Ketchup time…(04/12-04/18)

I have been traveling lately and have fallen behind on these postings, but I have been keeping up in my journal. Here is a weeks worth in one post:

DOUBLE, DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE; FIRE BURN, AND Blood BOIL? (04/12)

I learned about this Saint from a homily on Easter Sunday & it’s quite a story.

A sealed glass vial containing a dark unknown substance, allegedly the clotted blood of San Gennaro (St Januarius), is shown several times a year to a packed crowd in the Cathedral of Napoli (Naples). Whilst the container is being handled during a solemn ceremony, the solid mass suddenly liquefies before everybody’s eyes.

read more.

NIGHT BASEBALL (04/13)

In 1988, Wrigley Field was the last major league park to install lights for night games.

August 8, 1988

It wasn’t for lack of trying though, lights were to be installed for the Cubs 1942 season. But after Pearl Harbor was attacked, all of the equipment was donated to the United States Armed Forces.

(The following 3 “WORD OF THE DAY” entries were learned from Dr. Oliver Sack’s book Musicophilia)

WORD OF THE DAY (04/14)

daven |’dävən|
verb (davened, davening) [ intrans. ]
(in Judaism) recite the prescribed liturgical prayers.

ORIGIN Yiddish.

WORD OF THE DAY (04/15)

bonhomie |’bänə,mē; ‘bänə,mē|
noun
cheerful friendliness; geniality : he exuded good humor and bonhomie.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from French, from bonhomme ‘good fellow.’

WORD OF THE DAY (04/16)

dyskinesia |diski’nē zh ə|
noun Medicine
abnormality or impairment of voluntary movement.

DERIVATIVES
dyskinetic |-‘netik| adjective

CHICORY, DICKORY DOCK (04/17)

CHICORY (Cichorium intybus)

I learned all about the chicory flower from my sister (& about.com), who recently became fascinated with the flower.

It’s best known for its association with coffee.

At many points through history, coffee has become unavailable or too costly. During these times, people have often turned to roasted chicory as a substitute. Folks also used to make coffee from roasted acorns, yams and a variety of local grains.

There is no caffeine in chicory, and it produces a more ‘roasted’ flavor than coffee does. Many coffee producers offer blends with up to 30% chicory, which cuts down on the caffeine content of your cup. (It cuts down on the bitterness, too)

AQUATIC APE THEORY (04/18)

This is a theory that I was not aware of and will now share it with you…

One suggestion is that there was a good living to be made on the sea shore for any ape that left the forests to exploit it. Gradually adopting an upright stance would have been useful since it would free the hands to poke around and find food, while maybe also allowing the ape to wade into deeper water. Some suggest that a semi-aquatic past can also explain many modern human peculiarities (reduced body hair, subcutaneous fat, and our descended larynx for example).

read more theories here.

Number Game (04/10)

While at Opening Day at Comerica Park I was viewing the statues of Ty Cobb, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Willie Horton, Al Kaline and Hal Newhouser. I started to wonder about the numbers of some of Detroit’s finest players and then I learned the following:

There had been a couple of attempts to use numbers in the major leagues before the idea caught on. In 1916, and again in 1917, the Cleveland Indians experimented with numbers on their sleeves, as did the Cardinals in 1923.

On January 22, 1929, the Yankees became the first team to use numbers regularly, thinking that fans could recognize players more easily that way. Initially, players were given numbers based on the batting order – for example, Babe Ruth batted third, so he wore No. 3. It took until 1937, however, for every team to have their numbers on all their shirts – the last to change being the home uniforms for the Philadelphia A’s.

Superbowl Shuffle (04/04)

I didn’t grow up in Chicago, but I did know who Refrigerator Perry was. I even remember cutting a picture of him out of TIME magazine (he was standing next to a refrigerator) and putting it in a collage.

But I don’t necessarily remember this from my youth:

However, while at the Park West Venue in Chicago, I learned that was the location for the video you just watched.

Doesn’t it make you nostalgic for a time when everything in life had a rap song?

Like Father, Like Son (03/24)

Joakim Noah, of the Chicago Bulls, is not the only athlete in the family.

His father, Yannick Noah, was a professional tennis player and won the French Open in 1983.

I am not sure if Joakim has the same musical aspirations, but Yannick is also a pop-soul singer. Who says you have  to the same thing your entire life?

Bad to the Bone (03/08)

Unfortunately, I learned about this because it happened to one of my soccer teammates.

An avulsion fracture is the separation of a small fragment of bone cortex at the site of attachment of a ligament or tendon.

It occurs when an injury causes a ligament or tendon to tear off (avulse) a small piece of a bone to which it’s attached. The injury may be due to direct trauma, such as a hard tackle in football, or indirect trauma, such as an aggressive pivot in soccer or basketball.

Ouch.