Month: May 2019

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep is a period of rest for both the body and mind, the lack of which can result in changes to personality, perceptual processes, and intellectual functioning. Humans are unable to totally abstain from sleep, as the brains of the severely sleep-deprived will automatically shut down for short periods, a phenomenon known as microsleep. There is a genetic disease that leads to complete sleeplessness, but it is fatal. What is the longest a healthy person has stayed awake without using stimulants? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival

This festival celebrating the Italian tradition of street painting was brought to Santa Barbara, California, in 1987. Some 200 professional and amateur artists create chalk “paintings”—both reproductions of old masters and original designs—on the Old Mission courtyard. In Italy in the 17th century, vagabond chalk artists often painted the Madonna, and they were known as madonnari. Artists still follow the tradition in the Italian village of Grazie di Curtatone, and Santa Barbara’s “I Madonnari” is considered the village’s sister festival. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Oology

Oology is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of eggs, especially birds’ eggs. Understanding birds’ nesting habits is an important part of this field, as egg features like shape and color have been linked to nest sites. For example, cliff-nesting birds lay highly conical eggs that are less likely to roll off, while hole-nesting birds tend to lay more spherical eggs. Birds that lay eggs in holes or burrows tend to have white eggs, and birds that build nests in trees lay what color eggs? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Ute Bear Dance

An ancient ceremony of the Southern Ute Indians, the Ute Bear Dance is now held on Memorial Day weekend in Ignacio, Colorado. Originally the ritual was held in late February or early March. It stemmed from the belief that the Utes were descended from bears, and the dance served both to help the bears coming out of hibernation and to gain power from them. Today the dance is largely a social occasion. Lines of women and men advance toward each other, gradually dancing in pairs. The dancing goes on until sunset, when there is a feast. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Robert’s Rules of Order

Robert’s Rules of Order is a book of regulations for the conduct of meetings in an orderly manner. The rules were first published in 1876 by American army officer Henry Martyn Robert, who had been asked to preside over a church meeting a few years prior and discovered that neither he nor anyone else knew a proper or consistent way to conduct meetings. Today, almost all US organizations adopt Robert’s Rules of Order in their bylaws. What recent changes have been made to the rules? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Fiddler’s Grove Ole Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Festival

A festival for genuinely old-time fiddlers, the Ole Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Festival is held at Fiddler’s Grove Campground in Union Grove, North Carolina. A special contest category is for fiddlers who must meet these criteria: they are over 55 years old, have had no formal musical training, and have learned from fiddlers older than themselves. There are competitions for all the major instruments of traditional American music, including autoharp, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, and mandolin, and workshops are conducted for shape-note singing, storytelling, and children’s folk music. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Ask and Embla

In Norse mythology, the first two creatures were the giant Ymir and the cow Audhumla. Ymir fathered a race of giants, and Audhumla created the first god, Buri. Buri’s son, Borr, fathered the gods Odin, Vili, and Ve, who together destroyed Ymir and from his body fashioned the heavens and the earth. From two trees, the gods created the first man and woman—Ask and Embla. Ask’s name derives from an Old Norse word meaning “ash tree”—from which he was formed. What is the derivation of Embla’s name? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary