Neither Root nor Beer

 Since root beer has never contained alcohol how did it get the beer part of its name? It all started with a man named Charles E. Hires who was served a root tea by the innkeeper where he was staying on his honeymoon. Hires brewed his own root beverage and called it root beer in order to entice the coal miners to purchase the packets for 25 cents each. That covers the beer part of root beer, the root part comes from the original flavoring which was sassafras root, the root of a tree the Native Americans had used for healing long before European colonists appeared. However sassafras was found to contain a carcinogen and is no longer used. Today's root beer, depending on the brand, may still have a few of the good for you ingredients from the original recipe but it's mostly chemicals and HFCS. 

Dear Old Dad

 Those of you who are fortunate enough to still have your dads may find just the gift he's been waiting for in today's post, or at least something more imaginative than a tie or slippers. 

Bacon scented lip balm 

Beef jerky bouquet
 

Whiskey infused variety toothpicks 

Mistaken lyrics coasters 

Leather beer holster 

Ax pizza cutter 

The Dreaded Smiley Face?

 Just when you think there's nothing more innocuous than the smiley face along comes Gen Z to rain on the parade. The generation born between 1997 and 2012 don't have a positive view of the smiley, they find it sarcastic, passive-aggressive and dismissive, same deal with the thumbs up emoji. If you happen to care what Gen Z finds acceptable that would be the skull emoji, meaning, "I'm dead from laughing" or the fire emoji meaning something is "lit". As far a  flirty emojis they use ghost and devil smiley emojis. My take is they're trying too hard to be different. 

Not Exactly Fathers of the Year

 We've all heard the phrase, "raised by wolves" though wolves are actually good parents and the whole pack helps with raising the young. Then you have lions, the females are excellent mothers but the males will kill the cubs that don't belong to them plus they are first in line when mother lion brings home a meal, to hell with the cubs. Male grizzly bears are opportunistic hunters meaning anything that comes into their territory is fair game, including their own cubs, plus it also forces the females into estrus, win-win for papa bear. When it comes to aquatic dads, other than the male seahorse who carries and gives birth to their young,  most male fish guard the eggs for awhile but once they start hatching they eat ones who are slow to hatch. 

Something's Fishy

 Have you ever wondered how trends get started? Then this might be your lucky day, or not depending if you decide the info is valid or just another pile of waste. The last couple of summers were about everything strawberry or tomato, from clothing to housewares, but this summer presents a new twist. Sardines are the go to item for this year and the reasoning behind it unfortunately makes a certain amount of sense. Sardines are a simplistic, no frills fish nothing fancy about them which according to experts points to a recession. I suppose it's good news if you happen to be a sardine lover, but otherwise it pretty much sucks. 

Slaw Dog by a Nose

 The results are in for the first Wiener 500! As the title indicates Slaw Dog won by a nose though in the pictures it looks more like a wiener length but who's going to split buns? Slaw Dog and New York Dog were the favorites though it was Chi Dog in second place. Sonoran Dog had the early lead but overheated which steamed their buns. Unlike the Indy 500 the speeds are more sedate for the Wienermobiles, with top speed of around 60 but average speed more like 40. 

Always the Pineapple

 Even though it's late in the fifth month of the year, it seems like there've already been more posts about pineapples than their somewhat prickly nature warrants. Nothing against the fruit, other than they are kind of a pain to filet out. Today's "pineapple post" is about what an upside down pineapple means, not to be confused with a pineapple upside down cake, an upside down pineapple is a signal (especially on cruise ships) that you are a swinger looking for other swingers. Some cruise lines have even have banned the upside down pineapples from being hung on the cabin doors of their ships. Who knew? 

Flea/Flee?

 Have you ever wondered how Flea Markets got that name? There isn't a definite answer but there are a few best guesses. Some historians claim the term started being used in the 1880s to describe the outdoor bazaars of Paris when an unknown shopper looked upon the rags and old furniture and dubbed it "a market of fleas" thinking the old items were surely infested with fleas, but around the same time there were also Danish and German phrases that translated to "flea market" so that's not a concrete explanation. Another possible origin comes from the Paris markets. As Paris began to grow making wider streets and more buildings some of the side streets and alleys were demolished forcing the merchants to "flee" to another area became known as flee markets which later reverted to flea. Bottom line...it's anyone's guess. 

Hot Dogging

 Today marks the inaugural Wienie 500 at the Indy 500 raceway. The race will pit all six Wienermobiles against each other and will be the first time in over a decade that all six of the vehicles have been together. They each represent different parts of the country: Chi Dog (Midwest), New York Dog (East), Slaw Dog (Southeast), Sonoran Dog, (Southwest), Chili Dog, (South) and  Seattle Dog, (Northwest) each dog will be sporting a new look. There will be a trophy in the Wiener's Circle plus a Wiener's Wreath complete with condiment spray. I'm hoping they don't let the speed go to their heads as they don't look like they were built to race around a track, it would be a shame to see a Wienie pileup.  

What a Way to Go

 File today's post under either morbid fascination or suicide machines. A Lithuanian engineer decided to design a euthanasia rollercoaster to provide those who wished to end it all a thrilling way to go out. It is designed to reach terminal velocity and crush a person to death, which doesn't exactly sound like a fun way to go but according to the engineer a person would experience euphoria before losing consciousness plus if you excuse the term, there is a last minute "kill" button before you decide to take your last ride, your options are pressing "fall" to continue or "abandon" to abort your mission. I will not be posting tomorrow and possibly Thursday as well. No, no suicide machine in my immediate future! 

   

Mirror, Mirror

 What's the deal with elevators and mirrors? Most people assume they are there to offer a final once over before that big interview/meeting but that's not the real reason. The first reason is to make the space seem larger so people with claustrophobia can feel more at ease. Another reason is accessibility, the mirror helps people in wheelchairs judge the distance they have to maneuver in and see the space behind them. They also help to deter theft as any riders eye might catch the sight of a hand going into the wrong pocket or purse. Last on the list is people are easily bored and the mirrors give them something to do. Okay, we're good on why mirrors are in elevators so the next question is why everyone always stares at either the floor  display over the doors or the buttons for the floors instead of making the dreaded eye contact? 

Neither Pine Nor Apple

Pineapples were named by Spanish explorers because they looked like a pine cone (pina) on steroids and the apple part because it tasted sweet. Actually pineapples are a multifruit or a collective fruit because they are made of many berries fused together.  Then there's the tingling sensation in your mouth when you eat pineapple that's due to raphides which are needles of calcium oxalate also found in kiwis, taro, yams, and grapes. You may already have reached your pineapple knowledge saturation limit, but one more tiny detail just in case you haven't...one theory on raphides is that they are a plant's method of self preservation which as I have mentioned in the past plants have feelings too! Nothing against vegans or vegetarians but I've never understood how killing plants is somehow more "holy" than killing animals. Feel free to bash me if you wish, and yes I'm both a plant and animal lover though I eat both. 

Down and Dirty

 Every generation thinks they are innovative and come up with new and unusual ideas, when most of their discoveries have been around long enough to go out of style a couple of times if not more. What is nowadays called a Dirty Soda has been around since the 9th century when Arabs started mixing sherbet with fruit juices and ice, which they later introduced to Italy when they ruled Sicily. Then of course there was the Pepsi and milk from the Laverne & Shirley TV show. Today they are calling the same concoction a Dirty Soda which only has slight variations of the 9th century version. A Dirty Soda is nothing more than a soda of your choice with cream or flavored coffee creamer and a fruit flavor if desired. As you can see very few things are actually "new", only reintroduced with an alias. 

Seeing Dots?

Have you ever wondered what the little black dots on windshields of late model cars are about? Those dots are called frits and they serve a couple of purposes, first they help distribute the temperature across the glass, reducing the chances of optical illusions making driving safer. Their second function is they etch the glass making a rougher surface so adhesives can stick. The last consideration is aesthetic in that they gradually decrease in size to make the glass and the frits transition more pleasing to the eye. 

To Kiwi or not to Kiwi

 Kiwi birds are native to New Zealand, Kiwi fruits are not though they were named after the bird because of their brown fuzz. Kiwi fruit is native to China and was originally called the Chinese Gooseberry, New Zealanders are called Kiwis after the bird. With all that cleared up one might think the national fruit would be the kiwi, but it's not. That unofficial honor goes to feijoa (pronounced fee-jo-ah) which also isn't a native fruit, though most New Zealanders are wild about them. Know elsewhere as the pineapple guava, the perfumed green oval is only available for a few weeks in the fall as the fruit collects at the bottom of the trees where it is scooped up into boxes, baskets or buckets then shared equally with neighbors and strangers. The chances of finding one to sample depend on where you are, they come from South America, grow in California, Australia and of course New Zealand, they have a very short shelf life so for the most part they are not exported to other areas. For the food curious this could be a challenge. 

All Wet

 Before we get started with today's post I wanted to let the daily readers know there will be no posts for the next two days due to out of town appointments. That said today we can ponder some shower thoughts. Aliens invaded the moon on July 20th, 1969.  Tobacco companies kill their best customers and condom companies kill their future customers. When a company offers me a better price after I cancel my subscription, they're admitting they were overcharging me. Why's it called a building when it's already built? Shouldn't it be called a built?  "Do Not Touch" would probably be a really unsettling thing to read in braille.