Pink Noise

I found SimplyNoise, a site that plays and allows you to download white noise, pink noise, and red/brown noise.

As a result, I also discovered the Wikipedia page for colors of noise, a concept of which I was not even aware, so hooray for learning.

I've been listening to white, pink, and red/brown noise all day, and I've concluded that I'm not a dude who benefits from having these background noises. I can feel my brain pick up speed after I turn the noise off, like turning off the AC in your car--you didn't even know it was a drag it isn't anymore.

But I understand other people are really helped by various colors of noise, so I'm glad they exist!

Empire of Animals

I ran across a bit about the ravens of the Tower of London, and how King Charles II ordered that there was to be at least six ravens at the Tower at all times, to forestall the fall of the British Kingdom.

Among all the peoples of the Earth, the British most enjoy taking nonsense seriously. So to this day, there is a full-time Raven Master among the guard at the Tower, and numerous raven understudies are kept in the wings lest tragedy befall the main six.

As I read this, it seemed like Britain had several of these superstitions. A couple quick searches netted:

The London Stone
This is the rock the Romans used to measure distances from throughout their British holdings. According to the BBC, the rock was mentioned in works by Shakespeare, William Blake, and Charles Dickens. The legend is that as long as the stone is safe, London will flourish.

The Barbary Apes of Gibraltar
These monkeys, or possibly apes -- macaques, whatever those are -- live on the rock of Gibraltar. It's said that if anything happens to these monkeys, Britain will lose control of Gibraltar. I've actually been there, and those monkeys don't seem all that politically savvy. I think Britain's put a lot on a longshot here.


Anybody know any other objects or animals that could lead to the downfall of the British empire? Mad cows? Simon Cowell?

Does It Include, Like, Taft?

I'm not going to work tomorrow, and I was lying in bed this morning thinking about that. About Presidents Day. Or Presidents' Day. Or President's Day.

Lots of people get off work, and it's a great time to buy a mattress. But what's the deal behind this holiday? When I was a kid, there was Washington's birthday and Lincoln's birthday, and around the time we decided to start honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. with his own holiday, one of these Rushmoric figures in the American pantheon got the boot. Is that fair?

Like I know anything about fair. But I have research, which is more interesting than fairness. The rest of this post is a synopsis of Wikipedia and Snopes, so pretend that I cited accurately. I've tried to avoid pure plagiarism.

Attempts to combine George and Abe's cake days started in the early '50s, well before MLK's martyrdom. Nixon is also said to have issued a proclamation to combine the two during his administration, but no one has found any record of it.

Instead, in 1971, a law was passed designating the third Monday in February as "Washington's Birthday," a holiday for federal employees. Apparently, the draft of the bill that became this particular law never got around to being changed from "Washington's Birthday" to "Presidents Day." Lincoln just gets the shaft.

But wait! Dig deeper, and you learn that Lincoln's birthday has never been a federally recognized holiday. It was a state recognized holiday in many states, which accounts for my stacatto Februaries in Tennessee.

But Congress could not have been moved to pass a bill to care less, and with the rising popularity of MLK in the 80s and 90s, most states ditched our grandest Civil Rights proponent for our sexiest.

Furthermore, since Washington was actually born on February 11 (1732), his birthdate can never be celebrated by the date formally set by the federal government (which falls somewhere between the 15th and the 21st). So, suck it George! Neither of you gets his birthday celebrated!

Finally, only the calendar makers call it Presidents Day, because no official source does. And none of the Hallmarkers can figure out if or where an apostrophe goes, so pick one you like and use it with impunity, because there's no standard!

As an occasional copy editor, I recommend no apostrophe. Because it's shorter.