10 Worst

 It's getting to be that time of the year when wherever you go you hear the same old annoying Christmas songs over and over until they give you very un-Christmas like feelings. Everyone has their least favorite but did yours make the 10 Most Annoying list as compiled by data from Google Trends and polling adults in the US?  

1. “All I Want for Christmas is You”
2. “The Chipmunk Song”
3. “Feliz Navidad”
4. “A Holly Jolly Christmas”
5. “Baby It’s Cold Outside”
6. “Deck the Halls”
7. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
8. “White Christmas”
9. “Wonderful Christmastime”
10. “Do You Hear What I hear?”
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

In the Fold

 A 14 year old New York teen just won $25,000 for a research project based on an origami fold known as Miura-ori which is known for collapsing and expanding with precision. The teen spent months determining whether the strength to weight ratio of the Miura fold could be leveraged to improve deployable structures used in emergency situations. He got the idea reading about natural disasters like the California wildfires and hurricanes. The tents used in those situations were sometimes strong, sometimes compact and sometimes easily deployable, but never all three, which is where his design comes in as it has all three qualities. Today's post is a perfect example of why a diverse population plays a big part in the strength of a nation. 

Talking Turkey

 An advertising executive had been handed the task of promoting Butterball Turkey, of course today we know how that turned out, but back in 1981 it was a daunting task to make one turkey brand stand out above all others. She finally had a brainstorm which she presented first to her company, then to Butterball, they could create a toll free line for people suffering from "turkey trauma". The first year 6 women fielded 11,000 calls and even though today a person could find how to help on YouTube or several other online tutorials the Butterball hotline is still going strong, from November 1st through Christmas Eve there are 50 Butterball experts answering over 100,000 calls. What keeps the hotline alive? They say it's the personal aspect of talking to a real person who is knowledgeable and sympathetic. 

Toy's Story

 A Massachusetts woman has collected discarded items she's found on the beach on her morning walks for the last 10 years. It all started when she found a plastic doll's head embedded in the sand and took it home, after than morning she started collecting other items she found, including straws, plastic cutlery and micro plastics. Though she has found several odd things about three quarters of the finds are plastic. She recycles the things that can be recycled and throws the rest in her trash except the treasures of course which she cleans up then incorporates into her Museum of Lost Toys and Curiosities. Surprisingly people enjoy the museum in a nostalgic way and most also realize the underlying marine pollution message. 

Red Light, Blue Light?

Today's post features another driving/law enforcement innovation, this time instead of purple parking spots it's blue lights being added to the standard red, yellow, green lights. They are not mounted so the drivers see them but rather on top of the red light oriented in the opposite direction allowing police officers to more easily identify red light runners. So far only Florida and Minnesota have implemented the blue lights but the results show a significant reduction in red light running and in Florida alone the yearly average for fatalities at intersections is 800 with 94,000 resulting in injures. 

  

Purple Spots

 Most of us are familiar with the blue ADA parking spots usually indicated with a white wheelchair symbol, but there are also purple parking spots in some states and they started appearing around 2015. They are often found around government or public buildings and are designated as Purple Heart parking spaces for veterans who were wounded in combat while serving in the US military. There isn't a lot of difference between the ADA spots and the purple spots except the fines for the purple spots are decided on locally and the veterans using them feel a sense of pride instead of pity. 

The King and the Sponge

 Starting today Burger King is teaming up with "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Square Pants" to launch the new SpongeBob menu, available at all US Burger Kings while supplies last. The menu features: 

• SpongeBob's Krabby Whopper: A ¼ pound beef patty, flame grilled on a yellow square bun stacked with melty American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, and a splash of ketchup and mayo.
• Mr. Krabs' Cheesy Bacon Tots: Crispy, coin-shaped tots filled with gooey cheese, savory bacon bits, and fluffy potatoes, served in a treasure chest carton.
• Patrick's Star-berry Shortcake Pie: Strawberry shortcake pie slice with strawberry and vanilla flavored creamy layers, a crunchy cookie crumb crust, shortcake cookie crumbles, and pink star-shaped sprinkles.
• Pirate's Frozen Pineapple Float: Icy refreshing frozen pineapple-flavored beverage topped with tropical flavor cold foam.
• Bikini Bottom Bundle: Can't pick just one? Enjoy all four items in a Pineapple-shaped Under the Sea Box, complete with a medium float and 8-piece Cheesy Bacon Tots.
• King Jr. Meal: Burger King is offering a special-edition King Jr. Meal in a pineapple-shaped Under the Sea Box, featuring one of six collectible SpongeBob toys and a limited-edition SpongeBob crown.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Wrapping It Up

 Here we are wrapping up another year. December is Adopt a Turkey Month...seems a little late.

12/1 Rosa Parks Day 

12/2 National Mutt Day 

12/3 Special Kids Day 

12/4 National Dice Day 

12/5 World Soil Day 

12/6 World Pear Day 

12/7 National Slime Day 

12/8 Green Monday 

12/9 Cremation Day 

12/10 Human Rights Day 

12/11 Kaleidoscope Day 

12/12 National Cocoa Day 

12/13 National Day of the Horse 

12/14 Yoga Day 

12/15 Cat Herders Day 

12/16 National Chocolate-covered Anything Day 

12/17 Clean Air Day 

12/18 International Migrants Day 

12/19 Underdog Day 

12/20 Games Day 

12/21 Humbug Day 

12/22 Be a Lover of Silence Day 

12/23 Family Roots Day 

12/24 Egg Nog Day 

12/25 A'Phabet Day or No "L" Day 

12/26 National Whiners Day 

12/27 Howdy Doody Day 

12/28 Short Film Day 

12/29 Tick Tock Day 

12/30 Bacon Day 

12/31 World Healing Day 

Stand Up

 Even though there is no one person who was the first stand up comedian, there are several who contributed to the art. Humor goes way back but when you think of what is called stand up comedy the person most credited as the first would be Artemus Ward, aka Charles Browne who started out writing funny letters in a newspaper then discovered other people using his gags at minstrel shows and circuses and decided to go on the lecture circuit with his own material, needless to say it worked. Mark Twain loved Artemus and took a page or two from his book and as we know the rest is history. Bert Williams had it a little rougher as he was a black man so it was harder for him to get into mainstream comedy, though his talent shined through and allowed him to make a name and business for himself, at times having to wear blackface to be able to perform at some venues. 

No Butts About It

 As one might guess, I read a lot. Some of it is off the wall stuff while some is science based though still on the strange side, today's post is a little of both. Researchers have found that shrinkage or inflammation of the gluteus maximus may reflect frailty, sitting time, fat deposition and diabetes risk, and these changes may occur differently in men and women. While past studies mainly looked at muscle size or fat the recent study was 3D mapping using 61,000 MRI scans, they also used detailed physical measurements, medical histories and lifestyles. Bottom line (pun intended!) it's not the size but the shape of the butt that determines not only how well a person is aging but also their risk for diabetes. Men tend to show thinning of muscle mass in the case of type 2 diabetes where women show an increase in their glutes muscle mass. Side note: this study is good until the next one proves it wrong. 

Reggie aka Mr. Terminator

Maybe since black swans are native to Australia that is the reason Reggie didn't get along with the native mute swans at Stratford-upon-Avon in England. Reggie got his nickname, Mr. Terminator as he tried to drown many of the mute swans and disrupted nesting swans not to mention terrorizing other birds and tourists. It was decided Reggie needed to be captured and relocated to Dawlish where there are others of his kind. The locals were sad to see him go but realized it was best for him, the mute swans and the river in general. 

 

Why Not Zebras?

Does anyone have enough time on their hands to wonder why we don't ride zebras? Even though they are in the same family as horses, zebras were in a very different location where they had to exercise their fight or flight instincts to survive. Unlike their Eurasian counterparts zebras had predators like lions, cheetahs and hyenas to deal with which put their survival tactics into overdrive, a kick from a zebra is powerful enough to break a lion's jaw. The same things that keep them safe in the wild are the very characteristics that make them difficult to domesticate. Of course it has been done but considering they are smaller than today's horses they really aren't suited to carrying loads or other uses associated with domestic horses. 

 

Death Coaster

 In a different twist on euthanasia a Lithuanian engineer designed a hypothetical rollercoaster of death with a fatal series of twists, turns and loops which would take around 60 seconds to complete. There would be space for 24 people and each would have two buttons in front of them, a go button and a stop button. If anyone pressed the stop button the ride would end for everyone which seems very likely that at least one person out of 24 would change their mind. The 1600 ft. rollercoaster would reach speeds up to 223 mph with a series seven looping tracks that would cause death from the G forces which at 10 Gs would cause euphoria, thrills, unconsciousness, blackouts and death. What a way to go. 

  

Cousin Walk

 Ready for a walk before Thanksgiving dinner? A.k.a. Thanksgiving walk and pre-dinner safety meeting, the cousin walk usually involves the younger members of the family stepping out for a few puffs of cannabis to both lessen the tension often felt with family gatherings and increase their appetite for the coming feast. Years ago it was considered a subversive activity but with marijuana being legal in 40 out of 50 states the pre-turkey toke has become part of the holiday tradition, so much so that "Green Wednesday" is the second biggest day for pot sales, only 420 (April 20th) has better sales. Of course this may be a short lived tradition with the currest administration looking to tighten restrictions on legal sales. 

Before Mr. Ed

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Ed it was a sitcom about a talking horse that ran from 1961-1966, but pre Mr. Ed (1925) there was another famous horse named Lady Wonder. Originally called Lady her owner noticed that the horse would often come before she called her and wondered if she could read her mind.  By the time Lady was 2 years old she could spell words using blocks with letters on them, when Lady correctly predicted the winner of the Demsey-Tunney boxing match rumors of the mind reading horse spread. In 1940 LIFE magazine included her in part of an article on ESP. Lady could also do basic math and tell time. Lady lived a long remarkable life, dying in 1957 at age 33. 

Beyond Cuddly

 Regardless how a person feels about AI there are still some bugs to work out, to say the least. An AI powered teddy bear was pulled from the market after a watchdog group flagged how the toy could explore sexually explicit topics and give children advice that could harm them. The talking teddy bear shared how to find knives in a home, how to light a match and sexual concepts like spanking and kinks in graphic detail. The toy went on in length about sexual positions in step by step instructions, a good knot for tying up a partner, roleplay dynamics between students and teachers and parents and children, scenarios it brought up without prompting. Just what this world needs a teddy preddy (predator).