And the Winner Is . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/simone-biles-gymnastics-video_5632b0e7e4b00aa54a4da1a8

This Kid is From "The Wire"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-is-what-it-feels-like-to-play-adeles-love-interest_562fdc3fe4b0c66bae59e8fb

Seal Jumps On Guy's Boat And Makes A Friend

STOMP makes basketball music with Harlem Globetrotters

Flying Beavers!

Some Emoticon History

From Slate - 

When people first started making faces with their keyboards, emoticons were perceived as a tool that would help clarify the tone of online texts. In 1982, Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor Scott Fahlman noticed a problem with the rudimentary online bulletin board his department used to share messages between students, faculty, and staff. Department members liked to make jokes on the forum, but the flat affect of the virtual environment sometimes made it hard to land a punch line. If “someone made a sarcastic remark, a few readers would fail to get the joke, and each of them would post a lengthy diatribe in response,” Fahlman later wrote of the board. “That would stir up more people with more responses, and soon the original thread of the discussion was buried.” On Sept. 19, 1982, Fahlman posted this message:

I propose … the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

:-(

Fahlman is widely credited with inventing the keyboard-rendered facial expression. But as his emoticons gained traction on early computer systems, they took on emotional lives of their own. The frown emoticon that Fahlman pitched to mark a serious post “quickly evolved into a marker for displeasure, frustration, or anger,” Fahlman wrote. “Within a few months, we started seeing the lists with dozens of ‘smilies’: open-mouthed surprise, person wearing glasses, Abraham Lincoln, Santa Claus, the pope, and so on,” each of which conjured a slightly different vibe when deployed in a new context. Fahlman had devised the emoticons to help clarify the meaning of online texts. But he soon realized that the meanings of emoticons themselves were highly subjective. And that was before we started communicating our feelings through endless combinations of tiny, colorful images—pouting cats, silly ghosts, and grinning piles of poo.

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/users/2015/10/emoticons_and_emojis_as_evidence_in_court.html

I Love Pumpkin!

Grandma’s Pumpkin Snack Cake

 

Print

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin

For the Frosting:

• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon milk

Find Delicious Holiday Dessert Recipes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, and beat at low speed until combined and the batter is smooth.
4. Spread batter into pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.
5. To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the sugar and milk and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread over cooled bars. Dust lightly with cinnamon, if desired.

As see on Pinterest -

Found on kitchenmeetsgirl.com

Oppressive Heat May Become Deadly Heat

From The New York Times -

By the end of this century, areas of the Persian Gulf could be hit by waves of heat and humidity so severe that simply being outside for several hours could threaten human life, according to a study published Monday. Because of humanity’s contribution to climate change, the authors wrote, some population centers in the Middle East “are likely to experience temperature levels that are intolerable to humans.”

The dangerously muggy summer conditions predicted for places near the warm waters of the gulf could overwhelm the ability of the human body to reduce its temperature through sweating and ventilation. That threatens anyone without air-conditioning, including the poor, but also those who work outdoors in professions like agriculture and construction.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/science/intolerable-heat-may-hit-the-middle-east-by-the-end-of-the-century.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Why Cuban cab drivers earn more than doctors

Fried Chicken

From Buzzfeed - 

Here’s A Mouthwatering Step-By-Step Guide To Making The Most Insanely Delicious Fried Chicken

http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/perfect-fried-chicken#.tneE9QpZq

Sachal Studios' Take Five Official Video

This Study Proves What We Already Know

From The New York Times - 

Who Is Searched, and Who Has Contraband 

In four states that best track stops, blacks were more likely to be searched with their consent than whites, even though the police found contraband less often. 

The chance black drivers or their cars were searched, 

compared with white drivers. 

POLICE AGENCIES

5.0x

Torrington, Conn.

2.9

New Haven

2.6

Conn. State Police

5.2

Equally likely for blacks and whites

Chicago

2.7

Springfield, Ill.

2.4

Hoffman Estates, Ill.

2.1

Illinois State Police

2.0

Aurora, Ill.

2.8

Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C.

2.7

Raleigh, N.C.

2.2

Greensboro, N.C.

1.6

Fayetteville, N.C.

1.5

N.C. State Highway Patrol

2.5

Rhode Island State Police 

The chance black drivers who were searched had contraband,

compared with white drivers.

0.8x

Torrington, Conn.

0.6

New Haven

0.7

Conn. State Police

Equally likely

0.7

Chicago

0.7

Springfield, Ill.

0.9

Hoffman Estates, Ill.

1.0

Illinois State Police

0.8

Aurora, Ill.

0.7

Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C.

0.9

Raleigh, N.C.

0.8

Greensboro, N.C.

0.9

Fayetteville, N.C.

0.8

N.C. State Highway Patrol

1.7

Rhode Island State Police

Of these jurisdictions, only the Rhode Island State Police found

contraband more often among blacks. 

The largest police agencies in four states with measurable consent searches are shown. Connecticut data from Dec. 2013 to Aug. 2015; Illinois, 2009-13; North Carolina, 2010 to April 2015; Rhode Island, Jan. 2013 to May 2014. 

Sources: States’ databases, compiled from local police agency reports 

By The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/us/racial-disparity-traffic-stops-driving-black.html?_r=0

He Was So Much More . . .

Than Just a Doorman



http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/fashion/when-the-doorman-is-your-main-man.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below

Menu Sense

From The Huffington Post - 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/restaurant-menu-tricks-psychology_5627ff66e4b08589ef4aabd6

Recycled Poop

From The Huffington Post - 

2. A bus powered by human poop runs in the U.K.

[JEROAM]/FLICKR

Britain's first "poop bus," an effort towards sustainable transportation, went into regular service this past March. The 40-seat "Bio-Bus" runs solely on biomethane gas, which is generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste. The bus can travel up to 186 miles on one tank of gas, which is equivalent to the waste produced annually by five people, according to the BBC. 

If the bus turns out to be successful, First West of England, which operates the bus, said it will consider introducing a fleet of "poo buses."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/weird-facts-that-are-true-we-swear_561e7e33e4b0c5a1ce616342?ir=Daily%2BBrief%253Fncid%253Dnewsltushpmg00000003

My Favorites

 From The Huffington Post -

33 Dads Who Have This Whole Dad Thing Nailed Down

Follow the link below to see the other 31.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/these-dads-rock_56269651e4b08589ef494f45?ir=Daily%2BBrief&ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

TOWER Revival

Tower Theater is a fitting location for the premiere of "All Things Must Pass," the Colin Hanks' documentary of the rise and fall of Tower Records, which began it's worldwide domination from its humble beginnings in Sacramento.  It all happens tonight at 7:30.

Wish I was there to see this.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article41221047.html#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter

James Baldwin on the Dick Cavett Show - 1968

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/james-baldwin-breaks-down-our-present-day-race-problem-in-1968_56279f68e4b08589ef49e665?utm_hp_ref=black-voices

“It was a cold, dark night . . .” Not with this.

True confession -

I've been ridiculed by folks (who shall remain nameless, but their initials are B & F) for my love of all things lighted - eyeglasses, baseball caps, etc.  I find them very useful.  Thank you very much.  And when they get my age, I'm guessing they will too.

Anyway, here's another lit up gizzy.

From The Grommet -



https://www.thegrommet.com/x-cap?utm_campaign=20151023&utm_content=25264&utm_medium=email&utm_source=CC&trk_msg=TPS28DJ2V3T4N5AIMJVJ46H88S&trk_contact=6PJ17299EJ5SLGM27119G0AQ7K

Not Surprised

That Texas = Crazy

~~~~~~~~~~

From Texas Monthly -

If you’re Norwegian or happen to spend a lot of time around Norwegians, then this fact that absolutely blew our minds might not be news to you—but apparently the word “Texas” is slang for “crazy” or “wild,” as in, “the end of the [whatever sport they play in Norway] game was totally Texas!” 


See more at: http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/yall-norwegians-use-the-word-texas-as-slang-to-mean-crazy/utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Vox%20Sentences%2010.22.15&utm_term=Vox%20Newsletter%20All#sthash.t2aDvu4q.dpuf