Is that 9ty or 9tee?

How has written language evolved?  There was no formal learning of  words with letters and numbers together.  And yet, when personalized license plates became widely available, the creativity burst forth and all kinds of 'play-words' evolved to be seen on passing cars.  I took a look at Plates4Less: "We at Plates 4 Less love to get creative in looking for private number plates so that we can give your vehicle a splash of personality! Our expert search team have created this page especially for people looking for private number plates featuring the number 9. We have been as crafty as we can, trying out as many different combinations as possible to get the best matches available. We hope you find the masterpiece you’ve been looking for! " The plates4less search team.  What makes a license plate cost 33,000, 306,000 or 6,500 pounds?  Our brain has an innate ability to translate letters and numbers.  This is the title of a post at turnerink.co.uk "F1gur471v3ly 5p34k1ng? How your brain can read words made of numbers" Didn't that make you smile? At the Fun with Words site there are observations about numbers, as spelled out in English, as in "Eight is the first number alphabetically, zero is the last" or this: "Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice In Wonderland, once noted that "eleven plus two" and "twelve plus one" use the same letters and produce the same sum." To conclude, we look to letter and number humour on jokeomania.weebly.com: Why was the 6 sad? A: 7 8 9 What did the alphabet say when it fell down? A: I-M-O-K Which rock channel do they letters of the alphabet watch? A: M-T-V Where does Mr.Alphabet sit when he comes home from work? A: In his E-Z chair What kind of sale did the number store have A: 2-4-1 Which letter and number when put together mean victory? A: I-1 What monsters do you find in the haunted alphabet? A: Killer B's Which letters and what number tell you to be careful? A: B-4-WARNED! What to letters mean good-bye?  A: C-U

St. Louis Blue

What colour of blue would St.Louis Blue be?  I haven't found the answer yet, but did enjoy the wikipedia entry for the music. St. Louis blues is a type of blues music. It is usually more piano-based than other forms of the blues, and is closely related to the jump blues, ragtime and piano blues. It is sometimes performed to a "Saint Louis shuffle" beat; a drum rhythm with heavy on-the-beat accents. It can often be made up of a small number of singers, a pianist and a few other musical instruments (used primarily for rhythm) to make up a band, but it is also common for guitarists to take the lead, even to play parts normally played on piano. We're looking at abstracts created from the handicapped parking asphalt during a rest stop on the trip.  These are followed by more sunrise images from yesterday.

Rats and Mice - It's Your Day!

Encyclopedias used to be our way of tracking events, people, places, and everything of interest to us.  With this great expanse of the internet there are so many things that can be tracked for little cost.  Here's Wayne Geiger's Fun Facts and Daily Trivia. He tells us that today is: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Inauguration Day  Rat and Mouse Day National Hugging Day National New England Clam Chowder Day Squirrel Appreciation Day  National Disc Jockey Day, a day to appreciate radio disc jockeys (on the birthday of Wolfman Jack, born in 1938) National Granola Bar Day Don't you wonder how Rat and Mouse Day got started? The History of Fancy Rat and Mouse Day The American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association, a California-based non-profit club of rodent enthusiasts that sets breed standards, organizes shows, and helps to promote both the fancy rat and the fancy mouse as appealing pets, was formed in 1983. The AFRMA claim their main objective is to “promote and encourage the breeding and exhibition of fancy rats and mice for show and pets.” I found three different dates for Rat and Mouse Day and in the search read this headline:  'Rats could one day be bigger than cows, claim scientists'.

Cyber Song for Cyber Monday

I continued on the song theme today - so looked up cyber songs for Cyber Monday.  Here is the one that got my attention. THE BOOK In Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know, New York Times best-selling author P. W. Singer and noted cyber expert Allan Friedman team up to provide the kind of easy-to-read, yet deeply informative resource book that has been missing on this crucial issue of 21st century life. Written in a lively, accessible style, filled with engaging stories and illustrative anecdotes, the book is structured around the key question areas of cyberspace and its security: how it all works, why it all matters, and what can we do? Along the way, they take readers on a tour of the important (and entertaining) issues and characters of cybersecurity, from the “Anonymous” hacker group and the Stuxnet computer virus to the new cyber units of the Chinese and US militaries. Cybersecurity and CyberWar: What Everyone Needs to Know is the definitive account on the subject for us all, which comes not a moment too soon. SONG PLAYLIST If you are like us, sometimes you read a book, while also listening to music. Below is a recommended “playlist” for getting into the vibe of the book and its findings, with the certain lyric that resonated to the realm of cybersecurity and war. Guess which chapter and why! VISUAL SEELIST I thought the continuing rust theme an appropriate visual see-along.

Funny News of the Day

November is the time of year when we Canadians  need cheering up.  The days darken, winds blow, and we 'worry' about our first snowfall.  That's not the case in the U.S. as Thanksgiving is around the corner and there's a mad dash to get ready and then celebrate. So for us Canadians I looked up 'funny news' and got this headline: "Thieves steal a car with a child inside...so they drop him off at school" The other headlines come under the searching, stretching, and weird: "Hungry Gater Crashes Florida Picnic" "Couple Searches for Missing 200-Pound Tortoise" "Watch Otto the Bulldog Set Skateboard World Record" "A Tapework with Cancer Gave Its Tumors to Someone" "Ferocious Crocodiles to Guard Prison for Drug Convicts" Here's a triptych in the Sabi Story series.  A bit or urban grunge found in Toronto earlier in the year.

Red Sky Voting

We voted for red skies yesterday looking for a new sunrise and a final sunset. We have completed our election voting in Canada and have a new majority Liberal government.  Our first Trudeau government generated so much excitement it was named Trudeaumania in 1968. There is an energy line to his son for sure. We voted him to a majority government yesterday.  Did you know that there was a board game in the 1980's - a satire on Canadian politics?  It was named "True Dough Mania". The images today have a festive look - with the red skies of the Liberal party colours, and perhaps a nod towards Christmas with the green in with the red.