Thursday, March 18, 2010

Odd Facts

I use the word facts in the title of today's post with some caution, because I haven't really confirmed that these items are actually facts. A fact is defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary as "a piece of information presented as having objective reality;" and by Faux News as, "something shouted loudly and frequently enough that credulous people will believe it in the absence of evidence or serious thought."

But that's not important now.

Here are a few interesting "facts" about some of the states, as culled from a list provided by my friend Bob:

Montpelier, Vermont, is the only state capitol which does not have a McDonald's restaurant. I think that's interesting. I observed many years ago that in order for a place to be officially recognized as an independent town in Texas, it had to have a Dairy Queen and a church...and if there were more than one of either, there would be two Dairy Queens.

The original emoticon, the "smiley" - :) - was first used in 1980 by computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Personally, I find the "frowny" - :-( - to be more useful nowadays, particularly when reporting on the antics of our elected reprehensives.

North Carolina is the home of the first Krispy Kreme donut shop. Police officers everywhere are thankful. First Lady Michelle Obama is seeking an obesity exorcist to drive the wonderful Krispy Kreme from the tables of the land.

The nation's oldest cattle ranch was established in 1747 in Montauk, New York. Somehow, you never hear about the big cattle drives of the Old West heading to Montauk rather than to someplace in Kansas or Texas...

And...

The town of Liberal, Kansas, has an exact replica of Dorothy's house from the classic film, The Wizard of Oz. It is a little known fact that Faux News commentators are unable to pronounce the name of this town without wincing.

That's all for today. Don't worry about whether or not any of these "facts" are true. Faux News wouldn't.

Time to walk the dog. And go to work.

Not, unfortunately, to enjoy a nice Krispy Kreme.

Sigh.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

6 comments:

Leslie David said...

Fun facts. No Krispy Kremes here either, although I don't think they're very good donuts. :-( :-)

Bandit said...

i wonder if Montpelier has a KK or a DQ?

BTW, I saw what you were doing with that sentence "But that's not important now."

Bilbo said...

Leslie - I don't care so much for Krispy Kremes either, unless you get them good and hot right out of the cooker...you have to know to watch for the sign outside the store to be lit up.

Thanks, Bandit...I didn't think anyone would ever pick up on that.

Mike said...

It's a fact that I'm not fond of KK. Now DQ, that's another story.

Wv: aumistag - Yes I am!

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Montpelier must have the barricades up when McDonalds appear!

The Mistress of the Dark said...

I only like the glazed Krispy Kremes. My favorite donuts are Tim Hortons.