Beans, beans, beans

The more you eat...
I just learned that Pythagoras promoted bean-eating abstinence. (Thanks for telling me this, Ben.) Or did he?

Evidently there's a passage about this directive in the book "Moby Dick". I didn't get the joke at the time (actually, didn't even remember it) but now I do.

What A Drag It Is...

Someone lost her DMV identification card today. We looked for it for an hour at the Library. I think I know how that flight steward felt...where's my escape chute?

Leggo My Lego

Buildings out of Legos at the Building Museum.
It would've looked better with King Kong.

October Comes In September (18th)

From the Internets:

Why is Oktoberfest in September?

The answer goes back to 1810 during the dark days of beer drinking before refridgeration (sic).

In those days in Germany beer would never be brewed in the summer months. The batches would never turn out good.

The last batches were usually made in March. These last batches would have higher alcohol content to take advantage of alcohol as a preservative.

Traditionally there would be a big fest starting on the last Saturday in September till the First Sunday in October. The purpose was to drink up the old stocks of beer to make room for the new brew that would be make after harvest. The tradition goes back to the 15th and 16th Centuries.

The first official Oktoberfest was held in 1810. Crown Prince Ludwig threw a big party to celebrate his wedding to Princess Therese on October 12, 1810. The party was open to all. Everyone liked it so much they kept having the party every year.

So now how shall I celebrate Oktoberfest on September 18th?
We'll make a pretzel.

Road to ...

I told Zed it was too far to walk home from Arizona but he didn't listen (2 weeks ago on my trip).
(Calling Zed,Zed, where are you? have you made it to NY?)

Ce qui embellit le désert, dit le petit prince, c'est qu'il cache un puits quelque part... from "Le Petit Prince"