A comet’s tail always points away from the sun.
The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year.
Astronauts can’t belch - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.
Because of the speed at which Earth moves around the Sun, it is impossible for a solar eclipse to last more than 7 minutes and 58 seconds.
The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.
Due to earth’s gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters.
The letter ‘J’ does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.
If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day. [PLEASE, do not try this at home!]
Gold is the only metal that doesn’t rust, even if it’s buried in the ground for thousands of years.
The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
Maharaja Mac at McDonald’s (India)
In India, where the McDonald’s kitchens have always been divided into separate sections for cooking vegetarian and non-vegetarian food and where McDonald’s locations do not sell beef or pork, the fast-food giant has replaced the Big Mac’s two all-beef patties with chicken to create the Maharaja Mac.
McShrimp at McDonald’s (Russia)
If you find yourself in Moscow and want a different side to accompany your Big Mac other than traditional McDonald’s french fries, order McShrimp, breaded shrimp served with your choice of six sauces.
Premium Kuro Burger at Burger King (Japan)
You can understand the reasoning behind this burger’s name just by looking at the color of the bun. The Premium Kuro Burger ( or kuro means black in Japanese) has a beef burger sandwiched between a bun that has bamboo charcoal mixed into the dough, creating the black hue, and topped with black ketchup made from squid ink, garlic, and tomato ketchup.
Spicy Tender King Sandwich at Burger King (South Korea)
The Spicy Tender King consists of chicken strips, topped with lettuce, onions, mayonnaise, and a fiery barbecue sauce.
Salsa Boxmaster Wrap at Kentucky Fried Chicken (Taiwan)
This massive wrap is stuffed with fried chicken, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, hot and sour Mexican salsa, and Doritos, which add a nice crunch. There really isn’t any good reason why this doesn’t exist in America.
Sweet Bites at Kentucky Fried Chicken (Australia)
These moist cake desserts come in two flavors: triple chocolate (chocolate cake with creamy chocolate frosting topped with crumbly chocolate bits) and banana caramel (a banana-flavored dessert enrobed in caramel).
Mushroom & Mozzarella Flaky Sandwich at Starbucks (Singapore)
Breakfast sandwiches have been on the menu at Starbucks for a couple of years now, and Starbucks shops around the world have subsequently rolled out the sandwich program adapted to regional tastes. The Mushroom & Mozzarella Flaky Sandwich in Singapore is comprised of white mushrooms and mozzarella stacked between two pieces of flaky bread made with linseed, flax seed, and sunflower seeds.
The ‘best ever’ was from both my husband and son. They said it was the best ever chocolate cake I made.
Recipe is from ‘Walt’s Comfort Food Recipes from Mel’s Diner’. These are featured in the Lady Justice Mystery Comedy Novel Series. There are several more recipes I’d like to try.
Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. cocoa
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. strong coffee, hot
2/3 c. oil
1 egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º Grease 9×13 pan
Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa in a large bowl.
Add buttermilk, hot coffee and egg; blend well.
Pour batter into pan and bake 30-35 minutes until knife inserted comes out clean.
Great without an icing! This was a large cake, but the 3 of us managed to finish it off in 2 days. Enjoy!!
TOO YOUNG TO CUSS
A 6 year old and a 4 year old are upstairs in their bedroom. The 6 year old asks, “You know what? I think it’s about time we started cussing..”
The 4 year old nods his head in approval. The 6 year old continues, “When we go downstairs for breakfast, I’m gonna say something with hell and you say something with ass.” The 4 year old agrees with enthusiasm.
When the mother walks into the kitchen and asks the 6 year old what he wants for breakfast, he replies, “Aw, hell, Mom, I guess I’ll have some Cheerios.
WHACK! He flies out of his chair, tumbles across the kitchen floor, gets up, and runs upstairs crying his eyes out, with his mother in hot pursuit, slapping his rear with every step. His mom locks him in his room and shouts, “You can stay there until I let you out!
“She then comes back downstairs, looks at the 4 year old and asks with a stern voice, “And what do YOU want for breakfast, young man?”
“I don’t know,” he blubbers, “but you can bet your fat ass it won’t be Cheerios!”
A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets. As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket. He opened his trench coat and flashed her.
Without missing a beat, she said, ‘Sir, I need to see your ticket, not your stub.’
Maxine, one of my favorite friends, is at her computer: (I’m on seizure medication. I can have cartoon characters for friends.)
I keep hitting escape, but I’m still here.
Some people can have all the lights on and still be in the dark.
Got hooked up to high-speed internet. It crashes a lot faster now.
Don’t like my attitude? Send me an email at: http://www.like_I_ care.com
Maxine with her perpetual cup of coffee:
I find it helps to organize chores into categories: things I won’t do now; things I won’t do later; things I’ll never do.
If your friends can accurately guess your age, you need to find dumber friends.
Coffee is like a kick in the attitude.
Age doesn’t make you forgetful. Having way too many stupid things to remember makes you forgetful. (one of my favorites)
You’re not yourself today…I noticed the improvement immediately!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL
Mother’s Day is the holiday for honoring motherhood. It is observed in different forms throughout the world. Dates and celebrations may vary, but it is generally observed on the 2nd Sunday of May.
In America, Mother’s Day was started by Anna Jarvis of West Virginia in 1908, but did not become an official U.S. holiday until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially making it the 2nd Sunday in May.
Traditional gifts are flowers, cards and candy; for some, simply a phone call.
The ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent to Mother’s day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday”. It was once a major tradition in the UK and parts of Europe, and fell on the 4th Sunday in Lent. Originally, it was considered a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church” which meant the main church in the vicinity of their home. Over time that holiday lost popularity and finally merged with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.
Anna Jarvis helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to care for their children. Those clubs became a unifying force during the Civil War. In 1868 Ms. Jarvis organized the “Mothers’ Friendship Day”. The mothers gathered together former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.
In 1870 Julia Ward Howe wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation” which was a call to action for mothers to promote world peace. Then, in 1873, Ms Howe campaigned for a “Mother’s Peace Day” to be celebrated every June 2nd.
Other early pioneers of the holiday include Juliet Calhoun Blakely. She was a temperance activist who inspired a local Mother’s Day in Albion, Michigan. Mary Towles Sasseen and Frank Hering both worked to organize a Mother’s Day in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some have even considered Mr. Hering the “father of Mother’s Day”.
Ms Jarvis remained single and childless her entire life. She got the idea for a national Mother’s Day after the death of her own mother in 1905 as a way of honoring the sacrifices made by mothers for their children. In May, 1908, she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. She had gotten financial backing from John Wanamaker, a Philadelphia department store owner. The same day they celebrated in W. Virginia, thousands of people attended a Mother’s Day event at his retail stores in Philadelphia.
Her original idea for Mother’s Day was meant to be a personal holiday between mothers and families. Her plan was for mothers to wear a white carnation, and visit one’s mother or attend church services. She had initially worked with florists to help raise awareness of the holiday, but quickly became disgusted by the commercialization and tried to undo the holiday. She spent most of her fortune in legal fees by the time of her death in 1948.
Traditions of other countries:
Thailand: holiday is celebrated in August on the birthday of the current queen, Sirikit.
Ethiopia: families get together each fall to sing songs and eat a large feast as part of Antrosht, a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood. (Who does all the cooking for that feast?)
In the US, Mother’s Day is one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. More phone calls are made on this holiday than any other. Phone traffic spikes by as much as 37%. It is also used for launching political or feminist causes. In 1968, Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., used Mother’s Day to host a march in support of underprivileged women and children. In the 1970s women’s groups used the holiday to support equal rights and access to childcare.
While I think flowers, candy, and a phone call are great, consider doing something different for your mother this year. Try relieving her of some of her chores for a week. Do the cooking or mow the yard. Give her a gift card for the local theater. Take her out to dinner and spend some time together. Give her money to take the trip she’s been wanting to do.
She may tell you she doesn’t need all that, or you feel she is perfectly capable of doing her own chores. Don’t believe either one. It’s always nice to show your true appreciation. Giving of oneself is the best gift of all.
Don’t tell me you don’t know what she likes or that she complains every time you try. Shame on you for not knowing your mother. Apparently you do need to talk to her more often and spend more time with her. If your mother complains every time you do something for her, then shame on her. I picked up that habit from my mother and, over the years, have tried hard to break it.
They say you’re never too old to learn and, with technology changing almost on an hourly basis, you really have to learn fast most days.
Today I helped with the Relay for Life affair at one of our local nursing homes. I volunteer at that same one on Tuesday mornings to help the patients play bingo.
For bingo, the patients use the dining room and are always anxious to get started. Bingo is taken very seriously by a number of the patients. Today was completely different. A huge crowd was gathered under the covered driveway–staff, patients, family members, and volunteers. It was like a party. Excitement gleamed in the patients’ eyes.
The weather was perfect, the predicted rain graciously staying away. A light but steady breeze kept the sun from feeling too warm. A few patients, remembering me from bingo days, waved and said hello.
It was as joyful as it was chaotic. The arched roof above the small crowded area absorbed the sound somehow. Even with all the people yelling or talking loudly, it was hard to hear anything.
All the proceeds from the bake sale and hotdog lunch were going to the Cancer Assoc. The $4 box lunch consisted of a chili hotdog, coleslaw, pickle, a bag of chips, and a chocolate chip cookie. It’s been years since the last time I had a chili hotdog.
The fresh-squeezed lemonade, made right before your eyes, was free, donated by a new church moving into the area. My second glassful was delicious. (Curious? Read on, please.)
The tables were placed close together and I could not get between them to reach an empty chair. A father and his two sons were sitting on the curb. It takes a crane to get me up from that low. Left with no other choice besides walking on the patients, I walked through the flower bed to a vacant chair.
I ate while watching the activity going on around me. Soon I noticed the glass that held my lemonade. It was reusable plastic with the Relay for Life logo stamped on it, and two-toned in color. Or so I thought. At first, I decided the dark pink was a sugar coating which would dissolve into the lemonade, but mine definitely was not working. It was simply lemon water which was fine by me. I like lemon in my water, just not that much. It was still cold and refreshing.
I looked around at the other cups. They were all beige and pink, but the pink color varied depending on the fluid level. I tilted mine so the cold liquid almost reached the ridge, worrying all the time if I was going to end up with water in my lap (which is about par for me). I successfully completed my experiment without mishap. Yes, I know an intelligent person would have held the cup over the ground and not their lap, but smarts eluded me at that moment. Blame it on fatigue or eager curiosity.
Cup upright once again, I checked the outside color. The pink created a mountain shape. Interesting. I drank a bit more before noticing another unusual effect. At the edge of the dark pink where my pointer finger was, it was beige.
Something like this always peaks my curiosity and I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I found out about the magic cup. I learned that they work well with either hot or cold, but no one knew exactly how they worked. It was not a brand new technology. One man had gotten them last year at another Relay for Life.
I saved my “magic cup” for when my twelve-year-old grandson comes to visit. Knowing him, he’s probably seen it before and has five at home.
Famous Old Composer’s Birthdays:
5/7/1833 – Johannes Brahms
5/22/1813 Richard Wagner
National Holidays:
12 – Mother’s Day
18 – Armed Forces Day
27 – Memorial Day (observed)
5/3 Holidays/Events – [A day late]
Hug Your Cat Day
Lumpy Rug Day
National Specially-Abled Pets Day
National 2 different colored shoes Day
Paranormal Day
Anniversary of first National Public Radio broadcast in 1971
Anniversary of Joe DiMaggio’s major league debut with New York Yankees in 1936
Anniversary of “CBS Evening News” debut with Douglas Edwards as anchor in 1948
Birthdays of James Brown (1933-2006); Bing Crosby (1903-1977); Golda Meir (1898-1978); Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989)
Selections from Chase’s Calendar of Events [This is a delightful and interesting site to find all the 'unusual' holidays and birthdays of people. I never knew there were Hug Your Cat or Lumpy Rug days. Normally, I used my calendar and the Farmers' Almanac. My almanac has gone missing again, so I was at a loss until I came across this site. I recommend it for anyone interested in the quirky side of life.]
May 4, 2013
Star Wars Day: “May the 4th be with you!”
World Give Day
China: Youth Day
Curaçao: Memorial Day
Japan: Greenery Day
England: Clun Green Man Festival, Clun, Shropshire (May 4-6). See http://www.clungreenman.org.uk
Italy: Giro d’Italia (May 4-26). 96th edition.. See http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2013/en/
Free Comic Book Day. 11th annual. See http://www.freecomicbookday.com
International Respect for Chickens Day
National Dance Day
Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY. 139th annual. See http://www.kentuckyderby.com
1886: Haymarket Square Riot, Chicago, IL.
Anniversary of the beginning of the Freedom Riders in 1961: the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) began conducting freedom rides on public transportation from Washington, DC, across the Deep South to New Orleans, LA—to test Supreme Court decisions and ICC regulations prohibiting discrimination in interstate travel.
Kent State Students’ Memorial Day: On May 4, 1970, four students were killed by the National Guard during demonstrations against the Vietnam War.
Happy Birthday! Erin Andrews, Cesc Fabregas, David Guterson, Richard Jenkins, Rory McIlroy, Randy Travis, George F. Will
May 5, 2013
Pascha: Orthodox Easter Sunday
Rural Life Sunday/Soil Stewardship Sunday
Bonza Bottler Day
Cartoonists Day
National Infertility Survival Day
Denmark: Observation of 1945 Liberation
Ethiopia: Patriots Victory Day
Japan: Children’s Day
Mexico: Cinco de Mayo
Netherlands: Liberation Day
South Korea: Children’s Day
Thailand: Coronation Day
TD Bank Five Boro Bike Tour, New York, NY. See http://www.bikenewyork.org/ride/five-boro-bike-tour/
Motorcycle Mass and Blessing of the Bikes, Paterson, NJ.
200th birth anniversary of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855).
Birth anniversary of Karl Marx (1818-83).
Happy Birthday! Adele, Chris Brown, Henry Cavill, Richard E. Grant, Lance Henriksen, Paul Konerko, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Michael Palin
Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexican army defeated French troops at the city of Puebla, May 5, 1862. Now celebrated as Cinco de Mayo.
