CAROLINA NATURALLY

Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
Over the past few months, you've been trying to be good when it comes to spending.
It's not tough to talk you into that sort of thing since you're ordinarily the very soul of frugality, responsibility and thrift.
But at the moment, you've got a bit of an itch.
You want to go to the mall, and you want to bring along every single piece of plastic you have.
Well, why not?
If you can afford it, you might also want to get a head start on someone's birthday.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Lyon, Rhone-Alpes, France

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Queluz, Lisboa, Portugal

London, England, United Kingdom

Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt

Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Paris, Ile-De-France, France

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

as well as Singapore, Brazil, India, Slovenia, Poland, Denmark, Kuwait and in cities across the United States such as Broadview Heights, Carson City, Grand Rapids, Terre Haute and more.

Today is:

Today is Sunday, November 7, the 311th day of 2010.

There are 54 days left in the year.

Today In History November 7

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

International Tongue Twisters Day

and

Zero Tasking Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Philosoraptor says ...

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A man and his dog

On The Job

Six careers you can do from home

Pursue your passion, set your own hours, and earn a good living, too.

How to make top dollar

Also:

Sticking to your holiday budget

How to stick to your holiday budget

Gift purchases will be your primary expenditure, but don't overlook hidden costs over the next few weeks.

9 tips

Also:

Sadie Hawkins dance's origin

Yesterday was Sadie Hawkins Day ... but why was that ...

How did Sadie Hawkins dances originate?

The American folk event can be traced back to a comic strip that ran some 73 years ago.

Reader provides details

Also:

Graveyard Groaner

A tourist in Vienna is going through a graveyard and all of a sudden he hears some music. No one is around, so he starts searching for the source.

He finally locates the origin and finds it is coming from a grave with a headstone that reads: Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827. Then he realizes that the music is the Ninth Symphony and it is being played backward! Puzzled, he leaves the graveyard and persuades a friend to return with him.

By the time they arrive back at the grave, the music has changed. This time it is the Seventh Symphony, but like the previous piece, it is being played backward.

Curious, the men agree to consult a music scholar. When they return with the expert, the Fifth Symphony is playing, again backward. The expert notices that the symphonies are being played in the reverse order in which they were composed, the 9th, then the 7th, then the 5th.

By the next day the word has spread and a throng has gathered around the grave. They are all listening to the Second Symphony being played backward.

Just then the graveyard's caretaker ambles up to the group. Someone in the crowd asks him if he has an explanation for the music.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about" says the caretaker. "He's just decomposing!"

The Wheels of Life

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Viewing Stones

Suiseki (or viewing stones) is the Japanese art of stone appreciation and may also refer to the objects of the appreciation.
Suiseki may take many forms including those that bear a resemblance to human figures, animal figures, landscape forms, and those which are purely abstract.

Big Hole

Two guys are walking through the woods and come across this big hole.
"Wow . . . that looks deep." "Sure does . . . toss a few pebbles in there and see how deep it is."
They pick up a few pebbles and throw them in and wait . . . no noise
"Man. That is REALLY deep . . . here . . . throw one of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise."

They pick up a couple football-sized rocks and toss them into the hole and wait . . . and wait. Nothing. They look at each other in amazement.

One gets a determined look on his face and says, "Hey . . . over here in the weeds, there's a railroad tie. Help me carry it over here. When we toss that sucker in, it's GOTTA make some noise".

The two drag the heavy tie over to the hole and heave it in. Not a sound comes from the hole.
Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a goat appears, running like the wind. It rushes toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as it's legs will carry it. Suddenly it leaps in the air and into the hole.

The two men are astonished with what they've just seen . . .

Then, out of the woods comes a farmer who spots the men and ambles over. "Hey . . . you two guys seen my goat out here?"

"You bet we did! Craziest thing I ever seen! It came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole!"

"Nah", say the farmer, "That couldn't have been MY goat. My goat was chained to a railroad tie."

How bomb plot unraveled

How al-Qaida's time bomb plot unraveled

Even when the world's counterterrorism systems work, preventing an attack is a terrifyingly close ordeal.

An urgent call

Also:

What's not made in the USA

18 products no longer made in the USA

Some of America's most iconic brands are now produced in foreign factories.

Converse shoes, Levi's jeans

Also:

At the Dentist

Patient: "How much to have this tooth filled?"

Dentist: "$90."

Patient: "$90 for just a few minutes work?"

Dentist: "I can work slower if you like."

***

The Cohens were shown into the dentist's office, where Mr. Cohen made it clear he was in a big hurry.

"No fancy stuff, Doctor," he ordered. "No gas or needles or any of that stuff. Just pull the tooth and get it over with."

"I wish more of my patients were as stoic as you," said the dentist admiringly. "Now, which tooth is it?"

Mr. Cohen turned to his wife...

"Show him your tooth, Honey."

Technically ...

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Edward Horsford's Popped Water Balloons

Edward Horsford takes photographs of water balloons being popped. The results create the impression of water hanging in midair:

“My camera is really the least important part of the shots,” Horsford writes in an e-mail. The trick seems to be in the timing of the flash. He sets a timer on his camera to take a long exposure of 1 to 2 seconds, and if the flash fires within that time, he gets an image. He uses a special gizmo with a microphone that triggers the flashes when it picks up a certain level of sound (i.e., the pop of a balloon).

Full Story

Fingernail Loss Is Astronauts' Biggest Complaint

Did you think drinking your own urine was bad? To truly test whether you have the right stuff, imagine ripping out your own fingernails, on purpose. A couple of astronauts have done this before going into orbit, because they figure it’s better than losing them inside chafing, unwieldy spacesuit gloves, according to Dava Newman, director of MIT’s technology and policy program and director of the university’s Man Vehicle Lab.

Astronauts with large hands are more prone to suffering from this complaint as their gloves are too tight. This cuts off circulation and causes fingernails to fall off. Engineers are currently working on a design for gloves with robotic joints to address the problem. I’ll put off space travel until there is a fix.

Full Story

Ten Bizarre Weapons of the Allies During World War II

Listverse has pictures and descriptions of ten strange weapons developed by the Allies during World War II. Among them were sound mirrors, some of which still dot the British coast:

They are the long-forgotten acoustic reflectors, dubbed by locals as the “listening ears.” These lonely structures were built to protect harbors and coastal towns from airborne attacks. Serving as an early warning system, microphones placed at the focal point of the reflector enabled it to detect sounds from flying aircraft over the English Channel, at a range of 30 kilometers. Thanks to acoustic pioneer William Tucker, who helped the radar teams pinpoint enemy aircraft and their movements, the system helped a seemingly inferior, and nearly obsolete, radar system effectively detect German bombers and fighters, and to, ultimately, help win the Battle of Britain.

Full Story