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Weird Holiday: St. Martin’s Day

The holiday may not be familiar to you, but the customs certainly are.

Martin of Tours seemed like a decent guy. Legend has it that in the 4^th century, he gave up his job as an elite soldier in the Roman army to become a priest after helping out a beggar one night. He ultimately became a bishop, and a pacifist devoted to spreading peace, love, (and Christianity) across western Europe.

He was sainted shortly after his death, and his feast day is November 11, marking the day he was buried in 397. Though obscure in the U.S., St. Martin’s Day is widely celebrated in Europe, making it one of the oldest continuously observed holidays in the world.

The customs vary by location, and many are reminiscent of American customs for other holidays:

• In Belgium and the Netherlands, St. Martin’s Day is celebrated much more like Halloween. Children make paper lanterns and, once its dark, go door-to-door in search of candy. Instead of saying “trick or treat,” they sing songs or recite poems about St. Martin. In some communities, the search for candy begins at a local church and the kids are marched through the streets with a horseback actor dressed as Saint Martin leading the way. Afterward, there’s often a bonfire in a large public square and everybody eats pretzels.

7 Quick Facts About Roses

All about the most famous, prominent, symbolic, and revered
flower in the Western world: the rose.

• Humans began cultivating roses only about 5,000 years ago, in China and the Far East. But they’ve been used and enjoyed by humans for much longer than that. Ancient Egyptian mummies have been discovered wearing rose wreaths. Fossilized rose remnants have been found that date back 35 million years.

• A rosebush blooms on the wall of Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. It started growing at about the same time the church was built, around 1010, making it the oldest living rosebush on the planet.

• In the early 1800s, Empress Josephine of France engineered the first modern-day “rose garden.” She had a lofty goal—a sample of every rose variety in the world. Her gardens at the Malmaison château housed 250 varieties of roses—helped along by a standing order to the French Navy to confiscate any rose plants or seeds found on enemy ships.

• Josephine’s garden made rose growing and collecting very popular in western Europe. In the mid-1800s, gardeners figured out how to crossbreed roses, to combine, for example, one rose’s color with another’s heartiness. The first major hybrid rose: “La France,” developed by grower Jean-Baptiste Andre Guillot in 1867. Today there are over 10,000 hybrid rose varieties.

• While it probably didn’t have every rose in the world, Josephine’s was the largest rose collection in the world until the opening and rapid growth of the Europa-Rosarium in Sangerhausen, Germany, in 1902. As of 2013, it houses 75,000 rose varieties.

3 Real-Life Replicas of Cartoon Houses

Ink-and-paint brick-and-mortar in the flesh and blood!

The Simpsons house (Henderson, Nevada)

In the mid-’90s, a group of video game designers at Fox Interactive teamed-up with an architect to construct a replica of the Simpsons’ home. The 2,200-square-foot house was completed in 1997 and it originally contained many features and decorations in order to make it look exactly like the one on The Simpsons—albeit in three dimensions. There was even a sailboat painting over the couch, and corncob curtains in the kitchen window, and some Duff Beers in the fridge.

The house, placed in a quiet neighborhood in a suburb of Las Vegas, was later given away in a contest, but the winner opted for a $75,000 cash prize instead of the house. More than 30,000 people visited the house in 1997 (including Simpsons creator Matt Groening who signed one of the walls with purple paint), but neighbors weren’t too pleased with all the tourist traffic. The house was repainted and most of the details related to the show were removed before it was sold in 2001.

Tallest, Shortest, Biggest, Smallest, Youngest, Oldest: NBA Trivia

The new NBA season has begun, so here’s a statistical survey of sports sizes.

Tallest: Romanian-born Gheorghe Muresan center, at 7’7”. He came to the NBA after playing professionally in France. Drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1993, he averaged a respectable 9.8 points over his seven-year NBA career, as well as 1.5 blocks. However, Muresan is probably best known for his of-court activities—he starred in the 1998 movie My Giant with Billy Crystal (Muresan played the giant).

Shortest: Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues played in the NBA from 1987 to 2001, despite being just 5’3” tall. Being small in the NBA means being fast, and Bogues was adept at assists and steals—he’s the Charlotte Hornets’ all-time leader in both categories.

Biggest: Featuring players who are routinely more than seven feet tall, the NBA is naturally going to have players who weigh a lot. However, only 12 players in league history have ever weighed more than 300 pounds. Among that group are Jerome “Big Snacks” James, Robert “Tractor” Traylor, and Charles Barkley. The heaviest player in NBA history: Oliver Miller, who played for five teams in the 1990s and weighed 375 pounds.

Weird Invention: Here Comes the Fake Sun

A low-tech/high-tech cure for the winter blues for a city that is is cut off from direct sunlight for five to six months a year.

As the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, a little sunshine can be hard to come by. It’s especially true in Rjukan, a small town in Norway. Because of a nearby, imposing mountain chain, the area doesn’t receive any direct sunlight from September until March.

Seven months of near darkness can get anybody down, as well as deprived of Vitamin D. Fortunately for the residents of Rjukan, there’s a high-tech cure for the wintertime blues.

Nearly seven months of that kind of gloom can get anybody down, even Vitamin D deprived Norwegians that are accustomed to harsh winters. Fortunately for the residents of Rjukan, there’s a solution. At a cost of 5 million Norwegian Kroner (roughly $841,000 in US dollars), three 183-square foot mirrors were installed on a cliff overlooking the town. On clear days – which are unable to discern from the ground in Rjukan – the mirrors reflect the sunlight down into the town square.

3 Famous Bands With A “Silent Partner”

Sometimes the band includes more than just the guys on stage. Here’s a look at rock music’s most notable band members…who aren’t really part of the band.

Hugh McDonald, Invisible Bassist

Jon Bon Jovi assembled his hard rock band, Bon Jovi, in 1983, which included bassist Hugh McDonald, who played on the group’s first single “Runaway.” The song was a local hit, and when the group got a record deal, Bon Jovi replaced some of his band members, including McDonald, with a new bass player, Alec John Such. Except…he really didn’t. Such was credited as the bass player on five multi-million-selling Bon Jovi albums, but it was really McDonald who was playing. Why was Such, who was reportedly not as accomplished a musician as McDonald, presented as Bon Jovi’s bassist? McDonald was a decade older than Jon Bon Jovi, Such, and the other members of the band. When the band became teen idols in the 1980s, youth (and youthful looks) were important, and McDonald didn’t fit that profile. In 1994, McDonald “replaced” Such, both in concert and on record.

Mysteries of the Gas Station: Solved!

The answers to those things you think about while you wait for your tank to fill up.

Why are gas prices listed with a “9/10” afterward?

Because they make more money that way. The price for a gallon of gas listed, $3.49 9/10, is rounded up to the next penny. But most customers don’t pay any attention to that fraction, focusing instead on the standard three-digit price, falling for a classic psychological trick that makes customers think they’re paying slightly less for something than they really are. It’s the same psychology behind why things that cost 99 cents “feel” so much cheaper than something that costs $1.

The fractional pricing practice began during the Great Depression. To save money, people were driving less, and the demand for gasoline. Gas station chains introduced premiums to attract customers, such as free glasses, candy, and ashtrays, for example. Another way a gas station could differentiate itself from the competition: lower prices. Undercutting the other guy by even a fraction of a cent was enough to lure customers. The 9/10^th became permanent in the 1970s. During that decade’s oil crisis and subsequent gas shortage, the federal government stepped in to regulate gas prices, setting them with elaborate but precise formulas, which often ended in 9/10ths. The idea simply became a part of American life after that.

It’s Devil’s Night!

Today is Halloween, but the tricks started yesterday with Devil’s Night.

Falling on October 30^th, Devil’s Night is also known as “Mischief Night,” “Cabbage Night,” or “Hell Night.” No matter what it’s called, it’s probably the nastiest holiday in Europe and North America.

Serving as a mean-spirited counterpart to the more innocent traditions of Halloween, Devil’s Night is celebrated by pulling pranks instead of “tricks.” It’s also a lot newer than the medieval festivals that gave way to Halloween. Devil’s Night began in 1790 as Mischief Night. A headmaster of St. John’s College at Oxford put on a play, followed by an “Ode to Fun,” which encouraged students to play pranks (like throwing cabbages at houses). Students obliged and it became an annual tradition…in early May. In the 19^th century, the night switched to the evening prior to Guy Fawkes Day, and finally settled on October 30^th around the turn of the 20^th century, which is also when the holiday spread to the U.S., particularly Detroit.

Typically, the pranks are as harmless as covering a neighbor’s tree in toilet paper or smashing a few pumpkins. Things started getting out of hand in the ‘70s. In Detroit, Devil’s Night is marked by acts of major vandalism, property damage, and even arson. In 1984, for example, more than 800 fires were reported.

3 Weird Sports Contracts

Sometimes creative accounting pays off. Here are a few examples of
weird sports contracts throughout history.

Heir Jordan

Unlike their counterparts in the big leagues, the average first-year minor league baseball players is paid about $1,100 a month. But not Michael Jordan. After retiring from a spectacular basketball career in 1993 to give pro baseball a try, Jordan signed with the farm system of the Chicago White Sox. At the time, the White Sox organization was owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, who also owned Jordan’s old basketball team, the Chicago Bulls. Sensing that Jordan might come back to the NBA some day if baseball didn’t work out (it didn’t), Reinsdorf paid Jordan $4 million in 1994 and 1995 to play minor league baseball, the same he would’ve been paid had he stayed in the NBA.

History of Halloween

Halloween is Uncle John’s favorite holiday. Why? It’s the one day of the year he looks “normal!” Here’s a quick history of Halloween.

ANCIENT ORIGIN

The ancient Celts in the British Isles celebrated their new year on November 1. Their New Year’s festival was called Samhain (pronounced sow-wen), which means “summer’s end.” Early Christians adopted the festival in the seventh century A.D., making November 1 a celebration of saints and martyrs—hence the name All Saints’ Day or All Hallows’ Day. (Hallow comes from an Old English word meaning “holy.”) The night before All Saints’ Day was known as All Hallows’ Even (evening)— which was shortened to “Hallowe’en.”

ANCIENT MYSTERY

What’s Halloween’s connection to ghosts and costumes? No one’s sure, but historians offer these three possibilites.

Theory #1: The Ghosts Are Hungry!

On All Hallows’ Eve, evil spirits roamed the Earth in wild celebration, ready to greet the arrival of “their season”— the cold dark winter. And just for fun, they liked to frighten mortals. One way for scared humans to escape the demons was to offer them food and sweets. Another way was to dress up like spirits and roam around with them…hopefully going unnoticed. “That is what the ancient Celts did,” explains Francis X. Weiser in The Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, “and it is in this very form that the custom has come to us.”

The Rarest “45” Of All Time

How a forgettable pop song became a priceless collector’s item—“American Memories” is the rarest 45 of a song to have ever made the Billboard pop chart.

Richard Doyle was a standup comedian from Los Angeles who hosted a show on local TV called Comic Talk, where he interviewed other comedians that were part of that city’s rising comedy scene. Doyle was also a musician—in 1973, under the name “Shamus M’Cool,” his Christmas novelty song “Santa’s Little Helper, Dingo” hit #11 on Billboard’s seasonal holiday music chart.

That was the only musical success Doyle had had, but in 1981, he decided to revive his musical career, as well as the “Shamus M’Cool” stage name. He recorded a country rock song called “American Memories,” which wasn’t a comic novelty song at all—it was a look back on triumphant, proud memories in American history. (The B-side: “American Humor,” six-minutes of Ronald Reagan jokes from Doyle’s comedy act, recorded live at the Playboy Club.)

Return of the Attack of the Pumpkin-Flavored Food Monsters!

The leaves are changing color, the air is getting crisp, and everything at the grocery store suddenly has pumpkin in it, whether it works or not. It must be fall!

If you’ve been inside a grocery store or restaurant in the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably noticed the proliferation of pumpkin-flavored items. It’s been slowly building to cultural phenomenon levels since 2003. That’s when Starbucks introduced the Pumpkin Spice Latte—coffee, milk, and a syrup flavored with pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. More than 200 million of the drinks have sold in the past 10 years, prompting other food manufacturers and sellers to unveil their own pumpkin-flavored concoctions. And it’s working: pumpkin products rake in more than $290 million every autumn.

The Better Soup and iPod You Didn’t Know You Needed

Stuff you didn’t think needed to be improved…just got a little bit better.

A better iPod

Introduced in 2001, Apple’s iPod revolutionized the way people listen to music—thanks to this and other digital music players, thousands of songs are stored as computer files on a pocket-sized device. But there’s one group who doesn’t like the easy access to music offered by the iPod: audiophiles. In order to get that much music on an iPod, the files are compressed, leading to some loss of layers and nuances in recordings. But a new high-definition, high-sound-quality music player called Pono is on the way—and it was invented by legendary rock star Neil Young. “We’ve liberated the music of the artist from the digital file and restored it to is original artistic quality, as it was in the studio,” Young wrote on Pono’s facebook page. Young announced the Pono player on The Late Show With David Letterman in 2012, and recently said that the player will be for sale in early 2014.

More convenient soup

One of the most popular new kitchen appliances in the past new years is the single-cup coffeemaker—17 million American homes and offices now have them. Keurig is the industry leader in these devices, which brew one cup of coffee—or tea, or hot chocolate—at a time. Consumers buy packages of individual “K-cups” full of ground coffee, which is placed in a chamber in the machine, where it’s then steeped in hot water, producing a hot beverage in about a minute. In September 2013, Keurig owner Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced that it had made a deal with Campbell’s to produce K-cups…of soup. In 2014, consumers will be able to buy the two-step soup kits: a K-cup full of dried broth is placed in the machine. Hot water turns the dried broth into liquid broth, which is then poured over an included pack of noodles.

Ironic, Isn’t It?

Nothing like a dose of irony to keep your day-to-day problems in perspective.

Ironic spokesman. The image of popular stand-up comedian Larry the Cable Guy adorns lots of products—he’s even got his own line of snack chips as well as boxed dinner mixes, including cheesy mashed potatoes, beer bread, cheeseburger macaroni, and fried chicken batter. These obviously aren’t health foods. More than that, overindulgence in these kinds of foods can lead to heartburn. Fortunately, you can take a pill for that, such as Prilosec OTC. What celebrity endorses Prilosec OTC in TV commercials? Larry the Cable Guy.

Ironic refund. Beginning in 2001, the Walt Disney Company distributed a line of educational videos for babies called Baby Einstein. The 30-minute videos of puppet shows, abstract images, nature footage, and famous works of art, were scored to a classical music soundtrack and interspersed were vocabulary segments to help babies learn new words. In 2009, Disney offered refunds to parents who had purchased Baby Einstein videos after a 2007 study found that watching TV and videos as an infant may inhibit brain development. Another study showed that kids who regularly watched Baby Einstein videos actually learned fewer words by kindergarten that those who hadn’t watched the tapes.

Right Protest, Wrong Place

This is America, and you have the right to voice your displeasure with someone or something.
Just make sure you address the correct people.

Boo, Miley Cyrus!

The most controversial moment at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards: a performance by Robin Thicke and former child star Miley Cyrus. Cyrus, dressed in little more than a bikini, “twerked” with Thicke—suggestively rubbing up against the singer. The FCC received 161 complaints about the broadcast, the most regarding a single event since Janet Jackson’s 2004 Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction.” A few complaints: “She has the vast majority of her butt cheek hanging out of her bikini,” “Obscene, slutty, indecent,” and “Miss Milly Cyrus should be fined and jailed for performing such sexually provocative material on TV.” Did the FCC punish MTV, Cyrus, Thicke, or cable TV providers? Nope. The FCC doesn’t have any jurisdiction over cable TV—only over-the-air, free, broadcast TV.

Hooray, Paula Deen!

In a lawsuit filed earlier this year against TV chef and cookbook author Paula Deen, it was alleged that Deen had, many years ago, uttered racial slurs and racist comments. Deen admitted it, but denied she was a racist. Nevertheless, Food Network announced they wouldn’t renew her contract. Deen’s most devoted fans, however, thought that she was being unfairly maligned, and sent thousands of emails and phone calls to express their support. Except that a lot of those messages were sent not to Deen’s former employer, Food Network, but to The Food Channel, a Missouri production company that makes cooking segments and shows syndicated to TV stations around the country. “We’ve been getting your emails. Your phone calls. We get that you are mad about her contract not being renewed. The problem is, you are calling and writing the wrong people,” the Food Channel said on its website.

Whatever Happened to the Singing Nun?

The strange and sad saga of one of pop music’s least likely hitmakers.

Belgian-born, French-speaking Jeanine Deckers joined The Fichermont Convent in 1959 at the age of 26. Upon taking her vows, she adhered to the custom of picking a new name: Sister Luc-Gabrielle. Living at the convent, she passed the time by entertaining the other nuns with songs about Catholic saints that she wrote and performed on her acoustic guitar.

The superiors at the convent thought Sister Luc-Gabrielle should make a limited-press album—they could sell those records of original religious songs to people who visited the convent or who attended their religious retreats. The convent booked time for the sister at Philips Studio in Brussels in 1962. While it’s fairly common for church choirs or religious performers to self-release an album, then and now, the engineers at Philips thought Sister Luc-Gabrielle was more than just another church singer—they thought her gentle, lilting folk songs could make her a pop star. So they signed her to a contract, and presented her to the public as Soeur Sourire, or “Sister Smile.”

Doctor Who?

In recent years, the British sci-fi legend Doctor Who has enjoyed a resurgence
in popularity in the U.S and the U.K. Still, most Americans know little about the Doctor.
With the 50th anniversary celebration coming up, it is time to catch up. Here are a
few facts to get you going.

WHOVILLE

Doctor Who premiered on England’s BBC One on November 23, 1963, and has aired almost continuously ever since (although new episodes weren’t produced between 1989 and 2005), making it by far the longest-running science-fiction program on television. With 798 episodes and counting, it’s among the longest-lasting prime-time dramas as well.

In the 1970s, it was one of the first British series to air on American TV and became a cult hit. And in England, it’s a popculture phenomenon—it’s spawned radio series, novels, and several tie-in movies. Eavesdrop for long enough in any British pub, and you’ll hear patrons arguing over who the best Doctor was. In both countries, Doctor Who has had a substantial influence on television. Here’s a primer: The premise. The Doctor (who is known only as “the Doctor”) is the last of a race called the Time Lords, who are near-omnipotent, hyperintelligent, and keep a strict non-intervention policy—a law the Doctor breaks when he sets out to explore the universe. Along with a human companion (usually a teenager or young woman), the Doctor travels through time and space.

6 More Weird Beers

You asked for another round of weird beers, so we’ll keep ‘em coming.

Algae beer

Ever had green beer at St. Patrick’s Day? That’s just everyday beer with green food coloring added to it. But this green beer is green because it’s made with spirulina—a living organism that’s found in blue-green algae. Freetail Brewing in San Antonio says the algae infuses the beer with not only color, but vitamins and a “tropical fruit” taste.

Pizza beer

Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer is brewed with basil, oregano—the same spices found in or on a pizza, along with garlic and the same kind of wheat commonly used to make pizza crust, and tomatoes. The result is a meal in a glass…sort of.

Peanut butter and chocolate beer

There are lots of nutty beers out there, with hazelnuts, chestnuts, and pecans adding flavor to everything from light ales to thick stouts. Porter is a kind of beer characterized with notes of chocolate and coffee. Willoughby Brewing adds peanuts to the brewing process, which results in a beer that tastes like coffee, chocolate, and peanut butter.

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