WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:08.320 Sadi tree. To the thinking atheist, it's not a person, it's a 2 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:13.359 symbol, an idea. The population of atheist in this country is going through 3 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:19.039 the rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I 4 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:23.280 tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, not because I put 5 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:27.839 my hand on a book and made a wish and working together for a more 6 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:32.039 rational world. Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness, 7 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:36.920 truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way. Assume nothing, 8 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:46.200 question everything, and start thinking. This is the Thinking Atheist podcast hosted 9 00:00:46.520 --> 00:01:03.640 by Said Andrews. Please do not judge me. I'm begging you don't judge 10 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.959 me. I'm not a sadist. I really do love the creatures of the 11 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.120 world, with only a few exceptions. Here's the story. I was having 12 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:19.359 dinner with the Natalie at some friends house. We had a wonderfully mild evening 13 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:23.959 in the summer, I think it was in the seventies, and so they 14 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.680 served dinner outside in the backyard. They had a little table out there, 15 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:33.280 and it was pleasant weather. But the flies in Oklahoma in the summertime are 16 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:38.400 just horrible. House flies everywhere They're just flying all over the food and they're 17 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:42.680 landing on us. And so my buddy Sean goes into his house and he 18 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:53.359 comes back out holding a battery powered, rechargeable electrified flies swatter. It's about 19 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:59.920 the size of a pickle ball paddle. Inside the frame is a wire grip 20 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:05.840 and so fully charged. That grid is electrified. So instead of a regular 21 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.479 fly swatter where you smash him whack with the electric fly swatter. When you 22 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:15.120 swat, there's a larger surface area, so there's a better chance you're going 23 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:20.159 to hit them. And then once you make contact, you hear that sound. 24 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:28.000 I mean, they're done. It's over. So Sean's back there and 25 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:31.039 it's like, I mean, I don't know how many we got right, 26 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:36.759 and I had to try it. So I go home and I log onto 27 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:42.199 the internet and I purchase one which arrived on my front porch. Now mine 28 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:45.680 has a stand on it, so you can actually stick it on the stand 29 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:49.719 hooked up to an electrical plug in so it stays charged. It's got a 30 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:55.280 light on it that attracts bugs, and occasionally a housefly will get into the 31 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:58.840 house. We let the dogs out, you know, you open the door 32 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:00.599 and they just fly right in. So we go to bed lights off, 33 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:06.680 and at random throughout the night, you will hear some poor fly hit the 34 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:16.639 grid. It's a bug zapper inside my house. How redneck can I be? 35 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:23.319 How very Oklahoma? Is that right? And I gotta say, I 36 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:27.919 mean it works, It works all too well. With a single brush against 37 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:34.039 this wire grid, flies get an instantaneous lightning bolt of death. This is 38 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:38.479 the spark of extinction. They never know what hit him. I think it 39 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.680 may be almost more humane, like would you rather just get zapped or smashed? 40 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.800 And I think, if I had to pick, I'll if it's instant 41 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:52.840 right, give me the zapp Anyway, the dogs hate it, because you 42 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:55.520 know, they used to hate the sound of the slap of the regular fly 43 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:00.000 swatter. We thought this might be better. It is not. So guard 44 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:06.680 your dog's ears. Sometimes they get stuck. They get stuck in the grid, 45 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:13.639 and then it's like and they cook like bacon. Now it's at those 46 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:18.480 moments that I start to feel real conflict, like am I acting out one 47 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:24.399 of the saw movies? Is this necessary or is it gratuitous? I'm not 48 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:28.000 sure I know for sure at this moment. Anyway, back to the light 49 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:33.319 that attracts flies, I have never stopped to ask the question why does light 50 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:41.240 attract insects? This probing question is just one of many that we are going 51 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:46.720 to answer in the show this week, Destination Education. Make room in your 52 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:54.399 skull for knowledge, because as I have learned, so also shall ye. 53 00:04:54.480 --> 00:05:00.279 We're going to answer the question how does soap work? We wash our hands 54 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:03.079 with soap, but I never stopped to ask what the soap is doing. 55 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:13.519 What is the difference between software and firmware? I know very little about computers 56 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:15.879 beyond being able to point and click, which I do a lot of. 57 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.560 I'm editing audio and video and doing show Pramp and all that stuff on a 58 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:24.920 computer. But then someone says, you've got to update your firmware. What 59 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:30.560 does that mean? Why do we put candles on cakes? Where did that 60 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:35.360 tradition come from? We're going to talk about that allergy season. You and 61 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:38.839 I go to the drug store and we say, look, I need an 62 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:45.240 anihistamine. I need an anti for my histamine. What's a histamine? We 63 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.800 are going to find out today. Attorneys take on a legal case and they 64 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:55.000 do it for nothing. They do the job for free. This is called 65 00:05:55.079 --> 00:06:00.800 pro bono. I have never stopped to ask what pro bono is, but 66 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:05.120 we will Today. You're at a party. It's a kind of celebration, 67 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.319 maybe an anniversary, birthday. I don't know. If somebody did something, 68 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:14.000 got a promotion, retired, I don't know. Everybody raises a glass and 69 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:19.839 they toast the person. What the hell does toast have to do with drinking? 70 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:25.839 Why do people clink their glasses together? Where did that come from? 71 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:31.839 We shall find out, So prepare yourself to be enlightened, expanded, entertained. 72 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:39.360 As we begin with bugs, Why do bogs fly toward the lights? 73 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:44.879 There was actually a recent study on this, and scientists have been stymied for 74 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:49.560 a long long time. Entomologists know it works because anytime they need to go 75 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:54.600 out and collect insects for their research, they just would put a light out 76 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:59.199 inside a trap and boom they had bugs. If you have a bug zapper, 77 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:04.079 of course you know it works. Perhaps the mosquitoes and gnats and flies 78 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:12.639 drift toward the bulbs whispering to themselves that poem written by Joscelyn Soriano. They're 79 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:16.279 singing to themselves and in that darkness, I've learned how my wings could thus 80 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:23.560 take flight to fly towards you and feel how warm it must be to always 81 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:28.319 be near and never fear. How I yearn to be like you while light 82 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.360 shining brightly in the dark, But in your light, I saw how far 83 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:39.040 I was from who you are. Sorrow was short for Then I resolved I 84 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:45.040 must leave all else and burn. Death is sweet and pain is joy, 85 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:58.399 if only to be where you are. And then what's that smell? I 86 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:03.399 think it's burning wings. That's what happens, okay. Previously, scientists believe 87 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:09.759 that bugs were just confused. They would see our porch lights and our landscape 88 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:15.199 lights, and they would mistake it for the moon or another celestial body, 89 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:18.680 and then their sense of navigation would get screwed up. There was another theory 90 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:24.519 that the lights at night look like tiny slivers of daylight that you might see 91 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:28.240 through thick vegetation, so the insects, feeling trapped, would head toward the 92 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:33.759 light, thinking they had to escape. But just a few months ago there 93 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:39.720 was a team of biologists led by Samuel Fabian at Imperial College, London and 94 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:46.159 Josh Sunday at Florida International University. They say they may have found the answer. 95 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:52.279 These experts believe that insects see a bright light at night, and they 96 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.440 think that light is the sun, and they use the sun to orient themselves 97 00:08:56.519 --> 00:09:03.960 on the y axis. The y axis is up and down by instinct. 98 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:09.840 Then they roll their back toward the lights. But when the light is not 99 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:13.639 the sun, when it's a porch light or whatever, this screws up the 100 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:20.120 brain. And especially when the lights are low or mounted horizontally, these bugs 101 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:26.440 will spin into banking turns. It's like an airplane spinning around about to crash. 102 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:33.720 Bugs navigate using lights, keeping their backs toward the sun. Artificial lights 103 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:39.759 hijack that system, and bugs think they're navigating by sun, when in fact 104 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:45.360 they're navigating by the coach light mounted by the garage. And then there's the 105 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:50.000 headlight of your car. Then there's the lamplight above the streets. And they 106 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:56.120 glitch out and roll and turn and spin, but always in the vicinity of 107 00:09:56.279 --> 00:10:01.240 lights. The research team found that insects seem less affected by the lights that 108 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:05.639 point straight down toward the ground, landscape lighting, that kind of thing, 109 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.200 But the ones that go straight out or point up these attract bugs, which 110 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:16.759 try to orient with the sun over and over and over until they finally run 111 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:22.480 out of calories and fall to the ground dead from exhaustion. This is the 112 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:28.159 new theory by many experts in bugs, and it's one of the reasons that 113 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:35.120 scientists worry about light pollution human beings that produce so much artificial light in this 114 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:41.080 world that it can and does interfere with natural living systems. Bugs that only 115 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:48.320 go out in darkness, they never have any darkness. Caterpillars are much easier 116 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.320 to see for predator anthropods. The lights make them easy to spot as they 117 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:58.840 crawl upon the leaves. Sea turtles and birds get confused when trying to navigate 118 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:03.039 by moonlight. You've seen those beaches, the ocean beaches, and they say 119 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:07.679 no lights on the beach at night, and the reason is they don't want 120 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:13.399 the turtles that are using the moonlight to start using your light instead. It's 121 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:18.759 thought that even some animals under the surface of the ocean sometimes get confused with 122 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.360 the lights of ships traveling on the ocean surface. Anyway, that is the 123 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:30.480 latest theory. Bugs fly with their backs toward the sun, but you and 124 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:37.080 I have constructed a world with tiny artificial suns, millions and millions of them. 125 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:43.320 They are very possibly short circuiting the bugs in the air until they spin 126 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:48.320 and crash into objects or just fall to the ground. So you might want 127 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:52.519 to give a bog a break from time to time and flip off those light 128 00:11:52.600 --> 00:12:03.240 switches when you are not using them. Next up on my list, we 129 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:05.879 wash our hands, but people always tell us we'll make sure you wash your 130 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.600 hands with soap. Right, So I do this and I walk away from 131 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:15.039 the sink. I have confidence my hands are now clean. But I never 132 00:12:15.080 --> 00:12:20.200 stopped to ask what was going on with the soap, this bar or goop, 133 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:26.440 this magical stuff that somehow makes it cleaner than if I just rubbed my 134 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:31.720 hands together under the water. Britannica has a whole page on this. Apparently 135 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:37.919 it's all about chemistry. Now let's start here. Think of a soap molecule 136 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:41.279 like, it's got a head and a tail. The head of the soap 137 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:50.519 molecule has something called polar salt. Polar salt is hydrophilic, meaning it's attracted 138 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:56.159 to water. Now the other end, the tail of the soap molecule, 139 00:12:56.279 --> 00:13:03.720 has a nonpolar chain of fatty acids or hydrocarbons. These are hydrophobic they are 140 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:11.480 repelled by water, but those tiny hydrocarbons are attracted to grease and other oily 141 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.360 things. So you and I go to wash our hands, and the soap 142 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:22.840 forms a kind of molecular bridge between the water and the oils on our hands. 143 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:28.759 Inside those oils, dirt, and germs, the soap acts like a 144 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:35.000 tiny crowbar. It's separating the oils and whatever's in the oils away from our 145 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:39.759 skin. The dirt and germs attached to the hydrocarbons, and then they lift 146 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:46.679 up and off of our hands and get washed down the drain. Soaps can 147 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:52.919 also connect with fatty membranes on the outside of bacteria and certain viruses. They 148 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:58.279 can lift those infectious agents off of our skin, breaking them apart. The 149 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:05.440 soap molecules surrounding them form tiny clusters called missills, and the missile clusters keep 150 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:11.200 the junk from attaching to anything else before it washes down the drain on the 151 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:16.679 whole. Hand sanitizers are nice, but they're not quite as reliable as soap. 152 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:24.240 Sanitizers that have at least sixty percent ethanol do destabilize and knock out some 153 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:31.200 bacteria and some viruses, but they don't do well with certain micro organisms and 154 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:39.159 other viruses. Some resilient microbes, like the ones involving meningitis, pneumonia, 155 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.519 diarrhea, even hepatitis A, and the viruses of the common cold. These 156 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:50.879 are less susceptible to the chemicals in hand sanitizers. They are more likely to 157 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:58.960 come off with rigorous scrubbing using actual soap. So hand sanitizers are fine when 158 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:03.240 soap is not a but the two are not the same thing. You know, 159 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:07.559 It's an interesting story. I actually told this on my True Stories podcast 160 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:13.679 a few months back. In the eighteen forties, there was a Hungarian doctor, 161 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:18.960 a well respected physician. His name was doctor Ingus Semmelweiss, and he 162 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:24.919 worked in a maternity ward and they had some maternity patients who were treated by 163 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:31.799 doctors and others were treated by midwives. And he noticed that the procedures were 164 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.960 different. Some of the mothers to be who came in and had their babies 165 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:41.360 delivered by the midwives, well, the whole time the midwives had been washing 166 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:46.320 their hands, but the doctors had not. Sometimes they would come straight from 167 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:52.799 an autopsy, they would jump right into a delivery room. They would deliver 168 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:58.039 the child without disinfecting, washing their hands or whatever. This was the age 169 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:06.159 before germ theory was known and understood, But doctor Semilweiss realized it. Hey, 170 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:11.120 wait a minute, people are dying unnecessarily because of hand washing. We 171 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:17.559 should sound the alarm. Change our procedures. Hand washing must make us safer. 172 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:23.159 When he brought this to his medical peers, they laughed him literally out 173 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:30.960 of the profession. They mocked and ridiculed and discredited. He ended up cast 174 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:34.440 out. He died in an asylum. These people thought he was nuts, 175 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:40.559 when in truth, back in the eighteen hundreds, doctor Semmelweiss was ahead of 176 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:45.840 his time. He realized the power of the germ and the power of soap 177 00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:52.279 and water. The Centers for Disease Control the CDC says, there's a proper 178 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:56.000 way to wash your hands. You got to work up a good lather, 179 00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:00.679 scrub your palms and the back of your hands, to lace your fingers, 180 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:07.400 rub the fingertips against the palms, and twist a soapy fist around your thumbs. 181 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.960 There's a Canadian health expert, her name is Bonnie Henry, and she 182 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:17.000 said it this way. She said, quote, wash your hands like you've 183 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:23.720 been chopping halopenos, and you need to change your contacts. These are wise 184 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:30.319 words. It's good for us. It is important. It's critical for public 185 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:40.200 safety, and honestly, it just feels really nice to be clean. Coming 186 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:45.480 up next, what is firmware? It's not software, but it is right 187 00:17:45.599 --> 00:18:00.240 firmware. What's firmware? Plus other probing questions stand by my page. Let's 188 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:04.000 get this broadcast early and totally commercial free. You will never know how much 189 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:07.799 of a difference just a few bucks a month makes. It helps me to 190 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.960 do what I do. Thanks for your support. Patreon dot com, slash 191 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:18.599 Seth Andrews. Still to come, We're going to talk about allergies. We're 192 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:22.240 going to talk about lawyers that work for free or pro bono, and why 193 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:30.720 we toast someone when there's no actual toast involved. But first, I was 194 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:34.880 on the phone with tech support for my computer. I can't remember what was 195 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:37.839 wrong with it, but you know what it's like. You dial the number 196 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:45.960 and you wait on hold with horribly irritating music, usually involving a flute, 197 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.799 and then somebody comes on and they try to guide you toward the solution to 198 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:53.160 a problem. Okay, I've got a problem here, And at some point 199 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:59.720 he said, well have you updated your firmware? In that moment, I 200 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:03.960 did not admit that I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. 201 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:10.000 I said, oh, firmware. Yeah, I mean I think it's updated. 202 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:12.640 But in my brain I'm like, well, that's software, right If 203 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:18.640 if it's downloaded and it is on my hardware, then it's got to be 204 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:23.079 software already. The computer experts who are listening to the sound of my voice 205 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:27.599 right now are about to fall out of their chairs. I know, if 206 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:33.400 you know computers, you pity me in my shallow pool of ignorance. But 207 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:38.359 I'm not ashamed to admit when I am ignorant. I know when I do 208 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:42.599 not know. But I wanted to know, and so I dug up some 209 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:48.920 information the difference between software and firmware. First, we have to define our 210 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:57.400 terms hardware computer processing units, the CPU, RAM, hard drives, that 211 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:03.200 kind of thing. Software. This is a web browser, operating system, 212 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:10.839 anti virus programs, business apps, games. The stuff that runs on the 213 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:21.559 hardware firmware is the BIOS and UEFI. This does not help me. The 214 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:27.640 BIOS and UEFI these are two different types of motherboard firmware that assist when you 215 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:33.599 start up your computer. And I'll talk for a second specifically about the BIOS, 216 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:37.400 and then the computer experts can mock me in the comments section. The 217 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:45.160 BIOS Basic Input Output System. This is the program that a computer's microprocessor uses 218 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:52.519 to start everything up after we hit the power button. It manages data flow 219 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:59.839 between the operating system like Windows, and talks to attached devices like the keyboard 220 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:04.400 mouse. Think of the BIOS like a middleman between the operating system and the 221 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:11.359 hardware that it runs on. And BIOS is included on all computers on a 222 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:18.319 chip in the motherboard. And Yes, firmware is a type of software. 223 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:22.720 Aha, I knew it. I knew that much, right, But this 224 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:30.279 is specific software. It's designed to control certain and specific pieces of hardware and 225 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:37.079 tell everything how to talk to everything else. The firmware files are really small. 226 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:41.400 They are usually hidden so we can't easily find them and screw things up. 227 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:48.440 It doesn't even run on the main CPU. Firmware has other processors just 228 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:53.160 for it. So, from what I can make out, firmware is software, 229 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:57.759 but it kind of works like an air traffic controller. It's hard to 230 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:03.440 access the tower if you're a civilian because if you get in there and you 231 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:07.240 mess up the guidance system and the other instructions, then the planes are going 232 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:12.720 to get stuck on the ground or crash into the ground. The controller keeps 233 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:18.160 the planes running, gives them direction. It is ground zero. The nucleus 234 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:25.680 the center hub that helps the stuff talk to other stuff, firmware. I 235 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:30.599 guess it's like the reactor room on the Starship Enterprise. It's important, it's 236 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:36.799 powerful. But if you are not mister Scott, it is probably best to 237 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:41.039 go and pretend you're Dixon Hill in the holideck. Did I miss anything? 238 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:48.240 Computer people? Do you have further explanations, better explanations? I leave myself 239 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:57.839 humbly in your technical hands. Okay, allergy season, do you struggle as 240 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:03.480 much as I do? With allergies the spring? In the fall Oklahoma? 241 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:08.160 Time to stock up on the Bena drill and the csyrtac and the Flowne's allegra 242 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:12.759 whatever. Because the pollen and junk in the air is going to bring the 243 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:18.400 sneezing and the watery eyes, runny nose, headaches, cough, a whole 244 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:22.920 bunch of symptoms to the allergy party. I need medicine. I need an 245 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:30.640 antihistamine. I have used this word for my entire life. What's a histamine? 246 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:37.720 How would an anti histamine shot down? The histamine. I have no 247 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:42.640 idea. Well, I went out did some homework. Let us fill this 248 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:49.839 tiny hole in our minds, just above the holes in our noses. Our 249 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:56.599 bodies are fortresses and they have guards. They have biological guards that protect the 250 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:02.680 castle. We have ribs that tech the hearts and the lungs. Our skin 251 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:08.759 protects us from sun and wind and bacteria. Our eyelashes protect our eyes from 252 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:18.640 debris. Our immune system also goes to war against anything foreign that enters the 253 00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:26.240 body, and sometimes these body guards overreact. Histamines are chemicals that are created 254 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:30.839 by our immune system, and they do lots of important stuff. They help 255 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:37.599 make gastric acid. They help to work the muscles and our intestines and lungs. 256 00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:41.359 They affect the heart rate. They help our nerve cells talk to each 257 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:48.880 other. They also cause vessels in our bodies to swell and dilate. And 258 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:53.000 this is where we get into trouble because here comes the pollen and the dust 259 00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:59.319 and the food allergens, the pet dander, mold, bug bites, latex, 260 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:04.240 even certain medications. These are strangers in our human house. The body 261 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:11.480 says, whoa wait a minute, this doesn't belong alert. The guards send 262 00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:18.160 in the histamines to knock out these unwanted guests. And as the histamines work, 263 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:23.079 they are swelling and dilating our vessels, and this causes the itchy eyes 264 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.640 and the running noses, and the stuffy heads, and the scratchy skin, 265 00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:33.920 the wheezing and the lungs. It's essentially taking the fire hose to a candle. 266 00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:40.400 A little over reaction there, apparently, and so we need to try 267 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:45.119 and settle things down. We need the guards to stop marching. To reduce 268 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:52.359 the reaction, we take antihistamines. Antihistamines talk to the histamine receptor in the 269 00:25:52.440 --> 00:25:57.960 brain and the spinal cord. They cross the blood brain barrier. This is 270 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:03.240 what drugs do, which is why we get so drowsy after we pop a 271 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:07.279 couple of ben a drill. Of course, since the early days, they've 272 00:26:07.319 --> 00:26:14.839 developed non drowsy second generation antihistamines. You can find those pretty much anywhere. 273 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:22.240 One last thing, apparently, the long term use of antihistamines can be dangerous. 274 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:30.480 Diphenhydramine blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter called a settle coaline, and a 275 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:34.920 settle coline is vital for memory and learning, and there was a patient study 276 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:42.160 that showed a significant risk for dementia in people who just lived on antihistamines. 277 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:47.920 Now I'm not a doctor, but this is a subject that is worth exploring 278 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:53.359 on your own if you're taking constant meds to calm down that army inside your 279 00:26:53.400 --> 00:27:00.240 body. Cleveland Clinic says, we ought to be thankful for our histamines because 280 00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:06.400 they do so much good and necessary work. They regulate the heart and lungs 281 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:12.160 and keep our immune systems on alert. Sure, sometimes those little histamines can 282 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:19.920 get oversensitive, but they are hard workers and mostly they just want to keep 283 00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:32.119 us safe. One of my favorite TV shows of all time is called Better 284 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:37.480 Call Saul, And this is really not a spoiler, but one of the 285 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.920 main characters, Kim Wexler, is an attorney. She's a lawyer with a 286 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:47.359 conscience, and at one point during the series, she decides she wants to 287 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:52.519 take on hard luck cases, people who are stuck with a bad public defender 288 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:57.880 they can't afford good lawyers. She decides, I'm a good lawyer, I've 289 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:03.680 got something to all for. I am going to defend these people for free. 290 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:08.839 She defends them pro bono. Well, you and I have already assumed 291 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:15.440 what pro bono means, and we would be correct. Pro Bono is the 292 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:21.039 offering of free services, and as you also may have guessed, it is 293 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:26.960 Latin. It comes from the Latin pro bono public go, which means for 294 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:33.000 the public good, and the American Bar Association actually encourages this. They say, 295 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:40.000 it's a privilege to practice law. Being an attorney is an honor and 296 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:45.720 with it carries great responsibility beyond billable hours. And for that reason, the 297 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:52.720 American Bar Association says this quote. When society confers the privilege to practice law 298 00:28:52.920 --> 00:29:00.400 on an individual, he or she accepts the responsibility to promote justice and to 299 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:07.720 make justice equally accessible to all people. Thus, all lawyers should aspire to 300 00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:14.839 render some legal services without fee or expectation of fee, for the good of 301 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:21.240 the public. They recommend that every lawyer donate at least fifty hours of pro 302 00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:26.720 bono service every single year, specifically helping people who have limited incomes and few 303 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:33.880 options out there. Pro Bono is also a term that applies outside of the 304 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:41.319 legal profession. Corporations can loan a fully trained and fully paid employee out to 305 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:45.640 a nonprofit organization, a charity, or whatever. There might be an advertising 306 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:52.039 firm and they produce and donate a sixty second commercial about protecting the environment or 307 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:57.799 funding our schools. There might be another kind of for profit organization that gives 308 00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:04.400 resources time too, battered women shelters, the offering of free services for the 309 00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:12.519 public good. Now forgive me because I'm a little cynical about attorneys. I 310 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:15.279 mean, I've met some good ones. I've met some really good ones, 311 00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:22.599 but I've also met a whole bunch of them who would never consider working for 312 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:27.000 free. You know what I'm saying. It is kind of a billable hours 313 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:32.160 game. But then again, maybe I've got it all wrong. Maybe these 314 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:36.200 people just aren't talking about it. Maybe attorneys don't need to talk about it. 315 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:41.000 Maybe they're doing public good and they're just not wanting to perform about it. 316 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:45.079 For the rest of us, I guess we could all find more opportunities 317 00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:49.240 to give our time and talents to people who are locked out of opportunity by 318 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:56.160 the system. Pro bono publico. Next time you say it out loud, 319 00:30:56.359 --> 00:31:02.480 realize how fancy you're being you are speaking Latin, and then after you do 320 00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:11.279 that, go out and help somebody. Here's one that I've been thinking about. 321 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:15.319 I don't know if I teased it in the opening, but we'll do 322 00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:19.559 it here. The loafer you put on. Those shoes you slip them on, 323 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:26.559 and they're not slippers. They're kind of dress shoes known as loafers or 324 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:33.039 penny loafers. Why do we call them loafers? I have done some homework. 325 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:40.039 There's a page by the Floor Shim Shoe company on this very shoe style. 326 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:44.559 Let me just read it for you. It says, no men's shoe 327 00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:51.079 style rides the line between casual and dress quite like the men's loafer. One 328 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:56.240 of the most versatile of men's shoe designs. Loafers date back to the mid 329 00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:02.440 nineteenth century. Back in the eighteen hundreds, there was a Norwegian shoemaker whose 330 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:09.079 name I simply refused to butcher on this broadcast. He took his inspiration for 331 00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:15.640 this shoe without shoelaces from the moccasins that were worn by the Native Americans. 332 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:21.880 He actually combined the style of the moccasin with shoes that were used by Norwegian 333 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:27.720 fishermen. These became known as loafers because you weren't doing the work of tying 334 00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:32.839 your shoelaces, and honestly, these were casual shoes. Meant for relaxation. 335 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:38.759 In the early twentieth century in the United States, shoemakers started stitching on this 336 00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:45.319 half moon shaped leather piece right across the saddle of the shoe. And then 337 00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:52.359 in the nineteen fifties, a weird fashion trend started among teenagers. They wore 338 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:58.079 their loafers and they placed a coin in the slot of the shoe, hence 339 00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:04.920 the penny loafer. Today, the loafer has so many colors, so many 340 00:33:05.160 --> 00:33:09.400 designs. Many have that half moon leather piece, some have tassels dangling on 341 00:33:09.480 --> 00:33:15.880 the front. Still others are decorated with metal, and a great example of 342 00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:22.480 this is the Gucci loafer. And these casual shoes for loafing have become common 343 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:30.359 with business people wearing business suits. They're the ultimate bridge between how shoes and 344 00:33:30.599 --> 00:33:37.519 dress shoes. The loafer. All right, let's talk about toasting people raising 345 00:33:37.559 --> 00:33:43.079 a glass, clinking a glass. I toast to you. What's that about? 346 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:57.119 We're going to find out after this our show on common random fascinating absolutely 347 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:04.680 essential knowledge to us. Just rolling through some random stuff that soaked into my 348 00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:07.920 brain. Things I do and say that I don't know why I do and 349 00:34:08.039 --> 00:34:17.079 say them. A couple of other quick random ones, treadmills. Go to 350 00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:21.199 the gym, you run on the treadmill. I know you're not doing it 351 00:34:21.280 --> 00:34:24.400 at home. I had a treadmill once. You know what it was. 352 00:34:25.079 --> 00:34:30.519 It was a closehanger. I just threw clothes on it. I think I 353 00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:34.639 used it three times in the first week, and then I might as well 354 00:34:34.679 --> 00:34:37.719 have just left it unplugged. Anyway, the treadmill, why do we call 355 00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:42.880 it that. The truth is is it used to be thought back in the 356 00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:47.639 day, back in the nineteenth century, that's the best way to rehab criminals 357 00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:54.239 and also to make money for private prison owners, was to put the inmates 358 00:34:54.320 --> 00:35:00.199 to work, and they would grind grain in the mill. And these mills 359 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:06.679 were run by foot pedals, and so these poor inmates would every day, 360 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:13.199 for an entire day, be stuck standing and treading and pushing and walking on 361 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:21.199 these devices that ran the mill. They tread upon the mill. And even 362 00:35:21.199 --> 00:35:24.400 though the practice was pretty much done away with in the early twentieth century, 363 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:30.800 the idea of getting a workout on the tread mill became popular, especially in 364 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:37.400 our fitness focused culture. So the next time you go out to Planet Fitness 365 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:40.719 or whatever, and you stand upon the treadmill. Know that you are standing 366 00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:49.079 upon a device originally designed for prison inmates to grind grain, a device so 367 00:35:49.320 --> 00:35:54.760 intense, so painful, so exhausting, so abusive, that had sent many 368 00:35:54.840 --> 00:36:06.360 inmates to the hospital or the grave. Here's another interesting piece of trivia. 369 00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:13.000 Why do we put candles on birthday cakes. It's an awesome tradition until you 370 00:36:13.079 --> 00:36:15.920 hit middle age, and then it's just obscene. Yeah, it looks like 371 00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:20.079 you're trying to burn the house down. So if I'm fifty five, they 372 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:22.719 don't even bother. They just go out and buy two candles in the shape 373 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:30.280 of fives five five Happy Birthday. Seth candles on birthday cakes. The theories 374 00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:36.840 of bounds, but many say it was the ancient Greeks who started this tradition, 375 00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:43.400 with a festival every spring called the Maunichia. Women would make offerings to 376 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:49.159 Artemis, the goddess of the moon. They prepared honey cakes, and they 377 00:36:49.239 --> 00:36:54.199 filled those cakes with candles that were meant to shine like the moon in the 378 00:36:54.280 --> 00:37:00.320 sky. These early cakes were nothing like the cakes that we see day. 379 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:06.400 It was the seventeenth century when people started to layer them and frost them and 380 00:37:06.639 --> 00:37:12.079 decorate them. Those kind of cakes at that time mostly prepared for and served 381 00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:17.840 to the super wealthy, the powerful, and privileged. Even royalty candle cakes 382 00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:24.360 didn't segue toward mass production served to everyday people until the seventeen sixties. By 383 00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:30.159 the eighteen fifties, cakes with candles had really caught on in Germany. Twenty 384 00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:34.760 years later that tradition had made it to the United States. These types of 385 00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:38.519 cakes usually often served to children, with a number of candles for the child's 386 00:37:38.599 --> 00:37:44.000 age. Everybody would sing a hymn, and then the kid would blow out 387 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:49.559 the candles one by one. By the way, and I hate to bring 388 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:53.320 this sub but there was a study done back in twenty seventeen from the Journal 389 00:37:53.440 --> 00:38:00.880 of Food Research on the whole blowing out the candles thing. I hesitate to 390 00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:05.280 tell you this. I don't want to steal your joy, but according to 391 00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:12.000 this study, blowing out your candles on a cake increases the amount of bacteria 392 00:38:12.039 --> 00:38:22.079 on the icing by fourteen hundred percent. That's all right, though, apparently 393 00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:28.119 the authors of the study went on to elaborate that it's okay. It's still 394 00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:31.480 safe for people to eat. But if you're a germophobe, if you're a 395 00:38:31.519 --> 00:38:37.880 bacteria phobe. Just know that, okay, blowing on the cake means bacteria 396 00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:50.719 on the cake. And now you know, speaking of special occasions, it's 397 00:38:50.760 --> 00:38:54.920 your birthday or retirement day, or you just won an award, or you 398 00:38:55.039 --> 00:39:01.360 got married or something. Let us toast the honored guest. Now I'm not 399 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:06.360 a drinker, but I do toast. I'll toast people. My glass is 400 00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:09.880 usually root beer. But you know, as I'm toasting, I never stopped 401 00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:17.079 to ask why is lifting a beverage and then sipping it a toast? Well? 402 00:39:17.719 --> 00:39:27.280 I found some information at Farmer's Almanac and Toastmasters International. This tradition of 403 00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:34.519 toasting began long long ago. The ancient Hebrews, Persians, and Egyptians were 404 00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:39.440 toasters, So were the Saxons and the Huns and other tribes of ancient times. 405 00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:45.159 In the eighteenth century book called The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 406 00:39:45.800 --> 00:39:52.039 Edward Gibbons wrote about a feast held by the Huns and their leader, 407 00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:57.480 who was Attila. The Hun led a big toast before every course of a 408 00:39:57.639 --> 00:40:02.440 massive banquet dinner. The ancient Greeks would drink to each other's good health and 409 00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:09.199 welfare. When Homer wrote The Odyssey, he had ulysses drinking to the good 410 00:40:09.280 --> 00:40:15.679 health of Achilles. Raising a drink was also the expression of a wish that 411 00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:21.239 you didn't want anyone to be poisoned by someone else. Remember, the powerful, 412 00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:25.599 the kings and dictators of old had special tasters who would sip the wines 413 00:40:25.800 --> 00:40:30.760 that were given to them to make sure somebody wasn't trying to take them out. 414 00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:35.400 Or maybe they would take just a tiny sip to gauge and see if 415 00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:39.239 there was an odd taste, anything a foul here. So there it is 416 00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:45.280 a toast with a sip that sounds familiar, but it was not called anything 417 00:40:45.559 --> 00:40:51.480 like a toast. It was just a good wish of goodwill, a salute 418 00:40:52.039 --> 00:40:57.679 with a drink. And then came the Romans. The Romans were really good 419 00:40:57.960 --> 00:41:04.239 at taking the traditions of their cultures and then adding extra stuff. When the 420 00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:08.440 Romans drank to your health, sometimes the wine could be rather bitter, and 421 00:41:08.559 --> 00:41:15.320 they would add toasted bread crumbs into the wine. They would just drop breadcrumbs 422 00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:21.760 right into the goblet, which reduced the acidity of the wine and made it 423 00:41:21.880 --> 00:41:28.960 more sweet and more tasty, and thus began the toast. At first, 424 00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:34.599 it just referred to the drink itself. The Latin is toastus, and toastus 425 00:41:34.679 --> 00:41:39.960 means to dry up or scorch. Over the centuries, toasting the wine to 426 00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:45.760 make it sweet evolved past the drink itself into the people we were drinking too, 427 00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:51.239 our brothers and sisters, as we honor and celebrate them. Now, 428 00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:59.039 the clinking of glasses as toasting people was gaining popularity throughout Europe. People would 429 00:41:59.119 --> 00:42:05.760 touch glasses and goblets with such enthusiasm that the drinks would splash into each other. 430 00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:10.679 Their wine might splash into your wine, and vice versa, a sharing 431 00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:16.760 of the grog. It became a kind of communal drink, a bonding experience. 432 00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:22.119 Everybody was served separately, but as they smashed their goblets and splashed the 433 00:42:22.239 --> 00:42:28.920 wine, they were all drinking from the same cup. Some historians think this 434 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.800 also might have been another method to try to avoid being poisoned. After all, 435 00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:37.639 if you're clinking glasses, a poisoner wouldn't clink toxins into your glass and 436 00:42:37.679 --> 00:42:45.360 then sip from his own and literally drink himself to death. The seventeenth century 437 00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:51.480 saw the popularity of actual toastmasters. Think of a grand marshal at a parade 438 00:42:51.599 --> 00:42:57.000 or the leader of a party. They presided over these big celebrations. They 439 00:42:57.039 --> 00:43:01.639 would give grand speeches and oversee every toast that was given. There was a 440 00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:09.000 reason for that. Sometimes these massive banquets included rivals enemies, and the toast 441 00:43:09.159 --> 00:43:13.960 was a chance to bring them together. It was an olive branch. The 442 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:21.199 toastmaster was kind of apparent supervising squabbling siblings. There was a seventeen ninety one 443 00:43:21.239 --> 00:43:24.920 book called The Toastmaster, and the situation was described in this way. The 444 00:43:24.920 --> 00:43:31.559 book said this, a toast or sentiment very frequently excites good humor and relieves 445 00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:38.679 languid conversation. Often does it when properly applied, cool the heat of resentment 446 00:43:38.960 --> 00:43:46.559 and blunt the edge of animosity. A well applied toast is acknowledged universally to 447 00:43:46.800 --> 00:43:53.239 soothe the flame of acrimony when season and reason oft use their efforts to no 448 00:43:53.519 --> 00:44:00.880 purpose. Okay, now that we know that toast was dipped in to wine 449 00:44:00.119 --> 00:44:07.039 and that wine glasses were clinked together to share the spirits, do not just 450 00:44:07.320 --> 00:44:13.800 randomly do this when you are traveling elsewhere. Toasting traditions are very specific, 451 00:44:13.880 --> 00:44:19.079 so you got to brush up on the customs. For example, Apparently there 452 00:44:19.159 --> 00:44:23.960 is a common toasting tradition in Hawaii. You don't say cheers or good cheer 453 00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:30.119 or whatever. You say I kiola, which means here's to life. You 454 00:44:30.199 --> 00:44:35.760 lift up your cocktail, you look your companion straight in the eyes, you 455 00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:39.719 say his or her name out loud, and then you say, I kiola, 456 00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:44.679 here's to life. And if you really want to send good vibes, 457 00:44:45.039 --> 00:44:51.760 you follow that with the words mackay or poo. Makai means goodness, poo 458 00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:59.440 means praise and righteousness. Norwegians are well familiar with the toast and shouts of 459 00:44:59.599 --> 00:45:02.119 s Right, you have the goblet, you raise it up. Skull. 460 00:45:02.360 --> 00:45:08.360 This word originally comes from the Old Norse word for bowl, and it roots 461 00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:14.440 all the way back to the tradition of warriors who used to drink ale or 462 00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:22.239 mead from the skull of a defeated enemy. Skull skull. You're making that 463 00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:30.079 connection. In Peru, you say salude to your health. In Turkey, 464 00:45:30.519 --> 00:45:38.039 sirref means honor. Nigeria at kell deary means thanksgiving, and the toast gets 465 00:45:38.199 --> 00:45:43.679 kind of formal. If you go to Japan. In this scenario, the 466 00:45:43.760 --> 00:45:49.559 Japanese host pours you a small glass of beer. He pours his before he 467 00:45:49.719 --> 00:45:54.000 pours yours. You're supposed to then hold your glass with one hand, and 468 00:45:54.039 --> 00:45:59.639 then you take your other hand and you put it underneath that glass with your 469 00:45:59.719 --> 00:46:06.760 palm flat, and the host will lower his own glass below yours as a 470 00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:14.000 show of respect. But then you are supposed to lower your glass below his 471 00:46:14.639 --> 00:46:20.199 glass. You gotta do this or else you are showing your host disrespect. 472 00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:24.440 So you hold it out, he lowers you lower. Then you clink your 473 00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:34.079 glasses together and say conpie. Conpie means dry glass. Enjoy and drink up 474 00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:42.239 until your glass is dry. That's fun stuff. I really do enjoy these 475 00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:49.559 random trivia shows, general knowledge broadcasts, learning new things. And as I 476 00:46:49.559 --> 00:46:53.639 sit here with my glass, it's actually a bottle, plastic bottle with sugar 477 00:46:53.760 --> 00:47:00.280 free root beer. Allow me to raise my sugar free root beer and fish 478 00:47:00.360 --> 00:47:05.880 today with the toast to you. I raise my root beer, and I 479 00:47:06.039 --> 00:47:09.440 offer to you the words of this popular toast from the days of old. 480 00:47:10.400 --> 00:47:15.440 There are good ships, and there are wood ships, the ships that sailed 481 00:47:15.519 --> 00:47:22.400 the sea. But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be. 482 00:47:25.280 --> 00:47:29.480 Have a great week. I'll see you next time. 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