Sunday Oldies

 Though the printed newspaper seems to be declining the Sunday Funnies are still alive and well, at least so far. Today's post is going to look at some of the longest running comics. Gasoline Alley (1918-present), Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (1919-present) fun fact googly eyes came from Barney Google, Blondie (1930-present), Dick Tracy (1931-present), Prince Valiant (1937-present), Beetle Bailey (1950-present), Dennis the Menace (1951-present), and B.C. (1958-present).  All of the strips have coped in different way with the characters aging and other modernizations but their longevity speaks for itself. 

Fair Food

 It's the time of year for fairs which also means the sometimes odd creations that are introduced at the food booths. Of course the State Fair of Texas has the market cornered on fair food at their 20th Annual Big Tex Choice Awards. The concoctions are judged by a panel of 48 celebrity judges and out of this years entries only 24 finalists will move forward. The idea began as a way to encourage vendors to present new and unique foods and from this list I would say mission accomplished. 

Raw- Dogging

 Who thinks up all these goofy trends? and why do people jump right in? Raw- Dogging seems okay at face value as it is basically a digital detox, but of course it can't be that simple since things seldom are. What is happening are mainly men are getting on long flights and depriving themselves of any stimulation during the flight, including movies, reading, music or other entertainment...oh, did I mention they also don't have any water or snacks. While one psychologist said it could be beneficial for mental health to allow the brain time to reflect without interruption, though she did not comment on the no water part of this trend and that seems to be a sizable oversight since flying is very dehydrating and 7-14 hours flight makes for a physical risk, but hey! The guys will get their bragging right.  

Oh Baby!

 Gerber chose it's first baby from sketches submitted by artists in 1928 and adopted the first contest winner as their trademark in 1931 and that sketch has appeared on all their products since that time. Since 2011 Gerber has also held an annual Gerber Baby Contest awarding the winning baby $25,000, a new wardrobe, a years worth of Gerber products and features in Gerber's social media posts and marketing campaigns. This years winner is Akil McLeod Jr, aka Sonny and he is deserving of the title! 

PU/Pew

 Most folks know what it means when someone says, "PU" sometimes accompanied by either nose plugging or waving a hand in front of your face, but what does PU stand for, or mean? First PU doesn't have a meaning from the initials like one would assume, instead it has roots going back to the 17th century to the word pew (not to be confused with sitting in your own pew) meaning, "expressing contempt, disgust or derision". It has also been spelled pue, peuh, peugh, and pyoo. Then of course it may be from Latin word for "to stink",  putere or one of several other related Latin words all with similar translations  meaning Pee-Yoo!  

Regionally Speaking

 Today's post features some more regional words/phrases that if you don't happen to be a local may leave you scratching your head. Cackalacky is the locals name for North Carolina, aka the Tar Heel State. Pogonip comes from the Shoshone language and translates to white death in Nevada, it is a dense icy fog and a real thing in north of the state. When in Rhode Island you might want to order an awful awful which is a trademark name for an awful big and awful good milkshake locals and tourist alike swear they're awfully good. 

Cap and Gown

 Considering it's the graduation time of year today's post takes a look at some of the traditions. What's the deal with the gowns? The first universities in Europe were for clergy in training so they wore the robes/gowns like those worn by priests and monks. Today the robes are mainly ceremonial other than a few exceptions. Though the tassel has been around for eons and at one time they were different colors to denote social status, the flipping of the tassel is a fairly recent development. It is unknow exactly when or where the first flipping took place.  

Yellow

 School bus yellow was chosen mainly for safety reasons since the color stimulates the red and green photoreceptors in the brain sending a double transmission making the color hard to miss, but how else does yellow score as a color? Not too well unless you happen to be a pollinator. Yellow ranks the lowest in attractiveness with both men and women, the highest scoring colors were red and black. The only places where yellow might be a good color are places that don't get a lot of sunny weather as those people when surveyed weren't nearly so anti-yellow as people in sunnier climes. That kind of explains the derogatory connotations associated with yellow, like yellow-bellied and yellow journalism. 

Lucky, Not Lucky

 According to legend finding four leaf clovers is lucky, but what about other configurations? A 45 year old Japanese man started cross pollinating clovers at his home in 2012 and recently managed to break the Guinness World Record  by growing a 63 leaf clover, the previous record holder was a 56 leaf clover. In other news in Japan a 74 year old women who is also a surfer and trained Japanese classical dancer has joined a senior's break dancing group called Ara Style Senior...what could go wrong??

Clear As Mud

 Most people associate the word adobe with Native Americans though it is a borrowed word from Egyptian, and hasn't really changed that much since its early usage about 4,000 years ago. Djebe or djobe comes from Middle Egyptian and means as you may have guessed, mud brick. Adobe is only one example of the many commonly used words coming from the Egyptian language widely used in English, the list is long. It also includes everyday names such as Lily and Susan both of which are flowers, Lily come from the word for flower and Susan (Seshen) means lotus or water lily. Not too surprising since English is basically a hodgepodge of many languages. 

Pepper's Peppery Language

 Today's post is more of a sentimental journey than any other purpose, unless of course someone who reads this adopts Pepper. As well as being a beautiful, colorful bird Pepper comes with a repertoire of colorful language. One of his two previous owners had a dog that didn't listen or obey commands so the owner would often say, "Do you want me to kick your ass?" Which Pepper picked up along with other curse words which might be a problem in some homes. The minimum requirements for adopting Pepper are: experience with large birds, someone who understands how chatty and loud the birds can be and someone who can meet Pepper's nutritional needs. 300 people have already reached out to the Niagara, NY  SPCA but if you think you are just what Pepper needs for a new home feel free to contact them. 

RIP my green friend.

Butter Me Up

 Today we're going to look at idioms and how some of them came about, starting with Butter Someone Up. This one means to praise someone with a motive in mind and it can be traced to an Ancient Indian Custom of  throwing balls of ghee (Indian butter) at statues of the gods to gain their favor. Are You Pulling My Leg? This one's origin looks at two unpleasant options so how it got to mean joking with someone is mysterious at best. Both come from Victorian London, the first is that robbers would pull on people's legs to trip them then rob them when they fell, the second explanation isn't clear to me but I'm guessing it depended on how the accused was being executed as the executioner would hold onto the criminals leg to grant a quicker death...so drawing and quartering? 

Vintage Slang

 Today's post goes back in time to early 1900's slang, feel free to incorporate them into everyday conversations. Mutton Shunter=policeman, Gigglemug=a perpetually smiling face, Fly Rink=a highly polished bald head, Juggins- Hunting= looking for a man to buy drinks, Sauce Box=mouth, Bags o' Mystery=sausages, Arf' Arf' an' Arf=drunk, Gas Pipes=tight pants, Pumblechook=human ass, and Row-de-Row=riot. Enjoy! 

Fatherhood 101

 The subject matter at Bogota's Care School for Men ranges from naming the dolls that will serve as their babies, learning to change diapers, how to properly hold/pickup the babies, how to make pony tails on older children, washing dishes, cleaning, laundry, ironing and other basic household tasks. The program is funded by the city and came to be after men started calling a help line during the pandemic when either their wives were sick and unable to perform as caregivers or they died. The need for gender equality still remains but in most ways it seems like we are on the right path. About damn time. 

A Galaxy By Any Other Name

 A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, no that's not what today's post is about! Our galaxy ( unless you're reading from a different galaxy) is best known as the Milky Way but it has different names in some areas. In Vietnam and China it's known as "Silver River", "Backbone of the Night" in the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa, and "Winter Way" in the Faroe Islands and some Nordic countries. Who knew? Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.