5 RANDOM FACTS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN

Here's some fun for the day..........

TRIVIA:  (Answer below)
What U.S. state is closest to Bermuda?

BRAIN TEASER:  ( what phrase is represented by the following?)

3.   OUT
2.   OUT
1.   OUT


HUMOR:
Joe:  I learned that if you give to the poor, whatever you give will come back to you in ten fold.
Fred:  How'd you learn that?
Joe:  I saw a poor-looking fellow on the street, and I gave him ten dollars and said, 'Good luck, friend.'   The next day, he gave me one hundred dollars back.
Fred:  He did?
Joe:  Yep.  Good Luck Friend came in first and paid nine-to-one.


QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

COMIC:

TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY:
There's no point in going through something bad if you can't do something good with it.  Help others from what you've experienced.  


RANDOM FACTS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN

I am always fascinated with learning new facts.   As a kid I would peruse Encyclopedias to see what tidbits I could learn.   These days, it's so nice to google anything you want to know.    Below are a few things that I've either heard recently or I randomly was curious and looked them up.    So here's a few random facts you may not have known.

1.  IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN GUINNESS BREWERY AND GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS?    

Yes.  Sir Hugh Beaver was the managing director of Guinness Breweries back in 1951.   He went on a shooting party and got involved in an argument over which bird was the fastest game bird in Europe.   That evening he realized there wasn't  a reference book to confirm what he believed was true on the game bird issue.   He figured there must be numerous debates on similar topics but there was no book to settle the arguments.   He realized this type of book would be popular.   In 1954, The Guinness book of World Records came into print.  

2.  WHAT IS THE HISTORY BEHIND THE NAME OF THE PRODUCT WD-40?

WD-40 is the trademark name of a lubricant, penetrating oil and water-displacing spray.   By that last part there you may now know what the WD stands for.   Water Displacement.   The '40' is the number of attempts it took creator  Norm Larsen to come up  with a successful formula.

 3.  IS OLIVE OIL A VEGETABLE OIL?   

No.  Olives are a fruit, so olive oil is a fruit juice, or fruit oil.    Olive oil is the healthiest oil you can use in cooking.    When the very best olives of the crop are picked and pressed within 24 hours, you get the best oil which is the Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)   The less perfect olives are used to make Virgin Oil Oil (VOO) .   When companies add chemicals to olive leftovers and pulp, that is Olive Oil (OO)     It is recommended when picking out Olive Oil to look on the label that the olives are from Italy.   That's the best  (not Spain or blends)

4.  HOW DID THE FAMOUS 'HOLLYWOOD' SIGN COME TO BE?

Originally, this sign said "HOLLYWOODLAND" and was created as an advertisement for a local real estate company in 1923.    

It's purpose was to advertise the name of a new housing development.   The sign began with lights and would alternately flash "HOLLY", "WOOD", "LAND".   In 1949, the LAND part of the sign was removed so it could represent the city and not the real estate development.

5.  WHAT TYPE OF PLANT DOES BLACK PEPPER COME FROM?

Black pepper is a flowering vine cultivated for it's fruit (peppercorn) which is dried and used for seasoning.   Here's what the plant looks like:

Black Pepper is native to India and usually cultivated there.    Here's a close up of a peppercorn.   It kind of looks like a planet and slightly gross.   Reminds me of my skin in the summer.  

Well, I hope you enjoyed those Random facts.   Pretty random, right?   Kind of a look into the randomness of my brain I'd say.    I'm always on the quest for random facts, so there will be more fun facts in future posts.


TRIVIA ANSWER:
North Carolina

BRAIN TEASER:
Outnumbered


Until next time........

PRIDE: THE HIDDEN THIEF

Here's some fun (and some seriousness) for the day..........

TRIVIA:

How many deeds did Hercules perform to free himself from bondage?

BRAIN TEASER:
The more of them you take the more you leave behind.  What are they?

JOKE:
Q:  How do you catch a squirrel?
A:  Climb into a tree and act like a nut.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY:
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?


COMIC FUN:

TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY:
Every choice has a domino effect that can alter our destiny.

RANDOM OBSERVATION:

I was watching a couple of reality TV shows a few weeks ago and they got me thinking about pride.   These were not quality shows by any means, but it was a good look into pride and the destruction it can cause.    

On one of the shows, an adult brother and sister have been fighting for the last few years.   As a result, their families have been in turmoil.   The parents are upset, the children are upset to not see their cousins, aunts and uncles and basically there's a lot of unhappiness and chaos caused by the rift.   There are various reasons for the angst, but at the heart of the destruction of their relationship is pride.    Neither wants to say 'I was wrong' or 'I'm sorry'.  Even worse,  it seems as if they don't want to say 'I forgive you'.   They are holding back forgiveness as a punsishment.

On the other show, a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law had strained relations.   Neither wanted to take the time or effort to work at it.  As a result, the kids, who are now teenagers, have missed out of a relationship with their grandmother and the grandmother missed out on that as well.   Once again, at the center of the turmoil was pride.   They are starting to work at it now, but those years are forever lost.

I pondered what to title this post and then it hit me.   It seems like pride is a hidden thief.    It's easy to fall into it's trap and to not realize all that pride takes away from our lives.  To not really 'see' what is being missed.  So many blessings and opportunities that are lost because someone has to be right.   A few months ago I wrote a post about 'right vs. right' that I think goes along with this.  Is it more important to be right or to have right relationships?

Many people have been hurt by family, friends, churchs and business relationships.   First of all, we have to remember that there are two sides to every story.   In a majority of cases 'fault', if you will, can be found in all the parties involved.    But even if we are completely innocent in a situation, is it wise to be willing to miss out on potential blessings and a happier life just to be right?  Is it wise to cling to our pride?  What is there to gain in holding back forgiveness for someone?  There's more to be gained through forgiveness than holding a grudge.  Is pride and being right worth the destruction of a relationship?   Is pride and being right worth the loss of years with friends and relationships that have been an important part of our lives?   Is pride and being right worth the blessings that are slipping away with the passing of time?  

Pride is a hidden thief.  It robs people of happiness.  Those who cling to it don't realize all that pride is robbing them of.   Pride is one of the 7 deadly sins for a reason.    Use caution and don't let this hidden thief rob you of blessings.

TRIVIA ANSWER:
12

BRAIN TEASER ANSWER:
Footsteps 

Until next time..........

16 MEMORABLE FINAL LINES FROM MOVIES

Here's some fun for the day..............

TRIVIA:
How many consonants are there in the Hawaiian language?  Can you name them?

BRAIN TEASER:
What 5-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

JOKE: 
Q:  Which one of William Shakespeare's plays is about bacon?
A:  Hamlet

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Why isn't phonetic spelled like it sounds?

COMIC FUN:

TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY:
Every trial you endure will help you comfort other people who are suffering in similar situations.

FAMOUS 'LAST LINES' OF MOVIES  

There are some movies that have classic last lines that give the movie that extra panache as the movie ends.   Below are a few famous last lines from films.  See if you can guess which movie these famous last lines are from.   The answers are located below picture.



1.  '......after all.....tomorrow is another day....'

2.  '...and Oh, Auntie Em.....there's no place like home.'

3.  'Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'

4.  'Well, the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming...'

5.  'That's right, that's right.  Atta boy Clarence.'

6.  'Alright Mr DeMille.  I'm ready for my close-up'

7.  'Hey Stella!  Stella!!'

8.  'Go.  Proclaim Liberty throughout all the lands and to the inhabitants thereof.'

9.   'Well.  Nobody's perfect.'

10.  'They'll see.  They'll know and they'll say, 'Why, she wouldn't hurt a fly.'

11.  'Wanna dance?  Or would you rather just suck face.'

12.  'I'll be right here.'

13.  'Kevin.  What did you do to my room?'

14.  'Do I have to go sleep in the cupboard?'

15.  '..and all that jazz.  That jazz!'

16.  'Drink up me hearties, yo ho!'

ANSWERS

1.  "Gone With the Wind"  (1939)

2.  "The Wizard of Oz"  (1939)

3.  "Casablanca"  (1942)

4.  "Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

5.  "It's A Wonderful Life" (1946) *** my favorite movie

6.  "Sunset Boulevard" (1950)

7.   "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951)

8.  "The Ten Commandments" (1956)

9.  "Some Like It Hot." (1959)

10.  "Psycho" (1960)

11. "On Golden Pond" (1981)

12.  "E.T: The Extraterrestrial' (1982) 

13.  "Home Alone" (1990)

14.  "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)

15.  "Chicago" (2002)

16.  "Pirates of the Caribbean:  Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003)

TRIVIA ANSWER:
7 (h,k,l,m,n,p,w)  
some include the ' which is called an okina and is known as a glottal stop

BRAIN TEASER ANSWER:
Short


Until next time............

CLASSIC BOARD GAMES (PART 2)

Here's some fun for the day..........

TRIVIA:  (answer below)
When were the first Winter Olympic Games held?

BRAIN TEASER:
What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

COMIC FUN:

TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY:
We are not equipped to handle all of the problems we face, but God is.

CLASSIC BOARD GAMES ( PART 2)

I'm taking another stroll down classic board game lane.   Last time we looked at 'Sorry', 'Easy Money', 'Operation' and 'Green Ghost'.   Let's take a gander at 4 more

BATTLESHIP

My brother and I played this one all the time.   It was so cool to be 3-D and to have the pegs and the boats.   

A little history on this one.  Turns out this was originally a pen and pencil game dating back to WWI and was released as a plastic board game by Milton-Bradley in 1967.

To play, you place your ships on the grid.   There's the aircraft carrier (5 pegs), battleship (4 pegs), submarine (3 pegs) and patrol boat (2 pegs).   That 2-pegger was always a tough one to find and extra special if you got rid of you opponents 2-pegger early in the game.

The box cover above is the one that was on the game my brother and I had.    We always yelled out 'It's A Hit' ( if it was one) just like the Dad on the box.   You have to lean back and do you arm.   We'd also yell out "You Sunk My Battleship" like they did on the commercial.    Here's a look at an old commercial for the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrHs8CWDzmc

It was also extra cool to yell out G-4 like on the picture on the box.    Something just hit me as I'm typing this.   Because it was on the box, I always yelled out G-4 so I could be like the box and do the motions of the kid.   It was never a hit.  Duh.   I'm sure my brother figured out that I always said that and wisely never put a boat near there.   I can be so dense sometimes.   And to think.....I'm almost 50 yrs old and just figured that out.

When I got my first iPod, I put the Battleship app on so I could play.   It was fancy smancy and lots of cool graphics, but I missed the white and red pegs and my little boats.   They just seem like more fun to me.   I guess it's what you grow up with.




MYSTERY DATE

This was a game for girls.   It was developed in 1965 by Milton Bradley.    The object of the the game is to be ready for a date by acquiring 3 color-coded matching cards to assemble an outfit.    The outfit must then match the date at the mystery door.    

The 5 possible dates are:  formal dance, bowling, beach, skiing and the dud.     It was always quite the bummer to get the dud.   I still remember the theme song:  "...Mystery date.....are you ready for your Mystery date...."  

For those of you that have a desire to see the old commercial...here ya' go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcBl_Eps_c



TROUBLE

This game was launched in the United States in 1965.   The most notable feature is the pop-o-matic die container which I was obsessed with as a kid.   Such a cool way to roll the die.   Trouble is very much like the game 'Sorry' in that you are trying to move your pieces around the board and into home.    

My brother and I played this all the time growing up.    He pretty much beat me at most the games we played and I think this made me a bit competitive.    My daughter and I would play this when she was little and I got too into the competition of the game.    This was the game that was one of our last board games until later years because I got her crying when we played this one.   Poor thing, she was only about 5 years old.   Nice mom.    Thankfully, I got her to eventually play 'Sorry' with me when she was almost out of high school.   I almost warped her for life of board games.


And now.....for the spooky game, which will always be a feature on classic board games posts because I loved them so much.    I may have been the only one playing these, but I loved this.    This time we'll look at...


THE HAUNTED MANSION GAME

The Haunted Mansion attraction at Disney World has always been my favorite Disney ride and so I was super excited as a kid to get this game.     In this game, players move their 'doom buggy' around the board through the Haunted Mansion.   There's rotating discs that change the path of your doom buggy.    I have some trivia about the voice of the "Ghost Host" from the Disney attraction, but I'll save that for a future post about famous cartoon voices (part 2).

Well, there's another look at some classic board games.   There's still many more to look at and we'll do that in future posts.   


TRIVIA ANSWER:
1925


BRAIN TEASER:
A stamp

Until next time...........

8 POPULAR 'OLD WIVES TALES': FACT OR FICTION?

Here's some fun for the day........

TRIVIA: (answer below)
What year was the first iPad released?

BRAIN TEASER:
There is a very happy family, but within an hour, the little girl become's rich, the mom becomes poor and the father goes to jail.   What happened?

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
What hair color do they put down on the driver's license of a bald man?

COMIC FUN:

TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY
Character paves the way to closeness with God.

8 POPULAR OLD WIVES TALES:  FACT OR FICTION

I'm taking a look today at some Old Wives Tales and whether they are true or not.    An Old Wives Tales could be described as 'rules to live by' that have been passed on from generation to generation.   Mainly told by mothers to their children I believe.   They are assumed to be true.....but are they?    Let's take a look.

The following Old Wives Tales info comes from a Reader's Digest magazine from years ago.

OWT # 1:  Don't go outside with wet hair.   You'll get sick.

I know I heard this one growing up and followed it as well.   Just started diverging from this one recently.  

This one is FICTION: 

Getting chilled does not cause a cold.   Pardon me while I take a moment to wash my hair and run around the back yard.  Wheeeeeee.........

OWT# 2:  Foods with mayonnaise spoil faster

I'm back from running around the yard with wet hair.   I've heard this one about mayo as well and followed it too.   Let's see what they say.

This one is FICTION:

I'm surprised.   According to the article, when you turn your leftover chicken into chicken salad, the mayonnaise actually helps prevent spoilage because the mayonnaise is somewhat acidic.   I've always thought you had to keep mayonnaise cold too.    Apparently not.   Mayo isn't a dairy product, so it doesn't need to be treated like one.    Interesting.   I think I'll still keep it in the fridge though......maybe.

OWT # 3:  Feed a cold, starve a fever.

The original version of this was 'feed a cold, stave a fever'....stave (not starve) as in to prevent and keep at bay.    So.....

This one if FICTION:

Fasting will only weaken you when you should be preserving your strength.     Why don't you try eating chicken soup because.......

OWT # 4:  Chicken soup will help cure your cold.

Chicken soup always seemed to make me feel better.  So warm and comforting.

This one is FACT

It's not a cure, but it will help.  Scientists believe that a bowl of soup may reduce inflammation of the lungs.   It is thought that chicken soup slows down the activity of white blood cells that can cause inflammation.

OWT #5:  Over do it?   Have a little 'hair of the dog' that bit you.

16th century English dramatist John Heywood suggested that the best way to recover from a hangover is to have an another alcoholic drink.

This one is FICTION

This saying comes from a misguided notion from years ago that you could recover from a dog bite by plucking a hair from the dog that bit you and holding it to the wound.    That didn't work for wounds and neither does another drink work for a hangover.

OWT #6:  Wait 30 minutes before swimming after eating.

This one is always tough for kids, I remember it being tough for me.   You're at the pool all day, you're hungry, you want to eat lunch, but you don't want to have to wait 30 minutes before getting back into the pool.    Cheer up kids......

This one is FICTION

The belief was that blood going to your digestive tract after eating steals the blood needed to keep your arms and legs working during swimming.     According to a Duke study, the body does supply extra blood to aid in digestion, but not enough to affect the arms and legs.   The only thing you may get is a minor cramp in your arms and legs. So kids.....eat a burger and dive in.

OWT # 7:  Don't eat spicy foods if your prone to ulcers.

This one seems like it makes sense and would be true.   However....

This one is FICTION

In fact, there some evidence that suggest hot peppers contain a chemical called capsaicin which may actually help heal ulcers by stimulating blood flow to the wound.

OWT #8:  Fish is brain food.

My husband and I have been eating a lot of fish in the last year, so I'm excited to learn that.....

This one is FACT

The reason for this is the fish oils which contain omega-3 and omega-6.   These help the growth and functionality of the brain.    Looks like it also helps in tenderness of joints, Alzheimers and coronary heart disease.  Wow.   I think we all definitely need to go find Nemo, which isn't the best of news for him.    "Hey Nemo...could you pop over here for a minute......."

Poor Nemo.  Well, taking a look at those, it looks like we have more Old Wives Tales that are just that.....Tales and usually not the truth.   So go run outside with your hair wet today while eating a chicken salad sandwich and then jump in the pool.  In other words......Have Fun!


TRIVIA ANSWER:
2010
BRAIN TEASER:
They are playing 'Monopoly'

Until next time...........