More Weird Things Our Cat Does

Our cat has a shoe fetish. It started out innocently enough. We let him play with the shoelaces on an old shoe of mine. He then wanted to play with the shoe too. Which is normal as for some reason animals LOVE my shoes. (And no it’s not because I have really smelly feet or cover them in ground beef or any logic reason like that. They just do, don’t know why.) Then he went on to slippers. He would play with them for hours on end and stuff them full of all sorts of weird things (Tissue, refrigerator magnets, bottle caps, hardware for blinds that he somehow got out of a very narrow box, whatever he could find.) Now all shoes are his. He even sleeps in a shoe box at times. And no, the shoe box was not meant to be a bed. It’s his toy box. Although he never puts his toys away. (My sister’s cat has a shoe box toy box and he puts his toys away.)

Question of the Day:

South Africa has a capital for each of its branches of government. Legislative is Cape Town, judicial is Bloemfontein and administrative is this city.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Spit on them

Question of the Day:

In Africa the Massai do this to their newborns for good luck.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: 1864, Other interesting female doctor info: the 1st US medical school for women opened in 1850 in Pennsylvania and the last medical school to admit females was Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA. it didn’t admit females until 1960. (And U of Michigan was the 1st state medical school that females could attend.)

Question of the Day:

Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the 1st African-American woman doctor, became a doctor in this year.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Sen. Strom Thurmond

Question of the Day:

Breaking news Question: It turns out that the ancestors of the Rev. Al Sharpton were enslaved by the ancestors of this senator famous for his racism, work to keep segregation, and his biracial daughter.


Answer to Yesterday’s Question: It was names after two of Darius’s college friends who were nicknames Hootie and Blowfish after their wide eyes and puffy checks. (Neither is in the band.)

Question of the Day:

OK so Darius Rucker isn’t nicknamed Hootie and his band isn’t “The Blowfish” so how did the group get its name?


Answer to Yesterday’s Question: The Capybaras, Which some think was allowed because no one who decided on this has ever seen a real capybaras and it is an aquatic mammal. Not that is was the only aquatic animal that has been at times allowed: others have included beavers, geese and puffins. And at one time the bishop in what is now part of Michigan allowed the eating of muskrats which has also become a traditional Lenten food, although we could find no proof that it is still consider not meat on Fridays. All the animals along with being often found in water also have in common the fact that they were plentiful at the time and not considered the luxurious foods like beef and other meats.

Question of the Day:

Thanks to a 17th century request to the Vatican this largest rodent is a traditional Lenten food in South America and doesn’t count as meat for Friday abstaining from meat.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Whoopi Goldberg

Question of the Day:

This person was both the 1st woman and the 1st African American to host the Oscars.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: C. the palm branches from last years Palm Sunday. Burning them being one of two correct ways to get red of them, the other is burying.

Tarter Sauce

Even if you don’t abstain from meat on Fridays during lent, if you do any grocery shopping you’ve noticed that all seafood tends to go on sale at this time of year. But, tarter sauce being on sale is a toss up. And it’s so over priced anyway. So here is a quick tarter sauce recipe to go with those fish sticks that were 50% off.


½ C. mayo
2 T. fat free sour cream
2 T. sweet pickle relish
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. dried dill
½ t. finely grated lemon zest
Dash of black pepper

Mix all ingredients together let set in fridge at least ½ hour before serving.

Question of the Day:

Multiple chose: Today is Ash Wednesday, so where do the ashes used today come from?A. Chain smokers B. bonfires held yearly in Israel C. the palm branches from last years Palm Sunday D. the ashes from incense burned in church E. it’s not really ash it’s dirt from graveyards.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Carnival is from the Latin carne vale which means “farewell to the flesh.” It is called that because it is the festive time before the more somber Lent in which one does all the things one will not do in Lent which traditionally included eating meat, fat, eggs and dairy. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday and is called that because traditionally it was the day one killed and feasted on a fattened calf and eat up all the foods in your house that could not be eaten during Lent and would go bad otherwise. It is also called Pancake Tuesday because in England people would make pancakes to use up their foods not eaten in Lent, and Shrove Tuesday from the verb shrive which means to hear confessions after the custom of going to confession for the start of Lent

An Actual Report of a Book – 100 Crooked Little Crime Stories

100 Crooked Little Crime Stories, Stories selected by: Weinberg, Dzienianowicz, & Greenberg
Mystery, crime fiction 589 pages, 10th grade reading level, copyright 1994

This book is a collection of 100 short stories most 5-6 pages long and about murder and thefts. One story doesn’t even have a crime in it. And a couple goes to show why the colorblind shouldn’t be criminals. (Thought how these people didn’t know that they were colorblind, or learn to deal with it is beyond us.) Over all this was a fun read. These stories were just the right size to read in a couple minutes. There were a few that tried too hard to fit in that short length. They needed to be a few pages longer to adequately build up to the ending. Also it would have been helpful if the editors gave a little background information. A story about the Jamaican countryside in the 1930’s is going to have a different way to deal with a murder then a retirement village in modern day Florida. And some of the writers do not give a lot of background in the story, most likely because in the way it first came out in print it would not have been needed. But with 100 stories to chose between there’s a story for anyone that likes crime stories.

Question of the Day:

Today is Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday the end of Carnival which starts each year on the Epiphany (aka Twelfth Night, aka Three Kings’ Day) which is on Jan 6th and ends at midnight on Fat Tuesday with Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Where do the names Carnival and Mardi Gras come from and why are they called that?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: FDR, who died during his 4th term

Question of the Day:

Who was the only US President to serve more than 2 terms?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: an extra month is added, not just a day.

Question of the Day:

What is different about a leap year in the Chinese calendar?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: 15, ending with the Festival of Lanterns at the full moon. (The Chinese calendar is lunar, which is why the date of the New Year changes on the Julian calendar.)

What do You Think???

Ok, so we at WNBNI finally got our library card (It’s only been 2 ½ years in this city.) And due to that we want to know what you think. Would you like more book reports in the blog? If so what kind of books would you like us to review? We’ll read most everything just a few ground rules:
1. We joined the county library, so although there are like 20 different branches, they are for the most part small and may not have every new book on hand, and we aren’t going to drive across the county or put our name on the waiting list for most books.
2. We will not read any book that is all about sex. We have on occasion read “romance” novels that were clearly mismarked because they were mostly about a mystery or daily life and just happened to include adult interactions, but we do not want to waist time on trashy paperback where body parts are constantly heaving or throbbing. It’s just not good lit. If we want to read about that we would read the “Kama Sutra” which incidentally we are willing to read as even that for the most part isn’t about sex.
3. We will not check out “The Catcher and the Rye.” Everyone knows that if you want to read that book you go to a used bookstore where no one knows you and you pay for it with cash. Otherwise you get on a government list and if you’re lucky they don’t send you to Gitmo. For any government people reading this we have NEVER read the book and we never plan on it. Also in 7th grade when we checked out “1984” by George Orwell we didn’t finish the book as we were afraid that our mom would look at it and read some part that was about sex and take away our library card. But wasn’t it just horrible how that man acted against the government’s control of his life? I wonder what reasonable action they took against him when he was found out for the free loving, self thinking, slime that he was.

Any way we await your thoughts on the subject. Also we would like to let you know if you don’t have an opinion on it, we will do what ever we want and if you don’t like it it will be your fault because you should have said something now. So send in your comments.

Question of the Day:

For how many days is the Chinese New Year Celebrated?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: 4705 and red pig (Dinghai). 4705 because the years are dated from the reign of the 1st king of China, the Yellow King who was crowned in 2697 B.C. Pig because each year is named after an animal based on a Chinese legend that the Buddha summoned all animals to him and only 12 arrived, those 12 each got a year on the cycle of years named after them based on when they arrived, as the pig is lazy he was last. And red based off the stem-branch system used in Chinese years, this year will be fire (a yang element) which correlated to red. (It is also the stem of ding and branch of hai.)

Question of the Day:

The Chinese New Year is on February 18th this year. What year will it be then and why?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Painting it Green, although no one was able to say why, some think it was to improve feng shui and some to reduce erosion.

Will They Ever Learn???

Today the government has released a new one dollar coin. This coin is the first of its type to feature a president on it. The U.S. Mint believes that they have prevented the problem with earlier dollar coins by making sure that there are a lot in circulation, as the problem with dollar coins SOOO was that we just couldn’t get enough of them. Also they are going to make a new coin every three months with a different president’s face on it, starting with Washington, in the hopes that people collect them like with the 50-state quarters. (Like that isn’t what people are forced to do with them now. No vending machine takes them, not even post office ones that only give you dollar coins back. Stores don’t really want them as the registers aren’t set up for them [Sure there is that extra coin spot, but it’s full of rolled coins, or paper clips.] And some cashiers done even know what they are.) And no country has both a dollar coin and bill where both are commonly used; its one or the other and we would rather have the bill. (As would strippers, waitresses, people trying to trick people in movies with a case of $100 bills that are actually mostly $1 bills and any one else that likes the shape or weight of bills over coins.)-T

Question of the Day:

Since last August government workers have been doing this unusual activity with the Laoshou Mountain in Fumin county in southwest China?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: The Tower of London, where he was NOT beheaded.

Question of the Day:

The 1st Valentine card (excluding one’s from St. Valentine himself) was thought to be send in 1415 from the Duke of Orleans to his wife from this location.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: It isn’t, the feast was dropped in 1969, due to the fact that it can’t be proven who St. Valentine was or how many there where. Some legends about him include: that he was a priest or bishop in the Roman Empire who might have helped persecuted Christians, was thrown in jail and there wrote encouraging letters to others about God’s love, which he might have signed “your Valentine” and was beheaded maybe on Feb 14th; that he secretly married couples when it was forbidden; or that he wrote letters to his jailer’s daughter and was probably beheaded.

Question of the Day:

As most of you know Valentine’s Day is one of the holidays celebrated in America that started out as a Christian holy day, today’s question is what day on the Roman calendar of official Catholic feasts is St. Valentine’s Day?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: 1,097, he also held patents in the UK, France, and Germany.

The History of Ideas

Today in Inventers’ Day in honor of Edison the inventor of the light bulb (OK, he didn’t really invent the 1st light bulb, but no one remembers any of the other inventers.) and about 5 million other inventions. Which of course makes everyone ask the question, “What did people use to show that they had a great idea before the light bulb was invented?” We at weird news BNI have fully researched it and will now share with you “The History of Ideas.”
At the dawn of time when one had an idea the sun appeared above their head. As at that time the sun was often thought to be a god or the home of one, inventers soon were revered as gods as well. This belief helped cause the rapid growth in societies that accrued at that time. Why go threw all the effort of making spears when pointy sticks work fine? Because the gods said too! This is why Akhenaten, the pharaoh who invented a new religion, created a new capital and invented a new style of art is pictured with the sun’s rays around him, while other pharaohs weren’t, even thought they were thought to be gods, while Akhenaten created a monotheistic religion, there forth, making him not a god. (And the one god in his religion, Ra, the sun god.)
This use of the sun to show an idea continued on until near the end of the Roman Empire when it was switched to candles, creating the dark ages. While the sun was million of miles away and only looked like it was behind the person, candles appeared directly above them, causing burns, fires, and even death. It was a dangerous time to be an inventor, who knows what great idea could be the death of you. Inventers spent most of their time trying to not think of ideas, only on the occasional rainy day setting out to think up ways to fireproof one’s head.
This continued until one brave soul invented the enclosed lantern, which then was used to show off ideas. This directly led to the renaissance and improvements to the lantern helped to launch every time of great ideas before the light bulb was created. This includes the creation of the light bulb. Which was adopted as the way to show off an idea only five years after it was first invented. –BS.

Question of the Day:

Thomas Edison held this many US patents?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: the banjo

Question of the Day:

This music instrument originated in Africa and was only played by people of African decent until the 1800’s.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: ( OK, actually Friday’s, but we were at a wedding on the other side of the state yesterday.) Alex Haley, whose best known as the writer of “Roots”.

Question of the Day:

This author’s efforts to trace his family’s roots back to Africa became a best selling book and mini-series, that helped spread interest in genealogy.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who was eventually released from prison 22 years later. He has written two books on his life, one in prison and the other after his release. He was given an honorary championship title belt by the World Boxing Council in 1993. And he currently works with the Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted, the Southern Center for Human Rights, and the Alliance for Prison Justice.

Question of the Day:

This famous boxer was wrongly imprisoned for murder, sparking outrage and a song by Bob Dylan. (Which was played repeatingly threw out the movie on his life that stared Denzel Washington.)

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Philadelphia

Question of the Day:

In the mid 1800’s this large city was know as “The Black Capital of Anti-Slavery” because of its numerous anti-slavery groups.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: D: over 300, this list includes items as diverse as cheese, ink, soap and cosmetics. He also made 118 sweet potato products including rubber, ink and glue. Almost everything he invented he refused to patent, so that they could be freely used by others.

Question of the day

Multiple choice: How many products using peanuts did George Washington Carver invent or improve during his life? A: 0 (it’s really a myth) B: 54 C: 103 D: over 300

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Satchelmouth, referring to the size of his mouth. Other nicknames he had were Gatemouth, Dippermouth, Dip and Pops.

Question of the Day:

Louis Armstrong’s nickname, Satchmo was short for this.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: July 9, 1893 by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams the 1st African American Member of the American College of Surgeons.

Correction

On our “Answer to Yesterday’s Question” found on February 2nd we accidentally put in the wrong year for when Madam C.J. Walker was born. The correct year was 1867. Sorry for the incorrect information and thanks to the reader who pointed it out.

Question of the Day:

The 1st open heart surgery was performed when?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: a wrench, its US patent #1413121.

Quotes from Booker T. Washington

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.

Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.

One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else

Question of the Day:

Jack Johnson the 1st African American heavyweight champion also held a patent for improvements to this tool.

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Scooter III

Happy Groundhog Day!!!

Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day, we hope you enjoy all of the traditional Groundhog Day activities such as: complaining about how stupid this holiday is, insisting that the groundhog doesn’t care about the weather or inversely that they are in control of the weather, watching groundhog day films with your families, singing groundhog carols, living the same day over and over again until you get it right, making a snowman, drinking hot coco, and sleeping.

Question of the day

What was the real name of the groundhog who was in the movie “Groundhog Day”?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Madam C.J. Walker, who’s real name was Sarah Breedlove. She lived from 1876 to 1919 and was famous for inventing and selling hair care product designed for African Americans.

Check this out!

Check out our web editor's new blog, http://howisthatnew.blogspot.com/

Upcoming holidays:

Feb 1-28: African American History Month
Feb 1-28: international Friendship month
Feb 2: Groundhog Day
Feb 2: Candlemas/Purifacation Day
Feb 4: Super Sunday
Feb 11: Thomas Edison Day
Feb 11: World Marriage Day
Feb 12: Lincoln’s Birthday
Feb 14: Valentine’s Day
Feb 18: Chinese New Year
Feb 19: Presidents’ Day
Feb 20: Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday
Feb 21: Ash Wednesday
Feb 21- April 7: Lent
Mar 2: World Day of Prayer
Mar 3: Purim
Mar 3: Hina Matsuri
Mar 4: Lantern Festival
Mar 8: International Women’s Day
Mar 11: Daylight Saving Time Begins
Mar 14: Pi Day
Mar 15: Ides of March
Mar 17: St. Patrick’s Day
Mar 21: Spring Equinox
Mar 31: Mawlid al-Nabi
Mar 31: Lazarus Saturday

Question of the Day:

Who was America’s first female African American millionaire and when did she live?

Answer to Yesterday’s Question: Emancipation Day, which is in honor of the Compensated Emanancipation Act which freed slaves in D.C. on April 16th, 1862.