Neutrinos are really tiny subatomic particles. Scientists believe that they are so small that literally trillions of the minuscule units rapidly pass through the earth every second without making contact with any earth atoms.

Military personnel have been creative in naming various foods prepared by service cooks. For instance, “meatloaf” is commonly referred to as “ptomaine steak.”

In 1869, a New England cigar maker named George Hull hired a sculptor to chisel the figure of a giant man from a block of concrete. The ten foot work was buried and “discovered” some months later a short distance from the town of Cardiff, New York. The hoax was on. Thousands paid fifty cents each for a brief look at the “petrified man.” P. T. Barnum made a substantial offer for the attraction and was rejected. Matters might have continued happily were it not that Hull had never fully paid the involved sculptor who turned into a big old tattletale and ruined everything.

John Glenn was the first human to eat a meal (1962) while in “space.” He consumed applesauce from a tube. Recent information indicates that each space-shuttle launch costs between $400 million and $500 million. I surmise that the $100 million variation depends largely on the volumes of applesauce, etc. consumed during the missions.

Comedy changes with time. Punch and Judy puppet acts in England go back at least to 1662 when a viewing of a show was documented by diarist Samuel Pepys. That same year an observer commented that King Charles II thoroughly enjoyed a Punch and Judy command performance. Humor plots in presentations nearly always included Punch violently killing Judy. Ha-Ha?

On June 9, 1972 a team from the British Army arrived at Cape Horn (South America) riding in two well-worn Range Rovers. The crew had traveled the entire length of the Americas, starting from the north coast of Alaska some 188 days previous. The most difficult stretch of the journey had been from Panama through Columbia (a region known as “El Tapon”). Outlaw gangs, swamps, rivers, mosquitoes, poisonous snakes and herds (some with more than 300 animals) of vicious feral hogs combined to make traversing El Tapon exceptionally grueling.

“Lexington” was the name of George Washington’s “saddle horse.” However, “Blueskin” was his horse at Valley Forge, as was “Roger Leo.” “Nelson” was his fave in battle and the general once indicated that his most prized animal was an Arabian named “Magnolia.” Washington traded Magnolia for 5,000 acres of land, so someone else must have thought highly of the chestnut mare.

Use caution when touring El Tapon (translates as “The Stopper”) and enjoy a great week.