Would you rather go through life in a hum-drum average sort of way, or have people remember you as a special person? One appropriate, memorable or exceptional comment per day, or, even per week, can do that. For the latter, just fifty distinctive utterings per year will set you aside as someone extraordinary. All you need to do is read this blog, for I insert a couple of such statements daily. Today, I will toss out seemingly unrelated smatterings into what you will at the end appreciate as a cohesive blend. However, any one of them is all you need to remember.
This photo is by Jack Fusco, Anza Borrego Desert, California. Here are two sky-maps to help you find the comet:
The comet was discovered 70 years ago by an American astronomer, Carl Wirtanen, whose roots are in Scandinavia. How many of you were aware that the current chess grandmaster also has a Scandinavian connection? After 50 hours of play over 3 weeks, 28-year old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (right) just defended his world championship in London by beating American Fabiano Caruana. They had twelve straight draws until they entered the rapid format. However, keep a watch out for Caruana, for he is only 26-years old and could well become the first from the USA to gain this title since Bobby Fisher in 1972. But Carlson is only two years older and might be the best ever, for his peak chess rating of 2882 is the highest in history.
Speaking of America, according to Joseph Stiglitz in this recent Scientific American article on A Rigged Economy, were you aware that the United States has....:
- ...by far the most Nobel Prize winners? Another Scandinavian, Alfred Nobel (who invented dynamite) of Sweden established this prize. By the way, my posting of December 10 reviewed The Wife, an excellent film dealing with the Nobel ceremonies.
- ...annual war expenditures (also known as the defense budget) equal to the next 10 or so countries put together?
- ...the highest per capita health expenditures, yet the lowest life expectancy among comparable countries?
- ...the most billionaires, twice as many as China, the closest competitor?
And further about the USA:
- We spend 90% of our lives inside our home.
- In Raleigh, North Carolina, the average home has 10 spider species, with some houses exceeding 200 different kinds of arthropods, so the actual number of these insects in a dwelling is disquietingly astronomical. What is an arthropod? That graphic on the right shows them, although I don't think that crabs would be a concern in Raleigh.
- A University of New Hampshire researcher counted ticks on moose calves, and found an average of 47,371 on each one. Careful about petting them. Also make sure the mother is not around.
At 15 Craigside, our 12th floor is considering changing our usual holiday lunch around Christmas-time to something else. I suggested borrowing a mochi-making machine, and, well, making mochi for our friends and ourselves. If we can't find one, Amazon will free-ship you one for only $190.
Interestingly enough, I just saw an ad where the wooden mallet for mochi pounding (was once an annual ritual in my family), just the mallet, was on sale from $210 to $349 at Iida's. How much would that stone bowl cost? Don't ask. How times have changed. Oh, I don't need to buy a new one, as a resident sitting next me at dinner last night said he has one in his apartment, and will lend it and teach us how to use it.
You ask, how is mochi-making even remotely related to any of the above? Well, it is an arcane ceremony for most, and this practice occurs only during the year-end holiday season. Seriously now, would you rather have this posting end with ticks and spiders?
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Tropical Cyclone Cilida is heading straight for Mauritius and is expected to attain Category 4 status. However, most models show the storm veering left and only skirting the island:
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