★~♥~~♥~~★~ El Morno! ♥~~★~★~♥~ ~
May 27, 2015

★~ Today’s Quote: “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” ― T.S. Eliot

★~ Sunscreen Day:

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: putting on sunscreen and avoiding too much direct sunlight are important in preventing skin damage, signs of aging and cancer.

But this wasn’t always a given. Although in many cultures people used to cover their bodies with oils, extracts, hats and clothing when venturing into the sun, people once thought that the sun’s heat, rather than its radiation, caused the painful redness of sunburns.

One of the first experiments showing that something other than heat burns the skin was done by Sir Everard Home, an English physician, in 1820. Home exposed one of his hands to the sun, while covering the other with a black cloth. Only the exposed hand got sunburnt, but a thermometer showed the temperature around the covered hand was a few degrees higher.

Later, in 1889, Johan Widmark proved that it was mainly the ultraviolet rays, rather than luminous rays, that caused the redness of sunburned skin. His findings preceded the first medical recommendations of protection against sunlight, advice that we are encouraged to still follow.

Sunscreens have since been evolving — from pastes to creams, to lotions and sprays, and perhaps someday a pill. Today’s gallimaufry (below) will fascinate you with more sunscreen facts.

★~ Grape Popsicle Day;

Little Frank Epperson was just eleven years old when he made a soft drink one winter night in 1905 by mixing soda water powder and water, a popular concoction at the time. He left a stirring stick in it and mistakenly left it on the porch overnight. The next morning, Frank found the concoction frozen to the stick, tasted it, and showed it to friends. Eighteen years later, in 1923, he applied for a patent on his “frozen ice on a stick.” He decided to call the novelty the Eppsicle ice pop and began producing the frozen treat in several different flavors. A father by then, his children had begun referring to the Eppsicle as the Popsicle. That name has stuck.  Today is called Grape Popsicle Day because that was the first flavor Frank Eppsicle made, but you can celebrate Popsicle Day with your favorite flavor!

~ Two billion Popsicle are sold annually.

~ Cherry is the No. 1 Popsicle flavor

~ The twin popsicle was invented during the great depressions, so two children could share one popsicle for just a nickel

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1790 – In England 19-year-old heir Jeremiah Carlton went to bed and stayed  in bed for 70 years just because he wanted to. More than 40 servants fed and bathed him until he died in bed at age 89. Odd.

♥~ 1930- Richard Drew patented cellophane tape.

♥~ 1933 – Walt Disney’s Oscar-winning animated short “The Three Little Pigs” was first released.

♥~ 1937 – Ceremonies marking the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge were held in San Francisco, CA. The bridge has been called one of the greatest engineering marvels in the world.

♥~ 1957 – That’ll be the Day, by The Crickets and featuring Buddy Holly, was released by Brunswick Records. On September 14th, the tune became the most popular record in the U.S. It was the first hit for Holly and his group after two previous releases went nowhere on Decca Records in 1956.

♥~ 1999 –  The restoration of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci went on display in Milan, Italy. The restoration, in the refectory of the Milanese Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, took 22 years to complete.

★~ Born Today:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/vWwgrjjIMXA[/youtube]

♥~ 1837 – Wild Bill (James Butler) Hickok U.S. Marshall, frontiersman, army scout, gambler, legendary marksman; shot [from behind] and killed Aug 2, 1876 while playing poker holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights [known since as the ‘dead man’s hand’]

♥~ 1935 – Lee Ann Meriwether- Miss America [1955]; actress: Barnaby Jones, Batman

♥~ 1936 – Lou Gossett Jr. Academy Award-winning actor: An Officer and a Gentleman [1982]; Emmy Award winner: Roots-Part Two [1977]; Sadat, Enemy Mine, Iron Eagle series

♥~ 1955 – Richard Schiff actor: The West Wing, The Bodyguard, Hoffa, Ghost in the Machine, The Hudsucker Proxy, Volcano, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Pentagon Wars, Deep Impact, Crazy in Alabama, Forces of Nature

♥~ 1961 – Cathy Silvers actress: Happy Days; Phil Silvers’ daughter

♥~1963 –  The album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was released by Columbia. Establishing Dylan as a leader in the singer-songwriter genre and a supposed spokesman for the youth-orientated protest movement, it reached No.22 in the US charts and No.1 in the UK charts. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan showcased Dylan’s songwriting talent for the first time and propelled him to national and international fame.

♥~ 1965 – Todd Bridges actor: Diff’rent Strokes, Fish, Home Boys, Twice Dead

 ★~ Sunscreen Gallimaufry:

My teen and I spotted this guy in Wrigleyville-Chicago yesterday and my first thought was -Sheesh I hope he is wearing sun screen! And look at those ODD socks!

♥~ Apart from umbrellas and hats, ancient cultures used a variety of sunscreens made from herbal extracts or mineral crusts to protect against the sun’s rays. These early sunscreens included ingredients like rice bran oil, iron, clay and tar. In more contemporary times, sunscreens were developed from horse chestnut extracts in the 1910s. This pasty sunscreen was sold under the name of Zeozon. In the 1930s, Ambre Solaire was introduced, an oily sunscreen that was easier to apply to the skin.

♥~ Sunscreens have  been subject to “Top Secret” military research. In the 1940s, the U.S. Army and Air Force asked the American Medical Association for advice about the most effective sunscreen for soldiers. Researchers examined the effectiveness of 12 compounds and concluded that red veterinary petrolatum can be an effective, waterproof sunscreen.

♥~ One of biggest steps in sunscreen’s development has been the transition from the white paste of early sunscreens to an almost invisible cream. In older sunscreens, the light-reflecting compounds could appear white because they were not small enough. With nanotechnology, however, ingredients such as titanium dioxide are turned into small, invisible particles.

♥~ Sunscreens can be made of two types of ingredients: inorganic particles, such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, or organic components, such as herbal extracts or compounds like oxybenzone. The particles in sunscreens provide physical protection against UV rays by blocking or reflecting sunlight. Organic components absorb UV rays and release their energy as heat, providing chemical protection. Most sunscreens today have both types of ingredients.

♥~ The concept of sun protection factor (SPF) was introduced in the 1960s. SPF indicates how long a sunscreen protects the skin. Physicians recommend SPF 15 and SPF 30. Higher SPFs may not actually provide longer hours of protection, because the cream is usually washed off or absorbed after two hours.

♥~ The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against UV-A and UV-B rays, and has an SPF of at least 15. People should check the expiration date, because some sunscreen ingredients might degrade over time or develop bacterial growth.

♥~ People with oily skin or those who are prone to acne can use a water-based sunscreen. People with sensitive skin need to avoid buying sunscreen containing the compound  para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA).

♥~The FDA warns against sunscreen for babies younger than 6 months old  Instead, babies should be placed in shady areas and/or properly shielded from the sun with clothing including a hat.

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We made our first batch of homemade lemonade this past weekend so I can announce Summer has arrived. Time to declutter.  A friend introduced me to an inspiring book to help me start.   The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Hardcover – by Marie Kondo. The basic advice: all your stuff should “spark joy” in your life. Kondo has a great solution for the hard to dump purchases that spark guilt instead of  joy (bad purchases, gifts) she suggests thanking the item for their service—or for teaching us that pink isn’t our color—before letting them go. Try it. I found it really does work. Kondo also admonishes us to be kind to our socks – ” “Never, ever ball up your socks,” she writes. “They take a brutal beating in their daily work… The time they spend in your drawer is their only chance to rest.” Fold over don’t ball up. Donate. Don’t pass off cast-away’s to friends or family members unless you are sure the item suits them.

Good to catch up.  Life is full, exciting, frustrating, and our projects far exceed the number of hours in any day. Is your summer starting to sizzle?

Odd Loves Company,

 

Top Photo: Susie Cutie, a fabulous deerhound. She sparks joy everywhere she goes and she goes really FAST.