LEAVING TOWN JUST AHEAD OF THE MOB SINCE 1837.
===========================================
February ended yesterday and I am glad.  Columbus and Central Ohio have a new record for snowfall in February.  It is the most since they started keeping records.  5 times as much as average (6 inches).  Too much.  I managed to keep a drive path to the street but I do not even know where the sidewalks are or even the curb of the street.  You just have to go by where the plow pushed the snow.  UGH!
===========================================
I am so bummed.  I just discovered this wonderful website called 'Grow a Brain' and the first post I see is dated January 22, 2010 and it says that it is the last post.  20,000,000 hits over 7 years and I just find it in time for it to go poof.  Well it has tons of older post that have some neat things.  Check it out before it gets taken down.
http://growabrain.typepad.com/

Check out the inventions. 
http://growabrain.typepad.com/growabrain/science_inventions/
===========================================
I found the website for the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, on line, museum.  Now Oak Ridge is all about nuclear anything and so is the museum.  They have over 30 categories of radioactive or atomic devices.  Some are merely atomic themed like the toys but they have a ton of other things like the old fluoroscope (which was put in shoe stores to look at kids feet), a Atomic Bomb blast calculator, a Radium Clock face, touch up kit and even irradiated gem stones.  Atomic themed comic book covers, Atomic toys, products named after radioactive things and even products that used to contain radioactivity and products that still do.  Plus a lot of X-ray, medical radioactive things, industrial radioactive things and Geiger counter kinds of things. The museum directory is at:
http://www.orau.org/PTP/museumdirectory.htm

In the late 40s and the early 50s, the most popular exhibit at the American Museum of Atomic Energy was the Dime irradiator.  You dropped a silver dime in a slot and it was irradiated.  Then the dime was dropped in front of a Geiger Counter so you could see the needle move and listen to it go click, click.  Finally the radioactive dime was popped into a plastic container and the happy museum goer walked off with it.  The reason that you have never heard of any disasters caused by this was because the type of radiation the dime was exposed to had such a short half-life that it was practically inert in 4 or 5 minutes.  See the Atomic Dimes at:
http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/medalsmementoes/dimes.htm

They have a collection of photos of specialty slide rules (mostly round) that have to do with nuclear weapons and radiation.  They large photos of the are sharp and you can read all the words on the instrumens.  Very unusual.
http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/sliderules/sliderules.htm

I found a 'blast' from the past.  In the toy section of the museum has a couple of food items.  Nestle was there.  Nestle came out with the 'Nuclear Chocolate' candy to promote the 1998 movie "Armageddon.  This brought negative publicity to the company.  To see a good photo of the package goto:
http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/atomictoys/chocolate.htm

Random Atomic Facts:
* Heavy water is about 10% heavier than regular water.
* People dropped thorium-containing ceramics in their water to 'purify' it.
* People wore wrist bands with thorium-bearing ceramics, for aches and pains.
===========================================
March is:
National Peanut Month - Warning this holiday has been processed on a line that also processes peanuts.

National Frozen Food Month - All hail the 'Nuke and Puke' individual dinner.  Bachelors, lazy and busy people would starve without the frozen dinner.

National Noodle Month - With extra credit for choosing frozen noodles.

National Furniture Refinishing Month - But check to make sure that old chest of drawers is not a good antique because that coat of varnish could turn that $2000 chest into a $50 dollar garage sale item.

National Nutrition Month - Eat your frozen Veggies along with your Frozen Noodles.

Youth Art Month - So paint funny things on your kids faces.

National "Talk With Your Teen About Sex" Month - They can probably answer all your questions.

This week in March is:
National Aardvark Week - Sometimes there are things so dumb that they defy further humor.

===========================================

Now to the reasons to be happy this week
(or at least civil).
Here goes:

===========================================
monday 01 march
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** Fairy tales do not tell us that Dragons
*** exist, they tell us they can be killed.
***
*******************************************
birthdays:
1445 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian artist - While I do not find his style of painting to my taste, he still was really good and his painting of the Birth of Venus is one of the most familiar Grand Master paintings of all time.  It has been copied and parodied a bazillion times.  Well maybe not that many, but a lot.  See the baby Venus at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_nascita_di_Venere_%28Botticelli%29.jpg

1848 – Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Irish-born American sculptor.  If you have ever seen the movie 'Glory' (and paid attention).  At one point (I believe it is at the end) they show an impressive bronze Bias relief that shows Robert Gould Shaw and Afro-American men, soldiers, from the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.  The first Black combat unit in the United States Military.  Augustus created that sculpture and it is superb.  He also did several generals and a statue of Lincoln called 'the Standing Lincoln'.  Some people think it is the most important statue, of Lincoln, created in the 1800s.  I will give them that since the most incredible statue of Lincoln (my opinion) is the sitting Lincoln in his memorial in Washington DC, was done in the 1900s.

See the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St_GuadensShaw_Mem.jpg

1904 – Glenn Miller, American bandleader.  He was what everybody was listening to, just before and during WWII.  His music is still good.  YouTube has several of his band's songs.
Try 'In the Mood' at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJE-onnw2gM

Or maybe this little odd number, that I like, 'Pennsylvania 6-5000' at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXGQNm4EKoc

Moonlight Serenade, Chattanooga Choo Choo, American Patrol, Stardust and many more are all at YouTube.  Just go searching.  If you watch old movies you have heard them all.

events:
1565 – The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.  The thong bikini is invented the next year:>

1642 – Georgeana, Colony of Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine USA) becomes the first incorporated city in the USA.  Just a little confusing.

1790 – The first United States census is authorized.  So this is the 23rd census this year.  I hope you only get the short form.  We got the long one 20 years ago and I am still pissed.

1803 – Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state.  It actually was August 7, 1953 when President Eisenhower signed a signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union.  On February 19, 1803, President Jefferson signed an act of Congress that approved Ohio's boundaries and constitution. However, Congress had never passed a resolution formally admitting Ohio as the 17th state.  Every once in a while somebody tries to use this little fact to game some federal law or regulation, but it has not worked yet.

1836 – A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.  Rebels planning rebellion.

1912 – Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.  Maybe.  There is one person that claims to have beaten Albert by a few months but there seems to be some question about that.  Albert's parachute was in a canister under the plane and the chute was pulled out by the weight of Al dropping out of the plane.  He had no reserve chute and the main chute was not even attached to Al, he had to sit on a trapeze bar.  No pressure, well as long as you do not make any mistakes and everything works perfectly.

holidays:
Hollow Earth Day - It makes good, second rate science fiction but really bad science of any type.

National Pig Day - I don't think we are giving them the keys to the city.  I think we are smoking them in some manner.  I apologize to all you Vegans and Vegetarians but I do love pork chops, ham, bacon and barbecue.  I draw the line at pork rinds.

===========================================
tuesday 02 march
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** The age of our Universe is a function
*** of time.
***
***  - Prof. Walter Lewin
*******************************************
birthdays:
1816 – Alexander H. Bullock, 26th Governor of Massachusetts.  No he is not a relative of Sandra Bullock. 

1849 – Robert Means Thompson, U.S. Naval Officer.  After he left the Navy he became a Lawyer.  Thompson was active in many organizations and  was president of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and president of the Navy League. Because of this he was invited to several countries and given awards:
  
Japan gave him the Order of the Rising Sun, Second Class.
Sweden gave him the Order of Vasa.  
France gave him the Cross of Commander, French Legion of Honor.

In the 1927 he became the Commander-in-Chief of a group that most of you have never heard of, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS).  After Lincoln was killed there were rumors of a possible attempt to overthrow the government.  Three Union Army Officers formed MOLLUS.  MOLLUS was to be a core group of Army officers that were loyal to the US and the Constitution who would be ready to defend against an attempted Coup. At the height of the organization's power almost the entire senior military staff was part of MOLLUS, 12,000 officers.  They are still around but now the members are decedents of the original members or people who have been invited.  The organization is now more of a social thing along the lines of The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  For formal occasions the top officers wear Civil War Dress Army uniforms.

The United States Navy destroyer USS Thompson (DD-627) is named after Robert.

events:
1717 – 'The Loves of Mars and Venus' becomes the first ballet performed in England.

1863 – The U.S. Congress authorizes track width of 4 ft 8-1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) for Union Pacific Railroad.  60% of the world's trains run on this gauge track and it is called 'Standard Gauge'.  Now how was this number chosen? 

Old Rome built roads that still exist.  They carried their troops and the Chariots that provided heavy support for the infantry.  56 and one half inches is the standardized width of the two horse Roman War Chariot.  After hundreds of years there were ruts so when farm wagons were built, they were built to drive in the ruts.  When the first rail cars were built, it was the wagon builders that made them and they just used the patterns they already had.  It is good to know history so you know how we got here.

1899 – Mount Rainier National Park is established, in Washington State.  Today Mount Rainer is a perfect place to predict DOOM.  Rainier is a volcano and it is not dead.  If it erupted it could destroy Seattle.  Seattle is one of five major cities in the world that are sitting very close (or even on) a major volcano.  So maybe tomorrow or maybe 5000 years from now Rainier is going to blow its top and bury Seattle (assuming Seattle is still there 5000 years from now). 

When I lived in Washington you could see Rainier from the front door.  I think it was about 50 miles away and the slight haze in the atmosphere made it look like Rainier was floating.  That is one of the reasons that the native peoples thought the mountain was sacred.  Today you can drive almost all the way to the top.  It is a tough climb (if you chose not to drive) and has been used as a tune-up for people getting ready to climb Mount Everest or K2.

1903 – In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.  Veronica Lake had a reputation for being difficult to work with so eventually nobody would.  She got drunk a lot and blew through her money.  In the early 1950s she was found working as a waitress in the bar of the Martha Washington. 

The 416 room hotel changed hands and policies and on has 253 larger rooms, they let men in and call the place Hotel Thirty Thirty (30 East 30th Street).  They are smack daub in the Middle of Manhattan and close to many famous places to eat and spend.  You can spend money faster than you can make it.  Room rates start at $249 plus 13.375% tax plus $3.50 occupancy tax, so $286 a night minimum with Internet extra.  I suggest you stay away from the mini-bar.

holidays:
Texas Independence Day - On this day in 1836 the representatives from towns all over Texas voted to adopt the 'Texas Declaration of Independence'.  This is the day that Texas declared itself a Republic and North America has another Nation.  Oh course that only lasted until they could convince the US to annex Texas since they really wanted to be part of the US.  Still good Texans cherish the fact that they were a sovereign nation before joining the Union (and then leaving it and then rejoining it).  The full text of this historic document can be found at:
http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/tdoi.htm

Yes I did take the time to read it.

===========================================
wednesday 03 march
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** It is healthy to be a coward.  Running
*** in terror is good for your heart.
***
*******************************************
birthdays:
1800 – Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist.  He translated Origin of Species by Charles Darwin into German language.  I mean why should only the English speaking world get to argue over Evolution.  Also he wrote the  Index Palaeontologicus. This record of fossils has proved of inestimable value to all palaeontologists.

1866 – Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago.  I list him because he is one of the very few Mayors of Chicago that were Republican.  A rare creature indeed.

1886 – Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet.  I thought this would be interesting and it is but not with anything to do with Tore. 

The following is totally cut and pasted from Wikipeadia, I could not think of how to explain it in my words, since I am not sure what it is saying:

Norwegian (norsk) is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants.

Right here might be a good time to skip to the last line where I make a surprised comment and attempt a witty remark.

These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language and Icelandic language, as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages). Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form, because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them.

As established by law and governmental policy, there are two official forms of written Norwegian – Bokmål (literally "book language") and Nynorsk (literally "new Norwegian"). The Norwegian Language Council recommends the terms "Norwegian Bokmål" and "Norwegian Nynorsk" in English.

There is no officially sanctioned standard of spoken Norwegian, and most Norwegians speak their own dialect in all circumstances. The sociolect of the urban upper and middle class in East Norway, upon which Bokmål is primarily based, can be regarded as a de facto spoken standard for Bokmål.  This so-called standard østnorsk ("Standard Eastern Norwegian") is the form generally taught to foreign students.

WOW and we are worried about Ebonics and Spanish.  I think Norwegian is a case of "Can't Ask, Can't Spell".

1911 – Jean Harlow, American actress.  One of the most sexy and beautiful women to appear on screen in the late 1920s and 30s.  She was the Blond Bombshell.  She died at 26 from something that could be treated now... renal (kidney) failure.  Today she could have gone on dialysis and with the proper medication could have recovered or been put on the transplant list.  Medicine advances, but never fast enough for some people.

events:
1776 – The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.  Of course we were invading another country and we were not even a proper country ourselves yet.  We won't even issue the Declaration of Independence for 4 months, but the Continental Marines invaded Nassau, in the Bahamas and captured much needed guns, cannon, powder and other military stores.  Don't piss off the Colonials they are a mean bunch when riled.

1845 – Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.  Half of the snowbound seniors in Ohio eagerly await the invention of the telephone so they can call for reservations for next February and March.

1873 – Censorship: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail.  So we had to invent the Internet so we could get our Porn, for free, right in our home.  Somebody claimed that a survey indicated there was Internet Porn on 70-80% of the home computers in the country. 

1875 – The first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey is played in Montreal, Canada as recorded in The Montreal Gazette.  The rink was bigger than modern rinks (huge).  There was no protection for the spectators (they could stand at the edge of the rink).  There was no protective equipment for the skaters, no masks, no pads, no helmets and no gloves of any kind.  Balls to the wall guys. 

Even though the picture is taken almost 20 years later, you can still see the conditions the first indoor hockey game were played in, if you goto:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria-rink-1893.jpg

1879 – The United States Geological Survey is created.  Pretty cool maps, came along they were about the absolute best you could get.  To get maps for a large area was expensive and the complete set of maps for the state of Ohio would have cost $1000 (in 1989) and would have been several hundred maps.  Google Maps and Google Earth are so much easier and you can even get them on some smart phones.

1885 – The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York.  In five years (when I am 65) I will get a pension from them because I worked for Western Electric for 17 years. 

holidays:
I Want You To Be Happy Day - I feel this way about everybody it is just that there are some people that I want to have a Happy Day, SOME PLACE ELSE ;>

===========================================
thursday 04 march
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** We all cry in private,
*** but never in front of the boys.
***
***  - Nurse June Wandrey
***    US Army in North Africa 1942
*******************************************
birthdays:
1394 – Henry the Navigator.  Henry was one of the rare royals that seemed interested in something besides feathering his own nest.  He has been reported to have been soft spoken and without vice and charitable to those on hard times.  He encouraged exploration and was fascinated with Africa and the trade routes through the continent.  He collected maps and had new ones made.  Remember before modern electronic navigation, maps and charts were vital to try to remotely figure out where you are.  Charts are still needed but mostly so US submarines don't run into undersea mountains in the Indian Ocean.

1702 – Jack Sheppard, English burglar and escapee.  He turned to crime because he discovered strong drink and sex.  He fell in love with a prostitute and started 'supplementing' his income to take care of her.  He escaped jail (after being arrested) four times.  Unfortunately for him he was arrested five times.  Several states in the US have the 'three strikes and you are out' laws where you get life in prison on your third felony conviction.  England had something like that except the 'life' in prison was only until they hung you.  Jack was the hero of the underclasses and a variety of plays and operas were based on Jack's exploits.  Those included 'The Begger's Opera' which was the basis for the 'Threepenny Opera' (1928).  Of course 'Threepenny Opera' gave us that unforgettable character, Mack the Knife.

1790 – David "Robber" Lewis, American robber known for giving stolen money to the poor.  He called himself 'an equalizer'.  He escaped jail every time he was arrested.  Wounded in the last arrest attempt and on his death bed, he wrote his autobiography in the form of a string of confessions of his crimes.  Another popular thief.  We seem to like thieves as long as they are stealing from those that have more than we do.

events:
852 – Croatian Duke Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.  Croat soldiers are where men's neck ties come from.  The French thought the Croats looked cool, the English copied the French and now men all over the world are stuck with wearing a noose around their necks.  How stupid fashion is.

1519 – Hernan Cortes arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and their wealth.  This is the worst thing that ever happened to the Aztecs.  Cortes destroyed their entire civilization.

1791 – Vermont is admitted as the 14th U.S. state.  The first one since the original 13.  For a time the 14th and 15th states had their own stripe on the flag but we wisely decided to go back to 13 stripes.  15 stripes made the flag look awkward (can you imagine how clumsy 50 stripes would have looked?). So we went back to 13 to honor the original colonies and added stars for the new states.

1813 – Russian troops fighting the army of Napoleon reach Berlin in Germany and the French garrison evacuates the city without a fight.  If Napoleon had not forced the Russians to burn Moscow to deny him a victory (in Russia) he might not have been chased back to Europe with such enthusiasm.

1837 – Chicago is incorporated as a city.  It is one of my favorite large cities.  Toronto and Houston are two others.  Chicago has better Taggers than I have seen in Houston and I do not recall seeing any Tagging in Toronto.  I am sure it is there I just have not seen it.

holidays:
Hug a GI Day - This should be everyday.  They all give something and some give entirely too much.  Be nice to them, they need it, they deserve it and every last one (even the bad soldiers) have earned it.  The men and women who serve are part of a club that they can never quit.  You go where your country sends you, you wear what they issue you, you eat what they serve you, you sleep whenever you can, you live under different laws and you are pushed to do more than you ever thought you could.  The Military is a world apart with different traditions and different priorities.  Sometimes those priorities include unleashing HELL in defense of the United States so the rest of the country can watch TV and worry about how deep the snow is and whether or not they are going to get a raise.  Yes hug a GI.  

===========================================
friday 05 march
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** In space nobody can hear you fart.
*** But the next guy to use the space suit
*** is not going to be happy.
***
*******************************************
birthdays:
1575 – William Oughtred, English mathematician.   After John Napier invented logarithms, and Edmund Gunter created the logarithmic scales, it was Oughtred who first used two logarithmic scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division; and he is credited as the inventor of the slide rule in 1622. Oughtred also introduced the "×" symbol for multiplication as well as the abbreviations "sin" and "cos" for the sine and cosine functions.  For 350 years the slide rule was the Gold standard for calculation.  Now many people use computer spread sheets.

1948 – Eddy Grant, Guyana-born singer/song writer/musician.  He gave us the song 'Electric Avenue'.  He has made a lot more music but apparently very few people have ever heard any on it.

1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, comedian and purveyor of his own opinions.  He believes in free speech and exercises the hell out of it.  When you put him together with Teller they are the funnest magic act around.  I highly recommend that you go see them if you ever have the opportunity.  I have seen them twice and I have a great respect for their talent.  The official Penn and Teller web site is at:
http://www.pennandteller.com/

Penn holds strong opinions and he pisses a lot of people off.  If you want to hear what he has to say goto Penn's very own YouTube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pennsays

Also Penn is an inventor and has been granted US Patent 5,920,923 for a little thing he calls the Jill-Jet (called "Hydro-therapeutic stimulator" in the patent).  It is for all you ladies out their and this thing will tickle your fancy. 

The abstract of the patent claims “A spa of a type including a tub for holding water and a user, in particular, a female user. The spa has a seat for supporting the female user in a seated position, a circulation pump having an inlet connected to the tub for drawing water from the tub, and an outlet connected to the tub for discharging the drawn water back to the tub. A discharge nozzle is located within the tub and connected to the outlet, mounted to the seat so that the discharged water from the circulation pump automatically aligns with and is directed to stimulation points of the female user when the female user sits in the seat".
It is a hot tub for a women with a water jet placed to 'get her off'.  You can see the actual patent drawing at:
http://www.weblo.com/asset_image/494921/161044/Penn_Fraser_Jillette/

events:
1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.  That town has been run by everybody (including Pirates) at one time or another. 

1836 – Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.  This was not the gun that won the west.

1912 – Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.  Now there are military reconnaissance flight 24/7.  We always have something in the air, watching.  Yes I am wearing my foil hat.

1942 – United States Navy Seabees are established.  John Wayne immediately makes a film about the Seabees (The Fighting Seabees)(1944).  There are several fictional characters that have 'been' Seabees.  Ward Cleaver, the father from 'Leave It To Beaver',  Al Borland, the sidekick of Tim Taylor on 'Home Improvement', Joe Rockford, the character played by Noah Beery Jr. in 'The Rockford Files' and others.

They get their name from the initials of their unit's name.  They are Construction Battalions, C.B.

1943 – First flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft in the United Kingdom.  We had a jet fighter flying for almost a year (P-59) but it did not impress anybody and was never placed in operational units.  The Meteor did see action by shooting down German V-1 rockets.  They only did that for a short time because Germany switched to V-2s which were too fast for the jet to catch.  They never flew a Meteor anywhere near Germany because of secrecy concerns.  So the first jet to jet aerial combat would have to wait until the Korean War.  Unlike the P-59 (which was canceled) or the ME-262 (which only Germany and Czechoslovakia flew and was retired in the early 50s) the Meteor was a successful plane.  Almost 4,000 were built and they were in the Air Forces of 18 different countries some until the 1970s.

holidays:
I am not quite sure how but I think that some way all these five holidays are connected.  It is like they are all different aspects of the same thing.  Just saying.

Multiple Personalities Day - Is it proper for one personality to try to cut in while two other personalities are dancing?

Hemlock Day - Careful what you drink.

National Cheese Doodle Day - DO NOT mix this one up with Hemlock Day.

Mother-in-Law's Day - Maybe this is why today is Hemlock Day.

Feast of Fools - A special feast for those who can not tell the difference between Hemlock and Cheese Doodles.
===========================================

****joe722****