Friday Blog

On December 24, 2024, Bill Thilly, a renowned professor of toxicology passed away at age 79. Thilly received Bachelor’s and Doctorate degrees from MIT in the early 1970s. He captained MIT’s rugby team and found time to co-found the New England Rugby Football Union. He was acclaimed for his research into the origins of disease-causing mutations in humans. MIT’s Thilly Laboratory is named in his honor. In addition to his important scientific accomplishments, Thilly leaves a legacy with the masses because he is the inventor of Apple Jacks cereal. In 1965, Bill was working as a college intern at Kelloggs Headquarters  when a food experiment exploded and covered an entire laboratory with liquid cheese. Thilly led an after-hours clean-up of the lab. His bosses were so impressed with Bill’s initiative that they gave him free reign to create his own product. Thilly, who was raised on a farm, began working on an apple-centric creation. He added cinnamon and dried apple to an O-shaped cereal that had been discontinued. Applejacks was born.   Since I am not qualified to write about 95% of the subjects to which the accomplished professor dedicated his life, let’s talk about breakfast cereals: In 1876, John Harvey Kellogg became the superintendent of Michigan’s Battle Creek Sanitorium.  Kellogg combined his Seventh Day Adventist beliefs with his scientific knowledge to promote healthy living at the wellness facility. In 1894, Kellogg and his associates invented Corn Flakes. Kellogg passionately promoted the cereal because he believed the bland concoction would reduce people’s carnal desires. John’s brother William didn’t care about the virtuous qualities of the cereal. William founded the Kellogg Co.to sell corn flakes to the populace and much to the chagrin of John Kellogg, added sugar to the recipe. The company developed another best-selling ready to eat cereal: Granola. James Caleb Jackson had invented granola in 1863 but the product needed to be soaked in water before consumption. The Kelloggs’ version was much more convenient. Charles Post spent time at Kellogg’s headquarters and became inspired to launch Grape-nuts cereal in 1898,. Curiously his bland creation does not contain any grapes or nuts. The saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” was coined in 1944 to sell more Grape Nuts. A 2021 study indicated that the number one selling cereal was Cheerios (139 million Boxes).  Honey Nut Cheerios was a close second. The other three cereals that sold more than 100 million boxes annually were Frosted Flakes, Honey Bunches of Oats and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Rounding out the top ten were Foot Loops, Lucky Charms, Frosted Mini-Wheats and Life. Less popular choices were Apple Jacks (41M boxes) and Corn Flakes (31 M boxes). What’s Healthy? If you are on a healthy eating kick, you should avoid Apple Jacks. The cereal is bursting with sugar and contains less than one gram of fiber. You might as well go with that chocolate donut. The great website “Eat This Not That” lists their top ten healthy cereals including: Cheerios – just two grams of added sugar per serving and more fiber than most brands.  Quaker Oatmeal Squares- Very tasty and contain five grams of fiber and six grams of protein per cup.   Post Shredded Wheat – 100% whole grain with zero sodium or sugar – also contain eight grams of fiber and seven grams of protein per serving   Centenarians Know Best I devoted a chapter in my book, “Get Smarter- Be Amazed” to “Health Secrets of Centenarians” (people who have reached 100 years old). Common themes among the group include the importance of positive mental attitude, daily routines, and adaptability. Their advice on diet is all over the map but one food was cited by centenarians over all others – Oatmeal.  The cereal is high in fiber and antioxidants. One study found that every ten grams of fiber added to your daily diet can reduce one’s risk of premature death by 11%. Men’s Health Magazine highly recommends” Bob’s Red Mill Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats”. Terry and I heartily agree – just make sure to buy the quick cooking version. Have a Happy and Healthy New Year.

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December 21st would have been the 79th  birthday of Carl Wilson, lead guitarist for The Beachboys. Carl was instrumental to the group’s early success with his backup harmonies and Chuck Berry influenced strumming. He later sang lead on the seminal Beachboys songs “God Only Knows” and “Good Vibrations”. After his older brother Brian left the group, Carl became the leader. Tragically, Carl died of cancer at the age of 51 but thankfully left us with many great memories. In honor of Carl, let’s explore a very interesting aspects of 1960s music: The synergistic relationship between The Beachboys and The Beatles. Most rock fans assume that the Rolling Stones were the Beatle’s chief competitor, but the Beatles identified their most significant competitor as The Beachboys. The California band became popular in the early sixties with upbeat surfing and car songs including “Surfin U.S.A.” and “Little Deuce Coupe”. The group combined Chuck Berry type rhythms with doo-wop harmonies. Meanwhile The Beatles were delighting Europeans with hits like “Please Please Me” and “Twist and Shout”.  In 1964, The Beatles topped the U.S. charts with “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and then triumphally appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.” They immediately caught Beachboys’ leader, Brian Wilson’s attention: “It was like a shock went through my system. I immediately knew that everything had changed.” Brian had already grown tired of The Beach Boys’ schtick and wanted to explore new frontiers. He brought in Phil Spector’s accomplished studio musicians and soon recorded the Beachboys’ first Number One hit “I Get Around.” It was Brian’s most ambitious composition yet with multi-layered arrangements and complex harmonies. Meanwhile, The Beatles began their evolution after a 1964 meeting with Bob Dylan in New York.  Dylan’s influence can be seen in the 1964 “Beatles for Sale” album with songs like “I’m A Loser,” and “Every Little Thing”.   When The Beatles released “Rubber Soul”, rock music was forever changed. Before “Rubber Soul”, albums typically contained many filler songs to help groups sell albums rather than singles. When Brian Wilson heard “Rubber Soul”, he observed the album “went together like no album ever made before”. Later, Brian remarked, “Rubber Soul is probably the greatest record ever,” “[It] came out in December of 1965 and sent me right to the piano bench” The song that resulted from Brian’s trip to his piano was “God Only Knows” which Paul McCartney later called his favorite song of all time. Five months later, “Pet Sounds” was released and included tracks such as ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ and the aforementioned “God Only Knows”. McCartney said, “Pet Sounds” blew me out of the water”. Within three months, The Beatles responded by releasing ‘Revolver’ ‘which featured  sophisticated lyrics and classical string arrangements. McCartney admitted that Revolver’s “Here, There and Everywhere,” was directly inspired by “Pet Sounds”. Two months later, in October 1966, The Beachboys released Brian’s highly ambitious single “Good Vibrations.” It had taken an astounding seven months to produce the complex epic.   The following Spring, the future of the Beachboys took a fateful turn. Brian was struggling to complete his group’s’ “Smile” album” when his mental health issues became intolerable. While driving under the influence of drugs, Brian heard the Beatle’s newly released ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ Brian thought ‘They did it already – what I wanted to do with “Smile”. He decided he couldn’t compete with ‘Strawberry Fields “and abandoned “Smile”.  Brian never attempted anything that ambitious again. Meanwhile the Beatles were developing ‘Sgt. Pepper”, another Beatles concept album inspired by ‘Pet Sounds’. Beatles producer, George Martin, stated “I believe that without Brian Wilson’s inspiration, Sgt. Pepper might have been less of the phenomenon that it became. Brian is a living genius of pop music.” The Beatles continued their unprecedented run with “The White Album”. The opening song “Back in the USSR” is a friendly parody of the Beachboys’ “California Girls”. Beachboy’s lead singer, Mike Love gave Paul some input for the parody. Because of Brian Wilson’s debilitation, Love and his bandmates became the group’s composers. Unfortunately. they would never be able to replicate Brian’s brilliance. Fortunately, the music of both bands lives on. Wishing you Happy Holidays and Good Vibrations. I’ll be back blogging in January. Last chance to get online to buy a last minute Christmas gift that trivia lovers will relish. Check out www.tedcurtinstories.com for links to order “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”.

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On December 13,1931 Winston Churchill stepped out of a taxi in New York City and was hit by a car travelling at 35 MPH. Had the future British Prime Minister succumbed to his injuries, the fate of western civilization would have been forever changed.  Brief Career Recap Earlier that year, Churchill had resigned from the Conservative Business Committee AKA the Shadow Cabinet. It was a rather sudden end (actually “a pause”) to Churchill’s controversial career. In 1911, at age 37 he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Unfortunately, Churchill’s tenure was marred by his backing of the disastrous 1915 naval attack on Turkish forces in the Dardanelles. In 1924, Conservative P.M. Stanley Baldwin appointed Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer (comparable to America’s Treasury Secretary). When Baldwin’s government was ousted by the Labor Party in 1929, Churchill resigned from his post and joined Baldwin’s shadow government. He resigned in 1931 because of policy disagreements. Even though he had once controlled Britian’s economy, Churchill had never paid much attention to personal finances. Now 57 years old and accustomed to an extravagant lifestyle he decided to pursue writing as a way to earn income and also remain in the public eye. He decided to begin a book tour and scheduled his first lecture in New York City. Bang Just after 10:00 pm on December 13, Churchill hailed a taxi to get to a meeting with American financier Bernard Baruch. Disembarking from the taxi, the future P.M. forgot that Americans drove on the opposite side of the road from the British. Churchill looked right instead of left and was soon being rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was treated for scalp wounds, cracked ribs, severe bruises and pleurisy. The unemployed truck driver whose car hit Churchill was extremely upset about the incident. When he visited Churchill in the hospital the future P.M. put the man at ease and took responsibility for the accident.  Churchill was forced to cancel the remaining tour dates because of lingering weakness.  He did find time to send a telegram to his science advisor, Professor Frederick Lindemann, “to calculate the precise force of the impact.” Lindemann couldn’t provide a precise answer but couldn’t resist suggesting that Churchill’s ample girth cushioned the impact. Irony Earlier that year, John Scott-Ellis, scion of a prominent British family was driving his brand-new Fiat in Munich when he struck a pedestrian. The victim insisted his injuries weren’t serious and accepted the driver’s apology.   As Scott-Ellis drove away his passenger exclaimed ‘Don’t you know you just knocked down Adolf Hitler?’ Later, the Englishman recalled “For a few seconds, perhaps, I held the history of Europe in my rather clumsy hands…. [Hitler] was only shaken up, but had I killed him, it would have changed the history of the world.”  In Churchill’s case, had his New York mishap proved fatal would anyone else have been able to save Britain from Hitler?  Probably not. Politicians like Neville Chamberlain or Lord Halifax did not have the backbone to stand up to Hitler. And certainly, no other leader had the oratorical skills needed to rally the public.     Wit and Wisdom All of us in the Western world are indebted to Winston Churchill for his fearless leadership in World War II. And we can also thank him for his many memorable quotes. These are some favorites: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” “This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.” “Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put”. Lady Astor once said to Churchill: “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Churchill replied: “Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.” Playwright George Bernard Shaw once wrote to Churchill: “I have reserved two tickets for you for opening night. Come and bring a friend, if you have one.”  Churchill replied: “Impossible to come to first night. Will come second night, if you have one.” Have a great weekend. Be sure to look left. If you are looking for the perfect holiday gift or stocking stuffer, check-out my book “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”. Visit www.tedcurtinstories.com for to see reviews and connect to online retailers.

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Personally, I try to avoid listening to Christmas music but it’s an impossible task due to seasonal songs blaring in every store and in my house. Despite my Scroogelike demeanor I do enjoying learning about how these songs came to be. Here are some Christmas music factoids. After composing “White Christmas”, Irving Berlin told his secretary that he just written the best song of all-time. However, when Berlin played it for Bing Crosby, the crooner was indifferent and casually commented “I don’t think we have any problems with that one, Irving.” Ironically, Crosby’s “White Christmas” has become the best-selling single of all time, with over 50 million copies sold. Berlin so despised Elvis Presley’s 1957 version of “White Christmas” that he tried to get it banned from the radio. Berlin also composed “Happy Holidays” and “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm”. Mel Tormé and Bob Wells wrote “The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) on a blistering hot summer day as a way to stay cool. “Silver Bells” was inspired by Salvation Army bell ringers. It was originally titled “Tinkle Bells” until composer Jay Livingston’s wife pointed out the unsavory connotation of “tinkle,” “Do You Hear What I Hear?” was written as a prayer for peace by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. “Oh, Holy Night” was composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847. The hymn became the first song ever transmitted wirelessly during the first radio show ever broadcasted. On Christmas Eve,1906 host Reginald Fessenden broadcasting from Brant Rock, Massachusetts played the song on his violin. Fessenden, an employee of Thomas Edison, was a genius who held over 500 patents. The German hymn, “Stille Nacht” was first performed on Christmas Eve,1818. The hymn was then translated into other languages including the English version, “Silent Night”. British troops, shivering in their Northern France trenches on Christmas Eve 1914, heard German soldiers singing “Stille Nacht”. The Brits began singing the English version and soon both sides emerged from their trenches to meet, exchange gifts, and even play soccer. The brutal warfare resumed on December 26. Quick question: How old do you think Brenda Lee was when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1960. (answer below). Voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft sang “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” in the 1966 TV movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” Ravenscroft also did excellent work as the voice of Tony the Tiger in Frosted Flakes commercials. On December 16, 1965, aboard NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight, “Jingle Bells” became the first song to be played in space. The first Christmas song to top Billboard’s top 100 pop singles was 1958’s “The Chipmunk Song” (Christmas Don’t Be Late). The Chipmunks also won three Grammy’s that year. So much for those who believe the 1950s were America’s most sophisticated decade. The Chipmunk Song was the only Christmas song to top the Billboard charts until 2019, when Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” finally hit number one.    Mariah Carey and co-writer, Walter Afanasieff, reportedly wrote “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in just fifteen minutes. The song provides Mariah with roughly $500,000 in additional income every year.  The Pogues allegedly earn 1M per year for “Fairytale of New York”.  Slade’s “Merry Christmas Everybody” also rakes in an estimated 1M per holiday season. Angus Wielkopolski, considered to be Britain’s most prolific goat farmer, claims that his goats produce 20% more milk when listening to Mariah’s hit. Angus had previously experimented with heavy metal tunes and “Old Macdonald had a farm” before settling on “All I want for Christmas”. Trivia Answer: Brenda Lee was thirteen when she sang that Christmas hit. Finally Finally, if you are ever hired by forces of evil that want to extract sensitive information from me, know that there is an extended version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” called “The “179 Days of Christmas”. It runs for 8 hours and 56 minutes but I would probably start spilling my guts by the start of the third verse. Have great weekend.   If you are looking for the perfect holiday gift or stocking stuffer, check-out my book “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”. Visit www.tedcurtinstories.com for to see reviews and connect to online retailers.

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Some evening, if you are watching a movie and thinking “this is the worst movie ever”, be aware that there is an organization that annually recognizes the worst films and performances. The Golden Raspberry Awards for Failure in Cinematic Achievement, better known as the Razzies was founded in 1980 as a joke at an Oscar Awards viewing party. A few years later, the organization started holding its annual ceremony on the evening before the Oscars gala, This ensures coverage of their event by the worldwide media that descends on Los Angelas for the Oscars weekend. Nobody’s Perfect: In 1976, Faye Dunaway won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in “Network”. Five years later she won the Worst Actress Razzie for her portrayal as Joan Crawford in “Mommy Dearest”. Dunaway blames that movie for derailing her career. Al Pacino has excelled in many films but has won only one Oscar (1992’s “Scent of a Woman”). Two decades later Pacino won the 2012 Worst Supporting Actor Razzie for his role in Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill”.  Although he was nominated eleven times, Lawrence Olivier’s only Oscar was for his performance in 1948’s “Hamlet”. In 1982 Olivier won the Worst Actor Razzie for his performance as General Douglas MacArthur in “Inchon”, which is considered to be the worst war movie ever made. In 2010, Sandra Bullock accepted a well-deserved Oscar for her performance in “The Blind Side”. That same weekend she accepted her Razzie in person for her performance in the odious “All About Steve”.  She graciously accepted her Worst Actress Razzie and the Razzie for Worst Screen Couple (playing opposite Bradley Cooper). Kevin Kline won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his hilarious performance in 1988’s “A Fish Called Wanda”.  In 2000, he was awarded the Worst Actor Razzie for his portrayal of Artemis Gordon in the atrocious “Wild Wild West”. Kline and co-star Will Smith won the Razzie for Worst Screen Couple. In 1998 Leonardo DiCaprio played twin brothers in “The Man in the Iron Mask”. The Razzies membership didn’t appreciate either of the twins and handed DiCaprio the Razzie for Worst Screen Couple. Leo finally won an Oscar for his performance in 2015’s “The Revenant.”. In 2002, Halle Berry made history as the first Black actress to win an Oscar (“Monster’s Ball”). Three years later, Berry made history by being the first actress to accept her Worst Actress Razzie in person (for the dreadful “Catwoman”). Berry delivered a tearful parody of her Oscars acceptance speech while clutching her Oscar and Razzie. 1990’s “Dances with Wolves” garnered Kevin Costner Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Seven years later Costner received Razzies for “The Postman”, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Director. He has seven well deserved nominations for Worst Actor.  Sylvester Stallone is the King of the Razzies, He’s been nominated for Worst Actor fifteen times and for Worst Supporting Actor three times. Sly was also named Worst Actor of the Decade for his 1990s roles. That said, I love his current show, “Tulsa King”. After being nominated nine times, John Travolta’s finally won the Worst Actor Razzie for the 2001 bomb, “Battlefield Earth”. Travolta also won Worst Screen Couple receiving the award with “anyone sharing the screen with him”. The film has the lowest possible IMDB rating (2.5/10) and was awarded the Worst Picture of the Decade in 2010.   Madonna’s fifteen Razzie nominations are only exceeded by Adam Sandler and Sylvester Stallone. However, nobody tops Madonna’s nine Razzie trophies. She also edged out Brooke Shields for Worst Actress of the Century.  Redemption Ben Affleck received three Razzies for his early 2000s films, “Daredevil”, “Paycheck” and “Gigli”. In 2015, he became the first person to win a Razzie Redeemer Award for his excellent work in “Argo” and “Gone Girl”. In 1981, the Razzies’ first year, Shelley Duvall was nominated as worst actress for “The Shining”. Years later, it became known that Duvall had been subjected to constant mental abuse by the film’s director, Stanley Kubrick. In 2022, two years before Duvall’s passing, the Razzies commendably revoked her 1981 nomination. Have a great weekend. I’m going to see if “Battlefield Earth” is streaming somewhere.   Thanks to everyone who has bought my book, “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”. If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, please visit www.tedcurtinstories.com for more information and links to online retailers.

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November 8th marks the fourth anniversary of Alex Trebek’s passing. In honor of Alex, I am recycling this blog from 2018. On November 30, 2004, Nancy Zerg, a Los Angeles realtor dethroned reigning Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings. The champ had recorded an unprecedented 74 consecutive victories and was so dominant that in 64 of his matches he entered Final Jeopardy with an insurmountable lead. In his 75th appearance. Jennings had a slight lead over Zerg going into Final Jeopardy. The category was “Business & Industry” and the clue was “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year”. Jennings incorrectly responded, “What is FedEx?”. Zerg responded correctly with “What is H&R Block?” resulting in her first and only Jeopardy victory. Jennings won over $3M during his streak and receives complimentary financial services for life from H&R Block for the free publicity he gave the company. Jennings also made it to “Letterman” where he presented the “Top ten ways to irritate Alex Trebek.” My favorite is “Ask Alex on air: So, who did your Botox”? Jennings, a computer scientist/author was a star of his quizbowl team at Brigham Young University however he claims that his greatest asset for Jeopardy were his quick reflexes. The buzzers don’t work until after the host has finished the question. Contestants are locked out if they answer too early so timing is crucial. The Franchise While on an airplane flight in 1963, emerging media mogul, Merv Griffin and his wife Julann began creating a game show called “What’s the Question?”.  It was renamed “Jeopardy” and debuted on NBC in 1964 with Art Fleming as host.  The syndicated version with Alex Trebek launched in 1984.  Jeopardy has won 30 Emmys and has adaptations in 30 countries including Japan, New Zealand, Russia, and Turkey. Griffin sold Merv Griffin Enterprises to Coca Cola in 1986 for $250M but he retained the rights to “Think!”, the instrumental played during Final Jeopardy.  Griffin originally wrote the song as a lullaby for his son entitled “A Time for Tony.” A royalty is paid every time and anywhere the song is played earning Griffin and his estate nearly $100M. More than 100,000 people take the Jeopardy online application quiz each year. Only 3,000 applicants are chosen for an interview. They are then given a 50-question test and play a live round before being chosen to appear. Only 0.4% applicants are eventually chosen causing one observer to advise that you are more likely to write a New York Times bestseller than compete on Jeopardy. It would be worth the effort if you could become the first person to win the maximum winnable sum in a single game. You only need to sweep both boards, find all three Daily Doubles, make them true Daily Doubles and then wager everything in Final Jeopardy to make $566,400. Nuggets A list of all questions and answers from Jeopardy can be found online at the J-Archive. This unofficial website is maintained by fans and covers most games from the past twenty years. It is a fountain of information: The category which appears most often is the incredibly annoying “Before and After”. Its 114 appearances edges out “Literature” (106).  “Before and After” gives you clues such as “Mouselike boy in an E.B. White story traveling through the heavens as Ursa Minor” The correct question is ‘Who is Stuart Little Dipper”. Ugh. “Presidents” has 49 Final Jeopardy appearances easily topping second place “Word Origins”. “Classical Music,” is the toughest category with just 72% of its clues being solved. “Art and Artists” at 76% and “Word Origins” at 79% are the next-hardest. Contestants have a 90% success rate solving “Sports” “Stupid Answers” “Food” and “The Movies”.  There has only been one three-way tie in Jeopardy history. The most common answer given by contestants on Jeopardy is “What is Australia?” although it isn’t the most common correct answer. If you ever find yourself on Jeopardy and are stumped for the answer, know that the most common correct response is “What is China?” This is different than the advice of my Jeopardy-loving wife who advises when in doubt, say “Who was Copernicus?”    Have a great weekend.  Thanks to everyone who has bought my book, “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”. If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, please visit www.tedcurtinstories.com for more information and links to online retailers.

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