Anti-Proverbs

These are permutations of common proverbs, often towards a humorous end. Another name is Perverbs.

There are dozens of ways of altering proverbs, and the general gist of an anti-proverb is taking a known saying and twisting it around.

It’s been suggested that the original meaning of the term perverb was to describe two proverbs that had been spliced together like a sort of whole-sentence portmanteau. Take the perverb “every dog has a silver lining,” a combination of “every dog has its day” and “every cloud has a silver lining.” As with the further examples below, you can see that the two hybridized proverbs are not random; rather, they follow a certain format that both have in common:
“A fool and his money is a friend indeed.”
“The road to hell is the spice of life.”
“Don’t count your chickens in midstream.”
“A penny saved is a penny taxed”
“Slaughter is the best medicine.”

Air Traffic Control Tower Windows

Air traffic control towers always have windows that slope toward the tower at the base. Many people assume that they are designed that way to prevent the sun's reflection or glare from blinding incoming pilots.

The benefit is not for those outside the tower, but those inside it. Ordinarily, we see reflections in glass all the time, as from computer screens, TVs, or car windows. Air traffic controllers must not have any distracting reflections as they monitor flights. By tilting the glass away, any errant light from inside the tower, such as video screens, lights, etc. are reflected up onto the ceiling, which is painted black.

Diamonds are Formed from Coal Myth Debunked

According to evolutionists and geologists, diamonds were formed about 1 to 3 billion years ago, much earlier than any known record of Earth’s first land plants. Coal is formed from the dead remains of vegetation like trees and other plants. The formation of coal takes millions of years and can be traced back 300 to 400 million years, but not a billion years.

Coal is an amorphous form of carbon and at the most can change its chemical composition and transform into its nearly purest form which is Graphite, but not diamond. The conversion of coal into diamond is almost impossible due to its impurities and the fact that coal is rarely found at depths greater than two miles which is not conducive to the formation of diamonds.

Natural diamonds require depths of 87 to 120 miles in the Earth’s mantle, very high temperatures, and resulting pressure that exists at those depths to form. Unlike other gems which are formed by a combination of elements, diamonds are made up of one single element, Carbon. Carbon-containing minerals present in the Earth at those depths, crystallize to form diamonds, because of the immense pressure together with the heat from molten magma.

The diamond crystals, along with other minerals are transported to the earth's surface during deep-source volcanic eruptions in the magma. This is quite a rare occurrence as diamonds are formed at depths usually 3 to 4 times deeper than normal volcanoes originate.

Diamonds color is influenced by impurities and can be blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (lattice defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange, red, and grades of those colors. Red diamonds are the rarest and most exotic diamonds. They are also the most expensive. Here are examples of a red and orange diamond.

When this magma cools, it forms igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites, used as an indicator by geologists that diamonds may be found in the area. The Kimberlites form narrow pipe shaped fissures which are also referred to as diamond pipes. Many of the pipes are also rich sources of garnets. The most prominent kimberlites are located in South and Central Africa, which contribute almost half of the natural diamonds mined in the World. Over 500 kimberlite deposits have also been found in Northern Canada.

Africa, Russia, Australia, and Canada are the largest diamond producing countries. BTW - Diamonds are not in short supply and are a terrible investment because there is no aftermarket.

Happy Friday

“The only real conflict you will ever have in your life won’t be with others, but with yourself.”

There is never a conflict when it comes to having a Happy Friday!

Idaho and Iowa

It is possibly the only state named due to a hoax. Lobbyist George Willing suggested the name “Idaho” for the new territory claiming it meant 'Gem of the Mountains' in a Native American language. It was later revealed Willing made up the name and the original Idaho territory was re-named Colorado because of it. Eventually the controversy was forgotten, and modern-day Idaho was given the made-up name when the Idaho Territory was formally created in 1863.

Des Moines, Iowa has an even more interesting origin. Two stories persist, the first that it was given the name La Rivière des Moines, literally meaning 'River of the Monks', by early French explorers. The second is that Peoria Indians told the first white settlers their rival tribe living in that area was named the Moingoana, which became the root of Des Moines. 

Indiana University researchers studied the extinct Miami-Illinois language and discovered that Moingoana, translated literally, meant 'shit faces' and agrees with the commonly held notion that the 'Moines' in Des Moines is a French derivation of Moingoana Since neither can be proven, I'll go with the second.

Six Uses for Nail Polish

Apply clear nail polish to the frayed screen to seal the hole.

Apply bright colored nail polish to mark levels (inside or outside) on buckets and containers.

Apply to screws, nuts and bolts with clear nail polish to prevent rusting, especially outside.

Mark the perfect shower temperature on the handle. It is waterproof.

Apply clear nail polish to secure screws, repair small wood fractures, or re-set jewelry stones.

Use a drop of clear nail polish on the glasses screws to stop them from coming loose.

Time Tip

This should take us back to school and something most understand, but wonder what it actually means. The 12-hour clock can be traced back as far as 1560 BC.

Outside of English-speaking countries, the terms a.m. and p.m. are seldom used and often unknown. In most countries, computers by default show 24-hour time.

The letters after numbers when talking about time: a.m. stands for “ante meridiem”, which is Latin for “Before Midday”; p.m. stands for “Post Meridiem”, which is Latin for “After Midday”.

Depending on the style guide referenced, the abbreviations are variously written in small capitals, uppercase letters ("AM" and "PM"), or lowercase letters ("am" and "pm" or "a.m." and "p.m."). Guides also suggest the use of a space between the number and the am or pm abbreviation.  It is time for me to be done with this.

Wordology, Eggcorn

An eggcorn is a change in pronunciation and/or spelling which results in a new word or phrase that still makes a certain amount of sense, but deviates from the original. That is the difference between an eggcorn and a malapropism, which is an error in speech that results in something similar, but nonsensical.

“That is mind-bottling.”
“That man has old-timer’s disease.”
“I'll have a glass of skimp milk?

Eggcorns are completely or or nearly equal, from a phonetic standpoint. The listener may not even realize that an eggcorn has even been uttered.

Say, 'Texas has a lot of electrical votes'. This is not an eggcorn. Although it sounds almost the same, any connection to the original meaning of “electoral” is gone.

The term “eggcorn” was coined by linguist Geoffrey Pullum in 2003. He used the example of a woman who said “egg corn” rather than “acorn” which sound almost identical, depending on pronunciation.

Where Ricin Comes From

A while back, mail containing ricin was sent to the president and to a congressman, so I went looking to find out about it. Ricin is a naturally occurring toxin in castor beans, which come from castor-oil plants. It can be extracted from the beans or the waste leftover after castor oil is made from them.

Castor beans can be crushed to extract oil, or processed to make ricin. In its purest form, ricin is a white powder and dissolves in water.

Someone can be poisoned with ricin by inhaling the powder or a mist of dissolved ricin, or by injection. The purified toxin from a single castor bean is lethal enough to kill a thousand people.

Ricin blocks the ability of cells to make proteins and can kill in a matter of days. There is currently no antidote for ricin poisoning.

Facts About Olives

Did you know the main difference between green and black olives is when they were picked? Green olives are picked before they are ripe, while black olives are allowed to ripen on the tree.

After that, green olives are soaked in a solution containing lye, then fermented in brine for anywhere between 6 to 12 months after being picked. The longer the olive is fermented, the less bitter and more flavorful it becomes. Green olives are usually pitted, and often stuffed with items such as pimientos, anchovies, jalapenos, garlic or onions.

Black olives are also soaked in lye to lessen their bitterness, then cured in brine, but rarely stuffed. Green olives contain about twice as much sodium as black olives, while black olives contain more oil than green.

Olive oil  has been considered sacred since ancient times and is still used in religious ceremonies today. It was used to anoint kings in ancient Greece, for grooming bodies and hair in Ancient Rome, burnt in sacred lamps of temples, rubbed on the first Olympic athletes to cure muscle aches. Victors in Olympic games were crowned with wreathes made of olive branches and leaves.

Olive trees can live for over a thousand years.

Speaking of Olives and long living, Popeye's friend Olive Oyl was the main star of the comic strip for ten years before Popeye took top billing. She was also the supposed fiancee of Harold Hamgravy before Popeye stepped into her life.

Olive's family included  her brother, Castor Oyl, Castor's estranged wife, Cylinda Oyl, their mother, Nana Oyl (after banana oil), their father, Cole Oyl. Olive's nieces Diesel Oyl and Violet Oyl, her two uncles, Otto Oyl and Lubry Kent Oyl and cousin, sultry blonde Sutra Oyl.

Ant Facts

Spring is here and the ants have come out. Worker ants are foraging for food, looking after the colony's young, and defending their home for unwanted intruders. One nest in South America has had up to 700,000 members.

Ants are clean insects. Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump. Each colony of ants has its own smell. In this way, intruders can be recognized.

Black Ants and Wood Ants have no sting, but they can squirt a spray of formic acid. Some birds put ants in their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid which gets rid of parasites.

The Slave-Maker Ant raids the nests of other ants and steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch,they work as slaves within the colony. Worker ants keep eggs and larvae in different groups according to ages.

Ants undergo complete metamorphosis from egg, to larva, to pupa, to adult. Each ant colony begins with, and centers around the queen, whose sole purpose is to reproduce. Although the queen may copulate with several males during her brief mating period, she never mates again. She stores sperm in an internal pouch, where sperm remain immobile until she opens a valve that allows them to enter her reproductive tract to fertilize the eggs.

The queen ant lives a significantly longer life than her workers. A queen of the species Lasius niger in Europe lived for 29 years in captivity. Queen ants lay the eggs that grow into worker ants. A leafcutter ant queen in South America lived for 14 years and bred over 150 million worker ants in her lifetime.

The queen controls the sex of her offspring. Fertilized eggs produce females, either wingless workers seldom capable of reproduction, or reproductive virgin queens, which are produced only when there are sufficient workers to allow for the expansion of the colony.

Unfertilized eggs develop into winged males who do no work, and exist solely to fertilize a virgin queen. The queen produces myriads of workers by secreting a chemical that retards wing growth and ovary development in the female larvae.

After mating, queen ants and male ants lose their wings. The queen scurries off in search of a site to start her new nest. If she survives, she digs a nest, lays eggs, and single-handedly raises her first brood that consists entirely of workers.

Whoopee Cushions

The whoopee cushion is a classic design that has not changed since its launch in 1932.

The idea of sitting down to make a funny noise is much older, Queen Victoria was given a musical bustle in 1887 for her Golden Jubilee which played 'God Save the Queen' when the wearer sat down. The Roman Emperor Elagabulus used an early version of the whoopee cushion at his dinner parties.

The Quad City Mallards ice hockey team hold the world record for the largest simultaneous whoopee cushion sit with 3,614 sitters taking part at Moline, Illinois, USA.

Whoopi Goldberg (Caryn Elaine Johnson) got her stage name from her childhood flatulence and the fact that it made her sound like a whoopee cushion. She adopted the traditionally Jewish surname 'Goldberg' as a stage name, because her mother felt that Johnson was not "Jewish enough" to make her a star. Well, that's about the end of it.

Patriot's Day

Patriots Day April 19 - America had remained neutral in the war until April 6th of 1917 when President Wilson and the U.S. Congress made a declaration of war. This poster calls for the American people to get on board with the war efforts.

Political Bonus

We tend to think the people in Congress today are a bit looney, but it all started way earlier.

In 1936, Democrats took over Rhode Island’s state senate and began giving out $100 bonuses to veterans. A Republican was concerned at this liberality and quietly recommended a bonus for Sgt. Evael O.W. Tnesba of the Twelfth Machine Gun Battalion. A Democrat seconded the bill and it passed immediately, sending a ripple of laughter through the chamber.

Sensing they’d been had, the Democrats referred the bill to a committee for study. There they discovered that Evael O.W. Tnesba spelled backward is Absent W.O. Leave.