Cavities

Sugar-in-the-raw vs. white sugar came up at brunch today, so I decided to look into it. This was the most surprising sentence in the Wikipedia Sugar page: 

...it is impossible to develop cavities in the absence of fermentable carbohydrates.

Wow! I love the word "impossible" when used somewhat scientifically.

To answer the original question, sugar-in-the-raw, or natural brown sugar, is made by not extracting as much molasses while refining. It is produced during the first crystallization of the sugarcane, while white sugar, or table sugar, is produced after the third boiling and crystallization.

Or something like that.

Natural brown sugar is different from the brown sugar we bake with, which is white sugar with molasses blended back in.

Cheaters.

(Confession: I thought white sugar was bleached like flour is. My bad.)

Muphry's Law

Browsing the "see also" list on Wikipedia's Occam's Razor page, I made a beeline for "Murphy's Law." Being a Murphy, I'm relatively familiar with the phrase, but I've never looked into its origin. I clicked the link and saw this:

Not to be confused with what?

Turns out, "Muphry's Law" is fairly recently-coined adage that states "if you write anything criticizing editing or proofing, your writing will contain some kind of typo".  It's the Murphy's Law of literary criticism, and I'm a firm believer.

The law, as defined by John Bangsund of the Society of Editors states:

(a) if you write anything criticizing editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written;
(b) if an author thanks you in a book for your editing or proofreading, there will be mistakes in the book;
(c) the stronger the sentiment expressed in (a) and (b), the greater the fault;
(d) any book devoted to editing or style will be internally inconsistent. 

Muphry's Law also dictates that, if a mistake is as plain as the nose on your face, everyone can see it but you. Your readers will always notice errors in a title, in headings, in the first paragraph of anything, and in the top lines of a new page. These are the very places where authors, editors and proofreaders are most likely to make mistakes.

So this is why my book reviews are so hard to edit. Also, now I know how difficult it is to misspell my name on purpose.

Source: Muphry's Law on Wikipedia, Canberra Society of Editors

Acting you age, however you act

I can't even vote on Mars

Have you ever been told to "act your age"?

You were probably doing something immature or foolish at the time and the speaker undoubtedly wished to admonish you.

Now you can prove that you are acting your age by informing your would-be scolder that you are only 12-years-old (...on Mars).

Nah-na-na-na na-naaah.

Your Age on Other Planets

Occam's Razor

Occam on a Wigu t-shirt

So this guy, Ockham, never actually said, "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one." That is kind of what he was implying though. What Father William de Ockham actually said was "entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity." In other words, do not add what is not needed.  He also said "Frustra fit per plura quod potest fieri per pauciora [It is futile to do with more things that which can be done with fewer]."

As for the razor? It's what you use to cut down to the essential idea, "shaving away unnecessary assumptions."

My favorite part of the Occam's Razor wikipedia page was the "See Also" section.

 Don't mind if I do...

Time and Peanut Butter

Turns out that a "jiffy" is an actual unit of time, though it has a different definitions depending on context, but it's usually the time it takes light (or energy) to travel a short distance.  It might have originated as the length of time it takes for light to travel one centimeter (which is measured in picoseconds). Now physics sometimes defines it as the time it takes light to travel the smallest imaginable space.

When I hear "jiffy" I now think of it as the time it takes for the smell of peanut butter produced at the local Jif plant to reach my nose.  Jif is a brand of peanut butter owned by Smuckers and their factory in Lexington, KY is the largest producer of peanut butter in the world. I am lucky enough to live roughly 500 meters from the plant, which makes smells that vary from burnt popcorn to a mild nutty scent.

GDP by State!

GraphJam is an amusing site over at Cheez Burger (aka lolcats). While usually breaking down things like How Lady Gaga likes her steaks, every now and then there is an economic gem such as if the states were renamed by GDP:

Click to zoom

Source

Horse Capital of the World

There are five horse capitals of the world. Four of them are in the United States (the other is in France, go figure). I'm pretty happy to live in one of them, especially as the World Equestrian Games approach.

Source: wikipedia

Love: the Verb. as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary

verbatim (not including phrases or usage, though that is arguably the best part):

love, v.1 DRAFT REVISION June 2010

Etm. /lv/, U.S. /lv/  Forms: . OE hlufian (rare), OE lufian, OE luuian (rare), lOE lofodest (2nd singular past indicative, perh. transmission error), lOE louian, eME louie, eME lufie, eME luuige, eME luuie, ME lofuie, ME loueie, ME louie, ME louy, ME louye, ME lovy, ME lovye, ME lowie, ME lufie, ME luuie, ME luuye.. ME lof, ME lofe, ME loffe, ME lofue, ME looue, ME louf, ME lovue, ME low, ME lowe, ME lowfe, ME luf, ME lufe, ME luff, ME luffe, ME luud (past tense), ME luue, ME-16 loue, ME- love, 15 lub, 15 lubbe, 15 luve, 15-16 loove, 18- luv

Definitions after the jump

Surgery is less scary...

...now that I know that it is standard procedure to count the cotton balls before and after. Television shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy and the comic strip The Far Side always have mishaps of various items being left inside the patient after they are sewn up, but there is a checklist for such things, even as small as cotton.

Count 'em up!

Coconut Water

It's the best cure. Always will be, always has been.

Nature's Gatorade, used by soldiers in the South Pacific when they ran out of sterile saline, this stuff is made to go in your body. It is full of electrolytes and liquid, with none of the sugar (or worse, fake sugar) that plagues modern sports drinks. Plus, thanks to the Tetra Pak, coconut water is not easily found in grocery stores from Brazil to Alaska.

Drink it, Love it.


You'll notice I saved this post for my birthday. Some secrets are worth sharing on special days.

Some crazy smoothies for your hangover

Many people recommend a hangover remedies of all the other remedy mixed together in a cure-all. If my blender worked, I would maybe try one of these. Ok, probably not.  If you do want to try to find the silver bullet of remedies, be sure to include some of the following items:

Bananas: remember the day we talked about electrolytes? Potassium is important and bananas are chock full of it.

Looks gross, tastes worse...

Other fruits: try the frozen strawberries leftover that somehow didn't make it into last night's margaritas. Strawberries are an excellent source of Vitamin C and flavonoids. I'm not sure what those are, but I'm pretty sure they are good. Other good fruits are oranges, cherries, blueberries (antioxidants in the last two are terrific), and peaches.

Milk/yogurt/ice cream: Calcium was another one of those electrolytes. Dairy it up.

Tomato juice: might not be your first choice to put in your smoothie, but it's good for you. Besides, you're hungover. You already feel like crap. Just drink it already.

Ice: it's made of water. You need water.

Links to some recipes:

ehow.com
this one suggests herbs
This one looks decent
From a TV station
this uses apples

Pickle Juice: drink it if you dare

When I was (much, much) younger, I was known to occasionally imbibe a bit more alcohol than recommended the night before I had a shift at a coffee shop. While lying on the dirty floor mats during my breaks, I would vacillate between cursing my lack of moderation and pathetically pining for pickle juice. Fortunately I was well-loved by my coworkers who would occasionally call the next person coming in to pick up some pickles on their way.  After a while, we took to keeping a jar of pickles in the extra-milk fridge at all times (though safely separate from any customer-destined products) and everyone who worked with me swore that pickle nectar was the best hangover cure.

I know the last thing that you want to hear when you're hungover is a suggestion you try drinking something you wouldn't even consider when you're drunk, but hear me out. Pickle juice, or brine, is full of the healthy salts that encourage re-hydration. If you like pickles at all, it isn't that big of a leap to try the brine. Though temperature won't matter for effectiveness (I don't think), I prefer the brine to be chilled.

Medicating a Hangover

There are some things in life that should be avoided: evil mothers-in-law, law school, curdled milk, IRS audits, knowing that cat urine glows in the dark and mixing aspirin with alcohol. The phrase "take two aspirins and call me in the morning" does not apply to hangovers; it could damage your liver if mixed with alcohol.

If you must have pain relief in the form of a little white pill the morning after a bend, reach for ibuprofen, but only after eating a little something. Your liver will thank you. While you're in the medicine cabinet, grab a multi-vitamin or some vitamin C. Can't hurt!

Sleep: the body's favorite cure

If you are lucky enough to be hungover on a day that you have nothing better to do, after drinking a glass or two of water (and maybe a snack), go stretch out on the couch and get another couple hours of life-giving sleep. While you were enjoying Jäger bombs to the sound of a 90's cover band last night, you beat up your body pretty badly. It deserves a day of rest, even if that means that you don't get the laundry done or you end up having breakfast at three in the afternoon.

Hungover? Run through it.

I had a cross country coach who both preached and lived by the line "Run through it." Have a cold? Run through it. Cut your hand off? Run through it. Sprain your ankle? Run through it.

This same "wisdom" can be applied to a hangover. Go out and get some exercise. This might not be ideal if you can't move, but just getting the blood flowing can go a long way towards recovery, especially if you have things you need to be doing today (aka work).

Hangover cure: eat something already!

You're hungover and you've already had a glass of water. Good start, champ. Get yourself another, but while you're in the kitchen, go ahead and make a little breakfast. The alcohol still in your system needs to be absorbed by something.

What to eat? Fruits and vegetables should be your first choice to replenish those nutrients, but don't discount proteins and healthy carbs. Eggs are great, oatmeal is swell. Plus this step will help with the tip for tomorrow.

Just as a reminder: eat before you drink to avoid this situation in the future. Also, try to incorporate eating with the drinking so that you maintain a little something in your stomach to greet the whiskey when it gets there.

Ginger Ale: my favorite fizzy cure all

Remember when you had the flu and your mom gave you ginger ale? No? Well my mom is more awesome than your mom because she knew that ginger (even that found in a natural ginger ale) helps calm the stomach.

Ginger ale is good for a hangover because it helps with one of the more annoying symptoms while rehydrating you back to health. Might I recommend Vernors?

Don't forget to recycle the can!

Gatorade and other electrolyte drinks

Electrolytes specific functions are a mystery to me, but I know they are important to curing hangovers or just helping your body to recover from any kind of rigorous event. A few you might recognize are potassium, sodium and calcium and they are basically essential to allowing your body to rehydrate.

You could get these by drinking "a simple electrolyte drink made by using the correct proportions of water, sugar, salt, salt substitute for potassium, and baking soda" (thanks Wikipedia). Or you could keep sports drinks like Gatorade on hand.

Your choice.

Juice: a step beyond water

Not only are you dehydrated when you are hungover, but the tequila you were happily downing last night took its time happily sucking your body's nutrients. Now you need some vitamins. Though any juice will help your situation, aim for the ones that will benefit you the most.

Tomato: go ahead and grab a V8. Stocked with a mix of vegies, this is a great way to get vitamins and minerals to get you back on your feet.

Orange: Vitamin C is your friend. Any extra your body doesn't use will help flush out the toxins you worked so hard to incorporate into your drowsy morning.

Eating fruit is also good, but seriously, you need liquid.

Water: the obvious hangover cure

You have a hangover. This means many things, but most importantly:

You drank alcohol.
You didn't drink enough other fluids.
You are now dehydrated.

Get thee to a glass of water. Drink. Repeat.

Replenish your body's fluids or you might go to bed as uncomfortable as you woke up.

Next time, try chasing those shots with some H20 instead of the icky light beer.