Learn Something Today

[satindesire]

I'm an avid reader and researcher, and have been a very curious person since childhood, according to my parents. So, I've decided to make a running thread titled "Learn Something Today" to share tidbits of the different little things I love to read about, to share what knowledge that I've gathered with the rest of my friends here in Literotica.

These topics will be extremely random and will, most of the time, probably be totally unrelated. The information will be varied and hopefully accurate. I hope that in reading this thread, you all not only learn something, but also glimpse into my world, my thought process, and my brain to uncover the beauty of the universe around you WITH me, at my side, as my companions on this journey.

Learn something with me today...and let's see what we can uncover in the future.




Today's first topic: Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is the United States 36th most populated state, with a land area of 68,667 square miles. Two of American's largest cities resides in Oklahoma, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma city being the largest with it's residents estimated to be over 1.2 million. More than 25 languages are spoken in Oklahoma, more than any other state in the nation. Some of these languages include Arapaho, Cherokee, and Choctaw, three of languages named for the tribes of Native Americans that make their home there.

The name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw phrase "okla homma", literally meaning "red people". Choctaw Chief Allen Wright suggested the name in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the government regarding the use of Indian Territory. Equivalent to the English word 'Indian', "okla humma" was a phrase in the Choctaw language used to describe the Native American race as a whole.

The 27th-most agriculturally productive state in the US, about 5.5% of all America's beef comes from Oklahoma, and 6.1% of American's wheat.

Honor Heights Park, a massive 122-acre public park dedicated to WWI Veterans, is a botanical garden and arboretum located at North Honor Heights Drive, Muskogee, Oklahoma. It boasts the "Garden of Lights", which is run Thanksgiving Night through New Year's Day and is a winter celebration that includes a drive-through display of over one million shimmering lights. The lights are strung carefully to enhance the natural beauty of the park, gardens, trees, gazebo, waterfalls, and ponds.

The State bird is the beautiful Scissortail flycatcher, a highly beneficial bird that eats mostly harmful insects such as mosquitoes by a technique called "hawking".

 

[Keroin]

Hello fellow insomniac!

Lovely. I'm a learn-a-holic. Keep 'em coming.

 

[WriterDom]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck-will's-widow

So what I thought my entire life was a Whip-poor-will might indeed be a Chuck-will's-widow.

 

[graceanne]

There are four function of management. They are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Who cares? I know not.

 

[ZRT]

There are four function of management. They are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Who cares? I know not.

Considering that most corporate management omits the first three in favor of the final one, it's pretty damned annoying.

 

[satindesire]

Today's Topic: Famous People's Height and Weight

Beyonce Knowles: 5'7, 139 pounds

Jennifer Aniston: 5'6, 118 pounds

David Beckham: 5'11, 165 pounds

Naomi Campbell: 5'9.5, 122 pounds

Bill Clinton 6'2.5, 195 pounds

Jane Fonda 5'7, 128 pounds

Evander Holyfield: 6'2.5, 221 pounds

Angelina Jolie: 5'7, 129 pounds

Toby Keith: 6'4, 250 pounds

Jennifer Lopez: 5'5, 120 pounds

Dolly Parton: 5', 110 pounds

Shakira: 5'2, 106 pounds

Sylvester Stallone: 5'9, 175 pounds

Arnold Schwarzenegger: 6'1, 235 pounds

 

[Homburg]

David Beckham: 5'11, 165 pounds

He looks like such a scrawny, weedy, little git. I'm not surprised to see his weight is that low.

 

[satindesire]

He looks like such a scrawny, weedy, little git. I'm not surprised to see his weight is that low.

Yes, he's very, very thin. If he gained about twenty pounds, he'd look much better, but running as much as he does during his games, I doubt it's easy for him to put on weight at all.

It's been said he runs well over seven miles a game, every game. Can you imagine having to run that much?

 

[CutieMouse]

Naomi Campbell: 5'9.5, 122 pounds

CM - 1.5" shorter than her, 20# heavier.

sigh

 

[satindesire]

CM - 1.5" shorter than her, 20# heavier.

sigh

I'm half an inch taller than fourty pounds heavier. ^_^ And I'm a stone-cold fox, so don't you date think there's something wrong with your weight. I'm a big girl and still hot, so shush!

 

[ZRT]

I'm half an inch taller than fourty pounds heavier. ^_^ And I'm a stone-cold fox, so don't you date think there's something wrong with your weight. I'm a big girl and still hot, so shush!

Let's hear it for healthy padding. I don't like to be able to count the ribs on a woman from twenty yards away.

 

[graceanne]

CM - 1.5" shorter than her, 20# heavier.

sigh

And a whole hell of a lot healthier. I've seen pictures of you, there's nothing wrong with your weight.

 

[00Syd]

Did you know that its always about 2 degrees warmer in Manhattan than it is in New Jersey, just across the river?

 

[Keroin]

Angelina Jolie: 5'7, 129 pounds

No way, she must weight less than that. That would make her the same height and weight as me and she's bloody anorexic.

I'm saying 115lbs, tops.

 

[00Syd]

No way, she must weight less than that. That would make her the same height and weight as me and she's bloody anorexic.

I'm saying 115lbs, tops.

She could just have the weight distributed differently.

 

[CutieMouse]

She could just have the weight distributed differently.

Yup. Very few people ever guess my weight at 145(ish), because at this weight, I look about 130#... and at 130#, I look about 115-120#.



And the grumble wasn't me thinking I'm fat or unattractive - I just feel better [energy wise, etc] at 125 - 130, and I ain't there right now. Too much stress.

 

[graceanne]

Yup. Very few people ever guess my weight at 145(ish), because at this weight, I look about 130#... and at 130#, I look about 115-120#.



And the grumble wasn't me thinking I'm fat or unattractive - I just feel better [energy wise, etc] at 125 - 130, and I ain't there right now. Too much stress.

Ok. I can see that.

 

[00Syd]

Both me an my mother are very lucky in that our weight is distributed in fortuitous ways. I am waaaay heavier than I look. It's an excellent genetic trait.

 

[Homburg]

Yes, he's very, very thin. If he gained about twenty pounds, he'd look much better, but running as much as he does during his games, I doubt it's easy for him to put on weight at all.

It's been said he runs well over seven miles a game, every game. Can you imagine having to run that much?

I know some seriously buff people that run a lot. He's just scrawny. I've heard that he doesn't like to do conditioning.

And soccer is WAY behind the power-curve insofar as strength training and modern conditioning methods are concerned. It is just not seen as beneficial to have their athletes hit the weights, as they think it will slow them down.

I'm sure that the NFL, NHL, and NBA would agree with that....

--

CM - 1.5" shorter than her, 20# heavier.

sigh

And? You look better.

--

Did you know that its always about 2 degrees warmer in Manhattan than it is in New Jersey, just across the river?

Satan likes it warmer, yanno.

--

No way, she must weight less than that. That would make her the same height and weight as me and she's bloody anorexic.

I'm saying 115lbs, tops.

The list is probably old. Some of the guys look to be at incorrect weights too.

But, yeah, Jolie is anorexic. She is lookin kinda nasty these days. Ick.

 

[satindesire]

Today's Topic: Chewing Gum

For centuries the ancient Greeks chewed mastic gum (or mastiche pronounced "mas-tee-ka"). This is the resin obtained from the bark of the mastic tree, a shrub-like tree found on the island of Chios, Greece. Grecian women especially favored chewing mastic gum to clean their teeth and sweeten their breath.

From the Indians of New England, the American colonists learned to chew the gum-like resin that formed on spruce trees when the bark was cut. Lumps of spruce gum were sold in the eastern United States during the early 1800s, making it the first commercial chewing gum in this country. In about 1850, sweetened paraffin wax became popular and eventually exceeded spruce gum in popularity.

After he was defeated by the Americans in Texas, Mexican General Santa Anna was exiled to New York. Like many of his countrymen, Santa Anna chewed chicle. One day he introduced it to inventor Thomas Adams, who began experimenting with it as a substitute for rubber. Adams tried to make toys, masks, and rain boots out of chicle, but every experiment failed. Sitting in his workshop one day,tired and discouraged, he popped a piece of surplus stock into his mouth. In 1870, he opened the world’s first chewing gum factory making Adams New York No. 1.

After success with pure chicle gum, Adams tried to add flavor to it. He created a licorice-flavored gum called Black Jack. It was the first gum to be sold as a stick not in chunks, and was popular with the public. The gum had one drawback; it could not hold flavor.

The flavor issue was not fixed until 1880. A man named William White experimented with flavors after receiving a shipment of chicle. He solved the problem by adding sugar and corn syrup to the mix. The first flavor he used was peppermint and it stayed in the gum during chewing.

Chewing gum is a type of confection traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber. For reasons of economy and quality, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle. Chicle is nonetheless still the base of choice for some regional markets, such as in Japan. Chewing gum is a combination of a water-insoluble phase, known as gum base, and a water-soluble phase of sweeteners, flavoring and sometimes food coloring.

Chewing gum is available in a wide variety of flavors, including mint, wintergreen, cinnamon and various types of fruit. Mintier flavors are often chewed for fresher breath. There is no standard type of gum, as it can be formed in many different shapes and sizes. Some examples include:

* Ball gum - shaped like a ball and coated. These are most often sold in gum ball machines. In the United Kingdom, these are often referred to as 'Screwballs', as they are found at the bottom of a 'Screwball' ice cream treat. In the US, they are known as "gum balls".
* Bubble gum - formulated with film-forming characteristics for blowing bubbles.
* Sugar-free gum - made with artificial sweeteners.
* Candy & Gum combinations - predominantly bubble gum found in the center of some types of lollipop, such as "Charms Blow Pops".
* Center-filled gum - Pellet or ball gum formed around a soft or liquid center.
* Slab gum Cut & Wrap gum - refers to the name of the machine that wraps this type of gum, usually in the form of a chunk, cube or cylindrical shape.
* Dragée gum or "pellet gum" - a pillow-shaped coated pellet, often packed in blister packs.
* Functional gum - a chewing gum with a practical function. "Zoft Gum", for example, specializes in herbal chewing gum products using gum as the delivery system for vitamins and minerals among other substances. (Isn't THAT cool?!)
* Medicated gum - a chewing gum acting as a delivery system to introduce medicinal substances into the saliva and thus into the bloodstream faster than pills.
* Powdered gum - free-flowing powder form or powders compressed into unique shapes.
* Stick gum - a rectangular, thin, flat, slab of gum.
* Ribbon gum - very similar to stick gum in shape, but much longer, coiled up in a cylindrical container often shaped like a hockey puck. The chewer tears off a piece of the desired size.
* Tube gum or Spaghetti gum - very soft bubble gum which can be squeezed from a tube or can be found in a pouch.

The United States military have regularly supplied soldiers with chewing gum since World War I because it helped both to improve the soldiers' concentration and to relieve stress. In 1935, an estimated 12,000 lb was chewed in one month. As of 2005, the U.S. military is sponsoring development of a chewing gum formulation with an antibacterial agent that could replace conventional oral hygiene methods in the battlefield. This product is not expected to be available for use for some time.

Recently, the U.S. armed forces have been providing troops with caffeinated gum to keep soldiers alert for extended periods of time without experiencing fatigue or drowsiness. Each stick of gum has approximately 100 mg of caffeine in it, about the same amount in an average cup of coffee. Although chewing gum is provided in the U.S. military MREs, it is often strongly discouraged for a troop to be seen chewing gum while standing in formation.

Gum is included in Canadian Forces' Individual Meal Packs as an aid to oral hygiene.

Recaldent chewing gum was introduced into New Zealand Defence Force ration packs May 2007 by New Zealand Defence Dental Services to aid oral health care for service personnel in the field. Research has shown that Recaldent gum aids remineralization to fight early tooth decay. Chewing gum also aids in relief of stress.

In Singapore, there is a country-wide ban of most types of chewing gum.

 

[Homburg]

very cool.

i occasionally find my self researching oddities too, particularly so when preparing to run a sci-fi game setting.

Perhaps i'll add something to the collection.

I go a little nuts when I'm prepping to run a historical game, and can wander down all sorts of paths looking for oddball tidbits. My players love it when I do this, most of the time. Eeeevery once in a while I get that "Um, we're supposed to care about this?" look when I describe some random thing in excessive detail because I've geeked out on it.

 

[WriterDom]

He looks like such a scrawny, weedy, little git. I'm not surprised to see his weight is that low.

Soccer is a great sport. If you have a vagina.

 

[MisterSir]

Soccer is a great sport. If you have a vagina.

Right, this coming from the country that couldn't handle playing rugby the way it was meant to be played so you had to change the rules? "If you have a vagina" my pasty white arse.

 

[WriterDom]

If Americans gave a shit about soccer it would ruin the World Cup. We'd win it every year. It would be like the Ryder Cup. After we kicked the UK arse ten matches in a row they had to bring in all of Europe to make it competitive.

Kicking around a ball is child's play. The only reason the world likes it so much is they can play on the cheap. With an inflated goat's bladder and two sticks in the ground.

 

[00Syd]

I really don't think we would win soccer every year if we played. We barely play that game while meanwhile the rest of the world plays it CONSTANTLY.

That would be like England saying that if they played (American) Football they would beat us at it every year. Hahaha yeah right.