and whistle",a common name for British pubs,also means to fall to ruin. "High on the hog",meaning affluent or luxurious. Now for my favorite pig quote: "Never teach a pig to sing;it wastes your time and it annoys the pig".
I love this picture!

A Mystery

I keep finding more and more of my T-shirts with holes in the back,and I can't figure out what could be causing holes in the back. The one I am wearing today has a hole almost exactly dead center in the back,another has a series of holes in the lower left hand side,and there are a couple of others with just holes in random spots,again all in the back. I have tried to figure out what is causing these,it doesn't seem likely it could be from wear,or friction against anything as what would I have to be doing to get that kind of wear in the back of a shirt? I have no springs or wires in any spot that I would be snagging them on. I had a brain storm today and thought,maybe a bug is getting them the way moths eat wool,but then I couldn't think of any bug that ate cotton until I remembered the boll weevil,though I was pretty certain they didn't live in this area and also thought it didn't really eat the cotton and I was right. Boll weevils ate the buds and flowers of the cotton plant,plus they were eliminated in the 1990's. So I am back to square one...what the *##@ is causing these holes? Just for your amusement I have included a picture of the boll weevil. If anyone has an answer to this riddle please let me know,I think I have exhausted my ideas on the matter.

Cat Tails

No,not the plant that grows in marshy areas,the ones that are attached to felines. This morning as I was watching my two cats prepare for their daily war,tails switching like metronomes,I got to thinking about how their tails were used for a lot of expressions of their moods,so I decided it was time to check it out,the following is what I found.
A cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog. Cats have more bones (230) than humans (206). 10% of a cat's bones are in its tail ,and the tail is used to maintain balance. The domestic cat is the only species to hold its tail vertically while walking. The tail acts as an indicator of a cat's mood,and as a warning of intentions,thrashing or swishing might indicate agitation. A wagging tail on a sleepy cat indicates a content but still alert state. The "bottle brush tail" means the cat feels threatened and is ready to defend itself.
Cat's hearing is much move sensitive than humans or dogs. Cats hearing stop at 65 kilohertz,human hearing at 20 kHz. Cats can be left or right-pawed. This only scratches the surface but I didn't want to go off on a tangent with this when I started with the intention of what their tails were telling me.

A Day at the Beach

Nope,neither the title of a book nor a movie. I am just reporting in that we have snow at the beach. Before I moved here in 1979 I didn't think it snowed at the beach,I have since been proved wrong repeatedly. Some winters pass without hardly any snowfall but others are down right nasty. I still didn't realize it snowed here when I bought my house on the steep hill,but that's alright I deal with it fine. So far I am the only one to have went down the hill or came back up today but that isn't unusual, most of the neighbors either have better sense than I do,or no sense of adventure. I had made up my mind to make lasagna today and a little snow between me and the store wasn't going to stop me! The lasagna is in the oven now,but hasn't been in there quite long enough to make the house smell like heaven,but it shouldn't be long now before it does. I don't make lasagna often but I have been wanting it for awhile and the only place around that sells it is always sold out of it when they make it so I haven't even got to sample theirs yet. the frozen stuff just doesn't do it for me so that leaves me with making it as the only option.

Dirty Little Secret

Today I aired what I thought was my dirty little secret,but as it turned out I wasn't the only one who translated Martin Luther King Jr. initials (MLK) into the word milk,so once again I am saved from thinking I am a couple tacos short of a combo plate.
In honor of the coming holiday a few quotes from MLK:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:We hold these truths to be self-evident:that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character.
And my favorite:
To save man from the morass of propaganda,in my opinion,is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence,to discern the true from the false,the real from the unreal,and the facts from fiction.
MLK "The purpose of Education"

Photo is from "I have a dream" speech at the 1963 Washington,D.C. Civil Rights March.

Chupacabros,or Chupacubra

Chupacubra is part reptile,part coyote according to those who have claimed sightings. The name Chupacabra means "goat sucker" from Spanish chupar "to suck" and cabra "goat" because the creatures like to suck blood out of its prey.
The first reported sighting was in 1995 in Puerto Rico,there have also been reports in Mexico,and the U.S. In the first attack in Puerto Rico eight sheep were discovered dead each with three puncture wounds in the chest area and completely drained of blood.
Biologists believe the animal to be a coyote suffering with demodectic or sarcoptic mange. Still the lack of blood in its victims leaves a person wondering. I see nothing wrong with a little intrigue,or imagination if you will,no harm in that!

False Positives

There was a question on Millionaire the other day about what could give a false positive for a sobriety test and the answer was hand sanitizer,I had guessed that to be the answer but only because it was the only one listed that contained alcohol.
I have heard for years that mouthwash could cause a false positive on a sobriety test which is easy enough to understand as it contains alcohol and is used in the mouth,but hand sanitizers was news to me. It is not that surprising since they smell pretty much like vodka. What I found out was that using the product only a couple of times a day would not be enough to cause a difference,but professions that use it repeatedly throughout the day could lead to a false positive from the alcohol absorbed through the skin,this is also a possibility from using some cosmetics. People who are sensitive to alcohol,and those recovering from addiction,should be aware that the alcohol found in these products can be the same type as found in alcoholic beverages. I also found claims that if the person administering the sobriety test had used hand sanitizer it could give a false reading.
I am in no way condoning drunk driving but doesn't it seem like the equipment may be a bit overly sensitive if it can get false results so easily? I don't use the stuff myself for a couple of reasons,it is very drying for the skin and by using products such as sanitizers more resistant stains of bacteria are developing. Good old hand washing is the ticket for me,not only do you get to briefly play with water but you don't end up smelling like a drunk either!

Five Fingers?

I hate to be on the subject of shoes again but here I go anyway! What is up with the new,or relatively new shoes called Five Fingers? To look at them I think,wouldn't they be a hassle to get your feet into? and what about socks? what about toes that don't fit into their toe holes? A lot of people have weird toes,I am one of them but I have seen way weirder toes than mine on several different people. And lastly why the name five fingers when they are worn on your feet?? They claim they are like going barefoot,so why not just go barefoot? I didn't get answers to many of these questions,but what follows is some of what I already knew about the foot and some of what I was able to find.
Out of the 206 bones in the human body 25% (26 bones) are in the foot,along with 33 joints,and over 100 muscles,tendons and ligaments. All of the components work to support your body as you run or walk. Problems with the feet can often cause problems in other parts of the body.
Going barefoot might be a good idea,people have reported: less problems with recurring ankle sprains,foot injuries and plantar fasciitis,greater agility,less deformed toes,improved balance (which helps prevent other injuries) and prevention of varicose veins. So again I pose the question why not just go barefoot?

Two Left Feet

I had never really given any thought to shoes being right or left,I totally took it for granted that was just the way shoes always had been,but that is not the case.
It wasn't until the 1850's that anyone thought to make differently shaped shoes for the right and left feet. I guess considering they were made with mostly flexible material that they would have worn to the feet,but did people notice that and wear them on the same feet all the time? I don't know the answer to that and couldn't find one while I was looking.
I did find out a little about how rubber evolved in the making of shoes,at first it was discarded as a viable material as it would become hard as rock in the cold and sticky like glue in the heat. Charles Goodyear was the one to stay with it and finally improve it quite by accident. Goodyear spilled a mixture of rubber and sulfur onto a pot-bellied stove which transformed the temperamental substance into a more stable one. Goodyear was lax though in applying for a patent and so Thomas Hancock of England was the one to cash in on his discovery.

Bank News?

I am a little leery or saying anything at the risk of jinxing the whole operation,but I will speak in good faith.
The bank doors have been closed most of the day today and when I was in town earlier in the day one of the four doors was open,but that could have been an honest mistake on a customers account. I am not sure if I actually had anything to do with this or not,as you know it has been a long battle on my part. Last week I had called the State Department of Energy and though they said they couldn't tell anyone to close their doors and not waste energy, I am wondering if they may have called the bank with an inquiry? The only other thing that might have happened is maybe the editor of the local rag finally got around to reading his letters and read mine concerning the bank and talked to someone there about it before publishing the letter and bringing the town folk out in an angry mob? No matter the cause I am pleased with the result,and hoping they stay closed at least until spring!

Winklepickers

I suppose I left a few of you wondering what on earth a winklepicker was after yesterdays blog,but in the interest of keeping the length of the daily blog from becoming tedious I decided it was best to leave you hanging until today.
Winklepickers (aka winkle pickers) are a style of shoe or boot worn from the 1950's onward by male and female British rock and roll fans. The feature which gives the boots or shoes their name is the very sharp and quite long pointed toe. The pointed toe was called the winklepicker toe because in England periwinkle snails or winkles are or were a popular seaside snack,which is eaten using a pin or other pointed object to carefully extract the soft parts out of the coiled shell,hence the phase:"to winkle something out",from that came the humorous name for shoes with a very pointed tip.
I figured this would also apply to what we referred to as Beatles Boots in the 60's,but they were not considered winklepickers.

Kitten Heels

Those of you that are regular readers know that my fashion sense in non-existent,or fashion challenged at the very least so I feel the need to explain how I arrived at today's blog. A few months ago on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" there was a question about women's shoes and the choices for answers were,puppy heels,bunny heels,kitten heels and I don't recall the 4th one any longer. I did know that the answer was kitten heels as I had heard the term before,but had never really known what they were so from that time on I had been meaning to look it up so I would have the picture in my mind for future reference,if ever needed,though I don't know why it would be.
Kitten heels are small heels of 1.75 inches or less in height. They are classified as stiletto heels and despite their lack of height are generally classified as high heels because of their sex appeal,particularly when teamed with a sharp pointed toe or long winklepicker toe. This is an anomaly because a shoe or pump with regular wide heels of 1.5 inches high would be considered a flat shoe;it is the addition of a stiletto heel,however short,that turns it into a sexual accessory.
Kitten heels were introduced in the late 1950's as formal fashion attire for adolescent girls as higher heels would have been considered unseemly for girls as young as 13 because of sexual connotations and unease of walk. They were sometimes referred to as "trainer heels" in the U.S.,indicating their use in getting young girls used to wearing high heels. By the early 1960's they became fashionable for older girls and eventually for women of all ages.
At this point I have this comment to make...what is it that is sexual about high heels?? Or any shoe for that matter? Oh well,there is no hope for me when it comes to fashion.

Real Numbers?

Most everyone has noticed that when a phone number is given on TV or in movies it will always start with 555,here are a couple of things you might not have known.
The reason for these fictitious numbers is fairly obvious as some viewers can't seem to help dialing any number they see on the screen,so the number of crank calls had to be controlled. The 555 number dates back to the 60's and before the 555 was used for this purpose the KLondike exchange was used.
Today there are some real 555 numbers,such as directory assistance 555-1212. Businesses have also been able to purchase 555 numbers as an alternative to the 1-800 designation since 1994,though they're not popular. As for the 555's place in the movies,it is here to stay: the numbers from 555-0100 to 555-0199 are reserved for fictitious use.
As long as I am talking about things fictitious I might as well take this opportunity to correct the spelling of Berghaus Seals,it was actually Berhaus though they are still fictitious! I wrote it down in a note to myself correctly but then thinking I knew the correct spelling went ahead with it without checking. That will show me to trust my memory!

Hurricane Naming

This isn't what I started out to blog about today,but since I couldn't find the information I was looking for I ended up looking at this subject,which I kind of knew at one time but was not all that fresh in my mind. Hopefully some of you will also need a refresher.
For every year there is a pre-approved list of tropical storm and hurricane names. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. At first the lists consisted of only female names but since 1979 the lists alternate between male and female names.
Hurricanes are named alphabetically from the list in chronological order. The list contain names that begin A-W but exclude the letters Q and U. There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane so devastating,the name is retired and replaced by another name.
If a tropical storm reaches a sustained wind speed of 39 miles per hour they are given a name. If a tropical storm reaches a sustained wind speed of 74 mph it then becomes "Hurricane So and So" instead of "Tropical Storm So and So". So hurricanes are not given names,tropical storms are and if they turn into hurricanes they retain their names.
What I want to know is why West Coast storms aren't named or even have a name other than storms?
In case anyone other than me is wondering about readers in Canada I finally had my first one!

Berghaus Seals

I often times find interesting things to share in books that I am reading and most authors do careful research so what they present is at least based on fact I thought that was the case with Berghaus seals,but that was not what I found when I went to further research the animals. I found zip,so I guess it was just the overheated imagination of the author. Still, I would like to share the idea of them as even fictitious glimpses into the animal world are kind of a fun way to let your mind off the tether for awhile.
Berghaus seals were supposedly unique in their mating habits. The females would only mate once with any male as it had been programmed into them that for their kind to survive they would need to vary the gene pool. The males however were programmed to kill the females after they had raised the young thus preventing them from mating with another male and producing competition for their own offspring.
 It sounds a little far fetched now that I have committed it to writing,but that is often the way in the animal world. It is almost as odd to think of animals that mate for life and yet that happens with many species,crows I know to be one but that is all I can come up with off the top of my head.

Solar Eclipse

On May 20 of this year an annular eclipse of the sun will be visible in parts of the Northern Hemisphere,ending it the western US. So far I have been unable to come up with the time,but early evening has been indicated. An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun And Moon are exactly in line but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than the Sun. The Sun appears as a bright ring,or annulus,surrounding the outline of the Moon.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth,and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. This can happen only during a new moon.
It is dangerous to look directly at the Sun even during an eclipse,so special eye protection should be used,and no sunglasses do not protect you.
Even if the Mayan prediction is right and the world does end in 2012 we still should be able to view this providing you are in the right areas,as the end isn't due until 12/21.

Car Colors and Accidents

While I was out today I noticed a school bus yellow car passing me and driving erratically and thought that must be why a person would buy a car that color,thinking it would make up for their bad driving habits. I decided to see what I could find.
A Swedish study found a lower rate of serious injury in silver cars with higher rates in brown, black, and green.
The Vehicle Colour Study conducted in Australia and published in 2007 analyzed 855,258 accidents between 1987-2004,the study analyzed risk by light condition,it found that in daylight black cars were 12% more likely that white cars to be involved in an accident followed by grey cars at 11%,silver at 10%,reds and blue at 7% with no other colors found to be significantly more or less risky than white. At dawn or dusk black cars jumped to 47% more likely than white and silver to 15%. In the hours of darkness only red and blue cars were found to be more risky than white.
Once again my thinking was off track as yellow was not even mentioned in the study,but still neither study included the ratio of the color of cars they studied as black and white cars are always more plentiful,so I don't think the results are entirely conclusive.

Sign Language

First of all I want to make sure no one confuses this with the book by Jerry Seinfeld titled "Sein Language",very funny book by the way.
What I am talking about today is the way people talk with their hands. I am an avid people watcher and am always amazed by how much gestures are a part of conversation. For instance often when a person says a number between 1 and 5 they will hold up the fingers signifying that number,not sure why that is maybe just a left over from pre-language times? Pointing is another very common gesture and again it is usually something that doesn't need to be pointed at. I enjoy making up the dialogue between people and when I see someone pointing to something obvious I always speak for the other person,and it usually goes something like this "of course I see that,how could I miss it? It is the plain as the ass on a goat!" "What? Do you think I am blind?" Then of course there are many other gestures and they don't all mean the same thing in different countries,so as a word of caution beware of talking with your hands when traveling,you may say something that you really don't intend to say.