Thursday, September 16, 2010
Fifteen tons of squid lands in broccoli field
A big rig hauling 30,000 pounds of squid spilled its load at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday after the driver lost control south of Soledad.
The driver, a 71-year-old Oxnard man, was uninjured in the crash and no other vehicles were involved, the California Highway Patrol said.
The truck was travelling south on Highway 101, south of Los Coches Road, when the driver allowed the truck and trailer to go off the road, overturning on a dirt frontage road adjacent to the highway, CHP officers said.
As the truck and trailer flipped, the load of squid spilled onto the frontage road and into a broccoli field. Officers said the highway was not blocked and crews were called to clean up the squid and remove the wrecked truck and trailer.
The driver, a 71-year-old Oxnard man, was uninjured in the crash and no other vehicles were involved, the California Highway Patrol said.
The truck was travelling south on Highway 101, south of Los Coches Road, when the driver allowed the truck and trailer to go off the road, overturning on a dirt frontage road adjacent to the highway, CHP officers said.
As the truck and trailer flipped, the load of squid spilled onto the frontage road and into a broccoli field. Officers said the highway was not blocked and crews were called to clean up the squid and remove the wrecked truck and trailer.
Orphaned otter learns to swim in bath tub
A three-month-old otter is being taught how to swim and socialise with other animals after he was found alone on a building site in Wales. Staff at Secret World Wildlife Rescue in Highbridge, Somerset, are rehabilitating the orphaned mammal in preparation for his release back into the wild.
The pup, named Garaint, is living at the home of Pauline Kidner, the founder of Secret World, where he has struck up a friendship with her eight-month-old black labrador puppy called Mollie. Pauline Kidner, 60, said the otter's interaction with other animals is be vital to the mammal's rehabilitation.
"Otters are highly sociable animals and I'd much rather Garaint was socialising with a puppy than humans," she said. "Fortunately, we have some older dogs who are a bit too grumpy for fun and games, so they are teaching Garaint that not all dogs are approachable for her future back in the wild.
"As a pup eight-month-old Molly is just as playful as the otter, so it's great that they can both enjoy a bit of rough and tumble together." Ms Kidner has also welcomed six-week-old otter Snuffles to her home, and hopes that she and Garaint will become playmates as the pup gets older.
The pup, named Garaint, is living at the home of Pauline Kidner, the founder of Secret World, where he has struck up a friendship with her eight-month-old black labrador puppy called Mollie. Pauline Kidner, 60, said the otter's interaction with other animals is be vital to the mammal's rehabilitation.
"Otters are highly sociable animals and I'd much rather Garaint was socialising with a puppy than humans," she said. "Fortunately, we have some older dogs who are a bit too grumpy for fun and games, so they are teaching Garaint that not all dogs are approachable for her future back in the wild.
"As a pup eight-month-old Molly is just as playful as the otter, so it's great that they can both enjoy a bit of rough and tumble together." Ms Kidner has also welcomed six-week-old otter Snuffles to her home, and hopes that she and Garaint will become playmates as the pup gets older.
Video. There are more photos here.
Being Grumpy is Hazardous to Your Health
We’ve all heard about the Type A personality, but did you know that there are Type B,C, and D? T Goodman of InventorSpot explains the difference between the personality types, and why it’s bad to be the grumpy Type D:
Now, Type D’s have been described as anxious, irritable, and pessimistic. They are the grumps and the grouches of the world. They are not necessarily clinically depressed; negativity is just an overwhelming feature of their personalities.
Though some early studies had shown that Type A’s were at the greatest risk for cardiovascular disease, later research found fault with that data. Now an in depth literature research of 49 previous studies involving 6000 patients, found that it’s Type D personalities who are the most likely to have cardiovascular disease and are those most likely to have another cardiac incident after experiencing the first one. They
are three times more likely than other personality types, according to this research, to experience peripheral artery disease, heart failure, and heart attack.
Nose ring is religious
A 14-year-old's piercing ignites a fierce battle over her right to exercise her religion.
Also: Age Defying Drug Discovered
A Russian scientist named Vladimir Skulachev says he's come up with an anti-aging drug. Inhuman Experiments discusses it:
It appears that Skulachev has synthesized a mitochondrially targeted antioxidant. There's no detailed information in the article, but based on the papers Skulachev's group has published in the past, it looks like the compound in question is SkQ1, an antioxidant attached to a positively charged ion. Experiments have shown that SkQ1 prolongs the lifespan of a variety of species, including mice (link, link). Clinical trials on humans are underway, and if everything goes smoothly, the drug will be out in a few years. After successful results from animal studies using eye drops, Skulachev tried it on his own cataract. After six months, his cataract was gone.
So what's the catch here? Well, looking at the lifespan data from mice, they're not talking about an increase in maximum lifespan but in median lifespan. The oldest mice receiving the drug did not live longer than the oldest mice in the control group, they just had a squared mortality curve. In other words, the mice that got SkQ1 made it to old age more often than the control mice.
Old people give most honest advice (also, harshest)
Apparently, as your ability to control impulses declines with age, so does your ability to smooth over other people's feelings via white lies and omissions. The upside to this: Advice from old people is more likely to be honest ... if a little on the painful side.
Scientific American reports on a recent study that's supposed to show how dwindling executive function can simultaneously impair your social graces and improve your Dear Abby skills.
Researchers recruited 19 undergrads and 32 adults in their 60s and 70s. They split the older adults into two groups, based on the adults' abilities to control their behaviors and impulses--called executive function, which naturally declines with age. Then the researchers showed all three groups a photo of a visibly obese teen, along with a list of her complaints, like trouble sleeping and lack of energy--symptoms associated with childhood obesity.Sadly, I'm not sure we can declare this an unequivocal win for cognitive decline. After all, "honesty" is a relative thing, dependent on your own beliefs. The same process that might prompt your Grandma to offer useful and empathetic weight-loss advice is probably also the driving force behind somebody else's Grandma's tendency to yell racist epithets at the mailman.
What advice could they offer this girl? Well, only half of the higher functioning adults and a third of the college kids brought up the girl's weight as the possible source for her problems. But 80 percent of the adults with cognitive declines mentioned weight. They also gave twice as many helpful tips, like more exercise, a better diet, and delivered them with more empathy.
Both old ladies are telling you what they really think—which seems to be what this study is actually about. But being willing to tell people what you really think doesn't necessarily equal good advice.
Damn, this traffic jam
Your commute may seem tame compared to drives in China, where cars didn't move for days.
Also: A Traffic Light With A Mind Of It's Own
Decides When It Wants to Turn Green
Detailed studies of traffic flow allow cities to adjust the timing of changes on traffic signal lights. But according to a trio of researchers in Germany, Switzerland, and the United States, it may be better to simply allow individual lights to switch as local demand changes: If each traffic light responds to its immediate demands, then all the lights will just react to the traffic coming from nearby intersections, which defeats the purpose of a smart network.The solution is a decentralized approach that lets the traffic lights work together by figuring out how changes at each individual intersection would affect the entire system. Instead of being stymied by natural fluctuations in traffic, the system takes advantage of them, using random gaps to help improve traffic flow. Traffic lights could request green time only when there is a definite demand for them, the researchers write. This acyclic approach could eliminate the particularly annoying problem of sitting at a red light while there’s no traffic.
Wine Filling Station
Fill'er-up
Buying wine in bottles and boxes is so old-fashioned. In select supermarkets in France, customers can now fill up containers with gas station-style pumps:
Bring your own resealable bottles, Poland Spring containers, jerrycans, whatever. Or you can get one at the store. Select your grade (red, white, or rosé). Pump. Print receipt.
Astrid Terzian introduced this concept that hearkens back to a bygone era when wine would arrive in Paris shops in tonneaux and consumers would bring their own flagons to fill. But today, Terzian says, she started this scheme in fall 2008 to fill a niche, tapping into two key themes, environmental awareness and the economy.
Disappearing Airplanes
The 727 was last seen taking off without clearance, its lights and transponder turned off.
Also: Linothorax
Alexander the Great's Kevlar-like Shirt
Stab- and slash-resistant clothing might seem to be a modern innovation, but there is evidence that Alexander the Great and his army utilized similar technology.
Presented at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, Calif., the study suggests that Alexander and his soldiers protected themselves with linothorax, a type of body armor made by laminating together layers of linen. Indeed, Aldrede and co-investigator Scott Bartell discovered that linothorax was widely mentioned in ancient records. “Currently we have 27 descriptions by 18 different ancient authors and nearly 700 visual images on objects ranging from Greek vases to Etruscan temple reliefs,” Aldrete said. The main visual evidence for Alexander wearing linothorax is the famous “Alexander Mosaic” from Pompeii, in which the Macedonian king is depicted with this sort of armor.
“Our controlled experiments basically dispelled the myth that armor made out of cloth must have been inferior to other available types. Indeed, the laminated layers function like an ancient version of modern Kevlar armor, using the flexibility of the fabric to disperse the force of the incoming arrow,” Aldrete said.
False Dawn: The Zodiacal Pyramid of Light
Photo: Kwon O. Chul, TWAN
The gorgeous pyramid of light above is called the zodiacal light. Andrew Fazekas of the National Geographic News explains the elusive celestial phenomenon:Unlike the stars and gases of the Milky Way, which stretch away from Earth for light-years, the source of the zodiacal light lies between the inner planets of our solar system.
There, billions of dust grains orbit the sun in a flattened disk spread out along the ecliptic—the plane of the solar system, which also contains the paths of the 12 constellations of the zodiac.
The dusty disk, also called the zodiacal cloud, radiates from near the sun out beyond the orbit of Mars, toward Jupiter. The dust reflects and scatters sunlight in such a way that it creates a visible glow for observers on Earth.
"Because the dust in the solar system is concentrated along the ecliptic plane, the zodiacal light is likewise concentrated," Gyuk said.
Two to Tango
A frenetic burst of storm activity creates a situation not seen in more than a decade.
Also: Rapid Decline of Oldest, Thickest Arctic Sea Ice Tracked in New Study
Photo via Sustainablog
Though a recent study called into question the current estimated rate of ice loss at the poles, there's no question as that ice loss is a major problem, and a harsh reality in the Arctic. Case in point: a soon-to-be-released study scooped at Climate Progress reveals further evidence that the oldest, thickest see ice is currently undergoing a sharp drop off, and is being filled in by more ephemeral, seasonally occurring ice. What's more, is that judging by the data, it looks highly probable that 2010 brought the lowest levels of ice volume the Arctic has ever seen.Article continues: Rapid Decline of Oldest, Thickest Arctic Sea Ice Tracked in New Study
Yoga Bear
The Guardian has a photo gallery of Santra, a female brown bear, doing what looks an awful lot like yoga stretches one morning at the Ahtari zoo in Finland.A human visitor named Meta Penca took the photos.
Her asana series went on for about 15 minutes.
In an accompanying story, a yoga teacher guesses that she's probably doing this "to stay sane" in the unnatural, crazy-making captive zoo environment. I'd have preferred to hear from an animal behavior expert in the article, but I do have a hunch he's right.
*****
Animal News
Squirrel adopted by cat learns to purr
You've heard of cats chasing squirrels. But how about a cat mothering a squirrel? That's what one mama feline in Mississippi is doing after her owner put an abandoned baby squirrel in with her litter.
Scientists Fight Contagious Face-Eating Tasmanian Devil Cancer
It's a parasitic cancer called Devil facial tumor disease, and since it first appeared in 1996 it has been responsible for a 70 percent decline in the Tasmanian devil population.
Article continues: Scientists Fight Contagious Face-Eating Tasmanian Devil Cancer
The liger is greater than the sum of its parentage
Ligers and wolphins and zorses, oh my!
The New York Times has a great story about hybrid animals and plants, and why those hybrids are sometimes better adapted to survive than the pure species that gave birth to them.
Because species hybrids create new combinations of genes, it is possible that some combinations might enable hybrids to adapt to conditions in which neither parent may fare as well. ... Two widespread species, the common sunflower and prairie sunflower, have combined at least three times to give rise to three hybrid species: the sand sunflower, the desert sunflower, and the puzzle sunflower.That's got implications for humans, as well, given the mounting bits of evidence suggesting that we are not purely Homo sapiens, and, instead, the result of sapiens dalliances with neanderthals and other related species. It's possible that we owe our success as a species to a hybrid nature as hardy as that of any beefalo.
The parental species thrive on moist soils in the central and Western states, but the hybrids are restricted to more extreme habitats. The sand sunflower, for instance, is limited to sand dunes in Utah and northern Arizona and the puzzle sunflower to brackish salt marshes in West Texas and New Mexico. The species distributions suggest that the hybrids thrive where the parents cannot.
Being Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall has studied chimpanzees in Africa since 1960. She arrived in Tanganyika with no training but a lot of enthusiasm for the work ahead. Fifty years later, she is still working for the benefit of the chimpanzees she loves. National Geographic has an extensive retrospective of her life and work in the new issue, with plenty of photographs as well.
In addition, NatGeo has digitized and archived all the articles they’ve done on Jane Goodall and her work since 1960 here.
Small World
The petite pooch has her own entry in the "Guinness World Records" book.
Also: 33-inch English cow world's smallest
How Do You Steal a 350-lb Inflatable Gorilla?
Missing from a Simi Valley, California, car dealership: an inflatable gorilla – which inevitably brings up the question of how the heck does one steal a 350-pound inflatable primate from the roof?On Tuesday, the gorilla was reported stolen from the roof of First Kia, 2081 First St., said Sgt. Ritchie Lew, a Simi Valley police spokesman. It was last seen Friday afternoon.
The gorilla is sometimes deflated when it’s windy, and the dealership’s employees assumed that’s what had happened until someone climbed onto the roof Tuesday and discovered it was missing, said Yehuda Riess, a used car manager there.
Riess said he has no clue why thieves targeted the gorilla, or how they made off with the roughly 350-pound inflatable primate.
“It’s not something you can just go up on the roof and steal it,” he said, adding the gorilla was tethered down by cables. “It would take at least a few people to carry it.”
The Traveling Goose
Willetta Cagle's 75-pound gift from her late husband mysteriously vanishes from her yard.
Also: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:Spend the morning delving into those deep, dark, potentially treasure-filled waters of 'why are we here' and 'how can I fulfill my calling as a human being.'
In the late afternoon, you switch gears.
Something comes up that requires pragmatic action.
Since you switch gears as quickly and smoothly as a luxury sports car, you immediately get started taking said pragmatic action.
To your surprise, you might find a few of the answers to the questions you were posing in the morning.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Algiers, Alger, Algeria
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Balikapapn, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Munich, Bayern, Germany
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Delhi, Delhi, India
London, England, United Kingdom
Swindon, England, United Kingdom
Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Alcala De Henares, Madrid, Spain
as well as Scotland, China and in cities across the United States such as Valdez, Foster City, Salem, Charlotte and more.
Today is:
Today is Wednesday, September 15, the 258th day of 2010.
There are 107 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
Felt Hat Day
Don't forget to visit our sister blog!
Burning Man Ultramarathon
With outfits ranging from skimpy to salacious, some 30 bleary-eyed runners completed the first-ever Burning Man Ultramarathon, proving that arid weather and late-night parties weren’t enough to derail even the most dedicated Burner athletes from slogging 30 miles through sand, sun and dust.
After months of planning, organizer Cherie Yanek and 36 other competitors kicked off the race at 5 am on September 1. Temperatures hovered around 50 degrees and onlookers included party-goers who hadn’t yet called it a night. There were no dust storms — a frequent concern during the annual gathering at Black Rock City — though temperatures did climb roughly 40 degrees by the time the final runner crossed the finish line shortly after 12:30 pm.
Autumn Superfoods
Nutrient-rich cranberries and pumpkins are available well before late November.
Also: 
Sleep-stealing foods to watch out for
Caffeine isn't the only thing that will keep you from getting a full night's rest.
Also: We yawn because we care
How contagious is yawning? Enough that I'm yawning right now just from writing about it. Admittedly, I'd never given it much thought, but I always kind of assumed that contagious yawning—that tendency to pick up a yawn from the people around you and pass it on like the evil videotape in The Ring—was something all humans were susceptible to.
But that seems to be over-generalizing a bit. Everybody spontaneously yawns. Even fetuses. And around 40-60% of us will yawn if someone else around us yawns. But that's neurotypical adults.
There's a growing collection of research showing that very young children, and people with autism spectrum disorders, don't succumb to contagious yawning. In fact, contagious yawning is currently thought to be related to the development of empathy and the ability to distinguish our own mental states from those of others. One study, done in 2007, even found that psychology students—who presumably spend a lot more time than average thinking about other people's mental states—were more susceptible to contagious yawning than engineering students.
Oh, and yawning, in general? Yeah, nobody really knows why we do that.
South Carolina erects monument to Hootie and the Blowfish
Hootie & The Blowfish is getting a monument in South Carolina's capital city.
The State newspaper reported that a large steel and black granite art piece will be unveiled in October.
How to get a college degree debt-free
Zac Bissonnette graduated from a top school without loans, scholarships, or family money.
Also: What happens to your car at 100,000 miles
It used to be a huge red flag when your automobile's mileage hit six figures.
Also: Where to buy a home for $800 a month
Housing hasn't been this cheap since the 1970s, especially in these bargain cities.
Also: Unlikely spot to get fastest Internet
Chattanooga's city-owned electrical utility has started offering an Internet service that is among the fastest in the world, and it is hoping the move will attract businesses looking to relocate.
The truth be told
And this is a bad thing, how?
The destruction of the repugican party can only be a good thing for the entire world much less the United States.
Burial at Sea
Authorities suspected foul play when the body of a North Carolina man surfaced near a South Florida beach.
Almighty Supremeborn Allah Busted for Cocaine
"Almighty Supremeborn Allah," was busted with $2,000 worth of coke on the aptly named "High Street," police said.
Man accused of using BB gun to force teenager to exercise apologizes
A Leesburg man, who apparently usually wears a hat, accused of using a BB gun to motivate a teenager during football drills in blistering heat said on Monday he's sorry and that the incident was a misunderstanding. Robert Lynn Barker, 41, left his family home and was forced to cut off all contact with his stepson after he was arrested on Saturday on a child-abuse charge. He said that he would never hurt the boy he raised from infancy. "I didn't mean for this to get out of hand," a tearful Barker said. "I'm sorry if I did something wrong. Maybe I was a little over-zealous. I'm sorry."
On Saturday, the teen began to feel numb and dizzy during a Tavares youth football game and was benched to rest, a Lake County sheriff's report said. Barker said he decided to take his stepson home after he complained of side pain and that the boy soon felt better. When they got home, Barker told the teen he needed more conditioning so he set up cones about 20 yards apart in the front yard of their home. He made the boy run sprints in his football gear using the BB gun to signal the beginning of the drill, he said. It was 91 degrees with a heat index of 107 on Saturday, a deputy said in a report.
Barker, a former football player, said the sprints would help alleviate the athlete's pain, which he said was likely caused by a lack of conditioning. An anonymous caller heard the gun and called deputies, who appeared on the scene after the boy already had taken a cold shower. Barker was charged with one count of child abuse and one count of aggravated assault with a weapon. He bonded out of the Lake County jail on Sunday.
As a condition of his release, he cannot have any contact with the youth. "I'm not a perfect father and I don't know anybody who is," Barker said. "I didn't mean to do anything wrong. It all got blown out of proportion." The teenager told deputies he feared Barker would use the weapon on him. His stepfather denied that, saying he never pointed the weapon at the boy. Barker has an upcoming court date in October.
On Saturday, the teen began to feel numb and dizzy during a Tavares youth football game and was benched to rest, a Lake County sheriff's report said. Barker said he decided to take his stepson home after he complained of side pain and that the boy soon felt better. When they got home, Barker told the teen he needed more conditioning so he set up cones about 20 yards apart in the front yard of their home. He made the boy run sprints in his football gear using the BB gun to signal the beginning of the drill, he said. It was 91 degrees with a heat index of 107 on Saturday, a deputy said in a report.
Barker, a former football player, said the sprints would help alleviate the athlete's pain, which he said was likely caused by a lack of conditioning. An anonymous caller heard the gun and called deputies, who appeared on the scene after the boy already had taken a cold shower. Barker was charged with one count of child abuse and one count of aggravated assault with a weapon. He bonded out of the Lake County jail on Sunday.
As a condition of his release, he cannot have any contact with the youth. "I'm not a perfect father and I don't know anybody who is," Barker said. "I didn't mean to do anything wrong. It all got blown out of proportion." The teenager told deputies he feared Barker would use the weapon on him. His stepfather denied that, saying he never pointed the weapon at the boy. Barker has an upcoming court date in October.
Who was the man behind this amazing Roman mask?
Who was the man behind this amazing Roman mask? Helmet unearthed by metal detector expected to fetch £300,000
A Roman bronze helmet complete with face-mask - thought to be one of only three of its kind to be found in Britain - has been discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in Cumbria.
The helmet, with its enigmatic and virtually intact features, would have been worn, possibly with colorful streamers attached to the object, as a mark of excellence by Roman soldiers at cavalry sport parades.
Described as a 'hugely important discovery', it is now expected to fetch £300,000 at Christie's Antiquities auction in London.
A Roman bronze helmet complete with face-mask - thought to be one of only three of its kind to be found in Britain - has been discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in Cumbria.
The helmet, with its enigmatic and virtually intact features, would have been worn, possibly with colorful streamers attached to the object, as a mark of excellence by Roman soldiers at cavalry sport parades.
Described as a 'hugely important discovery', it is now expected to fetch £300,000 at Christie's Antiquities auction in London.
A 'hugely important discovery': The Roman bronze helmet complete with face-mask was found at Crosby Garrett in Cumbria by a metal-detector enthusiast.
The Crab Nebula
Beautiful image of the Crab Nebula in the constellation Taurus, about 5,000 light-years from Earth.
Roughly 12 light-years in diameter, it is the remnant of a supernova, first observed by Chinese and other astronomers in 1054, that was visible in daylight for 23 days and at night for almost two years.
What if the Earth had rings?
Short answer: Bad news for space travel. And this isn't just idle speculation for boozy astrophysicist parties. Space junk—spent rockets, lost astro-screwdrivers, satellite parts—could form rings around our planet as surely as water, ice and dust encircle Saturn. Scientists have been especially concerned about satellite collisions, where debris from one wreck could trigger a futuristic 12-car pileup.
On 10 February 2009 it started to happen. In the first collision between two intact satellites, the defunct Russian craft Kosmos-2251 struck communications satellite Iridium 33 at a speed of 42,100 kilometres per hour. The impact shattered one of Iridium 33's solar panels and sent the satellite into a helpless tumble. Kosmos-2251 was utterly destroyed. The two orbits are now home to clouds of debris that, according to the US military's Space Surveillance Network (SSN), contain more than 2000 fragments larger than 10 centimetres. The collision may also have produced hundreds of thousands of smaller fragments, which cannot currently be tracked from Earth.
Such debris is a serious worry. With satellites travelling at tens of thousands of kilometres per hour, any encounter with debris could be lethal. "Being hit by a 1-centimetre object at orbital velocity is the equivalent of exploding a hand grenade next to a satellite," says Heiner Klinkrad, head of the space debris office at the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany.
Even parasitic worms have a divided society
A fluke that lives in the bodies of marine snails has a caste system like that of social insects – the first such animal known to do so.
Even parasitic worms have a divided society
Even parasitic worms have a divided society
Stunning NASA infrared imagery of Hurricane Igor reveals a 170 degree temperature difference
NASA satellites provide infrared images to forecasters that show temperature, and today’s imagery of powerful Hurricane Igor showed the storm’s perfect form and the warm ocean waters around it that are keeping it fueled.
Twelve Greek Words You Should Know
Along with Latin, Greek is probably the language that most influenced other languages around the world. Many English words derive directly from Greek ones, and knowing their origin and meaning is important.
Here are 12 Greek words that are commonly used in our society. The next time you hear someone saying 'Kudos to you,' you will know where it comes from.
Here are 12 Greek words that are commonly used in our society. The next time you hear someone saying 'Kudos to you,' you will know where it comes from.
Six things to never reveal on Facebook
Believe it or not, some people don't think twice about sharing their birth date or home address.
Also: Ten Scene-Stealing Onscreen Pets
There's no denying that adorable animals are often cast in big- and small-screen productions as a sidekick to warm the audience's heart. However, there's a special subset of animal actors that have become fan favorites.
Whether they bark, meow, quack, scratch or dig, these 10 TV and movie pets stole the scene from their two-legged costars.
Ten Fun Facts about 'Bewitched'
Bewitched was an American television series that ran from 1964 to 1972. The premise was that a witch (Samantha Stephens) married an advertising executive (Darrin Stephens), but in order to blend in with “mortals”, Samantha had to keep her supernatural powers secret. However, neither she nor Darrin could control her wacky relatives -particularly Samantha’s magically meddling mother Endora! In most episodes their cover was nearly blown, but the couple explained away the most ridiculous situations as a “demonstration” of a creative new advertising campaign.1. The biggest controversy on Bewitched was the sudden switch in Darrins. Dick York played Darrin from 1964 to 1969, when Dick Sargent slipped into the role with no explanation. Dick York had suffered a back injury while filming a movie in 1959. Continued pain left him addicted to prescription painkillers, which damaged his health as years went by. By 1969, he was suffering blackouts on the set. In January York was rushed from the set to the hospital and never returned to Bewitched. After he left the show, he was flat on his back for a year. York also suffered financial losses from bad investments and he and his wife cleaned houses for a living at one point. By 1980 he kicked the drugs and began acting again. York died of emphysema in 1992.
(Image source: TV Trivia)3. A few new phrases were born from Bewitched. Darrin Syndrome is the term for replacing the actor of a main character with no explanation. This situation is sometimes called The Other Darrin. It happens a lot, but in the case of the character Becky in the series Roseanne, there were constant jokes about the switch. In one episode, the family watched Bewitched on TV and actress Lecy Goranson (the second Becky) remarked that she preferred the second Darrin. Of course.
4. Darrin was not the only character played by two actors in Bewitched. Among others, the neighbor Gladys Kravitz was portrayed by Alice Pearce at first, then by Sandra Gould. However, Gladys Kravitz Syndrome has nothing to do with TV casting. It’s a term used when people are just too nosy about the lives of their neighbors.
5. The characters on Bewitched drank so much alcohol that a fan website created a database of the drinking incidents with locations and episode numbers.
6. Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Samantha, also played her deliciously mischievous cousin Serena in several episodes. She was not credited for the role, as producers figured it would be obvious. The role was credited to “Pandora Spocks”, who didn’t exist but received fan mail from viewers who didn’t get the joke. Spocks eventually received her own biography from a fan site.
7. The real house used in the 1959 movie Gidget was copied, but reversed, to build the set for Bewitched. The patio and living rooms were copied from those used in the 1963 movie Gidget Goes to Rome. The exterior set used for the home of nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz later became the home of The Partridge Family.
8. The Stephens had two children during the run of the series, but they were not ratings gimmicks. Elizabeth Montgomery produced two children, her second and third, as she played Samantha in Bewitched, and both pregnancies were written into the show. Her son Robert Asher was born in 1965 as daughter Tabitha appeared in the series, and daughter Rebecca Asher was born in 1969 as Adam Stephens was born in the series.9. In the last year of the series, Bewitched was cursed with terrible time slots. Already showing its age, the series’ ratings fell faster than ever in 1971-72 when it was scheduled against the very popular Carol Burnett Show and then moved opposite the powerhouse series All in the Family.
10. Elizabeth Montgomery cherished her privacy, and felt no need to make her vital statistics public. When she died in 1995, her age was published as 57, although she was actually 62. She had married Robert Foxworth a couple of years before her death, but few knew about it, so some obituaries said she was single. Her death certificate said “Elizabeth A. Montgomery”, but her actual middle name was Victoria.
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