Who Was That Guy?

Today's blog is probably too far back for a lot of people to remember,but since it involves one of the first song memories I have, I found it blog-worthy. The song was "The Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley (1958). My sister and I had Purple People Eater pins ,I have no memory of who gave them to us but we loved those pins. Oddly enough,Sheb Wooley had several other items listed to his credit,none that I recalled until his name recently came to my attention and I looked him up and found a familiar face. He did acting and was in "High Noon","The Outlaw Josey Wales" and co-starred with Clint Eastwood in "Rawhide". He also appeared in dozens of other westerns and for those of you who remember the show "My Friend Flicka" he had a guest appearance there as well. Wooley's voice was also credited for the Wilhelm Scream which was a common sound effect when people fell from buildings,were shot or even eaten by crocodiles. If you don't have any recollection of Sheb's work that I have listed maybe the name Roger Miller rings a bell? Miller was his wife's younger cousin who Wooley taught to play the guitar. Wooley is pictured below on the left in a scene from "Rawhide".

Blondie

I've been wondering if anyone else has noticed how mental associations seem to change at different ages? The memories that used to come automatically now need triggers to retrieve the wanted information and sometimes the things that induce the memory are too obscure to follow to the origin,but enough about that.
My cat's name is Blondie and I've always connected her name with the rock group of the same name but never (until a couple of days ago) with the comic strip. No idea why that is, as she isn't like either one of those two. Then I read about the beginning of the comic strip,before Blondie was married and that Blondie character sounded about right. Blondie Bumstead's maiden name was Boopadoop and she was a carefree flapper girl who spent her days (and I imagine nights) in dance halls (that would be more my Blondie's style). Blondie then marries her boyfriend Dagwood,the son of wealthy parents. Dagwood's parents disapprove of his choice of spouse and disinherit him,after that Blondie became the sensible head of the household. All the years of reading that strip and I only recently learned the back story,not that it makes it any less funny,but hard to picture none the less.

Thanks

For you readers outside the U.S. today is a National Holiday,Thanksgiving. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your continued readership. When I first started this blog it was originally only an attempt at keeping my mind busy to avoid mental atrophy,but it seems to have taken on a life of its own!
I thought this following story would be appropriate on a day to give thanks,as I'm sure this woman gives thanks on a regular basis. In January of 1972 Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant on a Yugoslav Airlines flight to Copenhagen,survived a 33,000 foot fall when an explosion ripped the aircraft apart. She was the only survivor. She suffered several serious injuries (fractured skull,3 broken vertebrae, which left her temporarily paralyzed,and 2 broken legs) and was in a coma for 27 days. She did make the Guinness Book for her fall,as if that were a consolation. The photo shows Vesna at age 23.

Give Peas a Chance

I may be the only person on the planet that didn't know about today's subject,but since I was alive in the 60s that could explain my lack of knowledge or memory of it. What I am talking about is the Peace Sign/Symbol. It was created in 1958 by a British artist who intended the design to be a symbol for Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC). The design is a circle with the lines within it representing the position of two semaphore letters. The letters "N" and "D" were used to represent "nuclear disarmament". The "N" is formed by a person holding a flag in each hand and pointing them at the ground at a 45 degree angle. The "D" is formed by holding one flag straight up and one flag straight down. In Britain,the symbol became the emblem for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In 1960 it migrated to the U.S. and began to be used as a symbol for the peace movement. To think of all the peace symbols I wore and drew and I'm just now finding out the origin...shameful!

Stinky/Kinky

Pepe Le Pew was one of my favorite cartoon characters,I couldn't tell you why after all these years but as a kid I loved him. I was somewhat alarmed to find out that he had a rather sorted past. Pepe's original name was Stinky and his first appearance was in a short titled "Odor-able Kitty" (1945). Instead of his later m.o. Pepe spends his time in pursuit of a male cat,who had disguised himself as a skunk to avoid abuse,Pepe is revealed to be a philandering American skunk (along with wife and kids) named Henry. After this initial introduction Pepe always had a French accent,bachelor status, and nearly always pursued female cats. In a couple of cartoons he had amorous intentions with dogs and in another feature he was attracted to a Wild Cat who had escaped from the zoo,it is discovered in this cartoon that Pepe likes to get beat up. I thought it was an interesting contrast between those story lines and what would clearly be censored in today's cartoon offerings. Makes a person wonder...were those more innocent times,or not?

Natural Selection?

We are all familiar with the name Charles Darwin,but what you may not know is that Darwin was almost excluded from the HMS Beagle journey. First of all Darwin's father objected on the grounds that the years he would be away would prolong his becoming a clergyman,but his uncle was able to persuade his father otherwise. Then the captain of the voyage nearly rejected him on the basis of the shape of his nose. The captain was convinced that he could judge a man's character by their features,and his nose spoke poorly for Darwin.
As with most scientific types Darwin was a curious man. Ironically his curiosity led him to want to try different foods,among the odd animals he sampled were owls,armadillos,puma,rhea,iguanas and giant tortoises! Gives a whole new meaning to natural selection!

Final Choices

It's a rare person who enjoys a funeral,so if you feel like you might want to make a somber occasion a little lighter,instead of the usual depressing music choose some of your favorite rock tunes. I don't plan on a funeral myself as it irritates me to know that even death is being capitalized on,but if I were to have a service some songs I would consider include: "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring,a person could also use the television theme songs for "Twilight Zone" or the "Outer Limits" for that matter. Suggestions for those planning on cremation could be: "Ring of Fire","Light My Fire",or "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". I would also find weddings more enjoyable if the music strayed from the standards,of course wedding have become less traditional in the last several decades,so there may be hope for funerals as well.

A Famous Smile

Yesterday's blog made me start thinking about smiles,before long I remembered recently reading about the enigmatic "Mona Lisa" smile. According to recent tests done on the painting it was revealed that efforts at restoration of the famous piece over the years had resulted in the removal of the eyebrows,so all those nagging questions and theories about why Mona Lisa was painted without eyebrows or eyelashes can be laid to rest. You are probably wondering at this point how that relates to her smile,as the testing (involving multi-spectral imaging,which uses 13 wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared) was peeling the years away to show how the figure first appeared, it also showed her face was slightly wider and the smile was more accentuated. Who knows? without the bungled attempts to restore the piece it might never have achieved the fame it now enjoys.

Keep On Smiling

Remember the happy face? How could anyone forget,it was everywhere and soon because annoying because you couldn't not see it. I wouldn't be surprised if the happy face had actually incited some folks to violence. That said I will tell you about the real thing. Women in South Korea are said to be flocking to plastic surgeons to have what is know as a "smile lipt" which is mouth corner surgery that leaves the corners of the mouth upturned at all times. One site claimed a smile is a sign of success in Korea,but I never found verification one way or another on that. It seems to me it could be terribly awkward to have a permanent smile,for instance the death of a loved one,or how about if you were really angry with someone,but just couldn't wipe that smile off your face?

A Few Laughs

I can't verify that any of the following are actually true,but I can verify they made me laugh and that is what today's blog is about.
These are supposed to have been taken from car insurance accident forms:
The other car collided with mine without giving me warning of its intention.
I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.
A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.
The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve several times before I hit him.
I pulled away from the side of the road,glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.
In an attempt to kill a fly,I drove into a telephone pole(seems like overkill to me...but I wonder if the fly survived?).
I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.
The pedestrian had no idea which direction to run. So I ran over him.
Beyond the laughs,a person has to be a little worried to think there are people like these out on the roads!

Auto Brew

You might be thinking that today I will be singing the praises of yet another high-tech coffee making device...you would be wrong! Today is about a medical condition known as auto-brewery syndrome. The condition is caused by too much yeast in the stomach,how does that happen you ask? If you are on antibiotics for a period of time the friendly bacteria in your stomach (among other places) can be killed. The lack of bacteria in the stomach combined with a high carbohydrate diet means the yeast turns the sugars into alcohol,producing a drunken state without the actual drinking. In case you're wondering,yes it still counts the same as being drunk when it comes to crimes committed while under the influence. Auto-brew is a rare syndrome,so don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen to you. Now I'm wondering if there is an auto-distill syndrome?

Take Your Licks

We know Belgium is famous for their chocolate,and their postal service capitalized on that fame at Easter earlier this year. The Belgian post office released 538,000 stamps with pictures of chocolate on the front,essence of cacao oil in the glue on the back for taste and in the ink for smell. A collector stated the taste was disappointing but they smelled good.
Since the postal service started in Bhutan (around 1962) they have issued unique stamps,from 3D to the more modern CD stamps that play their national anthem,folk songs and a short history of the country.
Meanwhile in the U.S. our postal service flounders and all we get is less than exciting pictures.

Holier Than Thou

Today's title could also have been holy cow,depending on your religion and location on the globe. As far as popes go or public figures in general,I like the current pope especially his choice of name,but not so of everyone,some believe he may be the anti-Christ sent to destroy the Catholic Church. Now for some other fun pope facts...In a backhanded reference to yesterday's blog,every pope has been right handed. It is rumored that four popes have been gay (only four?). The 15th century erotic novel "The Tale of Two Lovers" was authored by a man who later became Pope Pius II. Pope Leo X was an atheist (not sure how that worked). The moral of today's blog is "Next time you think someone is pure as the pope" keep in mind they weren't all entirely pure!

From Left Field

Being left handed could not be an easy life,any right handed person with an ounce of empathy tends to feel bad for the lefties and the challenges they face on a daily basis. As I was browsing through a list of facts a couple about the left handed caught my attention. Lefties make up about 10% of the population and studies have found that people with psychosis have a 20% likelihood of being left handed,and the percentage may be even higher. As if the daily problems facing lefties isn't enough they also have and increased risk for dyslexia,ADHD and other mood disorders. There are a few positives to being in the 10% club,lefties tend to find careers in creative arts and if they have political aspirations a high percentage of U.S. presidents are left handed,they also have the advantage in several sports. If none of those facts cheer you lefties up,how about having an International Left-Hander's Day (August 13)?

A Hearty Bouquet

I may have posted a blog a long time ago about the original purpose of flowers at funerals,but it has been long enough that I can't say for sure if I did. The reason was to hide the smell of decay from the corpse. So what's up with flowers at weddings? It is sort of the same reason. In the 1600's and for a long time following,people generally only took a bath once yearly,and that was normally done in May. By the time June came (the preferred wedding month) their yearly bath was wearing off,so to err on the side of safety the brides carried bouquets to mask their odor. Bouquets weren't always made from flowers,some used herbs and garlic. Marigold and dill were also common and once they had served in the bouquet they were often added to the wedding feast. I think it would be a nice change to have herbs instead of all the flowers,but cost wise it might be prohibitive.

It's Raining What?

There are several sayings around the world describing a hard rain,in the US it rains cats and dogs,in Norway it rains trolls,in Wales it rains old ladies and sticks, but what does it rain on the other planets? According to scientists diamonds could be the most common precipitation in the solar system. Makes a person wonder what kind of umbrella could be employed for protection,of course that would be the least of your worries. It is fairly certain that both gas giants (Saturn and Jupiter) have abundant carbon in their atmospheres,enough to produce diamond rain. If that isn't a wild enough idea for you,long before it was decided that Saturn and Jupiter produced diamond rain it was a near certainty that the ice giants,Neptune and Uranus were raining diamonds...okay,I can't resist...how would you like to have diamonds falling out of Uranus?

Illicit Cuddling

Yesterday on the news they played a clip about a gal in Portland who started a professional cuddling business. She charged $60 for a session,the article never stated exactly how long the session lasted,but it sounded like it was 50 minutes. Though she may be the first in the Portland area, professional cuddlers are starting to pop up around the nation. She got the idea after seeing two men at a farmers market. One man had a sign that read "Free Hugs",the other man's sign said "Deluxe Hugs $2." People were lined up for the deluxe hugs. After doing some research she made a website,got a tax ID,registered her business with the state,and had a lawyer draw up a waiver outlining the client's responsibilities. It all sound like a fairly clever idea to me,but the list of people complaining was varied and incredible. Not to mention that someone pointed out it was bordering close to Oregon's definition of sexual contact...excuse me but if massage is okay done without clothes on,why would cuddling with clothes on be illegal? It sounds like a clear case of sour grapes to me.

Safety First?

There are many things I don't understand. The lengths people will go to achieve fame,if only fleeting,has always dumbfounded me. The people that become famous sacrifice their privacy and spend large amounts of money (provided by the fame) trying to be anonymous. Maybe the most puzzling part is the people who risk their lives for fame without promise of financial reward. The fame seeker (or perhaps psycho is more appropriate?) I am presenting today put a new twist on bungee jumping,he was not hired to do the stunt as a commercial,nor was he trying to make a statement of any kind,he was simply trying to recapture the rush of his first bungee jump. With the help of a friend over a 4 month period they constructed a bungee cord using 18,500 condoms to make a 98 ft.cord. The cord's strength was adequate to complete the jump,which wasn't too surprising since strength requirements for condoms state they be able to stretch 650% of their original length (doesn't that seem like overkill?),but what about a few other logistics like cost? I have no idea what a 98 ft.bungee cord would cost,but the price range for a cord made from condoms is between $4,600 and $14,000 depending on brand and where they were purchased. Again,what was the point???did you hear of him before reading this? is recapturing the rush of a first time jump worth the time,risk and money? I guess this is where I should say,"It takes all kinds".

Little Buckaroos

I was confused the other day when I read how the phrase "passing the buck" came into use,but the saying I was thinking of was "The buck stops here". So now in an effort to assist you in "getting all your bucks in a row" I will explain that confusion. "Passing the buck" in modern terms means to blame another for your own actions,it is often applied to political figures. The origin of the expression comes from the American Frontier days where a marker was used to indicate whose turn it was to deal (in a game of poker). The marker was often a knife with a buck horn handle (called a buck). If the player did not wish to deal he could "pass the buck" to the next player. It is also believed that this was how the dollar was nicknamed the buck. When the knife was eventually replaced with a silver dollar for the marker they kept the name of "passing the buck".
"The buck stops here" is a phrase that was popularized by President Harry S. Truman who kept a sign with that saying on his desk in the Oval Office. It refers to the fact that the President has to make decisions and accept responsibility for those decisions.
For the bonus I was going to throw in who first used the phrase "Little Buckaroos" but I couldn't find any claim to the origin, other than it came from a Spanish word for cowboy. Wasn't there a children's TV show in the late 1950's that referred to the audience as little buckaroos? Was it Captain Kangaroo?

People Are Pigs

No,it's not me being angry at the world. It is about John Steinbeck (one of my favorite authors) and his symbol the Pigasus. I am going to copy a letter his wife wrote explaining the Pigasus and why Steinbeck adopted and used it. We are all just earthbound pigs and trying to spread our wings!
Just in case you ever happen across a Steinbeck book with the Pigasus on it,you have found a valuable item.

The Ultimate Enigma

Not surprisingly I was discussing death with a friend the other day. The only conclusion we were able to reach didn't make a lot of sense. We were in agreement that no matter the conditions surrounding a death it always seemed unexpected,of course that thought isn't logical as from the moment of birth, death is waiting in the wings,but when applied to how it feels to lose loved ones it adequately reflects the bewilderment of the event. Neither age,illness,mental state,nor destructive habits prepares the survivors for the finality of death. The idea behind all these thoughts is that an anticipated death would somehow be easier to deal with, which is invalid too, as it is the loss itself that brings the pain. Maybe it is simply the mystery of death that leaves people feeling so empty? As years go by I find it more and more difficult to form new relationships and wonder if I am becoming agoraphobic as a result. Sorry to still be droning on about this less than pleasant subject,but my feeble attempts at solving this puzzle somehow seem to help me heal.

Not the Moonwalk

When I read that Michael Jackson not only didn't invent the moonwalk,but that the three men who taught him the move told him it was called the backslide, it pleased me as I have never been a fan of Michael Jackson. Before it was called the backslide it was known as the Buzz. Cab Calloway (of "Minnie the Moocher" fame, and several other songs) said they were doing that step back in the 1930s,there is footage available to prove it was in use before Michael Jackson was born. The only original part that Michael Jackson contributed to the step was a name that actually belonged to an entirely different dance.

Endorphin OD

Let's hope Lamar went to a better place,he was a very sweet 8 year old cat and deserves the best. Another trip to the vet revealed (through a panel of tests) that his kidneys had completely shut down,they were amazed he was functioning at all. Since there was no hope for recovery and nothing but pain and suffering left for him I made the decision every pet owner dreads.
In an effort to distract myself I decided to see if there was anything behind the phrase "having a good cry" (it sure doesn't feel like a good anything). There are three types of tears,basal tears are the moisture that keep our eyes from drying out,reflex tears protect the eye from irritants and emotional tears. When the contents of reflex and emotional tears were analyzed reflex tears were found to be about 98% water,whereas several chemicals are present in emotional tears caused by the bodies reaction to stress. An endorphin is also found in emotional tears that reduces pain and works to improve mood...I'm still waiting for that part to kick in.

Lack of Thought for the Day

I don't have much to say,for a change! I didn't get a lot of sleep last night as one of my cats has been sick(vomiting and listless) and so far the treatment the vet gave him hasn't cured the problem. The original diagnosis was bladder blockage/infection,they sedated him and drained his bladder with a catheter,then gave him an antibiotic shot. He seemed to perk up somewhat from the treatment,but was still not having a great deal of success keeping food down. I was searching most of the morning online to see if there was something else to be done for what I suspect might be a factor. The information I gathered told me a change in diet was the key (if the problem is pancreatitis) but the vet said the food they have for that is so bland that the patients turn up their noses at it. Cats unlike dogs when it comes to pancreatitis need to keep eating or the liver is at risk,with dogs you withhold food for a few days while the pancreas calms down and they are back to normal. I was sent home with a vial and several syringes to administer shots 3 times a day for nausea. I gave him his first one and am hoping he will be able to eat and keep it down,if not it will be back to the drawing board. If you could all keep my dear Lamar in your thoughts I would appreciate any and all good thoughts. I hope I at least managed to make sense today,I am not the best judge of that at this time.

Memory Like an Elephant

Have you ever given much thought to how smart elephants are? After reading about Batyr (an elephant born and raised in captivity who learned to speak) I found myself wanting to know more about them. Elephants are up there with chimpanzees,great apes,dolphins and crows in intelligence. Not only do elephants cooperate to solve problems they also feel empathy and exhibit self awareness,the complex ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. Now for a little more about Batyr,Batyr lived in a Kazakhstan zoo and had never been around his own kind. He learned to speak Russian by putting his trunk to his mouth and mimicking words he had heard,he was first discovered muttering to himself in his enclosure. His life was cut short when he died from anesthesia administered to do work on his feet. More recently in Seoul,Korea another elephant,Kosik,was heard by a keeper saying words to itself. Kind of makes a person rethink their choice in pets! The photo is of Kosik.

Don't Make a Mountain Out of a Moho

Most everyone is familiar with the space race that took place in the 1960s between the Soviets and America,but I was unaware of another race between the two powers,a race to the center of the earth. They didn't expect to actually get to the center but rather to the Moho,which is a shortened term for the boundary between solid crust and magma filled mantle. The goal was to learn about how valuable ores formed and to see what else could be discovered. The Russians drilled the deepest hole in history,more than 7 miles deep. The name of the project was the Kola Superdeep Borehole and it took more than 15 years. As you might expect many urban legends sprung from this mission,the main one being how they reached a hollow center where the temperature  measured 2,000 degrees (it was really 180) and when they lowered a microphone distressed voices could be heard. From those rumors came the nickname for the project...the Well to Hell.

No Two Alike

I think today is the third day I have spent looking at information about how no two snowflakes can be alike. I have always had a hard time accepting that as fact,trying to imagine all the snowflakes that fall in the whole world in the course of a year and not even two that are alike? The odd thing is that the theories that support that fact don't all offer the same reasoning as to why no two are alike,which caused me to be suspicious. The ones that say there may be twin snowflakes have equally conflicting theories. I finally contented myself with one opinion that stated snowflakes all start out the same,but their individual journeys from cloud to Earth change them into their final configuration. An interesting tidbit about the beautiful pictures you often see of snowflakes (snowflakes are made of snow crystals) the perfectly symmetrical likenesses that are most often presented are the exception,as most snowflakes are irregular,plain and misshapen. One article even likened snowflakes to people,which I found somewhat apt.

Friend of Phil?

Unlike Puxsutawney Phil (the groundhog weather guru) or other weather predictors for that matter,Lulu,the snow predicting goat,was not only accurate but her signals were easily read and understood. Lulu was often consulted by the school superintendent (in North Carolina) when it was unclear when a storm was due and the decision to have classes or not could be a critical call. Lulu had a sleeping area on the porch,when snow was on the way she would leave this area around four hours before the snow arrived and go make a warm bed in the barn. As is often the case with heart warming animal stories,Lulu was attacked and killed by a pack of wild dogs just after being invited to appear on the television show "That's Incredible".

Amaze Your Friends!

In case any of you hadn't noticed my mind has a proclivity to take off on its own tangents and often wanders the back roads of rational thought,this will be further proof. Once again it has led me to a blog that is about something really trivial,something I have wondered about before but only recently set to finding out. The question this particular time is why is Bambi a female nickname when Bambi was a male deer? The female counterpart to Bambi was Faline,so wouldn't that be more fitting? The answer is surprisingly simple. The name Bambi was in use before Felix Salten wrote the novel about a male deer which the Disney movie was later based on. Satlen's book was published in German in 1923 and translated to English in 1928. In 1914 American novelist Marjorie Benton Cooke published her novel Bambi,the title character was a wealthy young American heiress. The name of the character is a nickname from Bambina,the feminine form of the Italian word for baby. Have fun asking your friends that seem to have an answer for everything if they know how Bambi came to be a female nickname!

Here We Go Again

It is time (Sunday) to set the clocks back,I wonder if this fruitless activity will ever cease? Sandy,it is finally time to hang your new Maui calendar! Without further ado,I present your monthly planner.
11/1 Give Up Your Should Day (should do list)
11/2 Cookie Monster Day
11/3 Cliche Day (has a nice ring to it!)
11/4 Use Your Common Sense Day
11/5 Election Day
11/6 Saxophone Day
11/7 National Gin Day
11/8 Cook Something Bold And Pungent Day
11/9 Chaos Never Dies Day
11/10 International Tongue Twister Day
11/11 Origami Day (time to try it again)
11/12 National Young Readers Day
11/13 World Kindness Day
11/14 National Pickle Day
11/15 I Love to Write Day
11/16 National Day of Play
11/17 Homemade Bread Day
11/18 Married To A Scorpio Support Day
11/19 Have A Bad Day Day
11/20 National Peanut Butter Fudge Day
11/21 Use Less Stuff Day
11/22 Humane Society Anniversary Day
11/23 National Survivors of Suicide Day
11/24 D.B. Cooper Day (We will never forget you!)
11/25 National Parfait Day
11/26 Shopping Reminder Day (I ignore this one)
11/27 Tie One On Day
11/28 Make Your Own Head Day
11/29 But Nothing Day
11/30 Stay Home Because You're Well Day