Maxwell Street Polish

A Maxwell Street Polish consists of a grilled or fried length of Polish sausage topped with grilled onions and yellow mustard and optional sport peppers, served on a bun. The meal traces its origins to Chicago's Maxwell Street market, and has been called one of "the classic foods synonymous with Chicago".


The sandwich is widely said to have been created by Jimmy Stefanovic, a Macedonian immigrant, who took over his aunt and uncle's hot dog stand in 1939 (now called Jim's Original) located at Maxwell and Halsted in Chicago's old Maxwell Street market district. The Express Grill, which is located right next door to Jim's, advertises itself as the Original Maxwell St. Polish on its marquee, although it arrived after Jim's and serves almost an identical menu. Due to their virtually undivided storefronts and 24-hour service at the original Halsted Street location of both stands, Jim's Original and Express Grill had an added element of confusion for the casual observer not attentive to the change in signage a matter of feet in distance. Despite the competition, the Maxwell Polish sausage sandwich soon grew to be one of Chicago's most popular local offerings, along with the Chicago-style hot dog and the Italian beef sandwich.

Sæhrímnir

In Norse mythology, Sæhrímnir is the creature killed and eaten every night by the Æsir and einherjar. The cook of the gods, Andhrímnir, is responsible for the slaughter of Sæhrímnir and its preparation in the cauldron Eldhrímnir. After Sæhrímnir is eaten, the beast is brought back to life to again provide sustenance for the following day. Sæhrímnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.
The enthroned figure of High quotes this stanza in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning and specifically states that Sæhrímnir is a boar. However, some scholars have translated the Poetic Edda attestation, which the Prose Edda attestation quotes, as not referring to the creature as any specific type. Those scholars who recognize a difference between the taxonomy of the creature between the two sources have commented on the matter, further issues have been raised about the apparently contradictory etymology of the name of the creature in relation to its apparent status as a boar, and some scholars have theorized that the ritual killing of the animal may ultimately stem from religious practices in Germanic paganism.

Toe

Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being digitigrade. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being plantigrade; unguligrade animals are those that walk on hooves at the tips of their toes. The toes are, from medial to lateral:

The human foot consists of numerous bones and soft tissues which support the weight of the upright human. Specifically, the toes assist the human while walking, providing balance, weight-bearing, and thrust during the gait.

Humans typically have five toes on each foot. Exceptions include polydactyly (more than five toes), and syndactyly or amputation (fewer than five toes). The four smallest toes consist of three phalanx bones, while the largest consists of two phalanx bones and two sesamoid bones. Many of the flexor tendons are shared, making it impossible to move individual toes independently; however, some prehensility, or grasping capability, does exist for most humans.

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, or fó tiào qiáng, is a variety of shark fin soup in Cantonese and Fujian cuisine.  The soup or stew consists of many ingredients of non-vegetarian origin and requires one to two full days to prepare. A typical recipe requires many ingredients including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, scallops, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, chicken, Jinhua ham, pork tendon, ginseng, mushrooms, and taro. Some recipes require up to thirty main ingredients and twelve condiments.

There are many stories on the origin of the dish. Among them, a common story is about a scholar traveling by foot during the Qing Dynasty. While he traveled with his friends, the scholar preserved all his food for the journey in a clay jar used for holding wine. Whenever he had a meal, he warmed up the jar with the ingredients over an open fire. Once they arrived in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, the scholar started cooking the dish. The smells spread over to a nearby Buddhist monastery where monks were meditating. Although monks are not allowed to eat meat, one of the monks who was tempted by the smell jumped over the wall to where the scholar gathered for cooking. A poet among the travelers said that even Buddha would jump the wall to eat the delicious dish.

Mach Five

The Mach Five (マッハ号, Mahha-gō) is the racing car Speed Racer (Go Mifune in the Japanese version) drives in the anime series of the same name (known as "Mach Go! Go! Go!" in Japan). The car was designed, built, and created by "Pops Racer" (Daisuke Mifune), Speed Racer's father. It features a set of special devices which Speed Racer uses throughout the series. In the original 1967 series, the Mach Five is a white racing car with an 'M' written on its hood (which does not stand for "Mach 5", but instead stands for "Mifune", both Go's last name, and the name of his father's motor company). In the 1993 American remake, the design was completely changed.

Its name probably derives from the fact that speeds above Mach 5 are known as hypersonic. However, the Mach Five cannot reach Mach speeds. The name is also a pun in two languages: the word for "five" in Japanese is "go". However, the "go" used for the car's name is a suffix attached to the names of ships, etc. Thus, the car is known in the Japanese version as simply the "Mach".

An actual race car that most closely resembles the Mach Five would be an early Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, designed by Scaglietti around 1958 through 1961. Another possibility of inspiration could be the Ford GT40, which was a very popular and successful racecar, mainly in Le Mans and other Touring series, in the 1960s. Another similar car is the Chaparral 2C.

Vox Phantom

The Vox Phantom is an electric guitar, originally released in 1962 by the Jennings company. It is unique for its distinctive, pentagonal shape, which became part of the iconic representation of the British Invasion. Originally made in England, manufacturing was later relocated to Italy.
Features of the Vox Phantom included 2 or 3 single-coil pickups, open-back tuners, and a Tune-o-matic bridge inspired by similar Gibson bridges. Later models included a Bigsby-inspired tremolo, designed by Vox's founder, Thomas Jennings. It included a round leather-coated pad on the back for comfort while playing. A 12-string version, the Phantom XII, was also made. Both 6 and 12 string guitars were also made as "Stereo" versions; capable of operating in stereo with a special cable which connected to two ampflifiers simultaneously. This enabled complex panning and switching effects that were in vogue as Psychedelic rock was popular.
Another variant of the Phantom guitars was the "Special". This included on board effects such as fuzz, Tremolo, and repeat percussion. Effects were operated by a series of push buttons along the bottom neck side of the pick guard.
The guitar shared many of the practical problems of similar unusually-shaped guitars, such as Gibson's Flying V. Its shape made it difficult to play sitting down, and its polyester finish scratched easily at its corners.
Numerous copies of the Vox Phantom's distinctive five-sided body design were manufactured, by companies such as Teisco and Kawai under the Domino brand name. Contemporary copies are also manufactured by companies such as Eastwood Guitars (called the VG6) and Jay Turser (called the Phantasia). Jack Charles of Phantom Guitarworks continues to build excellent replicas of this and other VOX models.
The 1998 USA VOX Reissue Phantoms, Teardrops and Mando Guitars were designed and produced by John Hawkins of North Coast Music who had been an existing VOX/KORG supplier since 1992. Various components including necks, pickups, finishing and hardware for the guitars were produced through existing North Coast vendors such as LaSido. Final assembly was subcontracted to a small Minnesota based builder, Kevin Smith of Tonesmith guitars.
For 2011 VOX reintroduced the Phantom in its Apache series. The travel guitar hosts a 2-channel guitar amplifier, speakers, several rhythm patterns, and an E-String tuner.

Nalukataq

Nalukataq is the spring whaling festival of the Inupiaq Eskimos of Northern Alaska, and is characterized most famously by the Eskimo blanket toss.

After the spring whale hunting season, successful crews celebrate with a Nalukataq festival. These take place in June, and are scheduled to avoid conflicts between villages to allow friends and relatives from distant communities to share the bounty and the fun. In Barrow, for example, Nalukataq is usually in the third week of June. Other villages may be in the week before or the week after. Scheduling depends on how many whales were caught as well as other factors.

Nalukataq serves two purposes: First, it is a celebration of thanksgiving for success. Second, it is the first of several times during the year when quaq (frozen whale meat) and muktuk (whale blubber and skin) are distributed to the community. The ability to produce and distribute wealth amongst the community is highly valued in Eskimo cultures, and whaling captains, who always give away large portions of their whales, gain great stature and respect within the village for every whale they catch.

Festive clothing is commonly worn to the event, and highly decorated mukluks and parkas of seal, caribou, wolverine, wolf, and fox are abundant.

Boy's Surface

In geometry, Boy's surface is an immersion of the real projective plane in 3-dimensional space found by Werner Boy in 1901 (he discovered it on assignment from David Hilbert to prove that the projective plane could not be immersed in 3-space). Unlike the Roman surface and the cross-cap, it has no singularities (i.e., pinch-points), but it does self-intersect.
To make a Boy's surface:

1. Start with a sphere. Remove a cap.
2. Attach one end of each of three strips to alternate sixths of the edge left by removing the cap.
3. Bend each strip and attach the other end of each strip to the sixth opposite the first end, so that the inside of the sphere at one end is connected to the outside at the other. Make the strips skirt the middle rather than go through it.
4. Join the loose edges of the strips. The joins intersect the strips.

Boy's surface is discussed (and illustrated) in Jean-Pierre Petit's Le Topologicon. Boy's surface was first parametrized explicitly by Bernard Morin in 1978.

Finial

The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods or applied to chairs and furniture. These are frequently seen on top of bed posts or clocks. Decorative finials are also commonly used to fasten lampshades, and as an ornamental element at the end of the handles of souvenir spoons. Architectural finials were once believed to act as a deterrent to witches on broomsticks attempting to land on one's roof.

Mofongo

Mofongo is a fried plantain-based dish from the island of Puerto Rico. It is generally made from fried green plantains (although fried yuca or breadfruit are possible) which is mashed together with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings or bits of bacon. It is often filled with vegetables, chicken, crab, shrimp, or beef and is often served with fried meat and chicken broth soup. Mofongo relleno is mofongo stuffed with stewed beef, chicken or seafood, with stewed sauce poured over.

A Dominican cookbook author says that mofongo in Dominican cuisine can be traced back to Puerto Rico but scholarship indicates the dish is ultimately of African origin and is a variant of a dish called "fufu" which is made from various starchy vegetables and was introduced to the Caribbean by Africans in the Spanish New World colonies such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. But unlike mofongo where unripened plantains are fried, then mashed, fufu is made of either green or semi-ripe plantain boiled then mashed.  Both fufu and mofongo are seasoned after the plantains are cooked and mashed.