Candy Conformity

The accuracy of these numbers is questionable since the poll was done by CandyStore.com though I wouldn't argue with the results for Oregon. 96% of the people who celebrate Halloween spend an average of  $31.93 each for a nationwide total of 3.6 billion. The top ten candies nationwide are Reese's Cups, M&M's, Hot Tamales, Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Starburst, Hershey's Kisses, Candy Corn, Hershey's Mini Bars, and Snickers. If you're looking to score a full size candy bar Oregon is your best bet. A list of the top candy for each state is included so you can see the favorites state by state. 

Alabama: Skittles
Alaska: Twix
Arizona: Hershey’s Kisses
Arkansas Butterfinger
California: M&M’s
Colorado: Milky Way
Connecticut: Almond Joy
Delaware: Sour Patch Kids
Florida: Reese’s Cups
Georgia: Jolly Ranchers
Hawaii: Hershey’s Mini Bars
Idaho: Snickers
Illinois: Sour Patch Kids
Indiana: Starburst
Iowa: Reese’s Cups
Kansas: M&M’s
Kentucky: Reese’s Cups
Louisiana: Lemonheads
Maine: Sour Patch Kids
Maryland: Hershey’s Kisses
Massachusetts: Butterfinger
Michigan: Starburst
Minnesota: Hot Tamales
Mississippi: 3 Musketeers
Missouri: Almond Joy
Montana: Twix
Nebraska: Sour Patch Kids
Nevada: Hershey’s Mini Bars
New Hampshire: Reese’s Cups
New Jersey: Tootsie Pops
New Mexico: Hot Tamales
New York: Sour Patch Kids
North Carolina: M&M’s
North Dakota: Hot Tamales
Ohio: Blow Pops
Oklahoma: Skittles
Oregon: M&M’s
Pennsylvania: Hershey’s Mini Bars
Rhode Island: M&M’s
South Carolina: Skittles
South Dakota: Starburst
Tennessee: Tootsie Pops
Texas: Sour Patch Kids
Utah: Candy Corn
Vermont: M&M’s
Virginia: Butterfinger
Washington DC: M&M’s
Washington: Tootsie Pops
West Virginia: Hershey’s Mini Bars
Wisconsin: Butterfinger
Wyoming: Reese’s Cups

Tongue Tied

 Even though tongue prints are proving to be a safer biometric authentication than fingerprints or eye scans it will still be awhile before you'll be using lick to open technology. Fingerprints can be altered, smeared and other wise ruined for identification purposes, same deal with eyes, they can change with age or eye disease and both fingerprints and eye scan can be obtained fairly easily for nefarious purposes. Enter the tongue print...since the tongue lives in your mouth it would be harder to make someone use their tongue for ID purposes short of cutting it off. The problem is there is no data base at this time that catalogues tongue prints but don't be surprised when tongue prints become the next security authentication.  

Scrap Art

 It may not be the best way to recycle but an Oregon artist uses springs, nuts and bolts, silverware and various used items from auto shops to sculpt these incredible animals. He works on commission and is branching out with his sculptures into other areas like a cowboy boot and a human face. 

Mad Honey

 What happens when bees feed exclusively on rhododendrons? The honey takes on a reddish hue, is slightly bitter and it causes hallucinations. The toxins in the bushes are to protect them from the herbivores who would otherwise dine on the rhododendrons. The mad honey isn't much of a problem unless you happen to be in Turkey or Nepal but even then the hives are built on cliffs and are hard to harvest though that didn't stop army commanders in ancient times from leaving honeytraps for the opposition leaving them sick and disoriented for days and death wasn't out of the equation if too much mad honey was consumed. 

You Say It's Your Birthday

 Celebrating a birthday varies from country to country, in Jamaica the celebrant gets doused with flour and sometimes eggs, at a first birthday in Japan the child is expected to predict their future by choosing from a selection of items or sometimes cards representing items to indicate what their occupation will be. The Dutch people have what they call circle parties where everyone sits in a circle and congratulates the other people on knowing the person having the birthday and no you can't just say congratulations everyone as it would be thought rude. I'm hoping at some point all these other customs are followed by cake otherwise having birthdays would be even less fun. 

Space Fashion

 Remember how the space program was exposed for gross overspending? then not long after that things went quiet and no more missions were planned. Now we are back in the space business but this time instead of million dollar pens (which NASA didn't actually pay to develop) we are partnering with Prada to make the space suits for the 2025 trip to the moon. The explanation for the partnership is that Prada has the technical expertise of the raw materials and how to engineer the design to make the suits more comfortable. Now it's beginning to make sense why fashion shows have been churning out designs that look like astronaut garb for many years! 

Croctober

 Who knew that Crocs took over the month of October in 2017 on what was once National Crocodile Day or October 23rd? and if you don't find that disturbing then how about Crocs Cowboy Boots? Wasn't the whole idea behind Crocs to be able to slip them on? never mind that they have meetings on the ideas Crocs fans send in then make the shoes from those ideas. One can only hope no one sends in an idea to strap nuclear missiles to a pair of Crocs. Last month it was a mostly harmless Shrek Croc which might be a fun thing for kids to wear or maybe to kick around the house in but would anyone be comfortable getting caught at the grocery store in a pair of Shrek Crocs? Sorry about two days of shoes as the subject matter but it could always be worse.