Crazy Times on Pennylane

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

~ Wisconsin produces more than half of the U.S.'s cranberry crop. Massachusetts is second, followed by New Jersey and then Oregon. The rest of the nation's crop is grown in Washington, Maine, Michigan and Minnesota.

~ Korea was once known as the Hermit Kingdom because of its strict isolationism in the late 19th century, before it signed trade agreements with the U.S. and other Western nations.

~ Before the collapsible metal tube was invented, artists commonly used small pouches made from a pig's bladder to hold their oil paints. The metal tube was invented in 1841 by South Carolina portrait artist John G. Rand. (I was tempted to find a picture of a pig's bladder)

~ The width of a cut made by a saw is called the kerf.

~ When computer scientist Scott Fahlman introduced the smiley face emoticon in 1982 it was called the joke marker. Fahlman, who is known as the father of the emoticon, created the :-) symbol so people would know when an e-mail was not intended to be taken seriously.

Monday, November 28, 2011

TURKEY TRIVIA!

OOPS! This was supposed to post on Thanksgiving! Sorry!

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Quiz courtesy of Aristotle, Inc.

1. When was the first Thanksgiving celebration?

a. 1492
b. 1567
c. 1621
d. 1777

2. Where was the turkey first domesticated?
a. Canada
b. Mexico and Central America
c. New Zealand
d. India

3. What is a female turkey called?
a. a rooster
b. a cuckoo
c. a chick
d. a hen

4. What is a male turkey called?
a. a larry
b. a clark
c. a harry
d. a tom

5. What great American statesman lobbied to make the turkey the national symbol?
a. Benjamin Franklin
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. John Adams
d. Andrew Jackson

6. What sound does a female turkey make?
a. gobble
b. cluck
c. chirp
d. peep

7. What sound does a male turkey make?
a. gobble
b. click
c. chirp
d. peep

8. About how many feathers does a mature turkey have?
a. 1,500
b. 2,000
c. 3,500
d. 5,000

9. Which state produces the most turkeys annually?
a. Kansas
b. Ohio
c. Arkansas
d. Minnesota

10. How fast can wild turkeys run?
a. 5 mph
b. 15 mph
c. 25 mph
d. 45 mph

11. How does Arkansas rank among the other states in turkey production?
a. first
b. third
c. eighth
d. fourteenth

12. What Native American tribe celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the colonists?
a. the Wampanoag tribe
b. the Sioux tribe
c. the Choctaw tribe
d. the Arapaho tribe

13. Can wild turkeys fly? If so, how fast?
a. No.
b. Yes, up to 25 mph
c. Yes, up to 40 mph
d. Yes, up to 55 mph

14. Approximately what percentage of American homes eats turkey on Thanksgiving?
a. 49%
b. 67%
c. 82%
d. 90%

15. Approximately what percentage of American homes eats turkey on Christmas?
a. 34%
b. 50%
c. 67%
d. 89%

16. What is the name of the skin that hangs from a turkey's neck?
a. snark
b. wattle
c. garble
d. swag

17. Which U.S. president specified that Thanksgiving would fall on the last Thursday of November?
a. Martin Van Buren
b. Andrew Jackson
c. William H. Taft
d. Abraham Lincoln

18. Which president attempted to move the Thanksgiving holiday to the fourth Thursday in November to create a longer Christmas shopping season?
a. Franklin D. Roosevelt
b. Dwight D. Eisenhower
c. Harry S. Truman
d. Gerald R. Ford

19. Which country consumes the most turkey per year per capita?
a. The United States
b. Israel
c. Spain
d. The United Kingdom

20. What is the best way to defrost a turkey?
a. with a hair dryer
b. in the refrigerator
c. in cold water
d. in the microwave oven

ANSWERS:
1. 1621
2. Mexico and Central America
3. a hen
4. a tom
5. Benjamin Franklin
6. cluck
7. gobble
8. 3,500
9. Minnesota
10. 25 mph
11. third
12. the Wampanoag trive
13. yes, up to 55 mph
14. 90%
15. 50%
16. wattle
17. Abraham Lincoln
18. Franklin D. Roosevelt
19. Isreal
20. in the refrigerator

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

~ An African elephant's ear can weigh up the 110 pounds. Each of their ears measures as much as 6 feet high and 4 feet wide.

~ James Dean was the only performer to be nominated twice posthumously for a Best Actor Oscar. he was nominated for East of Eden (1955) and Giant (1956), but didn't win either. He died September 1955.

~ In Greek mythology, the river Styx circles Hades nine times.

~ During WW II Operation Sauerkraut was the code name of a successful Office of Strategic Services project in which disaffected Germans (aka sour krauts) were recruited in prisoner-of-war camps to slip behind enemy lines to spread rumors and distribute Allied propaganda.

~ The town of Snowflake, Arizona got its name, not from precipitation, but for its two founders, Mormon pioneers Erastus Snow and William Flake in 1878.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

NO DOUBLE CHINS HERE!

SOMEDAYS I WISH I WERE SALLY....

...no worries, no expenses, no crisis in her life. All she has to worry about is eating and sleeping, and occasionally Tay, the neighbor's cat. Yes, I could live her life, soaking up the sun on a warm day....

...but I probably wouldn't do it on the hood of a car.

Love you Salad, Evil Zlid, Wombat, Sally Jefferson Jackson Johnson Washington Campbell.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

~ A cross between a camel and a llama is called a cama. Because of the great size difference between the camel and the llama, artificial insemination was used to produce the first cama, a male named Rama, in 1998.

~ In the famous Mary Shelley horror story, Frankenstein's first name was Victor.

~ 625 square feet of lawn is needed to provide a day's oxygen needs for one person.

~ The only crime that can disqualify a prisoner in Vermont from voting is election fraud. Vermont and Maine are the only two states that permit prisoners to vote (by absentee ballot).