What's a Cat Good For?

How about untangling your headphones!
How to Untangle MP3 Headphones - Watch more free videos

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Mike the Headless Chicken

You heard it here first as usual. (My wife says this is too graphic but hey..... that's life!)

Mike the Headless Chicken was a Wyandotte rooster that lived for 18 months after its head had been cut off.

Thought by many to be a hoax, the bird was taken by its owner to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to establish its authenticity.

On Monday September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, had his mother-in-law around for supper and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken.

Olsen failed to completely decapitate the five-and-a-half month old bird named Mike.

The axe missed the jugular vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact.

On the first night after the decapitation Mike slept with his head under his wing; it was this that convinced Olsen to reprieve Mike from the cooking pot.

Despite Olsen's botched handiwork, Mike was still able to balance on a perch and walk clumsily; he even attempted to preen and crow, although he could do neither.

After the bird did not die, a surprised Mr. Olsen decided to continue to care permanently for Mike, feeding him a mixture of milk and water via an eyedropper; he was also fed small grains of corn.

Mike occasionally choked on his own mucus, which the Olsen family would clear using a syringe.

When used to his new and unusual center of mass Mike could easily get himself to the highest perches without falling. His crowing, though, was less impressive and consisted of a gurgling sound made in his throat, leaving him unable to crow at dawn.

Mike also spent his time preening and attempting to peck for food with his neck.

Being headless did not keep Mike from putting on weight; at the time of his beheading he weighed two and a half pounds, but at the time of his death this had increased to nearly eight.

Once his fame had been established, Mike began a career of touring sideshows in the company of such other creatures as a two-headed calf. He was also photographed for dozens of magazines and papers, featuring in Time and Life magazines.

Olsen drew criticism from some for keeping the headless chicken alive.

Mike was on display to the public for an admission cost of 25 cents. At the height of his popularity the chicken earned a princely $4,500 per month ($50,000 in 2005 dollars) and was valued at $10,000.

Olsen's success resulted in a wave of copycat chicken beheadings, but no other chicken lived for more than a day or two.

A pickled chicken head was also on display with Mike, but this was not Mike's original head, as a cat had already eaten it.

Mike was later examined by the officers of several humane societies and was declared to have been free from any suffering.

A children's playground chant soon emerged: “ Mike, Mike, where's your head? Even without it, you're not dead! ”

In March 1947, at a motel in Phoenix on a stopover while traveling back home from tour, Mike started choking in the middle of the night. As the Olsens had inadvertently left their feeding and cleaning syringes at the sideshow the day before, they were unable to save Mike.

Post mortem, it was determined that the axe blade had missed the carotid artery and a clot had prevented Mike from bleeding to death. Although most of his head was severed, most of his brain stem and one ear was left on his body.

Since basic functions (breathing, heart-rate, etc) as well as most of a chicken's reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem, Mike was able to remain quite healthy.

Other sources, including the Guinness Book of World Records, say that the chicken's severed esophagus passage could not take in enough air properly to be able to breathe; and therefore choked to death in the motel.

However, breathing occurs through the trachea, not the esophagus.

Mike the Headless Chicken is now an institution in Fruita, Colorado, with an annual "Mike the Headless Chicken Day", the third weekend of May, starting in 1999.

Events held include the "5K Run Like a Headless Chicken Race", egg toss, "Pin the Head on the Chicken", the "Chicken Cluck-Off", and "Chicken Bingo", in which chicken droppings on a numbered grid choose the numbers.

I swear I'm not making this up!
Allan

William Shatner: I Am Canadian!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com and is also a Canadian.

PARKOUR (Free running)

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Old Rock and Rollers don't just fade away!

Everyone knows that most Rock and Roll stars lead a fast life; you know, "sex and drugs and rock and roll." Well now someone has, surprise, taken the obvious, and confirmed that only half the rock and rollers will live to a ripe old age.

The one big exception is Keith Richards, of "The Rolling Stones", who for most of his life has abused himself in practically every way known to man, yet has managed to not only survive, but flourish.

Of course he is only 63, which these days is considered old, but not ancient, so we'll have to see how long he continues to defy the odds.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Only in America!

» California consumes more bottled water than any other product.

» California has issued 6 drivers licenses to people named "Jesus Christ."

» The world's shortest river is the "D" river in Oregon. It's only 120 feet (37 m). It connects Devil's lake to the nearby Pacific Ocean.

» In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital suspended workers for betting on when patients would die.

» Nevada is the driest state in the U.S.. Each year it averages 7.5 inches (19 cm) of rain.

» In December 1997, the state of Nevada became the first state to pass legislation categorizing Y2K data disasters as "acts of God" protecting the state from lawsuits that may potentially be brought against it by residents in the year 2000.

» In Utah, it is illegal to swear in front of a dead person.

» Salt Lake City, Utah has a law against carrying an unwrapped ukulele on the street.

» Arizona was the last of the 48 adjoining continental states to enter the Union.

» It is illegal to hunt camels in the state of Arizona.

» The meteorite that hit/made The Barringer crater in Arizona weighed more than 50,000 tons.

» The amount of concrete used in the building of the Hoover Dam is equal to that of paving a 4-foot (1.2 m) wide footpath around the equator.

» Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote in 1869.

» Denver, Colorado lays claim to the invention of the cheeseburger.

» Denver, Colorado consumes less prune juice per capita than any other city in the United States.

» The first license plate on a car in the United States was issued in Denver, Colorado in 1908.

» In Fruita, Colorado the town folk celebrate "Mike the Headless Chicken Day." Seems that a farmer named L.A. Olsen cut off Mike's head on September 10, 1945 in anticipation of a chicken dinner - and Mike lived for another 4 years without a head. Mike died from choking on a corn kernel.

» The state of Maryland has no natural Lakes.

» Illinois has the highest number of personalized license plates than any other state.

» Austin, Texas has the highest percentage of college graduates, 31 percent. Newark, New Jersey has the lowest, 6 percent.

» Residents of Houston, Texas lead the U.S. in eating out - approximately 4.6 times per week.

» The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one-mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

» Laredo, Texas is the U.S.'s farthest inland port.

» There is a town in Texas called "Ding Dong."

» Rugby, North Dakota is the geographical center of North America.

» Butte County, South Dakota is the geographical center of the U.S.

» "Home on the Range" is the state song for Kansas.

» It is illegal to get fish drunk in Oklahoma.

» Mississippi is the poorest state.

» New Jersey has a spoon museum.

» Hawaii is the only coffee producing state.

» The world's largest McDonalds is located on I-44 at Vinita, Oklahoma. It goes from one side of the interstate to the other, passing over the interstate.

» Louisiana's capital building is the tallest one of any U.S. state.

» Louisiana is the only state not to have counties. They are called Parishes.

» One in seven workers in Boston, Massachusetts walks to work.

» The Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the few places in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.

» The "Dull Men's Hall of Fame" is located in Carroll, Wisconsin.

» Gary, Indiana is the murder capital of the U.S. - probably the world.

» Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday.

» The largest NFL stadium is the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan.

» Michigan was the first state to have roadside picnic tables.

» No matter where you stand in Michigan, you are never more than 85 miles from a Great Lake.

» Marshall almost became the state capital of Michigan but lost by one vote in 1848.

» In 1997, Michigan became the 16th state to allow the blind to hunt.

» The official beverage of Ohio is tomato juice.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Saturday Morning Confusion #57

And here you thought rush hour traffic was confusing in your home town!
On a side note, the worst drivers in the world have got to be the Arabs. My wife spent a few years in Saudi Arabia and the only traffic rule there is "Insha'Allah." (God Willing)

To complicate matters further is this item from The Independant.

Women in Saudi Arabia are banding together to press for the freedom to drive automobiles

The recently established League of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars plans to deliver a petition to the King calling on him to restore their right to free movement by allowing them to drive.

Saudi Arabia is currently the only country in the world that still bans women from driving cars.

The issue has been a matter of heated debate for many years. In 1990 a group of middle class women were arrested when they staged driving protests.

London-based Saudi political analyst Mai Yamani says reformist efforts to lift the barriers to women working mean little if they can't drive.

"You can't keep a woman locked up so she can't get out, drive her child to school." Yamani says. "I definitely believe it is time women were allowed to drive."

Now don't get me wrong here. I have nothing against women drivers, (except when they won't let you into a lineup) but if they drive anything like the guys all hell will break loose.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Melody D'Amour

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/ and the blog "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/

Fly Me to the Moon - part 2

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Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/ and the blog "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/

Ya Don't Say!

The telephone rings and a guy picks it up.

"Hello?"
"......Ya don't say!"
"Nah!"
".....Ya don't say!"
"You.... don't ....... say!"

He then puts the phone down and shakes his head.
His buddy with him says; "What was that all about?"

To which he replies; "I don't know, he didn't say!!!"

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

Fly Me to the Moon!

Not satisfied with simply displaying images of the moon, internet search giant Google Inc. is furnishing as much as $30 million US for a competition to pull off an unmanned lunar landing, the company announced Thursday.

The company announced the Google Lunar X Prize with partner the X Prize Foundation — the group that sponsored a 2004 sub-orbital space flight competition — at Wired magazine's NextFest in Los Angeles.

Dr. Buzz Aldrin, right, an Apollo astronaut, responds to a question while Bob Weiss, left, vice-chairman of the X Prize Foundation, Google co-founder Larry Page, second from left, and Dr. Peter Diamondis, CEO of the X Prize Foundation listen at a news conference on Thursday.

The competition, open to private companies around the world, also has a multimedia twist: The $20-million US winning prize will go to the first team that can successfully beam back a gigabyte of images and video to Earth after their machine completes a 500-metre trek on the moon.

To claim the full prize, the lunar lander would have to arrive on the moon and complete the mission by Dec. 31, 2012. The prize falls to $15 million US if the landing takes place by Dec. 31, 2014. A second-place winner receives $5 million US, with an additional $5 million US reserved for other accomplishments.

"Google is really excited about this particular effort because we believe in the entrepreneurial spirit and its ability to accomplish the most ambitious tasks," company co-founder Sergei Brin said in a statement. "When the original Ansari X Prize was launched, it was considered unimaginable that private individuals could commercially venture into space, and yet that was accomplished."

In 2004, the Ansari X Prize awarded $10 million US to Burt Rutan and financier Paul Allen, who were able to twice launch a rocket — called SpaceShipOne — carrying a person into suborbital space.

X Prize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis said the private exploration of space could lead to solutions to environmental problems on earth, including energy dependence and climate change.

"We hope to usher in an era of commercial exploration and development, in which small companies, groups of individuals and universities can build, launch and explore the moon and beyond," he said in a statement.

Google recently began providing maps of the moon and Mars and other stellar views as an add-on to its Google Earth program.

On a side note, Japan's space agency has launched its much-delayed first lunar probe, beginning what it calls the largest mission to the moon since the U-S Apollo flights.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/ and the blog "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/

For Our European Friends!

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Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at www.God-101.com and the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

CN Tower dethroned by Dubai building.

Although London Ontario is now home base, and I love it dearly, I did grow up in Toronto and will always be a Toronto boy at heart. So, it is with a heavy heart that I have to announce that the CN Tower's time has come. It is no longer the world's tallest building.

For years, Torontonians have known that the tower's claim to fame was at risk, as planned towers around the world threatened to break its 30-year-old record.

Finally on Wednesday, a structure under construction in the Arabian Desert succeeded in passing the Toronto tower's 553.33-metre height.

Burj Dubai — a glitzy hotel, residential and commercial building being built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for a price tag of $4.1 billion US — will be more than 150 stories tall when it reaches its final height of 800 metres.

CN Tower officials said little about the record-breaking structure.

"When the time comes and the building is complete, we will congratulate the Burj Dubai project on their unique achievement," officials wrote in an e-mail.

On the streets of Toronto, residents mourned the end of an era. "We had a lot of pride when we did it," said Paul Mitchell, a steelworker who secured the antenna atop the tower on its completion in 1976. "It was a lot of fun."

But he added that he was surprised the tower held its record for 30 years. "That was quite a feat." Guinness World Records had recognized the CN Tower as the world's tallest free-standing structure and the world's tallest building.

Click on the image below and see the new contenders for the title.

One Toke Over the Line!

Still More Ways To Bug a Cat!

Now you know the rest of the story!

OK kids, listen up! After attending the Toronto International Film Festival, I made a quick side-trip to the MTV Awards, and I have to be honest with you, the Britney Spears thing was nothing like they portrayed it on T.V.

It was all the usual hype and bullshit because this, is an actual tape of Britney's performance and will give you a better idea of how things stand with her!
Hope ya enjoyed it!

Your "All the poop" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

The Reason I Hate Cats!

The reason I love dogs! -->

More T.I.F.F.

<- Woody Harelson
Reese Witherspoon->
<-Mat Damon
Helen Hunt->
<-George Clooney
Don Cheadle->
<-Clive Owen
Brangelina->
<-Ben Afleck

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God at http://www.god-101.com/ and the blog "Perspective" at http://god-101.blogspot.com/

Toronto International Film Festival.

Official publicity shot of Brad and Angelina ->






Paul Haggis from my home town London, ON










Bollywood

Borat

Gwen and Dad