In the conversation, Bob and Marcia Smith explore various trivia and facts. They discuss the presence of dolphins in the Amazon River Basin, the speed of information travel in the central nervous system, and the code names of U.S. presidents. They also delve into historical and cultural trivia, such as the origin of the phrase “when in Rome, do as the Romans do,” the significance of the term “lucky break,” and the acronyms for radar, scuba, and sonar. Additionally, they touch on the challenges faced by astronauts in space, the impact of daylight saving time on traffic accidents, and the historical attempts by states to annex parts of each other.
Outline
Dolphins in the Amazon Forest
- Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith why there are dolphin skulls in the Amazon forest.
- Marcia Smith explains that dolphins used to live in South America and suggests the skulls might be related to historical geography.
- Bob Smith confirms that dolphins do live in the Amazon River Basin, mentioning the pink river dolphin and the tucuxi dolphin.
- Marcia Smith is surprised to learn about the freshwater dolphins in South America, and Bob Smith adds that these dolphins can swim between submerged tree branches during floods.
- Bob Smith mentions a National Geographic picture of a marine biologist with 67 dolphin skulls found in the forest and explains their local mythological significance.
Information Travel Speed
- Marcia Smith asks Bob Smith how fast information travels from the central nervous system to the brain in miles per hour.
- Bob Smith corrects her, stating it’s miles per second or milliseconds.
- Marcia Smith provides an answer of 200 miles per hour, which Bob Smith finds surprising.
- Marcia Smith explains that the central nervous system’s speed is crucial for maintaining body functions.
- Bob Smith acknowledges the fast speed of these signals, which can reach up to 268 miles per hour.
Singers and John Wayne
- Bob Smith asks Marcia Smith to identify a commonality among a list of singers and John Wayne.
- Marcia Smith guesses they all had the same shoe size, but Bob Smith reveals they all appeared in films with John Wayne.
- Marcia Smith is surprised by Frank Sinatra’s involvement, and Bob Smith confirms they were in the movie “Cast a Giant Shadow.”
- Marcia Smith asks why we say “when in Rome, do as the Romans do,” and Bob Smith explains its ancient origin from St. Augustine’s advice to St. Ambrose.
- Bob Smith is amazed that the phrase dates back to 400 AD.
International Space Station and Carbon Dioxide
- Marcia Smith asks why astronauts on the International Space Station sleep near a fan.
- Bob Smith explains that warm air exhaled during sleep doesn’t float away in space, leading to a buildup of carbon dioxide around the head.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the complexities of space travel and wonder about the feasibility of long-term missions.
- Marcia Smith mentions the term “lucky break” and its origin from the Roman custom of pulling on a wishbone.
- Bob Smith explains that the winner of the wishbone pull was said to have a lucky break.
Human Embryos and Tails
- Marcia Smith asks if human beings grow a tail, and Bob Smith confirms that they do in the early stages of development.
- Bob Smith explains that human embryos develop a tail made of about 10 to 12 vertebrae, which usually gets absorbed by the body.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the coccyx, which is the remnant of this tail.
- Bob Smith mentions that the Secret Service uses code names for presidents and their families, with code names starting with the same letter.
- Marcia Smith provides examples of code names for presidents and their family members, such as “Deacon” for Jimmy Carter and “Rawhide” for Reagan.
Yellow Pencils and Air Quality
- Marcia Smith asks why pencils are usually coated yellow, and Bob Smith explains that it was once a sign of luxury pencils.
- Bob Smith describes the introduction of Siberian graphite by Faber-Castell and its impact on pencil quality.
- Marcia Smith asks about the state with the worst air quality in America, and Bob Smith mentions Illinois.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the cleanest air countries, mentioning Scandinavian countries and Australia.
- Bob Smith states that Bangladesh has the worst air pollution in the world.
On the Waterfront and James Bond Movies
- Marcia Smith asks who was the first choice for the role of the rebel dock worker in “On the Waterfront,” and Bob Smith reveals it was Frank Sinatra.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the James Bond movie titles, with Marcia Smith providing some correct answers.
- Bob Smith mentions that Judy Garland was the third choice for the role of Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” with Shirley Temple and Deanna Durbin being the first and second choices.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith discuss the acronyms RADAR, SONAR, and SCUBA, explaining their meanings.
- Bob Smith asks about the number of silent films made in the pre-sound era, and Marcia Smith provides the answer that at least 11,000 were made.
Daylight Saving Time and Traffic Accidents
- Marcia Smith asks what event every year causes an increase in traffic accidents, and Bob Smith identifies the switch to daylight saving time.
- Marcia Smith explains that the risk of traffic accidents rises by about 6% immediately after the switch to daylight saving time.
- Bob Smith and Marcia Smith discuss the impact of daylight saving time on other potentially fatal events, such as heart attacks and strokes.
- Marcia Smith mentions that the risk decreases when the time goes back because people have more sleep.
- Bob Smith asks if any US state has ever tried to buy part of another state, and Marcia Smith reveals that Alabama once offered a million dollars to Florida for a portion of the Florida Panhandle.
China’s Traffic Jam and Upside-Down Traffic Light
- Marcia Smith asks about a significant traffic jam in China in 2010, and Bob Smith explains that it lasted 11 days and stretched 60 miles.
- Bob Smith mentions that local villagers took advantage of the situation by selling food and water at a premium.
- Marcia Smith asks why there is an upside-down traffic light in Syracuse, New York, and Bob Smith explains that it was due to Irish immigrants throwing rocks at the original light.
- Bob Smith describes how the city agreed to hang the light upside down to appease the Irish immigrants.
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith share quotes from Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, reflecting on their presidencies and values.
Bob Smith 0:00
Why are there dolphin skulls in the Amazon forest,
Marcia Smith 0:04
really? How fast does information travel to your brain?
Unknown Speaker 0:08
Say? What answers?
Marcia Smith 0:12
1020, seconds over here answers
Bob Smith 0:15
to those and other questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob and Marshall Smith,
Bob Smith 0:37
welcome to the off ramp with synaptic lapse intact, a chance to slow down, steer clear of crazy and take a side road to sanity as we explore little known facts about well known people, places and things, sure. Okay, all right. Marcia, why are there dolphin skulls in the Amazon forest?
Marcia Smith 0:58
Well, gee whiz in the Amazon forest, Amazon forests, well, I’d say those dolphin skulls go back a couple of years, and that the geography was a bit different back then, and that there were dolphins in South America.
Bob Smith 1:15
Well, you know what? There are dolphins in South America. There are yes, dolphins live in the Amazon River Basin. I didn’t know that. I didn’t either. There are both fresh water and salt water dolphins. We tend to think of them as ocean animals, but National Geographic says there are six species of fresh water dolphins. Four are found only in Asia. Two fresh water dolphin species live in South America, in the Amazon and the oronalco river basins, there’s the pink river dolphins. The other is the tecushi dolphin, a smaller cousin the tushis can live in salt water and fresh water, but pink dolphins only live in fresh
Marcia Smith 1:53
water. Are they as friendly and fun as the ones in Florida? They’re
Bob Smith 1:57
friendly, but they’re big males. Can be nine feet long and weigh 400 pounds. Oh, dear. So back to the question, why are there skulls of dolphins
Marcia Smith 2:06
in the Amazon forest? At one point in history, they had little feet? No.
Bob Smith 2:10
At one point every No, that’s not it.
Marcia Smith 2:14
I snorted. No. This is
Bob Smith 2:15
because at one point every year, there’s an annual High water phase of the river and it floods the forests, and the dolphins, their dorsal fins, their long snouts and their flexible flippers let them slip in and out of submerged tree branches.
Marcia Smith 2:31
Oh my gosh, yeah. Imagine going to sleep one day as a dolphin and waking up in a tree. Isn’t that
Bob Smith 2:36
amazing? Yes, a marine biologist says basically, they fly between trees following the fish during the flooding. Oh
Marcia Smith 2:43
my gosh. Well, that’s fascinating. So
Bob Smith 2:45
dolphins swim at tree levels in the Amazon. There’s a picture in the october 2024 issue of National Geographic, of a marine biologist with some of the 67 skulls he’s found in the forest, no kidding, and he kind of lodge them in the tree branches. You can find that picture. It’s kind of interesting. That’s amazing. And one more thing about dolphins. They’re part of the local mythology in the Amazon. Yeah, the people there consider dolphins friends, tricksters and thieves friends, because they actually can warn of problems with the environment. Healthy dolphin populations mean that the fish population is healthy too, but they’re tricksters and thieves, because they can use their snouts to delicately steal fish from fishing nets, really. And as for trickery, locals tell colorful stories of dolphins morphing into humans, covering their blowholes with Top Hats and charming women to underwater cities. I had no idea dolphins were in South America.
Marcia Smith 3:42
I didn’t know you, but freshwater pink dolphins are there. All right, miles per hour, Bob, how fast does it take information from your central nervous system to travel to your brain in miles per hour?
Bob Smith 3:58
Okay, I just heard your question. Uh, it doesn’t take miles per hour. It’s miles per second or milliseconds. The
Marcia Smith 4:07
answer I have is miles per hour. Okay, 200 miles per hour. Very good. 268 miles per hour. Holy
Speaker 1 4:15
cow, wow. That’s fast. From the automatic
Marcia Smith 4:19
tasks of regulating breathing and blood pressure to the voluntary efforts needed for muscle movement. The central nervous system puts in a lot of work to maintain the complex mechanisms of bodies. Pace is crucial to keep this system running smoothly, which is why some signals from our bodies can reach a speed of 268 miles per hour. There you go. There’s your answer,
Bob Smith 4:44
okay? Marcia, I’m going to give you a list of singers, and I want you to tell me what they have in common. Okay? With John Wayne, okay. Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Frankie, Avalon, Fabian, Paul Anka, Debbie, Reynolds, Pat Boone. And Glen Campbell, Bobby Vinton and Frank Sinatra. What did they all have in common with John Wayne? That’s
Marcia Smith 5:05
a disparate group of people. Yeah, okay, it has to be some arcane thing, huh? I know they all had the same shoe size. No,
Bob Smith 5:14
what? All those singers? They’re all singers. They all appeared in films with John Wayne, really? Yeah. Oh, that’s curious. No, I could understand most of those, like Dean Martin was in Rio Bravo. That’s right, the one that got me was Frank Sinatra. I never thought of he and John Wayne being in a movie together, but they were in the movie cast a giant shadow,
Marcia Smith 5:34
really? Yeah, interesting. Robert, why do we say one in Rome do as the Romans do. Well, well, who first came up with that? Oh, who first
Speaker 2 5:44
said when in Rome do as the Romans? I bet it’s an ancient saying. I bet it was an ancient saying and reflected local cultural norms and mores. That’s what that’s what Robert has to say about it. But why do we say it? Because we don’t want to be different than the Romans when we’re in Rome, it’s very simple. Well, that’s true. Don’t stand out. Don’t look like a tourist. Do what the Romans do, right?
Marcia Smith 6:06
It’s hard to believe that in this 21st century, we all use a phrase that goes back to St Augustine in the fourth century. I wondered if it went way, way back. It does. When St Ambrose was sent on a mission to Rome by St Augustine, he was concerned about which holy day to observe, since the Romans feasted on different days than he did. So st, Augustine’s advice is still with us when in Rome, do as the Romans do,
Bob Smith 6:33
holy cow. So that goes back to what 400 ad, 400 ad. You think that’s a new expression, but it goes back to 400 ad. This is fascinating, and it’s good advice. Okay, Marcia, here’s a modern question. Why do international space station astronauts have to sleep near a fan?
Marcia Smith 6:56
Well, did they get a little stinky? Bob,
Bob Smith 7:00
it’s not about stink. No, no. We talked about the fact that they have no washing machines. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 7:05
oh, that’s right. Very underwear does have to recycle. Fan is it gets so hot at night, I don’t know. No, why?
Bob Smith 7:13
The physics of outer space is the reason on earth, warm air exhaled during sleep floats away from the mouth and the nose, but in space that doesn’t occur naturally, and the lack of a fan would cause a sleeping astronaut’s head to become surrounded by exhaled carbon dioxide.
Marcia Smith 7:30
Oh, interesting. So
Speaker 1 7:31
you could choke, maybe choke to death on your own expelled air. Yeah, wow.
Bob Smith 7:36
What kind of outpost duty is this sleep near a fan, where you choke on a cloud of carbon dioxide. Wear clothes weeks at a time because there’s no way to wash them. Good Times was any of this reflected in the Star Trek or Star Wars scripts? I
Marcia Smith 7:49
know I never saw Captain Kirk have any problems. You
Bob Smith 7:52
know, the more you learn about the complexities of space travel, the more you wonder if humans will ever pull off these years long missions to solar system.
Marcia Smith 8:00
It’s crazy. I know I don’t care to go, but who knows, maybe our grandson will be up on one of those suckers. Okay, Bob, speaking of Romans once more, what they also came up with the term lucky break. Really? Where does that come from?
Bob Smith 8:17
I always thought that had something to do with the wishbone breaking the wishbone. Yeah, so the lucky break meant you got the bigger part of the wishbone?
Marcia Smith 8:24
Yes. When the Romans introduced the custom of two people pulling on a wishbone to see whom Good luck favored, the winner was said to have a lucky break.
Speaker 2 8:35
All right, we talked about funny bones last week. Here’s another question for you about the human body, true or false. Do human beings grow a tail? This sounds like something from the Scopes Monkey Trial, yeah.
Marcia Smith 8:48
Do they grow? I think they in utero.
Speaker 2 8:51
That’s exactly right. Yes, we all, at one point have a tail.
Marcia Smith 8:56
I know I remember mine,
Bob Smith 8:59
not an old wives tale about something. Wives tale, according to britannica.com for a very short period in your early life, you have a tail about the fifth or sixth week of development, human embryos develop a lengthy tail. It’s about 10 to 12 vertebraes long, jeez, and the tail usually gets absorbed by the rest of the body. When it does, it becomes the coccyx. That’s why we refer to that part of the body, the coccyx as the tail bone, because it’s originally part of a tail.
Marcia Smith 9:29
Okay? Bob, as many of us know, the Secret Service has code names for presidents, First Ladies and their families. The first president with a code name was Harry Truman. His code name was General. Using code name simplifies the process of communication between the agents. Traditionally, code names are given to a presidential family all start with the same letter, and once someone is assigned Secret Service protection, the person gets to choose their code name from an approved list. List of names. Oh, I didn’t know they choose their own code well, they have to choose it from an approved list kept by the White House Communications Agency, and they usually relate to some personality trait or interest. So I’m going to give you code names, and you tell me what President or First Lady they stand for. Okay, Deacon. Deacon.
Bob Smith 10:18
I bet that’s Jimmy Carter, that’s very good, because he taught Sunday school and everything like
Marcia Smith 10:23
that. Correct. This one, you’ll get easy rawhide.
Bob Smith 10:26
That’s Reagan. I know that, yeah, yeah, because he was a cowboy. Yeah? Lace, lace, lace. Who is lace? Was that? Nancy Reagan, nope, lace. Who would be lace? I
Marcia Smith 10:38
don’t know. I wouldn’t have picked her either. Jackie Kennedy, just because of her propensity to dress very well.
Bob Smith 10:44
Well, what was his name? Lancer or
Marcia Smith 10:49
something. Lancer was JFK, and that came from their talk about being Camelot. Okay, Sir Lancelot. Yeah, he was Camelot. Oh, here’s a tough one. Mogul. Well, that’s got
Unknown Speaker 11:00
to be Donald Trump,
Marcia Smith 11:01
that’s right. Renegade,
Bob Smith 11:02
Renegade, Renegade. Who was a renegade? Don’t know who that would be,
Marcia Smith 11:07
Barack Obama. Oh, really, and rainbow? Well,
Unknown Speaker 11:12
that has to be Michelle Obama, nope.
Marcia Smith 11:14
Nancy Reagan. Oh, really, yeah, so Reagan was rawhide and Nancy was rainbow. Okay, rawhid, rainbow. So you got the two R’s, yeah? Okay, that’s fun, huh? Sort of move.
Bob Smith 11:30
Yes, that was very fun, but you were very good with that. Thank you very much. You’re well, okay, Marcia, here’s a good question for you. Why are pencils usually coated yellow? Ah,
Marcia Smith 11:41
so I can find them in my dirty desk or
Speaker 2 11:43
purse. Now that’s part of the reason. Yes, they did that just for you. No, no, no. Tell me, most pencils are yellow. That’s kind of a traditional color, but that was once a sign of a luxury pencil that was a really competitive differentiator in the 19th century. Most generic pencils were wood colored or black or maroon. But then there was an introduction of something new. It was graphite from China, and it came to be known as Siberian graphite. Faber Casteel was one of the first companies to get a hold of Siberian graphite, and it helped them have very fine tuned pencil formula 16 different degrees of hardness or softness. Good Lord, because this Siberian graphite was so good, well, one of their competitors thought all up them, France von hardmouth, decided to develop his expensive luxury pencil with 17 grades of hardness. He coated his yellow to symbolize Chinese Yellow River and all of that. Oh, okay, his new pencil had 14 coats of yellow lacquer. So it looked and felt very, very luxurious, 1414,
Speaker 2 12:48
coats of paint. Oh, good lord. Hit the market in 1888 it was a smash hit. That’s why the makers started coding their pencils in yellow. Yellow Siberian pencils became the norm for pencil makers, okay, and that’s why we still have that since about 1888 Bob, what
Marcia Smith 13:05
state has the worst air quality in America?
Bob Smith 13:08
Let’s see. I’m just saying New York, possibly because of everything there. Yeah, a lot of traffic and so forth. But
Marcia Smith 13:15
no, it is Illinois. No California. Oh, really. Well, it’s all the cars, Bob, it’s not that much industry, but it’s cars, and you got the forest fires all the time. How about the best air quality in America?
Unknown Speaker 13:30
I would say Alaska. Ah, good guess.
Marcia Smith 13:32
Hawaii. Oh, well, that makes sense, too. And how about the world? What are the cleanest air countries? Cleanest
Bob Smith 13:39
air in the world? Yeah, let’s say the Scandinavian countries, because you’re way up there, yeah, in the upper elevations,
Marcia Smith 13:46
right? Nordic countries and Australia, the Land Down Under. Yes. It’s very, very clean particles of fresh air, and the worst country for air pollution in the world. Oh, oh, I never think of this country, but too many autos and industrial pollution. But it’s got enough problems without this. All right, is it in Asia? Yes,
Bob Smith 14:08
Bangladesh, Bangladesh used to be part of Pakistan. That’s the worst in the world. Worst pollution in the
Marcia Smith 14:14
world. Yeah, air pollution. You don’t want to go around breathing heavily. I think it’s time for a break. Speaking of breathing have a look. All
Bob Smith 14:21
right, we’ll take an air break, an oxygen break, and be back in just a moment. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith,
Speaker 2 14:29
we’re back. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. We do this each week for the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and its internet radio station. After it airs on the station, it is on podcast platforms where it’s heard all over the world. Wow, you’re on top of it today. I’m awake. Wow, you are awake. Let’s turn off this echo. Okay, Marcia, this go back to the 1950s and movies, who was the first choice for the part of the rebel dock worker in on the waterfront. Yes,
Marcia Smith 15:00
Marlon Brando got it. And I’ll say Wally Cox, who was his best friend, actually his
Bob Smith 15:07
roommate in New York City. Who would have thought, yeah, okay, but that’s not it. So Marlon Brando did get the part of the rebel dock worker in on the waterfront, who was the first choice? Okay,
Marcia Smith 15:18
I’ll just say somebody of the era, Henry Fonda, no,
Bob Smith 15:22
not Henry Fonda. I don’t know. This was a person who was rather new to movies. I don’t know. Big singer at the time, Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra, no, yes, really. Elia Kazan’s first choice for that part was Frank Sinatra.
Marcia Smith 15:36
I still trying to picture him in that part,
Bob Smith 15:39
New York. New York, he’d be singing that as he hands on the waterfront.
Marcia Smith 15:45
All right, Bob, it’s time for AKA, also known as, that’s right, okay. The category is James Bond movies. You should get most of these. MD, negative. MD,
Bob Smith 15:59
negative. Dr, no, that’s it. So we’re doing titles of films now, that’s
Marcia Smith 16:04
correct. Okay, James Bond movies, okay, 24 karat digit, 24
Bob Smith 16:10
karat digit, a gold finger. Okay, eight cats, eight cats, yeah, eight cats, eight cats would be 16 eyes, no, that’s not it. Eight cats, eight tails, no, that’s not it.
Marcia Smith 16:25
You know this one meow. What’s another word for 888? Sides to something has Octo
Speaker 2 16:33
pussy. Okay, there we go.
Speaker 1 16:38
All right. Eight cats, okay, wow,
Marcia Smith 16:41
okay, heavens descend.
Speaker 2 16:44
Heavens descend. Yeah, heavens descend.
Marcia Smith 16:47
A recent, oh, nightfall. It’s
Speaker 1 16:49
Skyfall. Skyfall. Okay, okay, authorization
Marcia Smith 16:53
to murder.
Unknown Speaker 16:55
Oh, license to kill, right? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 16:57
the Earth is insufficient. The earth is insufficient. Yeah, this, this one I wouldn’t have gotten the
Speaker 2 17:04
earth is insufficient. Boy, I don’t know about that one
Marcia Smith 17:09
me, either, the world is not enough.
Bob Smith 17:11
I don’t remember that.
Marcia Smith 17:12
I don’t remember it. Either, must have been with Wally Cox.
Bob Smith 17:16
Well, that was Wally Cox’s first and only
Marcia Smith 17:20
last one, reincarnation is possible. Once. You
Bob Smith 17:25
Only Live Twice. You Only Live Twice. I always love that song. You Only Live Twice. Nice song, mush. You What film
Marcia Smith 17:35
star you’re in a singing mood today?
Speaker 2 17:38
I love it. What film star refused to make a movie after a poll disapproved of her appearance in a film because she appeared in the film. No, she didn’t take the part because of the public poll. Now, who would be subject to a public poll and say, Well, I guess I don’t do this,
Marcia Smith 17:59
somebody like Grace Kelly, that’s exactly
Speaker 2 18:00
who it was. Okay? Yeah, in 1964 Grace Kelly, who by then was what Princess Grace of Monaco was her title. By then, she was offered the role in a film, Marnie, starring role in that film, but in a public referendum, her subjects voted against her returning to the movies, really, so she never made a movie again. Tippie Hedren took the part. What was that movie? Marnie. Marnie, one more question on old Hollywood, okay, uh huh. When censors objected to Clark Gable socking a priest in the movie San Francisco, yeah, he was gonna sock the
Marcia Smith 18:34
priest. You still love that movie on the old million dollar movie. So
Speaker 2 18:37
how did the movie makers rewrite the script Clark Gable was going to I thought he did flag a priest. No, he didn’t. They rewrote the script showing Spencer Tracy knocking Clark Gable out. I
Marcia Smith 18:50
knew one of them got hit, and only after they got dressed
Unknown Speaker 18:53
Did you see that Tracy was a priest. You
Marcia Smith 18:56
didn’t know it up to that point. That’s right. They were buddies, right? They
Speaker 2 18:59
made the priest the winner of the fight, but they didn’t reveal his religious profession to the audience until after, that’s right, it was the big reveal. They didn’t want to show Clark Gable slugging a priest. Yeah, that was a bad thing. One more question. Okay, Judy Garland was the third choice for the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz? Third choice? Oh, dear. Who were the first and second choices. Gosh,
Marcia Smith 19:20
going way back to what is the 1939 Yeah, Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple was one, yeah. She was the first choice. I don’t know any other child actors from the 30s. Deanna Durbin,
Bob Smith 19:33
so studio chief Louis B Mayer tried to borrow Shirley Temple from 20th Century Fox, but they declined, and Deanna Durbin was unavailable, and that resulted in, well, it’s let’s try Judy Garland. Maybe she would work. Yeah, did she ever maybe she
Marcia Smith 19:47
would, man, amazing. Aren’t you gonna break out in song with over the rainbow?
Bob Smith 19:53
She was 16 years old when they started filming. They
Marcia Smith 19:56
tried to make her look younger, with the pigtails and strapping down. On her boobs, yeah, my goodness. All right, Bob, what do these words have in common? Radar, care package, scuba sonar.
Bob Smith 20:08
What do they have in common, radar, scuba and sonar and care care package, care package, what do they have in common? Well, they they have the letter A
Marcia Smith 20:20
right. That’s right. Okay, there you go. No, the answer is wrong. Okay, you’ll like this, because you usually get these. They’re all acronyms, okay, I
Bob Smith 20:29
guess you’re right. They are, aren’t they? Radar, radio and see something, and radar range and RAdio
Marcia Smith 20:36
Detection and Ranging, RAdio Detection and range and the care in care package cooperative for American remittances to Europe.
Speaker 1 20:46
I didn’t know that. I didn’t either. Okay, scuba, scuba, scuba. What does that stand for?
Marcia Smith 20:52
Self Contained Underwater breathing apparatus? That’s the one that makes the most sense. Yeah. Okay. And lastly, sonar, sound navigation ranging. It entered the language in 1946 case you’re wondering, really,
Bob Smith 21:07
wow, that’s interesting. Okay, good. I do have another movie question.
Marcia Smith 21:11
That’s fine.
Bob Smith 21:12
This is about silent film. How many silent entertainment films were made in the pre sound era? Now, sound came in about 1929, I believe it was when Hollywood kind of adopted it. That’s when Warner Brothers came out with the jazz singer, which was a partial sound film. Then the sound films started coming out, and studios started throwing away their old silent films because they couldn’t even run them anywhere. Eventually, how many silent entertainment films were made in the pre sound era? 200 500-800-9011
Speaker 2 21:43
1890, no, there were at least 11,000 films. Word, an estimated 11,000 movies were produced in the United States from 1912 to 1929 All right, what percentage of those movies exist today? Out of the 11,000 out of the 11,000 films, 493
Bob Smith 22:05
less than a third of the films have survived. That’s 493 now it’s believed 70% of the movies from the silent era are lost forever. Some were lost to physical damage due to fires or chemical decay, because the the film actually would explode, could explode into flames, and then some were lost, because once sound was introduced and audiences were demanding talking pictures, the silent films were deemed too costly to store, even by the studios that made them, so they just pitched them. And some of them were real works of art. They were beautiful things. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 22:37
I’ll be okay, Bob, what event every year causes an increase in traffic accidents. What event every year? Yeah, what event every year causes an increase in traffic accidents?
Bob Smith 22:51
Is this like a holiday? Is this like an official time? It’s an official thing
Marcia Smith 22:55
that happens every year. Official thing that happens every I don’t know if you’d call it a holiday, but it happens, apparently
Bob Smith 23:00
not people are killed. Hey, let’s have a holiday. Okay, so there’s an event that causes a bunch of traffic accidents. Is it a change in time or something like that? Is that it
Marcia Smith 23:10
it’s a switch to daylight saving time? If you’re not a morning person, the days immediately follow the switch to daylight saving time. Wow. Or spring forward, it might be a struggle, especially that first Monday morning, when so many sleepy drivers are on the road, accidents are more likely. Who knew the average Americans risk of getting in a car accident rises about 6% Geez. When
Unknown Speaker 23:36
that? When you change time? Yeah,
Marcia Smith 23:38
on that day and on, along with an increase in other potentially fatal events, such as heart attacks and strokes.
Bob Smith 23:44
Jeez. Okay, I’m gonna stay off the road. The next time the time changes,
Marcia Smith 23:48
stay home and have a brunch. Now, when the time goes back, when it doesn’t affect because you had more sleep, everybody had more sleep. Yeah. Isn’t that interesting?
Bob Smith 23:57
Marcia, what US state once tried to buy part of another state.
Marcia Smith 24:02
It wasn’t Wisconsin. Trying to buy Michigan, Upper Michigan. No,
Bob Smith 24:05
no, although I’m still in favor of that purchase. Yes, they took away part of our state. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 24:10
Okay. What state I don’t know. Tell me the state
Bob Smith 24:14
was Alabama. And in 1869 Alabama offered a million dollars to Florida. They just wanted to annex the portion of the Florida Panhandle that lies south of Alabama. They thought, well, let’s, oh yeah, let’s get that so we can have a longer coast. Well, the commissioners in Alabama and Florida seemed pleased with the deal, but it fell through because the governor of Alabama thought the price was too high. That would have been a steal to get the strip of land. It could have been like a beach resort area. Chase, how much? Again, a million dollars. That was a lot, a lot more money in 1869 but yeah,
Marcia Smith 24:46
still, yeah, yeah, they could make that up in tourist revenue real quick. So
Bob Smith 24:51
the governor of Alabama probably has been cursed from that point on. Yeah, we could have had it. We could have had that part of Florida.
Marcia Smith 24:57
Okay, Bob in 2010 China had a doozy of a traffic jam. How long did it last?
Bob Smith 25:03
Wow, really? 2010 Why would there be a traffic jam and Okay, let’s say it lasted a day. That’d be a long time for a traffic jam. How long the jam
Marcia Smith 25:12
stretched for 60 miles and lasted around 11 days. Jeez. Can you imagine? Holy cow, local villagers took advantage of the situation by selling food and water to drivers at a premium, including water bottles marked up 10 times their original just like America. Officials estimated the jam could have lasted a couple of weeks longer, but it continues major traffic jams because of congestion and too many cars and an overburdened freeway.
Bob Smith 25:44
Well, speaking of traffic, I’ve got a traffic question, why is there an upside down traffic light in Syracuse, New York, and there’s an upside
Marcia Smith 25:53
down light? Yes, in Syracuse? Well, no idea. According
Bob Smith 25:57
to britannica.com during the 1920s Irish immigrants living in the temporary Hill neighborhood, temporary temporary Hill Syracuse, New York, would throw rocks at a newly installed traffic light. They did that because the light, like all traffic lights, positioned what they considered British Red above Irish green. I’ll forget because the Green was at the bottom the top, that’s red. That’s British. People are crazy. So eventually the city agreed we’ll just hang the light upside down, and today, that traffic light still has green on the top and red on the bottom. Yeah,
Marcia Smith 26:31
red, red on the bottom, okay, quotes today from two well spoken presidents, okay, Ronald Reagan, okay, that’s good. Keep that, because one of our favorites from him is trust but verify. Yes,
Speaker 2 26:46
trust but verify. That’s right. That was about the Soviet Union, right? That’s
Marcia Smith 26:49
right. It’s actually a Russian proverb. He knew about it and used it, and he used it during nuclear disarmament discussions with Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev. Wow, isn’t that something? I
Bob Smith 27:02
didn’t know that. I didn’t know it was a Russian either. I that was very I turned that on your adversary there. That’s a smart idea. I
Marcia Smith 27:09
saw some footage of it. And Mikhail just smiles and puts his head down. He’s thinking, Oh, he’s using this on me. How interesting. Yes, and Barack Obama, okay, my fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once too.
Speaker 2 27:27
That’s true. Great thoughts. All right, well, that’s it for today. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show, and we hope you’ll join us again next time, when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia. I’m Bob Smith. I’m
Marcia Smith 27:38
Marcia Smith. Join us again when
Bob Smith 27:40
we return next time with more of
Marcia Smith 27:42
the off ramp.
Bob Smith 27:45
The off ramp is produced in association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin, visit us on the web at the offramp. Dot show you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
