tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-997662672269144802024-02-07T15:00:15.989-06:00Today's Random Wikipedia EntryBeing a compendium of entries from the noted online encyclopedia.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1054125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-58379297762111323612013-03-01T07:00:00.000-06:002013-03-01T13:30:52.677-06:00Centralia, Pennsylvania<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Cent_28.JPG/640px-Cent_28.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Cent_28.JPG/640px-Cent_28.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Centralia</span></a></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> is a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borough_(Pennsylvania)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Borough (Pennsylvania)"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">borough</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_town" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Ghost town"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ghost town</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_County,_Pennsylvania" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Columbia County, Pennsylvania"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Columbia County, Pennsylvania</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="United States"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">United States</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005, as a result of a </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine_fire" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Mine fire"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">mine fire</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia is one of the least-populated municipalities in Pennsylvania.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Centralia is part of the </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomsburg-Berwick_micropolitan_area" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolitan area"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bloomsburg-Berwick micropolitan area</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. The borough is completely surrounded by </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conyngham_Township,_Columbia_County,_Pennsylvania" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Conyngham Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Conyngham Township</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All properties in the borough were claimed under </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Eminent domain"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">eminent domain</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1992 (and all buildings therein were condemned), and Centralia's </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_code" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="ZIP code"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ZIP code</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> was revoked by the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="United States Postal Service"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Postal Service</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> in 2002. A few residents continue to reside there in spite of the failure of a lawsuit to reverse the eminent domain claim.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-71529425994896204042013-02-28T09:40:00.001-06:002013-02-28T21:01:23.376-06:00Funky Drummer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/FunkyDrummer2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/FunkyDrummer2.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">"</span><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funky_Drummer">Funky Drummer</a></b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">" is a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Funk">funk</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> song recorded by </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="James Brown">James Brown</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> and his band. The recording's </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_break" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Drum break">drum break</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, performed by </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drummer" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Drummer">drummer</a> <span style="background-color: white; background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Stubblefield" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Clyde Stubblefield">Clyde Stubblefield</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, is one of the most frequently </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(music)" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Sampling (music)">sampled</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_(music)" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Break (music)">rhythmic breaks</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Hip hop music">hip hop</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> and popular music; indeed, it lays a strong claim to being the most sampled recording ever,</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> along with the </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_Break" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Amen Break">Amen Break</a>.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">"Funky Drummer" was recorded on November 20, 1969 in </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati,_Ohio" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Cincinnati, Ohio">Cincinnati, Ohio</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> and originally released by </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Records_(USA)" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="King Records (USA)">King Records</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> as a two-part</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_per_minute" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Revolutions per minute">45 rpm</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_(music)" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Single (music)">single</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> in March </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_in_music" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="1970 in music">1970</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">. Despite rising to #20 on the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_R%26B/Hip-Hop_Songs" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs">R&B chart</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> and #51 on the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Billboard Hot 100">pop chart</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, it did not receive an album release until the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_in_music" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="1986 in music">1986</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compilation_album" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Compilation album">compilation</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><i style="line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Jungle_Groove" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="In the Jungle Groove">In the Jungle Groove</a></i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The piece takes the form of an extended <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamp_(music)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Vamp (music)">vamp</a>, with individual instruments (mostly the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenor_saxophone" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Tenor saxophone">tenor saxophones</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_(music)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Organ (music)">organ</a>) improvising brief <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lick_(music)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Lick (music)">licks</a> on top. Brown's ad-libbed vocals on "Funky Drummer" are sporadic and declamatory, and are mostly concerned with encouraging the other band members.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As in the full-length version of "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Sweat" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Cold Sweat">Cold Sweat</a>" he announces the upcoming drum break, which comes late in the recording, with a request to "give the drummer some." He tells <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Stubblefield" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Clyde Stubblefield">Stubblefield</a> "You don't have to do no soloing, brother, just keep what you got... Don't turn it loose, 'cause it's a mother." Stubblefield's eight-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_(music)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Bar (music)">bar</a> unaccompanied "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo_(music)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Solo (music)">solo</a>", a version of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riff" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Riff">riff</a> he plays through most of the piece, is the result of Brown's directions; this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_(music)#Break_beat" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Break (music)">break beat</a> is one of the most sampled recordings in music.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After the drum break, the band returns to the original vamp. Brown, apparently impressed with what Stubblefield has produced, seems to name the song on the spot as it continues, and repeats it: "The name of this tune is 'The Funky Drummer', 'The Funky Drummer', 'The Funky Drummer'." The recording ends with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reprise" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Reprise">reprise</a> of Stubblefield's solo and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fade_(audio_engineering)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Fade (audio engineering)">fade-out</a>.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-68708513474633916402013-02-22T16:46:00.003-06:002013-02-22T16:46:26.785-06:00Meteorite<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Willamette_meteorite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Willamette_meteorite.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite">meteorite</a></b> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Meteoroid">meteoroid</a> (a solid piece of debris from such sources as <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroids" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Asteroids">asteroids</a> or <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comets" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Comets">comets</a>) originating in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Outer space">outer space</a> that survives impact with the Earth's surface. A meteorite's size can range from small to extremely large. Most meteorites derive from small <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_object" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Astronomical object">astronomical objects</a> called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Meteoroid">meteoroids</a>, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Asteroid">asteroids</a>. When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere, frictional, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gasses cause the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Fireball" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Meteoroid">fireball</a>, also known as a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Meteor">meteor</a> or <b>shooting/falling star</b>. The term <b>bolide</b> refers to either an extraterrestrial body that collides with the Earth, or to an exceptionally bright, fireball-like meteor regardless of whether it ultimately impacts the surface.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More generally, a meteorite on the surface of any celestial body is a natural object that has come from elsewhere in space. Meteorites have been found on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Moon">Moon</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Mars">Mars</a>. Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transited the atmosphere or impacted the Earth are called <b>falls</b>. All other meteorites are known as <b>finds</b>. As of February 2010, there are approximately 1,086 <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_falls" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Meteorite falls">witnessed falls</a> having specimens in the world's collections. In contrast, there are over 38,660 well-documented meteorite finds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony meteorites are rocks, mainly composed of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicate_minerals" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Silicate minerals">silicate minerals</a>; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_meteorite" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Iron meteorite">iron meteorites</a> are largely composed of metallic iron-nickel; and, stony-iron meteorites contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material. Modern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_classification" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Meteorite classification">classification</a> schemes divide meteorites into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy. Meteorites smaller than 2mm are classified as <b><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micrometeorites" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Micrometeorites">micrometeorites</a></b>.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-37019054874589152322013-02-22T16:30:00.001-06:002013-02-22T16:31:27.628-06:00Cantinflas<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Mario_Moreno_-_Cantinflas.jpg/465px-Mario_Moreno_-_Cantinflas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Mario_Moreno_-_Cantinflas.jpg/465px-Mario_Moreno_-_Cantinflas.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes</b>, although he called himself Mario Moreno, (August 12, 1911 – April 20, 1993), was a Mexican <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_film" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Comedy film">comic film actor</a>, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantinflas">Cantinflas</a></b>. He often portrayed impoverished <i>campesinos</i> or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasant" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Peasant">peasant</a> of <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelado" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Pelado">pelado</a></i> origin. The character came to be associated with the national identity of Mexico, and allowed Cantinflas to establish a long, successful film career that included a foray into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_the_United_States" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Cinema of the United States">Hollywood</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Charlie Chaplin">Charlie Chaplin</a> once commented that he was the best comedian alive, and Moreno has been referred to as the "Charlie Chaplin of Mexico". To audiences in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="United States">United States</a>, he is best remembered as co-starring with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Niven" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="David Niven">David Niven</a> in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Globe_Award" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Golden Globe Award">Golden Globe Award</a>-winning role in the 1956 film <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_80_Days_(1956_film)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)">Around the World in 80 Days</a></i>.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As a pioneer of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Mexico" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Cinema of Mexico">cinema of Mexico</a>, Moreno helped usher in its <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_the_cinema_of_Mexico" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Golden age of the cinema of Mexico">golden era</a>. In addition to being a business leader, he also became involved in Mexico's tangled and often dangerous labor politics. Although he was a political conservative, his reputation as a spokesperson for the downtrodden gave his actions authenticity and became important in the early struggle against <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charro_(Mexican_politics)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Charro (Mexican politics)">charrismo</a></i>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_Revolutionary_Party" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Institutional Revolutionary Party">one-party</a><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_Mexican_States" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Federal government of the United Mexican States">government</a>'s practice of co-opting and controlling <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Trade union">unions</a>.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, his character Cantinflas, whose identity became enmeshed with his own, was examined by media critics, philosophers, and linguists, who saw him variably as a danger to Mexican society, a bourgeois puppet, a kind philanthropist, a transgressor of gender roles, a pious <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Roman Catholic Church">Catholic</a>, a verbal innovator, and a picaresque underdog.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-49928569882483186672012-11-16T10:24:00.002-06:002012-11-16T10:59:52.301-06:00Twinkie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Hostess-Twinkies.jpg/800px-Hostess-Twinkies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="110" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Hostess-Twinkies.jpg/800px-Hostess-Twinkies.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The </span><b style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie">Twinkie</a></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> is an American </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snack_cake" title="Snack cake">snack cake</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> that was made and distributed by </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostess_Brands" title="Hostess Brands">Hostess Brands</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> until 2012. They were marketed as a "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling".</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Twinkies were invented in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiller_Park,_Illinois" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Schiller Park, Illinois">Schiller Park, Illinois</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> in 1930 by </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Alexander_Dewar" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" title="James Alexander Dewar">James Alexander Dewar</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">, a baker for the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Baking_Company" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" title="Continental Baking Company">Continental Baking Company</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">. Realizing that several machines used to make cream-filled strawberry </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortcake" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" title="Shortcake">shortcake</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> sat idle when </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" title="Strawberry">strawberries</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> were out of season, Dewar conceived a snack cake filled with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" title="Banana">banana</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> cream, which he dubbed the Twinkie. He said he came up with the name when he saw a billboard in St. Louis for "Twinkle Toe Shoes". During </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" title="World War II">World War II</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">, bananas were rationed and the company was forced to switch to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;" title="Vanilla">vanilla</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> cream. This change proved popular, and banana-cream Twinkies were not widely re-introduced. The original flavor was occasionally found in limited-time promotions, but the company used vanilla cream for most Twinkies. In 1988, Fruit and Cream Twinkies were introduced with a strawberry filling swirled into the cream. However, the product was soon dropped. Vanilla's dominance over banana flavoring would be challenged in 2005, following a month-long promotion of the movie </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">King Kong</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">. Hostess saw its Twinkie sales rise 20 percent during the promotion, and in 2007 permanently restored the banana-cream Twinkie to its snack lineup.</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In January 2012, Twinkie manufacturer Hostess filed for <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_11" title="Chapter 11">Chapter 11</a> bankruptcy protection. Twinkie sales for the year ended December 25, 2011 were 36 million packages, down almost 2% from a year earlier. Hostess said customers have migrated to healthier foods. In November 2012, Hostess announced that is was ceasing production of all its products and liquidating all assets, but it hopes to be able to sell its more popular brands to other manufacturers.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A common <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend" title="Urban legend">urban legend</a> claims that Twinkies have an infinite <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelf_life" title="Shelf life">shelf life</a> or can last unspoiled for a relatively long time of ten, fifty, or one hundred years due to chemicals used in production. This urban legend is false, although Twinkies can last a relatively long time (25 days or more) because they are made without unstabilized dairy products and thus spoil more slowly than most bakery items. In reality Twinkies are on the shelf for a short time, a company executive told the<i>New York Times</i> in 2000 that the "Twinkie is on the shelf no more than 7 to 10 days."</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-2145754290049880632012-10-31T15:18:00.003-05:002012-11-16T10:50:36.507-06:00La Llorona<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSijBj3oM1t4OwpzLWiS5mE6lFNnlaAnLTsUbzOrmKwtVEY1N1gsyx9qfssTQhDN-A24dScoOE5BMWvYy7EGpVEzLdut3GXnFkmdAHs_INfFyuFyRjN28XzcPYffxzLkc4Md73z88Az8G/s1600/la-llorona-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSijBj3oM1t4OwpzLWiS5mE6lFNnlaAnLTsUbzOrmKwtVEY1N1gsyx9qfssTQhDN-A24dScoOE5BMWvYy7EGpVEzLdut3GXnFkmdAHs_INfFyuFyRjN28XzcPYffxzLkc4Md73z88Az8G/s200/la-llorona-3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona"><b>La Llorona</b></a> ("The Weeping Woman") is a widespread legend in Mexico, the US southwest, Puerto Rico and Central and South America.<br />
<br />
Although several variations exist, the basic story tells of a
beautiful woman by the name of Maria who drowns her children in order to
be with the man that she loved. The man would not have her, which
devastated her. She would not take no for an answer, so she drowned
herself in a lake in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico">Mexico</a>.
Challenged at the gates of heaven as to the whereabouts of her
children, she is not permitted to enter the afterlife until she has
found them. Maria is forced to wander the Earth for all eternity,
searching in vain for her drowned offspring, with her constant weeping
giving her the name "La Llorona".<br /><br />
In some versions of this tale and legend, La Llorona will kidnap
wandering children who resemble her missing children, or children who
disobey their parents. People who claim to have seen her say she appears
at night or in the late evenings from rivers or oceans in Mexico. Some
believe that those who hear the wails of La Llorona are marked for
death, similar to the Gaelic banshee legend. She is said to cry "Ay, mis
hijos!" which translates to "Oh, my children!"<br />
<br />
La Llorona bears a resemblance to the ancient Greek tale of the demonic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demigod" title="Demigod">demigodess</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia_%28mythology%29" title="Lamia (mythology)">Lamia</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Folklore:_In_All_of_Us.2C_In_All_We_Do_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona#cite_note-Folklore:_In_All_of_Us.2C_In_All_We_Do-1"></a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hera" title="Hera">Hera</a>, Zeus' wife, learned of his affair with Lamia, and then forced <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus" title="Zeus">Zeus</a>
to give up the relationship and punished Lamia by forcing her to eat
her own children. Out of jealousy over the loss of her own children,
Lamia preys upon human children and devours them if she catches them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona#cite_note-2"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona#cite_note-3"></a></sup> In Greek mythology, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea" title="Medea">Medea</a> killed the two children fathered by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason" title="Jason">Jason</a> (one of the Argonauts) after he left her for another woman.<br />
Local <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec" title="Aztec">Aztec</a> folklore possibly influenced the legend; the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goddess" title="Goddess">goddess</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cihuacoatl_%28goddess%29" title="Cihuacoatl (goddess)">Cihuacoatl</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coatlicue" title="Coatlicue">Coatlicue</a> was said to have appeared shortly prior to the invasion of Mexico by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s" title="Hernán Cortés">Hernán Cortés</a>, weeping for her lost children, an omen of the fall of the Aztec empire.<br />
La Llorona is also sometimes identified with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Malinche" title="La Malinche">La Malinche</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahua_peoples" title="Nahua peoples">Nahua</a> woman who served as Cortés' interpreter and who some say betrayed Mexico to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spanish</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquistador" title="Conquistador">conquistadors</a>.
In one folk story of La Malinche, she becomes Cortés' mistress and bore
him a child, only to be abandoned so that he could marry a Spanish <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady" title="Lady">lady</a>
(although no evidence exists that La Malinche killed her children).
Aztec pride drove La Malinche to acts of vengeance. In this context, the
tale compares the Spanish invasion of Mexico and the demise of
indigenous culture after the conquest with La Llorona's loss.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-70622766662932213372012-08-24T13:28:00.000-05:002012-08-24T13:28:00.504-05:00Junglefowl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Stavenn_Gallus_varius_0.jpg/240px-Stavenn_Gallus_varius_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Stavenn_Gallus_varius_0.jpg/240px-Stavenn_Gallus_varius_0.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junglefowl"><b>Junglefowl</b></a> are the four living <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species" title="Species">species</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird" title="Bird">bird</a> from the genus <i><b>Gallus</b></i> in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallinaceous" title="Gallinaceous">Gallinaceous</a> bird order, which occur in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" title="Southeast Asia">Southeast Asia</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a>.<br />
<br />
These are large birds, with colourful male <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather" title="Feather">plumage</a>, but are nevertheless difficult to see in the dense vegetation they inhabit.<br />
<br />
As with many birds in the pheasant family, the male takes no part in the incubation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_%28biology%29" title="Egg (biology)">egg</a> or rearing of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precocial" title="Precocial">precocial</a> young. These duties are performed by the drab and well-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camouflage" title="Camouflage">camouflaged</a> female.<br />
The junglefowl are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed" title="Seed">seed</a>-eaters, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect" title="Insect">insects</a> are also taken, particularly by the young birds.<br />
<br />
One of the species in this genus, the Red Junglefowl, is of historical importance as the likely ancestor of the domesticated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken" title="Chicken">chicken</a>, although it has been suggested the Grey Junglefowl was also involved.<br />
<br />
<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junglefowl#cite_note-0"></a></sup><br />
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Junglefowl" title="Sri Lanka Junglefowl">Sri Lanka Junglefowl</a> is the National Bird of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-48678926478225314212012-08-23T13:26:00.000-05:002012-08-23T13:26:00.755-05:00Platonic Solids<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/POV-Ray-Dodecahedron.svg/300px-POV-Ray-Dodecahedron.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/POV-Ray-Dodecahedron.svg/300px-POV-Ray-Dodecahedron.svg.png" width="200" /></a></div>
In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_geometry" title="Euclidean geometry">Euclidean geometry</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid"><b>Platonic solid</b></a> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_polyhedron" title="Regular polyhedron">regular</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convex_set" title="Convex set">convex</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyhedron" title="Polyhedron">polyhedron</a>. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_%28geometry%29" title="Face (geometry)">faces</a> are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congruence_%28geometry%29" title="Congruence (geometry)">congruent</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_polygon" title="Regular polygon">regular</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygon" title="Polygon">polygons</a>, with the same number of faces meeting at each <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertex_%28geometry%29" title="Vertex (geometry)">vertex.</a> There are five Platonic solids; their names are derived from their numbers of faces.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_beauty" title="Mathematical beauty">aesthetic beauty</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetry" title="Symmetry">symmetry</a> of the Platonic solids have made them a favorite subject of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometer" title="Geometer">geometers</a> for thousands of years. They are named for the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_philosophy" title="Greek philosophy">ancient Greek philosopher</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato" title="Plato">Plato</a>, who theorized that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element" title="Classical element">classical elements</a> were constructed from the regular solids.<br />
<br />
The Platonic solids have been known since antiquity. Ornamented models of them can be found among the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carved_Stone_Balls" title="Carved Stone Balls">carved stone balls</a> created by the late <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic" title="Neolithic">neolithic</a> people of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland" title="Scotland">Scotland</a> at least 1000 years before Plato<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid#cite_note-0"></a></sup>. <br />
<br />
The <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greeks" title="Ancient Greeks">ancient Greeks</a> studied the Platonic solids extensively. Some sources (such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proclus" title="Proclus">Proclus</a>) credit <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras" title="Pythagoras">Pythagoras</a>
with their discovery. Other evidence suggests he may have only been
familiar with the tetrahedron, cube, and dodecahedron, and that the
discovery of the octahedron and icosahedron belong to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theaetetus_%28mathematician%29" title="Theaetetus (mathematician)">Theaetetus</a>,
a contemporary of Plato. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid" title="Euclid">Euclid</a> gave a complete mathematical description of the Platonic solids in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid%27s_Elements" title="Euclid's Elements"><i>Elements</i></a>,
the last book (Book XIII) of which is devoted to their properties.
Propositions 13–17 in Book XIII describe the construction of the
tetrahedron, octahedron, cube, icosahedron, and dodecahedron in that
order. For each solid Euclid finds the ratio of the diameter of the
circumscribed sphere to the edge length. In Proposition 18 he argues
that there are no further convex regular polyhedra.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid#cite_note-1"></a></sup> Much of the information in Book XIII is probably derived from the work of Theaetetus.<br />
<br />
In the 16th century, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans" title="Germans">German</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomer" title="Astronomer">astronomer</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler" title="Johannes Kepler">Johannes Kepler</a> attempted to find a relation between the five extraterrestrial <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet" title="Planet">planets</a> known at that time and the five Platonic solids. In <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterium_Cosmographicum" title="Mysterium Cosmographicum">Mysterium Cosmographicum</a></i>, published in 1596, Kepler laid out a model of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_system" title="Solar system">solar system</a>
in which the five solids were set inside one another and separated by a
series of inscribed and circumscribed spheres. Kepler proposed that the
distance relationships between the six planets known at that time could
be understood in terms of the five Platonic solids, enclosed within a
sphere that represented the orbit of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn" title="Saturn">Saturn</a>. The six spheres each corresponded to one of the planets (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28planet%29" title="Mercury (planet)">Mercury</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus" title="Venus">Venus</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth" title="Earth">Earth</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars" title="Mars">Mars</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter" title="Jupiter">Jupiter</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn" title="Saturn">Saturn</a>).
The solids were ordered with the innermost being the octahedron,
followed by the icosahedron, dodecahedron, tetrahedron, and finally the
cube. In this way the structure of the solar system and the distance
relationships between the planets was dictated by the Platonic solids.
In the end, Kepler's original idea had to be abandoned, but out of his
research came his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_laws_of_planetary_motion" title="Kepler's laws of planetary motion">three laws of orbital dynamics</a>, the first of which was that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_laws_of_planetary_motion#First_Law" title="Kepler's laws of planetary motion">the orbits of planets are ellipses</a> rather than circles, changing the course of physics and astronomy. He also discovered the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-Poinsot_polyhedron" title="Kepler-Poinsot polyhedron">Kepler solids</a>.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/NahalashanS.jpg/250px-NahalashanS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/NahalashanS.jpg/250px-NahalashanS.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi"><b>Wadi</b></a> is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley" title="Valley">valley</a>. In some cases, it may refer to a dry (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephemeral" title="Ephemeral">ephemeral</a>) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_bed" title="Stream bed">riverbed</a> that contains water only during times of heavy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain" title="Rain">rain</a> or simply an intermittent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream" title="Stream">stream</a>.<br />
<br />
Modern English usage differentiates a wadi from another <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon" title="Canyon">canyon</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo_%28creek%29" title="Arroyo (creek)">wash</a>
by the action and prevalence of water. Wadis, as drainage courses, are
formed by water, but are distinguished from river valleys or gullies in
that surface water is intermittent or ephemeral. Wadis, cut by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream" title="Stream">stream</a> in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert" title="Desert">desert</a>
environment, generally are dry year round except after a rain. The
desert environment is characterized by a sudden but infrequent heavy
rainfall often resulting in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_flood" title="Flash flood">flash floods</a>. Crossing wadis at certain times of the year can be dangerous because of unexpected <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_flood" title="Flash flood">flash floods</a>. Such flash floods cause several deaths each year in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America" title="North America">North America</a> and many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East">Middle Eastern</a> countries.<br />
<br />
Wadis tend to be associated with centers of human population because
sub-surface water is sometimes available in them. Nomadic and pastoral
desert peoples will rely on seasonal vegetation found in wadis, even in
regions as dry as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara" title="Sahara">Sahara</a>, as they travel in complex <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumance" title="Transhumance">transhumance</a> routes.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Blowup_poster.jpg/220px-Blowup_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/Blowup_poster.jpg/220px-Blowup_poster.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowup"><i><b>Blowup</b></i></a>, or <i><b>Blow-Up</b></i>, is a 1966 film directed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo_Antonioni" title="Michelangelo Antonioni">Michelangelo Antonioni</a> about a photographer, played by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hemmings" title="David Hemmings">David Hemmings</a>,
who believes he may have witnessed a murder and unwittingly taken
photographs of the killing. It was Antonioni's first English-language
film.<br /><br />
The film also stars <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Redgrave" title="Vanessa Redgrave">Vanessa Redgrave</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Miles" title="Sarah Miles">Sarah Miles</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Castle" title="John Castle">John Castle</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Birkin" title="Jane Birkin">Jane Birkin</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsai_Chin_%28actress%29" title="Tsai Chin (actress)">Tsai Chin</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Hills" title="Gillian Hills">Gillian Hills</a> as well as sixties model <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veruschka_von_Lehndorff" title="Veruschka von Lehndorff">Veruschka</a>. The screenplay was written by Antonioni and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonino_Guerra" title="Tonino Guerra">Tonino Guerra</a>, with English dialogue by British playwright <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bond" title="Edward Bond">Edward Bond</a>. The film was produced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Ponti" title="Carlo Ponti">Carlo Ponti</a>, who had contracted Antonioni to make three English-language films for <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM" title="MGM">MGM</a> (the others were <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabriskie_Point_%28film%29" title="Zabriskie Point (film)">Zabriskie Point</a></i> and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passenger_%281975_film%29" title="The Passenger (1975 film)">The Passenger</a></i>).<br /><br />
The plot was inspired by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Cort%C3%A1zar" title="Julio Cortázar">Julio Cortázar</a>'s short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" (1959),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowup#cite_note-0"></a></sup> translated also as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blow-up_and_Other_Stories" title="Blow-up and Other Stories">Blow-Up</a>, and by the life of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging_London" title="Swinging London">Swinging London</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographer" title="Photographer">photographer</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bailey_%28photographer%29" title="David Bailey (photographer)">David Bailey</a>. The film was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_score" title="Film score">scored</a> by jazz pianist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancock" title="Herbie Hancock">Herbie Hancock</a>, although the music is <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diegetic" title="Diegetic">diegetic</a>, as Hancock noted: "It's only there when someone turns on the radio or puts on a record."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowup#cite_note-1"></a></sup> Nominated for several awards at the Cannes Film Festival, <i>Blowup</i> won the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palme_d%27Or" title="Palme d'Or">Grand Prix</a>.<br /><br />
The American release of the film with its explicit content (by contemporary standards) by a major <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood" title="Hollywood">Hollywood</a> studio was in direct defiance of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_Code" title="Production Code">Production Code</a>.
Its subsequent outstanding critical and box office success proved to be
one of the final events that led the code to be finally abandoned in
1968 in favor of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPAA_film_rating_system" title="MPAA film rating system">MPAA film rating system</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-valenti_2-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowup#cite_note-valenti-2"></a></sup><div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PnT1DRVzNgs5CALEwOrU3s-rYgmCCf8RUGsTWDIJt3CyD8NYFxpUUrHhXbEhnmbnXZW3TzJ1cgRXK4xwxvmwSzeRGsxoUUhyphenhyphenO3laNxBosbPwzHVAPAVRxWk85u15BNm6-f5VW1D1awmx/s1600/Cockatrice.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PnT1DRVzNgs5CALEwOrU3s-rYgmCCf8RUGsTWDIJt3CyD8NYFxpUUrHhXbEhnmbnXZW3TzJ1cgRXK4xwxvmwSzeRGsxoUUhyphenhyphenO3laNxBosbPwzHVAPAVRxWk85u15BNm6-f5VW1D1awmx/s320/Cockatrice.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice"><b>cockatrice</b></a> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legendary_creature" title="Legendary creature">legendary creature</a>, essentially a two-legged dragon with a rooster's head. "An ornament in the drama and poetry of the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan" title="Elizabethan">Elizabethans</a>", Laurence Breiner described it. It featured prominently in English thought and myth for centuries.<br />
The cockatrice was first described in its current form in the late twelfth century. The <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary" title="Oxford English Dictionary">Oxford English Dictionary</a></i> gives a derivation from Old French <i>cocatris</i>, from medieval Latin <i>calcatrix</i>, a translation of the Greek <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumon_%28medieval_zoology%29" title="Ichneumon (medieval zoology)">ichneumon</a></i>, meaning tracker. <br />
According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Neckam" title="Alexander Neckam">Alexander Neckam</a>'s <i>De naturis rerum</i> (ca 1180), the cockatrice was supposed to be born from an egg laid by a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_%28chicken%29" title="Cock (chicken)">cock</a> and incubated by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad" title="Toad">toad</a>; a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake" title="Snake">snake</a> might be substituted in re-tellings.<br />
It is thought that a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_egg" title="Cock egg">Cock egg</a>
would birth a cockatrice, and could be prevented by tossing the
yolkless egg over the family house, landing on the other side of the
house, without allowing the egg to hit the house.<br />
<br />
Its reputed magical abilities include turning people to stone<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice#cite_note-4"></a></sup> or killing them by either looking at them—"the death-darting eye of Cockatrice"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice#cite_note-5"></a></sup>—touching them, or sometimes breathing on them.<br />
It was repeated in the late-medieval <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestiary" title="Bestiary">bestiaries</a>
that the weasel is the only animal that is immune to the glance of a
cockatrice. It was also thought that a cockatrice would die instantly
upon hearing a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooster" title="Rooster">rooster</a> crow,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HellerHumez1984_6-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice#cite_note-HellerHumez1984-6"></a></sup> and according to legend, having a cockatrice look itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Knight1854_7-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice#cite_note-Knight1854-7"></a></sup> <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice#cite_note-8"></a></sup><br />
Like the head of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa_%28mythology%29" title="Medusa (mythology)">Medusa</a>, the cockatrice's powers of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrifaction_in_mythology_and_fiction" title="Petrifaction in mythology and fiction">petrification</a> were thought still active after death.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbHivZ3Lfo5ufxK-2nnSCRnVYVrR85wI9OwkJdVtV6tTqftMQNKDf9aMCo5QUc4hhCDPu-BypeXn3xRQ0YV_IUiA1fT5k7wsWbAfeoBe62Jvsk_BBLVeA3u7c7Y72Y_bpGoqztgpH8PDO/s1600/220px-Christmas_Island_Frigatebird.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbHivZ3Lfo5ufxK-2nnSCRnVYVrR85wI9OwkJdVtV6tTqftMQNKDf9aMCo5QUc4hhCDPu-BypeXn3xRQ0YV_IUiA1fT5k7wsWbAfeoBe62Jvsk_BBLVeA3u7c7Y72Y_bpGoqztgpH8PDO/s200/220px-Christmas_Island_Frigatebird.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Frigatebird"><b>Christmas Frigatebird</b></a> or <b>Christmas Island Frigatebird</b> (<i>Fregata andrewsi</i>) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigatebird" title="Frigatebird">frigatebird</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endemism_in_birds" title="Endemism in birds">endemic</a> to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Island" title="Christmas Island">Christmas Islands</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean" title="Indian Ocean">Indian Ocean</a>. Like other frigatebirds, this species does not walk or swim, but is a very aerial <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird" title="Bird">bird</a> which obtains its food by picking up live prey items from beaches or the water surface, and the aerial piracy of other birds.<br />
It is estimated that the population of this species will decline by
80 percent in the next 30 years due to predation of the young by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduced_species" title="Introduced species">introduced</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_crazy_ant" title="Yellow crazy ant">yellow crazy ant</a> (<i>Anoplolepis gracilipes</i>), which has devastated the wildlife of the island, and has also killed 10–20 million <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Island_red_crab" title="Christmas Island red crab">Christmas Island red crabs</a>.<br />
The adult male of this species is easily identified, since it is all
black except for a white belly patch. Other plumages resemble those of
the smaller <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Frigatebird" title="Lesser Frigatebird">Lesser Frigatebird</a>, but have whiter bellies and longer white underwing spurs.<br />
The binomial of this bird commemorates the British palaeontologist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_William_Andrews" title="Charles William Andrews">Charles William Andrews</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IPKhpcHdRzmPw6aTyqiqjTSBHzlrjaVdCVK2xaNGPPbJX70BZTnJInbJqyTKPI_YeqKf4A2whMAy7dV5aLAZEJb6yugXC9so7jsDkH-ImpjZI07lUNbRfANc3uyl0Hh5LMEg7qx9pUzn/s1600/ham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IPKhpcHdRzmPw6aTyqiqjTSBHzlrjaVdCVK2xaNGPPbJX70BZTnJInbJqyTKPI_YeqKf4A2whMAy7dV5aLAZEJb6yugXC9so7jsDkH-ImpjZI07lUNbRfANc3uyl0Hh5LMEg7qx9pUzn/s200/ham.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham"><b>Ham</b></a> is a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_of_meat" title="Cut of meat">cut of meat</a> from the thigh of the hind leg of an animal, especially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_pig" title="Domestic pig">pigs</a>. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_%28food_preservation%29" title="Curing (food preservation)">cured</a>.<br />
Ham is uncooked preserved pork. It is cured (a preservation process)
usually in large quantities of salt and sugar. Then the ham is hot smoked (hung
over a hot, smokey fire but out of direct heat) to preserve it more.
This process keeps the pink hue of the uncooked meat. Standard pork,
like chops, are raw and unpreserved. When heat is applied to the meat a
chemical reaction happens that turns the hemoglobin white. This also
happens when an acid is applied to meats.<br />
The pink color of ham develops in the curing process which involves
salt and usually either nitrites or nitrates. The nitrate cure is used
for product that will either be kept a long time or at room temperature
like dry salami. Most hams are cured with nitrite and salt today.<br />
The cure prevents the growth of unhealthy or deadly bacteria
before enough moisture is withdrawn by the salt. This is particularly
important if the product is to be smoked above 40F when these bacteria
grow. The "danger zone" for uncured product is between 40F and 140F.<br />
There is confusion in the words curing and brining. Brining is done
with salt and usually sugar and only alters the product color a little.
Curing is done with salt and nitrates.<br />
Sodium nitrite is used for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_%28food_preservation%29" title="Curing (food preservation)">curing</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat" title="Meat">meat</a> because it prevents bacterial growth and, in a reaction with the meat's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoglobin" title="Myoglobin">myoglobin</a>,
gives the product a desirable dark red color. Because of the toxicity
of nitrite (the lethal dose of nitrite for humans is about 22 mg per kg
body weight), the maximum allowed nitrite concentration in meat products
is 200 <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parts_per_million" title="Parts per million">ppm</a>. Under certain conditions, especially during cooking, nitrites in meat can react with degradation products of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid" title="Amino acid">amino acids</a>, forming <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrosamine" title="Nitrosamine">nitrosamines</a>, which are known <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcinogen" title="Carcinogen">carcinogens</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Traffic_jam_Rio_de_Janeiro_03_2008_28.JPG/300px-Traffic_jam_Rio_de_Janeiro_03_2008_28.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Traffic_jam_Rio_de_Janeiro_03_2008_28.JPG/300px-Traffic_jam_Rio_de_Janeiro_03_2008_28.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage"><b>Road rage</b> </a>is an aggressive or angry behavior by a driver of an
automobile or other motor vehicle. Such behavior might include rude
gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or
threatening manner, or making threats. Road rage can lead to
altercations, assaults, and collisions which result in injuries and even
deaths. It can be thought of as an extreme case of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggressive_driving" title="Aggressive driving">aggressive driving</a>.<br />
The term originated in the United States during the 1980s, specifically from Newscasters at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTLA" title="KTLA">KTLA</a>,
a local television station in Los Angeles, California. The term
originated in 1987-1988, when a rash of freeway shootings occurred on
the 405, 110 and 10 freeways in Los Angeles. These shooting sprees even
spawned a response from the AAA Motor Club to its members on how to
respond to drivers with road rage or aggressive maneuvers and gestures.<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage#cite_note-0">As early as 1997, therapists in the United States were working to
certify road rage as a medical condition. It is not an official mental
disorder in the </a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders" title="Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders">Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders</a>. According to an article published by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press" title="Associated Press">Associated Press</a> in June 2006, the behaviors typically associated with road rage are the result of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_explosive_disorder" title="Intermittent explosive disorder">intermittent explosive disorder</a>. This conclusion was drawn from surveys of some 9,200 adults in the United States between 2001 and 2003 and was funded by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Mental_Health" title="National Institute of Mental Health">National Institute of Mental Health</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage#cite_note-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The cause of intermittent explosive disorder has not been described to
date. There are differing views on whether or not "road rage" is a
mental issue.<br />
A 2007 study of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas concluded that
the cities with the least courteous drivers (most road rage) are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami" title="Miami">Miami</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix,_Arizona" title="Phoenix, Arizona">Phoenix</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York" title="New York">New York</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles" title="Los Angeles">Los Angeles</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston" title="Boston">Boston</a>. The cities with the most courteous drivers (least road rage) are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis" title="Minneapolis">Minneapolis</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville,_Tennessee" title="Nashville, Tennessee">Nashville</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis" title="St. Louis">St. Louis</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle" title="Seattle">Seattle</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta" title="Atlanta">Atlanta</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage#cite_note-10"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><br />
In spite of this, in 2009, New York, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit,
Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul were rated the top five "Road Rage
Capitals" of the United States.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_rage#cite_note-11"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-20920343533997565922012-05-13T06:00:00.000-05:002012-05-13T06:00:06.708-05:00Cutman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90Kt5YPwfzPPo1rYDJQYsqEbhYTbeO4Jzcg0trRBY6V8R82IEW9wFSwM8TNuBZsL_Q4G4cmKHdFOrkwOYJWjmuAXkz_jqG_697db_9W8vaaHJ0CmB6ktSGsRavkMXvRgjOv2zmqmYUTJO/s1600/cutman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90Kt5YPwfzPPo1rYDJQYsqEbhYTbeO4Jzcg0trRBY6V8R82IEW9wFSwM8TNuBZsL_Q4G4cmKHdFOrkwOYJWjmuAXkz_jqG_697db_9W8vaaHJ0CmB6ktSGsRavkMXvRgjOv2zmqmYUTJO/s200/cutman.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutman"><b>cutman</b></a> is a person responsible for preventing and treating physical damage to a fighter during the breaks between rounds of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_contact" title="Full contact">full contact</a> match such as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing" title="Boxing">boxing</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickboxing" title="Kickboxing">kickboxing</a> or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts" title="Mixed martial arts">mixed martial arts</a> bout. Cutmen typically handle <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematoma" title="Hematoma">swelling</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosebleed" title="Nosebleed">nosebleeds</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laceration" title="Laceration">lacerations</a> (commonly called <i>cuts</i>).
The rules of full contact sports stipulate that these injuries can be a
cause for premature match stoppage, counting as a loss to the injured
fighter. The cutman is therefore essential to the fighter, and can be a
decisive factor in the outcome of the match.<br />
The compensation for cutmen varies, generally staying within 1-3% of fighter's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prize_money" title="Prize money">prize money</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-souza_0-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutman#cite_note-souza-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> For many fighters on a low budget, the cutman duties are performed by their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerman" title="Cornerman">cornerman</a>. While most <a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Athletic_commission&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Athletic commission (page does not exist)">athletic commissions</a>
require cutmen to be licensed, there is usually no formal training or
certification required. Most cutmen learn their trade through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship" title="Apprenticeship">apprenticeship</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodidacticism" title="Autodidacticism">self-education</a>.<br />
Unlike boxing, cutmen for mixed martial arts events are generally
provided by the promotion, rather than the fighter's corner. This is to
prevent allegations of "greasing" (applying <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly" title="Petroleum jelly">petroleum jelly</a> to areas other than the forehead, which provides an unfair advantage in grappling situations).<br />
Cutmen should not be confused with the fight doctor who is an
official that monitors the health of the fighters, and whose task is
closer to that of neutral <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referees" title="Referees">referees</a>,
providing medical advice and monitoring the safety of both fighters in
accordance with regulations or law and evaluates their ability to
continue fighting.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-88174375933800437212012-05-12T06:00:00.000-05:002012-05-14T12:48:57.942-05:00Chiko Roll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Chiko_roll_in_bag_handheld.jpg/220px-Chiko_roll_in_bag_handheld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Chiko_roll_in_bag_handheld.jpg/220px-Chiko_roll_in_bag_handheld.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll"><b>Chiko Roll</b></a> is an Australian savoury snack, inspired by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cuisine" title="Chinese cuisine">Chinese</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_roll" title="Egg roll">egg roll</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_roll" title="Spring roll">spring rolls</a>. It was designed to be easily eaten on the move without a plate or cutlery. The Chiko roll consists of beef, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celery" title="Celery">celery</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage" title="Cabbage">cabbage</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley" title="Barley">barley</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot" title="Carrot">carrot</a>, corn, onion, green beans, and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spices" title="Spices">spices</a> in a tube of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_%28food%29" title="Egg (food)">egg</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour" title="Flour">flour</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dough" title="Dough">dough</a> which is then deep-fried. The wrap was designed to be unusually thick so it would survive handling at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football" title="Australian rules football">football</a> matches. It was originally called a "Chicken roll" despite not containing any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken" title="Chicken">chicken</a>
then later renamed "Chiko Roll". At the peak of their popularity in the
1960s and 1970s, tens of millions of Chiko Rolls were sold annually in
Australia, and the product has been described as an Australian cultural
icon.<br />
The Chiko Roll was developed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McEncroe" title="Frank McEncroe">Frank McEncroe</a>, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boilermaker" title="Boilermaker">boilermaker</a> from <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bendigo,_Victoria" title="Bendigo, Victoria">Bendigo</a> who turned to catering at football matches and other outdoor events.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll#cite_note-3"></a></sup> In 1950, McEncroe saw a competitor selling Chinese chop suey rolls outside <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Cricket_Ground" title="Richmond Cricket Ground">Richmond Cricket Ground</a>
and decided to add a similar product to his own line. McEncroe felt
that the Chinese rolls were too flimsy to be easily handled in an
informal outdoor setting, and hit upon the idea of a much larger and
more robust roll that would provide a quick meal that was both
reasonably substantial and easily handled. The result was the Chiko
Roll, which debuted at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagga_Wagga" title="Wagga Wagga">Wagga Wagga</a> Agriculture Show in 1951.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiko_4-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll#cite_note-Chiko-4"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll#cite_note-5"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-chickochick_6-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll#cite_note-chickochick-6"></a></sup><br />
In the 1960s, McEncroe moved to Melbourne with his family where he
began to manufacture the rolls with the help of a sausage machine. As
the product became more popular, McEncroe moved to a larger factory with
more modern equipment in North Essendon and later merged with a local
company called Floyd's Iceworks to form Frozen Food Industries Pty Ltd.
The new company went public in 1963.<br />
By 1965, most Australian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take-out" title="Take-out">takeaway</a> restaurants and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_chips#Fish_and_chip_shops" title="Fish and chips">fish and chip shops</a> carried Chiko Rolls,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chiko_4-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll#cite_note-Chiko-4"></a></sup>
with the marketing slogan 'Grab a Chiko' signifying the ease with which
shop owners could take a Chiko Roll from the freezer and pop it into a
fryer and slide it into its own trade mark bag. At the height of their
popularity in the 1970s, 40 million Chiko Rolls were being sold
Australia-wide each year and more than one million were exported to
Japan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-adb_2-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll#cite_note-adb-2"></a></sup><br />
Increasing competition in the Australian takeaway food market in
recent decades has seen a decline in the profile of the Chiko Roll, but
they are still widely available at fish and chips shops and supermarkets
across Australia.<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll#cite_note-newscom-0"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-59728268531286435102012-05-11T06:00:00.000-05:002012-05-11T06:00:09.158-05:00Purple Drank<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF1bLMYJnhjfdJnY6Gbiva54j6NOAMQjIxG6wDPe0e3mDCDcG_lyTET0sdcgJt_JaOqlFARmmSgAlCRt79hcH44chz_mE71iHZDx-alf0Ij53giYLov1dCglAybCodN-_khqz0SxozVCLb/s1600/drank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF1bLMYJnhjfdJnY6Gbiva54j6NOAMQjIxG6wDPe0e3mDCDcG_lyTET0sdcgJt_JaOqlFARmmSgAlCRt79hcH44chz_mE71iHZDx-alf0Ij53giYLov1dCglAybCodN-_khqz0SxozVCLb/s200/drank.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank"><b>Purple drank</b></a> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slang" title="Slang">slang</a> term for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recreational_drug_use" title="Recreational drug use">recreational drug</a> popular in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop" title="Hip hop">hip hop</a> community in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States" title="Southern United States">southern United States</a>, originating in <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_Texas" title="Houston, Texas">Houston, Texas</a>. Its main ingredient is <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescription_drug" title="Prescription drug">prescription</a>-strength <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cough_medicine" title="Cough medicine">cough syrup</a> containing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeine" title="Codeine">codeine</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promethazine" title="Promethazine">promethazine</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Peters_0-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Peters-0"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Cough syrup is typically mixed with ingredients such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_%28soft_drink%29" title="Sprite (soft drink)">Sprite</a> soft drink or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Dew" title="Mountain Dew">Mountain Dew</a> and pieces of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Rancher" title="Jolly Rancher">Jolly Rancher</a> candy. The purplish hue of purple drank comes from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye" title="Dye">dyes</a> in the cough syrup.<br />
<br />
<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_Texas" title="Houston, Texas">Houston, Texas</a> producer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Screw" title="DJ Screw">DJ Screw</a> popularized the concoction, which is widely attributed as a source of inspiration for the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopped_and_screwed" title="Chopped and screwed">chopped and screwed</a>" style of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music" title="Hip hop music">hip hop music</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Leinwand_2-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Leinwand-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Corky_9-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Corky-9"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>
Originally, the active ingredient of "syrup" was cough syrup containing
promethazine and codeine. The concoction first gained popularity in the
underground <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rap_music" title="Rap music">rap</a> scene in Houston,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Corky_9-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Corky-9"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> where musician <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hawk" title="Big Hawk">Big Hawk</a> said it was consumed as early as the 1960s and 1970s, becoming more widespread in the early 1990s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-10"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Its use later spread to other <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States" title="Southern United States">southern states</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Leinwand_2-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Leinwand-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Because of usage by rap artists in Houston, it became more popular in the 1990s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Scheme_11-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Scheme-11"><span><br /></span><span></span></a></sup><br />
In June 2000, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_6_Mafia" title="Three 6 Mafia">Three 6 Mafia</a>'s single "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sippin%27_on_Some_Syrup" title="Sippin' on Some Syrup">Sippin' on Some Syrup</a>," featuring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGK" title="UGK">UGK</a>, brought the term "purple drank" to a nationwide audience.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WFAA_1-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-WFAA-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup>Three 6 Mafia's single "Rainbow Colors" featuring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil%27_Flip" title="Lil' Flip">Lil' Flip</a> pertains to the consumption of purple drank; the addition of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Rancher" title="Jolly Rancher">Jolly Rancher</a> candy to a cup of purple drank creates a spectrum of colors, hence the name.<br /><br />
In 2004, the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas" title="University of Texas">University of Texas</a> found that 8.3% of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_school" title="Secondary school">secondary school</a> students in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a> had taken codeine syrup to get high.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Leinwand_2-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Leinwand-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration" title="Drug Enforcement Administration">Drug Enforcement Administration</a> reports "busts" involving syrup across the southern United States, particularly in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" title="Florida">Florida</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Leinwand_2-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank#cite_note-Leinwand-2"><span></span><span></span></a></sup><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-23557539264322379522012-05-10T06:00:00.000-05:002012-05-10T06:00:03.283-05:00Wild Duck Cluster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Messier11.jpg/300px-Messier11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Messier11.jpg/300px-Messier11.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Duck_Cluster"><b>Wild Duck Cluster</b></a> (also known as <b>Messier 11</b>, or <b>NGC 6705</b>) is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_cluster" title="Open cluster">open cluster</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation" title="Constellation">constellation</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutum" title="Scutum">Scutum</a>. It was discovered by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Kirch" title="Gottfried Kirch">Gottfried Kirch</a> in 1681. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Messier" title="Charles Messier">Charles Messier</a> included it in his catalogue in 1764.<br />
The Wild Duck Cluster is one of the richest and most compact of the known open clusters, containing about 2900 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star" title="Star">stars</a>.
Its age has been estimated to about 220 million years. Its name derives
from the brighter stars forming a triangle which could represent a
flying flock of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck" title="Duck">ducks</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-42433010380690726912012-05-09T06:00:00.000-05:002012-05-09T06:00:06.664-05:00Telenovela<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Elcuarteador_1977.jpg/200px-Elcuarteador_1977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Elcuarteador_1977.jpg/200px-Elcuarteador_1977.jpg" /></a>A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenovela"><b>telenovela</b></a> is a limited-run <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_%28radio_and_television%29" title="Serial (radio and television)">serial</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_programming" title="Dramatic programming">dramatic programming</a> popular in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America" title="Latin America">Latin American</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal" title="Portugal">Portuguese</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spanish</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_program" title="Television program">television programming</a>. The word combines <i>tele</i>, short for <i>televisión</i> or <i>televisão</i> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a> words for <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television" title="Television">television</a></i>), and <i>novela</i>, a Spanish word for "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel" title="Novel">novel</a>".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenovela#cite_note-1"><span></span><span></span></a></sup> Telenovelas are a distinct genre different from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera" title="Soap opera">soap operas</a>,
for telenovelas have an ending and come to an end after a long run
(generally less than one year). The telenovela combines drama with the
19th century <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feuilleton" title="Feuilleton">feuilleton</a></i> and the Latin American <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radionovela" title="Radionovela">radionovela</a>. The medium has been used repeatedly to transmit sociocultural messages by incorporating them into storylines.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenovela#cite_note-2"><span><br /></span><span></span></a></sup><br />
Recent telenovelas have evolved in the structure of their plots and
in the themes they address. Couples who kiss each other in the first
minutes of the first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episode" title="Episode">episode</a>
sometimes stay together for many episodes before the scriptwriter
splits them up. Moreover, previously taboo themes like urban violence, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism" title="Racism">racism</a>, and homosexuality have begun to appear in the newest telenovelas.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-36106584529363634652012-05-08T06:00:00.000-05:002012-05-08T06:00:08.067-05:00Tsar Cannon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/TheTsarCannonJuly2004.jpg/250px-TheTsarCannonJuly2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/TheTsarCannonJuly2004.jpg/250px-TheTsarCannonJuly2004.jpg" /></a></div>
The <b>Tsar Cannon</b> is a large, 5.94 metres (19.5 ft) long <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon" title="Cannon">cannon</a> on display on the grounds of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Kremlin" title="Moscow Kremlin">Moscow Kremlin</a>. It was cast in 1586 in Moscow, by the Russian master bronze caster <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Chokhov" title="Andrey Chokhov">Andrey Chokhov</a>. Mostly of symbolic impact, it was never used in a war. However the cannon bears traces of at least one firing<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Cannon#cite_note-0"></a></sup>. Per the <i><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Book_of_Records" title="Guinness Book of Records">Guinness Book of Records</a></i> it is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_cannons_by_caliber" title="List of the largest cannons by caliber">largest bombard by caliber</a> in the world,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Cannon#cite_note-1"></a></sup> and it is a major tourist attraction in the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin.<br />
<br />
By the 16th century, bronze casting technology in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsardom_of_Russia" title="Tsardom of Russia">Tsardom of Russia</a>
was advanced enough to create many artillery pieces noted for their
large caliber and rich ornamentation. Artillery was extensively used in
the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kazan_%281552%29" title="Siege of Kazan (1552)">Conquest of Kazan</a> and in numerous other battles. The exact reason why the Tsar Cannon was cast is unknown. The master bronze-caster <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Chokhov" title="Andrey Chokhov">Andrey Chokhov</a> is known to have resided near today's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubyanka_Square" title="Lubyanka Square">Lubyanka Square</a> from 1568-1629.<br />
<br />
The Tsar Cannon was placed at several points around Moscow in its
history. It is known to have been mounted on a special frame with a
fixed inclination angle in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Square" title="Red Square">Red Square</a> near the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobnoye_Mesto" title="Lobnoye Mesto">Place of Skulls</a>
in order to protect the eastern approaches to the Kremlin, indicating
that it originally did have a practical application. However, by 1706,
it was moved to the Kremlin Arsenal and mounted on a wooden gun
carriage. It was not used during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia" title="French invasion of Russia">French invasion of Russia</a>, although <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte" title="Napoleon Bonaparte">Napoleon Bonaparte</a>
considered removing it to France as a war trophy. The wooden gun
carriage burnt in the fire that consumed Moscow in 1812, and was
replaced in 1835 by the present metal carriage.<br />
In 1860, the Tsar Cannon was moved to its current location on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanovskaya_Square" title="Ivanovskaya Square">Ivanovskaya Square</a> near the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell" title="Tsar Bell">Tsar Bell</a>, which is similarly massive and is the largest bell in the world (but which has never been rung).<br />
The cannon was last restored in 1980. It was thoroughly studied at that time and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder" title="Gunpowder">gunpowder</a> residue was found, indicating that the cannon had been fired at least once.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Cannon#cite_note-5"></a></sup><div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-25615657468075866742012-05-07T08:45:00.000-05:002012-05-07T08:50:35.954-05:00Robert Bunsen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Robert_Bunsen_02.jpg/240px-Robert_Bunsen_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Robert_Bunsen_02.jpg/240px-Robert_Bunsen_02.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bunsen"><b>Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen</b></a> (30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_people" title="German people">German</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemist" title="Chemist">chemist</a>. He investigated <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectroscopy" title="Electromagnetic spectroscopy">emission spectra</a> of heated elements, and discovered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesium" title="Caesium">caesium</a> (in 1860) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubidium" title="Rubidium">rubidium</a> (in 1861) with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Kirchhoff" title="Gustav Kirchhoff">Gustav Kirchhoff</a>. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photochemistry" title="Photochemistry">photochemistry</a>, and did early work in the field of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organoarsenic" title="Organoarsenic">organoarsenic</a> chemistry. With his laboratory assistant, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Desaga" title="Peter Desaga">Peter Desaga</a>, he developed the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunsen_burner" title="Bunsen burner">Bunsen burner</a>, an improvement on the laboratory burners then in use. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunsen%E2%80%93Kirchhoff_Award" title="Bunsen–Kirchhoff Award">Bunsen–Kirchhoff Award</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectroscopy" title="Spectroscopy">spectroscopy</a> is named after Bunsen and Kirchhoff.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-46872234666255272452012-05-04T06:00:00.000-05:002012-05-04T06:00:12.707-05:00Vermilion Sands<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6b/Vermilion.jpg/200px-Vermilion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6b/Vermilion.jpg/200px-Vermilion.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermillion_sands"><i><b>Vermilion Sands</b></i></a> is a short-story collection by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._G._Ballard" title="J. G. Ballard">J. G. Ballard</a>,
first published in 1971. All the stories are set in an imaginary
vacation resort called Vermilion Sands which suggests, among other
places, Palm Springs in southern California. The characters are
generally the wealthy and disaffected, or people who make a living off
them, and parasites of various kinds. <br /><br />
Each story concentrates on different media - in some cases more than one
- and most of them focus on a particular innovative, usually rather
decadent/baroque twist on an existing artistic medium.<br /><br />
Although the characters themselves often exhibit the same obsession,
anomie and psychological disintegration typical of Ballard's characters,
the emphasis on elaborate and sometimes humorously imagined art forms
gives these stories a playfulness unusual in his other stories. <br />
In the preface, Ballard himself wrote: "Vermilion Sands has more than
its full share of dreams and illusions, fears and fantasies, but the
frame for them is less confining. I like to think, too, that it
celebrates the neglected virtues of the glossy, lurid and bizarre."<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-2567196494351887022012-05-03T13:38:00.002-05:002012-05-03T13:41:00.180-05:00Black Randy and the Metrosquad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Dustbowie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Dustbowie.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Randy_and_the_Metrosquad"><b>Black Randy and the Metrosquad</b></a> was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_rock" title="Punk rock">punk rock</a> act from the late 1970s and early 1980s in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles" title="Los Angeles">Los Angeles</a> punk scene. They gained notoriety not only for their surreal and smutty sense of humour, but also for their amalgamation of <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-punk" title="Proto-punk">proto-punk</a>, 1970s soul, pop, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant-garde_music" title="Avant-garde music">avant-garde music</a>.<br />
<br />
The band formed in Los Angeles in 1977 with <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Randy" title="Black Randy">Black Randy</a> (born John Morris) as front man, David Brown on keyboards, and other members including Pat Garrett on guitar, who later joined <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dils" title="The Dils">The Dils</a>. However, the band had a rotating line-up, which even included live back-up singers known as the Blackettes which often included <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Bag" title="Alice Bag">Alice Bag</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exene_Cervenka" title="Exene Cervenka">Exene Cervenka</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germs_%28band%29" title="Germs (band)">Lorna Doom</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Wiedlin" title="Jane Wiedlin">Jane Wiedlin</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belinda_Carlisle" title="Belinda Carlisle">Belinda Carlisle</a> and featured several members of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eyes_%28band%29" title="The Eyes (band)">The Eyes</a>.<br />
<br />Black Randy's lyrics gave him a reputation for being as witty as he was offensive with songs about <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_boy" title="Rent boy">gay prostitution</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlon_Brando" title="Marlon Brando">Marlon Brando</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin" title="Idi Amin">Idi Amin</a>.
Their first single, "Trouble at the Cup", advocated fighting the
police, though this (like all their material) was as tongue in cheek as
his cover of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown" title="James Brown">James Brown</a>'s classic "<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_It_Loud_-_I%27m_Black_and_I%27m_Proud" title="Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud">Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud</a>". Some saw this cover as an offensive reinterpretation of the song as a mocking attack on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pride" title="Black pride">black pride</a> (considering that Black Randy was white); others saw it as irreverent, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironic" title="Ironic">ironic</a>, and humorous. The band also covered the theme from the cult <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaxploitation" title="Blaxploitation">Blaxploitation</a> film <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaft_%281971_film%29" title="Shaft (1971 film)">Shaft</a></i>, by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Hayes" title="Isaac Hayes">Isaac Hayes</a>, in the same irreverent manner.<br />
<br />
These songs were compiled onto their only album, <i>Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie</i>, which had sophisticated and even innovative musical arrangements that had more in common with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-punk" title="Post-punk">post-punk</a> than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_punk" title="Hardcore punk">hardcore</a> bands like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Flag_%28band%29" title="Black Flag (band)">Black Flag</a>.<br />
<br />
The band imploded early in 1980 when their frontman succumbed to drug
and alcohol problems, which were evident in chaotic live shows, where
songs were hardly sung and Brown tried, to no avail, to salvage the
show. Black Randy died on November 11th, 1988<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Human_smoke_rings.jpg/220px-Human_smoke_rings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Human_smoke_rings.jpg/220px-Human_smoke_rings.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_ring"><b>smoke ring</b></a> is a visible <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_ring" title="Vortex ring">vortex ring</a> formed by sudden release of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke" title="Smoke">smoke</a>.
It can be created by blowing smoke from the mouth, quickly lighting a
cigarette lighter and putting it out or holding a burning incense stick
or a cigarette vertically, pushing it with the burning side up and
suddenly pulling it back (or just stopping it).<br />
In general, a smoke ring occurs when a mass of fluid from the mouth
is impulsively pushed through a roughly circular opening, forming a
vortex ring just outside of the opening. The smoke ring travels roughly
straight from the opening and maintains its shape until dispersed by
turbulence or other interference. The smoke serves to make the flow
pattern of the air visible, and does not significantly affect the fluid
behavior. Another method of creating a smoke ring involves releasing a
mass of fluid with a different density than the surrounding fluid. This
can be done in several ways:<br />
Releasing air underwater forms <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_ring" title="Bubble ring">rings of bubbles</a>. <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuba_divers" title="Scuba divers">Scuba divers</a> often do this, and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphins" title="Dolphins">dolphins</a> have also been observed performing this trick.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-dolphin_0-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_ring#cite_note-dolphin-0"></a></sup><br />
A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_ring" title="Vortex ring">vortex ring</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-caelestia_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_ring#cite_note-caelestia-1"></a></sup> or smoke ring can be formed in the atmosphere by a rising (falling) mass of warm (cold) air, which is also called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal" title="Thermal">thermal</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microburst" title="Microburst">microburst</a>). One is occasionally at the core of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_cloud" title="Mushroom cloud">mushroom cloud</a>, and they can be seen at <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_eater" title="Fire eater">fire eater</a> presentations.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
A compendium of random entries from the noted online encyclopedia.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99766267226914480.post-63541110708590858832012-05-01T10:26:00.001-05:002012-05-01T10:28:45.275-05:00Piledriver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Jumping_piledriver.jpg/220px-Jumping_piledriver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Jumping_piledriver.jpg/220px-Jumping_piledriver.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piledriver_%28professional_wrestling%29"><b>piledriver</b></a> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling" title="Professional wrestling">professional wrestling</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_throws#Driver" title="Professional wrestling throws">driver</a>
move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down,
and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent
head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piledriver_%28professional_wrestling%29#Texas_piledriver">Texas piledriver</a>, and the belly-to-belly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piledriver_%28professional_wrestling%29#Kneeling_reverse_piledriver">tombstone piledriver</a>, but many more intricate variants are in use. It was innovated by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Longson" title="Bill Longson">"Wild" Bill Longson</a>.<br />
The name is taken from a piece of construction equipment, also called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pile_driver" title="Pile driver">pile driver</a>,
that drives countless massive impacts on the top of a large major
foundation support, burying it in the ground slowly with each impact.
The <i>act</i> of performing a piledriver is called "piledriving."
Someone who has recently been the victim of a piledriver is said to have
been "piledriven" (e.g. "The wrestler was <i>piledriven</i> into the canvas").<div class="blogger-post-footer">Today's Random Wikipedia Entry
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