…worldwide and employs over 1.5 million employees.

I’d like a #6 with coke, and a 4 piece McNuggets with sweet and sour, to go.

Source: Some radio show on late on Sunday night

Maybe it’s just because I have a soft spot for magic tricks, but SB_Email 198 still had me laughing out loud. Root of Mandrake Powder… perfect.

Source: Following Jeff’s like on nerdular nerdance.

But it was overridden by congress.

The Volstead Act was the companion bill that established prohibition (along with the 18th amendment).

The amendment gave the power to congress to enact laws that would ban the sale of intoxicating liquors, and the Volstead Act was the law that defined what was considered intoxicating.

Source: The History Channel

The first NASCAR cars were modified cars that were used by bootleggers to run illegal moonshine. You see, the runners needed really fast cars, to outrun the police. So they took V8 Cadillac engines from ambulances and dropped them into their cars.

As a hobby on the side they started racing these modified cars. NASCAR was organized in 1949 to standardize the rules, etc. related to the racing.

Source: The History Channel

Meaning, only 20-30% of the energy that is created is actually used for the intended purpose, such as propelling a car.

The rest- heat and exhaust waste.

This seems like one of those things I knew and forgot. But it’s also one of those things that almost, just almost want to join the black helicopter crowd and rally against the big bad oil companies and automobile manufacturers.

Because seriously, we can do better than 30%. (I said almost.)

Source: Nerdular Nerdance magazine.

It manifests in many different ways, but the crux is this: it’s an overlap of two (or more) senses, such as sight and hearing, or hearing and taste.

For instance, some people see colors. Other people smell or taste words.

The woman on TV had a color that was associated with each letter of the alphabet (H is green, R is magenta, etc.). Oh, and everything she hears is displayed to her on a ticker tape, one letter at a time, in front of her face.

It’s hereditary. Her brother has the same thing. But they don’t necessarily associate the same color with the same letter.

The other guy had a smell associated with many of the words that he heard. “White” could be marmalade and “Hello” could be breakfast sausage.

For many years the scientific community thought these people were just making the stuff up, or that they were using drugs. However, recently the condition has been the subject of several scientific studies which have confirmed that not only is the condition real, but that it affects about 1 in 300 people.

Many of the people with this condition have always had it, so they have never know life any other way. Several of the people on the show were surprised to find out that not everyone perceived the world the way that they do.

Source: The Science Channel

There’s a wiki page but it’s not even close to as interesting as the TV show.

There’s a theory that Stradivarius violins are superior because they are made from trees that grew during the “Little Ice Age.”

The thinking is that the climate affected the pattern of the tree growth and therefore the tree rings. This made the wood rather unique, and as the theory goes, quite resonant.

X-Rays confirm that the wood used in genuine Stradivarius violins (those made by Antonio Stradivari (especially during his “golden age” between 1698 and 1720) show relatively unique ring patterns.

S0 there.

Source: History Channel

BTW, the Little Ice Age was a period of time a few hundred years ago of where the climate was unusually cold. But since the topic is at least a little related to Global Warming, Wikipedia is a useless source. (In case you haven’t noticed, there’s an inversely proportionate relationship between how controversial a topic is and the usefulness of a site that relies on user generated content.)

Video is probably NSFW (that’s Not Safe for Work for you internet neophytes) but definitely required watching.

A few new things I learned:

• Birds are endangered
• Birdwatchers are to blame
• There are more crazy people out there than I could ever imagine

In fact, there are conflicting reports as to whether he was ever in the Army at all.

He was a “Kentucky Colonel” – kind of like a knight in today’s Order of the British Empire (think Sir Elton John or Sir Paul McCartney vs. Sir Galahad.)

It’s an honorary title that the governor of Kentucky can bestow upon citizens who “make exceptional efforts to enrich the lives of Kentuckians and the world at large.”

Other notable Kentucky Colonels:

• Bill Clinton
• John Glen
• Pope John Paul II
• Dave Thomas (the Wendy’s guy)

Most Kentucky Colonels don’t actively use the the title- it’s more of a plaque on the wall kind of thing, but Colonel Sanders made the decision to do so.

Some KFC trivia- Colonel Sanders retired when he was 65, took his first Social Security check ($105) and used it to start franchising his restaurants. Before that it was just the Colonel and his restaurant in Kentucky- a version of which still stands today.

He was born in 1890 and died in 1980. I imagine that was a pretty amazing time span to be alive. To grow up without cars, see 2 world wars, and still be around for the beginning of the computer age. Born during the Benjamin Harrison administration, died during the Regan administration.

Source: A show about fast food on the Travel channel, and wiki and the official KFC and Corbin Kentucky Visitor’s Guide sites for the assit.

(TV said he was never in the army at all, but wiki says he was- but served in Cuba? Peacekeeping post Spanish American war?)

I actually knew that already, but never posted it.

Other Woolery tidbits- he was the original host of Wheel of Fortune until he quit after a dispute with Merv Griffen over salary. He demanded a huge raise, Merv said no, and Sajak got a gig for the next 25 years. (Mr. Woolery, in retrospect, realized that wasn’t the best move.)

Speaking of Sajak, he was the weatherman at KNBC in LA before landing the Wheel gig. More Sajak tidbits- He’s on the Board of Trustees at Hillsdale College and has served on the Board of Directors for the Claremont Institute. Oh, and he used to be a clerk at the Palmer House in Chicago, one of my favorite hotels.

Another interesting tidbit- Woolery served 2 years in the Navy, and Sajak served 2 years in the Army. Trebek’s Canadian- no word on if he was a Mountie.

Source: Various web pages I won’t bother linking to since most likely no one cares but me.