May 1, 2015
Apr 24, 2015
Happy Friday
In the music of life there are no sour notes.
I always enjoy the sweet melody of a Happy Friday!
I always enjoy the sweet melody of a Happy Friday!
National Pretzel Day
April 26 was declared as National
Pretzel Day by then-Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell in 2003.
World Tai Chi and Qigong Day
The last Saturday of April
each year (April 25, 2015 - 10 am local time) in hundreds of cities,
spanning 80 nations, people come together to provide a healing
vision for our world.
Tai chi (tie chee) and Qigong (chee gung) combine deep breathing techniques, gentle body movement, and visualization techniques. Tai chi is a form of Qigong and is an ancient Chinese tradition that is practiced as a graceful form of exercise. It involves a series of movements performed in a slow, focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing.
Tai chi is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of physical exercise and stretching. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that the body is in constant motion. It has many different styles. Each style may have its own subtle emphasis on various principles and methods. There are also variations within each style. Some may focus on health maintenance, while others focus on the martial arts aspect of tai chi. I have been learning tai chi locally for the past six months and, although some call it gentle, it is still a workout.
One World ... One Breath. Here are some interesting tai chi day videos. LINK
Tai chi (tie chee) and Qigong (chee gung) combine deep breathing techniques, gentle body movement, and visualization techniques. Tai chi is a form of Qigong and is an ancient Chinese tradition that is practiced as a graceful form of exercise. It involves a series of movements performed in a slow, focused manner and accompanied by deep breathing.
Tai chi is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of physical exercise and stretching. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that the body is in constant motion. It has many different styles. Each style may have its own subtle emphasis on various principles and methods. There are also variations within each style. Some may focus on health maintenance, while others focus on the martial arts aspect of tai chi. I have been learning tai chi locally for the past six months and, although some call it gentle, it is still a workout.
One World ... One Breath. Here are some interesting tai chi day videos. LINK
Eye Color, Green
Just two percent of people in the world
have green eyes, making it the least common eye color. The color
green is generally associated with jealousy, which is a common
character trait amongst people with this eye color. However, they
are also passionate people who have a zest for life and enjoy living
life to the fullest. Others see people with green eyes as being
mysterious and curious, but also highly intelligent.
Green eyes originate from Siberia and now can mostly be found in Europe. Interestingly, in Iceland the number of females with green eyes is greater than the number of males with green eyes! Ireland is also a hotspot for green eyes as they are believed to have Celtic ancestry, making green eyes and red hair a typical combination. Elsewhere around the world green eyes are very uncommon, but individuals can be found in all corners of the globe, including the USA, Europe, Asia, South America and Northern Africa.
Sometimes green eyes can bear a striking resemblance to cat's eyes, resulting in the myth that people with green eyes were evil. History is full of stories of women being condemned as witches, simply because of their green eyes. My cousin tells me she and her brother were born with brown eyes, but they are now most often hazel, and sometimes green.
Green eyes originate from Siberia and now can mostly be found in Europe. Interestingly, in Iceland the number of females with green eyes is greater than the number of males with green eyes! Ireland is also a hotspot for green eyes as they are believed to have Celtic ancestry, making green eyes and red hair a typical combination. Elsewhere around the world green eyes are very uncommon, but individuals can be found in all corners of the globe, including the USA, Europe, Asia, South America and Northern Africa.
Sometimes green eyes can bear a striking resemblance to cat's eyes, resulting in the myth that people with green eyes were evil. History is full of stories of women being condemned as witches, simply because of their green eyes. My cousin tells me she and her brother were born with brown eyes, but they are now most often hazel, and sometimes green.
Frogs and Toads
Toads have dry and pebbly skin, and frogs
have moist and smooth skin. Frogs like water and toads prefer land.
Toads and frogs lay their eggs in water, because their babies start off as tadpoles. The difference is that frog eggs are laid in bunches or clusters, and they have a jelly-like substance around them. Toads lay their eggs in lines or strands, on leaves of plants that live in the water. A baby toad is a tadpole or toadlet
Frogs have slim bodies and long legs, and jump to get around. Toads have short forelimbs and hop or walk. Toads have big glands behind their eyes, called paratoid glands, which produce poison.
There are three names for baby frogs, depending on which segment of the life cycle they are in. After 21 days of being an embryo, a baby frog is called a polliwog and at this point, has a long tail and lives in the water. It becomes a tadpole when it sprouts legs. As a froglet, it has almost matured into a full-grown adult that breathes with lungs, but still has a bit of a tail. The sequence is polliwog, tadpole, froglet.
Frogs don’t actually drink water with their mouths; they drink it through their skin. A frog’s skin absorbs water when it is in the water so its body gets all of the hydration that it needs that way.
True toads do not have teeth and the skin on the head is typically ossified to the skull. Toad’s skin lets out a bitter taste and smell that burns the eyes and nostrils of its predators, much like a skunk does. True toads belong to the family Bufonidae, which consists of 50 genera and nearly 600 species, native to all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Toads belong to the order Anura, and are actually a subset of frogs. In popular use, toad seems to be used to refer to any frog that has a dry warty skin and short legs.
Frogs:
Need to live near water
Have smooth, moist skin that makes them look “slimy”.
Have a narrow body
Have higher, rounder, bulgier eyes
Have longer hind legs
Take long high jumps
Have many predators
Hibernate in the winter.
Toads:
Do not need to live near water to survive
Have rough, dry, bumpy skin
Have a wider body
Have lower, football shaped eyes
Have shorter, less powerful hind legs
Do not have many predators
Will run or take small hops rather than jump.
Bottom line, all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads and neither frogs nor toads will give you warts.
Toads and frogs lay their eggs in water, because their babies start off as tadpoles. The difference is that frog eggs are laid in bunches or clusters, and they have a jelly-like substance around them. Toads lay their eggs in lines or strands, on leaves of plants that live in the water. A baby toad is a tadpole or toadlet
Frogs have slim bodies and long legs, and jump to get around. Toads have short forelimbs and hop or walk. Toads have big glands behind their eyes, called paratoid glands, which produce poison.
There are three names for baby frogs, depending on which segment of the life cycle they are in. After 21 days of being an embryo, a baby frog is called a polliwog and at this point, has a long tail and lives in the water. It becomes a tadpole when it sprouts legs. As a froglet, it has almost matured into a full-grown adult that breathes with lungs, but still has a bit of a tail. The sequence is polliwog, tadpole, froglet.
Frogs don’t actually drink water with their mouths; they drink it through their skin. A frog’s skin absorbs water when it is in the water so its body gets all of the hydration that it needs that way.
True toads do not have teeth and the skin on the head is typically ossified to the skull. Toad’s skin lets out a bitter taste and smell that burns the eyes and nostrils of its predators, much like a skunk does. True toads belong to the family Bufonidae, which consists of 50 genera and nearly 600 species, native to all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Toads belong to the order Anura, and are actually a subset of frogs. In popular use, toad seems to be used to refer to any frog that has a dry warty skin and short legs.
Frogs:
Need to live near water
Have smooth, moist skin that makes them look “slimy”.
Have a narrow body
Have higher, rounder, bulgier eyes
Have longer hind legs
Take long high jumps
Have many predators
Hibernate in the winter.
Toads:
Do not need to live near water to survive
Have rough, dry, bumpy skin
Have a wider body
Have lower, football shaped eyes
Have shorter, less powerful hind legs
Do not have many predators
Will run or take small hops rather than jump.
Bottom line, all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads and neither frogs nor toads will give you warts.
Bangers and Mash
The British meal of sausage
and mashed potatoes goes back a long way. Sausages can be traced
back to ancient times. Victorians were skeptical of what was in a
sausage, suspected horse meat, and nicknamed them ‘Little Bags of
Mystery’. After the outbreak of the World War, food shortages led to
a dramatic reduction of meat in sausages, so producers packed them
out with scraps, cereal, and water, which caused them to pop when
cooked over hot fires. That is how the name bangers came to be. The
mash comes from the way potatoes are cooked - mashed.
Crap Email Hack
We all get way too much marketing stuff in
our inbox. One way to reduce it is to filter for the word
unsubscribe and send the mail straight to trash. If you want to keep
some of the materials, set up a folder for marketing and send the
emails there. That way you can keep the info, but it is not mixed
with important emails.
Origin of Credit Cards
In 1949, Frank McNamara, an
executive at the Hamilton Credit Corporation, was embarrassed to
find himself short of cash when it came time to pay for a dinner
with clients at a New York restaurant. Charge accounts were already
common, allowing customers to add up a tab at certain establishments
and pay it later, but those accounts were only for each specific
business. McNamara had the idea of making a card which could be used
at multiple unconnected upscale New York restaurants. Diners Club
would pay the restaurant, and the diner would pay Diners Club, plus
interest. Diners Club's had 20,000 members in its first year, who
could use it to pay for services at 28 restaurants and two hotels.
Bacon, Vitamins and Minerals
Bacon provides us with
substantial amounts of the important, necessary vitamins and
minerals our bodies need to function healthfully. From bacon, we
receive: 65% of our Recommended Daily Intake of Thiamin (Vitamin B1)
as well as 47% of our Niacin (Vitamin B3), 38% of our Vitamin B12,
36% of our Zinc, 24% of our Vitamin B6, 22% of our Riboflavin
(Vitamin B2), 22% of our Phosphorus, 10% of our Pantothenate, 10% of
our Magnesium, 9% of our Iron and the Protein to fat balance in
bacon is actually 4 to 1, which is one of the highest protein to fat
balances found in any meat, fish, or fowl found on Earth.
International Dance Day
April 29 is International Dance
Day. It was introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Council
(Conseil International de la Danse). The main purpose of Dance Day
events is to attract the attention of the wider public to the art of
dance. Emphasis should be given to addressing a new public, people
who do not follow dance events during the course of the year. Every
year, the president of the CID sends the official message for Dance
Day which circulates in every country of the world.
US National Dance Day was created by Nigel Lythgoe and takes place in the United States on the last Saturday in July. It was founded and officially recognized in 2010 when American congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a National Dance Day resolution to promote dance education and physical fitness.
US National Dance Day was created by Nigel Lythgoe and takes place in the United States on the last Saturday in July. It was founded and officially recognized in 2010 when American congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a National Dance Day resolution to promote dance education and physical fitness.
Apr 17, 2015
Happy Friday
There is no doubt in the honesty of a child's smile.
I cultivate the habit of smiling and sharing a Happy Friday!
I cultivate the habit of smiling and sharing a Happy Friday!
Wordology, Trivia
The word trivia originates from the Latin word trivium (plural
trivia), where “tri” stands for triple and “via” means way.
Basically, the word means a place where three ways meet. This word
gained prominence in Rome, where people would often chin wag with
others at a trivium. The word trivalis in Classical Latin meant an
appropriate street corner and commonplace. In medieval times, the
word gained broader meaning and came to refer grammar, rhetoric,
and logic. Much of what you read here can be referred to as
trivia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)