Wok Your Body

Wok sledding officially begin in 2003 in Germany as a TV station gathered celebrities to race against each other on a bobsled track,from there it was literally all downhill! Wok racing has evolved into World Championships complete with sponsors and competitors who had previously used more conventional means of sliding down slopes. This is a sport I would enjoy trying however I only have an electric wok so I would need to get another to give it a whirl. When I was a kid I used the plastic/vinyl coat I had worn in first grade to slide down hills,it worked far better than the homemade sled we had which was so heavy it took at least two of us to haul it back up the hill,the weight of the thing being a hindrance to its ability to slide.

Do You Have a Crisp Issue?

About the time I think there won't be another invention that is surprising in its limited market I find another one. The Obol is a specially designed cereal bowl that allows the user to keep cereal and milk separated until the penultimate moment thus  preventing the dry cereal from prematurely mixing with the milk to create soggy cereal. Maybe it's just me since I don't eat much dry cereal but it seems like if a person enjoys dry cereal and milk there should be a certain expectation of sogginess,if sogginess can't be tolerated wouldn't a person just eat the cereal and forget about mixing it with milk? There were actual discussions about this product citing the cereal to milk ratio is off and that the milk reservoir was too deep so the milk became warm before the cereal was gone. It seems far fetched to imagine dry cereal actually having a fan base filled with connoisseurs,then again stranger things happen on a regular basis.

Ready,Set,Go?

How about another post with more silliness to brighten a dreary winter day? This annual event hasn't taken place yet this year so if you want to go or participate there still may be time! I'm talking about the Anchorage,Alaska Fur Rendezvous,aka the Fur Rondy. 2016 marks the 81st year  the 10 day festival has been held,the dates for this year are February 26-March 6. It includes many fun events like running with the reindeer,snowshoe baseball,frostbite footrace and costume fun run,Mr. Fur Face beard and mustache competition,snow sculpture,sled dog race and my personal favorite the outhouse race. The outhouses are on skis with 4 people pushing and one person in the throne position,one of the rules for the race is the outhouses must contain toilet paper,so I'm thinking the sit down job might be a bit scary or maybe there is another qualifier that I haven't heard mentioned yet?

Bundle Up...Except

For those of you who read the monthly calendar you may be wondering what the meaning was of today's holiday,No Pants Subway Ride Day and today is your lucky day! It started as a fun prank in 2002 and has grown to be a worldwide event held in at least 60 cities throughout the world with the largest event in New York City. The basic idea is random passengers board the subway at different stops in the middle of winter with no pants. The participants behave as if they don't know each other and all are wearing coats,scarves,hats and gloves but no pants. It began with seven guys and has since grown to be an international celebration of silliness. I'm a firm believer in the world needing more silliness,and less craziness,so if you desire find the date for next years celebration and drop trou on  your local public transit.

Na na na na na na na na na na na na Catmaaaan!

An interesting note before I get started with the subject for today,there are eighty na's in the famous Batman song,but today I am featuring Catman,not Batman. I call him Catman because he is the only person to have had two cats in the Guinness World Records for oldest cat. His first entry was for Granpa  Rexs Allen who lived to be 34 years and 2 months,not to be out done by Granpa, Creme Puff lived to be 38 years and 3 days. When asked the secret for his cats longevity he has an unusual list of what he thinks is the Kitty Fountain of Youth. Their daily diet consists of a top dry commercial cat food,a home-cooked breakfast of eggs,turkey bacon,broccoli,coffee with cream,and every two days about an eyedropper full of red wine to keep the arteries clear. He also stressed the need for stimulation,he converted his garage into a home movie theater where the cats watch nature documentaries,and last but the most important lots of love. My cats would look at me like I was crazy if I offered them any of those things,but his vet said there might be something about the coffee acting as a diuretic that contributes to their long lives,as kidneys are a feline weak spot.

Catman and Granpa

Creme Puff

Talking Turkey

The timing is admittedly off on today's post,but so far I haven't been able to figure out how to manipulate events for my convenience! The good news is the turkey in question did start showing up around Thanksgiving at the Natick,Mass police department  but didn't make headlines until earlier this month. It seems as though the bird is either admiring its image in the cruiser's hubcaps or thinks it's  seeing another bird who it would really like to get to know better. The officers are good about their new best friend and even called it in as "poultry in pursuit" and joked that they need to equip all the patrol cars with gravy scented air fresheners to scar the turkey off. The turkey's only other offense so far has been roosting on a traffic light without a permit. For those of you keeping track today's post is another slice of weirdness that didn't happen in Florida!

Veggie Abuse

Many vegetarians feel it is cruel to eat animals or animal products (I'm not going to split hairs over naming the different beliefs and the variation of their eating habits) but have they considered that many vegetables are alive up to the time they bite into or cook them? True they don't have a central nervous system or consciousness so it is assumed they don't feel pain but many still have  metabolic activity when you bring them home from the store. Fruits and veggies have a body clock just like humans and their defense is weakened when the day/night cycle is interrupted making them produce less of the chemicals to ward off insects. It is still in the research stage but it is believed that their circadian rhythm also dictates the nutritional value to such an extent that your refrigerator may someday have the light come on inside to keep optimal conditions for your produce.