Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discussed voting mandates in Australia and the US, with a focus on Australia’s high turnout rate (90%) compared to the US (60%). Bob explained that in Australia, voting is required by law, and Marcia wondered if people are fined for not voting. They then engaged in a wide-ranging conversation covering various aspects of life and culture, including evolution, diet, the seven ages of man, fashion, and football. Marcia shared interesting facts and insights, while Bob provided knowledgeable responses and personal anecdotes.
Outline
Voting laws and airplane durability.
- Bob and Marcia discuss the most expensive single food on Earth, with beluga caviar topping the list at $210,000 per pound.
- Marcia has never tried caviar before, while Bob is hesitant to indulge in such an expensive delicacy.
- Bob Smith discusses the high voter turnout in Australia, where voting is mandatory, and how it compares to the United States, where voting is a right but only half of eligible voters participate.
- Marcia Smith asks Bob about the world religion that influenced McDonald’s menu, and Bob provides an answer.
Evolution, food, and history.
- Marcia and Bob discuss how religion influenced McDonald’s menu and the design of Air Force One.
- Bob Smith shares interesting facts about Charles Darwin’s diet, including his love for meat and his participation in the “glutton club” at Cambridge University.
- Marcia Smith asks Bob about the seven ages of man according to Shakespeare, but Bob is unsure of the answer.
- Roosters can crow loudly (130 decibels) without going deaf due to a mechanism in their head.
Barbie dolls and origins of the phrase “hands down”.
- Bob Smith struggles to remember the colors of the rainbow, using the mnemonic “Roy G. Biv” to help him remember (20 words)
- Marcia Smith corrects Bob’s mistakes and provides a brief explanation of the colors of the rainbow (10 words)
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the history of Barbie dolls, including their initial release in 1959 and the 1982 release of the “Totally Hair Barbie” with 11.5 inches of crimped hair.
- The term “hands down” originates from horse racing, where a jockey would release the reins to allow a horse to finish the race unimpeded, resulting in a “hands down” victory.
US exports, imports, and cultural trivia.
- Bob Smith: US exports more food than any other country, responsible for 5% of GDP and 10% of employment.
- Marcia Smith: US imports most goods from China, accounting for 18% of total goods.
- Bob Smith discusses the origins of the expressions “piece of cake” and “cakewalk,” while Marcia Smith shares her memories of playing musical chairs and the history of pilgrim hats.
- Marcia Smith corrects Bob Smith’s misinformation about the city of St. Louis, which is split down the middle by a state line and has the same name on both sides.
Fashion, fainting, and football history.
- Marcia and Bob discuss the history of Kansas City, Missouri and the fashion of fainting in Victorian times.
- Marcia Smith shares a personal story about almost fainting at her brother’s wedding due to a fashion choice, and Bob Smith jokes about it.
- Bob Smith explains the origins of the two-minute warning in football, which he believes is older than 30 years.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the history of the two-minute warning in football, including its origins and evolution.
- Marcia Smith shares quotes on character from CS Lewis and Ray Kroc, emphasizing the importance of having principles in all aspects of life, not just when it’s convenient.
Bob Smith 0:00
What English speaking democracy requires its citizens to vote and finds them if they don’t.
Marcia Smith 0:07
Really? And what’s the most expensive single food on Earth?
Bob Smith 0:12
answers to those another questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob
Marcia Smith 0:17
and Marsha Smith
Bob Smith 0:34
Welcome to the off ramp a chance to slow down steer clear of crazy. Take a side road to sanity with fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. We all know the cost of food is going up the cost of meals are going up but your question is about the most expensive meal Yeah,
Marcia Smith 0:51
we talk member I’ve had questions in the past about the most expensive dinner here or there like pizza but it had a whole bunch of things in it always had gold.
Bob Smith 1:00
That’s right flecks of gold or something like why do I want to eat that? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 1:04
but this question is about what is the most expensive single food on
Bob Smith 1:09
Earth? The most expensive single food on Earth right? When it’s cooked? I mean, is this like a steak or something like that? Is it prepared? Or is it just the
Marcia Smith 1:19
food? It’s just the food just the way it’s just the way it is? Yes. Gotta love it. Just the way you
Bob Smith 1:25
can’t be corn can’t be corn. Well, I mean, corn. We’re talking about the food. I give Marsh what would it be?
Marcia Smith 1:33
It’s not going to be on your plate anytime soon in the kitchen. I’ll tell you that in our kitchen. Yeah. beluga caviar. Ooh, you’ve heard of that? Of course. Yes. Yes. Well, apparently it is the most expensive food in the globe, so just can’t be are made of again. Oh, it’s fish eggs. Oh, yeah, Siberian sturgeon caviar is prized for its salty, earthy taste. And the fish eggs are found primarily in the Caspian Sea, which means countries like Iran and Russia are the primary providers of this delicacy. Okay. And so Iranian belaga Caviar will cost you between 30 $210,000 per pound.
Bob Smith 2:16
I’ll take two please. dollars
Marcia Smith 2:18
a pound Raasch depending on that quality of it can cost you that much.
Bob Smith 2:24
Does that come with the bun? Why don’t you eat bread? Crackers? Okay, crackers. Wow, I don’t know Marsh. I don’t think I’m gonna go for that anytime soon. Okay,
Marcia Smith 2:34
have you eat caviar? I don’t think I have really. Oh, I have I I don’t mind it. I don’t think I’ve ever had the really good stuff. Do
Bob Smith 2:43
you think it’s worth that kind of money? Mark? Nothing is okay. Okay. Well, Marcia, there is an English speaking country. Yeah, democracy, which requires its citizens to vote and finds them if they don’t. So a little harsh, a little harsh, but it gives them real good numbers. When it comes to an election. How many people participate? What country is that?
Marcia Smith 3:06
Is it something like New Zealand? It’s something in that
Bob Smith 3:09
area? Australia, Australia. That’s where voting is not a right. It’s mandatory. Wow. And it’s wrong not to vote. It’s not a right. It’s wrong to avoid it. Yeah, in the United States, where you have the right to vote, only about half of the eligible voters ever bothered to show up and cast their ballots, right. 60% made it to the polls in the last presidential election. And midterms are about 40%. Well, guess what? In Australia, the rate is typically 90%
Marcia Smith 3:39
Well, what did they do that 10% They give them a fine? Is that what you get?
Bob Smith 3:44
Australia is the only English speaking nation where voting is required by law. And as a result, their turnout is huge 90% They can still decline to vote by casting a blank ballot. The law only mandates they show up have to show up and you’ll be fine if you don’t show up, but it’s only about 20 Australian dollars. So it’s not a huge find. But if you don’t want to find you know, you vote you know,
Marcia Smith 4:07
well that’s that’s doable. $20 So if you’re really being a lazy ass that day, I’ll take the $20 hit
Bob Smith 4:14
voting is also mandatory in Chile and in Belgium. No kidding. Yeah, Australia is the country that we’re talking about here though. If you don’t vote, you get fined. Robert
Marcia Smith 4:24
Andrew? Yes. Can any airplane flying in the air withstand the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion?
Bob Smith 4:33
I don’t think it would be able to No, no, I think it would cause big problems wrong.
Speaker 1 4:38
Oh, tell me the answer. Which one do you think can which what which airplane
Bob Smith 4:43
can Air Force One that’s it. shielded from all kinds of things
Marcia Smith 4:48
that would be the Boeing VEC two five a modified Boeing 747 200 It can withstand the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear X
Bob Smith 4:59
Blood. That is amazing. Isn’t that like a tank in the sky? Yeah, amazing. Yes, it is. Okay, Marcia, here’s a food question. What world religion influenced McDonald’s menu? What world religion has influenced McDonald’s menu?
Marcia Smith 5:16
Well, you mean, not at the beginning, but now recently,
Bob Smith 5:20
sometimes since they began, okay. Just think of their menu. I am. What would there be that maybe religion influenced it?
Marcia Smith 5:30
Well, well, Kaos.
Bob Smith 5:33
Hindus know, the Roman Catholic Church. britannica.com reports that McDonald’s filet o fish was invented and introduced to help increase business among Catholics on Friday, because at the time, the Catholics traditionally did not eat meat on Fridays. Yeah. So that’s why McDonald’s introduced fully a fish. Yes. So Religions can still influence menus these days. That’s
Marcia Smith 5:55
interesting. I do remember that. But you forgot it. It tells you how I taught my Catholic friends with eating cheeseburgers in their face and tried. Did you
Bob Smith 6:03
actually do that? You came up to them and said, doesn’t this taste? Oh, you were terrible was
Marcia Smith 6:10
Yeah. What was wrong with you? We’ll talk later. Okay, I have one. All right. Speaking of Air Force One, how many are there? I
Bob Smith 6:21
think there’s two Air Force ones. There’s an Air Force One and an Air Force Two, I believe. Now,
Marcia Smith 6:26
how many? There’s two Air Force ones. There’s not Air Force One and Air Force Two. They’re both called exactly the same thing. Okay, if the President is on board, that’s the only time it’s called Air Force One.
Bob Smith 6:38
What’s it called? Otherwise, Fred?
Marcia Smith 6:41
As a matter of fact, you’re correct. No. Hey, get Fred over here since 1990. The presidential fleet has consisted of two highly customized Boeing 740 sevens. And the color baby blue for that plane was selected by Jackie Kennedy. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, I didn’t know that. And the lettering on the plane that says Air Force One, right. It’s a font inspired by the heading of the Declaration of Independence. I did not know that King Jackie did that. That’s why it looks so distinctive. Yeah, I always liked the way that looked on a plane. That was the thinking behind the font.
Bob Smith 7:17
So they created a font that looked like the Declaration of Independence. I’ll be darned. Well, that’s cool.
Marcia Smith 7:22
I thought that was cool, too. All right, Marcia,
Bob Smith 7:25
what was unusual about Charles Darwin’s diet? Gosh, you know, Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of the Species and propagated the theories. Me evolution. He didn’t eat monkey. Oh, he ate a lot of meat as a matter. A lot of me. Yes. What was unusual about his meat diet, Marsha like monkeys? No.
Marcia Smith 7:46
No, I don’t know Bob. When he was
Bob Smith 7:49
a student at Cambridge University. He was in a group called the glutton club. And they specialized in eating unusual food really. So on campus, he was known to have eaten birds like hawks and owls. And then during his voyage is the Dine on many exotic animals. Pumas, iguanas, armadillos? giant tortoises? Yes. Charles Darwin not only studied the famous Galapagos tortoises, he ate them as well. Can you believe that? But his greatest meal was a 20 pound rodent, which he described is low weight, which he described as the best meat I ever tasted. My best meat I ever tasted. It’s believed it was an A Guti, which is a rodent that grows to the size of a rabbit.
Marcia Smith 8:35
Yeah, well, maybe it was highly seasoned and marinated. He didn’t only
Bob Smith 8:38
study species, he ate them as well. Yeah. I had no idea. He
Marcia Smith 8:43
was all in he committed to the rule. He really did
Bob Smith 8:46
commit to the rule. I mean, he wanted to learn about the evolution of these things. I’m going to eat them as well. That’s the same kind of disappointment I had when I realized that Audubon, who do all those beautiful birds killed every one of them. That’s how he got them to stop moving. He would shoot those animals and kill them. Then he would draw them. So they were all dead. beautiful birds. Audubon Darwin. Origin of the Species, kill the species. I’m sorry. I’m just very disillusioned. You are so disillusioned today.
Marcia Smith 9:18
I’ll cheer you on. Okay. What are the seven ages of man according to Shakespeare?
Bob Smith 9:23
That’s a good I don’t know what they call them. I really can’t tell you
Marcia Smith 9:27
just name a couple stages. Well, infancy that’s number one. Middle Ages there somewhere. I
Bob Smith 9:32
don’t know what he called it.
Unknown Speaker 9:33
He had different names and old age.
Bob Smith 9:35
Those are the three I’m familiar with. Yeah, yes. Seven of them in there. So he’s probably got some in the middle. You did
Marcia Smith 9:41
get the infant right. Okay. Second, the school boy, the lover, the soldier, the justice, the pantaloon and pantaloon don’t ask and the second childhood go
Bob Smith 9:52
pantaloon. Where did he get clothing mixed up with the seven ages of
Marcia Smith 9:57
nightowl maybe that’s when you’re prancing and old. They’re I think that’s the oldest is it? What
Bob Smith 10:01
do you wear long pants? Is that what it is? Is that what do you I don’t know. What was the last one?
Marcia Smith 10:05
The second childhood that’s what you and I are and
Speaker 1 10:09
that’s a nice thing to call it. Yeah. Pretty silly these days. Oh, very silly. very silly.
Marcia Smith 10:15
Unfortunately. It’s the last one on the list of seven Bella,
Unknown Speaker 10:19
what can I say?
Marcia Smith 10:21
Okay, all right, I
Bob Smith 10:22
got another animal question. All right. What creature in the animal kingdom make sounds as loud as a jet engine. But can’t go deaf thanks to a mechanism and its head. What animal is it? Ask me any clues you’d like?
Marcia Smith 10:37
Is it like a cricket? No, it’s
Bob Smith 10:39
not like a cricket.
Marcia Smith 10:40
Is it a small thing? No,
Bob Smith 10:42
it’s not a small thing. But it’s not a huge thing. It’s not a huge, huge.
Marcia Smith 10:45
It’s a middle of the road thing. middle of the road thing? Is it in America? We have a lot of them. We do. Okay, then it’s I have no idea.
Bob Smith 10:53
Don’t you ask any other questions? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a mammal? Is it a fish? Any of those? Yes, mammal? No, it’s a bird.
Marcia Smith 11:01
It’s a bird. Yeah. What is the bird?
Bob Smith 11:03
It’s the rooster. Really? The barnyard rooster. Crows that wake up the world or roosters crow can reach 130 decibels according to britannica.com. And that’s roughly the loudness measured near a jet airplane when it takes off. Pretty good. Ah.
Marcia Smith 11:24
That’s annoying. It can be really annoying, but I didn’t think they were that
Bob Smith 11:27
well. 130 decibels. That’s how loud roosters are so why don’t they go deaf? Any idea? No interesting mechanism in their auditory canals. The auditory canals. That’s what you’re hearing through the ear canals. The auditory canals in a roosters head partially close when its beak opens. Oh, that’s convenient. So that’s what prevents roosters from going deaf from their own crowing. I
Marcia Smith 11:52
wish we had something like that. Oh, honey, no, you I don’t want you to shut
Bob Smith 11:56
I think some people’s brain shut off as soon as their mouth opens, don’t you? Can he actually believe what he just said? Yeah.
Marcia Smith 12:02
Kidding. Here’s the second half of the question. I previously asked you about seven.
Bob Smith 12:07
You’re referring to that seven ages of man Shakespeare thing we just did? Yes. Okay. All right.
Marcia Smith 12:11
Now this is what are the seven colors of the rainbow? Well,
Bob Smith 12:15
that’s different. Okay. I would say Yellow. Green. pink, orange. Red. 54 Five, white. And I don’t know what the other one. No,
Marcia Smith 12:27
no. Okay. What are they? Now? You obviously you don’t know the Roy G. Biv. What’s Roy G? Biv. All you never heard of that. Oh, okay. What’s Roy G? Biv. That’s how you remember the colors of the rainbow? I never heard onic device people used to remember. Okay, so it’s red. Green. Red, orange. Okay. Yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Well,
Bob Smith 12:48
I only missed a couple there. Yeah. So I should get some credit. Okay. I didn’t say Indigo. And Indigo was blue, indigo and deeper blue. Okay, and violet. So what are they again? The seven colors of the rain.
Marcia Smith 13:02
Now that you know it’s Roy G. Biv. See if you can tell me back.
Unknown Speaker 13:05
Oh my gosh, come on. Red.
Bob Smith 13:09
Red, orange, yellow. Correct. Green. Correct. Biff bi v. Black, no blue.
Unknown Speaker 13:17
Right. Indigo.
Bob Smith 13:18
V is a violent right. Bravo. Okay,
Unknown Speaker 13:20
thank you got it. ROY G bill.
Marcia Smith 13:23
That’s how school kids remember that.
Bob Smith 13:25
I don’t remember learning that as a school kid. Well, now,
Marcia Smith 13:28
you can know it as an old man. Oh, right.
Bob Smith 13:31
Makes me feel so good. I think I need a break now. Okay, we’ll be back in just a moment. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith. With ROY G bill in the wings.
Marcia Smith 13:41
He’ll be joining us shortly. Okay.
Bob Smith 13:42
We’re back. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith. We do this each week for the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and it’s CPL, radio, internet radio station. And after that it goes on podcast platforms throughout the world. Incidentally, if you are listening to our show, we would love to have people rate in review by going to the podcast platforms that always helps us get more visibility on the web. Good point. All right, Marsha, in our summer of Barbin Heimer Barbie and Oppenheimer movies I ever hear of totally hair Barbie.
Marcia Smith 14:17
Yeah. Isn’t that the one that’s down to her feet? Yeah, when
Bob Smith 14:20
was that? You know? No. 1982 Mattel released totally here Barbie now Barbie is 11 and a half inches tall. And with this doll, it had 11 and a half inches of crimped hair which fell to her toes. That is the best selling Barbie in history because little girls could take that hair and they could dye it and color it and cut it
Marcia Smith 14:38
and they cut it a lot. Yes, they did. I want to see the movie. I want to see that. The sad Barbie after been out of the box too long. All
Bob Smith 14:47
right. And what would Barbies body dimensions be as a real girl.
Marcia Smith 14:51
Oh, weren’t they like 50 Oh, all right, tell me
Bob Smith 14:56
39 and impossible 18 for the waist and 33 for the hips. It’s a little top heavy, but very, very tiny waist.
Marcia Smith 15:05
Well, that’s interesting. Yeah. I’ll go back to that later.
Bob Smith 15:09
And they usually say that the neck was so thin it couldn’t support her head in real life. So yeah, just some interesting that’s I’ve done with Barbie. No. All right. Yeah, I can done with my dolls.
Marcia Smith 15:19
All right, Bob, you’ve heard the term hands down. Yes. Like she won hands down means she won without question. Do you know what it stands for hands down where the origin of that expression
Bob Smith 15:30
was like, you were doing something so then you’re putting your hands down to show your weapons are gone. Or you are ready to do something else hands down. I’m not holding anything. I don’t know. What is it?
Marcia Smith 15:42
I would have guessed that had to do with card games. You know, you put your hand down. Okay, that isn’t that has nothing to do with a winning hand of cards. The expression actually comes from the earliest days of horse racing. Oh, really? wouldn’t have guessed that. No, if a horse was approaching the finish line well ahead of the pack, the jockey would release the reins giving the animal free rein to finish. So he put his hands down, put his hands down and let the horse ride himself in. So
Bob Smith 16:10
it was the hands down winner. Yeah, I didn’t know that. That’s great.
Marcia Smith 16:15
I didn’t know what I thought was interesting. Wow. That’s pretty cool.
Bob Smith 16:18
I have no idea. All right, Marsha. The US exports more of what? What does the US export more of than any other country in the world? I’ll give you choices here. Thank you. Cars, food, computer parts? or coffee?
Marcia Smith 16:34
Coffee? No, I didn’t think so. computer parts? No,
Unknown Speaker 16:39
no.
Marcia Smith 16:41
By the first other two
Bob Smith 16:43
food cars, computer parts a coffee would have to be food. It is food. The US is an agricultural powerhouse. And it exports more food than any other country in the world, really. And it’s responsible for 5% of our gross domestic product and 10% of us employment. And guess what? China is the top export market for our food coming from the US China, China. Hmm. They may get us computers and TVs, but we give them food. Yeah. All right now, what country does the US import the most goods from and I’ll give you choices. Thank you, Mexico, China, Japan, or Canada, China. That’s right. China is our biggest import partner. China accounts for 18% of the total goods making their way to the US. And it’s a wide range. I just mentioned a few, you know, electronics and so forth. But clothing, footwear, furniture, Home Goods, automotive parts, and more. These are from travel quiz.com. I just took it was very good. It was on some very fascinating and interesting things, which we’ll get to in a later show.
Marcia Smith 17:47
All right, Bob, did you ever wonder why no, never. Why doesn’t water in fire hydrants freeze in the winter? Oh,
Bob Smith 17:57
that’s a good question. Why doesn’t water in fire hydrants freeze in the winter, I would assume that the valve for the water is not at the top of the fire hydrant. It’s down deeper underground. It’s down like ground level. No, no. But your thinking is right. So the fire hydrants that well insulated No. Okay, what’s the answer? Well,
Marcia Smith 18:18
you can’t freeze what’s not there? There is a nut that controls the flow of the water to the hydrant. You know how they use that big wrench? Yeah, that nut is attached to a long stem that goes way underground and controls the flow of water. When the water flow is closed, the standing water above the valve is drained out automatically. And
Bob Smith 18:38
that’s kind of what I kind of what I said, isn’t it? Water is at the ground level or below.
Marcia Smith 18:42
You said that the valve was below you. So yeah, that’s what they just said.
Unknown Speaker 18:47
What is it say the
Marcia Smith 18:48
net controls that flow of water underground, when the water flow is closed? The standing water above the valve is drained automatically.
Bob Smith 18:57
Yes. So that’s what I said the water is below the valve not at the top of the fire hydrant. It’s down deeper underground. You didn’t you can have an argument here if you want.
Marcia Smith 19:06
I’ll give you a 65 per 65.
Bob Smith 19:09
I deserve nine out of 10 on that. Naming, naming naming. I’ll read my own Bell All right. All right, Marcia, what colorful food expression meaning easy, wasn’t used until 1936. Piece of cake that’s right. Piece of cake, meaning something as simple to accomplish. Well, people think that expression is related to African American cake walks which came into being in the 1860s. You know, dancers would walk around the cake. Well, the music plank walks and so Cake Walk became an expression for something easy. Oh, it’s a cakewalk. But the expression piece of cake, which has a similar meeting wasn’t used until 1936. Cake and pie have a long history in the United States as metaphors for things that come easy. I
Marcia Smith 19:55
remember the Cakewalk when I was in grade school and it was pretty easy all you had to do was walk around and when the music stopped you sat down yes right and less there was there always one chair less though and so
Bob Smith 20:07
in my neighborhood was poor. I played musical chairs. It was no prize. And the music stuff chairs keep disappearing. It was not a fun game honey.
Marcia Smith 20:16
I’m sorry. You did. Poverty was a poorer neighbor.
Bob Smith 20:19
I guess. No pie no cake in that.
Marcia Smith 20:21
Okay, Mr. MC history. Why did pilgrims hats have buckles?
Bob Smith 20:26
Why did pilgrims hats have buckles? Why did they have to make their hats tighter because the winter winds would blow them off? I don’t know. Well,
Marcia Smith 20:36
I’m sorry to burst your bubble Bob. They didn’t have buckles. It was the Puritans. They had Buckeye eau de so pilgrims actually like to spruce up in bright colors and fancy clothes. Puritans had buckles, also the black and white drab clothing. Hat buckles became a fashion thing in the late 17th century. Nobody really knows why. Like, why do people wear ripped jeans? It was just a lot. It’s
Bob Smith 21:02
quite a quite a waste from a buckle on your hat to ripped jeans. Well, it
Marcia Smith 21:06
was a look. It was a fashion statement.
Bob Smith 21:08
I have a question on a city. Marcia, a city you’ve been to what American city is split down the middle by a state line on both sides. It’s got the same name.
Unknown Speaker 21:18
Is it New York? No, it’s not New York.
Bob Smith 21:22
This city is split down the middle by a state line. It’s got the same name the exact same name on both sides of the state line.
Marcia Smith 21:29
Would that be St. Louis? No.
Bob Smith 21:31
That’s East St. Louis in St. Louis. So
Unknown Speaker 21:33
there’s a difference there about Kansas City. That’s
Bob Smith 21:35
it. It’s in two pieces Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Why are there two Kansas cities?
Marcia Smith 21:42
I can’t remember when I was there. My girlfriend told me Well, they were originally
Bob Smith 21:46
two different names. Kansas City, Missouri was founded in 1889. It was a combination of settlements Westport, founded in 1830. And the city of Kansas, founded in 1853. That’s what it was originally called the city of Kansas, Missouri. Well, by the 1870s, the city of Kansas, Missouri was popular, growing fast. So facials across the river in Kansas. They wanted to capitalize on that. So they formed Kansas City, Kansas. And eventually both cities became known as Kansas City. But originally it was the city of Kansas, Missouri.
Marcia Smith 22:21
All right,
Bob Smith 22:22
interesting. I’ll fast what’s the name of the river that cuts them in half though Marsh Yeah, Kansas
Marcia Smith 22:26
City River.
Bob Smith 22:28
It’s the Kansas River Marsha.
Marcia Smith 22:32
All right, Bob. Why don’t ladies faint as much as they used to in Victorian days?
Bob Smith 22:37
Probably because they’re not wearing those really tight corsets. Like they used to wear all this tight clothing. Ding
Marcia Smith 22:42
ding ding ding. There. And now those corsets, they were actually made them have the figures of Barbie. Oh, they really did. What was desirable for women then was 18 inch waist. Oh, no kidding, which would be like 678 inches thinner than your own actual waist. So they couldn’t breathe and they were smashing their internal organs. So it crushed their organs and that could play havoc with their longevity, their lifes, literally. So
Bob Smith 23:14
the women who wore those very tight corsets probably reduced their lifespan.
Marcia Smith 23:18
Yes. And they even put them on little kids because they thought it would keep their spine growing erect and stuff Chase. But anyway, fainting was so common, especially for women with low blood pressure. It actually became a fashionable and feminine thing to do she fainted. Yes. Oh, she’s
Bob Smith 23:35
so delicate.
Marcia Smith 23:36
It also became an excuse for decking out of any situation you wanted to kinda like the dog ate my homework. And you got sympathy for it and probably your own fainting couch. I
Bob Smith 23:47
have to remind you that we left my last high school reunion early because you had a digestive problem or
Marcia Smith 23:52
what does that have to do with fainting? Well,
Bob Smith 23:54
it’s like sometimes people think oh, to get out to get out of things, but I don’t think you did that intentionally.
Marcia Smith 23:59
No, the only time that I recall almost fainting. It was because of my brother’s wedding and I was standing up at the front and I had on you know, this little dress, and I had on a course set and it sucked in my sides and I just got dizzy and I started to follow Dan’s wedding. Yeah, Geez That’s what I said. So I can imagine what a course that would do to
Bob Smith 24:24
you. Oh, that’s That’s tragic. Really. When you think about that tragic fashion. It that’s a good way to build a course it would ruin your life that way just like high heels can ruin last year and everything else six
Marcia Smith 24:34
inch heels. That’s tough. What did you call it? Tragic
Bob Smith 24:37
fashion. Tragic
Marcia Smith 24:38
fashion. It’s exactly you don’t know what that does over time to women’s feet and their spine and everything. It’s just disgusting. Couple people decide oh, this is a fashion statement and women look better and being six inches taller. But anyway, I don’t mean to go on.
Unknown Speaker 24:57
Oh, you did though.
Marcia Smith 24:57
I did. Alright, cuz I love the two minute warning and football. That’s because things get usually exciting out around the two minute warning which you have at halftime and at the end of the game, right. But how did that rule come about? Mr. Smith? How
Bob Smith 25:13
did the two minute warning come about? And that’s kind of a recent thing isn’t I mean in the last 30 years or so? No, no. Okay. Longer than that. Oh, really? See, I don’t remember being aware of that. Well, maybe maybe in the 60s or something like that. You
Marcia Smith 25:27
didn’t watch football till I made you know, I
Bob Smith 25:29
used to watch football. I watch football enough in my life. Let me tell you, I played in pep bands. I was at football games, right. And last
Marcia Smith 25:35
year where there wasn’t a lot of football games. You were Pepe and your girlfriend was a cheerleader. That’s
Bob Smith 25:40
right, which you’ve always had a sore skin about. I don’t understand that. But that like that. That was my first marriage and it still bothers you. Okay, that I don’t know the answer that we’re way off course. Here we are.
Marcia Smith 25:52
Until 1942. The official time was kept on the field. And scoreboard clocks were rarely on the same page as field time. So coaches didn’t know what to go by. And when the game was over, so
Bob Smith 26:07
there was no official clock that everyone could see.
Marcia Smith 26:11
Now, there was nothing and it was very unfair, because they weren’t ready and the game’s over, you lose. Oh,
Bob Smith 26:16
dear, so different from the day when everybody can see how far things are going.
Marcia Smith 26:20
Yeah, it was a nagging problem that affected like I said, the fairness. They wanted
Bob Smith 26:24
to make both teams understand just how much time is left. And that’s before the stadium clocks became the official timekeepers have the game. They
Marcia Smith 26:31
decided then that everything would stop when the clock hit two minutes. Okay, the timeout, that everybody could stop and have figured out how to wait to wrap up.
Bob Smith 26:41
Isn’t that funny? And they don’t do that in college bowl. They don’t know. I thought that was interesting. I was reading about that here. As you were telling me the answer. Did college football ever have a two minute warning? There is no two minute warning in college football. You won’t catch teams taking that particular break from the action. Maybe because they probably had a better formula, their college team. So. Okay, you got some last minute thoughts?
Marcia Smith 27:02
I do. I do. A couple of quotes on character. My favorite and one of the very popular ones is CS Lewis. Okay. Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. Oh, that’s a good one. Yeah, of course. And I my favorites. I like that. You say that to our kids. And Ray Kroc, McDonald’s founder, ah, it’s easy to have principles when you are rich. The important thing is to have principles when you’re poor.
Bob Smith 27:30
Well, that means have principles all the time. Yes, it does. All right. That’s it for today. I’m Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith. Join us again when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia here on the off ramp. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
