"A mustache automatically makes you at least 50"

"A mustache automatically makes you at least 50" : Yes, that was the quote of the weekend by a friend of mine. No real context needed, but absolutely hysterical, I can't help but laugh a little right now thinging of it. What is it about facial hair...I actually don't mind it at all, the few exceptions are the stach and soul patches. If I could go around with a razor fixing people's faces I walk by on the street for a living I would. The world needs to get rid of the soul patch look, honestly, it doesn't look good, its like they missed a spot. Anyways, why not spend today featuring the stach.

• The only 4 U.S. Presidents known for baring mustaches are: Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and William H. Taft. Since Taft in 1909, all U.S. Presidents have been clean shaven.
• By 1914 and the advent of WWI, the military mustache was well-established. Generally, the shape of the stache suggested rank: As a man advanced in rank, so did his mustache become thicker and bushier, until he ultimately was permitted to wear an ever fuller beard.
• The longest recorded moustache belongs to Bajansinh Juwansinh Gurjar of Ahmedabad, India. It had not been cut for 22 years and was 12 feet, 6 inches long in 2004In a deck of cards the King of Hearts is the only king without a mustache.
• Shaving with stone razors was technologically possible from Neolithic times, but the oldest portrait showing a shaved man with a moustache is an ancient Iranian (Scythian) horseman from 300 BC.
• There are between 10,000 and 20,000 hairs on a man's face.
• In 1967, The Beatles gave away cardboard mustaches with their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• Lastly, Here is a link for you to one of my favorite tee shirt companies in DC that features staches on tee shirts. They can be found at eastern market a lot if you'd like to look at their work. http://www.fuzzy-ink.com/

Sources:http://gloriusmustache.com/facts.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moustache

Is meeting your future husband/wife at a party, bookstore, bar passe?

I'm going to touch on a topic that has a huge success rate and also makes people pretty uncomfortable to admit...online dating. I'll grudgingly admit I've tried it and I know lots of my friends who have had a lot of success trying it out. There always seems to be a bit of embarrassment about it though, however since we are now in the age of technology it shouldn't be that surprising anymore that people find their future partners online. Personally I know about 5 couples that are married that met online. That's pretty huge! And I know a lot of people who are dating that met online so the fact is...it works.

• Married couples who met online have an average courtship period of 18.5 months. Married couples who met offline courtship period last on average 42 months
• The online dating industry is now worth $4 billion worldwide
• In the last year 17% of couples who married met on a dating site
• 1 in 5 singles have dated someone they met on a dating site
• The top 3 religions where both the man and the woman in a married couple are from the same religion are: Hindus (90%), Mormons (83%), and Catholics (78%)
• The average user of a mobile phone spends 12 minutes and 44 seconds on mobile dating sites per week.
• New York State passes an Internet Dating Safety Act. It is the second state to do so
• Women in their early 20s who show cleavage in their profiles do around 24% better, but that number rises to 79% by the time they hit age 32. Similarly, men who show their abs do    better—but men only show their abs when they have really nice abs.
• People in their 20s and 30s are almost race-blind when it comes to deciding who to message for a date. People in their 50s and 60s message people of their own race around twice as   frequently.
• Unless they’re over 6 feet tall, men lie almost uniformly about their height, estimating up by approximately 2 inches
• One third of American singles won't even respond to dating profiles that don’t include a picture.
• 70% say that eyes are the sexiest facial feature
• Drinking, political views, and religious affiliations were also listed as things that could cause you to be rejected
• The two things that can cause you to go from possible soul mate to the recycle bin in just one click are your weight and having children.
• Most American singles will meet for a face-to-face date within a month after exchanging countless e-mail messages and at least ten telephone calls.
  

childhood

One of the many things I remember about childhood was the video games...getting our first Nintendo, Sega and Nintendo 64. It was considered cool to have a gaming system them. Who didn't love paintball mode in golden eye, or knowing where the warp tubes were in Mario? I think my favorite games were Mario Party (hello, hot rope jump was awesome) or ninja turtles on the original Nintendo. Now I have a PS2, which I rarely play apart from the random days where I have nothing better to do than strengthen my characters on FFX. That's right...I totally admit to playing it and I like it! Okay so Nintendo....

• Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a playing card company
• Their first video game was released in 1978
• Nintendo means leave luck to heaven in Japanese
• Shigeru Miyamoto invented Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda and the Wii
• By 1990 Mario became more recognizable than Mickey
• Miyamoto was a huge fan of Walt Disney
• Top three franchises are Mario, Pokemon and Zelda
• The Nintendo DS recently surpassed Gameboy as the best selling hand-held gaming device
• In 2008, Nintendo made 1.82M for every employee
• In 2009, during thanksgiving 2.5 systems sold each second
• Porn games were released without Nintendo's permission. They were called: Peek-a-boo Poker, Bubble Bath Babes and Hot Slots
• Mario has a 27' vertical jump
• There are 235 different mario games
• 31 different mario powerups

State of the Union

I am not really big into the political scene here in DC. This is for a few reasons, mainly I just don't think that my voice makes a difference overall with the way elections are run. Maybe on a smaller scale I could make a difference, but overall, I think other people have a much wider knowledge base than I do on what the Government is doing and the best ways to reach a positive end goal. So because tonight is that special night, I think it would only be appropriate to post trivia about the State of the Union Address.

• Actually, the speech was not always called the "State of the Union" and, for that matter, was not always a speech. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. 
• Several presidents have given handwritten statements instead of addressing congress verbally.
• Franklin Roosevelt started the modern tradition by delivering his first report to Congress, in 1934, as a speech. It was the first such address titled the "State of the Union." It wasn't until 1947, however, that the name came into general usage.
• Coolidge's 1923 address was the first broadcast over the radio
• Harry Truman's 1947 State of the Union was the first broadcast on television
• George W. Bush's 2002 speech was the first webcast from the House's website
• The longest length State of the Union speech was Jimmy Carter's 1981 address—which was also the last such written message—33,667 words
• Bill Clinton has the longest spoken State of the Union, 1 hr 28 min
• In all, 76 out of 220 such messages have been delivered by the president, in person.
• Two presidents--William Henry Harrison and James Garfield--never delivered such a message to Congress. Both died in office before they were able to.

GUM

This topic is coming out of random searches today for a good topic. Yesterday's Martini Glass was pretty high in the viewership so I have to do something just as good today. Chewing gum! I personally am not a fan of gum, I'll have a piece on the rare occasion, but I never buy packages of gum or just chew it because I like the taste.

• Prehistoric men and women chewed on lumps of tree resin for pure enjoyment, making them the first-ever gum chewers in recorded history. 
• In fact, the study of civilization has found that almost every culture chewed some kind of "gum."Ancient Greeks routinely gnawed on tree resin to clean their teeth and freshen their breath, and called their treat "mastiche." 
• Native Americans often chewed on tree sap, and while early settlers combined tree sap and beeswax to soften the chew.
• The first commercial chewing gum - State of Maine Spruce Gum - was introduced in 1848 by John B. Curtis.
  
• The very first bubble gum was invented by Frank Henry Fleer in 1906. He called it Blibber-Blubber
• In the early 1900s, William Wrigley Jr. was one of the first to promote the sale of branded goods through advertising and used it to make Wrigley's Spearmint gum and Juicy Fruit best sellers that are still around today
• Spearmint, peppermint and cinnamon are among the most popular flavors of chewing gum today
• The color of the first successful bubble gum was pink, because it was the only color the inventor had left, and that remains the predominant color today
• The largest bubble ever blown was 23 inches in diameter.
• The country with the largest number of chewing gum manufacturers is Turkey, with more then 60 producers.
• Chewing gum can improve memory, say UK psychologists. They found that people who chewed throughout tests of both long-term and short-term memory produced significantly better scores than people who did not.
• Sugarless or sugar-free gums first entered the marketplace in the early 1950s.
• The longest gum wrapper chain on record was 7,400 feet in length (nearly one and a half miles) and was made by Cathy Ushler of Redmond, Washington between 1969 and 1992.
• Chewing gum burns around 11 calories per hour
• Back in the 1920’s, prohibition increased gum sales because people needed to mask the alcohol on their breath. When prohibition was enacted, Adam’s Clove gum hit the market with the slogan: “It takes your breath away!”  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
So while at a dinner last night, I got to talking about how terrible martini glasses are, not only are they the worst possible shape to put a beverage in (seriously it slides right out of the glass), but also you're giving this drink to drunk people who are probably already covered in alcohol slosh (yes just made up the term alcohol slosh: spilled beverage from one's own glass or a neighboring person's glass due to intoxication). Anyways, after learning about the glass shape I totally get why it is the way it is so I can get on board, except we are no longer in the prohibition so maybe they could update the glass with some side-rails of sorts.

• The name Martini was derived from the city of Martinez, California circa 1887. 
• The slim stem of a Martini glass was designed in such a way so that your hand would not come in direct contact with the bowl containing the liquids
• If your hand comes in contact with the contents inside (via the Martini bowl), the warmth radiated will destroy the drink's flavor and render it flat
• The ample open top of the Martini glass is claimed to construct surface tension that conveys the bouquet of the gin and fashion an elegant exhibit for the olive garnish than a typical cocktail glass. 
•   Ever wondered about the cone shape of a Martini glass? This is to keep the drink's ingredients from separating OR Many believe that the Martini glass was invented during the Prohibition era; the wide cavity of the glass made it effortless to dispose of the banned alcohol during a police incursi
• An ideal Martini glass is 4 ounces. 6 and 8 ounce glasses are also popular for serving more contemporary mixtures
•  The first item in a Martini was a cherry
• A "dry" martini is one with relatively little vermouth
• Martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lie sensuously one on top of the other
• A Martini that is shaken, and not stirred is a properly called a Bradford.
   

random hodge podge

I'm a little on the busy side today, which is pretty shocking. I'm not really in the mood to do my blog either. I'm just ready to get out of here today. So I'm straight up copying these from an article I found online. Random random facts...

• A ‘jiffy’ is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
  If you yelled for over 8 and a half years, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
• Top Six reasons for being late for work: 1) traffic. 2) oversleeping. 3) procrastination. 4) Chores. 5) Car Trouble. 6) Having Sex.
•  If you pet a cat 70 million times, you will have developed enough static electricity to light a 60-watt light bulb for one minute. 
• Car accidents rise 10% during the first week of daylight savings time. 
• 85,000,000 tons of paper are used each year in the U.S! 
• An attosecond is one billionth of a billionth of a second. 
• National Pi Day is March 14, at 1:59. (3/14 1:59) 
• The billionth digit of pi is 9. 
• The odds of a mother having twins are 90 to 1. 
• Right now, this very second, 70% of the people driving on U.S. highways are speeding. 
• There are 74 lobbyists for every one senator in Washington D.C. 
• If you counted for 24 hours a day, it would take over 31,000 years to reach one trillion. 
• Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

mm mmmm ahhhh

Everyone loves diet coke. Seriously, what is it about the diet softdrink that keep us coming back? Even at our conference the diet coke is the first one to go.

• Also known as Coca Cola Light
• Introduced in 1982 as the first brand new coke brand since 1886.
• It quickly overtook tab in sales
• Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame after the sweetener became available in the United States in 1983;to save money, this was originally in a blend with saccharin
• After diet rite announced they only used Nutrasweet coke followed suit.
•  Diet Coke from fountain dispensers still contains some saccharin to extend shelf life
• Diet Coke does not use a modified form of the Coca-Cola recipe, but instead an entirely different formula.
• Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at the Eagle Drug and Chemical Company
• Originally the idea was to create a Coca Wine, but when prohibition laws were passed it went non-alcoholic to coca-cola
• John Pemberton, the creator, claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, and impotence and sold it in a drug store as a patent medicine.

Advertising Slogans:

• "Just for the taste of it!" (US 1982)
• "The one of a kind" (US 1984)
• "Just for the taste of it!" (US 1986)
• "Taste it all!" (US 1993)
• "This Is Refreshment" (US 1994)
• "Just for the taste of it!" (US 1995)
• "You are what you drink" (US 1998)
• "Get the taste of it" (US 2000)
• "Live Your Life" (US 2001)
• "Do what feels good" (US 2002)
• "It's a Diet Coke thing" (US 2004)
• "Life is how you take it" (US 2005)
• "Light it up!" (US 2006)
• "Yours" (US 2007)
• "Enjoyment" (US 2007)
• "What life should be like." (US 2008)
• "Just for the taste of it!" (US 2009)
• "Hello You..." (UK 2009)
• "I light it" (Spain 2010)
• "Stay Extraordinary" (US 2010)
• "Love it light" (UK 2010)

A Coke Time Line:

• 1982 - Diet Coke introduced, becoming the largest-selling low-calorie soft drink in America.
• 1986 - Diet Cherry Coke introduced in American markets.
• 1997 - Diet Coke changes logo.
• 1999 - Diet Cherry Coke changes logo.
• 2001 - Diet Coke with Lemon introduced.
• 2002 - Diet Vanilla Coke introduced.
  • Diet Coke and Diet Cherry Coke changed logo.
• 2004 - Diet Coke with Lime introduced.
  • Diet Coke with Lemon changed logo.
• 2005 - Diet Coke sweetened with Splenda introduced.
  • Diet Cherry Coke and Diet Vanilla Coke changed logos and have been renamed.
• 2006 - Diet Coke Black Cherry Vanilla introduced.
  • Diet Coke with Lemon and Diet Coke Vanilla have been discontinued.
• 2007 - Diet Coke Plus introduced.
  • Diet Coke Black Cherry Vanilla discontinued.
  • Diet Coke and its 6 flavors changed logo.

Because I am not loving the weather today...ICE

Yes it is icy out today. In fact, this morning I was so freaked out that I tushie scooted down the front stairs of my home because I didn't want to slip and fall (which I almost did 3 times). It was really scary just walking down the sidewalk and took me forever to get to work. Alas, I did get here (and on time), but I'm very sick of all the ice already and want it to go. I'm more of a mild sunny day type. So here we go... ICE

• The word is derived from Old English īs, which in turn stems from Proto-Germanic *isaz.
• Ice is the only known non-metallic substance to expand when it freezes
• Light reflecting from ice often appears blue due to the properties of Rayleigh scattering, the same reason the sky is blue. Blue light is scattered much more strongly than red in matter which does not absorb visible light, such as ice.
• Until recently, it was widely believed that ice was slippery because the pressure of an object in contact with it caused a thin layer to melt. For example, the blade of an ice skate, exerting pressure on the ice, melted a thin layer, providing lubrication between the ice and the blade.
  This explanation is no longer accepted. There is still debate about why ice is slippery. The explanation gaining acceptance is that ice molecules in contact with air cannot properly bond with the molecules of the mass of ice beneath (and thus are free to move like molecules of liquid water). These molecules remain in a semiliquid state, providing lubrication regardless of pressure against the ice exerted by any object
• Clathrate hydrates are forms of ice that contain gas molecules trapped within its crystal lattice.
• Pancake ice is a formation of ice generally created in areas with less calm conditions.
• Candle Ice is a form of Rotten Ice that develops in columns perpendicular to the surface of a lake.
• Ice discs are circular formations of ice surrounded by water in a river.
• Ice production is a large business; in 2002, there were 426 commercial ice-making companies in the United States, with a combined value of shipments of $595,487,000.

• Called Romantic Feelings, it is a staggering 115ft high and 656ft long - the largest snow sculpture ever created.

In honor of all the stupid on facebook

If anyone took astronomy when they were in high school, or college for that matter, they would know that the earth wobbles ever so slightly on its axis a phenomenon called “precession" that has moved us one month to the west in the sky and so thousands of years later (like today) the sun will shine through a different constallation on our birthday than what it used to. Oh, I was assuming you knew that...Your zodiac sign is supposed to be the sign the sun is in when its you were born. So if you were a leo you are staying a leo. The new calendar wouldn't apply to you. Okay, this might be sounding like a pile of words now so here you go:

• Precession is caused by gravitational forces from the moon and the sun on a bulge in the Earth at the equator. These forces cause the orientation of the Earth’s axis of rotation — what we think of as the poles — to wobble like a spinning top losing momentum. This wobble traces a cone in a cycle that lasts about 26,000 years. During this cycle, the traditional North Star eventually becomes invalid and the Zodiac signs shift.
• Precession of the equinoxes occurs at a rate of roughly 5 arc minutes of a degree every 6 years.
•  The zodiac (Greek: ζῳδιακός, zōdiakos) is the ring of constellations that lines the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year.
• The term zodiac means "circle of animals" because half the signs are denoted by animals, apart from two of them.
• The division of the ecliptic into the zodiacal signs originates in Babylonian astronomy.
• Gemini and Cancer can be traced back to the Bronze Age
• Horoscopic astrology first appeared in Ptolemaic Egypt.
• It is important to distinguish the zodiacal signs from the constellations associated with them, not only because of their drifting apart due to the precession of equinoxes but also because the physical constellations by nature of their varying shapes and forms take up varying widths of the ecliptic. Thus, Virgo takes up fully five times as much ecliptic longitude as Scorpius
•  The zodiacal signs, on the other hand, are an abstraction from the physical constellations designed to represent exactly one twelfth of the full circle each, or the longitude traversed by the Sun in about 30.4 days.
• Taking the current constellation boundaries as defined in 1930 by the International Astronomical Union, the ecliptic itself passes through an additional thirteenth constellation, Ophiuchus, situated between Scorpius and Sagittarius.
•  No studies have shown any scientific support for the accuracy of horoscopes, and the methods used to make interpretations are, at best, pseudo-scientific.
• The Zodiac is centered on the ecliptic,occurs at the exact moment that the Sun crosses the celestial equator and enters the zodiac sign of Aries.

Perez Hilton

Everyone gets there celeb gossip from somewhere, my go-to is PerezHilton.com He is funny, opinionated and stands for a cause. Granted, his site is now basically a huge advertisement, but the content is still pretty good if you like that stuff. He is also extremely funny in all his interviews and I think it would be interesting to get to know the guy behind the name...

• Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr.
• Born March 23, 1978
• He has one sibling, a sister, Barbara Lavandeira, born June 14th 1984
• His blog was formerly known as pagesixsixsix.com
• Born in Miami, FL, his parents are from Cuba
• Received a BFA in Drama from New York University
• Started his blog as a hobby
• Madonna and Oprah are his biggest inspirations
• He is openly gay and worked in freelance as a writer/editor for gay publications and was the editor of Instinct
• Stars he likes: Lady Gaga, Sophia Bush, Paris Hilton
• Stars he doesn't like: Taylor Momsen, Vanessa Hudgens
• Pop singer Fergie has confirmed that she is referring to Hilton in her 2006 song "Pedestal," in which she criticizes an unidentified person for making negative remarks about her on the internet
• Perez appeared on The Tyra Banks Show and cited his premature reporting of Castro's death as his "one regret"
• 2008, Terra.com named Perez Hilton as the Hispanic of the Year in Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month
• 491st most trafficked website on the Internet
• Famous for outting gays and his controversial blog

slinky

Not much is better than reminiscing about childhood toys and trends. It brings back all those warm fuzzies of childhood and irresponsibility. A personal favorite, and one that I only got sick of after the first dozen time was the slinky. The sound it made going back and forth was great and I had one that was rainbow colored.

What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a slinkity sound?

A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing! Everyone knows it's Slinky.

It's Slinky, it's Slinky. For fun it's a wonderful toy.

It's Slinky, it's Slinky. It's fun for a girl or a boy.

It's fun for a girl or boy!

• The toy was invented and developed by naval engineer Richard James in the early 1940s
• Its entire inventory of 400 units in was sold in the first ninety minutes
• James Industries in Philadelphia to manufacture Slinky and several related toys such as the Slinky Dog and Suzie, the Slinky Worm
• The slinky was originally $1
• In 2002, Slinky became Pennsylvania's official state toy.
• In 2003, was named to the Toy Industry Association's "Century of Toys List"
• James accidentally knocked one of the springs from a shelf, and watched as the spring "stepped" in a series of banana spilts, to a stack of books, to a tabletop, to the floor, where it re-coiled itself and stood upright. James' wife Betty later recalled, "He came home and said, 'I think if I got the right property of steel and the right tension, I could make it walk.'"
• Named slinky by Betty because it was sleek and graceful, after finding the word in the dictionary
• Each was 2 1/2" tall, and included 98 coils of high-grade blue-black Swedish steel
• Betty and James divorced and Betty took over the company, while James was a missionary in Bolivia

boston market

I'm really lacking blogspiration today so I've finally decided to blog about Boston Market. That's what we are having for lunch today at our conference. Chicken, Mac and Cheese, and cornbread...so wholesome.

• Founded in 1985 bby Steven Kolow and Michael Young of Vero Beach, FL
• Known as Boston Chicken until 1995; Headquartered was in Golden, CO
• Now it is owned by Sun Capital Partners in Boca Raton, FL
• Originally was purchased by McDonalds Corporation for real estate, however they decided the brand was serviceable and let it operate
• In 2007 McDonalds Corp sold to Sun Capital Partners
• As of 2007 there were 530 restaurants in 28 states
• They opened a few stores in australia only to quietly turn them into McDonalds as the market was too competitive
• Originally specialized in rotisserie chicken, but now offer turkey, meatloaf and ham
• Baked white fish, hoddock or cod, was also offered on Fridays during Lent.
• Boston Market has introduced a new marketing campaign called the "Boston Marathon." The competition involves eating 3 whole chickens, 2 pot pies, 8 pieces of cornbread, 6 sides and 2 desserts of choice in under an hour with no help. The competitive eater Nathan "Sweet Potato" Nevins was the inaugural person inducted into the "Wing of Honor" for completing this feat.

Kleenex

Its another day in the arlington office. I'm actually here by myself this whole week running the conference. Its not a big deal, but I don't feel good and this cold isn't really my favorite thing right now. I could really just be happy taking a nap. Unfortunatly, I was up at the not so sunny hour of 5:20am this morning. I got here about 40 minutes early and therefore am upset that I could have had those 40 minutes sleeping. Anyways, I digress, I am going through kleenex a lot. The sniffles are not fun. I am going to be glad for this to be done with.

• The name Kleenex is a registered trademark registered by Kimberly-Clark Worldwide
• The material from which Kleenex is made was originally called "Cellucotton" designed during WWI. It was used in gas masks instead of cotton, since cotton was in high demand as a surgical dressing.
• The first facial tissues for public purchase were use for originally marketed them as a way to remove cold cream or makeup remover.
• In the 1930s kleenex was marketed as a disposible handkercheif with the slogan "don't keep a cold in your pocket"

The Color Blue

I like the color blue. It is not one of my favorites, but it is my eye color and pretty calming. I don't really know why I chose this as today's trivia. Probably because winter gives everything this grey/blue tint to it. Also I find it odd that most boys like this color as their favorite so I wanted to see if I could find out why.

• In religious symbolism, blue signifies truth and is associated with the creative power of God. It has been used by priests at the grave, for it is symbolic of heaven.
• In ancient Rome, blue was worn by the public servants, thus marking the beginning of the idea for today's police uniforms.
• "Something blue" in the wedding jingle comes from the early Israelites, to whom blue symbolized love, fidelity, and purity.
• When the eye is fully adapted to the dark, blue can be seen over a wider range of vision than red, thus making it useful for railroad signaling.
• In factories, blue often marks equipment to be repaired.
• A survey has shown blue to be the bestselling color in women's sweaters because women think men like it.
• A bluebook is a list of socially prominent people.
• First prize gets a blue ribbon.
• Fashion consultants recommend wearing blue to job interviews because it symbolizes loyalty.
•  People are more productive in blue rooms.
• Studies show weightlifters are able to handle heavier weights in blue gyms
• In Chinese culture, Blue was associated with spring.
•  President Martin VanBuren is credited with introducing blue into the decorating scheme in 1837 and their has been a "blue room" in the White House ever since.
• Blue flowers visually recede, helping to make a small space appear larger.
• Blueberry was the original scent of the blue colored Magic Scents Crayons from Binney & Smith Inc. 
• The word itself is derived from the Old French word bleu.
• Traditionally, blue has been considered a primary colour in painting, with the secondary colour orange as its complement.

History of Rice Crispy Treats

This is ony of my favorite addictions right now. So simple, so delicious. Even at our conferences when we put out snacks the rice crispy treats are always the clear winner for us.

• There was a book, called It's fun to Cook, by Lucy Mary Maltby.  Written in 1938, on page 220, a recipe called "Puffed Wheat Squares" was written.  The ingredient list included butter, sugar, molasses, puffed wheats, and vinegar.  There is a photo of the Puffed Wheat Square that looks amazingly like Rice Crispy Treats.  It is on page 219, if you care to look
• Kellogg's had created Rice Crispy cereal in 1928
• Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day, were the inventors of Rice Krispy Treats
• Rice Crispy treats are made from Rice Krispies, melted butter or margarine, and melted marshmallows. (My personal favorite though, is to mix it up and use golden grahams and mix in a few chocolate chips)
• Invented originally as a fund raiser for Camp Fire Girls.
• The original recipe for Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats first appeared on the box in 1940.
• In 1995, Kellogg's began selling pre-packaged Rice Krispies Treats.

reality tv......

One of my guilty pleasures is watch The Bachelor. I know, hot guy, 30 attractive-too-skinny-yet-pretty single women and a whole lot of emotional baggage attached. It is just asking for disaster and how can you tear your eyes away from that?

• Reality TV actually started on the radio with Candid Camera precursor Candid Microphone in 1947. 
• Survivor and American Idol routinely top the ratings when they are on, beating scripted show
• In 2001, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences added the reality genre to the Emmy Awards with the category of Outstanding Reality Program. In 2003, to better differentiate between competition and informational reality programs, a second category Outstanding Reality-Competition Program was added. In 2008, a third category, Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program was added.
• There have been at least three television channels devoted exclusively to reality television: Fox Reality in the United States, launched in 2005, Global Reality Channel in Canada in 2010, and Zone Reality in the UK, launched in 2002.
• Various reality shows (notably Joe Millionaire) combined audio and video from different times, or from different sets of footage, to create an artificial illusion of time chronology that did not occur, and a misportrayal of participant behaviors and actions

The following is a list of television shows with the most instances of product placement; Eight out of the ten are reality television shows.

• The Biggest Loser 6,248
• American Idol, 4,636
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', 3,371
• America's Toughest Jobs, 2,807
• Deal or No Deal, 2,292
• America's Next Top Model, 2,241
• Last Comic Standing, 1,993
• Kitchen Nightmares 1,853
• Hell's Kitchen, 1,807

sushi

If there was one food I could eat and never get sick of it would be sushi. It is so delicious, not the worst food in the world for you either. I'm a huge fan. So yea, not much more intro is needed than that so here we go...

• Approximately 80% of the world's bluefin tuna catch is used for sushi.
• Sushi dates back to at least the second century A.D., beginning as a method of preserving fish in China.
• There is a Japanese Agriculture Ministry that has a certification for restaurants that look for crimes which include slicing fish too thick, using too little or too much wasabi and over-boiling rice.
• The highest price ever paid for a sushi grade Bluefin Tuna was $173,600 for a 444 pound fish ($391/lb) on January 5th, 2001 at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. 
•  Su" means vinegar, and "shi" comes from the Japanese word mishi, which means rice. So sushi literally means vinegared rice.
• Japanese began placing dried fish between 2 patties of vinegared rice as a way to better preserve the fish. In later centuries, they began wrapping the sushi with nori (seaweed) so it could be served without sticking to the fingers. 

Happy New Year...we're back!

Happy new year to all. I bet you missed this blog over the holiday. No worries..I'm back! I rocked the new year like I usually do...low key, at home with friends. Seriously, I hate the bars...so expensive and hyped up. Anyways, hope you all made it back home safely and are ready to start another excellent year.

• Austria - Evil spirits of the old year are chased away by the firing of moroars, called boller. Midnight mass is attended and trumpets are blown from church 
• Great Brittan - the first male visitor to the house, after midnight ,is supposed to bring good luck. The man brings a gift like money, bread, or coal, to ensure the family will have plenty of these in the year to come. The first person must not be blond, red-haired, or a women, as these are supposed to be bad luck. 
• Germany - People drop molten lead into cold water to tell the future from the shape it makes. A bit of food eaten on New Year's Eve is left on their plate until after Midnight, as a way on ensuring a well stocked larder in the coming year.. 
• In Hungary the people burn effigies, or a scapegoat known as "Jack Straw". The scapegoat represents the evils and misfortunes of the past year. Burning the effigy is supposed to get rid of the bad luck.
• Japan - To keep out evil spirits they hang a rope of straw across the front of their houses. The rope stands for happiness and good luck. When the New Year begins, the Japanese people begin to laugh, which is supposed to bring them good luck in the New Year.
• The Portuguese pick and eat twelve grapes from a bunch as the clock strikes twelve on New Year;s Eve. The twelve grapes ensure twelve happy months in the coming year. (this also happens in peru and spain)
• Wales - At around 3:00 to 4:00 am on New Year's morning, the boys of the village go from house to house with an evergreen twig to sprinkle on the people and then each room of their house, to bring good luck
• Philippines - boys jump at new year to get taller.
• America - People gather together to get plastered and make bad decisions, often times glitter is worn on short dresses to enhance a girl's assets and help in the making of poor choices for all. Cheers.