Oct 17, 2014

Nine Big Banana Facts

Eating two bananas can give you enough energy for a 90-minute workout.

Bananas can fight against depression. This is because bananas contain a protein called tryptophan, which converts to serotonin. Serotonin helps you relax and can make you feel better.

Bananas contain Vitamin B6, which regulate blood glucose levels and can put you in a better mood.

The Vitamin B6 will also help fight nerves and stress.

Bananas are high in potassium and low in sodium, which helps fight against high blood pressure and prevent strokes.

Bananas can soothe heartburn because of the natural antacid effect it has on the body.

Bananas are high in fiber. This can help regulate bowel movements without resorting to laxatives.

The potassium in bananas helps you stay focused and alert.

The inside of banana peels can soothe mosquito bites. Bananas also taste good.

Dull, Bland, and Boring

Elizabeth Leighton of Aberfeldy, Scotland proposed a pairing of the Scottish town of Dull while passing through Boring, Oregon on a cycling holiday. Boring has a population of 12,000. Dull has a population of about 84.

During 2013, Dull entered into another partnership with the Australian town Bland. Seems the residents of Bland Shire in New South Wales want to cash in on humorous publicity by creating a trinity with Dull and Boring. Bland has a population of about 6,000.

Dull's name is thought to have come from the Gaelic word for meadow, but others have speculated it could be connected to the Gaelic word "dul" meaning snare. Bland was named after William Bland, the first person in the Australian Medical Association and was transported to Australia as a convict after he killed a man in a duel in Bombay. Boring was named after one of its first residents, W.H. Boring, a farmer and Union veteran who moved to Oregon after the Civil War.

Nutella Facts

Nutella is a great tasting spread. The chocolaty nut spread was thought of as a great substitute for peanut butter, but a recent study found out it is not much different.

One tablespoon of Nutella contains 100 calories, 6 grams of fat, and 11 grams of sugar. One tablespoon of peanut butter has 94 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1.48 grams sugar. Generic cake frosting has 75 calories, 3 grams of fat, and 7.5 grams of sugar.

Bacon Brain Building

Bacon is full of an important nutrient called choline, which helps increase intelligence and memory and has been shown in University studies to help fight off the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s Disease and other chronic mental impairments. Bacon helps me to remember to eat more #bacon.

Free Friday Smile


Oct 10, 2014

Happy Friday

“Life is sweet when you pay attention. When it doesn't seem sweet, put a sticker on your nose and do a funky dance.” Whitney Scott

I have a sticker on my nose and am doing a happy dance on this Happy Friday!

Happy Columbus Day

Monday is Columbus Day for most of the US, but Seattle, WA., will be holding its first Indigenous Peoples' Day. It makes little difference as Columbus Day is not an official holiday in Washington. A councilman said it is,  "About taking a stand against racism." An opposing lawyer said people of Italian descent are "deeply offended." "By this resolution you say to all Italian-Americans that the city of Seattle no longer deems your heritage or your community worthy of recognition." Seems like politics never takes a holiday.

Bacon's Blood Balancing Bounty

Several university and medical center studies have shown that including bacon as a regular, moderate part of one’s diet naturally works to lower the body's blood pressure and blood sugar levels, helping to prevent and / or alleviate the effects of diabetes, as well as heart disease, stroke, and heart attack.

Tips, Tipsy, Tipple, and Wingtips

The etymology of these words is a bit different than the generally accepted (although incorrect) stories that they come from acronyms.

Tip does not come from 'to insure prompt service'. It dates back to the 1600s and meant to give a small present of money. It was also used in thieves jargon about the same time, meaning 'to give, hand, or pass'. The meaning 'give a gratuity to' is first documented in the early 1700s. The incorrect acronym story came from an editorial in "Life" magazine from July 15, 1946, claiming the restaurant server's word tip "probably comes from a London coffeehouse custom of two centuries ago when the words 'To Insure Promptness' were written on notes to the waiter, with coins attached.

Tipsy comes from another definition of tip, from the 1300s meaning 'to knock down, topple, or knock askew'. Possibly from Scandinavian tippa 'to tip, dump'. Tipsy-cake from the 1800s was stale cake saturated with wine or liquor.

Tipple dates back to the 1500s, meaning 'sell alcoholic liquor by retail'. It is possibly from a Scandinavian source tipla 'to drink slowly or in small quantities'. The meaning of 'drink (alcoholic beverage) too much' is found in the 1550s. A tippler is a seller of alcoholic liquors.

Wingtips are totally unrelated to the above discussion, except that many businessmen who wear these shoes with a back-curving toe cap suggestive of a bird's wingtip often tipple after work and are tipsy by the time they go home.

A Few Drinking Terms

Speaking of tipsy, here are a few more booze related terms. Two old words that I miss.

GROG-BLOSSOM, A word from the 18th century for the dilation of blood vessels caused by long-term over consumption of the drink—in an alcoholic's nose.

CRAPULENCE, This word, from the Latin root crapula, arose in the 18th century. It denoted intestinal and cranial distress arising from intemperance and debauchery. Put another way: If you get drunk, expect crapulence.

Electronic Swing

Normally, I extremely dislike commercials and mute them at best or change channels. Have heard a few lately that struck my fancy because of the background music. One in particular had a track I remembered, but could not recall the artist. As usual, I scoured the web to find out more information.

It was Parov Stelar, one of my new besties. His musical style is called Electronic Swing. The first YouTube video I remember from him 'All Night', complete with amazing dancing LINK.

Here is one with vocals from singer Cleo Panther (I think I love her) 'Nobody's Fool'  LINK.

Here is one for the oldies, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing to Parov's 'Booty Swing', with samples from 'Oriental Swing' LINK and a rousing live version LINK. These will get your toes a tappin.

What's in a Name, Starbucks

Starbucks is named for Captain Ahab’s first mate, Starbuck in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick. The founders had considered naming it Pequod's, after Ahab’s ship.

Coffee related and true - The first webcam watched a coffee pot. It allowed researchers at Cambridge to monitor the coffee pot without leaving their desks. Well, call me Ishmael.

New Internet Rumor Tracker

Emergent is a real-time rumor tracker. http://www.emergent.info/about  It is part of a research project with the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University that focuses on how unverified information and rumor are reported in the media. It aims to develop and best practices for debunking misinformation. Kind of like a "real time" version of Snopes.

You can view a list of rumors being tracked on the homepage, along with their current claim state (True, False, Unverified). Click on a story to visit a page that visualizes the sources reporting the rumor, and a breakdown of social shares per source. You can also click on individual articles on the story page to see specific revision and social share data about that article.

Wordology, Crocodility

I love the way that word rolls off the tongue. Crocodility is an ancient word for fallacious reasoning

See if you can follow this paradox. A crocodile snatches a young boy from a riverbank. His mother pleads with the crocodile to return him, to which the crocodile replies that he will only return the boy safely if the mother can guess correctly whether or not he will return the boy.

There is no problem if the mother guesses that the crocodile will return him. If she is right, he is returned; if she is wrong, the crocodile keeps him. If she answers that the crocodile will not return him, however, we end up with a paradox: if she is right and the crocodile never intended to return her child, then the crocodile has to return him, but in doing so breaks his word and contradicts the mother’s answer. On the other hand, if she is wrong and the crocodile actually did intend to return the boy, the crocodile must then keep him even though he intended not to, thereby also breaking his word.

The paradox is such an enduring logic problem that in the Middle Ages the word 'crocodilite' came to be used to refer to any similarly brain-twisting dilemma where you admit something that is later used against you.