Gaudy or Gaudi

Some people might think Antoni Gaudi's name spawned the word Gaudy (or gawdy) because of his outlandish architecture. The word Gaudy means ostentatious or tastelessly ornamental.


Gaudi's architechture is the epitome of Gaudy. It is coincidence that his name is so close to the adjective as gaudy had been in use for a few hundred years before he was born. His Sagrada Família, is a large Roman Catholic church that began construction in 1882 and is scheduled for completion in 2026 (not a typo).

Some of Gaudi's creations, including the church can be found here LINK.

Testicle Festival

Speaking of gaudy, this festival runs from August 3 - 7 at the Rock Creek Lodge, Montana. Obviously for adults only, it is also known as the “Testy Festy” or the “Breasticle Festival,” this four-day drunken jamboree is filled with wet t-shirt contests, pig wrestling, stripping, mooning, bull riding, and fried bull testicle consumption.

Rocky Mountain Oysters, or bull testicles are considered delicious by a select group of fine diners. In a showcase of masculine virility, There is even a bull testicle eating contest. Matt Powers took the title after consuming over 40 bull testicles in four minutes. Mentioned in Playboy as one of the top things to do in the summer, they advertise "come out and have a ball!”

Meat Labeling

Food manufacturers are now pushing the federal government for more truthful labeling that would allow them to tell consumers clearly that some products contain nitrate and nitrite, from natural rather than synthetic sources. The current rules require products that derive the preservatives from natural sources to prominently place the words “Uncured” and “No nitrates or nitrites added” on the label even though they are cured and do contain the chemicals.

A study published earlier this year in The Journal of Food Protection found that natural hot dogs had anywhere from one-half to ten times the amount of nitrite that conventional hot dogs contained. Natural bacon had from about a third as much nitrite as a conventional brand to more than twice as much.

The current U.S.D.A. labeling rules require natural products to indicate there may be naturally occurring nitrate or nitrite, but it often appears in small print. When combined with the more prominently displayed “No nitrates or nitrites added” banner, many consumers are left scratching their heads.

The U.S.D.A. responded by limiting the amount of nitrate and nitrite that goes into processed meats, and today they contain far less than they did 40 years ago.

However, scientists have gained more understanding of the role of nitrate and nitrite in human health and have discovered the preservatives also have benefits, for example, in the healthy functioning of the cardiovascular and immune systems.

Some in the meat industry have seized on these discoveries to dismiss as outdated, the link between nitrite in processed meat and cancer. They insist processed meats are safe. Sounds good to me, bacon and hot dogs need more nitrates and nitrites, like the good ol' days.

Arnold Palmer

During 1968, Arnold Palmer became the first golfer to make a million dollars in career earnings after he tied for second place at the PGA Championship.

It took Palmer 13 years and 2 months as a professional golfer to reach that goal. He won 52 golf tournaments during that time.

Tiger Wood's Woods

Speaking of golf, during July 2000, Tiger Woods won the British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland to become the youngest player, at  24, to win the career Grand Slam of golf (The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open) and the first to win all four majors since Jack Nicklaus’ victory in the 1966.

What's in a Name, Automobiles

Buick racing driver Louis Chevrolet started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. When William C. Durant became the president of General Motors in 1916, he shortly bought Chevrolet and folded it in the the General Motors lineup. So Chevrolet was conceived by a Buick Motor Company (Originally the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company) racing driver, who just happened to be named Chevrolet. Buick is the oldest active American make of car and was named after its founder, David Dunbar Buick.

Eleven Bacon Facts

Americans consume an average of 18 pounds of bacon per year.
BLT became popular after WWII when lettuce and tomatoes became available in stores all year.
Oscar Mayer patented packages sliced bacon in 1924.
Over $2 billion of packaged,sliced bacon is consumed each year. 
Guanciale is an Italian specialty bacon made from pigs cheeks.
A single serving of bacon is considered three medium slices and it has only 100 calories.
90.4% of the Brits have bacon in their homes.
In USA bacon is eaten 70% breakfast, 11% lunch, 17% dinner, and 2% snack.
A side of unsliced bacon was once known as a flitch, but now is known as a slab.
An individual slice of bacon is a slice or strip.
The term rasher of bacon is occasionally found on restaurant menus and means a serving, typically several slices.

Wrist Watches

Blaise Pascal was born June 19, 1623, in Clermont-Ferrand, France.  He was a mathematical prodigy, and at age 16, he wrote a treatise on geometry that was so original it aroused the interest of the philosopher and mathematical genius, Rene Descartes.  At age 18, he invented a numerical calculating machine, which became part of the the foundation for modern computer technology. He was also the first person to wear a watch on his wrist and did so by fastening his pocket watch to his wrist with a cord. He died at age 39.

Time keeping of the day being divided into two twelve hour periods dates back to about 2,000AD and the Egyptians. Geared clocks came about in the 11th century. The modern wristwatch was invented by Patek Philippe, in 1868, but only as a lady’s bracelet watch. Louis Cartier created the Santos wristwatch in 1904, the first man's wristwatch and the first designed for practical use. Wow, three hundred years from idea to practical use. Computers even took longer, but they have evolved much faster. The internet evolved faster than all of them and that is where I found this info to share.

TV Horror Hosts

Most of us probably remember the great Saturday night hosts of those awful mostly black and white horror films. This site lists what it considers the top ten from around the country. LINK One of my favorites was not listed. He was the ghoul from Ohio. One of his bits was to eat cheeze whiz with his fingers, directly from the bottle. One of his sayings I remember is, 'Scratch glass and turn blue'. Have no idea what that means. Anyway, go see the link, and yes it does have Vampira and Elvira.

Happy Friday

A man cannot succeed in life who does not satisfy one friend.

join me my friend, while we celebrate a successful Happy Friday!

Bologna Festival

This year it will be held next week, July 29-31 in Yale, Michigan and twenty thousand people are expected to join the fun. Yale bologna is said to be some of the best in the world. It is bit more course and strongly seasoned than Oscar Mayer slices. This bologna has been rumored to help people live to be 120 years old and I will let you know when I reach it. Every year, well over a thousand pounds of bologna are served either fried in sandwiches, stuck between a bun as a hot dog or placed on a stick for quick consumption. Bologna is  also great barbecued.

The Bologna Queen crown is quite prestigious in Yale. Contestants must declare their intention to run up to six weeks in advance and be willing to raise tens of thousands of dollars for charity. The lucky lady who captures this title receives a crown of ring bologna and a King for her arm. Of course, there is also the outhouse race where people build interesting 'houses' on wheels to push around town as fast as they can. They must include a Sears catalog and somebody riding inside. Mmmm, wish I was there, ring bologna is one of my favorites. Yes, bologna is the proper spelling even though most pronounce it baloney.

Wonders of Living Trees

This site LINK contains a fantastic collection of tree photographs and what people with a great deal of patience make from living trees. Fascinating views of living architecture. It also has links to many other sites of nature's grandeur. Be careful or you can lose hours viewing the natural beauty.

Cell Phones and Driving Bans

It's legal in 41 states for drivers to use hand-held cell phones, and a leading highway safety organization recommends keeping it that way for now. Nine states have bans in place.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, or GHSA, urges states to hold off on banning the practice until more research is done to gauge the effectiveness of such laws. "The problem is the research is conflicting on the issue," says Barbara Harsha, executive director of the group, which advises states on traffic safety. "We don't know if hand-held bans are effective, and we don't know if they actually make the problem worse."

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said last year it found no reduction in crashes after hand-held cellphones were banned in California, Connecticut, New York and Washington, D.C.

At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal agency that tracks road deaths, "we feel strongly there is robust evidence on the dangers of distracted driving," says Lynda Tran, NHTSA's director of communications. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has made curbing distracted driving a signature issue.

Texting while driving is illegal in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Twelve states banned it in 2009, another 11 did so last year, and two have this year.

No states ban all cellphone use by all drivers.

What's in a Name, Hollywood

The name Hollywood, California is derived from the small, bright red, holly-like pomes of California holly, a common native shrub in the hills where the city was established. California holly is not related to true holly, a member of the holly family.

The fruits of California holly are about the size of a pencil erasure. They resemble miniature apples. Like true apples, the freshly-cut fruit readily becomes oxidized and turns yellowish-brown in the air. Yes, they are edible.