What Are Your Odds?

Odds of being killed by a dog: 1 in 700,000.

Odds of dying while in the bath tub: 1 in 1 million.

Odds of being killed by space debris: 1 in 5 billion.

Odds of being killed by poisoning: 1 in 86,000.

Odds of being killed by freezing: 1 in 3 million.

Odds of being killed by lightening: 1 in 2 million.

Odds of being killed in a car crash: 1 in 5,000.

Odds of being killed in a tornado: 1 in 2 million.

Odds of being killed by falling out of bed: 1 in 2 million.

Odds of being killed in a plane crash: 1 in 25 million.

Odds of bowling a 300 game: 11,500 to 1

Odds of getting a hole in one: 5,000 to 1

Odds of getting canonized: 20,000,000 to 1

Odds of being an astronaut: 13,200,000 to 1

Odds of winning an Olympic medal: 662,000 to 1

Odds of an American speaking Cherokee: 15,000 to 1

Odds that a person between the age of 18 and 29 does NOT read a newspaper regularly: 3 to 1

Odds that an American adult does not want to live to age 120 under any circumstances: 3 to 2

Odds of injury from fireworks: 19,556 to 1

Odds of injury from shaving: 6,585 to 1

Odds of injury from using a chain saw: 4,464 to 1

Odds of injury from mowing the lawn: 3,623 to 1

Odds of fatally slipping in bath or shower: 2,232 to 1

Odds of drowning in a bathtub: 685,000 to 1

Odds of being killed on a 5-mile bus trip: 500,000,000 to 1

Odds of being killed sometime in the next year in any sort of transportation accident: 77 to 1

Odds of being killed in any sort of non-transportation accident: 69 to 1

Odds of being struck by lightning: 576,000 to 1

Odds of being killed by lightning: 2,320,000 to 1

Odds of being murdered: 18,000 to 1

Odds of getting away with murder: 2 to 1

Odds of being the victim of serious crime in your lifetime: 20 to 1

Odds of dating a supermodel: 88,000 to 1

Odds of being considered possessed by Satan: 7,000 to 1

Odds that a first marriage will survive without separation or divorce for 15 years: 1.3 to 1

Odds that a celebrity marriage will last a lifetime: 3 to 1

Odds of getting hemorrhoids: 25 to 1

Odds of being born a twin in North America: 90 to 1

Odds of being on plane with a drunken pilot: 117 to 1

Odds of being audited by the IRS: 175 to 1

Odds of having your identity stolen: 200 to 1

Odds of dating a millionaire: 215 to 1

Odds of dating a supermodel: 88,000 to 1

Odds of finding out your child is a genius: 250 to 1

Odds of catching a ball at a major league ballgame: 563 to 1

Odds of becoming a pro athlete: 22,000 to 1

Odds of finding a four-leaf clover on first try: 10,000 to 1

Odds of a person in the military winning the Medal of Honor: 11,000 to 1

Odds of winning an Academy Award: 11,500 to 1

Odds of striking it rich on Antiques Roadshow: 60,000 to 1

Odds of getting a royal flush in poker on first five cards dealt: 649,740 to 1 

Odds of spotting a UFO today: 3,000,000 to 1

Odds of becoming president: 10,000,000 to 1

Odds of winning the California lottery: 13,000,000 to 1

Odds of becoming a saint: 20,000,000 to 1

Odds of a meteor landing on your house: 182,138,880,000,000 to 1

Chance of an American home having at least one container of ice cream in the freezer: 9 in 10.

Chance of dying from any kind of injury during the next year: 1 in 1,820

Chance of dying from intentional self-harm: 1 in 9,380

Chance of dying from an assault: 1 in 16,421

Chance of dying from a car accident: 1 in 18,585

Chance of dying from any kind of fall: 1 in 20,666

Chance of dying from accidental drowning: 1 in 79,065

Chance of dying from exposure to smoke, fire, and flames: 1 in 81,524

Chance of dying in an explosion: 1 in 107,787

Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years: 1 in 5,000

Chance of dying in such a collision: 1 in 20,000

Chance of dying from exposure to forces of nature (heat, cold, lightning, earthquake, flood): 1 in 225,107

Chance of dying in an airplane accident: 1 in 354,319

Chance of dying from choking on food: 1 in 370,035

Chance of dying in a terrorist attack while visiting a foreign country: 1 in 650,000

Chance of dying in a fireworks accident: 1 in 1,000,000

Chance of dying from overexertion, travel or privation: 1 in 1,428,377

Chance of dying from food poisoning: 1 in 3,000,000

Chance of dying from legal execution: 1 in 3,441,325

Chance of dying from contact with hot tap water: 1 in 5,005,564

Chance of dying from parts falling off an airplane: 1 in 10,000,000

Chance of dying from ignition or melting of nightwear: 1 in 30,589,556

Chance of dying from being bitten by a dog: 1 in 700,000

Chance of dying from contact with a venomous animal or plant: 1 in 3,441,325

Chance of dying from being bitten or struck by mammals (other than dogs or humans): 1 in 4,235,477

Chance of dying from a mountain lion attack in California: 1 in 32,000,000

Chance of dying from a shark attack: 1 in 300,000,000

Chance of having a stroke: 1 in 6

Chance of dying from heart disease: 1 in 3

Chance of getting arthritis: 1 in 7

Chance of suffering from asthma or allergy diseases: 1 in 6

Chance of getting the flu this year: 1 in 10

Chance of contracting the human version of mad cow disease: 1 in 40,000,000

Chance of dying from SARS in the United States: 1 in 100,000,000

Chance of American man developing cancer in his lifetime: 1 in 2

Chance of an American woman developing cancer in her lifetime: 1 in 3

Chance of getting prostate cancer: 1 in 6

Chance of getting breast cancer: 1 in 9

Chance of getting colon / rectal cancer: 1 in 26

Chance of beating pancreatic or liver cancer: 1 in 9

Chance of beating thyroid or testicular cancer: 9 in 10

Facts About Texting

Over 18.5 billion text messages are sent each month.

 The first text message was sent in 1992 and SMS was launched commercially for the first time in 1995.

SMS stands for Short Messaging Service

Texts are limited to 160 characters because that's the average amount written on a postcard.

Cellphone companies earn $60-70 billion each year off text messaging.


95% of all text messages are delivered within 10 seconds

The peak hours for texting are between 10.30pm and 11.00pm

51% of women would rather receive a text message than a card on special occasions

95% of all incoming text messages are read.

2 out of 3 Americans are texting on a regular basis

The response rate to text messages is on average over 90%

People who text more than 120 times a day are more likely to be binge drinkers or drug users.

Half of adults surveyed say they still prefer a regular phone call than a text.

 Only 10% of text messages are spam as opposed to 65% of e-mail being spam.

77% of people have admitted to text messaging while driving.

An overwhelming 75% of teens admit to text messaging while driving.

 Of all cell phone related tasks, talking, dialing, or reaching for the phone, texting while driving is the most dangerous.

You are 23 times more likely to have a crash, driving while texting.


200,000 vehicle crashes each year are linked to texting.

 85 percent of 16-year-olds have a cellphone

24% of 17 year olds admit to sexting.

 Text messages are usually read within 15 minutes of being received and responded to within one hour

According to Nielson, teens average sending around 100 text messages, per day.

Strange But True Facts About Marriage

Due to jobs, kids, TV, the Internet, hobbies, and home and family responsibilities, the average married couple spends just four minutes a day alone together.

Over 75% of people who marry partners from an affair eventually divorce.


Traditionally, bridesmaids would be dressed in similar bride-like gowns to confuse rival suitors, evil spirits, and robbers.

Marrying younger than age 25 dramatically raises the divorce risk. Also, the divorce risk is higher when the woman is much older than the man, though the reverse isn’t as a strong factor.

The average married couple has sex 58 times per year, or slightly more than once a week.

At Italian weddings, it is not unusual for both the bride and groom to break a glass. The number of shards will be equal to the number of happy years the couple will have.


In three states—Arkansas, Utah, and Oklahoma—women tend to marry younger, at an average age of 24. Men’s average age is 26. In the northeastern states of New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, men and women wait about four years longer to marry. The U.S. average age for women is 25.6 and for men, 27.7.

A person’s level of education influences the age at which they marry. Couples tend to marry later in states with higher numbers of college-educated adults, while the opposite is true for states with lower education levels.

Nevada, Maine, and Oklahoma have the highest percentage of divorced adults. Arkansas and Oklahoma have the highest rates of people who have been married at least three times.

The probability of a first marriage ending in a divorce within 5 years is 20%, but the probability of a premarital cohabitation breaking up within 5 years is 49%. After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33%, compared with 62% for cohabitations.

Washington, D.C., has the lowest marriage rate in the nation.

Approximately $6 billion in revenue is lost by American businesses as a result of decreased worker productivity linked to marriage hardship. Employees in a happy marriage, in contrast, tend to increase a company’s bottom line.

CNN reports that the current economy is the biggest stress on married couples in the past 60 years.

A New Woman’s Day and AOL Living poll found that 72% of women surveyed have considered leaving their husbands at some point.

Married couples tend to have fatter waistlines, which can lead to a decrease in sexual attraction and general health. Additionally, a spouse’s chances of becoming obese increase by 37% if his or her partner is obese.

A 2008 study found that marital satisfaction improves once children leave home. However, if marital problems existed before, an empty nest often reveals those otherwise masked issues.

People whose marriage has broken down at the time they are diagnosed with cancer do not live as long as cancer patients who are widowed, have strong marriages, or who have never been married.

A marriage ceremony typically ends with a kiss because in ancient Rome, a kiss was a legal bond that sealed contracts, and marriage was seen as a contract.

Adults who are childhood cancer survivors are 20-25% less likely to marry compared with their siblings and the general American population.

Stress associated with divorce affects the body’s immune system and its ability to fend off the disease. The health benefits of remarriage are reduced the second and third times around.

Throughout most of history, marriage was not necessarily based on mutual love, but an institution devoted to acquiring in-laws and property and to provide the family additional labor forces (by having children).^e
A white New Orleans man in the late nineteenth century transfused himself with blood from a black woman he loved so he could overcome anti-discrimination laws by claiming he was black and marry her.ⁿ
One nineteenth-century New York legislator insisted that letting married women own their own property attacked both God and Nature.^e


Just two years after marriage, an estimated 20% of couples make love fewer than 10 times in a year.

One in three American marriages is “low sex” or “no sex.”

The number of marriage therapists in the United States has increased 50-fold between 1970 and 1990.

In the United States, over 50% of first marriages end in divorce, 67% of second marriages end in divorce, and nearly 74% of third marriages end in divorce.

Marriage does more to promote life satisfaction than money, sex, or even children, say Wake Forest University psychologists.

Compared to singles, married people accumulate about four times more savings and assets. Those who divorced had assets 77% lower than singles.

Married elderly people are more likely to maintain daily health-promoting habits, such as exercising, not smoking, eating breakfast, and having regular medical check-ups.

More than friendship, laughter, forgiveness, compatiblility, and sex, spouses name trust as the element crucial for a happy marriage.

Eighty-one percent of happily married couples said their partner’s friends and family rarely interfered with the relationship, compared to just 38% of unhappy couples.

Eighty-five percent of couples have had premarital sex.

Nearly 60% of married adults have had at least one affair.

The cost of an average wedding is $20,000. The cost of an average divorce is $20,000.

Words form only 7% of our communication with anyone, including spouses. Tone of voice accounts for 38% and body language is responsible for 55% of the messages spouses receive from each other.

Women who report a fair division of housework were happier in their marriages than women who thought their husbands didn’t do their fair share. Wives also spent more quality time with their husbands when they thought the housework was divided fairly.

A 15-year-long study found that a person’s happiness level before marriage was the best predictor of happiness after marriage. In other words, marriage won’t automatically make one happy.

Researchers found a huge decline in happiness four years into a marriage with another decline in years seven to eight. In fact, half of all divorces occur in the first seven years of marriage, which gives rise to the popular term “the seven-year itch.”

More than two in five Catholics marry outside their church, twice as many as in the 1960s. There are at least one million Jewish-Christian marriages in the U.S. Two in five Muslims in America have chosen non-Muslim spouses.

Married people are twice as likely to go to church as unmarried people.

Half of emotional affairs become sexual affairs.

While couples with children are less likely to divorce than childless couples, the arrival of a new baby is more likely to bring more stress and emotional distance than new happiness. Nearly 90% of couples experienced decrease in martial satisfaction after the birth of their first child.

Over 40% of married couples in the U.S. include at least one spouse who has been married before. As many as 60% of divorced women and men will marry again, many within just five years.
 
 The highest divorce rates are when an only child marries another only child.^j

The number of men and women age 65 and older cohabiting outside of marriage nearly doubled between 1990 and 2000.

For many centuries, the Catholic Church argued that contraception was a sin and made the wife no better “than a harlot.” Up until 1930, many Protestant churches agreed.

One seventeenth-century Massachusetts husband was put in stocks alongside his adulterous wife and her lover because the community reasoned she wouldn’t have strayed if her husband had been fulfilling is marital obligations.

Research points to certain characteristics that are most often linked to infidelity, such as being raised in a family where having affairs is considered normal, having a personality that values excitement and risk taking over marital stability, having coworkers and friends who believe affairs are acceptable, and feeling emotionally distant from one’s spouse.

No sex in a marriage has a much more powerful negative impact on a marriage than good sex has a positive impact.

Modern Western marriage traditions have long been shaped by Roman, Hebrew, and Germanic cultures as well as by doctrines and traditions of the Medieval Christian church, the Protestant Reformation, and the Industrial Revolution.

Levirate marriage, where a man is obligated to marry his brother’s widow if she had no sons to care for her, is sometimes required in the Bible (as in Deuteronomy) and sometimes prohibited (as in Leviticus)

The first recorded mention of same-sex marriage occurs in Ancient Rome and seems to have occurred without too much debate until Christianity became the official religion. In 1989, Denmark was the first post-Christianity nation to legally recognize same-sex marriage.

Strange But True Facts About Men, Women and Relationships

Couples usually wait until six to eight dates before they are willing to enter into an exclusive relationship.

 40% of women would consider dumping a boyfriend if her friends didn’t like him.

It takes 1 hour for a woman to determine whether or not she wants to date a man again. A man decides in 15 minutes

On an average, women say over 7,000 words per day. Men say only around 2,000.

What is known as a French Kiss in the English speaking world is called an English Kiss in France.

Studies indicate that a man who kisses his wife goodbye when he leaves for work averages a higher income than the guy who doesn’t.

Wednesday is the best day for a first date according to a survey of singles.

The average man sees five women a day with whom he would like to sleep with.

50% of men claim they would feel comfortable if their girlfriend had a lesbian lover.

 In an argument with your partner, when your heart rate goes over 100 beats per minute, you are incapable of hearing what your partner is trying to tell you.

 Only 10% of people who leave their marriage end up marrying the person with whom they had an affair.

The most common time for breakups is around three to five months.

When the weather turns cold, so do many relationships.  It's called the "relationship freeze" as many couples break up, or decide to around the holidays.  Divorce attorneys see an uptick in business in January, immediately following the holiday season.

On average, it takes between 12 to 14 dates before couples will trade house keys.

One in three teenagers have experienced violence in a dating relationship.

 Women who post a photo on Internet dating sites receive twice as many email messages as women who don’t.

On internet dating sites,  men who reported incomes higher than $250,000 received 156% more email than those with $50,000.

 Match.com reports that 44% of its members in the United States have children.

 On free dating sites, at least 10% of new accounts are from scammers.

 Thirty-three percent of online daters form a relationship, 33% do not, and 33% give up.

Studies show that women are attracted to men in blue.

Ninety-two percent of single parents would rather date other single parents.

 According to the U.S. census, there are 95.9 million unmarried people in the U.S. of which 47% are men and 53% are women.

 Researchers at the University of Chicago found that people were twice as likely to find a date through friends and family than through the bar scene.

Four out of 10 workplace dating relationships result in marriage.

Psychologists  found that during speed dating, most people make a decision regarding a person’s attraction within three seconds of meeting.

 In online dating, women are most afraid of meeting a serial killer. Men are afraid of meeting someone “fat.”

In a survey conducted by Match.com, 43% said fresh breath mattered the most before a date, 17% said stylish clothes, 15% said sexy fragrance, 14% said good skin, and 10% said great hair

Dating specialists suggest waiting until the third date to cook someone dinner at home.

Nearly 40% of men do not feel confident meeting a woman for the first time.

After Tiger Wood’s affairs became public, men looking for discreet relationships on BeNaughty.com dropped by 47.5%.

Studies show that schools, colleges, coffee shops, and malls are all excellent places to flirt because people are more open to meeting others in these places. Poor locations are restaurants and movie theaters.

Studies show that before a man even speaks a word, the way he stands (whether he is slouching or not) counts for over 80% of woman’s first impression.

 One of the biggest turn-offs during a date is negativity.

Studies show that men are put off by groups of loud women. If a woman wants to get a date, she should break away from a loud group to give a man a chance to approach her.

If you want to create an instant link with a date, say his or her name at least twice in the conversation. This shows attentiveness and connectiveness.

 Top ten turn-offs for women include cystic acne, raggedy nails, flatulence and belching, missing teeth, body odor, bad breath, hairy nostrils, “man boobs,” “goofy” glasses, and hair “mistakes.

 When a man first approaches a woman, she will base 55% of her initial impression of him on his appearance and body language, 38% on his style of speaking, and 7% on what he actually says.

If a group of women are standing together but their eyes are wandering, they are likely to be looking for guys. If they each take a turn to break away from the group to head to the bathroom alone, they are on the prowl. If they are huddled together giggling, they are usually not interested in finding men.

 If a woman is interested in her date, she will often smile at his jokes, play with her hair, fidget with an object such as a glass, blush when he pays her a compliment, pout or pucker her mouth, stumble over words, or lean in towards him.

 Signs that a woman is not interested in her date include avoiding eye contact, faking a smile or not smiling, leaning away, answering in monosyllables, sagging her shoulders, looking at her watch, tapping her foot, or staring blankly.

Beautiful women typically get more stares, winks, and harassment than average-looking women do, but they are also less likely to get asked out by average-looking men because those men tend to be intimated by them.

Typically, the ideal time to wait to call is two to four days, though no longer than four to five days. Calling too soon can appear desperate.

Worst places to go on first date include fast-food restaurants, your kids’ birthday party or school play, your parents’ house, strip clubs, X-rated films or swingers parties, a party where your ex will be, church activities, or window shopping.

Choosing exciting places for a first date increases the chances of the other person falling for you. There is a definitive link between danger and physical/romantic attraction.

 Dating specialists suggest that if a woman doesn’t return a call after two messages, she is not interested.

 Research shows that men know they’re falling in love after just three dates, but women don’t fall in love until date 14.

 Twenty-nine percent of Americans have had sex on the first date.

 On average, daters will kiss on the second date.

 If a woman offers to pay for everything, chances are she isn’t that into the date.

Statistics show that trying to get a relationship to work with an ex doesn’t usually work.

A woman can increase the likelihood of a man approaching her if she uncrosses her arms, makes subtle eye contact, and smiles.

Approximately 48% of online daters reported that their breakups occurred via email

eHarmony.com claims that 236 of its members marry each day, accounting for 2% of U.S. marriages.

Over 50% of all singles in America have not had a date in more than two years.

Five types of women that men tend to avoid are serial flirters, someone who talks about marriage too soon, clingy women, the party-girl, and a woman who talks too much or is drama queen.

Four common date blunders include showing up late, talking about yourself too much, revealing too much about your ex, and an obvious over-eagerness.

A man’s top dating fears include that a woman will come between him and his friends, won’t allow him free time, will turn out to be a stalker, won’t respect him, or will be too high maintenance

Five common signs a man may be cheating in a relationship are that he accuses his partner of cheating, he’s extremely vague, he seems to be compensating by acting extra nice for no reason, he’s always at work, and his partner's friends drop her hints.

Bar counters are curved so other customers can easily “check out” other customers. Bars also purposely place mirrors to help create a larger sense of place and to allow a person to scope out other people behind them.

Signs that a man is about to break up with a woman include that he spends less time with her, he is no longer romantic, passionate kissing turns into quick pecks (particularly no kiss during sex), he fantasizes about someone else during sex, he pats her during a hug, and he tries to start fights.

Strange But True Facts About Fruits, Vegetables and Healthy Foods

What are the best foods for you? What are some which aren't as good for you as you think? You might be surprised at some of the foods which we think are nutritious, but really aren't so good to include in your diet, at least not in the most popular forms!




The Best:

Asparagus is high in glutathione, an important anticarcinogen
It also contains rutin, which protects small blood vessels from rupturing and may protect against radiation
Asparagus is a good source of vitamins A, C and E, B-complex vitamins, potassium and zinc

 
Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fat, which is easily burned for energy.
An avocado has more than twice as much potassium as a banana.
For a delicious, creamy salad dressing, mix together avocado and fresh carrot juice.

 
Broccoli contains twice the vitamin C of an orange
It has almost as much calcium as whole milk--and the calcium is better absorbed
It contains selenium, a mineral that has been found to have anti-cancer and anti-viral properties
Broccoli is a modest source of vitamin A and alpha-tocopherol vitamin E
It also has antioxidant properties

 Celery is the best vegetable source of naturally occurring sodium.
It is high in potassium.
The high water content in celery makes it ideal for vegetable juicing.
As an easy way to reduce grains in your diet, spread peanut butter on celery rather than bread.

 
Cilantro may be useful to treat urinary tract infections
Both the leaves and seeds aid digestion, relieve intestinal gas, pain and distention
They also treat nausea, soothe inflammation, rheumatic pain, headaches, coughs and mental stress
Cilantro is a member of the carrot family

Chicory contains insulin, which helps diabetics regulate their blood sugar levels
Chicory is closely related to lettuce and dandelion but is a member of the sunflower family
It may be cleansing to the liver and gallbladder
Chicory is beneficial for digestion, the circulatory system and the blood
Chicory leaves are a good source of calcium, vitamin A and potassium

Dandelion greens are high in vitamin A in the form of antioxidant carotenoid and vitamin C
They also contain calcium and potassium
Dandelion root contains inulin, which lowers blood sugar in diabetics
Dandelion is beneficial to digestion and is an antiviral that may be useful in the treatment of AIDS and herpes
It may also be useful in treating jaundice, cirrhosis, edema due to high blood pressure, gout, eczema and acne
Dandelion is also used to treat and prevent breast and lung tumors and premenstrual bloating

Fennel contains the antioxidant flavonoid quercetin
This herb is anti-carcinogenic and can be useful for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation
Fennel can be useful for indigestion and spasms of the digestive tract
It also helps expel phlegm from the lungs

Green Beans contain vitamin A, B-complex vitamins, calcium and potassium
Green beans are diuretic and may be used to treat diabetes
A fresh bean should snap crisply and feels velvety to the touch

Kale eases lung congestion and is beneficial to the stomach, liver and immune system
It contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which protect the eyes from macular degeneration
It also contains indole-3-carbinol, which may protect against colon cancer
Kale is an excellent source of calcium, iron, vitamins A and C, and chlorophyll

Leafy Greens in general, in fact, are great for you! (although beware fast food salads which can be loaded with cheese, processed meat, etc)

Mustard greens are an excellent anticancer vegetable
They may also be beneficial for colds, arthritis or depression

 
Onions are an excellent antioxidant, and they contain anti-allergy, antiviral and antihistamine properties.
Sulfur compounds in onions help to detoxify the body.
Onions aid in cellular repair.
Onions are a rich source of quercetin, a potent antioxidant.
To obtain the maximum nutritional benefits, onions should be eaten raw or lightly steamed

 
Parsley is useful as a digestive aid
It helps to purify the blood and stimulate the bowels
Parsley is an anticarcinogen
It contains three times as much vitamin C as oranges, and twice as much iron as spinach
Parsley contains vitamin A and is a good source of copper and manganese

 
Pumpkin seeds are high in zinc, which is good for the prostate and building the immune system.
They also contain fatty acids that kill parasites.
Raw pumpkin seeds contain essential fatty acids and beneficial proteins.
For maximum nutritional benefits, seeds should be eaten raw

 
Radishes have antibacterial and anti-fungal properties
They are a member of the cabbage family
Radishes contain vitamin C, potassium and other trace minerals

 
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, flavonoids and other phytochemicals with anticarcinogenic properties
Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C (the vitamin C is most concentrated in the
jelly-like substance that surrounds the seeds)
They also contain vitamin A and B-complex vitamins, potassium and phosphorus
A tomato grown in a hothouse has half the vitamin C content as a vine-ripened tomato

 Watermelon is a heavyweight in the nutrient department. A standard serving (about 2 cups) has one-third of a day’s vitamins A and C, a nice shot of potassium, and a healthy dose of lycopene for only 80 fat-free, salt-free calories.

Zucchini and other summer squash varieties contain vitamins A and C
They also contain potassium and calcium

Maybe Not As Healthy As You Think:

 Bananas are high in sugar, so they should not be eaten if you have blood sugar problems.
Don’t eat bananas on an empty stomach; combining them with a bit of protein will help to normalize the insulin response caused by the sugar in the banana.
Green-tipped bananas are better for your health than over-ripe bananas.
You don’t need to eat bananas for the potassium. (Although it is present in bananas, potassium is the predominant nutrient among most all fruits and vegetables.)

Dried Fruit  has tons of added sugar and sulfur to keep it preserved longer. Since the fruit is dried, it has at least 3 times more calories per volume than its fresh counterpart. A bag of banana chips has three times as many calories as a banana and 20% more fat.

Fruit Cocktail (1 cup)   may be around 110 calories, but has 26 grams of sugar. That's as much sugar as you would need for an entire day!

Most Granola Bars have about the same amount of fat and calories as a Snickers candy bar! As you might imagine, the ones which are worst for you, taste the best! So be careful!

Peanut Butter which is non-organic can be high in pesticides and fungus and contain aflatoxin, a potent carcinogenic mold.

Peanuts contain aflatoxin, a carcinogenic, which may explain why peanut farmers have been found
to have disproportionately high rates of cancer.
Peanuts are high in fungus and, often, pesticides.
They do not contain any omega-3, which can contribute to distorting your omega-6:omega-3 ratio.

 Potatoes are pure starch and have almost no nutritional value. Add in bacon bits, sour cream, butter, etc and they quickly become one of the worst possible things you could eat.

Rice  is a processed grain that is converted into sugar as soon as you eat it.

 
Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of carotenoid antioxidants and  contain calcium, are high in vitamins A and C and contain thiamine

Sweet potatoes are also high in sugar and therefore should be used sparingly

Trail Mix  is packed with salted nuts, sugar covered raisins and even M&M’s, even a small handful can contain 300+ calories. Trail mix is a quick energy snack to people on the trail who need those extra calories to burn, but not a good option for healthful snacking. In your everyday life you don’t need that ton of sugar and salt.

Strange But True Facts About Cats

On average, cats spend 2/3 of every day sleeping. That means a nine-year-old cat has been awake for only three years of its life.

Unlike dogs, cats do not have a sweet tooth. Scientists believe this is due to a mutation in a key taste receptor.


The technical term for a cat’s hairball is a “bezoar.

A group of cats is called a “clowder.^"

Female cats tend to be right pawed, while male cats are more often left pawed. Interestingly, while 90% of humans are right handed, the remaining 10% of lefties also tend to be male.

Every year, nearly four million cats are eaten in Asia.

A cat can’t climb head first down a tree because every claw on a cat’s paw points the same way. To get down from a tree, a cat must back down.

Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10.

A cat’s brain is biologically more similar to a human brain than it is to a dog’s. Both humans and cats have identical regions in their brains that are responsible for emotions.

There are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world, with approximately 40 recognized breeds.

Cats are North America’s most popular pets: there are 73 million cats compared to 63 million dogs. Over 30% of households in North America own a cat.

 Approximately 40,000 people are bitten by cats in the U.S. annually.

According to Hebrew legend, Noah prayed to God for help protecting all the food he stored on the ark from being eaten by rats. In reply, God made the lion sneeze, and out popped a cat.

A cat’s hearing is better than a dog’s. And a cat can hear high-frequency sounds up to two octaves higher than a human.
A cat can travel at a top speed of approximately 31 mph (49 km) over a short distance.

A cat can jump up to five times its own height in a single bound.

Some cats have survived falls of over 65 feet (20 meters), due largely to their “righting reflex.” The eyes and balance organs in the inner ear tell it where it is in space so the cat can land on its feet. Even cats without a tail have this ability.

A cat rubs against people not only to be affectionate but also to mark out its territory with scent glands around its face. The tail area and paws also carry the cat’s scent.

Most veterinarians believe that a cat purrs by vibrating vocal folds deep in the throat. To do this, a muscle in the larynx opens and closes the air passage about 25 times per second

Most cats give birth to a litter of between one and nine kittens. The largest known litter ever produced was 19 kittens, of which 15 survived.

While many parts of Europe and North America consider the black cat a sign of bad luck, in Britain and Australia, black cats are considered lucky.

The most popular pedigreed cat is the Persian cat, followed by the Main Coon cat and the Siamese cat.

Some Siamese cats appear cross-eyed because the nerves from the left side of the brain go to mostly the right eye and the nerves from the right side of the brain go mostly to the left eye. This causes some double vision, which the cat tries to correct by “crossing” its eyes.
 
Researchers believe the word “tabby” comes from Attabiyah, a neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq. Tabbies got their name because their striped coats resembled the famous wavy patterns in the silk produced in this city.

Cats hate the water because their fur does not insulate well when it’s wet. The Turkish Van, however, is one cat that likes swimming. Bred in central Asia, its coat has a unique texture that makes it water resistant.ⁱ
The Egyptian Mau is probably the oldest breed of cat. In fact, the breed is so ancient that its name is the Egyptian word for “cat.

The costliest cat ever is named Little Nicky, who cost his owner $50,000. He is a clone of an older cat.

A cat usually has about 12 whiskers on each side of its face.

A cat’s eyesight is both better and worse than humans. It is better because cats can see in much dimmer light and they have a wider peripheral view. It’s worse because they don’t see color as well as humans do.
 
The little tufts of hair in a cat’s ear that help keep out dirt direct sounds into the ear, and insulate the ears are called “ear furnishings.

The ability of a cat to find its way home is called “psi-traveling.” Experts think cats either use the angle of the sunlight to find their way or that cats have magnetized cells in their brains that act as compasses.

The world’s rarest coffee, Kopi Luwak, comes from Indonesia where a wildcat known as the luwak lives. The cat eats coffee berries and the coffee beans inside pass through the stomach. The beans are harvested from the cat's dung heaps and then cleaned and roasted. Kopi Luwak sells for about $500 for a 450 g (1 lb) bag.

A cat’s jaw can’t move sideways, so a cat can’t chew large chunks of food.

A cat almost never meows at another cat, mostly just humans. Cats typically will spit, purr, and hiss at other cats.

A cat’s back is extremely flexible because it has up to 53 loosely fitting vertebrae. Humans only have 34.

All cats have claws, and all except the cheetah sheath them when at rest.

 Approximately 1/3 of cat owners think their pets are able to read their minds
 
Most cats had short hair until about 100 years ago, when it became fashionable to own cats and experiment with breeding.

Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (humans have only 6). A cat can independently rotate its ears 180 degrees.

 One reason that kittens sleep so much is because a growth hormone is released only during sleep

 Cats have about 130,000 hairs per square inch (20,155 hairs per square centimeter)^.

The heaviest cat on record is Himmy, a Tabby from Queensland, Australia. He weighed nearly 47 pounds (21 kg). He died at the age of 10.

The oldest cat on record was Crème Puff from Austin, Texas, who lived from 1967 to August 6, 2005, three days after her 38th birthday.

A cat typically can live up to 20 years, which is equivalent to about 96 human years.

The lightest cat on record is a blue point Himalayan called Tinker Toy, who weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces (616 g). Tinker Toy was 2.75 inches (7 cm) tall and 7.5 inches (19 cm) long.

The tiniest cat on record is Mr. Pebbles, a 2-year-old cat that weighed 3 lbs (1.3 k) and was 6.1 inches (15.5 cm) high.

In the 1750s, Europeans introduced cats into the Americas to control pests.
 
The normal body temperature of a cat is between 100.5 ° and 102.5 °F. A cat is sick if its temperature goes below 100 ° or above 103 °F.

A cat has 230 bones in its body. A human has 206. A cat has no collarbone, so it can fit through any opening the size of its head.

A cat’s nose pad is ridged with a unique pattern, just like the fingerprint of a human.

If they have ample water, cats can tolerate temperatures up to 133 °F.

Foods that should not be given to cats include onions, garlic, green tomatoes, raw potatoes, chocolate, grapes, and raisins. Though milk is not toxic, it can cause an upset stomach and gas. Tylenol and aspirin are extremely toxic to cats, as are many common houseplants. Feeding cats dog food or canned tuna that's for human consumption can cause malnutrition.

A 2007 Gallup poll revealed that both men and women were equally likely to own a cat.

A cat’s heart beats nearly twice as fast as a human heart, at 110 to 140 beats a minute.

 Cats don’t have sweat glands over their bodies like humans do. Instead, they sweat only through their paws.

 In just seven years, a single pair of cats and their offspring could produce a staggering total of 420,000 kittens. (That's why it's a good idea to have your cat spayed or neutered!)

A cat called Dusty has the known record for the most kittens. She had more than 420 kittens in her lifetime.

 There are up to 60 million feral cats in the United States alone.

Cats spend nearly 1/3 of their waking hours cleaning themselves.

Grown cats have 30 teeth. Kittens have about 26 temporary teeth, which they lose when they are about 6 months old.

 Cats are extremely sensitive to vibrations. Cats are said to detect earthquake tremors 10 or 15 minutes before humans can.

A female cat is called a queen or a molly.

The cat who holds the record for the longest non-fatal fall is Andy. He fell from the 16^th floor of an apartment building (about 200 ft/.06 km) and survived.

 The claws on the cat’s back paws aren’t as sharp as the claws on the front paws because the claws in the back don’t retract and, consequently, become worn.

Strange But True Facts About Dogs

All dogs can be traced back 40 million years ago to a weasel-like animal called the Miacis which dwelled in trees and dens. The Miacis later evolved into the Tomarctus, a direct forbear of the genus Canis, which includes the wolf and jackal as well as the dog.

The first dogs were self-domesticated wolves which, at least 12,000 years ago, became attracted to the first sites of permanent human habitation.

The earliest European images of dogs are found in cave paintings dating back 12,000 years ago in Spain.


A dog’s shoulder blades are unattached to the rest of the skeleton to allow greater flexibility for running.

Dogs have sweat glands in between their paws.

Puppies are sometimes rejected by their mother if they are born by cesarean and cleaned up before being given back to her.

 Small quantities of grapes and raisins can cause renal failure in dogs. Chocolate, macadamia nuts, cooked onions, or anything with caffeine can also be harmful.  Apple and pear seeds contain arsenic, which may be deadly to dogs.

The phrase “raining cats and dogs” originated in seventeenth-century England. During heavy rainstorms, many homeless animals would drown and float down the streets, giving the appearance that it had actually rained cats and dogs.

During the Middle Ages, Great Danes and Mastiffs were sometimes suited with armor and spiked collars to enter a battle or to defend supply caravans.

Pekingese and Japanese Chins were so important in the ancient Far East that they had their own servants and were carried around trade routes as gifts for kings and emperors.

 The shape of a dog’s face suggests how long it will live. Dogs with sharp, pointed faces that look more like wolves typically live longer. Dogs with very flat faces, such as bulldogs, often have shorter lives.

The most dogs ever owned by one person were 5,000 Mastiffs owned by Kubla Khan.

The American Kennel Club, the most influential dog club in the United States, was founded in 1884.

The most popular male dog names are Max and Jake. The most popular female dog names are Maggie and Molly.

 In Iran, it is against the law to own a dog as a pet. However, if an owner can prove the dog is a guard or hunting dog, this restriction doesn’t apply. Muslim reticence concerning dogs is perhaps due to the fact that rabies has always been endemic in the Middle East.

The name of the dog on the Cracker Jacks box is Bingo. The Taco Bell Chihuahua is a rescued dog named Gidget

French poodles did not originate in France but in Germany (“poodle” comes from the German pudel or pudelhund, meaning “splashing dog”). Some scholars speculate the poodle’s puffs of hair evolved when hunters shaved the poodle for more efficient swimming, while leaving the pom-poms around the major joints to keep them warm

 Dachshunds were bred to fight badgers in their dens.

 Dalmatians are completely white at birth.

 A puppy is born blind, deaf, and toothless.

The Basenji is the world’s only barkless dog.

 A dog most likely interprets a smiling person as baring their teeth, which is an act of aggression.

 The origin of amputating a dog’s tail may go back to the Roman writer Lucius Columella’s (A.D. 4-70) assertion that tail docking prevented rabies.

Within hours of the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, specially trained dogs were on the scene, including German Shepherds, Labs, and even a few little Dachshunds

It costs approximately $10,000 to train a federally certified search and rescue dog.

The smallest dog on record was a matchbox-size Yorkshire Terrier. It was 2.5" tall at the shoulder, 3.5" from nose tip to tail, and weighed only 4 ounces.

Hollywood's first canine superstar was Rin Tin Tin, a five-day-old German Shepherd found wounded in battle in WWI France and adopted by an American soldier, Lee Duncan. He would sign his own contracts with his paw print.

At the end of WWI, the German government trained the first guide dogs for war-blinded soldiers.

A dog can locate the source of a sound in 1/600 of a second and can hear sounds four times farther away than a human can.

Touch is the first sense the dog develops. The entire body, including the paws, is covered with touch-sensitive nerve endings.

Eighteen muscles or more can move a dog’s ear

 There are an estimated 400 million dogs in the world. The U.S. has the highest dog population in the world. France has the second highest.

 Dog nose prints are as unique as human finger prints and can be used to identify them.

Bloodhound dogs have a keen sense of smell and have been used since the Middle Ages to track criminals.

 It is much easier for dogs to learn spoken commands if they are given in conjunction with hand signals or gestures.

Dogs in a pack are more likely to chase and hunt than a single dog on its own. Two dogs are enough to form a pack.

Dogs can see in color, though they most likely see colors similar to a color-blind human. They can see better when the light is low.


Petting dogs is proven to lower blood pressure of dog owners.

 Zorba, an English mastiff, is the biggest dog ever recorded. He weighed 343 pounds and measured 8' 3" from his nose to his tail.

 The average dog can run about 19 mph. Greyhounds are the fastest dogs on Earth and can run at speeds of 45 mph.

One female dog and her female children could produce 4,372 puppies in seven years. (That's why it's important to get dogs spayed and neutered!)

The most popular dog breed in Canada, the USA, and Great Britain is the Labrador retriever.

 The oldest dog on record was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey who lived 29 years and 5 months. In human years, that is more than 160 years old.

 A person standing still 300 yards away is almost invisible to a dog. But a dog can easily identify its owner standing a mile away if the owner is waving his arms.

 Dogs with big, square heads and large ears (like the Saint Bernard) are the best at hearing subsonic sounds.

 Dogs can smell about 1,000 times better than humans. While humans have 5 million smell-detecting cells, dogs have more than 220 million. The part of the brain that interprets smell is also four times larger in dogs than in humans.

 Some dogs can smell dead bodies under water, where termites are hiding, and natural gas buried under 40 feet of dirt. They can even detect cancer that is too small to be detected by a doctor and can find lung cancer by sniffing a person’s breath

 Dogs have a wet nose to collect more of the tiny droplets of smelling chemicals in the air.

 Different smells in the a dog’s urine can tell other dogs whether the dog leaving the message is female or male, old or young, sick or healthy, happy or angry

 Male dogs will raise their legs while urinating to aim higher on a tree or lamppost because they want to leave a message that they are tall and intimidating.

 Dogs are about as smart as a two- or three-year-old child. This means they can understand about 150-200 words, including signals and hand movements with the same meaning as words.

 The best dog to reportedly attract a date is the Golden Retriever. The worst is the Pit Bull.

 The Beagle and Collie are the nosiest dogs, while the Akbash Dog and the Basenji are the quietest.

 One survey reports that 33% of dog owners admit they talk to their dogs on the phone or leave messages on answering machines while they are away..

 Thirty percent of all Dalmatians are deaf in one or both ears. Because bulldogs have extremely short muzzles, many spend their lives fighting suffocation. Because Chihuahuas have such small skulls, the flow of spinal fluid can be restricted, causing hydrocephalus, a swelling of the brain.

The grief suffered after a pet dog dies can be the same as that experienced after the death of a person.

 There are almost 5 million dog bites per year; children are the main victims. Dog bites cause losses of over $1 billion a year.

 The most intelligent dogs are reportedly the Border Collie and the Poodle, while the least intelligent dogs are the Afghan Hound and the Basenji.

True Facts About Christmas!

In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was invented by Robert Mays, a commercial copy writer at Montgomery Ward Dept store, in 1939.

Johnny Marks, a Jew, composed many Christmas carols, including " Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer," "Holly Jolly Christmas," "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree,"  and "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" and many more"

"Jingle Bells" was the first song sung in space, by astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra, in 1965.

In the original screenplay, Rudolph never helps the toys on the Island of Misfit Toys.

There really was a Parson Brown who traveled from town to town, performing weddings for couples where there was not a protestant minister.

 All the gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas would equal 364 gifts.

The cost of all the items in the Twelve Days of Christmas is $107,300.

 The “true love” mentioned in the song “Twelve Days of Christmas” does not refer to a romantic couple, but the Catholic Church’s code for God. The person who receives the gifts represents someone who has accepted that code. For example, the “partridge in a pear tree” represents Christ. The “two turtledoves” represent the Old and New Testaments.

 According to the Guinness world records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington.

 Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.

 Most of Santa’s reindeer have male-sounding names, such as Blitzer, Comet, and Cupid. However, male reindeers shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are likely not male.

 Christmas trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850.
The world’s largest Christmas stocking measured 106 feet and 9 inches (32.56 m) long and 49 feet and 1 inch (14.97 m) wide. It weighed as much as five reindeer and held almost 1,000 presents. It was made by the Children’s Society in London on December 14, 2007

Contrary to popular belief, suicide rates during the Christmas holiday are low. The highest rates are during the spring

Two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular times for couples to break up. However, Christmas Day is the least favorite day for breakups

 The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.

 Each year there are approximately 20,000 “rent-a-Santas” across the United States. “Rent-a-Santas” usually undergo seasonal training on how to maintain a jolly attitude under pressure from the public. They also receive practical advice, such as not accepting money from parents while children are looking and avoiding garlic, onions, or beans for lunch.

The British traditionally wear paper crowns while they eat Christmas dinner.

Alabama was the first state in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in 1836.

 Oklahoma was the last U.S. state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1907.

 Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

Mistletoe (Viscum album) is from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings.

The Druids, considered mistletoe sacred because it remains green and bears fruit during the winter when all other plants appear to die. Druids would cut the plant with golden sickles and never let it touch the ground. They thought it had the power to cure infertility and nervous diseases and to ward off evil.

Evergreens (from the Old English word aefie meaning “always” and gowan meaning “to grow”) have been symbols of eternal life and rebirth since ancient times. The pagan use and worship of evergreen boughs and trees has evolved into the Christianized Christmas tree.

Because they viewed Christmas as a decadent Catholic holiday, the Puritans in America banned all Christmas celebrations from 1659-1681 with a penalty of five shillings for each offense. Some Puritan leaders condemned those who favored Christmas as enemies of the Christian religion.

 A Yule log is an enormous log that is typically burned during the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25-January 6). Some scholars suggest that the word yule means “revolution” or “wheel,” which symbolizes the cyclical return of the sun. A burning log or its charred remains is said to offer health, fertility, and luck as well as the ability to ward off evil spirits.

 The poinsettia is native to Mexico and was cultivated by the Aztecs, who called the plant Cuetlaxochitl (“flower which wilts”). For the Aztecs, the plant’s brilliant red color symbolized purity, and they often used it medicinally to reduce fever. Contrary to popular belief, the poinsettia is not poisonous, but holly berries are.

Christmas has its roots in pagan festivals such as Saturnalia (December 17-December 23), the Kalends (January 1 -5, the precursor to the Twelve Days of Christmas), and Deus Sol Invictus or Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun (December 25). The Christians church heartily disapproved of such celebrations and co-opted the pagans by declaring December 25 as Christ’s day of birth, though there is no evidence Christ was born on that day.

 Santa Claus is based on a real person, St. Nikolas of Myra (also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker, Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna, and Nikolaos of Bari), who lived during the fourth century. Born in Patara (in modern-day Turkey), he is the world’s most popular non-Biblical saint, and artists have portrayed him more often than any other saint except Mary. He is the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.

 Early illustrations of St. Nicholas depict him as stern, commanding, and holding a birch rod. He was more a symbol of discipline and punishment than the jolly, overweight elf children know today.

 Puritan Oliver Cromwell outlawed Christmas celebrations and carols in England from 1649-1660. The only celebrations allowed were sermons and prayers.

Christmas stockings allegedly evolved from three sisters who were too poor to afford a marriage dowry and were, therefore, doomed to a life of prostitution. They were saved, however, when the wealthy Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna (the precursor to Santa Claus) crept down their chimney and generously filled their stockings with gold coins.

There are two competing claims as to which president was the first to place a Christmas tree in the White House. Some scholars say President Franklin Pierce did in 1856; others say President Benjamin Harrison brought in the first tree in 1889. President Coolidge started the White House lighting ceremony in 1923.

President Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House in 1912.

“White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.

The first person to decorate a Christmas tree was reportedly the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546). According to legend, he was so moved by the beauty of the stars shining between the branches of a fir tree, he brought home an evergreen tree and decorated it with candles to share the image with his children.

Approximately 30-35 million real (living) Christmas trees are sold each year in the U.S.

Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” which is derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter “X” in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and “Xmas” has been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the mid 1500s.

In 1962, the first Christmas postage stamp was issued in the United States.

The earliest known Christmas tree decorations were apples. At Christmastime, medieval actors would use apples to decorate paradise trees (usually fir trees) during “Paradise Plays,” which were plays depicting Adam and Eve’s creation and fall.

Commissioned by Sir Henry Cole (1808-1883), British illustrator John Callcott Horsley (1817-1903) invented the first Christmas card in 1843.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are 2,106 million children under age 18 in the world. If there are on average 2.5 children per household, Santa would have to make 842 million stops on Christmas Eve, traveling 221 million miles. To reach all 842 million stops, Santa would need to travel between houses in 2/10,000 second, which means he would need to accelerate 12.19 million miles (20.5 billion meters) per second on each stop.

 Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all retail sales in the U.S.

Strange But True Facts About Dreams

Here are some strange and weird facts about dreams and what dreams mean!

Within 5 minutes of waking half of your dreams are forgotten. Within 10, 90% are gone.

People who stay up late at night are more likely to have nightmares.

You cannot snore and dream at the same time.

People who became blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion.

In dreams you only see faces which you've seen before.

While some people dream in black and white, instead of color, the number is diminishing among young people. Researchers  think it may be because of the switch from black and white to color TV.

The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety. Negative emotions are more common than positive ones.

 Adults dream off and on, for a total of about an hour and half to three hours every night.

On average, people dream 1-2 hours a night, 4-7 dreams.

Animals can dream too.  When your dog's asleep and moving his paws, etc. He is indeed dreaming!

Sometimes in our dreams we hear a sound from reality and incorporate it into the dream.

The longest dreams occur in the morning hours.

During REM sleep, the flow of blood to the brain increases, as does the brain’s temperature. Additionally, both the penis and the clitoris in women become erect.

Dreams of losing teeth or having teeth extracted can signify many things, including fears of helplessness or of some sort of loss in one’s life. Women experience more teeth dreams than men.

 Dreams of dirty water may signal that the unconscious mind is telling the dreamer he or she is not healthy.

 Results of several surveys across large population sets indicate that between 18% and 38% of people have experienced at least one precognitive dream and 70% have experienced deja vu.

An alien in a dream may indicate that the dreamer is experiencing difficulty adjusting to new conditions or a new environment.

Cakes in dreams can signify a time to rejoice at one’s accomplishments

Being in a cemetery during a dream may indicate sadness or unresolved grief. It may also represent one’s “dead” past.

 Chocolate in a dream may symbolize that the dreamer feels the need to be rewarded and deserves special treatment. It could also mean that the dreamer has been indulging in too many excesses and needs to practice restraint.

 Standing on a cliff in a dream can represent that one has a broad view of something or that the dreamer feels like he or she is living on the edge or is afraid of failure.

Large bodies of water often symbolize the unconscious, so dreams of drowning may indicate being overwhelmed by unconscious, repressed issues.

 Feet in dreams can symbolize everything from sex to humiliation. They can also represent mobility, freedom, or a foundation.

 A house in a dream is often a symbol of our body, so a mansion in a dream can represent a “rich” or even exaggerated sense of self. A mansion might also represent our future potential.

 Being naked in a dream suggests exposure of self to others, vulnerability, or feeling ashamed. Alternatively, it can also represent a desire for freedom or being unencumbered.

Falling dreams typically occur at the beginning of the night, in Stage I sleep. These dreams are often accompanied by muscle spasms, called myoclonic jerks, and are common in many mammals.

Vitamin B complex (B6) and St. John’s Wort have been shown to produce more vivid dreams.

 Flying dreams are found around the world and have existed since ancient times, even before the invention of airplanes.

 The memory-recording processes of the brain seems to switch off during sleep. In so-called non-dreamers, this memory shutdown is more complete than it is for the rest. Dreams may be forgotten because they are incoherent or because they contain repressed material that the conscious mind does not wish to remember.

 Nicotine patches and even melatonin (an over-the-counter sleep aid) are reported to increase the vividness of dreams and nightmares. The nicotine patch in particular is said to intensify dreams.

Sufferers of epilepsy can have extremely vivid and disturbing nightmares that immediately precede seizures during the night.

 Studies show that children have more animal dreams than adults. The animal figures that occurred most frequently are dogs, horses, cats, snakes, bears, lions, and mythical creatures or monsters.

 Childhood dreams are shorter than adult dreams and nearly 40% of them are nightmares, which may act as a coping mechanism.

 The quality of dreams depends, at least in part, on the stage of sleep in which the dreams occur. Dreams during REM tend to be more bizarre and detailed and have story line. Dreams in stages 1 and 2 of sleep are simpler and shorter. Deep-sleep dreams tend to be diffused and may be about nothing more than a color or emotion

 Men’s dreams are more often set outdoors, are more action oriented, and involve strangers more often than women’s dreams do. Women’s dreams usually happen indoors and involve emotional encounters with people they know and care about. Men are more likely than women to dream about aggression, misfortune, and negative emotions such as fear, anger, anxiety, or disgust. Women’s dreams are more often friendly and positive.

The brain waves that occur during REM and non-REM sleep are found in mammals, birds, and reptiles, but not in amphibians and fish.

Chronic smokers who suddenly quit report more vivid dreams than they had when they smoked

 When deprived of dreams, individuals become irritable and disoriented, hallucinate, and show signs of psychosis.

Strange But True Facts About Movies

The only physical damage made during the filming of National Lampoon’s Animal House was when John Belushi made a hole in the wall with a guitar. The actual Sigma Nu fraternity house (which subbed for the fictitious Delta House) never repaired it, and instead framed the hole in honor of the film.

 The word “dude” in The Big Lebowski is used approximately 161 times in the movie: 160 times spoken and once in text (in the credits for “Gutterballs” the second dream sequence). The F-word or a variation of the F-word is used 292 times. The Dude says “man” 147 times.

 American Graffiti’s budget was exactly $777,777.77, and it was delivered on time – and on budget.

  In the Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds, Tippi Hedren was actually cut in the face by a bird during the shooting of one sequence.

 Sean Connery wore a toupee in every James Bond film.

 The Munster’s House on Colonial Street was originally built for the 1946 production, So Goes My Love.

Johnny Depp dropped out of school at age 15 with hopes of becoming a rock star.

 According to reports, during some of the Russian roulette scenes in the movie The Deer Hunter, a live round was put into the gun to heighten the actors’ tension per Robert De Niro’s suggestion. It was checked, however, to make sure the bullet was not in the chamber before the trigger was pulled.

 Jack Nicholson hates giving interviews so much that he has not appeared on a talk show since 1971.

 When Bela Lugosi, star of the monster classic, Dracula, died in 1956, he was buried wearing a black silk cape similar to the one he wore in the film.

 Wes Craven first proposed the script for A Nightmare on Elm Street, one of the most successful horror films of all time, in1981, but no one was interested

 Neither Michelle Rodriguez nor Jordana Brewster had drivers’ licenses or even learners’ permits before production of the film in Fast and the Furious.

 John Carpenter was a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan. Two characters in Halloween (1978), were named after characters in Hitchcock films -Tommy Doyle, from Rear Window (1954), and Sam Loomis, from Psycho (1960).

 Jim Carrey was Tupac Shakur's favorite actor. While in prison,Carrey would write letters to Tupac to help him smile and laugh.

  In the movie Field of Dreams, both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are among the thousands of extras in the Fenway Park scene.

  In the coliseum scenes in Gladiator, only the bottom two decks are actually filled with people. The other thousands of spectators are computer-animated.

 In the infamous shower scene in Psycho, the sound of the knife-stabbing actress Janet Leigh was made by plunging a knife into a melon.

 About 25% of the film Jaws was shot from water level so audiences could better relate to treading water.

 Steven Spielberg nicknamed the mechanical shark in the movie Jaws, “Bruce.”

 The first American film to show a toilet flushing on screen was Psycho.

 The 1932 film Scarface was one of the first films to feature the Thompson submachine gun, known historically as the “tommy gun.”

 In the film Pillow Talk, Tony Randall was supposed to fake a reaction to being decked in the face by one of the restaurant patrons. However, during filming, the actor overestimated and actually knocked out Randall. The shot was so well done— it was used in the film.

Deborah Winger did the voice of E.T.

Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button. It was eliminated when he was sewn up after surgery.

Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.

 The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."

  Wayne's World was filmed in two weeks.

 In Mel Brooks' 'Silent Movie,' mime Marcel Marceau is the only person who has a speaking role.

 Of the six men who made up the Three Stooges, three of them were real brothers (Moe, Curly and Shemp.)

 The Hollywood star who played the most leading roles in feature films was John Wayne (1907-1979), who appeared in 153 movies. The star with the most screen credits is John Carradine (1906-1988), who has been in over 230 movies.

 In The Godfather (1972), John Marley’s (Jack Wolz) scream of horror in the horse head scene was real, as he was not told that a real horse head, which was obtained from a dog food company, was going to be used.

 The first nude scene in a major motion picture was of swimmer and actress Annette Kellerman (1887-1975) in A Daughter of the Gods (1916).

 To Have and Have Not (1945) is the only instance when a Nobel prize-winning author (Ernest Hemingway) was adapted for the screen by another Nobel-winning author (William Faulkner)

 Thomas Edison invented the first moving pictures, which were small film images that could be viewed in a box. Initially, he was opposed to showing movies on the big screen because he thought one-on-one viewing would be more profitable.

The first movie to be filmed in Technicolor was Becky Sharp (1934).

David O. Selznick was fined $5,000 for the line “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” in Gone with the Wind (1939). The Catholic Legion of Decency gave the movie a B rating, citing that the film was “morally objectionable in part for all.

 The first movie to gross over $100 million was Jaws (1975)

 The first African-American Oscar winner was Hattie McDaniel who was awarded the 1939 Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.

 The first feature film created solely with Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) was Toy Story (1995).

The laser swords in Star Wars (1977) were actually fiberglass rods coated with a highly reflective material. Light was reflected onto the rods by mirrors in front of the camera lens and color was later enhanced by animation.

Girl-next-door actress Doris Day rejected the role of Mrs. Robinson, the middle-aged sexpot with a penchant for younger men in The Graduate (1967).

 Planet Vulcan in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) is actually Yellowstone National Park.

The famous “burning of Atlanta” scene in Gone with the Wind (1939) consisted of burning the old sets from King Kong (1933), The Last of the Mohicans (1936), and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936).

 There were 124 midgets hired to play munchkins in The Wizard of Oz (1939). One midget fell into a studio toilet and was trapped there until somebody finally found him.

 The scene in which Judy Garland sings “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz (1939) was almost cut from the movie. Assistant producer Arthur Freed is credited with convincing MGM exec Louis B. Mayer to keep the scene.

The largest number of fatalities ever in a production of a film occurred during the shooting of the 1931 film Viking. Twenty-seven people died, including the director and cinematographer, when a ship they were shooting from exploded in the ice off the coast of Newfoundland.

 The greatest number of takes for one scene in a film is 324 in Charlie Chaplin’s 1931 City Lights

 The largest make-up budget was $1 million for Planet of the Apes (1968), which represented nearly 17% of the total production cost.

 The first Hollywood stunt man was ex-U.S. cavalryman Frank Hanaway who was cast in The Great Train Robbery (1903) for his ability to fall off a horse without hurting himself.

 The first film to receive an X rating under the Motion Picture Association of America system of classification was the anti-establishment Greetings (1968) with Robert de Niro, though it later received an R.

 During the “chest bursting” scene in Alien (1986), director Ridley Scott had the actors unexpectedly showered with actual entrails bought from a nearby butcher shop so that their screams of horror would be real.

 The Oscar statuette is not made of gold. It is a pewterlike alloy called brittanium, which is 93 percent tin, 5 percent antimony and 2 percent copper. It is then plated with gold.

 Bob Hope hosted the Academy Awards ceremony a record 18 times.

 The most Oscar wins by a woman is eight, by costume designer Edith Head.

 Peter O'Toole holds the record for the most best actor nominations without a win: eight.

Katharine Hepburn won the best actress award a record four times.

 Meryl Streep is the queen of best actress nominees, with 14, and total acting nominations, with 17.

Deborah Kerr is the queen of best actress losers, with six forced smiles.

Walter Brennan won best supporting actor a record three times.

 The only X-rated film to win best picture was "Midnight Cowboy" (1969).

 Disney turned down the chance to make Back to the Future claiming the mother/son relationship was too risqué.

 In the Stephen King novella for The Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman's Red is described as a white Irishman. The script sees Red sarcastically quip, “Maybe it's cause I'm Irish” as a nod to the change.

 Author Peter Benchley plays the role of a TV reporter in Jaws. Benchley was reportedly thrown off set after continually arguing with Spielberg about the film's ending.

 Ronald Reagan was originally announced as the lead for Casablanca. The proclamation turned out to simply be a ruse to keep the actor's name in the press.

James Caan improvised the, now immortal, phrase “Bada-Bing” on the set of The Godfather.

 Dooley Wilson, Sam in Casablanca, was a professional drummer who couldn't play the piano. He simply mimed along, copying an offscreen pianist.

 South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut only uses the f-word 199 times.

 While Casino clocks up a breathtaking 398 uses of the f-word , Nil By Mouth and Summer of Sam chuck over 400 F-bombs

Strange But True Facts About Rock n Roll

None of Elvis Presley's movies ever got nominated for Oscar, but he did win three Grammy Awards – for his gospel recordings.

 The only guy in ZZ Top who doesn’t have a beard is drummer Frank Beard.

 John Lennon wrote Good morning, good morning after hearing a Corn Flakes commercial.

 The first CD that was pressed in the U.S. was Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA.

Duran Duran was named after a mad scientist from the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella.

 Termites will eat wood two times faster when listening to heavy metal.

 In 1976 Barry Manilow sang a chart topping song named I write the songs. The song wasn’t written by him.

Suzanne Vega is considered the “mother” of the mp3 format. The creators of the mp3 used her voice from the song Tom’s Diner for analyzing the different sound spectrums when creating the compression algorithm.

The mighty final chord of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" was played by ten hands in three pianos simultaneously: Lennon's, Mc Cartney's, Starr's, Martin's (their manager?) and Evan's (their roadie).

 Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" is named after the route that goes through Bob's home state, Minesota, and enters the Mississippi delta.

 The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album was titled because of an insult between bandmates. When Brian Wilson showed Mike Love  the new material, he said "Who the hell is going to listen to this?...the ears of a dog?".

 "London Calling" was part of a catch phrase ("Good morning America, this is the London Calling!") of a BBC show during World War II, of which the The Clash's guitarists Joe Strummer was a fan.

 The night of Jimi Hendrix's first gig, Jeff Beck was coming out of the club and outside he ran into Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend. With a frightened expression he told them "I think we're in trouble here!".

"Layla" was written by Eric Clapton to steal George Harrison's wife, Patty Boyd. Layla was the nickname Eric had given her.

AC/DC: The Young brothers's sister was the one who recommended the school uniform to Angus for their first gig.

The Yardbirds were the ones who gave Clapton the nickname "Slowhand".

Jimi Hendrix got the inspiration for "Purple Haze" after having a dream where he could walk underwater.

 The Nirvana hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was named after a deodorant brand.


"Freebird" is dedicated to Duane Allman of The Allman brother's band.

  Axl Rose's "Sweet Child of Mine" was Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly, from the Everly Brothers. Axl and Erin got married, but their marriage only lasted a month

 The guitar solo in The Beatle's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is played by Clapton

 Elton John's real name is Reg Dwight.

U2's  "Sunday Bloody Sunday" originally started with the phrase "Don't talk to me about the rights of the IRA" but was ultimately changed to "I can't believe the news today" because U2 was afraid that their peace calling would be misunderstood.

 Black Sabbath's guitarist, Tony Iommi, lost part of two fingers in an accident, and it seemed the band was over. However, he managed to continue playing using a device which made his two stump fingers "longer", and tuning the guitar three steps down in order to loosen the strings and bend them more easily. His first song with his new "style" was  "Iron Man".

Paul Simon named a song after a dish he spotted on the menu at a Chinese restaurant: "Mother and Child Reunion."

 Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is dedicated to the band's former leader Syd Barret. Syd used to be the leader...until his schizophrenia and the LSD started to catch up with him, and he became rather insane. The band called David Gilmour, who had given Syd guitar lessons during high shool, and would cover for Syd during concerts, correcting his mistakes and filling in when he started playing along to a different tune. Syd eventually got more and more distanced of the band and David got to be the lead guitarist, but lots of the insanity themes they sing about is related to their former bandmate.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant is said to be buried with a Neil Young t-shirt, the same he uses on his last cd cover. The admiration between these two musicians was mutual: Young said he'd rather play "Sweet Home Alabama" than "Southern Man" (his own southern anthem).

"Smoke On The Water" refers to a Frank Zappa show in Montreux in 1971, where someone lit a flaregun and "burned the place to the ground".

 If Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side Of The Moon" is started at the precise moment the MGM lion roars for the second time in the movie "The Wizard Of Oz", the cd is perfectly synchronized with the movie.

Before recording "That's All Right, Mama," Elvis auditioned to be a singer in a local band in Memphis and was told by the bandleader, "Stick to driving a truck because you'll never make it as a singer!"

 Jimi Hendrix created "Little Wing" in only 145 seconds! that's only two minutes and a half! pretty much the same as the song's length.

 Malcom Young used to play the solos in AC/DC, until one day he told his brother "You do them...cuz they keep busy the hand I use for drinking!"

Pink Floyd's original name was Sigma 6. The band included Roger Waters on bass, Nick Mason on drums, Richard Wright on keyboard, Bob Close on guitar, and Syd Barret also on guitar. With Syd’s influence, the band changed their name to The Pink Floyd Sound, named after Pink Anderson and Floyd Council (two bluesmen).

 Eric Clapton popularized a setting for lead called "Woman Tone", which basically consists of the neck pickup with tone control rolled back, and is also used by Slash.

 One night at a gig, when The Who had just begun, Pete Townshend was experimenting with the feedback he got when he put his guitar near his amp. He accidentally hit the ceiling with the guitar, which caused an awesome sound that was cheered by the small audience. Pete tried to repeat that sound with such bad luck that he broke the guitar's neck. "No one cheered, in fact there was a terrible silence, so i finished breaking the guitar acting as if that had been my true intention". On The Who's next performance there were twice as many people.

 Prince is a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix. The song "Purple Rain" is an tribute to "Purple Haze".

 B.B. King's beatiful guitar is a Gibson ES-355, but is known as Lucille. Actually, King has quite a few of these guitars (and a custom series), all named Lucille. He even dedicated her a song, in which he tells her how much she means to him and the adventures they had together.

 Slash's real name is Saul Hudson.

 In the 50's, Little Richard kicked Jimi Hendrix out of his band for stealing the spotlight.

 The Beatles' "Yesterday" first released in 1965. By 1967, there were 466 versions of the song. Nowadays there are more than 4000 versions.

The Boomtown Rats song, "I Don't Like Mondays" was inspired by a deadly school shooting.

 Guitarist Steve Vai's hobby is beekeeping.

 During the recording of "The Dark Side Of The Moon", the guys from Pink Floyd wrote on little papers questions like "Are you afraid of death?" and gave them to everybody that was working at Abbey Road studio at the time. This included all the roadies, sound technicians, the Irish doorman, and even Paul McCartney. The answers to the questions were recorded, and the best ones were put on the disc. However, Paul's answers weren't put on the disc because "he tried to be funny".

 At age 47, the Rolling Stones' bassist, Bill Wyman, began a relationship with 13-year old Mandy Smith, with her mother's blessing. Six years later, they were married, but the marriage only lasted a year. Not long after, Bill's 30-year-old son Stephen married Mandy's mother, age 46. That made Stephen a stepfather to his former stepmother. If Bill and Mandy had remained married, Stephen would have been his father's father-in-law and his own grandpa.

 Lynyrd Skynyrd took their name from a high school teacher named Leonard Skinner who had suspended several students for having long hair.

 Jim Morrison found the name "The Doors" for his rock band in the title of Aldous Huxley's book "The Doors Of Perception", which extolls the use of hallucinogenic drugs.

 The name AC/DC was suggested by Angus and Malcolm's sister Margaret Young, who saw a label that read AC/DC on the back of a vacuum cleaner. The Young brothers thought it was a good name for their band, because "it had something to do with electricity, so it seemed to fit"

 Bob Dylan said on his school yearbook that his ultimate dream was being in Little Richard's band.

 Waylon Jennings was Buddy Holly's bass player. Once, they were deciding how they were going to travel, he lost a coin toss, and took the bus instead of the plane. According to Jennings before his death, Buddy Holly said something to the extent of "I hope you freeze on the bus," and Jennings replied, "I hope your plane crashes."

 Two songs were recorded by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Elvis: "That's Alright, Mama" and "Yesterday".

 Pete Townshend thought he was lifting his now-famous Windmill move from Keith Richards, because Pete saw Keith doing it as the curtain was rising at a Stones show. Later, after Pete had made it his big move, he talked with Keith about it and realized Keith was just stretching out his arm before starting to play.

Drummer Nick  Mason the only member to appear  on every Pink Floyd album.

 Cass Elliot (Mama Cass of The Mamas & Papas) and Keith Moon of The Who  died in the apartment of the same singer/songwriter: Harry Nilsson.

 MTV execs came up with the idea of the "Unplugged" series after seeing Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull do a brief, live acoustic set. But when Anderson later asked about having Jethro Tull appear on "Unplugged," MTV turned him down flat, on the grounds that the band was too old and didn't have enough appeal among the desired teen demographic.

 Axl Rose's real name is William Bailey.

 The Van Halen brothers were born in the Netherlands and trained as concert pianists. The name of the band was originally Mammoth.

 According to Paul McCartney, the "you" in "Got to Get You Into My Life" was marijuana.

 Before Clapton became known for playing Stratocasters (largely, it is thought, because Hendrix played Strats), he played a 1959 Gibson Les Paul - largely because electric blues guitarists like Mike Bloomfield played one. But when Clapton's famous "Beano" Les Paul was stolen, he never went back.

 Stevie Ray Vaughan was the guitarist on David Bowie's "Let's Dance" album

 Al Kooper, who played organ on Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone," had never played organ before the session. He had turned up to the studio hoping to play guitar and, finding an excellent guitarist (Mike Bloomfield) already on hand, sat down at the organ instead. After the first take the session producer told Dylan to lose the organ part; Dylan replied that he wanted it louder.

 ABBA got their name by taking the first letter from each of their first names (Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, Anni-frid.)

The Beatles song "Dear Prudence" was written about Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, when she wouldn't come out and play with Mia and the Beatles at a religious retreat in India.

Ozzy Osborne saved his wife Sharon’s Pomeranian from a coyote by tackling and wresting the coyote until it released the dog