Happy Friday

A smile has a thousand friends, but a frown sleeps alone.

I am never lonesome, especially when I smile on a Happy Friday!

Handshakes and Health

A new study in the British Medical journal Lancet suggests the strength of a person's hand-grip could predict the risk of heart attacks and strokes and is a stronger predictor of death than blood pressure checks. The international study, involving almost 140,000 adults in 17 countries during four years found weak grip strength is linked with shorter survival and a greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke. It also found that grip strength is a stronger predictor of death than systolic blood pressure. Grip strength was assessed using a handgrip dynamometer. Reduced muscular strength, which can be measured by grip strength, has been consistently linked with early death, disability, and illness.

Kits and Caboodles

Kit has been in use as far back as the late 1200s and originally meant a round wooden tub, jug, tankard, or wooden container. Later it came to mean a knapsack as for a soldier, which contained all his needed items. Caboodle was first seen during the mid-1800s and from the earlier word boodle, meaning a collection of people among other meanings. Together they roughly mean all the people and all their things, the whole lot.

Kit and caboodle was first seen in print in 1884 in New York’s Syracuse Sunday Standard: “More audiences have been disappointed by him and by the whole kit-and-caboodle of his rivals.”

Cows Face One Direction

Cows always face north or south while eating. A team of scientists reviewed thousands of Google Earth’s satellite images of cows and found that cows will stand along the Earth’s magnetic poles, facing north and south whenever they are grazing or resting. The pattern remained consistent regardless of wind or other factors, and nobody is quite sure why.  It appears that it may have a purpose because of the consistency with which it was observed among cows across six continents.

Veal, Beef and Offal

Veal comes from calves. It can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, but most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds. Limited numbers of male dairy calves are needed for breeding and the rest are sold to the veal industry. Incidentally, rennet (necessary for cheese making) is extracted from part of the fourth stomach chamber of harvested young, unweaned calves used for veal production.

Beef comes from older cattle and can be harvested from bulls, cows, heifers or steers. When a cow is slaughtered, its beef is so fresh it is considered 'green'. Green beef is tough, bland, and has no sustained juiciness. Aging causes natural enzymes to break down the muscle fibers, making it more tender. Most aging takes place within one to two weeks. Incidentally, Kobe beef, prized for its intense marbling, refers to beef from the Tajima strain of wagyu cattle, raised in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture according to rules from the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association.  There are only about 3,000 head of cattle that may qualify as Kobe. No beef from Japan was allowed to be imported into the US by the USDA, starting during 2009. US 'Kobe-style' beef comes from domestically raised wagyu crossbred with Angus cattle. Black Angus is the most common beef breed (sixty percent and greater than the next seven breeds combined) of cattle in the US and is meat is used by McDonald's and Hardees.

Offal is also called variety meats or organ meats and refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal, such as calves, pigs, sheep, and lambs.  It includes most internal organs, but not muscle and bone. Certain offal dishes, including foie gras, pâté, and sweetbread are considered gourmet food in international cuisine. Others remain part of traditional regional cuisine including Scottish haggis, Jewish chopped liver, Southern US chitlins, Mexican menudo as well as many other dishes. Intestines are traditionally used as casing for sausages.

Cheap Airline Tickets

There are many sites that offer fares lower than going directly to the airline to book your flights. Google Flights quickly shows you the days and times with the cheapest flights. Visit Airfare Watchdog It checks airline sites for deals and pulls them into one easy-to-find place. Check Hipmunk to find flights with the best balance of cost and convenience.

A good app like Flight Aware allows you to track and know your flight's status and gate information before you leave for the airport, without calling.

Whiskey Name Origins

Four Roses Co-founder Paul Jones Jr. trademarked the Four Roses name in 1888. The story is that Paul Jones Jr. and his father, Paul Jones Sr., had opened a grocery and warehouse in Atlanta and the younger Paul became interested in distilling. At the time, he was also courting a local lady, and asked for her hand in marriage. They agreed that, at a grand ball they were to attend, if she were to accept his proposal of marriage, she would wear a corsage of four red roses. She wore the corsage and the two were married.

Knob Creek is produced at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky, US. It is named for the creek that ran behind Abraham Lincoln’s childhood Kentucky home. The late Booker Noe, Jim Beam’s sixth generation master distiller, chose the name because he thought it reflected his values in making whiskey.

The rye whiskey brand name Whistlepig comes from the 'single oddest piece of social interaction' that founder Raj Bhakta had ever experienced. Bhakta was hiking outside of Denver, Colorado, US. “Out of the blue popped a guy with a thick French accent and a big shock of white hair,” says Raj. “He got very close into my personal space and asked ‘Could it be? A whistlepig?' I had no idea what he was talking about or what he was looking at. When I didn’t understand, he snapped in my face and repeated himself. When I still didn’t understand, he flicked his wrist and took off.”


The Wild Turkey name dates back to the 1940s, “Thomas McCarthy, an executive from Austin, Nichols the company that made the whiskey at the time, took all the New York business folks on a big turkey hunt every year.” The trip’s festivities would include hunting and whiskey. That year, he pulled 101 proof bourbon for the guests. The next year, they asked him to bring the same bourbon. He pulled a sample, and the brand’s name was born.

What's in a Name, Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Rafael Bottom/Leaf Phoenix was one of five children, all with equally interesting names, including River (1970–1993), Rain , Liberty, Summer, and a half-sister Jodean.

After Joaquin's parents, John Lee and Arlyn Bottom, married in 1969, they joined a religious cult and traveled around South America. They became disenchanted with the cult and moved back to the US in 1978, and changed their last name to Phoenix to symbolize new beginning.

About this same time, a young Joaquin began calling himself "Leaf," desiring to have a similar nature-related name as those of his siblings. Leaf was the name he used as a child actor until, at age 15; he changed it back to Joaquin.

Six Benefits of Laughter

Laughter increases a sense of well being and doctors find that people who have a positive outlook on life tend to fight diseases better than negative people. Laugh a little or laugh a lot, it is all good.

1. Laughing lowers blood pressure, which reduces risk of strokes and heart attacks.
2. It reduces stress hormone levels and cuts the anxiety and stress impacting your body.
3. It tones your abs by expanding and contracting stomach muscles.
4. It improves cardiac health and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace.
5. It boosts T cells to help you fight off sickness.
6. Laughing triggers the release of endorphins, which can help ease chronic pain and make you feel good all over.