Tuesday, June 06, 2006
- Today is a very special once-in-a-lifetime day for some folks, when the month's a 6, the day is a 6, and the year is a 6 as well (we can conveniently forget that leading zero for now). Here at farkleberries, we hope you have one hell of a day - especially if you live in Hell, Michigan:
[AP] According to the town's semiofficial Web site, there are two leading theories about how Hell got its name.
The first holds that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schoene hell" -- roughly translated as, "So bright and beautiful." Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck.
The second holds that George Reeves was asked after Michigan gained statehood what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and reportedly replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell if you want to." The name became official on October 13, 1841. - By a nose, Washington, DC's city flag narrowly edged out Chicago's as America's Favorite Municipal Flag, according to the North American Vexillological Association's latest survey. Damn. Second City, again. Although, if truth be told, I think the "election" was rigged: Chicago's flag and DC's look awfully similar in theme and execution - if not color - but Chi-town's has a much nicer sense of balance.
- This morning, WBEZ 91.5FM Chicago Public Radio's Eight-Forty-Eight featured interviews on the significance of the "Number of the Beast" with a Loyola University Chicago theology professor (whose name I didn't catch - anyone have an idea?) and Magus Peter Gilmore, the current leader of the Church of Satan - which was founded by the late (1930-1997) Anton Szandor LaVey, born in Chicago on the very land where the John Hancock Tower stands today. Presumably there was some sort of building there when he was born, not just an empty lot.
- 6-6-06 is also a great day to meet up with old college buddies on Route 66. [Kansas City Star]
- You Will Listen To The Voice Of The Bean: Aussie researchers say drinking coffee makes you more cooperative and suggestible to opposing viewpoints. So that's why it's the Officially Sanctioned Drug of the Workplace. From New Scientist:
Moderate doses of caffeine can also make you more easily convinced by arguments that go against your beliefs, say Pearl Martin of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and her colleagues. In 2005, her team published a paper suggesting that the compound primes people to agree with statements that go against their typical views because it improves their ability to understand the reasoning behind the statements. [read full article]
farkleberries Links du Jour 151: The Oh Hell, Second City Again Edition
