Bob and Marcia Smith shared fascinating stories about the human body, transportation history, and cultural aspects. Bob discussed the evolution of transportation, the history of hot air balloons, and the cost of movies, while Marcia shared interesting facts about the liver’s regeneration capacity, the origins of movie theaters, and the Bronte sisters’ pen names. The speakers offered insights into the resilience of the human organism and the wonders of transportation history and delved into the origins and meanings of coin tosses, dating back to the seventh century BC. They highlighted the significance of coin tosses in resolving conflicts and establishing precedents, leaving the audience in awe of the incredible capacity of the human body and the evolution of transportation.
Outline
Movie budgets, balloon history, hydration, and coin flips.
- Marcia and Bob Smith discuss the most expensive movie ever made ($55 million for Johnny Depp’s salary in Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides) and the cheapest movie ever made ($60,000 for The Blair Witch Project), as well as how ladies’ underwear led to the invention of the hot air balloon.
- Skim milk is the most hydrating liquid, surprisingly, according to Marcia and Bob Smith.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the hydration properties of different drinks, including skim milk, Pedialyte, Gatorade, and soda.
- The coin toss decision-making method dates back to the 7th century BC and was used to determine who would fly the first manned flight, with Wilbur winning the toss but Orville ultimately flying the plane.
Segway ceasing production and outdoor activities increasing during pandemic.
- Marcia and Bob discuss dragonflies’ 28,000 eyes and their ability to see 360 degrees, as well as the decline of Segway sales.
- Bob Smith: Less than 20% of Americans spent time outdoors more than once a week pre-pandemic, but 18% now spend more time outdoors due to COVID-19.
- Marcia Smith: Adult bike sales have risen 121% nationally, and fishing license sales have increased 50% in Vermont.
Human anatomy and organ transplants.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the limitations of trained tracker dogs, including their inability to distinguish between identical twins.
- Marcia Smith shares the origin of the name “Oscar” for the Academy Award, which is believed to have been coined by Academy executive Louis B. Mayer in 1939.
- Bob Smith: Marcia Smith’s liver may reach 100 years old due to regeneration.
- Marcia Smith: Livers can regenerate, with some parts aging faster than others.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the resistance of different organs to aging, with the cornea being the most resistant, and the brain being less resistant due to a lack of successful brain transplants.
- In Hong Kong, movie audiences were paid to watch silent films in the early 1900s due to superstitions about the potential evil power of the moving images on the screen.
Literature, history, and corporations.
- Marcia and Bob discuss famous pen names, including Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), Mary Westmacott (Zelda Christie), and their real names.
- Marcia and Bob highlight the significance of these authors’ pen names and how they were perceived in their time, with Marcia noting that George Eliot carried more weight than her real name, Mary Ann Evans.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the Bronte sisters’ use of pseudonyms and Thomas Jefferson’s involvement in establishing a corporation.
- DuPont was founded by Pierre DuPont, who studied explosives manufacturing in France and was encouraged by Thomas Jefferson to set up a business in America.
Flamingos, presidents, and Fourth of July.
- Marcia and Bob discuss why flamingos are pink, with theories ranging from diet to God’s creation.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the deaths of four U.S. Presidents on the Fourth of July, including James Monroe, and analyze their work ethics.
US history, politics, and humor.
- Bob and Marcia share interesting facts about US presidents and founders, including Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton reenacting their duel.
Marcia Smith 0:00
What’s the most expensive movie ever made?
Bob Smith 0:04
And how did ladies underwear lead to the first hot air balloon? answers to those and other questions coming up today on the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith
Welcome to the off ramp. Chance to slow down steer clear of crazy take a side road to sanity and get some perspective on life. Okay, what was the most expensive movie ever made? Is it a recent movie?
Marcia Smith 0:49
It’s Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides, which I think was the fourth in the series of Pirates of Caribbean and it’s a Disney film and didn’t help that Johnny Depp salary alone was $55 million. Jays not bad salary for a 2011 movie that got really bad review. Wow. You know what the cheapest movie ever made was? No. What was it was a huge hit and made lots of money. So one of the least expensive movies it cost $60,000 to make in 1999. Oh, really? What was it? It was The Blair Witch Project? Oh,
Bob Smith 1:27
yes. Yeah, yes, that’s right. That was that was like the beginning of reality. Yes,
Marcia Smith 1:33
it was the very beginning and they had great reviews and made back 248 million after spending that 60,000
Bob Smith 1:42
Wow, that’s a good return on investment. That
Marcia Smith 1:45
was a scary movie.
Bob Smith 1:46
Okay, so how did ladies underwear lead to the first hot air balloon ride?
Marcia Smith 1:53
Well, going back a bit. I imagine they had you know, went there pantaloons or what were those petty code petty codes? Yes. And they were a bit flirtatious. You know, you’re on the right track. I made that word up.
Bob Smith 2:07
Bow. This is the story of the wife of rock Montgolfier a. She washed a petticoat one day and hung it over a fire to dry and the heat inflated that petticoat and caused it to rise. And Jacque Montgolfier a and Joseph monk OPA launched the first hot air balloon in June 1783. At an NA France, hot air from a fire inflated the balloon and it’s believed they got the inspiration for that from jocks, wives petticoats. Who knew that women’s underwear could lead to a major advance in transportation is that women’s underwear has slowed or stopped things.
Marcia Smith 2:47
Yeah. Wow. Okay, well, that’s kind of funny. What was the year but that
Bob Smith 2:52
was 1783. Okay, the first hot air balloon ride.
Marcia Smith 2:56
Okay, bomb. What’s the most hydrating liquid? You can drink? I would think it’s water. That’s what I said. Yeah, but it’s actually way down the list. Really? Near the bottom of the list? Yep. Okay. All right. The winner for the most hydrating. You’re gonna love this. For the most hydrating drink is skim milk. You’re kidding. No, it’s sugar, protein and fat. They slow the emptying of fluid from the stomach. And it’s sodium acts as a sponge keeping water in your body.
Bob Smith 3:28
So it is the combination of the chemical elements of that drink
Marcia Smith 3:32
of skim milk and it keeps you hydrated longer than anything else,
Bob Smith 3:36
because you need a little that low level sugar for energy.
Marcia Smith 3:39
But after that comes Petalite to know what that meant Pedialyte when the babies are babies. Pedialyte was good for keeping them hydrated. And then there’s sodas and juices with their higher content of sugars also empty more slowly from the stomach than water. For hydration. You know the guys in football they’re always drinking Gatorade, right? Yeah, so that’s better than water,
Bob Smith 4:05
which was invented for that purpose as a matter of hydration.
Marcia Smith 4:09
Yes. Well, there you go. Skim milk. Bob. Speaking of athletes
Bob Smith 4:11
and athletics and games, here’s a question for you. How far back does flipping a coin to make a decision? Go? Football games for instance, start with the flipping of the coin to determine who gets the ball. Yes,
Marcia Smith 4:24
I bet it goes back to those Roman coins. You know the pieces does
Bob Smith 4:29
go back to the Roman. Pieces of eight pieces of Eight were Spanish coins
Marcia Smith 4:36
and Roman coins were Roman coins. So they were flipping back then you know who gets the biggest jug of glasses
Bob Smith 4:43
and let’s get to the answer. The truth is nobody really no. No, what we do know is that using heads or tails to make decisions dates back to the seventh century BC and Rome woman’s, and the term they used was not the old Capote meaning the ship or the head because back then Roman coins had an image of a ship on one side and the head of the ruler on the others. So I thought that was kind of interesting. Okay, what do these decisions have in common? What’s the name? Portland, Oregon, and who would be the pilot for the first manned flight?
Marcia Smith 5:21
Well, there’s it have to do with your coin question. Yes.
Bob Smith 5:25
Yeah, they were both decided with a coin flip that
Marcia Smith 5:27
coin flip. That’s how we decided to get married, wasn’t it? Yes. Heads. No,
Bob Smith 5:31
no. It was a little more to the heart. Okay, but Wilbur and Orville decided who would be first to fly their airplane with a flip of the coin. Wilbur won the toss, but he stalled the plane and drove it into the sand. After several days of repairs, Orville flew the plane and he made the first flight Yeah, but up in the Oregon to New England natives wanted to name their city after their hometowns and Aiza, Lovejoy was from Boston and Frances pettygrove. from Portland, Maine, Portland one.
Marcia Smith 6:00
It’s gonna say that’s kind of curious. There’s a Portland on each Coast isn’t there? Now we know why. Yeah. Now we do.
Bob Smith 6:06
Flips coin tosses, go back to seventh century BC or?
Marcia Smith 6:12
So Marsha? Okay, here’s something relevant. What living creature today has the most eyes?
Bob Smith 6:19
Is it an octopus? Or is it or is it a B? C?
Marcia Smith 6:24
D that octopus had? What? Eight eyes or something?
Bob Smith 6:27
Yeah. Is it a B? A B has a bunch of eyes? Yeah, no. Okay, what is
Marcia Smith 6:31
it that dragonfly does? Really? And you want to take a guess how many? I’ll
Bob Smith 6:36
say four. Yeah, one for each side. One for the front, one for the back. Very
Marcia Smith 6:41
close. 28,000.
Bob Smith 6:45
That was close. Thank you. 28,000 eyes on a dragon fly though some
Marcia Smith 6:51
species have more than 28,000 lenses per compound eye and they see 360 degrees as you might expect, I would hope. They are also fast fliers, because when you can see everything, and they can go fast forward and backward up to 30 miles an hour.
Bob Smith 7:11
Wow. Well, that that 28,000 Actually, that speed is almost more interesting than the eyes. You know, the number of eyes. It’s just like boggles the mind. You know, optometrists
Marcia Smith 7:21
heaven there. Yeah,
Bob Smith 7:24
you’d have your whole career times 10 on one dragon. We’ve got another dragon fly. I know you’ve only been working for 45 years. But would you like to take a crack at this? Okay. Okay. We all know that during the quarantine of the Coronavirus, the COVID-19. There have been a lot of things have changed. There have been businesses that have been fired up like we talk about zoom. And there have been businesses that have crashed and burned. And I have to tell you about one that I’m sure you’ll be sad about because you and our daughter Chelsea enjoyed one of these things a number of years ago, and it’s the Segway that was introduced in 2001 and was known as a pioneer in personal transportation. Yeah. And they’ve decided to cease production.
Marcia Smith 8:10
Because nobody’s using it. Apparently, it never turned
Bob Smith 8:12
into what they thought it was going to be they thought was going to be selling in the hundreds of 1000s. And it never did. Now back in 2010, the company’s network on their website, so they had 250. Dealers, and experience centers. They called it in 80 countries. But in 2015, it was sold to a Chinese company and since then it’s just not done well. So it’s so they’re ceasing production of the Segway.
Marcia Smith 8:38
I wonder why. I mean, it’s not that you could take it to the store, but then how do you lock it up? Well, yeah, and you don’t want to go on the road. And you don’t if you go on the sidewalk and mow people down. It’s an odd form of transportation.
Bob Smith 8:51
It’s been called the most hyped invention since the Macintosh computer. Really? Yeah. The two wheeled self balancing MC apparently they’ve got other products they have actually e bikes, you know, like go electric motorcycles and things like that. They make two Oh, so they may be making other things but they’ve decided the brand will no longer make its two wheeled self balancing namesake after 19 years. It’s been in business. Oh, no
Marcia Smith 9:15
kidding. Yeah, you’re right. We went on its way towards the beginning. And you liked it a lot, didn’t you? Yeah, we had fun. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. It was a nice way to get around.
Bob Smith 9:24
What percentage of Americans spent time outdoors more than once a week before the virus?
Marcia Smith 9:29
Who doesn’t go outside more than once a week? That’s amazing. By not many hands. No. Okay. I’ll say 30%. Believe
Bob Smith 9:39
it or not, I think this is incredible. According to the outdoor industry association, pre pandemic, less than 20% of Americans spent time outdoors more than once a week. That’s not we’re a nation of such beautiful country and beautiful land and 80% of the people spend most of their time indoors. It’s so unhealthy that Incredible. So less than 1/5 of Americans said they spent time outdoors more than once a week. Well, not anymore. Not anymore now that that virus hit 18% say they’re spending more time outdoors. Adult bike sales have risen 121% nationally, and in Vermont sales of fishing license have gone up 50% From here, and travel agents are pivoting towards planning trips and excursions with smaller tours or even individual tours. They’re calling an isolationist traveled now that’s the new term. Really? Yeah.
Marcia Smith 10:33
Well, that’s fascinating.
Bob Smith 10:34
Okay, what you got there?
Marcia Smith 10:36
All right, I got one. All right. kind of curious, I thought, who are the only people Bob that a trained tracker dog cannot distinguish between? Now these dogs are trained to smell your scarf or something and can find you. But they can’t distinguish between these two people on who’s who two types of people. Yeah,
Bob Smith 10:59
stinky people are not stinky people. That’s
Marcia Smith 11:02
a fair guess. Yeah, if what if they were too much perfume? That would probably overwhelm the senses. But that’s not the answer. I don’t know. What is it? They can’t distinguish between twins. You’re kidding. No. They can’t tell which one is which?
Bob Smith 11:18
Wow. Now that tells you something about that sense. Yeah, that sense of the have
Marcia Smith 11:22
highly, highly refined sense. I mean, even at Doxon has about 125 million smell sensitive cells in its nose compared with humans, meager 5 million cells. So that’s how exponentially more dog’s nose has and these dogs that are trained for cannot distinguish between identical one twin to another. Yeah. Interesting. I
Bob Smith 11:47
thought so. You could have two twins each split up. Yeah, that’s gonna confuse the dog. Yeah, go over here. I don’t know. What was the slogan on the first US coin? This is funny. Is it?
Marcia Smith 12:01
Yeah. I don’t know. In George we trust No, no, that would be before that the slogan
Bob Smith 12:06
on the first US coin was mind your business. Now that’s what was on the first continental dollar in 1776 70. That’s a little harsh. It’s believed to have been based on a design by Benjamin Franklin. Now the phrase Mind your business officially meant pay attention to your financial affairs to stay safe. It’s likely the meaning we have today. Mind your own business also entered Ben’s mind. He probably thought it was kind of funny to do that. But it was his idea. That’s that’s very he was a wily old guy.
Marcia Smith 12:38
Yeah, lots of fun. When did it get In God We Trust
Bob Smith 12:41
don’t know. My dad used to say In God We Trust all others pay cash.
Marcia Smith 12:45
Oh, he was that clever man.
Bob Smith 12:48
He was his own Benjamin Franklin.
Marcia Smith 12:50
Okay, here’s one. What is the origin of the name Oscar for the Academy Award.
Bob Smith 12:57
It was somebody who was I think on the committee or who was a member of the Academy and she said that she thought the statute looked like her husband close but
Marcia Smith 13:06
it’s not quite right. Okay, it the first trophy was known simply as the statuette. It was not until four years after the inaugural banquet that Oscar was christened. In 1931 Margaret Herrick, then the Academy’s librarian, spotted a copy of the statuette on an executives desk. And she said, Wow, he looks just like my uncle Oscar. Oh, her uncle. Yeah, just and her off the cuff remark was repeated around the Academy and the name stuck. Oh, that’s isn’t an interesting librarian, Guardian, uncle and librarian.
Bob Smith 13:45
And that’s not the highest level position in an organization but she influenced the entire
Marcia Smith 13:51
history. Right. And I always thought it was an acronym for you know, something.
Bob Smith 13:57
I’ve got another fascinating story about the human body. Did you know that your organs might reach 100? Even if you
Marcia Smith 14:04
don’t? Well, I hate to see him go on without me. But go ahead. Well, here’s
Bob Smith 14:08
an interesting story. This is proof that it’s possible. In 2008, a 19 year old Turkish woman with liver disease was in urgent need of a transplant. Yeah, her liver started to shut down doctors rushed to save the light year was 2008. The only option was a liver that had already been turned down by other hospitals. its previous owner was a 93 year old woman. Oh my gosh, but they had no choice. There were no other organs available. So they went ahead with a transplant. The operation took place at the liver transplantation Institute at Ioannou University in Malatya. Turkey now it was a success. Six years later, the recipient gave birth to a healthy baby girl with that old liver inside of her and guess what? A year later on her daughter’s first birthday, the mother turned 26 and her liver celebrate It’s 100th Amazing. That’s
Marcia Smith 15:02
a good way to put it. I like it. so few
Bob Smith 15:05
of us will ever know what it’s like to have a liver as old as your great grandparents. Yeah. But the interesting thing about this is it’s proof that some of our organs age differently than others if they’re treated right, yeah, some things age faster something age. So
Marcia Smith 15:17
you’ll wonder where she’s going to be in 30 years that Yeah, her liver? Well, maybe maybe it just keeps going.
Bob Smith 15:23
Maybe it will, because new blood vessels can help it regenerate. Yeah, livers can regenerate.
Marcia Smith 15:28
That’s what I was gonna say. Isn’t that the most regenerative organ in your body? It’s one
Bob Smith 15:32
of them. Yes. In fact, Stanford University geneticists likens it to a car. Overall, the whole functioning of a car declines, but some parts wear out faster than others. If your engine is starting to go, you can fix that if later the body wears out, you can fix that and so on. Now, tell me this. What about specific organs? How do they fare? What’s the most resistant to age? of
Marcia Smith 15:54
all your organs? Yeah,
Bob Smith 15:55
this is based on studies. Okay,
Marcia Smith 15:58
let me guess if all my org and this is a surprise to me. Yeah. Wouldn’t be your heart? No. Because that I think that’s the first to go. Your brain?
Bob Smith 16:07
No, well, there hasn’t been any brain transplant as far as I know. Really only in the movies. Okay, here, here’s where it is. This is surprising the cornea on your eye, that is the most resistant organ of all to age, donor age, apparently has little effect. So the biggest lesson since the human body ages at different rates, in many ways, our annual birthdays mean little when it comes to our biological age. And that comes from a great article from the British Broadcasting System website. The title I said, was, your organs might reach 100, even if you don’t,
Marcia Smith 16:43
that is a compelling headline, isn’t it? So let’s take
Bob Smith 16:46
a break. And we’ll be back with more in just a moment on the off ramp with Bob and
Marcia Smith 16:50
Marsha Smith.
Bob Smith 16:54
We’re back and we’re talking trivia on the off ramp. Marsha, you got a question there?
Marcia Smith 16:58
Why did movie audiences have to be paid to see the first silent movies in Hong Kong?
Bob Smith 17:04
Why did movie audiences have to be paid? Did it have to do with going into a black quiet room a dark room is that dangerous or we had bad omen for people in China close
Marcia Smith 17:15
but they were frightened of the potential evil power of the moving spirits on the screen. And they refused to enter they thought it was you know, Bad Juju. Whoa, this isn’t good. This is what you know, like the people you couldn’t take their picture because you’d capture their soul. Yeah, so he had to pay the audience’s the owner of the movie theater, put a lot of money into this. But he paid him because he wanted good press right? It went on for about three weeks until everybody started saying okay, maybe it’s okay. They’re not gonna we’re not gonna die. Because by 1913 He was so successful. He had 10 theatres in the colony,
Bob Smith 17:53
you know that that reminds me in 2001. I was in Hong Kong. And I noticed there were buildings that had big round circles in them. I mean, they’re big squares around circles where you could see right through the buildings and, and several have said what is that and it turned out, there’s a superstition that spirits could not get through buildings, they wanted the spirits to be able to go in and out of the graveyards on the hills of the mountains. Well, that’s cool. So you still see modern buildings with these big holes in the middle of elegantly designed Yeah, big holes.
Marcia Smith 18:25
I like that. That’s like, yeah, although you think a spirit could just kind of go through
Bob Smith 18:31
if it’s a real spirit, if it’s an American spirit, it can go anywhere. Okay, here’s a historical question. What does Vinci in Leonardo da Vinci’s name me? What is Vinci? Well,
Marcia Smith 18:43
let’s see a Vinci da Vinci. So is there a little town called Vinci? That’s
Bob Smith 18:48
exactly right. That’s a little Italian town where he was born in 1452. And in those days, the custom was to call people by the community that they were born in. So even though he grew up in Florence, Leonardo was always known as Leonardo da Vinci all of his life. Just from that little backwater town over there, what can you do, you know, looks like a helicopter. Come on, it will never amount to anything. All the things that man did, and he’s from a little tiny town, so that proves you can come from small places. I’m
Marcia Smith 19:18
doing things never doubted. Oh, come on. Let’s talk famous pen names. Okay. Okay. We all know that Mark Twain was really Samuel Clemens. Right. Let’s see if you can guess these three female literary heavyweights. I’m going to give you their real names and you try to tell. Okay, okay, let’s start with Mary Ann Evans.
Bob Smith 19:42
Mary Ann Evans, who is Mary Ann Evans.
Marcia Smith 19:46
She was George Eliot. Oh, really? That’s
Bob Smith 19:49
George Eliot’s real name was Mary Ann Evans. Yep.
Marcia Smith 19:52
She was a novelist, poet, journalist and leading writer of the Victorian era. George apparently carried a lot more weight in those days. is then Mary and well if
Bob Smith 20:01
you’re George, I mean people thought it was a man. You remember Little Women is a good example. That story is about a woman having trouble getting published because she’s a woman. So George
Marcia Smith 20:09
did it. Yeah. And it worked. Marianne Evans Yeah. Was George Eliot. Wow. Okay, how about this one have any idea who Mary Westmacott was
Bob Smith 20:19
Mary Westmacott? Yeah, this is Zelda, West
Marcia Smith 20:22
ma co TT Westmacott. Now you may have read some of this woman’s books or seen some of the movies. Is it Agatha Christie? No kidding. And that’s her what was her real name and Mary Westmacott. Okay. Now here are three authors with the same last pen name. And the same real name. Really? Yep, they were act on a CTO and act Tom Ellis and curve C U R. R E. R. Bell. That was their author’s name. That’s all their literary works. There was Actaeon Alice and Kurt Bell. I don’t know who Okay, I’ll give you a hint. They all had the real same last names because they were sisters. They were sisters of the Bronte sisters. Yes. No kidding. Yes. It’s good. See, you got it. So they use
Bob Smith 21:14
those names when they published their book? Yes. They didn’t have the Bronte
Marcia Smith 21:17
No, really no. And the three sisters and Emily and Charlotte Bronte wanted to keep their privacy and their initials. So you’ll see act and Alice incur are an Emily and Charlotte, I’ll be darned. And they too thought they’d have better luck than they didn’t think any men would read something by a woman Charlotte Brown.
Bob Smith 21:36
Well, no, probably not. Yeah, probably true at the time. Yeah. Okay. This goes back a little further than that. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson selected the building site for one of America’s biggest corporations. Now this is so different than what you think of Thomas Jefferson. He wanted a nation of farmers didn’t like industry. He was very suspicious of business. Yet. He chose the site for one of America’s biggest corporations and it still operates in this neighborhood. What’s the corporation?
Marcia Smith 22:07
Can you tell me the state? Delaware? Famous? I don’t know. Dupont.
Bob Smith 22:14
How? In 1797. Thomas Jefferson did a favor for an old friend of French nobleman named Pierre Pierre son had come to America after the French Revolution. Jefferson knew the family they’d helped him negotiate the treaty ending the American Revolution. Their name was Dupont. The younger DuPont had studied explosives manufacturing in France, and he wanted to set up his own gunpowder business in America. And Jefferson encouraged him to do that. Because they went through the Revolutionary War and it was hard to get the ammunition and stuff. So he encouraged the DuPont to set up a explosives manufacturing business on the Delaware Brandywine River central location to all states plenty of water to run the powder mills. And it’s no accident that when the first DuPont gunpowder went on sale in 1804, the federal government was the first customer and who was president then Jefferson. Okay, so I mean, it’s a little bit of crony capitalism. It started way way the term.
Marcia Smith 23:14
Yeah, it’s who you know. That’s right. All right. Why are flamingos pink?
Bob Smith 23:22
Because God made them that way. No, he didn’t really know. God didn’t make flamingos pay. I mean, all the all the flamingos we’ve seen that are pink even those down in Mexico and display those are fake. No,
Marcia Smith 23:36
they’re not fake. There’s a reason why they’re
Bob Smith 23:38
pink. Okay. Well, why are you look befuddled and befuddled your friend. I am your friend and I am befuddled.
Marcia Smith 23:46
Well, it’s their diet. Really? They really like shrimp and other invertebrates, but mostly shrimp and algae. And what they eat turns their fluffy little bodies pink. You’re kidding. No, I don’t know why. But if they
Bob Smith 24:02
wanted, they know they do a controlled study and we’re going to feed this one chicken. See what happens to him. So what color are they when they’re born?
Marcia Smith 24:09
They’re white or they’re gray. And they stay that way for a couple three years and after their diet gets saturated, they turned pink. Okay, so, you know, this is Fourth of July week coming up next week. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Yes. Okay, so I’m gonna end with a few presidential things here. Okay. Okay. One of my favorite historical synchronicities is that Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who were frenemies their whole lives, died within hours of each other on the Fourth of July 1826. But did you know there was another president who died on that auspicious date? The Fourth of July just five years later? No, I didn’t know that. Can you name him want to take a guess?
Bob Smith 24:56
One of the early guys? Yeah, Madison would be another one Monroe Oh would be another one. Oh, you you lifted your head when I said that. It’s James Monroe. Yeah, that was a tail Marsh. Oh, I’m
Marcia Smith 25:07
sorry. I’ll try to remember that. That is correct. James Monroe. But isn’t it the earliest presidents that they would die on the Fourth of July? I don’t think that’s coincidence.
Bob Smith 25:17
I think it’s fascinating that that really did happen. Yeah, it really is. Yes.
Marcia Smith 25:20
All right. I have a quote, who said, No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure. To me. That
Bob Smith 25:31
sounds like FDR. Doesn’t that? No, no, it isn’t. Who was it?
Marcia Smith 25:35
It’s James K. Polk. Oh, really? Our 11th President and namesake of our little neighborhood here, Oak Street pretty. He pretty much lived by that quote, and didn’t take much time off. He worked 12 hours every day. And over the course of his whole four year term, he only took 27 days off. Holy cow. That’s just like, how many weekends is that? Not many for four years, and
Bob Smith 26:00
I think he actually did die shortly after he left. Yeah, I’m
Marcia Smith 26:03
just exhausted, I would think. Okay, I got one little last presidential factoid. Okay. Not a question. As a former reporter, myself, I love this. John Quincy Adams used to take a nude swim in the Potomac River every morning. And a reporter once sat on his clothes until he gave her an interview.
Bob Smith 26:25
Hey, a female reporter. Yeah, yeah, I
Marcia Smith 26:28
know. It’s it’s a double win when she had some chutzpah. And two, they had female reporters back there. And
Bob Smith 26:36
here’s a fun thing to wind up on. We’re talking about founders of the country. Did you know this? This is interesting. Aaron burrs descendant goes kayaking with Alexander Hamilton’s great, great, great, great Oh, really? Sad. Oh, my goodness for the 200th anniversary of the burr Hamilton duel, Aaron burrs and Tony Ober and Hamilton’s Douglas Hamilton of fifth great grandson Valley Center, Hamilton reenacted the scene and Weehawken, New Jersey. And then they went kayaking together. Wow, that’s pretty cool. Good story. They originally met at a party and only put together their historic connection during some small talk. Oh, really? Yeah. It’s like they were destined
Marcia Smith 27:18
to meet one another. And they went off and saw the play Hamilton together. I
Bob Smith 27:22
don’t know if they went that far. So you got a joke for the end of the show here.
Marcia Smith 27:26
Yeah, during these coronavirus times, you have to think about the best ways to keep your hands off your face. And the answer is have a glass of wine in each hand.
Bob Smith 27:40
That sounds as good as any. I thought so could it be a mixed drink? That’s why I’m asking. Sure. Okay. Well, let’s go off and do that. We hope everybody’s enjoying today’s version about that time I Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith, and this has been the off ramp. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio and the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
