Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! Valentines Day wasn't always about sappy cards, boxes of chocolate or dozens of roses.

Saint Valentines Day started as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Apparently, Saint Valentine was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry, and for ministering to Christians who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. During his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer. Legends goes that before his execution, he wrote her a letter "From your Valentine" as a farewell.

Valentines Day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th Century, it had evolved into an occasion where lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionary, and sending greeting cards.

In 1797 a British publisher issued "The Young Man's Valentine Writer", which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called "mechanical valentines", and a reduction of postal rates in the next century ushered in the less personal, but easier practice of mailing Valentines. That, in turn, made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously.

The U.S. Greeting Card Association (there's an association for everything these days, isn't there!) estimates that about 190 million valentines are sent out each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, usually to children.

And the Best Selling Valentines Day Candy Is...

....Conversation hearts! Really?! One of our adoring listeners left boxes of Sweethearts on our desks over the weekend. I hadn't had one in years, so I thought, "Why not?" and popped one in my mouth. And then, I immediately remembered why it had been so long since I'd eaten them. Because they taste like Tums. And they leave an awful aftertaste.  Apparently, my mixed feelings about this particular candy is not shared by the masses.

The maker of conversation hearts, also known as Sweet Hearts, Necco, manufactures 8 billion Sweethearts a year. Approximately 100,000 pounds of hearts are made per day from late February to mid January. And all those little hearts sell out in about 6 weeks.

It all started with a guy named Oliver Chase. Ollie invented a machine in 1847 to cut lozenges from wafer candy, just like what would become Necco Wafers, and started a candy factory. Oliver's bro Daniel, began printing sayings on these candies in 1866. Today, conversations hearts have saying like "LOL", "Text Me" and "Luv U"...what could they have possibly said in 1866? Anyway, Danny designed a machine that was able to press on the candy, similar to a stamp.

Heart shaped conversation candies, what we now know as Sweethearts, got their start in 1901. Other styles had been produced, like lozenges, postcards, horseshoes, watches and baseballs.

Sayings on the hearts are constantly being revised for young Americans. You don't see "Fax me" or "Email me" any more! Necco receives hundreds of suggestions a year on new sayings. If you want to suggest a saying, go to necco.com.

The Great Lip Sync Debate

So we're all still talking about it - did Beyonce lip sync 
the national anthem or not? Does it even matter? It's not like we're not used to it - musicians lip sync on awards shows, at concerts...pretty much all the time. 

The Partridge Family used lip syncing to make it seem like the actors could sing (the only 2 who actually did were David Cassidy and Shirley Jones). And lip syncing can also be used by fakers, like Milli Vanilli. More often though, it's used by artists to create a particular effect, so that they can perform live dance numbers, or to cover for illness or other deficiencies during live performance. Sometimes TV shows force artists to lip sync for  short guest appearances, because it requires less time for rehearsals and hugely simplifies the process of sound mixing. 

In the '90s, artists like Madonna and Janet Jackson set a whole new standard for showmanship, with concerts that included not only elaborate costumes and precision-timed pyrotechnics but also highly athletic dancing. Of course the use of these effects came at the expense of live singing. 

It's hard for me to believe (probably because I wasn't alive at the time), but there were actually lip sync game shows in the 80's! It all started in 1981 with a guy name Randy Wood, who started up these lip sync contests at a club called the Underground Nightclub in Seattle. It was so popular, he expanded the contests to other cities around the country. By 1984, more than 20 cities were running these contests. So he submitted the idea to Dick Clark Productions, and they liked it so much he became the consulting producer for the show "Puttin' on the Hits". The show received an impressive 9.0 rating the first season and was nominated twice for the Daytime Emmy Awards. 

The hobby (lip syncing is a hobby??) reached it's peak in the 1980's, with game shows like "Puttin' on the Hits" and "Lip Service" were created. The Family Channel even got in on the fun with a show on Saturday mornings called "Great Pretenders", where kids lip synced their favorite songs.

So, did Beyonce sing the National Anthem live or not? She may never tell. And I may never care.

And Now...The Hottest Place on Earth!

Well, we're still in an arctic freeze here in the Flour City. Yesterday I gave some perspective and we talked about the coldest place on earth - a small village called Oymyakon, in Russia. So today, I thought I'd take the chill off, by talking about the hottest place on the planet - and no, it's not the Legends studio!! It's Death Valley! 

Situated within the Mojave Desert, Death Valley is the lowest and driest area in North America - 282 feet below sea level. It holds the record for the highest reliably reported temperature in the world, 134 °F, on July 10, 1913. During the great heat wave of 1913, 5 consecutive days reached 129 °F  or above. 

The reason Death Valley is so blasted hot? The depth and shape of the valley itself. It's a long, narrow basin surrounded by high, steep mountain ranges. The clear dry air and sparse plant cover allow sunlight to easily heat the desert surface. In the summer, night provides little relief, as overnight low may only dip into the 82-98 degree range. 


Death Valley didn't get it's name just because it's deathly hot! It actually got it's name during the California Gold Rush in 1849. Two groups of prospectors headed for California lost their way and ended up in the desert for weeks. They were able to find fresh water at various springs in the area, but were forced to eat several of their oxen to survive. They ditched their wagons and were able to hike out of the valley. Just after leaving the valley, one of the women in the group turned and said "Goodbye Death Valley!", and the name stuck! 

In the 1850's, gold and silver were extracted from the valley, and in the 1880's borax was discovered and extracted by mule-drawn wagons. 

Death Valley National Monument was proclaimed on February 11, 1933 by President Hoover, placing the area under federal protection. In 1994, the monument was re-designated as Death Valley National Park. 

Something else cool about Death Valley? In 1977, George Lucas used it as a filming location for Star Wars, providing the setting for the fictional planet Tattooine! 

The Coldest Place On Earth

Brrrrr, in case you haven't noticed, it is FREEZING in the Flour City (and in 2/3's of the country)! While we all complain about the weather and accompanying frigid temps, allow me to offer some perspective:


Right now, 
in the Russian village of Oymyakon, it is -44 degrees. Yes, that's a negative in front of that 44. And that's not even the coldest it'll get. The residents of Oymyakon probably think nothing of -44, as a matter of fact. Why? Because Oymyakon's claim to fame, besides some fantastic reindeer breeding, is that it is the coldest permanently inhabited area on earth. The only place that's colder? Antarctica. 

In 1924, a Russian scientist by the name of Sergey Obrychev (you're familiar with his work, right?), registered the lowest temperature ever recorded at the weather station there. You ready for this? The temperature was a whopping -96.2. Can you even breath without your insides freezing at that temperature?! This temperature is the lowest recorded temperature recorded in the Northern Hemisphere. The only place that has recorded lower temperatures? Yep, you guessed it. Antarctica.

Here's what I find interesting - although temperatures can drop below the freezing point in September, and may remain in the negative until mid-May...the summers in Oymyakon are rather mild. The average temperature for August is a balmy 76 degrees. Talk about a shock to the system!

I know what you're thinking. Why in the world would anyone live in a place where it's freezing 7 months of the year? Well, if you happen to talk to one of the 500 residents there, let me know, because I wonder the same thing. Incase you're wondering what the 500 villagers do there, besides shiver - the principle industry is very traditional, with fur trading and ice fishing stalwarts of the local economy. The people that do have jobs, are either reindeer breeders, hunters, fisherman, or they work at the one store in town.

Here are some other interesting facts I found out about Oymyakon: There is no cell phone service there. Even if there were, cell phones wouldn't work in those temperatures. Since the ground is permanently frozen, no farming takes place - there is just one shop that provides food and material needs for the entire village. They can't wear glasses outside - they'll freeze right to their faces. If they want to go anywhere, they have to keep their cars running, otherwise they probably won't turn back on (by the way, the nearest town is a 3 day drive). The best part? MOST BUILDINGS DON'T HAVE INDOOR PLUMBING!!!

See? Let's consider ourselves lucky. If anyone complains about the weather to you ever again, now you can say "Hey, it could be worse. We could be living in Oymyakon."