Welcome to ToTG!



September 15, 2014

Peekaboo Surprise!

Poor little girl.  Still funny, though.

1752 - The Shortest Year

Year 1752 (MDCCLII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar. In the British Empire, it was the only year with 355 days, as September 3 through September 13 were skipped.

September 14, 2014

Gotta Keep Up With The Jonesing

Your Personality is 80% Addictive

You definitely have an addictive personality, and you're probably hooked on something.

Even if it's just peanut M & Ms or online shopping. 


 

September 13, 2014

99 Red Balloons

Played on real red balloons.


I loved the song 99 Luftballons by Lena when it came out in the mid-80's. It was an anti-nuclear weapons protest tune, but I liked the song more than I did its message.  I used to read a lot of action novels and the phrase "the balloon has gone up" is often used to mean that trouble is quickly coming. 

The origin of the phrase isn't clear, but I believe it's from one of these examples at Grammar-Monster.com:  

Once the balloon has gone up means when trouble is here or in a period of trouble.

The term once the balloon has gone up derives from the First World War. Whenever enemy activity was expected, observations balloons would be released to monitor the enemy troop movements. As a result, the raising of these balloons, which were visible to all, soon became a sign of pending enemy action.

A Competing Theory

The term when the balloon goes up refers to the large barrage balloons which were raised on steel cables above British cities during the Second World War. The idea was that enemy bombers would keep away from the cities, fearing that the steel cables would slice through their wings. Therefore, when the barrage balloons went up, it was a sign for a city's inhabitants of a pending air raid.

September 12, 2014

Molly Schuyler vs Two 72 oz Steaks

Not just one, but two of the huge slabs of meat along with salads, baked potatoes, bread and shrimp cocktails.

September 10, 2014

This Is Why I'm Broke



This Is Why I'm Broke has become one of my favorite sites I subscribe to in my reader and I look forward to seeing the (usually) several posts each day.  From the ridiculous to the sublime, from outrageously expensive to reasonably priced, the site links to both practical and hedonistic items for sale.

For example, you can buy a Curved 4K Ultra HD LED TV for $7,997.99 or a Heated Butter Knife for $19.99. If those don't interest you, then there's a Selfie Toaster ($75.00) which will burn any image you supply into your morning toast, eating your breakfast while listening to your Autonomous Mechanical Hootenanny machine. ("only" $54,000.00)

Check it out!