I’m a huge lover of crossword puzzles. I became addicted from a very early age, 1950, when I sat watching my father curse and swear at the kitchen table when he couldn’t find a word he needed. Throughout my life I continued my interest and it has culminated in the current game Words with Friends, an online game. My better-half and I have been crazy for that game for more than 13 years with no end in sight. I’ve played hundreds of players and thousands of games and it’s been great fun and frustrating as crossword puzzles tend to be. Just recently I decided to do a little investigation into the history of crosswords. If you are a crossword addict then you might find this interesting. Here’s what I’ve discovered.
The game word-cross first appeared in December of 1913. Three weeks after the first puzzle appeared in the New York World newspaper, a type setter accidently reversed the name from “word-cross” to “cross word”. That newspaper folded in 1931 but by then dozens of newspapers constructed and ran their own weekly puzzles. By the early 1920’s, crosswords were popular in Great Britain, Germany, France, and Russia. In 1924, two New York entrepreneurs saw an opportunity. The story is told that Richard Simon’s aunt asked her nephew to find her a book of crossword puzzles. He couldn’t find one, so he started a company in partnership with Max Schuster and published the first crossword puzzle book. Americans then went crossword crazy. Simon & Schuster reprinted the book and sold more than a quarter-million copies in the first year, and their upstart company is now one of the largest publishing houses in the world.
My thanks goes out to the Hasbro Company and Zynga for keeping the interest in crosswords alive and well in both board games and a huge on-line presence.
I’ve always thought of myself as being a well-read and informed person. I’ve been an avid reader from a very early age and I’ll read anything I can from matchbook covers to the Bible, Koran, Torah, even the Egyptian Book of the Dead. So, when I discover backstories of everyday normal things, I become amazed and stunned at how much I really don’t know. Todays post will give you two examples of amazing backstories. See what you think.
#1 – Here’s the question – How did Nome, Alaska get it’s name?
It was just a stupid spelling error. In the 1850’s a British ship exploring the coast noticed a prominent but unnamed point of land in Alaska. A ships officer scribbled “Name” next to that point on a manuscript map. When the map was being copied later at the Admiralty, a map maker misread thescribble andwrote the points new name as Cape Nome. In 1899 the burgers of Nome attempted to rename the area as Anvil City, but the all knowing U.S. Postal Service objected claiming it would cause confusion with the nearby town of Anvik, so the name stuck. To quote the cities website www.nomealaska.org, “There’s No Place like Nome”.
#2 –Here’s the question – What man-made artifacts can be seen from the moon?
If you said the Great Wall of China you’d be wrong. No human artifacts at all can be seen with the naked eye from the moon. The idea that the Great Wall is the only man-made object is all-pervasive, but it confuses the moon with space. Space is quite close and starts at approximately 60 miles from the earth’s surface. However, at an altitude of only a few thousand miles after leaving the earth’s orbit, no man made objects are visible at all. From the moon – more than 250,000 miles away – even the continents are barely visible. Now you know that somewhat disappointing and incorrect trivia is wrong.
For as long as I can remember my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, assured me that to have a good and satisfying life I needed to work hard and make appropriate sacrifices. I got years of that propaganda loaded with a lot of generalizations. As a preteen when I pressed for more detailed information they just patted me on the head and offered very little useful tips. When I got a little older I just got a pat on the back from my mom and a official-grownup handshake from my father. What I really needed was meaningful guidance to help me escape from the western Pennsylvania lifestyle and mindset offering a future much like that of my parents. I worked it out as best I could over the years but I could have used some advice early on that would have helped me. Here are a few tips taken from a 1970’s book on “How to be Successful in the 70’s”. Go back in time and answer the following questions with a “True” or “False”. There’s no right or wrong answers but they can get you thinking.
The vast majority of the truly unsuccessful or unemployed today are art least 80% responsible for their difficulties.
When provided with good education the majority (80%) can accomplish reasonable success in any vocation they choose and really want.
Ones mental heath state of mind is almost totally what you make it with your personal attitude and strength of character.
One’s ethical and moral conduct in a particular situation is purely a function of the character and moral fiber a person brings to the temptation.
Bad environments do effect persons negatively, but only if they choose it and allow it to pull them down.
Everyone is basically the captain of his own ship called life. He can steer it where and how he wants it to go, in most ways.
I’m certainly glad I wasn’t handed this little book as I was maturing. It would have offered me very little helpful assistance all too similar from what I was hearing from my family.
As most of you are aware I love using quotes to make an interesting point and they’re usually of a complimentary nature. Todays post will change that. These are quotes from recognizable people who don’t appear to be as happy about things as we all thought they were. I’m providing a selection of quotes concerning the Media and other related matters that might be considered somewhat negative. I live for the negative, how about you?
Newspapers
“The most truthful part of a newspaper is the advertisements.” Thomas Jefferson
“In the old days men had the rack. Now they have the press.” Oscar Wilde
“Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask you if it’s shining.” Sonny Liston
“Looking at yourself through the media is like looking at one of those rippled mirrors in an amusement park.” Edmund Muskie
Publishers & Journalists
“Jack Anderson is the lowest form of human being to walk the earth. He’s a muckraker who lies, steals, and he’ll go lower than dog shit for a story.” J. Edgar Hoover
“Dorothy Kilgallen is the only woman I wouldn’t mind my wife catching me with. I don’t know why she took such umbrage at my comments on birth control, she’s such a living argument for it.” Johnny Carson
“If Hugh Hefner truly thinks that being spread-eagled is so fantastic, how come we haven’t seen his little wahoo with a staple in the middle?” CBS-TV
Television
“Acting on television is like being asked by the captain to entertain the passengers while the ship goes down.” Peter Ustinov
“Dealing with network executives is like being nibbled to death by ducks.” Eric Sevaride
“I find television very educating. Every time someone turns on the set I go into the other room and read a book.” Groucho Marx
“TV is a medium, because it is neither rare nor well done.” Ernie Kovacs
Education
“Colleges are like old-age homes, except for the fact that more people die in colleges.” Bob Dylan
“Our American professors like their literature clear and cold and pure and dead.” Sinclair Lewis
“The schools ain’t what they used to be and never was.” Will Rogers
❤️Anonymous (always the best)❤️
“Tabloids are fast reading for the slow thinkers.”
“The mission of the modern newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Doctors bury mistakes. Lawyers hang them. But journalists put theirs on the front page.”
“Criticism is the disapproval of people, not for having faults but for having faults different from theirs.”
“You can tell a Harvard man, but you can’t tell him much.”
Todays post will contain a few little known facts about everything. There’s no theme just twenty odd bits of information you might find interesting. Lets get started . . .
Cable television was introduced in Pennsylvania in 1948.
The first drive-in movie theater was constructed in Camden, NJ in 1933.
Talcum powder kills ants.
A cats sense of smell is fourteen times more acute than that of a human.
William Henry Harrison had the shortest term in office as President. He passed away just thirty-one days after his inauguration.
The first umbrella factory was established in Baltimore, Maryland in 1928.
Musicians Billy Joel, singer Wayne Newton, and actor Cary Grant were all high school dropouts
The jackfruit which is indigenous to India, can weigh as much as a hundred pounds.
The native name for Greenland is Kalaallit.
Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, rises to the height of 19,431 feet.
FDR had the first presidential airplane but it wasn’t called Air Force One until JFK was elected.
To convert degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 degrees and divide by 1.8.
The minimum wage instituted in 1938 in the United States was $.25 an hour.
Peter Merholtz is credited with coming up with the term “blog”.
Pu Yi was two years old when he became the Emperor of China in 1908. He abdicated the throne 6 years later.
In 1780 Pennsylvania became the first state to abolish slavery.
The first professional basketball game was held in 1896 in Trenton, NJ.
Coco Chanel named her perfume Chanel #5 because five was her lucky number.
Pornography is the Greek word for “the writings of prostitutes.”
Most people dream for two hours in an eight hour night of sleep.
Well the weather has taken an unfriendly turn into winter. The electric blanket has been officially plugged in and the heavy clothing is being unpacked and aired out. I have the distinct feeling that this winter may be one to remember and I hope I’m wrong. Rather than thinking thoughts of the coming winter I’ll do as I always do – POST MORE LIMERICKS. I’ve dug into the archives once again to retrieve a few winners that should not be read by the youngsters. I’d rate these as PG or worse. Here goes nothing . . .
Living in Maine is always an adventure especially concerning the changing weather patterns. Lots of snow, lots of wind, lots of ice, and lots of SNERT (melted snow mixed with dirt). I’ve always been a fan of cold weather and snow but my first three years in Maine gave me an entirely new perspective. My first winter purchase in Maine was a kick-ass snow blower which has become over the years my best winter friend. Other required purchases were skis, snow shoes, and layered clothing. I loved taking winter photos in the forests but that was taken to a whole other level when the snow was more than two feet deep. Todays post will be a list of weather related facts that might interest you. Mother Nature is a real bitch and she visits Maine and New England way too frequently.
Snow fell for thirty-six hours in New York in 1888. The storm dropped 50 inches of snow and became known as Great Blizzard of 1888.
Mt. Washington in New Hampshire holds the world-record of 231 mph wind gusts measured on the summit on April 12, 1934.
The Farmers Almanac lists various information, including information on the best days to castrate animals, to quit smoking, and to can jellies and jams.
Hurricane-force winds (74+ mph) occur on average every other day on Mt. Washington during the winter months.
The Blizzard of 1978 paralyzed New England for a week, dropping 27.1 inches of snow in Boston and over 40 inches in parts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. Severe flooding occurred as the storm stalled off Long Island, combining hurricane-force wind gusts (up to 93 mph) with four destructive high-tide cycles. 99 fatalities were recorded across the states, with thousands of stranded motorists left on major highways throughout New England.
Ice storms are also common in Maine and our last major storm a few years back brought down thousands of trees and left us without electricity, water, and internet, for more than two weeks. Unfortunately that was before we purchased our whole-house generator. We did learn how to sleep with five or six blankets on the bed while wearing parkas, tassel hats, and ear muffs.
All of that being said I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Maine is a beautiful state regardless of Mother Nature’s whims and the seacoast and beaches are second to none. It’s called America’s Vacationland for a reason.
It’s time for another quiz concerning language. I’ve discovered over the years that my knowledge of the uses of language has slowly improved but it needs to get even better. Todays quiz contains ten questions related to language and it will make you rethink how much you really know. As always the answers will be listed below. Good luck . . .
What are zoonoses?
What part of an airplane is the empennage?
What is the most common name we use for the physical affliction known as furfur?
What do the letters in the computer-world acronym BASIC represent?
What are you afraid of if you have pogonophobia?
In computerize what’s the difference between a bit and a byte?
What is the meaning of the Japanese word “judo”?
What is the unfriendly meaning of the acronym NIMBY?
What is “wagger pagger bagger” slang for in England?
What was the original meaning of “ezel”, the name 17th century Dutch artists gave to the three-legged stand we know today as an easel?
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Answers
Animal diseases communicable to man, The complete tail assembly, Dandruff, Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, Beards, A bit is a single basic unit of info and a byte is generally 8 bits, The Gentle Way, Not In My Back Yard, A wastepaper basket, Ezel is Dutch for “donkey”.
In my humble opinion the most important thing a person can have is a healthy sense of humor. Without that a person loses most of their true personality and likeability. In the worst of times being able to “crack wise” and smile a little goes a long way to calm any situation. I constantly post quotations because they tell me more about a person than meeting them in person and having a casual conversation. Even people who I really don’t care for occasionally surprise me with their quotes and a few times I actually forgave them their stupidity and changed my opinion of them. That sounds a little harsh but all of us have the capability of being harsh, crass, and opinionated and still have thoughts worth sharing. Todays post contains quotations from some of my favorite people: comedians.
“Always look out for Number One and be careful not to step in Number Two.” Rodney Dangerfield
“It is said that life begins when the fetus can exist apart from it’s mother. By this definition, many people in Hollywood are legally dead.” Jay Leno
“I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.” Lily Tomlin
“My theory of evolution is that Darwin was adopted.” Steven Wright
“I am at two with nature.” Woody Allen
“Men read maps better than women because only men can understand the concept of an inch equaling a hundred miles.” Rosanne Barr
You make the beds, you do the dishes, and six months later you have to start all over again”. Joan Rivers
“My plastic surgeon told me my face looked like a bouquet of elbows.” Phyllis Diller
“When I meet a man I ask myself, “Is this the man I want my children to spend their weekends with?” Rita Rudner
“In breeding cattle you need one bull for every twenty-five cows, unless the cows are known sluts.” Johnny Carson
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BONUS FOR RETIREES
“Sex after ninety is like trying to shoot pool with a rope. Even putting my cigar in it’s holder is a thrill.”
I have to admit that most of my readers are rather particular about the limericks I post. Of all of my posts, the dirtiest limericks seem to get the most views while the readership lessens considerably the cleaner the limericks become. That should tell me something about my readers but I’m not actually sure what that is. Todays offerings contain some really old limericks that concern sexual DISEASES. That’s all I’m saying, see what you think.
