I did not know that yesterday!

Several searches on "Graceland" finally led me to a fascinating American Art piece by Ann Marling, Elvis Presley's Graceland, or the Aesthetic of Rock'n'Roll Heaven. If you're even mildly interested in interior design, rock stardom, retro aesthetics, idol worship, Gone with the Wind, myth marketing, or The King, I highly recommend reading this article. It's outstanding.

In answer to the specific question, the Graceland estate was named after Grace Toof, a wealthy lady whose family owned the property for almost one hundred years. Grace's niece, Ruth, inherited the land in 1940 and promptly built herself a grand colonial mansion, replete with Greek columns and antique heirlooms. Gone with the Wind had come out the year before.

In 1957, Elvis was in Hollywood shooting a movie while his parents, Vernon and Gladys, and his uncle Vester were scouting out potential properties for the star. They called him immediately after viewing Graceland. On the 17th of March, Elvis bought the place for one hundred thousand dollars. He was twenty-two years old.

Yahoo!'s Graceland category has several great sites devoted to the "house on the hill," including some virtual tours. And don't forget the official website, which answers a few other common questions: Why aren't we allowed upstairs? And what's with the misspelling of Aaron on the tombstone?

James Brendan Bennet Connolly (October 28, 1868 – January 20, 1957) was an American athlete and author. In 1896, he became the first modern Olympic champion of the modern Era.

Early life
James Connolly was born to poor Irish American parents, fisherman John Connolly and Ann O'Donnell, as one of twelve children, in South Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up at a time when the parks and playground movement in Boston was slowly developing, Connolly joined other boys in the streets and vacant lots to run, jump, and play ball.

He was educated at Notre Dame Academy and then at the Mather and Lawrence grammar school, but never went to high school. Instead, Connolly worked as a clerk with an insurance company in Boston and later with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah, Georgia.

His predisposition to sport also became apparent. Calling a special meeting of the Catholic Library Association (CLA) of Savannah in 1891, he was instrumental in forming a football team. Soon thereafter, Connolly was elected captain of the CLA Cycling Club and aggressively sought to promote the sport on behalf of the Savannah Wheelmen.

Altogether dissatisfied with his career path, Connolly sought to regain the lost years of high school through self education. In October 1895, he sat for the entrance examination to the Lawrence Scientific School and was unconditionally accepted to study the classics at Harvard University.

The Olympic Games
After the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894, the first modern edition of the Olympic Games were scheduled for April 6 to 15, 1896 in Athens, Greece. Connolly decided to participate, and submitted a request for a leave of absence to the Chairman of the Harvard University Committee on the Regulation of Athletic Sports and was denied. According to Connolly himself, he was informed that his only course of action would be to resign and make a reapplication to the College. Connolly then claimed to have replied:

"I am not resigning and I'm not making application to re-enter. I'm getting through with Harvard right now. Good day!" It is unclear whether this really happenend. Harvard records do show a request by Connolly for a leave of absence to Europe, which was denied. Connolly then requested an honorable withdrawal as a student, which was granted on March 19, 1896.

Representing the Suffolk Athletic Club, which paid for most of Connolly's expenses (Connolly later claimed he paid it all himself), he left for Greece on a German freighter, the Barbarossa, along with most of the rest of the first American Olympic team. After arriving in Naples, Italy he was robbed and almost lost his ticket to Athens. He managed to retrieve it only after a pursuit against the robber. Finally he took the train to Athens, arriving there just for the Games.

The first final on the opening day was the triple jump (then known as the hop, skip and jump), one of the events in which Connolly competed. Connolly's style, taking two hops with the right foot, is no longer allowed in this event nowadays, but was perfectly acceptable in 1896. With this style, he outjumped the field, finishing more than one meter ahead of his nearest opponent by jumping 13.71 m (44 ft 11 3/4 in), earning him the first silver medal (gold medals did not yet exist). With this performance, he became the first Olympic champion since 385 AD, when Athenian Zopyros won the pankration (other sources name the Armenian Varasdates, who won at boxing in 369).

He went on to take second place in the high jump (1.65 m / 5 ft 5 in) tying with Robert Garrett behind Ellery Clark, and third place in the long jump (5.84 m / 19 ft 2 in). Back home in Boston, Connolly was welecomed enthusiastically, and was presented a gold watch by the citizens of South Boston.

Connolly would also visit the second edition of the modern Olympics, held in Paris. There, he failed to retain his title in the triple jump, losing to compatriot Meyer Prinstein.

Writer
The 1904 Summer Olympics were also attended by Connolly, but as a journalist, not as an athlete. Earlier, he had already published his accounts of the Spanish-American War in the Boston Globe as Letters from the front in Cuba. He served there in the Irish 9th Infantry of Massachusetts.

Connolly became an authority on maritime writing, after spending years on many different vessels, fishing boats, military ships all over the world. In all, he published more than 200 short stories, and 25 novels. Furthermore, he twice ran for Congress of the United States on the ticket of the Progressive Party, but never was elected.

He never returned to Harvard, but received an honorary athletic sweater in 1948. A year later, he was offered an honorary doctorate by Harvard University, which he turned down. Connolly died in New York at the age of 88. A collection of items related to Connolly, including his triple jump silver medal, is housed in the library of Colby College in Maine.

Well, there was a time when wearing cardigans and sporting pocket protectors got you a one-way trip to the lunchroom garbage can. Revenge of the Nerds helped to end "nerd persecution," and it was the film's stellar cast who did the heavy lifting.

The most famous Tri-Lam alum is Anthony "Gilbert" Edwards. Ol' Gil went on to wield a mean scalpel in the ER. Who says a receding hairline is an automatic death sentence in Hollywood? Gilbert's right-hand man was Louis Skolnick, brought to glorious life by Robert Carradine. Once the star of rowdy comedies, Carradine has
since toned down his trademark laugh in Lizzie McGuire.

Timothy Busfield was the Tri-Lams' lady-killing violinist, Poindexter. Fans of feel-good political dramas might recognize him from The West Wing.

Brian Tochi played Takashi. According to IMDb, he's done a lot of voice work in cartoons and videogames. Oh, and he was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle too.

Andrew Cassese (Harold Wormser) is a graduate of NYU film school. His official site states that he's worked on Broadway and has appeared in Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Larry B. Scott played the effeminate Lamar Latrell. Like several of his fellow nerds, he's keeping busy with voice work and independent films.

Last but not least, there's Curtis "Booger" Armstrong -- the heart and soul of the Tri-Lams. His list of credits stretches from TV work in Felicity to a rather large role opposite Jamie Foxx in Ray. Bravo, Booger, bravo!

It is the 50th Post, so in order to celebrate, here is some fact about the number 50, because after all, 50 is a magic number too :o)

In mathematics
Fifty is the smallest number that can be written as the sum of two squares in two distinct ways: 50 = 12 + 72 = 52 + 52. It is also the sum of three squares, 50 = 32 + 42 + 52. It is a Harshad number.

There is no answer to the equation φ(x) = 50, making 50 a nontotient. Nor is there an answer to the equation x - φ(x) = 50, making 50 a noncototient.


In astronomy
Messier object M50, a magnitude 7.0 open cluster in the constellation Monoceros
The New General Catalogue object NGC 50, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus
The Saros number of the solar eclipse series which began on 1201 February 11 BC and ended on 97 April 1. The duration of Saros series 50 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 solar eclipses.
The Saros number of the lunar eclipse series which began on -1134 July 3 and ended on 164 August 20. The duration of Saros series 50 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 lunar eclipses.
[edit]

Other fields
Fifty is also:
The atomic number of tin
The fifth magic number in physics
The traditional number of years in a default jubilee period.
The number of states in the USA (since 1959, still true in 2005).
Hawaii Five-O - TV police show - so-called because Hawaii is the 50th state.
A calibre of ammunition (0.50 inches: see .50 BMG)
In millimeters, the focal length of the normal lens in 35mm photography.
the percentage ( 50% ) equivalent to one half, so that the phrase "fifty-fifty" commonly expresses something divided equally in half, or an event of probability one half
In U.S. dollars, the U.S. fifty dollar bill, the denomination of the Federal Reserve note with Ulysses S. Grant's portrait, the denomination of the savings bond with George Washington's portrait, and the denomination of treasury bonds with Thomas Jefferson's portrait.
In New Zealand, the NZD 50 bill features Sir Apirana Ngata, a prominent Maori politician who worked to protect and rejuvenate Maori culture.
In cents of the U.S. dollar, the denomination of the coin with John F. Kennedy's portrait.
In years of marriage, the gold or "golden" wedding anniversary.
In the title of the movie 50 First Dates, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
part of the name of 50 Cent, a rapper.
One of the years: AD 50, 50 BC, or (for example) 1950.


Other languages
Spanish - Cincuenta
Esperanto - Kvindek
French - Cinquante
Interlingua - cinquanta
Italian - Cinquanta
Netherlands - vijftig
Portuguese - Cinqüenta
Slovenian - število

The world's oldest living tree is a 4,767-year-old bristlecone pine. It resides in the White Mountains near the California-Nevada border. An average bristlecone pines lives for 1,000 years, with a few surviving to over 4,000 years. Alerce trees and sequoias also live well into their thousands.

These ages are especially impressive given that urban trees live (on average) for only 32 years and inner-city trees for only 12.

So what causes mature trees to die? Apparently, they run out of energy. As trees grow and age, their size and complexity demands more energy. At the same time they're able to store less energy for emergencies. As a result, older trees are less able to respond to stress and eventually succumb to pollution, drought, insect infestation, or lack of nutrients. Urban environments are especially stressful.

Bristlecone pines have a number of energy-conserving survival strategies that enable them to reserve the energy needed to survive long periods of stress. Trees don't die from "old age," but older trees eventually die from stress placed on their ability to produce energy. Species that successfully reserve energy and live in less stressful environments may live for thousands of years.

The answer to this one is easy - or is it? -- coins. It has to be coins, right? I scoured dozens of online jeans listings. Pretty much every "classic five pocket design" boasted a coin pocket in the front right scoop pocket. Some of the coin pockets were exposed, some had flaps, some had insignias, but they were all described as coin pockets.

But then I stumbled onto a similar query on Ask MetaFilter and found the real answer -- watches. Back in the day before the wrist became multi-functional, folks carried pocket watches. These were fastened to the end of chains, and stored in special pockets woven into pants or vests.

Levi's 501s, originally introduced in 1890, featured watch pockets. And sure enough, after more snooping around, we found these vintage jeans from the 1970s listed as having "five pocket styling with watch pocket."

interestingly enough, in France it is referred at the "Zippo pocket" - one can only assume that could be a reason for the poor French time keeping, or a reason why they smoke so much.

For more on pockets and their uses, the BBC has a surprisingly interesting essay entitled A Very
Brief History of the Pocket. And this Smithsonian piece details the evolution of pocket watches to wrist watches.

If I drove my car at the speed of light and turned on the lights, what
would happen?

Alas, hapless traveler, a car cannot travel at the speed of light. Only bodies without mass can move at the required 186,000 miles per second, so the simple answer is, nothing.

But that's no fun. The beauty of this brainteaser is that it helps to shed light (so to speak) on some of the more interesting properties of Albert Einstein's theories of relativity. That must be why the question is often posed in online science forums. In fact, headscratchers like this originally inspired Einstein to explore his
theories -- and judging by the scientist's frazzled hairstyle, they may have caused him to literally scratch his head more than once.

Theoretically, the family minivan could come close to the speed of light. Given that distant possibility, some sources claim its headlights would work as advertised. How? Light travels at a constant speed. Assuming your car could never reach the speed of light, you'd still be able to see your way through the cosmos because the
headlights are out in front.

As fun as it sounds, we don't recommend you take the trip. The amount of petrol needed to fuel such a fantastic voyage would be prohibitively expensive. Plus there's a good chance you'd suffer a horrible death in the attempt. So, for safety's sake, keep your headlights focused on the motorway.

With a toss of lettuce and a sprinkling of croutons, I searched for the "history of thousand-island salad dressing." This led me to the original birthplace of the creamy condiment. This slightly sweet, chunky salad dressing got its name from the Thousand Islands area of upstate New York. The region is filled with about 1,800 islands and stretches along the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario, reaching into both the U.S. and Canada. In the 1870s, vacationers discovered the area and began building summer homes and hotels.

In the early 20th century, Sophia LaLonde of Clayton, N.Y., served the dressing at dinner for guests of her husband, who was a popular fishing guide. One of the dinner guests was leading actress May Irwin. It was Irwin who christened the dressing with the Thousand Island name, and the dressing was served by Irwin's request at the Herald Hotel in Clayton. The actress also introduced the dressing to the wider world when she gave LaLonde's recipe to the owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Thousand Island Dressing is a variation on the so-called Russian dressing popular around the time, which consisted of a yogurt base with chili sauce or ketchup added for flavor. Early Thousand Island recipes used mayonnaise instead of yogurt and added pickle relish, chives, and sometimes chopped hard-boiled eggs. In the 1950s, Thousand Island Dressing made of mayo, ketchup, and pickle relish became a standard condiment, used on sandwiches and salads alike.

Despite my fondness for chucking one down the gutter, I had no idea what mysterious material goes into a bowling ball. A Google search on "bowling ball made of" led me to an enlightening article from the Complete Bowling Index web site. The article summarized the recent history of bowling-ball material.

In the 1960s, hard rubber balls were king.

Polyester balls stole the scene in the '70s. (Most of the "house balls" in your local bowling alley are of the polyester variety.)

The '80s saw the dawn of the urethane ball.

Urethane balls matured in the early '90s with the introduction of reactive urethane.
I then searched on "reactive urethane," hoping for more information about this new breed of ball, and uncovered the FAQ page of the J & J Bowling Supply web site.

As the site informed us, the innovations didn't end with reactive urethane. The newest material is proactive urethane, which gives the ball a "fuzzy" feel and imnproves traction, "sort of like an all-weather tire does on the motorway."

A Google search for "Che Guevara" led me to a collection of web sites about the Latin American guerrilla leader, revolutionary theorist, and radical icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna. Che Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928. In 1954, he met Cuban political exiles and brothers Fidel and Raul Castro in Mexico, and helped them plan the revolution to overthrow the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Che joined Castro's invading army, and when Cuba's Marxist government was established in 1959, he became a Cuban citizen, a prominent policy-maker and leader, and a close associate of Fidel Castro.

He gained fame (and notoriety) as an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy, and as a leading advocate of Cuban-style socialism and guerilla warfare throughout impoverished Latin America.

I learned the grim facts of Che's death from a web site titled The Death of Che Guevara: Declassified. This chronology of events and collection of original U.S. government documents was assembled by Peter Kornbluh, for the National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute and library that publishes and exhibits previously classified documents acquired through the Freedom
of Information Act.

Here's the chain of events: In 1966, Che traveled incognito to Bolivia to lead a guerrilla insurrection. In the fall of 1967, his group was destroyed by the Bolivian army, apparently aided by intelligence, training, and support from U.S. military advisers and CIA agents. On October 8 (my birthday), 1967 Che was wounded and captured. He was executed on October 9th, and on the 10th, his death certificate was signed by doctors in Vallegrande, Bolivia.

There were conflicting stories about the location of his remains and whether he'd been buried or cremated. Details of Che's death remained obscure for close to thirty years.

In a 1995 interview, a Bolivian general told Guevara biographer Jon Lee Anderson that Che was "buried in a mass grave near the dirt airstrip outside the little mountain town of Vallegrande in Central Bolivia." In 1997, his remains were returned to Cuba, and he was reburied in Santa Clara, Cuba, in a public ceremony attended by Fidel Castro and thousands of others.

Punky Brewster was a popular children's television comedy show in the 1980s. The show was run on NBC from 1984 to 1986 and again in first-run syndication from 1987 to 1988. Overall, there were a total of 88 episodes produced. The show had an extended life in reruns until it stopped airing in 1996.

The title character was named after a childhood crush of then-NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff. The real-life Punky was tapped to play a teacher in one episode.

Punky Brewster (real first name Penelope), a warm, funny and bright orphan girl, was adopted by Chicago photographer Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes), an older bachelor who enjoyed the energy Punky's presence provided him. Punky's rambunctious, faithful dog Brandon was named after Tartikoff. Punky quickly became friends with Cherie Johnson (Cherie Johnson), an African-American girl who lived in Henry's building with her grandmother Betty Johnson (Susie Garrett). Her other friends were geeky Allen Anderson (Casey Ellison) and stuck-up rich girl Margeaux Kramer (Ami Foster).


Soleil Moon Frye stars as Punky Brewster in the hit 1980s television sitcom. Fred Gwynne auditioned to play Henry, but lost to George Gaynes. Gaynes later became well-known as the elderly, bumbling commandant in the Police Academy movies.

Probably one of the most memorable episodes was built around the 1986 Challenger disaster, in which Punky hears about the deaths and her dreams of being an astronaut are nearly quashed. In the end, however, her schoolteacher and Henry, along with guest star Buzz Aldrin, both tell her that she should still follow her dreams.

It's Punky Brewster!, an animated spin-off with the original cast, as well as a hairy bearded magical creature called Glomer, appeared on Saturday mornings from Ruby-Spears in the mid-1980s.


Seasons one and two are currently available on DVD in Region 1.

Georges-Eugène, Baron Haussmann (March 27, 1809 – January 11, 1891)was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris. He was born in that city of a Protestant family, German in origin.


He was educated at the College Henri IV, and subsequently studied law, attending simultaneously the classes at the Paris conservatoire of music, for he was a good musician. He became sous-préfet of Nérac in 1830, and advanced rapidly in the civil service until in 1853 he was chosen by Persigny prefect of the Seine département in succession to Jean Jacques Berger, who hesitated to incur the vast expenses of the imperial schemes for the embellishment of Paris. Haussmann would remain in this post until 1870.

Commissioned by Napoleon III to instigate a program of planning reforms in Paris, Haussmann laid out the Bois de Boulogne, and made extensive improvements in the smaller parks. The gardens of the Luxembourg Palace (Luxembourg Garden) were cut down to allow of the formation of new streets, and the Boulevard de Sebastopol, the southern half of which is now the Boulevard St Michel, was driven through a populous district. Additional, sweeping changes made wide "boulevards" of hitherto narrow streets. A new water supply, a gigantic system of sewers, new bridges, the opera, and other public buildings, the inclusion of outlying districts - these were among the new prefect's achievements, accomplished by the aid of a bold handling of the public funds which called forth Jules Ferry's indictment, Les Comptes fantastiques de Haussmann, in 1867. (A play on words between contes, stories or tales - as in Les Contes d'Hoffmann or Tales of Hoffmann, and comptes, accounts.)

A loan of 250 million francs was sanctioned for the city of Paris in 1865, and another of 260 million in 1869. These sums represented only part of his financial schemes, which led to his dismissal by the government of Émile Ollivier. After the fall of the Empire he spent about a year abroad, but he re-entered public life in 1877, when he became Bonapartist deputy for Ajaccio.

His work had destroyed much of the medieval city. It is estimated that he transformed 60% of Paris' buildings. Notably, he redesigned the Place de l'Etoile, and created long avenues giving perspectives on monuments such as the Arc de Triomphe and the Opera Garnier.

Haussmann had been made senator in 1857, member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1867, and grand cross of the Legion of Honour in 1862. He died in Paris and is buried in Le Cimetière Père Lachaise, Paris. His name is preserved in the Boulevard Haussmann. His later years were occupied with the preparation of his Mémoires (3 vols., 1890-1893).

Further Information

Haussmann's plan for Paris
'Between the Revolution of 1789 and Haussmann's renovation in the 1860's, ideals changed from those of a politically motivated city to those of an economically and socially centered city. Modern technology such as railroads and gas lamps were conveniences which the rising bourgeoisie could enjoy in their leisurely lifestyle. New spaces that were created during the renovation encouraged the bourgeoisie to flaunt their new wealth, creating a booming economy. All of these examples of the changes occurring in Paris during this time period can be seen in representations of the city.' 'There are two views of Baron Haussmann: One depicts him as the man who destroyed Old Paris, and the other as the man who created New Paris.'

Baron Georges Eugene Haussmann (1809-1892) was hired by Napoleon III on June 22, 1853 to "modernize" Paris. He hoped in hiring Haussmann that Paris could be moulded into a city with safer streets, better housing, more sanitary, hospitable, shopper friendly communities, better traffic flow, and streets too broad for rebels to build barricades across them and where coherent battalions and artillery could circulate easily if need be. Haussmann accomplished much this by tearing up many of the old, twisting streets and rundown apartment houses, and replacing them with the wide, tree-lined boulevards and expansive gardens which Paris is famous for today.

Haussmann the Hero
"How ugly Paris seems after a year's absence. How one chokes in these dark, narrow and dank corridors that we like to call the streets of Paris! One would think that one was in a subterranean city, that's how heavy is the atmosphere, how profound is the darkness!" -the Vicomte de Launay, 1838,(as quoted in Rice, p 9) Historian Shelley Rice, in her book "Parisian Views" says that "most Parisians during [the first half of the nineteenth century] perceived [the streets] as dirty, crowded, and unhealthy . . . Covered with mud and makeshift shanties, damp and fetid, filled with the signs of poverty as well as the signs of garbage and waste left there by the inadequate and faulty sewer system . . ."" (p 9). For these people, Haussmann was performing a much needed service to the city and to France.


Haussmann the Destroyer of Paris
Because of Haussmannization, the 1860's was a time of intense revolt in Paris. Many Parisians were troubled by the destruction of 'old roots'. Historian Robert Herbert says that 'the impressionist movement depicted this loss of connection in such paintings as Manet's "Bar at Folies," 1882. The subject of the painting is talking to a man, seen in the mirror behind her, but seems unengaged. According to Herbert, this is a symptom of living in Paris at this time: the citizens became detached from one another The continuous destruction of physical Paris led to a destruction of social Paris as well'. Haussmann was also criticized for the great cost of his project. Napoléon III fired Haussmann on January 5, 1870 in order to improve his own flagging popularity.

Once upon a time, rolling out the red carpet was reserved for kings and queens. Now, any two-bit celebrity up for an award gets to tread on one. How Agamemnon would have disapproved. Title character in the play written by ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, Agamemnon is tricked by his wife into walking across a red carpet fit only for the "feet of the gods." That was 485 B.C., way before the Academy Awards, so you see how far back the concept goes.

In 1821, President James Monroe was entertained with a red carpet rolled out to the river. And when the New York Central Railroad unrolled a red carpet to welcome passengers aboard its famous 20th Century Limited train, the term "red-carpet treatment" was born.

For much of history, though, purple was considered the most regal color. From a Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute paper :

Probably the most...expensive dye of ancient times was Tyrian purple... obtained from a small sac in the body of a snail-like marine mollusk... Only royalty and the very wealthy...could afford to wear apparel colored with this dye... According to a master's thesis, until the middle ages, the word "purple" was also used to describe various shades of red. This may account for purple's majestic aura crossing over to its crimson cousin. Today, red rules, though royal proponents of purple still exist.

I headed to the Yahoo! Mozart category to discover if Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was ever a husband or a father. When I arrived, I discovered about two dozen web sites that could help in our search. Our first stop was The Mozart Project, a site deemed cool enough to warrant the Yahoo! sunglasses (). The Mozart Project gives an overview of the life, times, and music of Mozart. I visited the Biography section and, after quite a bit of searching, I finally found some information about Mozart's family.

I learned that Mozart married Constanze Weber at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on August 4, 1782. In June of the next year, Mozart's first child, Raimund Leopold, was born. Sadly, according to the biography, the child died two months later.

Next I visited a web site titled simply Amadeus. The site turned out to be a personal web page that discusses the life and music of the great composer. It was at this site's Biography section that we found the following interesting tidbit:

It has been told that Mozart once said, "Since I could not have one sister, I married the other." Whether or not this quote is true, the facts remain the same. Three and a half years after a young musician named Aloysia Weber refused Mozart's marriage proposal, he married her younger sister Constanze, on August 4, 1782.

I eventually learned that from June 1783 to July 1791, Constanze bore six children. Tragically, only two of the children survived into adulthood. The elder of the two, Karl Thomas, became a minor official on the staff of the viceroy of Naples in Milan. The younger son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang, composed and conducted extensively throughout Europe, although he never garnered the fame of his father

The variety of pastas is dizzying -- you'll get no argument from me. And, yes, for those unschooled in the differences between vermicelli and linguine, the choices can be overwhelming. However, learning what to ingest with what is definitely worth your while, and can have a positive effect on your palate.

As I learned from the National Pasta Association (really), pasta shapes tend to be classified by the type of sauce they best complement. Light sauces taste best with thin noodles like angel hair. Heavier sauces go with thicker pasta shapes like fettuccine. And meaty or chunky sauces go best with pastas that can "hold" them, like penne rigate or conchiglie.

So, the wide variety of sauces are at least partially to blame for the plethora of pasta shapes. However, different kinds of flour can also affect how pasta tastes. Semolina flour, for instance, is often used for flat pastas, and potato flour is a key ingredient in gnocchi, a sort of pasta dumpling.

While I try my best to avoid clichés, variety really is the spice of life. With so many pastas to choose from, why embarrass yourself by ordering "whatever tastes most like spaghetti"? Next time, try a big plate of strozzapretti and tell the waiter to keep it comin'.

Yes, it does.

OK, I'll come clean and admit it: I cheated. I looked at an actual tube of toothpaste and saw an expiration date. But, what about other types of toothpaste? Do they ever expire too?

Yes, they do.

I did something that i normally never do, but the subject being such an important one, I had to do it. I went shopping. I stopped in at the toothpaste are and grabbed some tubes of Gleem, a Procter & Gamble product. Expiration date? Yes. Apparently, P&G's toothpaste also expires.

If there's a point to our answer, it's this: sometimes it's better to just look at the writing on the tube. However, since I also have the Internet, I went online, searching on the keywords "toothpaste expiration."

The results led us to a Newcity Chicago article that profiles Chicago Public Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey. Ms. Dempsey has been asked the same question, and her crack staff of librarians found an answer. Apparently, after toothpaste expires, "the chemicals become unstable and less effective."

Now you know.

In the USA, the name John Doe is used for a defendant or victim in a legal example or for a person whose identity is unknown or is intended to be anonymous. Male corpses whose identity is unknown are also known by the name John Doe. A female who is not known is referred to as Jane Doe. A child whose identity is unknown is referred to as Precious Doe or Baby Doe. Additional people in the same family may be called James Doe, Judy Doe, etc.

An anonymous plaintiff is known as Richard Roe, or Jane Roe in the case of a woman.

The Oxford English Dictionary states that John Doe is "the name given to the fictitious lessee of the plaintiff, in the (now obsolete) mixed action of ejectment, the fictitious defendant being called Richard Roe".

An account of the reasons why a fictitious tenant and a fictitious defendant were named is found in Charles Rembar's book The Law of the Land.

By extension from the law usage, John Doe is often used in computer software needing a default or example first and last name for a form.


John Doe in various countries
Australia Fred Nurk, Joe Farnarkle, John Citizen
Austria Hans Meier, Hans Maier, Hans Mayer, Herr und Frau Österreicher
Argentina Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Fulano, Mengano, Menganito.
Basque Country Iñaki, Patxi.
Belgium Jan Janssen, Piet Pietersen, Jos Joskens
Brazil Beltrano, Ciclano, Fulano, Zé ninguém, João da Silva, Zé da
Silva, João Ninguém, Maria Ninguém
Canada G. Raymond
China 陈小明 (Mandarin: Chen Xiao Ming / Cantonese: Chan Siu Ming), 某某(人)
(Pinyin: Mǒumǒu(rén)), lit. someone, sometimes used with surname of
the person
Colombia Fulano de Tal, Pepito Pérez;
Croatia Ivan Horvat, Pero Perić
Czech Republic Jan Novák, Karel Vomáčka
Denmark Morten Menigmand
Egypt Folan (arabic: فلان) (female equivalent: Folana, فلانة), Elan
(علان) as a partner.
Estonia Jaan Tamm, Tädi Maali
Faroe Islands Miðalhampamaður
Finland Matti Meikäläinen (male/generic) and Maija Meikäläinen (female)
France Jean Dupont, Paul Martin, Monsieur Durand
Germany Max and Erika Mustermann, Lieschen Müller, Otto
Normalverbraucher, Detlef Müller
Hungary Gipsz Jakab, Kovács János, Jóska Pista
Indonesia Si Polan
Iceland Meðal-Jón, Meðal-Jóna, Jón Jónsson, Jóna Jónsdóttir
India Ashok Kumar, (female equivalent unknown)
Republic of Ireland Seán and Síle Citizen
Israel Israel Israeli ישראל ישראלי and also Ploni פלוני and Almoni (as
a party to Ploni), Moshe Kohen משה כהן
Italy Mario Rossi, Tizio, Caio, Sempronio
Japan 山田太郎 (Yamada Taro), 山田花子 (Yamada Hanako), 名無しの権兵衛
(Nanashi-no-Gombei), 何野某(Nanno Nanigashi), (drowned corpses both
sexes, 土左衛門 Dozaemon)
Korea 홍길동 (Hong, Gil-dong)
Latvia Jānis Bērziņš
Lithuania Vardenis Pavardenis, Jonas Jonaitis, Petras Petraitis
Mexico Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Mangano, Perengano, Zutano
Malaysia Si Anu, Si Polan, Si Polan Bin Si Polan
Malta Joe Borg
Netherlands a defendant is referred to with first name and initial,
e.g. "John D."; Jan Modaal is approximately the Joneses, in particular
referring to average wealth
Norway Ola and Kari Nordmann
Peru Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Zutano, Mengano
Philippines Juan dela Cruz
Poland Jan Kowalski, Jan Nowak (but in legal/police work person unknown is NN)
Portugal Manuel Dos Santos, Zé Ninguém
Romania Xulescu, Cutare Cutărică
Russia Иванов (Ivanov), Петров-Сидоров (Petrov and Sidorov), Вася
Пупкин (Vasya Pupkin), Вася Тапочкин (Vasya Tapochkin)
Serbia and Montenegro Petar Petrovic
Slovakia Jožko Mrkvička
Slovenia Janez Novak
South Africa Koos van der Merwe
Spain Pepe Pérez, Pedro Pérez, Fulano, Fulanito, Mengano, Menganito,
Zutano, Zutanito
Sweden Kalle Svensson, Medelsvensson
Switzerland Herr und Frau Schweizer, Hans Meier, Hans Mustermann
Thailand Somchai, Sommai, Nai-Gor
Turkey Arparslan Türkeþ
United Kingdom Fred Bloggs or Joe Bloggs, John Smith
Uruguay Fulano, Mengano; Juan Perez
USA John Doe, Jane Doe, Precious Doe, Baby Doe, John Q. Public, John
Smith (which has largely been replaced with John Doe) The female
equivalent is Jane Doe or Mary Major. A second male suspect is dubbed
Richard Roe, and subsequent ones are referred to as John Stiles and
Richard Miles.
Vietnam Người dấu tên

UPS currently has over 88,000 "Big Brown" delivery trucks in its fleet, all with no visible manufacturer logos. Why? Because every design aspect of the UPS truck, from the hubcap to the tail light, is proprietary.

After several fruitless searches through the official UPS site, I stumbled upon a chat room at Automotive Helper that suggested UPS trucks are built by an automotive manufacturing firm called Grumman Olson. An unofficial corporate history of Grumman seemed to back this up:

"1966 - Grumman teams up with UPS to develop the now familiar UPS P-600 and P-800 truck bodies, featuring lift-up fiberglass hoods and translucent fiberglass roofs." We found supporting evidence at the truck photography collection of James Cox. Note that Grumman Olson only provides the truck bodies; the components likely come from a variety of places.

In other exciting UPS news, the brown trucks will be making their video game debut in "NASCAR 06: Total Team Control." That's right, you'll be able to steer Big Brown around the racetrack.