Sound Mirrors

Mirrors can actually reflect sound as well as light. Mirrors that reflect sound waves are known as “acoustic mirrors,” and were used in Britain during World War I to detect certain sound waves coming from enemy aircraft from 8 to 15 miles away. This was before the development of radar.

Several were built around the coast of Britain, and are still standing today on both the north and south shores of England. They are also called listening stones.

Concrete acoustic mirrors were built on the south and northeast coasts of England between about 1916 and the 1930s. The ‘listening ears’ were intended to provide early warning of incoming enemy aircraft.

They did work, but the development of faster aircraft made them less useful, as an incoming aircraft would be within sight by the time it had been located. Also, increasing ambient noise made the mirrors more difficult to use successfully, and then radar rendered acoustic detection redundant.

There is also an example of one that is a parabolic sound mirror carved into boulders to dramatically magnify the sound of a nearby stream for listeners. It is inspired by satellite dishes, the seating in choir lofts where curved walls reflect sound, and the antique hand-held sound magnifiers used in the days before hearing aids.

Dial 311

The 311 number has been used for years, but many are not aware of it. It was used in the distant past as a number dialed in TV shows and some movies in the same way as the now used 555 prefix.

This number is available in most US and Canadian cities for a wide range of non-emergency services, such as graffiti, high weeds, litter, and garbage cart replacement, aggressive or dead animals, non-working street lights, noise complaints, potholes, etc. Most large cities have made this available and the list of cities continues to grow. When in doubt, try dialing 311 before calling 911 and they can help. Handy to use when you do not know the phone number for non-emergency police or city services.

Old Spice

The first Old Spice® product, called Early American Old Spice for women, was introduced in 1937, closely followed by Old Spice for men in 1938. The Old Spice products were manufactured by the Shulton Company that was founded in 1934 by William Lightfoot Schultz.

Early American Old Spice was developed around a colonial theme. When Old Spice was introduced, Schultz was interested in maintaining a colonial framework for those products and chose a nautical theme for Old Spice. Thus, colonial sailing ships were used as a trademark. Through continuous use and advertising, the various ships have become a valuable trademark identifying the Old Spice product for men.

The original ships used on the packaging were the Grand Turk and the Friendship. Other ships used on Old Spice packaging include the Wesley, Salem, Birmingham and Hamilton.

Procter & Gamble purchased the Old Spice fragrances, skin care, antiperspirant, and deodorant products from the Shulton Company in June 1990.

Origins of Gin and Tonic

British soldiers fighting in the Indies had a serious problem with Malaria. The British also had a tonic water that contained quinine, which was effective at fighting malaria. The tonic water tasted terrible, so the British soldiers mixed gin with it to make it palatable. Upon returning home after the war, they continued to drink the mix and it became quite popular.

Incidentally, Malaria comes from the Italian, meaning 'bad air' as it was originally thought to be caused by dirty air.

Tonic water still contains some quinine, but much less than the original, and now usually has artificial sweeteners to moderate the bitter taste. Interesting to note the sensitivity of quinine to UV makes it appear fluorescent in direct sunlight and glows blue under black lights.

Minced Oath

No, it is not a spicy oath. 'Bye George, by George we’ll miss ya!'  The minced oath, “by George” where one letter - ‘g’ word is substituted for another ‘g’ word. In this case, the second George is substituted for God, because some people did not believe in God. The use of George came into use around the turn of the 20th century and usually meant great or OK, as in ‘everything is George’.

Free Smile Friday

Put one on and wear it all day

Happy Friday

"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted, but getting what you have, which once you have got it, you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known." - Garrison Keillor

I am very lucky, because I always want and have a Happy Friday!

Chuck Norris Belts

Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris, born March 10, 1940, is the first Westerner in history to be awarded an 8th degree Black Belt (Grand Master) in Taekwondo. He also has 10th degree black belt in Chun Kuk Do (he is founder of this school); 9th degree black belt in Tang Soo Do and BJJ; and brown belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. In 2005, Norris founded the World Combat League, a full-contact, team-based martial arts competition.

What Recycle Symbols Mean

As we approach that time of year when thoughts turn to Spring cleaning, it is probably a good idea to also think about what we might recycle. The original recycling symbol was designed in 1970 by Gary Anderson, a senior at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. It was submitted to the International Design Conference as part of a nationwide contest for high school and college students sponsored by the Container Corporation of America.

The symbols below show the various types of materials. If there is an R in front of the letters, that means it was already recycled. The numbers range from 1 to 7, defining which type of material it is.

Type 1 PolyEthylene TErephthalate is used for pop bottles. Type 2 High-Density PolyEthylene is used for milk and detergent bottles. Twenty-seven percent of type 1 is recycled, including 41 percent of plastic pop bottles. About 7 percent of type 2 plastic recycled.

Type 3 is used on window cleaner bottles, cooking oil bottles, detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, clear food packaging, wire and cable jackets, medical tubing, and in other household products and building materials, particularly siding, piping, and windows

Recycling types 3 through 7 are rare, because using virgin material is cheaper. Recycling rates for these materials are about 1-2 percent.

The recycling rate for all plastic packaging is about 4.5 percent, compared with 53 percent for aluminum.

 - A container or package, marked with this symbol above was manufactured with at least some materials that have been recycled. Generally, additional information is conveyed with the symbol such as, 'Printed on recycled paper'.

There is a symbol for glass, but usually all glass is recyclable. There are many other symbols used for various materials, and different symbols in different countries. They are all meant to make consumers aware of recycling, even if many of the products are not recycled.

Shaft Tax for 2014

For calendar year 2014, the tax imposed under § 4161(b)(2)(A) on the first sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of any shaft of a type used in the manufacture of certain arrows is $0.48 per shaft. It is one of the few taxes that has not changed from 2013.

What's in a Name, Small Fry

Seahorses are one of very few species where the male 'gives birth'. The female deposits her eggs in a brood pouch located on her mate's belly. He fertilizes them internally and carries them until they hatch, which can be anywhere from 9 to 45 days based on species and water temperature. A single male may carry hundreds of eggs in his pouch. Baby sea horses are called fry (singular and plural). Baby big-belly seahorses, aside from being too small to exhibit their distinct characteristic round bellies, are exact miniature replicas of their parents.The picture shows how small a fry is.

When baby seahorses are first born, the fry will gulp air at the surface to help fill their swim bladder. Their diet is usually live brine shrimp called Artemia. Seahorses live among coral reefs and sea grass beds.

Throwing Things

Fans at the University of Pennsylvania throw toast on the football field after the third quarter because the school banned liquor, which was formerly used to toast the team. The students took the toast literally and now throw real toast.

This is much better than the University of New Hampshire fans, who throw a fish on the ice during school hockey games. Also fishy, during 2011, fans of the Nashville Predators threw catfish on the ice.

Speaking of hockey, fans in Detroit have a tradition of throwing an octopus on the ice during Detroit Red Wings home playoff games. It began during the 1952 playoffs, when a National Hockey League team played two best-of-seven series to capture the Stanley Cup. The octopus, with eight arms, symbolized the number of playoff wins necessary for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. Brothers Pete and Jerry Cusimano hurled an octopus into the rink. The team swept the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens en route to winning the championship.

Florida Panthers fans littered the ice with plastic rats during face-offs and regular play during Game 5 of their 2012 playoff series.

Other tosses, that seem mild by comparison, include throwing flowers for figure skaters, or tossing hats when a hockey player makes a hat trick.

How to Stay Young

It need not take a lot of effort. John Morley, M.D., director of the division of geriatric medicine at Saint Louis University outlines a ten-step program to improve quality of life as we age.

He suggests little changes that involve good eating, such as including dark chocolate in your diet, drinking wine, socializing, adding simple exercises, fidgeting in your office chair to burn calories, spending time walking from your car to the store rather than driving to find a close parking space, working in your garden, taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going dancing once a week. I  already socialize, drink wine, and eat chocolate, but need to practice fidgeting a bit more.

Herbs and Spices

Herbs are only obtained from the leafy part of a plant while spices can come from any other part of the plant. A single plant can be the source of both an herb and a spice, or more than one spice.

The coriander plant, is an example of a plant that produces both an herb and a spice. The leafy green part is known as coriander leaf (typically known as cilantro in the Americas), while the dried seeds are sold whole or ground as coriander. Nutmeg and mace, both spices, are derived from the seed of the fruit of the myristica fragrans, or nutmeg tree. The seed has a waxy red outer layer (called the “aril”) which is carefully removed, dried, and ground to make mace. The rest of the seed is then dried out and sold whole or ground to be used as nutmeg.

Culinary herbs are the leafy portions of a plant that die down after each growing season and can be used as dried or fresh. Examples include basil, bay leaves, parsley, cilantro, mint, rosemary and thyme.

Spices have a much broader spectrum of origin and can be utilized from any other part of a plant such as the roots, bark, flowers, fruit, and seeds.  Examples come from berries (peppercorns), roots (ginger), seeds (nutmeg), flower buds (cloves) or the stamen of flowers (saffron). Spices are always used in dried form and have also traditionally been used as a preservative.  Archaeologists have found evidence in Egyptian tombs of spices used for embalming, dating back to 3000 B.C.

Allspice is not a combination of anything. It is the dried unripe fruit of Pimenta dioica tree. The name allspice was coined by the English, who thought it combined the flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Black pepper is a flowering vine, cultivated for its fruit, which is dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Salt is neither an herb nor a spice, because it is an inorganic mineral.