It is sad that firearms now are considered a bad thing, but they are something that helped make this country what it is, and have kept it free since its inception. The police, for the great job they do, cannot be everywhere at once, and that we Americans own firearms, actually helps them in many ways to keep the otherwise criminal element at bay.
During the old west, a rifle and pistol were a man's best friend. Wild Bill Hickok, one of the most famous lawmen and a gunfighter of those times said that "Samuel Colt made all of us equal with his invention!" Wild Bill Hickok's legend continues to this day with stories of his many exploits, and how he used his trusty "Patented Perforatin' Machines" to keep order in those towns which were dens of iniquity. Nowadays with more electronic surveillance, and faster response time by the police due to the car vs. the horse, citizens do not usually need to carry a firearm with them, usually. Just the notion that people, and homeowners are armed, deters many would-be criminals.
From the beginning, the development of a firearm took many different paths, many of the discoveries that led to their coming into an invention were by accident. Gunpowder was reportedly discovered by the Chinese in the 9th Century when alchemists were looking for an elixir of immortality, to which the first discoverers discovered how mortal they were when the chemicals to make it were mixed together too fast and hard, unfortunately. From that point on, came firecrackers, rockets, and probably by accident again, bombs, and firearms.
Now, we have firearms in just about every conceivable caliber and size. Our economy is boosted by the sale of legal firearms, shooting sport venues, and many other products that go along with their care and upkeep.
Firearms are a part of our culture, and a big part of why this country still exists.
SUPERSTITIONS, GRANNIES, AND BREAD:
Have you ever noticed that 'Grannies' have all kinds of cures for different aliments and wogs that you get every so often. These wizened old souls have had a lifetime of being taught at their mother's knee about everything from baking bread to curing whooping cough.
If bread did not rise in an oven, it was thought that the devil lurked inside of the unrisen loaf, so, a cross was cut into each loaf before putting it into the oven, this also helped the bread rise.
When the salt was accidentally tipped over on the table, it was thought that the devil was lurking at your left shoulder and made you knock the salt over. Salt was thought to be a protection from evil since humans started using it, and throwing salt over your left shoulder was throwing salt in the devil's face. Salt in the distant past was more valuable than gold, the word "Salary" comes from the word salt, and many times, wages were paid with salt due to its scarcity.
In many homes of the past, when people moved, they would take live embers from their hearth / fireplace / stove to their new house and keep the fire going, this is where the 'Housewarming' parties tradition started, and insured that the family would have continued prosperity and good health.
Chicken soup, long touted for its medicinal qualities also has its beginnings in superstition. The chicken that we know today, originally came from Africa. The natives there called them 'KuKus' and used them for all kinds of rituals, and medicines, every part of the chicken was used for one thing or another, food being the main part, but the feathers, legs, beak, eyes, were all used for different applications. The Romans, when they brought back nubian slaves, and chickens from their conquests in Africa, were taught a lot of these practices, those which were not considered anti-god, were introduced into their society, and through the centuries are used to this day worldwide, chicken soup for when you have the flu or a cold, is one of the best cures around. How many times have you had a granny prescribe it for your ills and maladies?
It is considered lucky to spill a drink on the ground, in the past, a libation to the gods was considered a way to get in their favor, and spilling some of your drink onto the ground while calling out their name would assure you prosperity. How many times during our revelry have we spilled our beer, wine, whiskey onto the ground, or floor, and uttered an oath to a god?
Sometimes granny ladies would have several clocks in their homes, all showing different times. This was to confuse the devil so he would not know the correct time when he came to try to steal someone's soul. According to superstition, he had a time schedule to keep and could only grab someone's soul at a pre-destined time, and if he didn't know what the correct time was, he was shit out of luck.
Grannies won't sweep a house at night because it might bring in bad spirits, they sweep in the morning to get rid of any evil boogers that might have collected in the night. The legend of the witch riding her broom comes from the Granny ladies cleaning house with a broom, and wearing a peaked hat so the the dust from the sweeping won't collect around the top of her head, but roll off the hat onto the ground.
Grannies have all kinds of wisdom to impart on us, the next time some elderly woman wants to chat with you, have tea with her, you could stand to learn a lot, as well as have a good time.
Note : I use the term "Grannies" as a term of affection, not a derogatory put down, and also as a generic label, though not politically correct, it adds to the warmth of the story.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
In many households, eating eggs with a white shell, in popular belief, shows of the eggs purity, while brown eggs are disdained. The brown egg people say that those eggs are more nutritious, and are probably right, because the chickens who lay these eggs are fed natural foods, as opposed to the white egg layers who are fed processed foods in chicken farms. The one thing that is not said, is that eggs actually are not designed to be eaten by humans, they are for the development of the chick itself. The different colors of the eggs that we see from white, to brown, to green, to several other hues, and due to the breed of chicken, white however, is not an original color, but has been bred into different breeds over many centuries. Eggs contain a lot of protein, and are a quick pick me up in the morning to break your fast .. breakfast.
Fish, in general, are known as 'Brain Food', their oils, and minerals that they contain, promote better thinking, and low cholesterol due to cleaning out the arteries, and bodily systems. The Samurai of ancient Japan mainly ate raw fish, rice, raw vegetables, very little red meat, and if they kept their heads (pun intended), they lived to ripe old ages in the 90's and 100's. They also drank lots of sake (saki), the rice wine, it also helps to clear the cholesterol out of one's system.
Mushrooms, have been used for thousands of years, for food, clothing, poisons, medicine .. and yes .. wait for it .. to get stoned / high with. A trained Mycologist let loose in the woods will have a heyday with all of the different funguses that are out there, from the Chanterelle mushroom which is a delicacy, to the Amanita muscaria, which is the classic red mushroom with the white dots on it. For those who are not familiar with the fungus family, it is a good idea to find a book on them, and ask questions before going on a quest to find the critters. Mushrooms are an excellent addition to any meal .. Steak and mushrooms, mushroom soup, mushroom omelets, and many more delicious entrees.
Fresh fruit is tasty and good for you, many things can be made with fruit, drinks, baked goods, medicines, and ointments, acids, shampoos, etc. One of the major things that is made from fruit, is alcohol. There is so much sugar in fruit, that it even outweighs the sugarcane for sweetness factor, though fresh fruit is more expensive to grow and extract its qualities from than sugarcane is to grow and harvest. Who doesn't like a fresh crisp apple? Mmmmm, I can taste one now.
SOME ANIMAL FACTS, AND LEGENDS:
When a snake charmer has his cobra come out of the basket and makes it weave back and forth, he is actually not charming the snake. The snake weaves back and forth due to the motion of the sway of the charmers body, tapping of his foot, and the movement of his pipe. The snake will continue to do this until someone comes along and puts the top of the basket back on for the snake charmer, usually his assistant, otherwise, the charmer has a time on his hands, as well as a mad snake.
Ostriches do not bury their heads when frightened or disturbed, they lay their heads on the ground to listen for any approaching enemy. Ostriches are violent birds, not the timid ones we see in cartoons, many deaths happen worldwide ever year due to a human tangling with an upset ostrich.
The humps on a camel, are not a water carrier, but a bag of fat, of which the animal can live on for several days if necessary.
Porcupines, and hedgehogs do not have the ability to shoot their quills, when attacked by some predator, their internal defense mechanism loosens their quills which are barbed on their ends, and the attacker goes away with a mouthful of organic needles.
DID I SAY THAT?
"Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well", was never said in Hamlet, the line actually reads "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio".
"Money is the root of all evil", was written as "The love of money is the root of all evil".
"Elementary, my dear Watson", was a lengthened version of just "Elementary". The closest Holmes came to saying the more famous phrase was in one of Conan Doyle's books called "The Crooked man". In it, Watson calls on Holmes at his 221b Baker street address, and Holmes deduces that Watson took a hansom cab instead of walking all the way from his flat. After Holmes explained to Watson how he intuited this, Watson says "Excellent", Holmes said "Elementary". So, later on, fans of the series added the 'My dear Watson' line, and it stuck in popular culture.
"You Dirty Rat", was attributed to James Cagney for his many gangster films, but he is quoted in saying that he never uttered the line. Though most Cagney impersonators use this line to portray him, it is thought that yet, it comes from another fan type origin.
"Play it again, Sam", was said not by Humphrey Bogart, but by Ingrid Bergman, and she said it "Play it, Sam".
THE MYSTERIOUS OCEANS:
The Devil's Triangle off of Florida is well know for its multitude of disappearances, strange storms, missing people, and sundry other unexplainable phenomena. The Earth is covered by 70% of water, and the oceans to this day are 67% unexplored.
During World War I and II, many mysteries occurred in both major oceans, the Atlantic, and Pacific. The world war one u-boat U-65, came to be known as the 'Haunted U-boat". The ship was apparently jinxed from the start, several dock workers were killed while the boat was under construction, and when the first shakedown cruise took place, three men suffocated in the engine room. Another crewman was ordered to go to the bow to secure a cable and was washed overboard never to be seen again. The boat also got stuck on the bottom, and the crew almost suffocated, but by a miracle, the boat did come loose. Perhaps the most chilling thing to happen, was the second officer of the boat was killed by a torpedo that exploded on the deck while he was supervising its loading. His ghost was seen many times throughout the boat during subsequent cruises. The boat was finally sunk by an American submarine, and the Captain of the submarine that fired the torpedo that sunk the boat which was surfaced, and seemed abandoned, stated that through the periscope, he saw a lone figure standing on the bow of the boat right where the second officer had killed over a year ago. No one had emerged from the u-boat when it was hit by the torpedo, no bodies were found floating afterwards. To this day, the mystery is unsolved.
Many strange objects, from apparently super civilizations have been found on the oceans floors, artifacts that shouldn't have existed thousands of years ago. Intricate geared mechanisms, metals that current metallurgists cannot duplicate, plastic like material that after having been in the saltwater for no telling how many eons, is still stronger than what we have today, where did they come from? It has been said that at least twelve super civilizations have existed on this planet since it became habitable, and perhaps those objects are from them. Atlantis?
Add the storms, the aberrant magnetic forces which travel through the earth, and gravity itself, and you're dealing with forces almost incomprehensible to our collective knowledge of the planet. Who knows what machinery from ancient times might still be functioning deep in the oceans, or Earth.
New creatures are discovered all the time in the oceans, many become extinct before they are catalogued. There are many wonders in the oceans still to be found, some that will totally surprise us, and make us consider our standing in the world we live in.
And, that is the wrap up for this edition of FFUI #8. As always I make this disclaimer, I am not the originator of any of these vignettes, stories, or lines of bullcrap. I merely pass them on for pure entertainment value. Any resemblance to any other prose, written word, and / or Tall Tales of the Demented, is purely accidental and does not make any profit, tips, or extraterrestrial credits from its posting. Even the title "Fun Facts & Useless Information" is not my invention, but some words for a reference point. No Monkeys were harmed in the production of this installment, and any Invisible Hoagies were discarded in a safe manner.
Have Fun.
-KIP
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