Things I learned lately 29 Jan

• Afternoon naps have been linked to better mental agility.
• People who say we shouldn't cater to cyclists in Canada because you can't cycle in winter, don't cycle at all. Also, cyclists in Finland cycle all year round. It is a complete myth that people don't cycle in winter because of the cold. If they don't cycle in winter it's because of the poor infrastructure. https://youtu.be/Uhx-26GfCBU
  
  
  
• Mardi Gras is coming and a parade isn't viable, so New Orleans residents are decorating and turning the front of their homes into 'floats'.
• The fossil fuel sector directly accounts for less than 1% of all jobs in Canada. Between 2014 and 2019 other sectors have created 42 jobs for each one lost in fossil industries.
• Peter Frampton knew David Bowie from school, since he was 12 years old, and they were buddies for life.
• "Sourdough" became the nickname for California Klondike miners at the turn of the last century because they carried starter in their backpacks to make bread without having to find a town, let alone yeast.
• In 2007 the writers guild of America went on strike leaving tv and movies without any writers for 4 months. This led to tv studios relying on shows that didn’t require writing, like talk shows, game shows, and reality shows. NBC decided they’d get Celebrities to compete in one of their reality shows that had been sinking in the ratings. The Celebrity Apprentice premiered in January 2008. The season got ratings more than twice as high as the previous one, and led to host Donald Trump being a mainstay of network TV until February 2015. On June 16, 2015 Donald Trump announced his candidacy for POTUS.
• The Buffalo Bills had a terrible season in 1970. This allowed them the 1st overall pick in 1971, in which they drafted O.J. Simpson. O.J. met his wife Nicole Brown while in Buffalo and then allegedly killed her. O.J. hired Robert Kardashian to be his lawyer. They won the case, and the Kardashian name became somewhat famous. Kris Kardashian rode that mild fame through her divorce, into her marriage to Bruce Jenner (thus becoming Kris Jenner) and when Kim grew up, she dropped an infamous sex tape. That sex tape wouldn't have been such a big deal if she hadn't already been semi-noteworthy (although Ray J also had something to do with that fame). So yeah basically the Bills are the reason we have to suffer with the Kardashians. If they hadn't drafted OJ, he wouldn't have met Nicole and Robert Kardashian would be just another lawyer in NY.
• British officers in India during the 18th Century were eating quinine pounder to treat their malaria. The powder was so bitter they mixed with their club soda. They brought it back to the UK and they started putting it in their gin. Hence gin and tonic.
• In 1997, Star Trek: Voyager wasn't doing well with ratings, so they introduced a new character acted by Jeri Ryan. She and her husband Jack eventually got divorced in 1999 because of her time on that show. Fast-forward to 2004, when Jack Ryan was running for a Senate seat in Illinois. During that race, juicy details from his divorce were released, and they didn't make him look very good. This led to him dropping out and led to the GOP having a lot of time to find a replacement to run against none other than Barack Obama, who won in a landslide.
• Charles Francis Feeney (born April 23, 1931) is a businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune as a co-founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group. Feeney gave away his fortune in secret for many years, until a business dispute resulted in his identity being revealed in 1997. Feeney has given away more than $8 billion. Until he was 75, he traveled only in coach. He does not own a car or a house and wears a $10 Casio F-91W watch. As of 2016, he lived in a rented apartment in San Francisco, with a remaining nest egg of $2 million.
• At the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, some of the paintings have been replicated in relief, so visually impaired people can enjoy it too.