The Cat Did It

Most of you have probably heard of Koko the gorilla who has a 1,000 word sign language vocabulary,and understands spoken language enough that when she  heard people talking about the death of her friend Robin Williams,she became visibly saddened. I think that was true for many people,he touched a lot of lives with his personality. Koko also has a love of cats and convinced her caretakers to get her a kitten for a pet. Her first kitten got outside of the facility and was ran over. Since that first kitten she has had more and for the most part treats them like they are her own family,however one kitten took the fall  for Koko when she ripped a sink out of the wall in her room and when asked by her handlers what had happened,Koko signed "the cat did it"!
 

Keep on Rockin'

I knew there were air guitar competitions but I didn't know that for the last 20 years an Air Guitar World Championship event has been held in Oulu,Finland. Air guitarists gather from all over the world for the title. Last year the title went to a 19 year old woman from Japan who defeated the defending US champion leaving him with 3rd place. This year the air-off will be held August 26-28. I at times think of myself as an air drummer,but not so much so that I would ever enter a competition,though I did watch a movie about air drumming,"Adventures of Power",it was fairly lame. As far as I know there is no World Championship for air drummers at this time,so I'm safe on that count.

If You Go...

If you are planning on attending "The World's Falcons Beauty Contest" in Abu Dhabi you may also want to check out the world's first gold plated vending machine. The ATM dispenses 320 items made of gold,including 10 gram gold bars and customized gold coins. If you don't go to Abu Dhabi there are now more than 20 Gold to Go locations worldwide. The first in the US was installed in Boca Raton,Florida in 2010,and there is also one on West 57th Street in New York City. The prices are updated to market value every 60 seconds,so the chance of making a mint are slim. Unlike the regular ATM s the Gold to Go machines are fitted like an armored vehicle to thwart break in attempts.

Bird's Eye View

If you are a bird fancier and have nothing going on in September (9th-12th) it might please you to attend "The World's Falcons Beauty Contest" in Abu Dhabi. The birds are judged according to weight,measurement of body,feather consistency and color,details of the head,body and legs,and their overall look and health. Falconry is practiced in over 80 countries and is not strictly hunting but includes social and inherited traditions and values. Beautiful birds!

Tater Tots

The etymology of today's term if both quite certain and recent,and did I mention humorous? Couch Potato was first coined in July of 1976 by Tom Iacino who phoned Robert Armstrong,his cartoonist friend (an avid TV watcher) and when his girlfriend answered Tom knew what his friend was doing. He asked the girlfriend,"Hey,is the couch potato there?" It was intended as a pun combining the phrase "boob tube" and tuber. As the phrase became more common the puns became more plentiful. "Transcendental Vegetation" or TV for short. When asked why the potato was the vegetable of choice it was explained that: "We're an underground movement,we're all eyes when planted in front of the TV,and we're tubers. Get it?" In Canada they put their own spin on the phrase and call them Chesterfield Spuds.
 

Easter Bunny et al

Imaginary friends,both the invisible kind and those that live in inanimate objects are now officially fine for kids of all ages. In the not so distant past psychologists thought children should lose their imaginary friends around school age when they started meeting lots of other children and had plenty of other things to occupy their young minds. In the present era imaginary friends are thought to show a healthy mind and creative tendencies. Before I wind up today I want to say that this doesn't necessarily reflect my personal beliefs one way or another,but every religious holiday makes me wonder what people's imaginary friends (Gods) would think if they were aware of all the people,both innocent and otherwise who have died over the centuries in their names (the different gods)? It makes me think it might be time to don some foul weather gear and get ready for another really big flood.
Peace.

Hindsight

When Billy Wilder said "hindsight is always 20/20", he knew what he was saying. When I ordered my now over a year old computer I didn't order a new monitor thinking the one I had was still working fine,so why junk it when it might have years of life left? Beep,I lose. It apparently had just a little over a year of life left as when I went to fire up the computer while my morning coffee brewed, I was met with a dead monitor. Some people freak out when they are without TV,with me it is my computer. I pretty much slammed my coffee,choked down breakfast,really fast shower and out the door before 9. I got back home in a little over 1/2 hour and was already feeling more relaxed with new monitor in hand...but wait is the battle really over so easily? Not when a person doesn't read the instructions,but who would have thought there would be anything difficult about hooking up a new monitor? As it turned out there wasn't anything that difficult,but I spent over an hour trying to find where one of the cables hooked into the computer,that is when in desperation I turned to the instructions to find out that I didn't need that cable! All is well now,but it was another close call for insanity.