History Schmistory: January 31. Stick to the Plan.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
1930: 3m begins marketing “Scotch” tape. Introduces the world to Scotty McTape.
Funny Story: Scotch tape got its name from an angry customer, who complained that 3M was manufacturing its masking tape too cheaply, and told company engineer Richard Drew to, “take this tape back to your stingy Scotch bosses and tell them to put more adhesive on it.”
Culture Buzz: Shadows of their former selves…
Monday, January 30, 2012
These aren’t your mamma’s shadow puppets! Unless your mamma is a Javanese puppet master. The incredibly detailed puppets of Wayang Kulit, the ancient Indonesian brand of shadow theater, continue to enchant audiences to this day, bringing to life the magical stories of Hindu-Javanese folklore on a simple backlit cotton screen. Kulit means skin, and refers to the buffalo leather construction of the puppets that are painstakingly chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.
Got a sheet, a bright light and a buffalo? Then, by all means, TRY THIS AT HOME!
-Maybe use construction paper though 
Are You For Real?
Sunday, January 29, 2012
And you thought snowflakes under a microscope looked awesome. -Try SAND! Artist/Scientist Dr. Gary Greenberg shows us the beauty of the unseen world with his microscopic photos of grains of sand from around the world. Amazing!
Video Schmistory: January 29.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
What do Kansas, Mercedes Benz, Edgar Allan Poe and mad King George III all have in common? January 29th, silly!
History Schmistory: January 28. “Dear Horace, I just had a happy accident.”
Saturday, January 28, 2012
1754: The first use of the word “serendipity” in the English language is noted in a letter from Horace Walpole to Horace Mann. A letter between Horaces! Walpole said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of”. Mann convinced Walpole to truncate the fledgling term from the original; “Serendipity-doo-dah.”
History Schmistory: January 27. “Isn’t the world awesome! Let’s start a club!”
Friday, January 27, 2012
1888: The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. by a collective of 33 explorers and scientists. Their mission: “To increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world’s cultural, historical, and natural resources.” Later the group added, “and yellow rectangles!”
History Schmistory: January 26. Did you sea that?
Thursday, January 26, 2012
1911: Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane, executing a flawless landing, a feat that remains much more difficult than it looks.
GO THERE! Hope you like stairs!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
In central Burma, high atop Mount Popa, nestles the Popa Taungkalat Temple, a shrine to the 37 “Nats”, (spirits of the Burmese Buddhist faith.) It’s a popular place to check out during the full moon of Naylon, (May/June) when the Thingyan Festival is held.
Just be prepared; before ascending all 777 steps to the top, you will be asked to remove your socks and shoes. The Nats aren’t crazy about footwear. Also, don’t wear red. Or black. Or green. And definitely do NOT bring meat, especially pork. You don’t want to get the Nats all up in your face, do ya? Besides, the masses of local monkeys will harass you all the way up the mountain with that bacon in your pocket.
History Schmistory: January 25. She’s Baaaaaack!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
1890: Renowned journalist, Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in record time, beating Jules Verne’s prediction from his famous novel Around the World in 80 Days.
Before she set out, her goal was to complete the journey in 75 days. In their brief meeting, Jules Verne himself was quoted as saying “If you do it in 79 days, I shall applaud with both hands. But 75 days -mon Dieu- that would be a miracle.” Try 72, Jules! Phileas Fogg was a pansy! …That’s totally what she said when she got back
History Schmistory: January 24. The Mac Daddy.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
1984: The Apple Macintosh computer is unleashed into the world, and in less than 30 years, manages to drastically change it. We here at TMP stare at iMacs for hours daily, but tonight, to celebrate, we might just take them out to the Cheesecake Factory or something…
