Like a Pirate!

Get your Pirate personality here.




When a hurricane is headed their way, what do zoos do?
These flamingos from the Miami Zoo were sheltered in the men’s room when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992. Communications Director, Ron Magill said the most frequent question he is asked is when are they going to evacuate the animals. He explained, “the stress of evacuating alone can be enough to kill an animal. Instead, the birds and small mammals of Zoo Miami will ride out the storm in independent kennels or buildings. The larger residents, particularly the carnivores and great apes, will bunker down in their usual indoor holding areas.”
For more on this NPA story of how zoos in Texas and Florida are coping with the storms, click here.



Today is Lammas, or “loaf mass.” Traditionally, it is the first harvest festival of the season, marking the beginning of the wheat harvest and is celebrated, naturally, by baking bread. On this day in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, it was customary to bring to church a loaf of bread made from wheat from the new crop.
So, it is August 1 – go bake some bread and don’t forget to say “rabbit, rabbit.”
It is also tattoo Tuesday:


For the next six weeks, any member of the public in New York can head to subwaylibrary.com or download the New York Public Library’s reader app, SimplyE, to have unlimited access to a wide selection of NYPL-provided e-books. The initiative also aims to promote the free Wi-Fi service at each of the subway’s underground stations, which rolled out late last year. When users log onto the service, a link to the Subway Library website will appear, encouraging you to read a book instead of your Facebook feed.
Library Train is designed to look like the iconic Rose Reading Room with the seats and walls on each car made to resemble bookshelves (and a faux–Gilded Age ceiling to boot). The train is scheduled to run on the E and F lines between Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

TimeOut and New York Public Library
It’s tattoo Tuesday:



This is a huckleberry milkshake recently acquired at the travel center, gas station, restaurant, gift shop, casino and espresso bar in St. Regis, Montana.
Today is Soda Jerk Day
The term ‘soda jerk’ was a pun on ‘soda clerk’, the formal job title of the drugstore assistants who operated soda fountains, and was inspired by the “jerking” action the server would use to swing the soda fountain handle back and forth when adding the soda water. The soda fountain spigot itself typically was a sturdy, shiny fixture on the end of a metal pipe or other similar structure sticking out of the counter by several feet and curving towards where the glasses would be filled. The unflavored carbonated water was used to make all of the drinks. Consequently, the tap handle was typically large, as a busy shop would have the soda jerker using it frequently. This made the mixing of drinks a center of activity at the soda fountain counter. – Wikipedia



Don’t get your knickers in a twist –
Today is National DNA Day
On April 25 we commemorate the day in 1953 when James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and colleagues published papers in the journal Nature on the structure of DNA. Furthermore, on that day in 2003 it was declared that the Human Genome Project was very close to complete, and “the remaining tiny gaps [we]re considered too costly to fill.” – Wikipedia


I hope you remembered to file.

I could not find a tattoo for the IRS or Taxes (strange?), but this graphic shows what your tattoo location (or intended location) says about you . . .



March 28 is Something on a Stick Day
When I was a Girl Scout and we went camping, sometimes we took twigs, took off the bark, wrapped the end in biscuit dough and baked them over a campfire. When they were done, we pulled them off the twigs and stuffed them with jam. I remember them being one of the best things I had ever tasted.
I am not sure I would have the same response now.
These look good, though.

And then there are corn dogs.



Cornflakes were invented by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg as part of the health regimen at his Battle Creek Sanitarium in 1896. Dr. Kellogg and his brother had some pretty funny ideas about health and healthy living, but the late nineteenth century was a time of plentiful ideas and experimentation that was based on wonky science. At Battle Creek these ideas also led to the invention of flaked cereals, graham crackers, and rice krispies.


For tattoo Tuesday, the Kellogg’s rooster . . .



Today is Sticky Bun Day – so bake up a batch . . .


Or if you are too busy to bake, order some from The Cupboard Cafe in New Harbor, Maine.


Get some bacon, too.
