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Aka October
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October, October, such a sly month. You'd certainly qualify for international espionage if you were known 'round the world by as many names as October is. Here's a sampling of what other countries know October as.
- A traditional Dutch name for October is Wijnmaand ("wine month") because the first wine grapes of the year have ripened. Wine making in Holland is oft overlooked due to the unstable weather conditions but wine making in the south of the Netherlands dates back to as early as 968, and flourished especially during the Roman Period.
- In Czech, October is called ríjen. The origin of this name is in the deer's belling (deer's call at mating time) in this month.
- In Finnish, October is called lokakuu, meaning "month of dirt and mud". The origins of this translation can be attributed to the harvest season as a time to work the earth and October is also a wet month in Finland, creating mud.
- In Scottish Gaelic, October is called an Damhar, meaning "rutting time" (of stags). Again, this relates to the mating season for deer. "Rutting" is defined as "having strong sexual desires during mating season."
- In Irish, October is called Deireadh Fómhair, meaning "end of harvest-time". Ireland's top agricultural crops are potatoes, barley, sugarbeets, hay, silage, and wheat.
- In Turkish, October is called Ekim, meaning "sowing" because of the sowing of wheat.
- In the old Japanese calendar, the month is called Kan'na dzuki, meaning "the absence of god".
What is Standard Time?
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Daylight saving time (DST) has oft confused hapless citizens the world over, but where did this confusion come from, and when will it end?
DST was officially implemented to save energy during the first and second world wars. Chaos reigned after it was repealed when some local municipalities continued to recognize DST on their own, forcing some travelers to change their watches five or six times within an hour! It wasn't until the 1960s that DST was standardized across the nation.
DST was temporarily lengthened during the 1970s energy crisis; and, once again, the U.S. government has changed the rules to save energy. In 2007 daylight saving time will begin on the second Sunday in March (3/11) and end the first Sunday in November (11/4).
DST officially ends this year on October 29.
Three Fast Costume Ideas
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Dressing up for Halloween doesn't have to be expensive. Here are three ideas that will work for children or adults!
1. Spa Princess
Since you probably don't want to spend several hours wearing facial masque, you'll need to buy some colored face paint. But otherwise, you might have everything else needed around the house. Dress yourself or your child in a terrycloth bathrobe, wrap a towel around the head in the shape of a turban, and secure it with safety pins. Carry a comb and mirror in the robe pocket and wear bedroom slippers. Optional accessories include an eye mask over the top front of the turban and fake nails and lashes. Use a gift bag or a makeup case or bag for trick-or-treating.
2. Nerd
A white shirt; dark pants that are too short; greasy, slicked-back hair; and dark-framed glasses are the classic nerd attire. Don't forget the plastic pocket protector and the tape around the glasses to make them appear broken. An adhesive bandage looks even nerdier than tape. Pants jacked up above the waist, shirttail out in the back, and a brown grocery bag for trick-or-treating complete the look.
3. Sports Star
If you have a uniform you have a costume. Dress for the game. Add tape with your or your child's name on the back of the shirt. Cleats, sweatbands, and whatever else is appropriate to the sport will complete the look. Add a little black greasepaint on the cheeks for authenticity. A sports equipment duffel bag will serve for collecting candy.
National Popcorn Poppin' Month!
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Light the stove. Bring out the corn kernels, oil, and heavy pan. Get the salt ready, plus any secret spice you like to add to the mix, because October is National Popcorn Poppin' month. Officially named so in 1999 by then-Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, October was chosen because of the Midwest corn harvest.
Did you know that people in the United States consume more than 17 billion quarts of popcorn every year? That means on average each man, woman, and child eats 54 quarts. It sounds like a lot of popcorn, but when you consider there are 365 days in a year and how often people go to the movie theater or watch movies on TV.it's not so surprising.
Why do so many of us associate popcorn with movies? Although during the 1920s, when movies first got their start, many theater owners refused to sell popcorn because they were worried about cleaning up the mess, patrons brought it in with them anyway, having purchased a bagful on the way to the movies from a street vendor. Soon ambitious theater owners were installing popcorn machines in their lobbies. While most food sales went down during the depression, popcorn sales went up. A $.05or $.10 bag of popcorn was one of the few luxuries a family could afford when they went out. Not only is popcorn a tasty snack but it's good for you, because it is a whole grain. Just don't add too much butter for flavoring. A cup of oil-popped corn has about 55 calories. If the corn is air popped it has only 31. But hey, who's counting calories? The air is crisp and popcorn tastes good when it's warm and fresh.
Columbus vs. Columbo
"Oh, there's just one more thing..." |
When it came to making discoveries, these gents were two of the best. Here's how they stack up against one another.
Hometown
Columbus: Genoa, Italy
Columbo: New York City
Edge: Columbo. If you can survive the streets of NYC, you can survive anywhere. Genoa-isn't that a salami?
Ride(s)
Columbus: Santa Maria, Nina, Pinta
Columbo: An old Peugeot 403
Edge: Columbus. A fleet of ships versus a p.o.s. car. Tough choice. Not!
When Not Making Discoveries...
Columbus: Mathematics (particularly navigational) and fundraising
Columbo: Pool, cooking, bowling, golf, and watching football
Edge: Columbo. He's a man's man, besides, the only math worth computing is the score at the end of the game.
Hottie In His Life
Columbus: Queen Isabella. Cold-hearted bitch turned him down for funding. Husband Ferdinand intervened.
Columbo: Mrs. Columbo, high school sweetheart and excellent bowler
Edge: Columbo. She's the ringer on league bowling night.
Theme Song
Columbus: "In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue . . ."
Columbus: "This Old Man Came Rolling Home" worked its way into almost every episode
Edge: Neither. Both are children's songs. How lame is that?
Greatest Discovery He's Credited With
Columbus: The Americas
Columbo: "Who done it" once a week or month, depending
Edge: Columbus. Finding exotic islands with exotic peoples and plenty o' gold beats finding murderers any day of the week.
And the wiener is . . . Columbo. Sure, he may not have discovered something as big as the Americas, but he made it onto TV, immortalizing his image forever!
Good Grief!
Left: Charlie Brown, ca. 1951; right: Charlie Brown today (©United Feature Syndicate, Inc.) |
It was October 2, 1950, when seven newspapers in the United States first introduced print's most lovable loser, Charlie Brown. A character inspired by cartoonist Charles Schultz's own life, Brown was a perpetual third grader dressed in a trademark oversized orange shirt with a horizontal black zigzag. However, when the strip first hit newspapers, Charlie donned a simple white T-shirt and shorts; the zigzag was added 2 months later. Not only was his appearance different but his personality was, too. The self-deprecating Charlie we know today was initially a little mischievous, good-natured, and perhaps envied by peripheral characters. Yet, he soon developed into discouraged, endearingly down-and-out Charlie who withstood tormenting from his oddly human-like beagle, Snoopy, and Lucy Van Pelt, older sister of his best friend, Linus . On January 3, 2000, Schultz announced his retirement from producing his 50-year-old classic comic strip. He passed away from colon cancer February 12 of that year, and the last Sunday Peanuts strip ran the following day. Peanuts was the most widely read comic strip in the world, with an audience of 355 million in 75 countries. It ran in 2600 newspapers and was published in 21 different languages.
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