Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 62

Hump Day Kick Start – Going Shirtless Edition

Song of the day: Far From Over by Rev Theory

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.

 

It may be fall, but here in the South, it’s still hot.

Who is our prompt today? The handyman a lonely, pretty homeowner hired to clean up her newly acquired beachfront property? One of a handful of survivors from a plane crash on a remote island about to build shelter? Just one of the guys playing on the ‘skins’ team of an impromptu football game?  Maybe he’s determined to catch the eye of a shy, beautiful vacationer. He sure has caught my eye.

What’s your take? Love to hear from you.

Friday Fun Facts- Lunch Anyone?

We are funny creatures. Having enough food is important to our survival. Without it, we will surely die. So what do we do? We elevate the containers we use to carry lunch to an iconic level. 

Seriously. If you can find an Annie Oakley lunch box, you’d have to pay Around $700 to bring it home! A Beatles one will set you back almost $1500.

- Lunch boxes have been around for 900 years. The Japanese use bento boxes, ornately decorated lacquer boxes, and in India, they use tiffin-wallahs, round metal stackable tins.

- Many children and husbands used to return home for lunch so a box wasn’t really needed. That being said, in the late 19th century, metal cigar boxes were re-used to put in a bottle of water and snacks for the walk home. (Side note: Since I grew up in Malaysia, our school had no air-con and we were dismissed at 12:30. I never had a lunch box until I was in high school and we switched to a more modern building.)

- People re-used paper sacks from grocery stores which eventually brought about the little brown paper bag for lunches. This bag was created in 1852 by Francis Wolle and still used today.

- Then came television and it all changed.

- Aladdin Industries produced the first metal lunch box aimed at children. They slapped a decal of Hopalong Cassidy on it, a popular TV character, and sold 600,000 of them almost overnight! If you want to buy one today, be prepared to spend $550.

- 1972 a group of Florida parents, concerned about safety, brought about legislation to restrict the use of metal boxes. Plastic ones took their place even though metal ones were still made until 1987.

Hump Day Kick Start – Tasty Seduction Edition

Song of the day: The Worst Way by Cinder Road

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.

 

My, my. I think ladies and gentlemen alike might enjoy today’s prompt.

Who is our couple? Boss and assistant? Actress and director? Spy and decoy? Home owner and decorator? A certain blonde MuseTracker and Joe Manganiello? Where are they? A hotel? His Bedroom? Hers? The party host’s? Is she seducing him, or is it the other way around? Is there something more involved than the obvious? Could one be after something the other has? Money? Position? Power? What is he thinking? How does he taste? Does it matter? I’m thinking not.

What’s your take? Let me hear from you!

Link of the Week – QuotesCover.com

Want to make an inspirational quote to share, perhaps make an e-card, or wallpaper but don’t know how? It’s easier than you think. QuotesCover.com  transforms text into cool graphic art. You can choose quotes from their library, or use your own. Then play around with their graphics for your personal design. You can even add your own backgrounds. It’s really a lot of fun. Below are the ones I did. I used a John Wayne quote that I keep near my desk, my author tagline, and a quote from the hero of my latest book, Mutiny of the Heart.

Go. Have fun.
http://www.quotescover.com/

Friday Fun Facts- Strange Facts About WWII

 

- Russia and Japan have still not signed a peace treaty to end the war. Believe it or not, a dispute over four islands have kept them from finishing “the war to end all wars”. To this day, they both lay claim to them.

- During WWII, airplane factories were made to look like small towns to avoid becoming a bombing target. One of the best examples was the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant- with netting and some extra props, it was virtually impossible to tell it from the surrounding small towns.

- Can’t do combat? No problem, you can still join the Civilian Public Service. This was for folks who couldn’t bring themselves to fight for religious reasons, but still wanted to help. They received no wages and very little federal help. Even so, they accomplished a lot.They did everything from forest conservation to medical experiments…that’s right, they let themselves be used as human test subjects and even jumped into raging fires to attempt to fight the flames. They were forced to volunteer in psychiatric hospitals and revolutionized the way mentally ill people were treated. Planting seedlings, building forest trails, and taking care of nursery stock were just a few of their other jobs. Who knew?!?

- A cat survived the sinking of not one, not two, but three ships! He was then called Unsinkable Sam. He started on a German boat and transferred to a British boat, both of which sank. He went on another British vessel which was also sunk by torpedo and they finally retired him. He lived for another 14 years on a farm just outside of Belfast.

- Who’s a spy? People like Roald Dahl, Ian Flemings, Noel Coward, and Leslie Howard to name a few, that’s who. They were charged with spying on the United States and convincing us to join the war! Their little group was called “The Baker Street Irregulars” and were chosen because they had the ability to charm, seduce and win over people. Roald Dahl was given the assignment to seduce the wife of Henry Luce, owner of Time, Life and Fortune magazine. This was because the very rich and influential Mr. Luce was thought to be an anti-British isolationist. He was quite successful! So much so, Roald complained, “I am all fucked out! That goddamn woman screwed me from one end of the room to the other. ” An interesting side note was when he later visited Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR told Roald he was quite aware of his methods.

- We thought about bombing Japanese volcanoes to set them off. Never happened.

- We made enough Purple Hearts during WWII to last from then until now. 1, 506,000 were made because they anticipated tremendous losses that never occurred. (Mostly because of the devastating success of the two big bombs.) Purple Hearts made for our great grandfathers are still being pinned on soldiers today.

- The youngest soldier of WWII was only 12 years old! His name was Calvin Graham and he enlisted right after Pearl Harbor. During his time on the USS Dakota, he earned the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his work in fire control aboard the ship. When his mom told how old he was, they put her in the brig for 3 months until his sister threatened to take the story to the newspapers. He was released, dishonorably discharged and stripped of his medals.

This isn’t the end of the story-

He joined the Marines when he was 17. Unfortunately, he broke his back and spent the rest of his life trying to get medical benefits. In 1988, he wrote to Congress and told his story. They gave him a clean record, medical benefits and returned his Bronze Star. They wouldn’t give him back the Purple Heart. (Another mystery of Congress.)

 

 

 

Hump Day Kick Start – Military Undress Edition

Song of the day: Raining by Art of Dying

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.

 

Whoa. I mean, whoa. What are my orders, sir?

Tell me about today’s prompt. Who is he? What is his story? Why is he dirty? What happened to his wrist? Enemy forces involved? A special mission? Is he protecting something or someone? What is his expression? More importantly, why is his belt unbuckled? Hmm? Are those military issue briefs? Ooh..maybe he’s being briefed? But by who?

Drop and give me twenty. Or just let me hear your take.

Link Of The Week- It’s A Good Day To Die

Friday Fun Facts spawned today’s Link Of The Week! After all those weird medical tidbits, I was inspired to find really unique ways to kill people. Mwahahahaha! Seriously, you have to read this list to believe it…may it inspire your writing!

 

 

http://list25.com/25-unusual-deaths-that-will-leave-you-scratching-your-head/

Friday Fun Facts- Crazy Medical Treatments

Modern medicine has come a long way since the early days of leeching and using hacksaws. It’s been an interesting journey with some crazy ideas popping up from time to time. You won’t believe some of the items I’ve uncovered!

-Are you a few pounds overweight? No problem! Ingest a tapeworm and fat will melt away. You can eat and eat and eat, but never gain a pound. The only problem with this idea was that it could also cause malnutrition, diarrhea, vomiting, and anemia. Oops. This diet was very popular among doctors in the early 1900s.

-A sure fire way to help your sore throat was to make a home made recipe which included album gracecum (dried dog poop). What were these people thinking?

- Coca Cola was created as a health drink. In fact, at one point it contained cocaine to ease symptoms. (It was taken out in 1903.) Pharmacies even had a soda dispenser installed in the 1940s.

- Doctors used to encourage their patients to smoke cigarettes! A popular treatment for asthma was to inhale the fumes from burning tobacco. Can you believe this nonsense?

- Starting in 1898 Bayer used to manufacture heroin as a cure for common ailments such as coughs, colds, and pain.

- In the 1830s, Dr. Archibald Miles created a pill made from tomato extract called Dr. Miles Compound. This as supposed to help diarrhea and indigestion. It was a hoax…………what a shock.

- They used to promote the idea of preparing radioactive water at home to cure gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and sinus problems. Seriously?

- In medieval times, they used to grind up mummies into a powder and give it to patients to help cure headaches and stomach ulcers. Mummy powder was highly sought after!

- In the 1950s, they used shark cartilage to treat cancer.

- From the late 1800s to the 1930s, a compound was created to help mothers soothe their babies during teething. What was in it? Alcohol and morphine sulfate.

The next time you go to the doctor, thank your lucky stars you are in the era of modern medicine!

Hump Day Kick Start – On Your Knees Edition

Song of the day:  Easier to Run by Linkin Park

Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or just a v isual treat.

Let’s put a little heat in today’s prompt, shall we?

Who is our couple? Is he a cop who just can’t resist the bad girl temptation? Is she undercover, seducing her way into the lion’s den? If so, why? Could she be a black widow? What if he is an angel of death? Are they both bad? Are they both good, with common goals? Perhaps they are cosmic warriors giving in to long-fought desires. Or maybe this a sexy scene right out of a Mad Max-esque movie.

What’s your take? Love to hear from you.

Link Of The Week- Write What You Love

I love this link.

I love this blog.

It is not for the feint of heart. Chuck Wendig uses terrible language- hence the name, Terrible Minds. Consider yourself forewarned. (Seriously, if you are offended by a potty mouth, skip this week.)

 

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/09/01/why-you-should-write-what-you-love/