...I Can't Behind on This.

I may have been truant in updating this thing lately, but I've been keeping up writing it. I just wanted to give the posts a one last go through before I put them up. Well, a nice little computer glitch took care of that. Took care of it by losing all my info. On top of that I got a wicked retarded head cold and got behind. In order to catch up I'm doing a quick post with the crap I learned (starting with the oldest first).

Just put it in my box!

...Glass Balls Bounce Better Than Rubber Ones.
Its due to something called the coefficient of restitution. Its a measurement of two objects' velocity before and after a collision. Its a ratio between the two with a maximum value of 1 (no speed lost) to 0 (all speed lost). Rubber is about 0.80 while glass can reach 0.95. This all depends of what the glass bounces off and providing it doesn't shatter. Have you ever dropped a glass on the floor and seen it bounce a few times before breaking. Sometimes it reaches quite a height.

Dance magic, dance

...The Island of Nauru Made its Money From Bird Poo.
Its situated a few hundred miles away from Australia. Back in 1902 large amounts of phosphate deposits were discovered and mined for fertilizer purposes. The phosphates were left by, you guessed it, bird poo compiled over 1000s of years. The island is running out and literally has no other sources of income. They rely on imports for everything, even their water (due to humid wind currents it rarely rains there). The Australians are now paying them to house asylum seekers, which sucks since if the claimants don't get their status they become Nauru's problem and not Australia's. They also received a cool 9 mil form Russia after conveniently recognizing South Ossetia as a sovereign nation. They tried the offshore banking thing as well, but that didn't work out either. Tourism is all they have left and according to discovernauru.com there's plenty to do, such as swimming, walking, or eating at one of their two restaurants.

This is how they did it.

...Where April Fools Comes From.
Actually, I don't know, no one does. The most popular story comes from France. In the 1500s France changed their calendar to fit the new Roman calendar. Before the change France celebrated New Year's Eve in the spring, but it took a long time for the calendar switch to reach everyone, so those still celebrating in spring were called 'April Fools'. Turns out new Year's Eve was celebrated at Easter, so it changed every year and rarely fell on the 1st. Today in France the day is known as 'le poisson d'Avril', the Fish of April, and is celebrated by putting paper fish on a passerby's back.

Good one!

It's personally my favourite 'holiday'. For years I worked in restaurants and I used to LOVE Telling people we were switching our cola brands. So if the place had Coke, I'd ask "did you hear we were switching to Pepsi?' Most didn't care, but there was always one or two who were either more really excited or really pissed off than they should be. Of course the retort was always 'its after noon, jokes on you!' No......pretty sure they still looked like the fool. Its lost its novelty with the public and corporations do most of the pranks. LAX airport once put a giant sign on its roof saying 'Welcome To Cleveland' one year and the whole Rick Rolling trend started as an April fools prank.

Yin and yang.

...The History of Easter.
Easter is my favourite real holiday. Summer is on the way, the candy is better, bunnies are cute, and who doesn't like an Easter egg hunt? Like Christmas its a Christian holiday celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Again, like Christmas, the date is based on an old Pagan celebration of spring and rebirth that the season of spring represents. It honoured the Pagan 'god' of Eostre (or Eastre in some translations) who was associated with eggs and hares, other symbols of rebirth. Why hares? They often showed up at the beginning of spring and as we all know they tend to multiply, lots of new life there. One of the differences between rabbits and hares is that hares sleep in nests above ground. So when it came time to hide eggs for the kids, the nests seemed like good places. The first mention of an Easter Bunny/Hare was in Germany during the 1600s. The idea developed and spread and here we are.

Efficiency is key.

In Australia rabbits are hated. They are an invasive species and have run rampant all over. They even built a fence that spanned the country in order to prevent them from spreading. So the Australians eat chocolate bilbys instead.

How about anothe bilby on the barbie?

...Why Nostrils Get Clogged One at a Time.
I've been getting over a head cold for a few days now. One of the things I hate most about it is the fact that only one nostril gets clogged. For me, I find with only one nostril the air coming in is colder and kinda stings. Does this happen to anyone else? Anyway....looks like our nostrils are the bodies version of a tag team champion. Every time you breath more air goes in one hole than the other and after a few hours it switches. There's erectile tissue in your nose (yes, that kind of erectile) and it swells in one nostril closing the pathway the air takes. One reason could be is that certain smells are better perceived with quick air and others with slow air. This way we have a chance of picking it up at anytime of the day. If we pick up one of these scents in our left nostril, our body gives us a clue as to where its coming from. Handy if you're looking for food or a mate. It also gives it a break. While one works the other rests. This effect just becomes more obvious when sick and your sinus are full. A trick I heard to unclog them, but it doesn't seem to work for me, is to press the roof of your mouth with your tongue and press a finger between your eyebrows. It moves your vomer bone and allows snot to drain. See if it works for you.

Reese Witherspoon's first role.

...How Nice The Lister Block is.
The lister block is not a block, but a building, located in Hamilton (obviously). Its found at the corner of James St. and King William St. First built in 1886 it was used as a commercial shopping centre and named after Joseph Lister the buildings first owner. It caught on fire in 1923 and was rebuilt and dubbed 'Canada's First Shopping Mall. It was a very important building and most of Hamilton's population shopped there and its top floor was used for various doctor offices. It was the Eaton Centre of its time. In 1995 the last tenant moved out and the building sat empty up until a year ago. Hamilton's HIStory + HERitage project took over a space and started renovating. Many of Hamilton's City Services offices are moving there and a lot of small businesses. There is even a space for the CBC to house their Hamilton radio station when they decide to move in. It has a very 1960s feel to it and its nice.

Fancy dancy

...Why Dahlonega is Important. I came across the town of Dahlonega, Georgia through a guest at the hotel. I was entering his address in the computer and tried to pronounce it (I was close). That’s when he said 'the site of the USA's first gold rush'.....Sir, this is my favourite type of fact. Something that just pops up in the conversation. Dahlonega is located in the north part of Georgia in Lumpkin County and is home to about 5200 people. I had no idea that gold was ever 'rushed' in that part of the country. It started in 1828 and lasted to the 1840s when it became harder to find. Once gold was discovered in San Francisco in 1848 most miners headed west and the Georgia rush all but ended. Dahlonega is Cherokee for 'yellow' in fact and a mint was built in the town to make coins from all the gold found there. Currently the town is in the vineyard business. If you're a guy it might be a good place to visit. Almost 50% of the population is between 18 and 24 years old with 100 women for every 69.3 men.

The life of a miner is tough.

Phew.