Did You Know?

Spider silk is very light weight. 25,000 miles – the circumference of Earth – of a single fiber would weigh about 16 ounces.

Boston Butt

Don’t be too grossed out when you hear this name; it doesn’t mean “butt” as in “rear end” - the cut actually comes from the front shoulder of the pig.

During colonial days New England butchers tended to take less prized cuts of pork like these and pack them into barrels for storage and transport. The barrels the pork went into were called butts. This particular shoulder cut became known around the country as a New England specialty, and hence it became the “Boston butt.” Interesting that this name is not used in Boston. A hogshead is 64.8 US gallons and butt it equal to two US hogsheads or 126 US gallons.

Finders Keepers

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, the saying "Finders keepers (losers weepers)" dates as far back as the early 19th century, recorded as, "No halfers-findee keepee, lossee seekee."

Almost 150 years later, Elvis Presley put it to music in 1963 when he sang "Finders keepers, losers weepers. The loser has to pay the score."

Lance Armstrong

He was born Lance Edward Gunderson, 18 September 1971 in Plano, Texas, USA. His name was changed when he was adopted. His ancestors have been in the US since the 1600s. In 1992, Lance Armstrong finished last in the San Sebastian Classic, his first race as a professional. Then went on to win the Tour de France seven times, before taking a few years off.

Armstrong willingly took a backseat to Contador and put the team before his own needs assisting the 26-year-old Spaniard in winning the Tour de France this July. Armstrong put his aspirations for a eighth Tour victory on the backburner, but most certainly has his eyes on the prize in 2010.

To Drink or Not to Drink

That is the question. A study in Scotland of 6,000 working men, aged 35 to 64 from West and Central Scotland were tracked for 28 years, and yielded some interesting results. It didn't say, but it appears that a 'unit' is an ounce. According to the article, twenty one units of alcohol per week is the government’s recommended maximum weekly amount.

The results showed that men drinking over 22 units of alcohol a week had a 20% higher rate of admissions into acute care hospitals than non-drinkers, but low levels of alcohol consumption increased the number of days stayed in the hospital.

Those downing 22 or more weekly units had more admissions for respiratory illness, but they had the lowest rates of admission for coronary heart disease. Non-drinkers had the highest rates of admission for coronary heart disease.

The number of admissions for stroke started with a weekly tally of 15 units, and progressively increased the more weekly units were consumed.

Men drinking 22 or more units a week had more admissions for a mental health problem, but non-drinkers had a higher rate of admissions for mental ill health than those who drank between one and 14 units a week. Kind of reaffirms the old adage - all things in moderation.

Pet Rock

Do you remember the pet rock fad that was around a long time ago?

Here it is updated to a USB pet rock. That's rockin'.

Men vs. Women

Bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers were all invented by women.

3.9% of all women surveyed say they never wear underwear.

80% of American men say they would marry the same woman if they had it to do all over again.

50% of American women say they would marry the same man.

58% of men say they are happier after their divorce or separation.

85% of women say they are happier.

< 3% of mammal species are monogamous, including Dwarf Mongooses, Beavers, otters, foxes, and Prairie Voles (shown above)

Mattress Facts

A ten year old mattress weighs double what it did when it was new, because of the debris which is absorbed through the years. That debris includes dust mites, their droppings and their decaying bodies, mold, millions of dead skin cells, dandruff, human hair, secretions, excretions, lint, pollen, dust, soil, sand and a lot of perspiration, of which the average person loses a quart per day.

Chicken and Egg Solved

According to Genesis 1:20-22 the chicken came before the egg. "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that hath life. . . It doesn't say, "Let there be eggs."

Date and Time

At 5 minutes and 6 seconds after 4 AM on the 8th of July this year, the time and date will be 04:05:06 07/08/09

News

If you don't watch the news you are uninformed.
If you do watch the news you are misinformed.

George Washington

George Washington spent about 7% of his annual salary on liquor.

Merle Haggard, Outlaw

Long before he was an outlaw country crooner, Merle Haggard was a real outlaw. At 20, Haggard and a few friends planned to rob a restaurant.

They got drunk and waited until 3 o'clock in the morning, when they knew it would be empty, but when they broke in, they were surprised to find the restaurant full of people. Turns out, in their drunken haze, they accidentally wandered in at 10:30 pm. The attempted burglary landed Haggard in San Quentin State Prison, where he saw Johnny Cash perform three times, inspiring him to pick guitars instead of locks.

Do You Testify

To 'testify' was based on men in the Roman court swearing to a statement made by swearing on their testicles.

Chew the Fat

During the middle ages in England, folks could seldom afford pork. When they did, it made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could 'bring home the bacon.' They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and 'chew the fat.'

Virgin Galactic

Sir Richard Branson completed a successful test on May 28, 2009 of its hybrid nitrous oxide motor. The motor is the largest of its kind in the world and offers safety features including a kill switch allowing the spaceship to glide back to Earth and perform a conventional runway touch down.

The Virgin Galactic model dubbed SpaceShipTwo is an extraordinary design for a space tourism spacecraft. It will launch after reaching the upper atmosphere and detaching from the mother ship called Eve. The hybrid motor does not contain harmful toxins as solid rockets used by the space shuttle and the upper atmosphere launch provides cost savings for fuel.

It has a capacity to carry six space tourists and two pilots into suborbital space at speeds up to 2500 mph and soar about 65-miles above the Earth. The expected ticket price is $200,000 per passenger and currently there are 300 space tourists on the waiting list. Testing of the shuttle will begin later this year.

Smithsonian Institute

There are approximately 143,500,000 objects, works of art, and specimens in the Smithsonian. One of them, the Hope Diamond, is 45.52 carats. It glows in the dark after exposure to UV rays and is semiconductive, too.

Father's Day or Mother's Day

This is actually for sale, $29.95. Here is a gift for the person in your family that might have a, uh, problem. Under-Ease are underwear for protection against bad human gas (malodorous flatus) and are made from a soft air-tight polyurethane-coated nylon. To maintain the air-tightness, elastic is sewn into the material around the waist and both legs.

A triangular "exit hole" for the flatus to be expelled is cut from the back of the air-tight underwear, near the bottom. This "exit hole" is covered with a pocket made of ordinary porous fabric sewn over the "exit hole". This unique design forces all expelled gas (flatus) out through the "pocket". Inside the pocket is a high-functioning, replaceable filter. The ad says nothing about sound deadening.Caveat Emptor.

Alaska

Home of Polar Bears, gold, oil, Eskimos, and Sarah Palin.

• Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.

• In spring, the melting dome of an igloo is replaced with a covering of animal skins to form a between-season dwelling called a 'qarmaq'.

• Alaska has about 640,000 residents.

• The word 'igloo' comes from the inuit 'iglu', meaning 'house'.

• Russian whalers and fur traders on Kodiak Island established the first settlement in Alaska in 1784.

• In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H. Seward offered Russia $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for Alaska. Remember Sewards Folly from Geography lessons? On October 18, 1867 Alaska officially became the property of the United States.

• Joe Juneau's 1880 discovery of gold ushered in the gold rush era.

• In 1943 Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, which started the One Thousand Mile War.
  

• The Alaska Highway was originally built as a military supply road during World War II.

• Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

• Alaska accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the United States.

• Alaska is the United State's largest state and is over twice the size of Texas (ouch). Measuring from north to south the state is approximately 1,400 miles long and measuring from east to west it is 2,700 miles wide. It covers 570,374 square miles.

• The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.

• The Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour on its 800 mile journey to Valdez.

• Dog mushing is the official state sport.

Human Beings

If we really are the masters of the universe, why is it that our species is the only one that is required to use toilet paper?