The Toque: A Chef's Hat
From the 1200's to the 1500's it was quite popular for men in Europe to wear a toque, a hat with no brim at all.
These were particularly popular in France and eventually became used only in kitchens.
The toque blanche became standard uniform for chefs in France around the 1800's.
A famous French chef named Boucher was the first to insist that all chefs wore the tall, round, pleated, white hat in the kitchen for sanitary reasons.
I never knew a chef's hat had a special name.
"Le Chef de l'Hôtel Chatham, Paris" by William Orpen
A Moose and His Antlers
Only male moose grow antlers, that I already knew.
What I didn't know was that the antlers fall off each and every fall after mating season.
Weird...
Come springtime, the moose will regrow a new set of antlers.
It takes about five months for the antlers to fully develop...something about this process just seems exhausting.
"Moose-A young bull moose with antlers growing in velvet." Photo by oldbilluk
"Moose Up Close" Photo by Douglas Brown
"moose dawn" Photo by Steve Wall
"Moose Up-Close" Photo by Doug Brown
The Igloo Village Kakslauttanen
Way up in the most northern part of Scandinavia, beyond the Arctic Circle, there is place called Lapland.
Lapland is empty, barren, and spreads over Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden.
When winter comes around, the Igloo Village Kakslauttanen found in Lapland, comes to life and tourists travel from all over the globe to spend the night eating at a snow restaurant and sleeping in igloos.
These luxury glass igloos are created so that you can watch the Northern Lights while you are laying down in bed...how awesome is that?
"Igloo de verre" Photo by Romain Cloff
"Glass Igloo" Photo by Ivan Pechorin
Stop Hitting That Snooze Button
Scientists at the University of Toronto recently completed a sleep study that involved a little more than 700 people.
They discovered that the older we get, the more likely we are to become early risers.
This might be a big bummer if you're the kind of person that likes to sleep in past noon. However, the up side is that people who wake up early are generally happier.
So, maybe we all get happier with age...that's a fun idea!
"Late" By Photo Extremist
How Many of These Machines Do You Think They Made?
This is the description posted with this video:
"A mechanical singing bird mechanism. Made around 120 years ago in Paris, probably by Bontems. In the film I hope you can identify all the major parts and see them working together to make the sound. The mechanism was in a rusted and seized state and has been restored. Surpisingly the bellows are in good original condition."
How awesome is that?
New Start-Up Company is Selling Tickets to the Moon
A group of former NASA executives have started a new company, the Golden Spike Co., that is selling tickets to the moon and back for $750 million.
These guys are hoping to have the first trip ready to go in 2020 and are planning on selling the tickets to foreign countries and space tourists.
This could really change the way we think about the moon.
Once people are traveling back and forth regularly, it is fairly certain that the price to visit the moon will start to decrease.
People will probably find someway to exploit the moon; I'm almost sure of it.
Poor moon. Enjoy your last few years of peace and quite.
"Moon and Saturn" Photo by Arjan Almekinders
How Popular Are LEGOS?
It amazes me that LEGOS are so popular. Throughout the years, they are always the perfect Christmas gifts for kids.
Did you know that there are about 62 LEGO pieces for every human being living on Earth today?
If you added up all the hours each child in the world played with LEGOS, it would total about 5 billion hours.
LEGO Minecraft by Andrew Becraft
Source posted by Julia
Wait...Canadians Celebrate Thanksgiving?
I have always thought of Thanksgiving as one of those uniquely American holidays.
Turns out, I was mistaken.
Thanksgiving Day, the Canadian version, happens on the second Monday in October.
It was declared an official holiday in 1957 when the Parliament of Canada proclaimed,
“A day of general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."
While there are some similarities to the American Thanksgiving, such as eating, being thankful, and watching football, the Canadian Thanksgiving also has some differences.
Since Thanksgiving is always on a Monday, the feast can be held on any day during the three day weekend.
It is also common for people to simply enjoy a nice getaway vacation, without a feast at all.
"Turkey bath" Photo by Tim Bouwer
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