Today is National Scrapbook Day.
I don’t really scrapbook. But I do collect random facts. You know, those things that happen in the Universe. The things that make you go, “Hmmm.”
So, if I had a scrapbook, I might paste some of these inside, with pictures and drawings of little mice. Probably.
Let’s turn the page and see what’s inside.
• A Canadian man ordered Brylcreem, a hair styling product, from a Canadian e-commerce site in 2012. He didn’t receive the package until 2020. A couple of things come to mind here. The first is that there are still people out there using Brylcreem. I checked Amazon this morning. It’s alive and well there. The second thing is the “eight-year wait.” It brings to mind the phrase, “Good things come to those who wait.” And then there is Brylcreem.
• Moving in a totally different direction. From the head to the stomach. We all know that familiar rumbling sound our stomachs make when we are hungry. It turns out it has a name. It is called “borborygmus.” It happens when the muscles in our digestive system move food, liquid, and gas through our stomachs and small intestines. That movement produces a rumbling sound. It’s pronounced: bore – bore – IG – miss. I’m going to start saying that out loud when my stomach grumbles. I’ll probably get some looks, though. Bore-bore-IG-miss.
• Speaking of things that make funny noises. Here is one. Disney World had its very own airport once upon a time. For small aircraft. It hasn’t been in use since the 1980s. But when it did? The airport had a runway featuring grooves, like rumble strips on the side of a highway. Those grooves played “When You Wish Upon a Star” when driven over at roughly 45 miles per hour. The airplane passengers were probably delighted, I’m sure. Jiminy!
• More notes on traveling. There is a dog named Bothie the Polar Dog. He is the only dog who has traveled to both the South and North Poles. He’s just a little Jack Russel Terrier. He went to both Poles with his owners, who were researchers. No other dog is expected to match Bothie’s achievement of visiting both poles. That’s because, in 1994, the Antarctic Treaty came about. That treaty forbids dogs from entering the Antarctic continent.
• Being in the cold of the Antarctic can be painful. I sure don’t want to go. But it wouldn’t make any difference to a woman named Jo Cameron. She has a rare genetic mutation that makes her unable to feel pain or anxiety. Zip. Nadda. I wonder what this would be like, not feeling any pain. She’s had numerous injuries throughout her life and has never needed painkillers. Or aspirin. Or a drink to calm her nerves.
• I bet Jo never enjoyed the pain of wasabi. Eating wasabi can really make your nose burn in a weird way. But it turns out that not many of us have eaten authentic wasabi. Genuine wasabi is rare and likely not even served in most high-end sushi restaurants. Apparently, the real deal is difficult to grow and takes approximately three years to mature. I’m not sure who gets the authentic stuff, but the rest of us are eating a blend of horseradish, mustard flour, cornstarch, and green food colorant. Like 97% of wasabi is fake.
•. I’ve seen that green paste make people cry. But here’s something. The saying “cried all the way to the bank” is attributed to Liberace. He famously wrote the phrase in a telegram. He had just won a libel suit against a reporter who had insinuated that he was homosexual. Oh, wait. Nonsense. Liberace a homosexual?
•. Since we’re on that topic. Same-sex behavior has been recorded in more than 1000 species in the animal kingdom. Yes indeed. This ranges between everything from beetles to penguins. All around the globe. From Australia to Hawaii. It was often seen as an example of Darwin’s paradox. These animals are partnering up even though their “loving” is non-reproductive. They are not contributing to the population of the species in the traditional sense. Go figure, Charles. Just a couple of good old girl koalas in love.
• Here is something else you should know about Hawaii. Hawaii was a sovereign self-governing kingdom up until 1893. Those islands were completely unassociated with the United States. That was, until an illegal coup d’état that year by 13 businessmen and 162 U.S. troops. Queen Liliʻuokalani ruled at the time. They made an openly stated goal of overtaking and annexing the islands. They succeeded. Big bullies. The U.S. added Hawaii as a state in 1959. The 50th state.
So there are the facts from the pages of my imaginary scrapbook that I don’t keep.
The book may not be there. But the facts remain on the timelines of Universal history.
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“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.”
— Frank Herbert
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“Intelligence is not the ability to store information, but to know where to find it.”
— Albert Einstein
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“And at the instant he knew, he ceased to know.”
― Jack London
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Scrappy facts. Cut and paste from the past.
