Forty-Nine Butterflies

 

The first Tyrannosaurus Rex (the name means tyrant lizard king) skeleton was discovered in 1902 in Montana (There were T. Rex teeth and bone fragments unearthed long before this, but they were misidentified.) From time to time, smaller skeletons that LOOKED like T. Rex would pop up, and they were usually classified as juvenile T. Rex specimens. Eventually, though, paleontologists studying the growth rings in the ancient bones realized the smaller dinosaurs were fully developed at half the length and a tenth the body mass of the T. Rex. It had bigger forearms, a narrower mouth and a LOT more teeth. They’re calling this “new” dinosaur (the phrase always makes me giggle) Nanotyrannus Lancensis. The prefix nano- means “one billionth.” It’s a catchy moniker, but not very helpful, if the purpose is to show these weren’t just little T. Rexes. This may be further proof that scientists shouldn't always be trusted with naming things.   

Three Pineapples

 

Jesse Delos Jewkes was born in Orangeville, Utah in 1895. He used the money from his first job – delivering milk – to buy a violin. When he served a South African mission in 1915, the violin came with him. World War I travel restrictions sent him back to Salt Lake, where he worked as a music salesman and then as a deputy in the State Auditor’s office. He sang with the Tabernacle Choir as a basso profundo soloist. Delos’ distinctive deep voice led to roles in opera, theatre, vaudeville, radio, records, movies and television. He was the voice of God in The Ten Commandments (1956). He was in four episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, where he loaned his voice to a lip-synching Barney Fife during a choir performance. Delos played a member of the old home guard in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. He’s the fellow with round glasses and a helmet strap across his chin. 

Forty-Nine Pine Trees

 

When Henry VIII died in 1547, clerks catalogued his belongings. There were jewels, furs, tapestries, and the contents of fifty-five houses, castles, palaces and hunting lodges. And there were musical instruments. Henry owned at least 76 recorders. They were hand carved from ivory and boxwood, stored in velvet-lined cases. Some were tipped with silver. They came in all sizes from the tiny sopranino to the massive great bass. The instruments were there in part to be played FOR the king, and in part to be played BY the king, as he was an accomplished musician. Beyond the recorders, he owned at least forty flutes, along with crumhorns, cornetts and shawms. There was a set of ivory/purple velvet bagpipes, dozens of viols and lutes, and several keyboard instruments. Most were kept at Westminster in the care of Flemish composer Philip van Wilder, “Keeper of the King’s Instruments.” Because someone had to keep everything dusted.

Nine X Blocks

 

“Elder Holland and I had the privilege of escorting various groups of people—including Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Rabbi leaders, as well as secular Jewish leaders—through open-house tours in temples here in Utah. At the baptismal font, I had the opportunity to explain the doctrine of baptism for our deceased ancestors. This relates directly to Malachi’s promises of turning the hearts of children to their deceased fathers. I read to them from 1 Kings 7:25, where Solomon’s temple is described. The baptismal font sits on top of the hinder parts of twelve oxen representing the twelve tribes of Israel. This brought both recognition and tears to some. They realized they were essentially looking at certain aspects of Solomon’s temple, which has sacred significance to both Jews and Muslims. A few years later, Jewish leaders requested we celebrate the 175th anniversary of Orson Hyde’s historic dedication of the Holy Land in Jerusalem.” – Elder Quentin L. Cook

Two Pineapples

 

David Hahn was born October 30, 1979 in Royal Oak, Michigan. His parents divorce when he was nine. David stayed with his dad, who remarried. He developed an interest in chemistry, fireworks and model rocketry. His family encouraged him to join the Boy Scouts, and David became obsessed with achieving a merit badge in atomic energy. He read everything about it he could get his hands on. He began collecting smoke detectors (they contain americium), lantern mantles (for thorium), and old glow-in-the-dark clock hands and dials (radium). He used it to create a reactor in a potting shed in the backyard. When David was 17, a routine traffic stop put an end to his fun. Police found suspicious material in his car and traced it to his backyard. The EPA showed up in hazmat suits. The shed was dismantled and buried as nuclear waste. David never did earn that merit badge.

Five Bird Houses

 

When he was thirteen, Gabriel García Márquez walked up to the prettiest girl on the dance floor and said, “I just realized all my poems are about you. Marry me.” Most girls would have laughed and walked away, but Mercedes said, “Alright. But I have to finish school first.” They married thirteen years later. Gabriel’s dream was to write an epic novel. He shut himself in a room and wrote while Mercedes dealt with the real world. After 18 months, Gabriel’s enormous manuscript was ready to ship to a publisher. The only problem: there was no money for postage. Mercedes pawned the last two things she owned – a hairdryer and a blender – and the rest is history. That manuscript became One Hundred Years of Solitude; one of the most influential novels of the 20th century. After it came Love in the Time of Cholera, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. And a Nobel Prize for Literature.

Four Dozen Butterflies

 

Insulting people is a dying art:

“He had delusions of adequacy.” – Walter Kerr

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” – Winston Churchill

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” – Oscar Wilde

“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like having you here.” – Stephen Bishop

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” – John Bright

“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.” – Irvin S. Cobb

“He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” – Forrest Tucker

“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” – Mae West

“He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.” – Billy Wilder

“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.” – Abraham Lincoln

“There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won’t cure.” – Jack E. Leonard