Move Over Balto

Most everyone has heard of Balto but he almost wasn't a part of the 1925 Nome serum run as his trainer didn't think he was ready. The real doggy hero was a 12 year old Siberian Husky named Togo who was well known for his lead dog abilities. While Balto garnered the fame for completing the final 55 mile leg of the run it was Togo and his team who ran the most treacherous 264 mile leg of the run. Insiders always knew the true hero was Togo and he was finally recognized for his heroic run, in 1983 his mounted body was given a place of honor at the Iditarod Race Headquarters. 

Name Changes

 The popularity of names is fickle, the trends are basically the same though the names themselves are different. Whether it's generational or decided by some other criteria certain names will dominate for a time then go out of favor, some will be recycled after a token period of time while other names get lost in the shuffle. The following lists are names that are on their way out split into the top 20 girls and boys. 

1. Jamie (down 320)
2. Katie (down 290)
3. Remy (down 277)
4. Liv (down 257)
5. Analia (down 245)
6. Karina (down 243)
7. Belle (down 242)
8. Erin (down 231)
9. Bristol (down 230)
10. Lilia (down 230)
11. Catherine (down 221)
12. Faye (down 213)
13. Remington (down 205)
14. Kelsey (down 187)
15. Anne (down 180)
16. Monroe (down 180)
17. Chelsea (down 174)
18. Kendra (down 161)
19. Regina (down 157)
20. Alexis (down 155)
21. Jamal (down 433)
22. Esteban (down 283)
23. Cannon (down 268)
24. Emery (down 241)
25. Taylor (down 199)
26. Kareem (down 193)
27. Idris (down 187)
28. Camilo (down 185)
29. Matthias (down 179)
30. Danny (down 176)
31. Aziz (down 170)
32. Louie (down 170)
33. Andy (down 167)
34. Billy (down 167)
35. Phillip (down 167)
36. Albert (down 166)
37. Jaden (down 162)
38. Bridger (down 152)
39. Cesar (down 147)
40. Edward (down 145)
    
    
    
    
    

Dot to Dot

 Polka dots haven't always been a fun, carefree print, in medieval times it was a struggle for weaver to get the dots (also called spots at that time) to line up so their irregularity made people think of splotchy diseases like the plague and smallpox. The pattern transitioned to high fashion status during the industrial revolution when roller printing began in 1783 and it got another boost in 1804 with the invention of the Jacquard loom. It wasn't until the 1840s that they got the name polka dots from the energetic polka dance. Now you know more about polka dots than you probably ever wanted to know! 

Hanging Out

The answer is evolution and the question is, "Why do bats hang/sleep upside down?" When bats begin flying it was more like how flying squirrels glide. Over time their limbs became more powerful from all the gliding and evolved into wings but since bats don't have hollow bones like birds they don't have the capacity for much lift so they drop into flight from their upside down position. The upside down position also protects them from predators and unlike humans their heart has no problem with pumping blood through their bodies when they're upside down for long periods. 

Watch Dogs

That age old question, "Do dogs watch TV" is finally getting some answers. Unlike older TVs today's HD TVs don't flicker as much so dogs can actually focus on the screen. There are even dog genre shows and plenty of videos of dogs watching TV. A doctor of veterinarian ophthalmology needed a more reliable way to test her patients vision, she started with a survey asking pet owners if there dogs watched TV and if so what kind of content did they seem to enjoy. The responses  were what one would expect, they liked watching other dogs and animals in general. When choosing other types of entertainment shows with a lot of action scored high as dogs eyes are more sensitive to motion. 78% of the dogs approached the TV when interested, 76% vocalized, while others checked behind the screen. Bottom line is they do watch but there is no way to tell if they enjoy it but at least they have a better way to test dog's eyesight now, tube time.

  

Bird Brains

 Apparently the days of "bird brain" being an insult are coming to a close since researchers in evolutionary biology and neuroscience from universities in Australia and Canada teamed up to make digital endocasts inside bird skeletons empty cranial space. They were surprised by the results as it revealed birds have big brains with large computation centers for smartness and nimbleness. They also expanded the study to extinct bird skulls with the same findings, however the same did not hold true for the birds closest living relative the crocodile, so I suppose the "bird brain" insult could be switched to crocodile brain. This is not surprising news for anyone who has ever been around or watched birds, we already knew they were smart.

Problem Solver

 Collectively Americans are so accustomed to their needs being met that we've become somewhat stagnant in our creativity unlike many countries where what we consider basic needs aren't available at the flip of a switch. In Tanzania (and many parts of rural Africa) school children are hampered by the lack of lighting in the evenings leaving them unable to do their studies as fuels to make light are too expensive and often there is no electricity. Here's where the creative part comes into play...an inventor who knows the dilemma from his own struggle as a child came up with a solution. He began making backpacks out of recycled materials like cement bags and traditional African fabrics. A solar panel was sewn into the bags which can supply 8 hours of light then recharges on the walk to school. His invention has helped around 21,000 kids, but certain xenophobic folks want to halt immigration, so here we are. 

  

Plowing Ahead

 It's that time of year again when Chicago has their annual snow plow naming contest. The residents of Chicago submit then vote on the names for the plows. Each name represents one plow for each of the six snow districts, the final top picks are chosen by the Department of Streets and Sanitation. See the lists below for the last couple of years, pretty cool if you'll pardon the pun. 

The 2025 winning names are:

1. Bozo the Plown
2. Lollaplowlooza
3. My Kind of Plow
4. Snower Wacker
5. Scoop, There It Is!
6. Bean There, Plowed That

The 2024 winning names were:

1. Skilling It
2. CTRL-SALT-DELETE
3. Casimir Plowaski
4. Ernie Snowbanks
5. Mies van der Snow
6. Bad, Bad Leroy Plow

Coors Cosmetics

Maybe not exactly under the cosmetics heading but still a far cry from the usual beer company offerings, Coors is unveiling their Super Bowl line-up which includes a Chill Face Roller designed to turn a cold can of beer into a facial ice roller. The roller is to help with the Super Bowl morning after in reducing inflammation, redness, and puffiness of the face. In addition to the roller they are also offering for a limited time Case of the Mondays merchandise featuring shirts, sweat sets, hats, and more. If anyone is interested the items can be purchased starting January 27th at Shop.CoorLight.com. 

 

Oh Rats!

 Houston, we have a problem but it's nothing to do with a space mission. Drug addicted rats are eating confiscated drugs and other evidence. They're eating the narcotics, they're eating the marijuana! They're eating the pets, oh sorry that isn't right, they're eating stored evidence of all types. Apparently New Orleans is having similar problems with rats getting high on stored drugs. Exterminators have proven ineffective saying, "They're drug addicted rats. They're tough to deal with." I imagine they are since they're high none of the usual methods would work when they've had their fill of drugs, poison would be out as well as any baited traps. The officials decided the best they can do it get rid of the drugs stored from before 2015. They didn't mention where they were going to dispose of the drug stash but it seems like they could put it to good use to lure the rodents to another location. 

Petless

 With yesterday's inauguration the White House is once more without a resident pet. Other than companionship the pets also serve to humanize the president. Even though Teddy Roosevelt was an avid hunter he was also an animal lover and had a menagerie while he was in office. Out of all the presidents only the current one and James Polk had no pets, Andrew Johnson made pets of some mice in his bedroom but also had no official pets. Now for some photos of past White House pets. 

Grace Coolidge with Rob Roy

Hoover and King Tut

Kennedy's Pushinka and her pupniks

Obama's Bo and Sunny

Wink Wink

Tiddlywinks recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of becoming a competitive sport. In January of 1955 three Cambridge students who were hopeless as athletes  but still wanted to obtain a prestigious blue, the highest honor of sportsmen at their school, set about writing the rules, a thesis on The Science Of Tiddlywinks, coined terminology, and oversaw the creation of the Tiddlywinks Anthem. After registering their club they set out to find matches and finally got lucky when Prince Phillip accepted the challenge and appointed a comedy group to play for him. Eventually tiddlywinks caught on and in 1961 the first British Universities Championship was played for the Silver Wink. The competition lives on to this day. 

A Few Words

 Have you ever had an experience/feeling that you didn't have words to describe? Today's post offers some words that English doesn't quite cover. Flaneur comes from Old Norse flana but was popularized in France and it means taking long solitary walks to broaden your mind by carefully observing the nuances of city life. Next up we have aspaldiko from the Basque language meaning that feeling you have when you meet up with old friends in fact many restaurants in Basque Country in Spain are named Aspaldiko because what's better than meeting up with old friends? 

Secret Code

 Do you have the skill set the National Archives is looking for?  Most older folks can still read and write cursive and that is what is needed to help transcribe/classify 200 years of handwritten historical documents. There are over 5000 volunteer citizen archivists currently working on more than 300 million digitized objects from field notes made by geographers working on the Mason Dixon line, to immigration and census records. Interested volunteers can sign up online at National Archives no application required. Side note: only 14 states still require cursive being taught in schools, which always makes me wonder how people learn how to sign their names? or do they all just print their names? 

A Piece of Soup

 Since January is National Soup Month and also the height of the cold/flu season Progresso is offering Soup Drops for a limited time. What are soup drops? they describe them as a chicken noodle soup flavored hard savory drop, similar to a cough drop. They taste like chicken broth, veggies, egg noodles, and a hint of parsley, soup you can suck on. If this seems like something you need to try they can be had online at ProgressoSoupDrops.com starting on the 16th with more released every Thursday for the rest of January. For $2.49 plus shipping you get 20 drops in a can and a can of actual chicken noodle soup. 

Pizza Police?

A pizza parlor in England is extremely against the ongoing pineapple on pizza debate. They aren't totally taking away the choice though instead they charge $122 for a pizza with pineapple. If they are that against the topping why offer it at all? It seems doubtful that anyone would pay that much for a topping but the business would still be obligated to carry it so it seems more like a gimmick than anything serious. What's the big deal about what someone else eats on their pizza? I've seen and heard of many things worse than pineapple on pizza. People should mind their own toppings and not worry about what anyone else chooses. Not to mention their pineapple pizza doesn't look that great.