From Sacred to Spooky

 For centuries cats were a symbol of the sacred, in Asia cats of any color are considered a sign of good fortune, while Welsh and Scottish folklore hold that the arrival of a black cat at your door brings good health and prosperity, in England black cats were considered lucky because they were thought to be better hunters who could move undetected in the dark. So how did they become associated with witches and bad luck? It may have started with the Greek goddess, Hecate the goddess of magic who had a cat that became her familiar and helped with her spells. To make matters worse in 1233 Pope Gregory IX put out his first papal bull concerning Germans worshiping the devil in the form of black cats. Interesting side note, some people claim the lack of cats in Europe at that time aided in the spread of the bubonic plague as there weren't enough cats to kill the rats and mice. 

 

Most Haunted

 The 10 most haunted places in the US are probably not where you'd guess, but data compiled according to the number of cemeteries in each state, documented haunted locations, documented ghost sightings and encounters and Google searches on hauntings were used to determine the results. You'll note that Stephen King's home state, Maine comes in at # 1. 

Rank	State	Spookiest Factor
1	Maine	Ghost sightings per 100,000 residents
2	Wyoming	Haunted locations (both documented and indexed) per 100,000 residents
3	Vermont	Documented haunted locations per 100,000 residents
4	South Dakota	Indexed haunted locations per 100,000 residents
5	North Dakota	Ghost sightings per 100,000 residents
6	West Virginia	Number of cemeteries per 100,000 residents
7	Kentucky	Number of cemeteries per 100,000 residents
8	Rhode Island	Number of cemeteries per 100,000 residents
9	Alaska	Indexed haunted locations per 100,000 residents
10	New Hampshire	Indexed haunted locations per 100,000 residents

The Thing With the Pointy Hat

 Though the exact origin of the black pointy hat associated with witches isn't totally clear the most common suggestion is Quaker women. In the mid 1600s the Quaker religion was founded in England and their beliefs were considered radical, especially that men and women were spiritual equals and women could become preachers. Quakers were persecuted and imprisoned for their difference and the women were often accused of witchcraft. Another explanation points to a cap Jewish men wore in medieval Europe willingly at first then in 1215 they were forced to wear the Judenhut to identify them as Jews. A lot of weird things trace back to religion, kind of makes a person go hmm. 

Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

 After 15 years of research and development Dole has successfully introduced a non GMO pineapple variety produced through conventional breeding. The Colada Royale pineapple embodies the taste and smell of a pina colada. It still tastes like a pineapple but with notes of creamy coconut and vanilla, the coloring is also different being a more beige hue. Some pluses are it's juicier and has a smaller core so there's less waste. Another interesting side note...Dole is an Irish-American brand and one of the world's largest fruit and vegetable producers. A percentage of proceeds from the sales of Colada Royale will go to building a community center for the farm workers in Honduras where it was bred. 

E- Shoes

 This innovation is scary at best. Nike is calling it "Project Amplify" the world's first powered footwear system. It isn't intended for professional use but to enhance casual runners/walkers performance much like an e-bike gives the rider pedal power. The device resembles an ankle brace with a motor, drive belt and rechargeable battery. The scary part is unlike an e-bike you aren't sitting down so if it makes you go faster than your body is capable of going won't that lend itself to falls, overloading your lungs and heart? 

Ghost Sensor

 Good news for Tesla owners! Not only can your Cybertruck double as a dumpster but all models equipped with 360 central display screens allowing them to identify nearby objects such as pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vehicles can also warn the driver of the presence of ghosts! Even though it hasn't been verified one owner noticed several human shaped figures on the screen despite not seeing anyone with his eyes. So far Tesla has not responded to the matter even though others have reported similar experiences. One way to find out would be to buy a Tesla and cruise through a cemetery to check it out for yourself, though then you would be saddled with an expensive car that you might not be able to resell, but go ahead, take one in the name of science! 

Say Cheese

 Today's post features some of the finalists of the 2025 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. There are too many to show them all so I've selected the ones I thought worthy of an award. 

Blue Signs

 Even though today's post contains both the colors blue and red it has nothing to do with politics, it is literally about blue stop signs. Not many people happen upon blue stop signs as mostly they are red, though up until the 1950s stop signs were mostly yellow. So where might you need to go to encounter a blue stop sign? Blue stop signs can be found on private property where the owner needs to warn drivers of a hazard requiring them to stop, and on the island of Hawaii though the Aloha State mainly uses red stop signs. The bottom line is regardless of the color the law requires a driver to stop for a stop sign. 

Kids Rank Halloween Candy

 Back in the olden days there were no "Fun Size" candy bars, they didn't come out until 1968 and for the most part you took what was offered which was often popcorn balls or caramel apples, it was rare to get an actual candy bar. With that said kids today expect their tastes to be catered to and anything remotely healthy like raisins end up in the trash. Below find the list of the best and worst offerings according to the kids. 

 The Best: Zaeem, age 11: “Full-sized Twix or Hershey’s bar.”

Sawyer, age 11: “Sour Patch Kids, because they’re really yummy.”

Penny, age 7: “Candy corn, ’cause they taste really good.”

Joey, age 10: “A king-size Crunch bar is the sign of a great house. The rarest candy is Sugar Babies — I’ve never had one in my whole entire life. Gummy Krabby Patties would also be good.”

Musa, age 5: “Lollipops or Reese’s peanut butter cup Iselle, age 9: “There is a house in our neighborhood that sets up a table with whole bags of a single brand of candy and kids get to pick the one they want, though I watched a kid choose a whole bag of Dots over Smarties last year.”

Theo, age 10: “King-size Hershey’s, king-size anything!”s.”

The Worst:  Zaeem: “The worst thing to pass out are toothbrushes and raisins.”

Margot, age 7: “In my opinion, Warheads are the worst to give out because they are too sour and most kids don’t like them.”

Sawyer: “100 Grand bars are awful. I got so many of them one Halloween and they tasted awful.”

Kana, age 7: “Zombie Sour Patch Kids because they look weird and taste sour.”

Joey: “Twizzlers or licorice sticks. They suck. No one likes them.”

Miranda, age 11: “NEVER DENTAL FLOSS.”

Elena, age 8: “Fruit, raisins, veggies. No one wants healthy stuff.”

Logan, age 5: “Something out of the garbage.”

Aya, age 7: “Those candies that are hard and I don’t like them and I spit them in the trash.”

Kind of makes me want to hand out raisins!