Ten Uses for Bananas

In addition to tasting good, bananas offer many other benefits. These suggestions may all not seem appetizing, but they do work. For instance, you can make a banana hair mask to give you gorgeous hair, because they are packed with nutrients that your hair needs to be healthy, such as B-vitamins and folate. Mix a banana, whole milk, and honey. After blending the ingredients, put it on your hair and keep it for about 20 minutes. You can also drink the rest of the unused mixture.

You can tenderize a meat dish by cooking it with a banana.

To make your face glow, mash a banana and apply it to your face. Sit with it on for 15 minutes then wash it off with cool water. Bananas are natural skin lighteners because they have Vitamin A that erases discoloration and Vitamin E that provides protection against free radicals.

Bananas are a natural source of probiotics, because they contain fructooligosaccharides that encourage healthy bacteria to flourish. Probiotics are essential, because they balance the bacteria in your gut, which prevents the overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria that leads to inflammation. They are also good to relieve heartburn.

Bananas are rich in potassium, which is good for lowering blood pressure and helps to decrease stress levels and boost mental performance. A banana regulates stress hormones such as cortisol in the body.

Bananas can help you lose weight because they are a great substitute for high-calorie snacks. They are sweet and will satisfy sugar cravings without the calories. Also, they rev up the metabolic rate because they contain chromium, a mineral that helps burn more calories. One medium-sized banana contains 105 calories.

Bananas are high in Vitamin C, which makes muscles, ligaments, and tendons strong. They boost energy and make a good pre-workout snack.

If you have cracked heels, banana can help to smooth your skin because it has moisturizing properties. Mash up the pulp of one banana and apply it to your dry feet and relax, then wash with cold water.

Bananas are a good source of tryptophan, an amino acid that contributes to the production of serotonin in the brain. This hormone is a natural sedative. Eat a banana about an hour or so before bedtime so that your body can digest it and allow the tryptophan to work.

Bananas can fight and prevent headaches and migraines, because they are a good source of magnesium. The next time you feel a headache coming on, reach for a banana. Of course, Homer has his own idea for how to eat a banana.

Pluto and the Naming of the Planets

With all the publicity surrounding the recent photos of Pluto, Seems fitting to look at it and the other (real) planets and how they received their names. Pluto is the largest and second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun.

It had been discovered many times by astronomers, who did not realize what they found. It was discovered 'for real' in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, and was originally considered the ninth planet from the Sun. After 1992, its status as a planet fell into question following the discovery of several objects of similar size, in particular Eris, which is 27% more massive than Pluto. This led the International Astronomical Union to define the term planet formally for the first time. This definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a member of the new "dwarf planet" category. The other dwarf planets are Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake (sic).

The tradition of naming planets after mythological gods was passed continued after Roman names for the five extraterrestrial planets they were aware of.

• Earth is the only planet not named for a mythological god.
• Venus is named after the goddess of love. It is thought this planet got its name from the fact that it is “pretty” to look at as the third most bright object in our solar system in the sky as viewed from Earth (after the Sun and the Moon).
  
• Mercury is named after the god of thievery, tradesmen or commerce, and travel. It is thought that the planet probably was named such due to how quickly, relatively speaking, it travels across the sky.
• Pluto, although no longer a "real" planet is named after the god of the underworld. The name was proposed by Venetia Burney, a then eleven-year-old schoolgirl in Oxford, England, who was interested in classical mythology.
• Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture. It followed the Greek designation for Cronus. In modern Greek, the planet retains its ancient name Cronus—Κρόνος: Kronos.
  
• Neptune was named after the god of the sea. It got its name thanks to the fact that it has a blue color.
  
• Uranus is named after the very early god of the sky (and father to the Titans).
• Mars was named after the Roman god of war. It’s thought that it was labeled such based on the reddish hue of the planet, relating to blood.
• Jupiter is named after the god of thunder and the sky, and king of the gods. It is probable that it was named such as it is the largest non-star in our solar system.

Incidentally, many languages have their own name for Earth, such as ‘terra’ in Portuguese, ‘dünya’ in Turkish and ‘aarde’ in Dutch. However, the common thread in all languages is that they were all derived from the same meaning, which is ‘ ground’ or ‘soil’. The modern English word and name for our planet Earth likely extends back more than 1,000 years. The name was also found in early English translations from the bible.

Hockey Trivia, Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs say that the name was chosen in honor of the Maple Leaf Regiment from World War I. Because the regiment is a proper noun, its plural is Maple Leafs (not Maple Leaves). Initial reports were that the team's colors would be red and white, but the Leafs wore white sweaters with a green maple leaf for their first game on February 17, 1927. The next season, the Leafs appeared for the first time in the blue and white sweaters they have worn ever since. The Maple Leafs say that blue represents the Canadian skies and white represents snow, but it also followed the Toronto sports tradition of using blue as the primary color, which started with the Toronto Argonauts in 1873 and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in 1877.

Name That Song

MooMa.sh is great for YouTube, Dailymotion, and Vimeo. The site can identify songs in any video. Copy and paste the URL into MooMa.sh and watch the site identify the song.

National Dance Day

US National Dance Day was created by Nigel Lythgoe and takes place in the United States on the last Saturday in July. This year it is July 25. 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. Not to be confused with international Dance Day, which is in April.

Why Super Heroes Wear Underwear on the Outside

According to previous DC Editor Comics Julius Schwartz, the custom matched the clothing used by circus performers and wrestlers of the time. Although not actually underwear, they wore shorts over tights or leggings. Since super heroes were gifted athletes, it seemed natural to dress them in the same way as the gifted performers. In addition, with early printing techniques being rather primitive by current standards, color changes or divisions at the waist, groin, feet, hands, and chest allow the characters to have certain attributes stand out.

Top 10 Viewers of Shubsthoughts

The top ten countries viewing my blog this month, in order are: Russia, US, Germany, France, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Portugal, India, China. Thank you to all my new BFFs. I hope you continue to enjoy. Hey Soedinyonnye Shtaty Amerik watzup! 

Happy Friday

A smile is a small investment with big returns.

I always invest in having a Happy Friday!

Cava, Champagne, Cremant, and Prosecco

These are currently the four most popular sparkling wines, although there are many others. Sparkling wines are made using a secondary fermentation of the wine in the bottle to create carbonation. In 2013, Prosecco outsold champagne around the world.

Cava comes from Spain, primarily around Barcelona and the sparkling wine can be extremely high quality. Cavas are made in the 'Traditional Method', and many are aged longer than Champagne is. The principal grapes used are Xarello, Macabeo and Parellada.

Champagne is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. Only grapes grown in the Champagne region of France can be used for Champagne, which is produced in that region using a specific 'Traditional Method'. Although its history dates back many hundreds of years, Champagne only got its sparkle in 1668 when Pierre Dom Pérignon, cellar master for the Benedictine Abbey was developing new ways to make wine more enjoyable and stumbled on the method by accident.

Cremant is the sparkling wine made in the same way in any French region other than Champagne. There are 23 sparkling wines made in France and each region may use different grapes, such as Chenin Blanc, Cabernet, Pino Gris, etc.

Prosecco is made from the Glera grape in the Veneto region of Italy. It is made using the ‘Tank Method’. Prosecco is perhaps America’s favorite bubbly, because it is not aged “sur lie” as Champagne is, the flavors of Prosecco tend to be simpler and less complex. Think white flowers, apple, and pear. Some even have a bit of sweetness. Sur Lie is the method of adding extra flavor to the finished wine by letting it sit on the lees (decomposing yeast and grapes) in order to extract more aromas and flavors.

Bottom line, all Champagne sparkles, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne. Champagne is perceived as a region for luxury wines, so it can command higher prices than the others, which can be as or more enjoyable. As with all wines, trust your tongue and not the advertising.

Five More Internet Firsts

Computer-to-computer email started when Bolt Beranek and Newman was hired by the United States Defense Department to work on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.  Employee Ray Tomlinson started working on an experimental file transfer protocol that could send a message from one computer to another. He also came up with the “@” symbol to connect the user and network, simply because it made the most sense to him. It would include the user’s name and the host where it should be sent. In July of 1971 Tomlinson sent the first email to the computer next to his, which read, “QWERTYIOP”.

Pierre Omidyar was thinking that the web might make for a great marketplace, specifically utilizing an auction format for fair pricing on items. He launched the website AuctionWeb (which became eBay) on September 3, 1995. The first item to sell was a broken laser pointer, which went for $14.83. He was confused by someone paying for that much for a defective item and discovered the buyer collected broken laser pointers. He thought it was interesting that collectors were so passionate about ordinary items.

The first book sold on Amazon in July of 1995 was Fluid Concepts And Creative Analogies: Computer Models Of The Fundamental Mechanisms Of Thought, by Douglas Hofstadter.

The first Internet single released by a major label happened during 1993, when Geffen Records released the single “Head First” by Aerosmith.

During October 27, 1994, Joe McCambley, who ran a small digital advertising company, created the first banner ad for AT&T. The all-text ad, which said “Have you ever clicked your mouse here?” appeared on Hotwired.com, the first digital magazine. Forty four percent of Hotwired’s visitors clicked the ad, and some even shared it with friends. Today, only about 0.0004 percent of website visitors click on banner ads.

Prescient Quote

"Change has never happened this fast before, and it will never be this slow again." Graeme Wood, Social Principal #9, Geek Media, Sept 29, 2009

Catnip and Insects

Catnip is a member of the mint family, but it is better known for making cats go into a euphoric frenzy, rubbing on everything and rolling on the ground. Only about half of cats react to catnip for some genetic reason that no one understands.

Many insects are also sensitive to the oil in catnip, however they hate it. Lab tests from one study show that catnip is ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET, and another study found that it has the same ill effect on bloodsucking flies that attack livestock.

Follow-up studies showed that the oil in catnip was not quite as effective as DEET when used directly on skin. Many people use catnip oil as insect repellent, because it is nontoxic and 100 percent natural.

No one understands why catnip makes such a good insect repellent. Maybe the bugs cannot stand the smell, or maybe catnip acts as an irritant to them.

Wordology, Facts and Factoids

A “Fact” means something that is unquestionably true. Merriam Webster says it is the “quality of being actual.”

“Factoid” has two distinct definitions, one being more or less a subset of “Fact”, the other not meaning the same thing as “Fact”. The first definition is:  “an invented fact, believed to be true because of its appearance in print.” The second is from Merriam-Webster: “a briefly stated and usually trivial fact”.

Free Friday Smile