Odds and Ends

Today I’m posting random things, odds and ends, flotsam and jetsam, that have been collecting in my drafts folder and in the back of my mind.

Riddle

There’s a thing in a box. Sometimes it spins fast, sometimes it spins slowly, and sometimes it doesn’t spin at all. It spins while the organ music plays. When the music stops, the thing in a box doesn’t need to spin. What is this thing in a box called?

Beliefs

In America, marijuana is illegal because it is believed to be addictive.

In China, videogame consoles are illegal because they are believed to be addictive.

In Korea, it is believed that running a fan in a room will use up all the oxygen. No Korean will run a fan in a room without opening a window.

Treats

In Cambodia, a favorite delicacy is deep fried tarantula.

In China, a favorite delicacy is pickled jellyfish. I’ve eaten pickled jellyfish.

In parts of the southern US, a favorite delicacy is pickled pigs feet. I’ve eaten pickled pigs feet. It tastes much better than pickled jellyfish.

Earth

Some people believe the Earth is hollow with openings at the poles. We live on the outside, while UFOs originate from a civilization living on the inside.

Some people believe the Earth is hollow and we’re living on the inside.

Some people believe the Earth is flat. They say if it was round, we would slide off.

I Would Ride With You …

“Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the disheveled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame.”

– William Butler Yeats, "The Land of Heart's Desire"

Quotations

“We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.” – François de La Rochefoucauld

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Children and animals have a hard time in this world.” – my mother

One Is The Loneliest Number …

So says the song written by Harry Nilsson and made famous by Three Dog Night. Nilsson wrote the song after calling someone and getting a busy signal. He stayed on the line listening to the “beep … beep … beep” tone as he wrote the song. Suppose instead of a busy signal, he had gotten voicemail.

Political Definitions

Politicize: the art of blaming everything on the other party, especially the problems created by your party.

ObamaCare: a derisive term for a health care law written by Congress, passed by both houses of Congress, and signed by President Obama.

Medicaid: a government program that provides a way for unethical doctors to become millionaires.

Real Americans: a political code-phrase for the population that remains after removing racial minorities, immigrants, Muslims, gays, and intellectuals.

Timing

On October 19, 2012, Lebanese Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud announced that he wanted to sue the producers of the US drama “Homeland” because, he claimed, it wrongly depicted Beirut as a dangerous city that harbored terrorists. He also demanded an apology from the show’s producers.

On October 20, 2012 (the next day), a car-bomb explosion in Beirut killed at least eight people and injured an estimated 80 people.

Answer To The Riddle

What is the thing in a box that spins when the organ music plays?

The first time I watched Grace Potter play the Hammond B3 organ, I wondered “what the heck is that weird looking thing spinning in that box behind her?” It was a Leslie Speaker. Also known as the Leslie Rotary Speaker System, it is used to render a vibrato effect to the organ’s sound.

Listen (looking down on the treble speaker):

A 4 minute history of the Leslie speaker:

That’s all the odds and ends I have for today.