Bob and Marcia shared fascinating facts and rare feats, including the distance at which iceberg breaking sounds can be heard, the largest iceberg ever documented, and the rarest statistic in baseball. They also discussed their personal experiences and knowledge about Milwaukee’s beer culture, and explored interesting facts about alpine lakes and Mount Everest. Marcia and Bob then shared their knowledge of various naming conventions, including those in technology, history, and pop culture.
Outline
Iceberg sounds and baseball statistics.
* Scientists recorded iceberg sounds 4350 miles away, thought volcanoes, but it was melting icebergs.
* Marcia Smith explains the rarity of unassisted triple plays in baseball, occurring only 15 times since 1900.
Pop singers, baseball, and plant pollination.
* Switzerland rigged its border bridges with dynamite during WWII and Cold War, including a 750-year-old bridge.
* Neil Diamond studied pre-med in college on a fencing scholarship before pursuing a career as a songwriter.
* Bob and Marcia discuss buzz pollination, or sonication, a quickie pollination strategy used by bee-pollinated plants, including tomatoes and blueberries, which can be simulated using electronic toothbrushes.
History, geography, and culture.
* Marcia and Bob discuss the city of Istanbul, its history, and its size.
* Bob and Marcia discuss the origins of the term “jazz” and Switzerland’s high gun ownership rate.
* Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss Milwaukee’s famous beer brands, including Blatz, Schlitz, Pabst, Miller, and Miller Lite.
* They reminisce about the slogans and jingles associated with these brands, such as “From Milwaukee and I ought to know” and “Miller Lite: great taste, less filling.”
Naming city equipment, including a funny story and contests.
* Marcia and Bob discuss how beer and cigarettes were advertised on TV, leading to their use, and how pharmaceuticals are now advertised on TV, leading to their use (0:14-0:16).
* Bob finds it interesting that Bing’s new chat GPT integration includes footnotes, allowing users to see the sources consulted by the software (0:16-0:19).
* Marcia and Bob discuss the largest named number, Googleplex, and contests for naming city equipment.
* Bob and Marcia discuss the origins of Paris, France.
Alpine lakes, highest active volcano, and St. Lucia.
* Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith about the largest alpine lake in North America, and Marcia correctly identifies Crater Lake as the deepest but largest by surface area.
* Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the highest alpine lake in the world, located in South America, which sits at an elevation of 20,965 feet.
* Marcia and Bob discuss the naming of countries after women, with St. Lucia being the only country named after a woman.
* Bob and Marcia Smith share funny names for earthmoving and snow removal equipment, and Marcia quotes “follow your heart but take your brain with you” and “I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.”
Bob Smith 0:00
How far away can braking icebergs be heard?
Marcia Smith 0:04
And what is the rarest statistic in baseball answers
Bob Smith 0:07
to those and other questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith?
Welcome to the off ramp a chance to slow down. Steer clear of crazy and take a side road to sanity with some fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. Okay, Marsh, how far can you hear an iceberg breaking up?
Marcia Smith 0:44
I will say 365 miles. I’m
Bob Smith 0:48
going to give you another chance with that Marcia, give me let’s imagine that you are a scientist with special underwater microphones.
Marcia Smith 0:57
Oh, so you can hear it underwater? We’re talking 500 Miles 1000 Miles.
Bob Smith 1:03
You’re getting closer. Now. Here we go. Scientists have recorded the sound of icebergs breaking up in Antarctica as far north as the equator Oh my world from the bottom of the earth all the way up to the equator. The in March 2000. The iceberg B 15 broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf and Antarctica and it was the largest iceberg ever documented. It had a surface area of more than 4200 square miles twice the size of the state of Delaware so it was big within the next few years all the way up past the equator 4350 miles away special microphones that scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA suspended underwater picked up the strange signals sounds so loud, they thought they were coming from volcanoes. They determined they were the melting creaking cracking groaning icebergs. Wow, that’s amazing.
Marcia Smith 1:57
It is. That’s very interesting. Okay, Bob. It’s almost time for baseball.
Bob Smith 2:02
Yes, it is.
Marcia Smith 2:03
Come springtime comes baseball. What is the rarest individual statistic in baseball and how do you define rarest? It happens. This has happened only 15 times since 1900.
Bob Smith 2:17
Really? 15 times. It’s not the perfect game. Is it? No, no, no. Okay. And it’s not homeruns and it’s not strikeouts. We know that right? Hmm. I don’t know what
Marcia Smith 2:27
is it’s the unassisted triple play.
Bob Smith 2:31
What is an unassisted triple play?
Marcia Smith 2:33
Well think about you know what a double play it Yeah, guy on third catches. It throws it the first and you got two outs? The unassisted triple play. Your chances of making a triple play all by yourself. Bob are one in 12,492. How do you do that? Well, I look for an example. Okay, picture this. an infielder catches a line drive. That’s one out. He steps on the bass nearest him. That’s two. Okay. And then he tags the guy who’s running past them. That’s three. Okay. 15 times since 1900
Bob Smith 3:05
times in over 100 years. That’s all the times it’s done. 22 years. Wow. 20. So the unassisted triple play is the rarest statistic in baseball correct of all time. That’s pretty good. All right, Marsha. I have a history question for you here. What country stuffed its border bridges with dynamite during World War Two. What countries stuffed its border bridges with dynamite. I’m trying to think what country I’ll say the answer is ironic. It is Germany. No, no. But what country stuffed its border bridges with dynamite the peaceful nation of Switzerland. Oh, okay. So Switzerland may be neutral, but it’s ready to defend itself and it packed many of its border bridges with tea and tea during the World War Two and Cold War eras in the event of Germany invading them or a Soviet ground invasion. They did this to all these bridges that bordered rivers okay. That included the famous 750 year old sacking girder bridge built over the Rhine along the Swiss German border in 1272. Even though it’s considered a national monument and national treasure, they loaded that with dynamite just in case we may have to blow that one up to good for them. The government finally cleared that bridge of its explosives in 2014. But it won’t say whether other bridges are still rigged to blow if the country is attacked.
Marcia Smith 4:32
Don’t they worry about them going off accidentally?
Bob Smith 4:35
Apparently not.
Marcia Smith 4:36
Cheese. What about kids playing underneath and going oh, what’s this and? No, you
Bob Smith 4:41
have a great imagination.
Marcia Smith 4:43
Okay, Bob, one more baseball question. Okay. In 1952, a 19 year old Pittsburgh minor league pitcher named Ron Nellore made history by being the only pitcher to do what
Bob Smith 4:57
1952 The only pitcher To do what to do what well, can you give me any hint at all?
Marcia Smith 5:02
Well, he pitches and what are you looking for in pitches a ball
Bob Smith 5:08
to be thrown.
Marcia Smith 5:10
But what do you want as a pitcher strike out a strike? Yeah, okay. He got 27 strikeouts in a row Bob. That’s three batters per inning, nine innings. Every batter in every inning out. Wow. And he was in minor league Pittsburgh.
Bob Smith 5:26
That’s where a lot of these records take place. Yeah. Ron
Marcia Smith 5:29
Nellore. And he never went on. He got injured and stuff and what year was it? 1952. Wow.
Bob Smith 5:37
Okay. All right.
Marcia Smith 5:39
That’s my baseball trivia for today. Thank you very much.
Bob Smith 5:44
Okay, I got a question for you. What made your pop music singer studied pre med in college after arriving there on a fencing scholarship? Really?
Marcia Smith 5:52
Yes. Pop singer. Do I know pop singer? You
Bob Smith 5:55
know him? Is he younger or he’s just recently announced his retirement. Oh, okay. So he’s pop singers studying pre med in college after arriving there on Oh, fencing scholarship.
Marcia Smith 6:05
That wasn’t Mick Jagger? No, because he was econ. This was an American. Okay, American. Okay.
Bob Smith 6:11
He entered New York University on a fencing scholarship.
Marcia Smith 6:14
Oh, gosh, I’m trying to think I’ll say Neil Diamond.
Bob Smith 6:19
That’s exactly who it was. Neil Diamond, oh, my god, New York University on a fencing scholarship and he must have been good at it because he only took up the sport in his senior year in high school, according to one account, but he was so good that he got a scholarship he left college in 1961 to take a $50 a week job as a songwriter for sunbeam music. And you never heard of him again. Neil Diamond, he’s who knows you shackles. Money after that, then
Marcia Smith 6:48
they’ll say
Bob Smith 6:49
Holy cow. Okay, Marcia. What is sonication flower vibration? Buzz pollination? Or how can electric toothbrushes help pollinate plants? sonication what is that they’re all the same thing, actually.
Marcia Smith 7:04
Oh, they are. Okay, I thought you were getting me a multiple choice.
Bob Smith 7:07
sonication or Buzz pollination is what britannica.com calls a quickie pollination strategy employed by a number of bee pollinated plants. The flowers of these plants, they only released their pollen if they’re properly vibrated by a buzzing bee. They just evolved that way. Bumblebees make a special type of Buzz by vibrating their flight muscles within their thorax. And that vibration is used in the pollination of certain flowers that released their pollen only when touched by the correct vibration frequency. This phenomenon known as buzz pollination, or sonication, or floral vibration occurs in tomatoes, blueberries and a number of other plants. And that’s where toothbrushes come in. All right, some human plant breeders hand pollinate these plants with the help of electronic toothbrushes their vibrators can simulate a bees buzzing tricking the plants into releasing their pollen. Okay
Marcia Smith 7:58
mix smarty pants all
Bob Smith 8:00
about that. You’re ready.
Marcia Smith 8:01
What is the only trans continental city in the world? What does that mean? Means it’s so big.
Bob Smith 8:09
It crosses an ocean
Marcia Smith 8:10
no two continents. Transcontinental
Bob Smith 8:12
that would be Istanbul, right? Yes, yes. Formerly Constantinople?
Marcia Smith 8:18
Yes, you are mixed money pax
Bob Smith 8:20
east and west. It connects Asia and Europe. And
Marcia Smith 8:23
you know what it was called before Constantinople? Isn’t team does antium does MTM capital of both the former Byzantine and Ottoman Empires
Bob Smith 8:34
and at one point, it was the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. Yeah, the
Marcia Smith 8:38
capital of modern day Turkey. 15 point 4 million people.
Bob Smith 8:42
That’s pretty good size. I
Marcia Smith 8:43
guess in all of
Bob Smith 8:44
Europe. I didn’t know that. Yeah, I thought maybe London or Paris was bigger than Yeah, me too. But no. All right, Marcia, which Canadian city was originally known as? pile of bones, pile of pile of bones. I’ll give you some choices here. Unlike you I have choices. Edmonton, Quebec, Calgary or Regina. I will say pile of bones pile of
Marcia Smith 9:07
bones.
Bob Smith 9:08
Quebec. pile of bones Marsh sounds like it’s out on the frontier. Doesn’t it? Pilobolus? Okay Edmonton, Quebec, Calgary or Regina Edmonton, Regina Marcia, the capital and second largest city of Canada’s Saskatchewan province. pile of bones was its name it started out as a hunter’s camp, and the settlement took its name from the bones and skins of the Buffalo and then the European settlers renamed it Regina Latin for Queen in Honor of Queen Victoria. That that was that originally was called pilot bones. Okay, Bob, what
Marcia Smith 9:42
sport was originally associated with the word jazz?
Bob Smith 9:47
Really the sport was associated with jazz. Is this an indoor sport or an outdoor sport? outdoor sport? Is it a team sport or an individual’s team sport? Not lacrosse something like that. Oh no, not tennis. No. Okay. What
Marcia Smith 10:03
is it in 1917 baseball players with a lot of PIP were said to have Jess Oh, okay I jazz but Jess J S S. And that sense of energy that jazz generated was soon given to the music of the day which was Ragtime, Dixieland and the blues. And the catch all phrase for these types of music became jazz, a free spirited musical phenom. And of
Bob Smith 10:31
course, there are other stories that jazz is a term for sex. And that was the the genesis of it in that music. So interesting story. So
Marcia Smith 10:39
it’s baseball or sex? Yeah, well, at the same time, it could be okay.
Bob Smith 10:43
It could be a home run that way. Okay. Okay, Marcia, back to Switzerland. Why? Why does neutral Switzerland have so many guns? They do. They are armed to the teeth with guns really?
Marcia Smith 10:56
Well? Are they hunters? That’s not the reason. While they’re protecting themselves against the Russians. It’s
Bob Smith 11:01
because every Swiss male is required to serve in the military, or in an alternative civilian service. And conscription requires citizen soldiers to store their weapons at home for the national defense. So it’s more of a militia, everybody has to be in it. So everybody gets guns. And according to the Geneva based Small Arms survey, that means Switzerland has more gun circulating per capita than any country in the world or the United States, except for the United States and Yemen. Okay. Switzerland only has about 8 million people. You can find 2 million firearms in their homes and households.
Marcia Smith 11:37
Okay, Bob, you’ve lived in Milwaukee area now for a while. About 40 years. Really? Yes. Okay. But before you came, you knew what made Milwaukee famous? What was it? Of course,
Bob Smith 11:49
beer? That’s
Marcia Smith 11:50
right. I heard
Bob Smith 11:51
about it all my life. Yeah. No matter where you lived in the United States. You heard about Milwaukee beer.
Marcia Smith 11:57
That’s right. Beers. And there were lots of them. Lots of them still are. But what were the four top national brands of beer and maybe a slogan if you can remember one?
Bob Smith 12:07
Oh, that came out of Milwaukee? Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, give me four. All right. The Blatz beer was I’m from Milwaukee and I added Oh,
Marcia Smith 12:18
isn’t that crazy? That’s from Milwaukee.
Bob Smith 12:22
I love that song I said still sings in my head. I remember because, you know, I’d see this stuff on. My dad watched all kinds of sports. So be on all the ballgames. Yeah, these commercials are on TV at night. That’s right. That one that one especially where am I? I love the sound of it. I’m
Speaker 1 12:37
from Milwaukee and I ought to know. Barry, wherever you go, smoother and fresher. Building. That’s a clear budget. Milwaukee is fine. A beer.
Bob Smith 12:52
Did you like hearing it again?
Marcia Smith 12:54
It was great. All right. Here’s
Bob Smith 12:56
another one. I remember and this is, let’s see. Schlitz. The beer that made Milwaukee famous, right?
Speaker 1 13:06
There’s only one. When you’re likeable. You’re out of being a real gusto. Light
Marcia Smith 13:16
beer that made Milwaukee famous? Yeah, my dad had a big Schlitz sign that said that up in his bar.
Bob Smith 13:21
That’s right, because your dad had a bar. Milwaukee’s north side. And we had a few of the signs and stuff from that for a while. I think Ben Ben has the clock.
Marcia Smith 13:31
He’s got the I saw I’m not gonna say what clock because that’s another answer. Oh, Pabst
Bob Smith 13:37
Blue Ribbon. Yes. Right. I saw that when we were out there to visiting him. He’s got that clock. That’s right.
Marcia Smith 13:41
Yeah, blue ribbon.
Jingle singer 13:45
What do you have? Blue Ribbon.
Bob Smith 13:52
Does that refresh your memory? Refreshed mine.
Marcia Smith 13:54
Yes. Okay. And and I think the younger generation here’s one I don’t remember hearing this. PBR me ASAP.
Bob Smith 14:02
That sounds like the texting era.
Marcia Smith 14:04
Yeah, you’re right. You’re right. That’s must be what is from Okay, and give me one more big one still here. Miller.
Bob Smith 14:10
That’s it. Miller. And of course Miller Lite of great taste less filling. Uh huh. And then wait ahead, Miller. High Life The champagne of champagne of bottled beer.
Marcia Smith 14:21
That’s the one that rings me. And it’s Miller time. That was like
Bob Smith 14:26
If you’ve got the time Oh, that’s right. If you’ve got the time we’ve got the beer. (Plays jingle)
There now, that sounded better than you and me singing it. Okay. All right. Move on. All right. So we went down memory lane with beer and all of those songs. We learned the words too before we were ever a drinking age. Oh, yeah, this was just stuff that seeped into our consciousness as kids
Marcia Smith 15:10
Beer and cigarettes were the big commercials on TV constantly.
Bob Smith 15:13
Now it’s for this pharmaceuticals. Yeah, absolutely.
Marcia Smith 15:18
Which cigarettes and beer screwed you up? Well, that’s
Bob Smith 15:20
why we have pharmaceuticals.
Marcia Smith 15:23
It’s a logical line of thinking. In effect,
Bob Smith 15:27
that’s the reason we have all the pharmaceuticals because there was too much beer and cigarettes. Back in the day. All right. Okay, Bob, I think it’s time for a break. All right, you’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith. We’ll be back in just a moment. We’re back. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith. We do this each week for our Cedarburg Public Library. And then we put that on podcast platforms, and it goes out all over the world. Well, Marcia, you and I do a lot of the research for this show on the web. Yes, using Google and search engines. And so I was finding it very interesting that Bing just got launched the Microsoft’s search engine with chat GPT built in. We’ve used this chat GPT because our son uses it in his work. We tried it because you ask it a question that comes back with a fully written statement or could even do a generate a report on what you’re talking about, but you don’t know where it came from. Right? Well, the new Bing chat GPT integration includes footnotes. So there’ll be a footnote there, you can click on and go to the source that they consulted when the software the robot wrote this paragraph. Okay, now, you’ll have a footnote and a resource, then you can say, okay, that comes from Encyclopedia Britannica or whatever, you know,
Marcia Smith 16:43
yeah, for gym shorts down. Jim Schwartz
Bob Smith 16:46
wrote that on his little blog in 2021, and
Marcia Smith 16:50
we’re supposed to believe him? I don’t think so. According
Bob Smith 16:53
to Jim Schwartz. No. Anyway, I just thought that was fascinating. I just heard about that. Okay.
Marcia Smith 16:57
What is the largest named number? You’ll
Bob Smith 17:02
find? The largest named number you’ll find?
Marcia Smith 17:05
You’ll find it in some dictionaries and so forth. Like, infinity. You get that far? Okay. I
Bob Smith 17:11
think it’s 100 billion gazillions, and it’s God’s money, and it’s the biggest money you can have. It’s God’s money. God zillions. Yes, it’s great. All right, next question. Alright, what’s the answer?
Marcia Smith 17:23
It’s Google Plex. Google Plex. Yep.
Bob Smith 17:27
That sounds like a part of the Google headquarters.
Marcia Smith 17:29
They name that is exactly what Google Google took its name from the Google or Google is a one followed by 100. zeros. Yeah. And the highest name number. A Google Plex is a one followed by a Google of number, which is 10 to the 100th power. Oh
Bob Smith 17:48
my. Wow. Okay. So Googleplex is not a place. Yeah. Although it is a place. They
Marcia Smith 17:53
named their whole complex. Their headquarters in California Googleplex. Sounds
Bob Smith 17:58
like a hotel, doesn’t it? Yeah. I’m staying at the Google X. Yes, I’m on room. 44. All right. Marcia. Interesting thing here from our daughter in law, Daria. Solaveieva sent me and it’s how some big cities are naming their equipment like garbage trucks and, and snow plows. And it’s really funny, they have contests and I’ve got some for you here. I thought you might find it interesting. Okay. starts out with the story about a guy named Joe granny Arey. He has plowed roads in the village of New Paltz, New York for two decades. Recently, his truck got a name forget upload it.
Marcia Smith 18:31
Forget that funny That’s very funny. And
Bob Smith 18:36
there are contests like this all over the country for naming things. For instance, these are snowplows love plows ski control salt delete UniLite Control Alt Delete control, Jennifer snow PES in Muncie Indiana local suggested haul and totes and truck Norris. Were the garbage trucks.
Marcia Smith 18:58
Why not? Okay.
Bob Smith 19:00
and The Big Lebowski that was another Lebowski have been diesel was another one. Even though that truck runs on compressed gas, Minnesota Department of Transportation skid vicious sweet child O’Brien because of the assault of course, bike Dyson and love broom, James these are sweeping machines sweepers. I don’t
Marcia Smith 19:21
know I bike Dyson is that way but it’s fine. It’s that Dyson is a vacuum cleaner.
Bob Smith 19:25
Oh, that’s right. That’s right for so it’s sweeping. Okay, yeah. Have enough of these? Yeah. Okay, I got more or less. Kind of funny.
Marcia Smith 19:31
No, that’s enough.
Bob Smith 19:32
No, I got more funny ones.
Marcia Smith 19:34
Okay. All right, Bob. What was the original name of Paris?
Bob Smith 19:39
The original name of Paris. This was a Celtic city, wasn’t it? Or was it the Roman name? Yes. The Roman name. Okay. I’ll see Londinium was London. I can’t remember what Paris was.
Marcia Smith 19:50
A Roman city of Lutetia was the predecessor of modern day Paris. The Romans conquered the area in 52 BC. Those Romans got around and began their settlement on an island in the middle of the Seine
Bob Smith 20:05
Elder Law sea day. I think it’s the one Yeah, yeah. The prosper
Marcia Smith 20:09
settlement soon spread to both banks of the river and was later renamed Paris after its early inhabitants, a Gaelic tribe known as the per easy.
Bob Smith 20:19
Well, that’s interesting. Isn’t
Marcia Smith 20:21
that per easy?
Bob Smith 20:23
Tie? I liked that name better. The breezy sounds. I think those guys knew how to party. Yeah. All right, Marsha. I have a question for you about alpine lakes. Now at alpine lake is usually a lake that’s at least 10,000 feet in elevation. Okay, so I’m going to ask you what is the largest alpine lake in North America and I’ll give you choices here. Is it Yellowstone Lake Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake sawtooth lake or redfish Lake? What is the largest and I’m talking about the size of the surface area, the largest alpine lake in North America.
Marcia Smith 20:58
I’ll just say Crater Lake. That’s
Bob Smith 21:00
the second largest.
Marcia Smith 21:01
It’s the deepest though, isn’t it?
Bob Smith 21:03
It is the deepest but what’s the largest? I don’t know. Lake Tahoe. Oh, is it? It’s between Nevada and California. It’s North America’s largest alpine lake hits 22 miles long, 12 miles wide, and 191 square miles of surface. Why is it an Alpine again because it’s 10,000 feet or higher? Oh, okay. It’s only trailing the five great lakes as the largest lake by volume in the United States. Okay, so it’s huge. Lake Louise and Moraine Lake both in Alberta, Canada are also among the largest alpine lakes in North America. Lake Tahoe is 1644 feet deep. And you’re right. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in North America. It’s 1943 feet deep. Now, how deep is that? This is an interesting visual exercise. Imagine this, okay? Imagine stacking the Eiffel tower on top of the Washington Monument on top of the Statue of Liberty, and the Statue of Liberty would still be 100 feet underwater. Wow. That’s how deep I love Crater Lake.
Marcia Smith 22:05
I love these visual comparisons. Hard to believe. Here’s a quickie. Ready? Yeah. Once you get on top of the summit of Mount Everest, how much space do you have to walk around?
Bob Smith 22:16
Oh, there’s not much up there. I don’t think I think it’s pretty small. Maybe? Are you talking square foot or what?
Marcia Smith 22:24
It’s about the size of two ping pong tables. Jeez,
Bob Smith 22:28
can you believe that? Two ping pong tables, that’s all the and then you could fall off. You could fall down. That’d be terrible.
Marcia Smith 22:35
So let’s not do it next weekend. Like we were talking.
Bob Smith 22:38
Holy cow. Okay. All right back to alpine lakes. What’s the highest alpine lake in the world? It’s in the Americas, but not North America.
Marcia Smith 22:48
Oh, it’s in the Americas not so is it South America? Yes,
Bob Smith 22:52
it is in South America. It’s a tourist destination well known for hiking and sightseeing. attracts travelers all over the world.
Marcia Smith 23:02
Tell me. It’s a host Del Sol Lauda in Argentina. Okay, that’s the room at the top of my head. Okay. World’s
Bob Smith 23:09
Highest active volcano and the world’s highest Lake sits at an elevation of 20,965 feet. That’s a tall Lake. That’s amazing. Yes.
Marcia Smith 23:20
Okay. St. Louis Chia is the only country to be named after what a woman? That’s right.
Bob Smith 23:28
I know the answer to that. Obviously,
Marcia Smith 23:32
and 195 sovereign countries in the world only one St. Lucia is named after a woman who is St. Lucia island country in the West Indies in the Eastern Caribbean Sea was named after St. Lucie of Syracuse, a Christian martyr from Sicily.
Bob Smith 23:51
And this is not Syracuse, New York. She was she was in. Not there.
Marcia Smith 23:55
St. Lucia covers just 238 miles square miles, making it one of the world’s smallest countries in the world. So
Bob Smith 24:03
we haven’t named a big country for women, only tiny countries. Tiny itsy bitsy, kind, significant small.
Marcia Smith 24:11
You can be the girl control. I like
Bob Smith 24:12
the name. St. Lucie. Yeah, St. Lucia.
Marcia Smith 24:15
pronounced the chia. We’re
Bob Smith 24:17
always searching for fun little museums to go to Well,
Marcia Smith 24:19
I am. Let’s be clear. Where can
Bob Smith 24:23
you find a museum devoted only to bread now? I’ll give you cities here. I’ll read museum bread museum, but there’s no bread in it. I’ll explain this in a minute. On Germany, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Helsinki, Finland or Grenada, Spain. I’ll say on it is the Museum of bread culture on Germany. There are 16,000 artifacts on display covering everything from the 6000 year history of bread, two books about bread and art that highlights bread it opened in 1955. More than a million people have visited sets. And if you can’t find it, there are bread crumbs that can take you there. No. One thing you won’t find in the museum is any real bread. According to the museum’s website, bread itself is not part of the collection reflecting the museum founders firm belief that bread is not a museum artifact, but a food freshly baked every day
Marcia Smith 25:16
with warm melted butter.
Bob Smith 25:18
Okay, back to the equipment naming contest, Marcia? Yes, Minnesota is their latest contest. One winner was blisko and homage to the Grammy winner Lizzo whose career began in Minneapolis. There’s also clear Oh path thrugh like Clara path. Better called salt. And hands snow low out. In Michigan. There’s Melton John. Snow be gone. Kenobi. Aaron Burr, sir. Sir, like takeoff of Hamilton, Burr for snow removal. Gotcha. Yeah, these are just names people are giving to earthmoving and snow equipment around the country. And our thanks to Daria solo the EVA Smith for giving us that. What did you ever name your car?
Marcia Smith 26:03
Do you have a name? Yeah, always. How was my favorite? Yeah, because how would run without me putting my foot on the gas pedal?
Bob Smith 26:10
Okay, so how did whatever you wanted to do? Just like that computer in the movie? 2001.
Marcia Smith 26:14
That’s right. That’s funny. Did you What about you? No. Never
Bob Smith 26:17
named a car. No, no. So stupid. Why would you do that? Oh, sorry. All right. That’s it. All right. Here’s
Marcia Smith 26:24
two quotes Bob with no attribution. But I find them personally very meaningful. Okay. One is follow your heart. But take your brain with you. That’s good. Yeah, it’s good advice for all. And the second one, I don’t want to brag or make anybody jealous, but I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.
Bob Smith 26:48
I love that. I love that. And I can still use the pencil I used in high school. So what can I say? All right. That’s it for today. We hope you have enjoyed our half hour of fun and we invite you to submit any questions you may have that you’d like us to top one another with by going to our website, the off ramp dot show and scrolling all the way down to contact us. Hope you join us next time. I’m Bob Smith.
Marcia Smith 27:09
I’m Marcia Smith. You’ve been listening to the off ramp. Join us again
Bob Smith 27:13
next time when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia here on the off ramp. We are never tired of saying the off ramp. Okay. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
