Ben Nelson the asterisk, wolf sex, feeling like you're going to boot, and other facts and information of the summer...a three-part series...

This is part of a three-blog entry series. The next one will involve bewildering, head-scratching moments from the news that I experienced this summer. The third one will be about some summer reading that I enjoyed. But below are some of the many interesting facts and information that I learned this summer...

1. New word of the summer: "Vuvuzela" -- The plastic horn that South Africans used to make that annoying noise throughout the World Cup games. The device is also known as a "lepatata." I am not sure which word I like better. Both are fun to say and sound musical.
2. New slang of the summer: "Boot" -- In modern college student language, a verb that means "to vomit." According to The Field Guide To College Slang by Natalie Sudikoff, other slang words that may be on campus this year include: "Gut Class" -- An "easy class that everyone does well in. "Blitz" -- Sending a short e-mail, as in "I'll blitz you." "Dormcest" -- Hooking up with someone who lives in your dorm. (Probably meant more for coed dorms, but these are modern times, too.) "Turkey Dump" -- When a freshman returns home for Thanksgiving Dinner to dump his or her "hometown honey." "Midnight Howl" -- A bellowing scream heard at midnight, the night before finals.
3. Interesting book of the summer: "The Man Who Stopped Time" by Brian Clegg. It is a book about English pioneer photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who has also been called the father of the motion picture. He is best known for his series of photographs of a horse in a gallop which proved, as moment to moment of the gallop was studied, that a galloping horse can indeed have its four hooves (legs) off the ground simultaneously. He had to use 24 cameras to catch every second of movement. What I didn't know about Muybridge was that he was a murderer. In 1874 in England, he killed his wife's lover. He was facing the gallows and he went to trial with the defense of "marital rights." Did the jury convict or acquit him? I shouldn't give it away in case you want to read the story, but I will mention it in an upcoming blog, the third in the series, about summer reading. If you don't want to know, then skip over the repeated reference to "The Man Who Stopped Time" there.
4. Interesting TV show of the summer: "The Human Family Tree" on the National Geographic channel. It was about the history of DNA of all the world's people since the time of early ancestors like "Eve" in Africa. There was a lot interesting information. For instance, there are 5,000 languages in the world today and speech was critically important in allowing the human species to progress. Also, researchers estimate that at one time, because of one terribly dry period in Africa, the human species probably only numbered around 2,000 and was on the verge of extinction. The program also noted that there are 3 billion letters of the human genome and only a few change the race. In other words, race differences are not more than skin deep. Genetically speaking, race doesn't exist.
5. Interesting documentary of the summer: "Yellowstone: Struggle for Survival," a three-part TV series by the BBC, which you can watch in its entirety by way of a DVD from Netflix. The film photography of the wildlife and landscape was stunning. Lots of interesting information about Yellowstone National Park. The park contains more geysers than in all the rest of the world. Real mama grizzlies, antelope, bison, beavers, elk, and wolves were featured. I had no idea that wolves have a rather problematic situation involving sex, but there is a scene of the potential hazards of the problem in the film. This is a family-oriented blog, so I will leave it vague, but the film also is great for family viewing. Heck, mammals are just better at illustrating the subject of sex than birds and bees anyway, so if you have children and if it leads to a discussion, you may discover that they know plenty already about the subject or, at least, they probably know more about it than you think they do. If you have teenagers, God bless and help you! In the modern world, college students are the experts on the subject.
6. Interesting TV quote of the summer: A TV news story in June 2010 featured author and former lawyer John Grisham. He said there are thousands of innocent people in prisons. About half of the time, the real killer is never found, he said. But here is the quote, pertaining to why it is important for the justice system to get it right, that I thought was very interesting from Grisham: "When you send an innocent man to prison, chances are you've just increased the crime rate."
7. Best News Anchor of the summer: Jake Tapper of ABC's "This Week" on Sunday mornings. He challenged guests with insightful questions. The permanent anchor for the show, starting next week, will be Christiane Amanpour from CNN.
8. Interesting asterisk of the summer: Ben Nelson the asterisk. Whenever I am speaking about and criticizing the Republican Party of "No," please note that more specifically I probably should be saying, "The Republicans and Ben Nelson." Nelson is the conservative senator from Nebraska who often votes with the Republicans. He's about as much a Democrat as rattlesnakes make good necklaces.