Feb 7 2022 - Let's Play Ball - In a Bubble

 

Bubbles used to mean champagne for adults and blowing bubbles with soap in the back yard for kids.  And then the pandemic gave us a few additions.  Now it relates to pandemic techniques to minimize the spread of the disease by socializing  with a limited cluster of people outside your household.  And there are travel bubbles - agreements between two or more countries to open their borders for travel without strict quarantine.  And finally the biggest of them all - the Olympics Bubble underway right now in Beijing.  But there is another Bubble - the joy of Bubble Sports.  Here's how it works - we each get into a big plastic bubble that surrounds us from head to thighs, and then run around on a field and play soccer. This is a popular activity.  Here are a few rules meant for only this sport: Each player must be in a “Battle Ball” prior to stepping on the field.  The equipment shall be worn fully-inflated and over the shoulders with shoulder straps that are snug to ensure that the player is secured tightly inside the ball. Players must wear tennis shoes or turf shoes, soccer cleats will not be allowed.  Shin guards and kneepads are recommended but not required. No jewelry or other sharp objects may be worn during play or in the Battle Ball.  Glasses may be used, however will need to be worn with an eyewear retainer to keep them on the player at all times. And an interesting approach to gender in sport from one of the sites:  Every individual participating in a program may compete as a member of the gender that they identify with, regardless of their gender at birth. We expect all players to be respectful and honor the spirit of this policy. We are LGBTQIA+ friendly (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and other sexualities and gender identities/expressions).  This one's not getting to the Olympics any time soon. So how is it that I missed a sport like this for more than 10 years?  Bubble Soccer first made its debut in 2011 in Norway. Two friends - Henrik Elvestad and Johan Golden - started it as a joke and then video was released of them playing the sport.  It spread across social media platforms and became popular as a real activity.  I am looking forward to finding a Bubble Soccer team this summer and watching this bouncy game. A few more bubble sports are available: Bubble bowling - you are completely in a bubble and walk it to the life-size pins at the end of the bouncy pad Bubble Sumo - that seems self-evident to me Bubble water walking - it is actually called zorbing. Look at it HERE. You can buy your own bubble and join a team.  I expect you can just bounce around in your back yard - it looks like fun to be bouncing off of another bumper ball wearer.  One of the ads calls this a Giant Human Hamster Knocker Ball.  Prices vary from $30 to $700.   Today's picture is a Miltonia Orchid.  I guess I am missing the Orchid Show for another year,  as it normally occurs right around Valentine's week.  This plant was at Longwood Gardens a few years ago during their orchid festival.

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May 22 - Please the Fans Finale

The Elevator mystery is unsolved after almost 300 episodes, but the ding of its arrival is a completion for the Big Bang Theory. Once that door opened, the series was allowed to complete.  I had not realized that the most enduring question is Penny's surname.  It remains a mystery.  The show seemed to have a traditional set of resolutions, the highlight being Sheldon finding grace.   I saw part of an episode of the Lucy Show a few weeks ago. The finale of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour mirrored their real-life circumstances - Wikipedia says it wasn't intentional. In the show Lucy and Ricky were about to divorce and end the show. Edie Adams was the guest star and chose the song to sing without knowing the plot - "That's All".  It is considered prophetic. While the show's finale divorce didn't happen, their real-life divorce was final and they only reconciled many years later. Viewership of finales is very important. The BBT viewership 'grew' to 23.44 million viewers, up from the 18 million who watched it live.  This makes it the most watched non-sports series program of 2018-19.  But it falls far short of the most watched television series finales of all time: M*A*S*H // 1983. 105.9 million viewers Cheers // 1993. 80.4 million The Fugitive // 1967. 78 million Seinfeld // 1998. 76.3 million Friends // 2004. 52.5 Magnum, P.I. // 1988. 50.7 The Cosby Show // 1992. 44.4 All in the Family // 1979. 40.2 Family ties // 1989. 36.3  Home Improvement //1999. 35.5 million Can you imagine these numbers?  The M*A*S*H episode drew 77% of those watching televisions at the time. Only the 2010's Super Bowl XLIV had 106 million viewers. The Cheers episode was watched by between 80.4 million and 93.5 million, with the rise of cable television. We look at a Miltonia orchid today.  Also known as the Pansy Orchid.

Spring Ahead

Daylight Saving Time will begin tomorrow Sunday March 11 at 3:00am.  The question is regularly asked why don't we just stay with one timezone? The Washington Posts tells us that we like having later sunsets in the summer, and wouldn't be happy if the sun went down at 7:00pm. Who first conceived of DST?  It was Benjamin Franklin in the 1770s.  Many countries went onto DST during World War I, following Germany's lead. Then in 1918, time zones and daylight saving were established.  It got repealed in 1919, but continued to be recognized. In Canada, DST was first observed in 1908, and has been observed for 106 years. Saskatchewan, some locations in Quebec, and some areas of British Columbia don't use DST.   It is up to the legislation of each municipality in Canada to decide the use of DST.  Can you imagine how complicated this is?  So there are towns/cities such as Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson that do not follow the provincial norm.   Swedish researchers say there may be some health benefits to turning your clock back. They studied 20 years of records and found that the number of heart attacks dipped on the Monday after clocks moved back an hour. Moving clocks ahead in the spring had the opposite effect. There were more heart attacks in the week after springing forward — especially during the first three days of the week. Another milestone towards Spring will be achieved.  We moved into Spring on March 1st according to the meteorological clock.   The Miltonia orchid I bought at the RBG orchid Show is almost ready to bloom.  I can see it will be red, like this one.   It is known as the Pansy Orchid, and is beautifully fragrant.