What Would Jimmy Do?

You’re probably thinking that it’s about time we get off this subject of time — so here’s one last one for a while….

Coincidentally, this question came up the other day around the time of the full moon — the question was what time is it on the Moon? 
We know that here on Earth, our day is divided into 24 hours — based on a complete rotation around the Sun. But in space, things change and we use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC.)

There are many ways to define the “time” at a particular location. Here on Earth our ‘regular’ system (“solar time”) is defined by the motion of the Sun in the sky, although we usually keep track of time with an atomic clock. This means that the local time depends on where you are on Earth and we get around this complication by having many different time zones. 

Now, we could also define a similar time system based on the motion of the Sun as seen from the Moon. Such a system exists (Lunar Standard Time) but it turns out to be not much more than an interesting exercise in physics. 

There is another time that is more useful — a definition of time that doesn’t vary with location. This is called Universal Time (UT) and is a modern version of Greenwich Mean Time. It is the same everywhere in the Universe. So fundamentally, and ignoring the complications of Einstein’s Special Relativity, it’s the same time on the Moon as it is here on Earth.
— 30 —

Yesterday I talked about 20 August being World Mosquito Day. If you read yesterday’s entry, you’ll remember that some authorities think the mosquito is the most dangerous animal on Earth. Well, I just read a USA Today article that confirms that may be the case….

The animals that roam the Earth aren’t always the most peaceful — especially those that we categorize as “wild” animals. According to a study done by Utah State University’s Department of Wildland Resources, over 47,000 people in the United States seek medical attention after being attacked or bitten by wildlife every year. 

So what’s the one animal that outranks all others in terms of danger? Of course, if you read yesterday’s blog, you already know the answer, but for the others, mosquitos are the deadliest animals in the world, killing an estimated 750,000 to 1 million humans yearly. Mosquitos can carry lethal diseases like malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus and Zika virus — and — there are 110 trillion mosquitoes on the planet — 16,000 mosquitoes for every one person. 
So there you have it…. and you may havre read it here on “What Would Jimmy Do?” first — watch out for the mosquitoes. 

For the sake of completeness, I should pass along that the most aggressive animal in the world is the Nile crocodile — mostly because it considers humans a “regular part of its diet.” At least a Nile crocodile is a little easer to spot than a mosquito — they weigh up to 1,650 pounds. Fire ants and hippos make up the second and third spots on the list of aggressive animals.
Be safe — it’s a dangerous world out there….
— 30 —

I’ve heard it said that every dog has his day, but believe it or not, today is World Mosquito Day! Now, I like dogs, and if it was World Dog Day, I’d be completely alright with that — but mosquitoes? I don’t think these annoying little creatures deserve their own day.

Ok — I not only revealed some of my boundless ignorance, but I over-reacted. Today is World Mosquito Day, but it’s not intended to honor the mosquito, like I first assumed. 
Thank goodness for my extensive research skills — here’s what I found out. 

World Mosquito Day takes place on August 20 every year and is a commemoration of British doctor Sir Ronald Ross’s discovery, in 1897, that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans. Ross is responsible for the annual observance, having declared shortly after his discovery that the day should be known as World Mosquito Day in the future. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine holds Mosquito Day celebrations every year, including events such as parties and exhibitions — a tradition dating back to the early 1930s.

The name mosquito comes from a Spanish word meaning “little fly.” Basically, mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, similar to bees. Most people think that mosquitoes bite humans because they need to feed on human blood — but that’s not true. Female mosquitoes suck blood in order to help with the development of their eggs prior to laying them. Male mosquitoes don’t feed on blood at all.

Even though mosquitoes do play an important role in the ecosystem because they serve as a food source for many organisms, they are dangerous because of their ability to carry and transmit diseases. In fact, some authorities argue that mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals on Earth.

One of the diseases that mosquitoes are known to transmit is malaria — I don’t know if I got it from a mosquito, but I caught malaria in the 1960s while working in Africa. I don’t remember much about the disease, but I remember that I wasn’t able to donate blood for quit a few years. I’ve heard that even today, malaria kills over half a million people every year. Ross’s discovery revolutionized our understanding of the disease and led to increased awareness about malaria prevention. 

Alaska is noted for their mosquitoes — a few years ago, while visiting there, a park ranger told us that there wasn’t a single mosquito in the whole park….. they were all married.
So I guess I’m alright with a World Mosquito Day — maybe it would be better to name it Dr. Ross Day, but that’s not my call…. have a nice World Mosquito Day.
— 30 —

I got busy yesterday cutting grass and didn’t get around to mentioning that August 17 is a very special day in Indonesia.
Back in the 1970s, one August 17th I was in Jakarta, Indonesia — it’s easy to remember that day, because it was Indonesia Independence Day. On August 17, 1945 a group of nationalists declared Indonesia’s independence from the Netherlands. The day was designated a national holiday by government decree in 1946.

Indonesia had been under Dutch colonial rule for over 300 years until its independence was declared in 1945. The struggle didn’t end with the declaration of independence —the struggle for their freedom and liberation took four more years of turmoil and diplomacy before Queen Juliana of the Netherlands formally granted Indonesia her independence. 

I remember Independence Day in Jakarta being a huge celebration. Buildings were decorated with large red and white banners. Today, the stores all offer special Independence Day discounts. 
The Constitution of Indonesia recommends every Indonesian fly the national flag in front of houses, office buildings, schools and public institutions throughout the country on Independence Day. Diplomatic offices abroad are requested to fly the national flag on August 17 to commemorate the national holiday. At 7 A.M. local time on August 17, cities and regencies throughout Indonesia hoist the national flag in a ceremony held at their respective city halls. 

Indonesia was formerly known as the Dutch East Indies, and  is comprised of over 17,000 islands, making it the largest island nation in the world.
The Grasberg mine in West Papua, Indonesia, is the biggest gold reserve in the world, and — the second biggest copper reserve. 
Even though “Bahasa Indonesia” is Indonesia’s official language, there are more than 700 other languages and dialects spoken throughout the islands.
Indonesia’s motto, “Bhinneka Tunggal lka” means “Unity in Diversity.”
Happy (belated) Independence Day.
— 30 —

One of our neighbor’s sons and his girlfriend are getting married soon. Of course they’re busy preparing for all the festivities and a few days ago, they went to Costco in Washington, D.C. to purchase all the things they needed to stock the “bar” for the reception. They went there because Costco doesn’t sell booze in Maryland or Virginia, and the prices were much cheaper. 

That got me to thinking about when I first moved to the Washington area — I lived in Virginia and at the time ( the 1960s) the state had “blue laws.” You couldn’t go to a restaurant and order a drink and any alcohol, or “spirits” had to be purchased at a store owned and operated by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Authority. These ABC stores were closed on Sundays and election days, operated on fairly restricted hours and were generally not a particularly friendly place to do business.

So because of that, most everyone I knew bought their liquor in the district (Washington, D.C.) If you were having a Christmas party, or any kind of a party for that matter, a trip to D.C. was a must. Most everyone that I knew usually went to Calvert Liquors, located on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown. It was easy to get to — just go across the Key Bridge and you were practically there, and their selections and prices couldn’t be beat. 

I mentioned about going to Calvert’s “back in the day” and, not surprisingly, they had never heard of it. Of course that’s the way life and the world is — it changes. 
If Austin and Abby were getting married 50 years ago, they’d have gone to Calvert Liquors.
— 30 —

I mentioned a while back that it seems like every month has at least one day devoted to some kind of booze. Today, 16 August, is National Rum Day. A friend of ours always drank Meyers dark rum — never mixed it with anything, just drank it straight. In Vietnam, after things settled down a bit after Tet, we sometimes got Saturday or Sunday afternoon “off,” and we started a tradition of going to one of our houses and making huge pitchers of Daiquiris. Our maids usually made lots and lots of chà ciò (Vietnamese spring rolls, or more accurately, “pork rolls.”) It was something we looked forward to when we got some down-time on those Saturdays or Sundays. And rum and coke is usually one of the first “mixed drinks” people try when they become drinking age…

But today is National Rum Day, so it’s only proper that it get an entry in my blog…. when we think of rum, we tend to think of the Caribbean, but it’s actually a very international spirit.

We know that rum is an alcoholic beverage and pirates like rum, but what exactly is rum, and what makes rum —rum?  Rum is an alcohol distilled from byproducts of sugarcane. Some varieties are made from molasses, others from sugarcane juice, but all rum, after it’s distilled, is clear. The color you see in some rum is from additives or seasonings. 

Rum was first created in the Caribbean after it was discovered that molasses could be fermented into alcohol. It turns out that it was the slaves who made the discovery — but it was the Colonials who discovered how to distill it into “true” rum. 
Sugarcane, the crop from which rum is produced, was actually domesticated in New Guinea as far back as 8000 BC, and there is evidence to suggest that some kind of sugarcane spirit was produced in India sometime around 300 AD. Sugarcane wasn’t imported to the Caribbean until much later — probably in the mid-16th century, and then rum production exploded and made the Caribbean both the “practical and spiritual home for rum production.”
People think that because rum is made from byproducts of sugarcane that the final product is loaded with sugar, but after the distillation process, rum has just about the same amount of sugar as any other spirit.

There’s a saying that “wine is fine, but liquor is quicker.” I suppose that applies to rum, and I’ve heard that the best ideas come while sipping rum. The best rum slogan that I remember was a sign behind a bar in Bangkok — it read, “Have a glass of rum and see what you’ll become.” Good advice for National Rum Day.
— 30 —

We have some new residents in our neighborhood — they moved here from Leesburg, but their nationality  is Indian. So I thought a fitting topic for today would be India and it’s independence. In fact, today is the National Day of India — Indian Independence Day — always celebrated on August 15th. In India, it’s also known as “I-Day” — a public holiday that marks the date, in 1947, when India became an independent country. India’s Independence Day is a “dry” day in India — the sale of alcohol is not permitted. 

By the 19th century, Great Britain had become the dominant political power on the subcontinent and India was seen as the “Jewel in the Crown” of the British Empire. The British Indian Army played a vital role in both World Wars. Years of nonviolent resistance to British rule, led by Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, eventually resulted in Indian independence in 1947. 
The Indian Independence Bill, which carves out the independent nations of India and Pakistan went into force at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947. The long-awaited agreement ended 200 years of British rule. 

The Indian national flag is a horizontal tricolor of saffron, white and green. A chakra, or wheel, is in the center of the flag. The color saffron represents courage, sacrifice and renunciation, the white denotes truth and purity and the green stands for life, faith and chivalry. The wheel symbolizes unceasing motion and progress. The flag was approved on July 22nd 1947 and presented to the Indian nation on August 15th 1947.
Happy Independence Day to our Indian friends….
— 30 —

Fifty-one years ago, yesterday, Claire and I went on our first official date — we went to see Blood, Sweat and Tears in a bordering state (Maryland.) Yesterday, Claire and I attended Newsies, a musical in a bordering state (Virginia.)
The performance we attended was in Leesburg and was a Disney production of the Tony Award-winning musical Newsies — based on the 1992 musical film Newsies, which was inspired by the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City.

The production was very well done and well attended… all the actors were very talented. Of course we all know who the real star of the show was — Emily Gifford…. who, just happens to be our granddaughter. She did great!!! Wonder if she’ll get her own apartment when she moves on to broadway….. 
— 30 —

I’ve mentioned it in past years, but August 13 is kind of a special day around here. Both you faithful readers know that August 13 was the day we went on our first official date and August 13 is also my dad’s birthday. 

My dad was born in 1908, so today would have been his 114th birthday…. our first date was in 1971, so today marks 51 years since we first went out.

Happy birthday to my dad and happy “anniversary” to us — a special day indeed.
— 30 —

Like I say every year about this time — are you ready for some football? The NFL pre-season starts this weekend. I always look forward to football season, even thought I don’t like the fact that summer is ending, and the fact that the NFL has become so political the past few years, I have to say I’m not as big a fan as I was some years ago. 

One big question mark hanging over the upcoming season is the Deshaun Watson suspension over the multiple sexual-abuse allegation against him — will the suspension be more than six games? Will he beat the rap? I guess this falls into the news category, but it certainly detracts from the game of football…

Like every year, some thing will be different this year. The Arizona Cardinals will try to become the third NFL team to win a Super Bowl at their home stadium. The Rams (last year) and the Buccaneers (2020) are the only two to have accomplished that so far.
Tom Brady needs 2,431 more yards to become the first NFL play to amass 100,000 career passing yards.
With 321 wins, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick needs four more to surpass the legendary George Halas who currently holds the record for most victories across the regular season and the playoffs.
This year, Thursday Night Football will be broadcast in the US exclusively on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.
According to the latest NFL rules, each game must have 36 approved footballs available.
A football game is divided into four 15-minute quarters, but the typical game takes 3 hours and 12 minutes to finish.

The NFL has altered its rules to ensure both teams get at least one possession if a playoff game goes into overtime. If the score remains even after each team has had the ball, the result will be decided by sudden death. This will be the second regular season in the history of the NFL with 17 games, and 18 weeks.
If the Chiefs win 10 games or more in the regular season, Andy Reid will surpass Tom Landry’s record of 16 seasons with at least 10 victories.
This year, three NFL games will be played in London, one in Mexico City and, for the first time, one in Munich.
Last season, the NFL accrued $11 billion dollars in revenue. Each organization received $343 million.

We’re into the pre-season with the regular, 103rd season, scheduled to begin on September 8. The regular season will end on January 8, 2023, with the playoffs scheduled to start on January 14. Super Bowl LVII will be held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on February 12.
And the “new” team this year will be the former Washington Redskins, now re-appearing (after two seasons with a “placeholder” name) as the Washington Commanders.
So whether you’re ready for some football or not — it’s here.
— 30 —