If a Blog Falls in a Forest...

If a blog falls in a forest, but nobody is around to hear it, does it make a noise?

I've blogged plenty before - but this is a new blog! I'm starting from scratch. It's sort of hard to know where to start a blog from scratch - which leads me to one conclusion - I must just start it.

I start this new blog, the Evenger Blog - as the world's first cyber superhero - The Evenger!

You can't take it with you. Or can you?

Sorry this isn't more of a Christmas theme...but I just couldn't pass it up.

Apparently there is a recent new trend among funeral homes and cemeteries. A lot of people are requesting that lost loved ones be buried with cell phones, blackberries, ipods, etc.. Some families seek comfort in being able to call a loved one for a time after they've been buried - obviously knowing no one will answer - but in hearing their voice mail message.

This reminds me of so called "safety coffins" that were a brief trend in the 1800s. Some people were so worried about being buried alive that they requested coffins with a mechanism that would permit them to signal their vitality from the grave, should it exist.

It seems a lot of 19th century designers missed the part that a buried coffin might quickly run out of air - rendering any signaling bell or flag pretty moot in short order. Nonetheless a lot of these coffins were put into use - though there is no recorded instance where one worked to save the living from the grave.

The recent trends with cell phones does not seem to have much to do with protecting folks from being buried alive. But if one happened to find themselves in such a situation - wouldn't that be a great time to have signal?!

The Octagon

A place that many people haven't heard about in Washington, DC is the Octagon.

Nobody is sure how this building got its name, since it doesn't actually have eight sides. But the structure was built between 1799 and 1801 about a block away from the White House. It was the first residential building in the neighborhood and was designed to instill confidence in the future development of what was then called "Federal City" as the new nation's capitol.

When the British burned the White House in 1814 (during the War of 1812) - James and Dolley Madison used the Octagon as a temporary residence. In February of the following year, the Treaty of Ghent was signed in the second floor of the Octagon, ending the War of 1812 with Great Britain.

Since then the building has various uses and tenants, it is now maintained as a museum by the American Architectural Foundation. It's a little known place that has taken part in a whole bunch of history.

Hand Over Fist

Not very many people are making money "hand over fist" these days. But do you know where that expression comes from?

It turns out that once upon a time, all money was made that way. Coins where stamped out of metal with dies. Mint workers would grip the stamp with one hand and press down with the other: hand over fist.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

This week members of the new 110th Congress had their orientation on Capitol Hill. During the orientation, Freshman Congressman and Congresswomen, and Senators went through the two houses' respective processes for finding a new office.

Whichever office each new member gets, they will be able to bring a dog to work with them if they choose to. One of the little known secrets of Capitol Hill is that all the Capitol buildings are wide open to dogs.

The logic goes something like this: if a Member of Congress wants to bring their dog to work - nobody is really in a position to tell them they can't. But then, as they represent the people - no Member of Congress should have a special privilege that a member of the general public does not. Therefore, though it might not be advertised, if you try to walk into any of the House or Senate office buildings with a dog, nobody will stop you.

The pup may have to walk though a metal detector - but that's about the biggest hurdle he'll face.

Reflecting Pool

Continuing with the India theme...it turns out there is another connection when it comes to the National Mall.

Congress commissioned the construction of the Lincoln Memorial shortly after the President's death in 1867. However the memorial was not designed and fully completed until May 30, 1922 when it was commissioned by then Chief Supreme Court Justice and former President William Howard Taft.

The long pool placed in front of the memorial reflects both the Washington monument and the Lincoln Memorial. It measures 2000 feet by 160 feet and contains 7 million gallons of water. The pool was modeled after the one that sits before the Taj Mahal.

Rocket's Red Glare

It turns out that one famous phrase from America's National Anthem has its roots in India.

After the American Revolution, the British turned their attention toward expanding their influence in India. In 1780 British troops invaded Mysore, an area then ruled by Hyder Ali. What the British did not know was that Hyder had been working on a new rocket.

Whereas previous rockets had been small and less effective. Hyder's new rockets had metal tubes, were 12 lbs each, and had 10 foot bamboo poles for stability. This gave them much more range - they could fly at least half a mile. Moreover, Hyder had the manpower to produce and launch hundreds of them at at time. Using his barrage of rockets, Hyder was able to repulse the British invasion of his territory.

In the wake of their defeat, the British redoubled their research into rocket technology such that by the time of the War of 1812 - they were a widely used part of the British Arsenal. Some of those rockets were the ones that Francis Scott Key saw outside Fort McHenry when he saw "the rocket's red glare" and that "our flag was still there."