Quirky

 Since it's nearly New Year's Eve I thought I would share some traditions from a few countries around the world. 

In Brazil wave jumping is a popular way to bring in the year,making a wish for each of 7 waves and to further enhance your luck it is best to wear white. 

Mexico greets the New Year by taking an empty suitcase for a walk to bring travel and new experiences.

South Africa chucks unwanted furniture and appliances out the window to give them a fresh start.

Burning scarecrows that look like a person you dislike in Ecuador allows you to forgive and forget in the coming year.

In several countries wearing red or yellow underwear is essential to bringing good luck in the New Year and most traditions specify the underwear needs to be new,so check your local customs to make the right selection for your area! 

Human Error

 I feel like a broken record though since people still feel they are either an exception or the wild animal they're feeding is an exception, apparently the message needs repeating. Do not feed wild animals! You are not in any way doing them a favor in fact you are more likely putting them in harms way. The latest example is a squirrel that began attacking people indiscriminately until it was finally captured by the 65 year old woman who had been feeding it since summer. The animals don't understand once one person feeds them why everyone doesn't feed them so they attack,plus they are territorial of their area and don't want other beings encroaching on their feeding grounds. This particular squirrel even ended up biting the hand that had been feeding it. The same can happen with any animals and the larger they are the more dangerous they can become. So please stop killing these animals with kindness. 

McCycling

 Mickey D's in China is looking to kill two  birds with one stone with their latest "Upcycle for Good" initiative. They have installed stationary exercise bikes for testing in two locations. Not only are they  hoping to offset the damage done by eating fast food the bikes also generate electricity to charge the customers phones and other electronics instead of adding to their electric usage. If the program proves to be successful in these locations the bikes will become available at more McDonald's. Who knows? if they get enough of them maybe they can use the electricity to charge electric vehicles,that would be a huge plus. 

Peas On Earth

Iceland is an unique place with many different customs that seem a little off the beaten path but then again Iceland is off the beaten path. In the past I've done posts on Iceland's penis museum and how they determine their last names but today's offering is about the RVK brewery that makes a special Christmas beer every year. This year it was Ora Jolabjor made from peas and marinated red cabbage which are staples in the Iceland Christmas dinner. The brew is 5.2% alcohol and is described as an amber ale with the peas and cabbage a background taste,the first batch sold out within hours. Previous Christmas brews included:algae,Christmas tree trunk and dried fish.  

Poor Alien Baby

 This is sad on so many levels it's hard to figure out where to start. A treasure hunter in the Atacama Desert made a discovery of a tiny skeleton inside a leather pouch which was wrapped in white cloth tied with a ribbon inside an abandoned church near a deserted mining town in 2003. Scientists have been studying the bones since that time and have finally determined that even though the skeleton was only 6 inches long and had a conical shaped head and only 10 ribs instead of the usual 12 found in most humans that it was human remains from around 1970. They believe that the baby was premature and also had dwarfism and bone disorders and died either at birth or shortly after. The scientists named the baby Ata and haven't widely publicized the findings to spar the parents more grief. 

What He Said

 Nostradamus should be called Mr. Doom and Destruction since his predictions are seldom anything even resembling good news and the coming year is no exception. Though his quatrains pointed to Hitler and 9/11 even a broken clock is right twice a day so don't get to excited about 2022. As with years in the past he is still looking for that asteroid to hit the earth but wait there's more! Global hunger and starvation to the point of cannibalism,robots taking over, and last but not least the Dead Sea reaching a near boiling temperature due to climate change,but other than that things look pretty good. 

Ho Hos

 Since some of us may be a little low energy today due to overeating or too much excitement I've selected some bumper stickers that won't require to much thought or energy to enjoy. Merry Christmas! 

You Know Who You Are

 Forget about getting coal in your stocking,if you're bad you may get a visit from Krampus then you'll be wishing for that coal. Known in Eastern Europe as the anti-Claus he is often portrayed as part goat,part demon and is handy at beating the naughty with chains and switches, and for those totally hopeless cases they sometimes end up going down to Hel with Krampus for an extended stay. There was even a movie made about him in 2015 with an apt plot about a family fighting during the holiday season. My point,and I do have one,is if you get coal feel free to count your blessings! 

How'd That Get There?

 When I read about this Florida man earlier I realized that it's been quite awhile since I found any weirdness going on there which is highly unusual,but this kind of makes up for Florida missing in action for the last couple of months. First of all if you're doing something illegal it's important to pay attention to the details,like if it's 4 a.m. you should make sure your headlights are on to avoid getting stopped by the law which is why the car got searched and a hand gun was found,then in turn the man sitting in the seat above the handgun was searched and found to have two baggies strapped to his penis,one contained meth and the other cocaine. The man claimed he didn't know how it got there. Not to worry though earlier this year another Florida man was found to have 4 crystal rocks inside the skin on his penis proving you really don't know where that stuff has been. 

Creepy Cool

 I've never made a gingerbread house so it's a little hard for me to imagine how this woman in Norway is taking gingerbread art to a new level. In 2013 she began making sculptures out of gingerbread for a competition winning first place with Optimus Prime from the Transformers movie. She starts with a sketch of her subject then builds a wire foundation upon which she places the carefully baked and cut gingerbread pieces. It is essential for her to bake her own gingerbread so the texture is exactly what she needs for her creations.