I think that I shall never be a poem lovely as a tree

The Oak tree has always been looked upon as the most solid and respected of all trees, with its unusual scalloped leaves and hat top seeds (acorns). The oak starts strong with a thick deep root system that digs into the earth, stabilizing the broad trunk that will shoot forth. It is marked by low, heavy branches that children grow up climbing and building tree houses on while wondering over the kaleidoscopic display that overwhelms the senses. When those vividly colored leaves start to shed, they delight the eye with dancing displays of color, riding the breezes and covering the ground in softly cushioned layers, inviting more play and excitement.

The mighty Oak is truly a tree that is perfect for remembering a loving parental, protective and fun soul that delights in the music of children’s laughter.

These memorial tree cremation urns contain seeds for you to grow an Oak tree embedded into the lid, along with an unique mix that aids in the release of beneficial plant nutrients which are found in cremated ashes. By themselves, ashes are harmful to plants’ health and well-being. However, by planting our memorial tree urns with your loved one’s cremated ashes, you cultivate a mixture that nourishes and sustains your memorial tree. The urn planter comes inside a beautiful keepsake tin, which can be used after planting the tree as a keepsake memorial chest for letters, trinkets, photos, and more.

**Note: These are very small urns, intended to hold only a small amount of remains (35 cubic inches). If you would like to plant trees using all of the remains, figure 1 cubic inch per 1 pound of body weight. So a 175 lb individual would require 5 of these biodegradable memorial tree urns (175 lbs / 35 cubic inches = 5 urns).**

Source: UrnsNorthwest

Damien's note: Five urns means you could become a grove, not just a tree. 

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows: Feastday February 27

Gabriel Possenti was a member of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 24 in 1862. He was named Patron of Catholic Youth by Pope Benedict XV when he canonized Gabriel in 1920.

My favorite story about him is that on his deathbed he asked that his spiritual writings be burned lest he be tempted to spiritual pride.

Sounds like it was too late for that.

The Saint Gabriel Possenti Society is a U.S. organization promoting the public recognition of Gabriel and lobbying for his designation by the Vatican as the "patron saint of hand gunners". The society was founded by gun lobbyist John M. Snyder, who began his effort in 1987. The reason is a legend about the saint saving the town from a group of bandits by his skillful shooting of a handgun. Since Gabriel was in the late stages of tuberculosis at the time of the alleged gunfight, the story is highly improbable and is attested to in only a biography that is filled with fanciful inventions.

How did the predictable video work?

It's all about math.

It's not possible to select any of the post-its he takes off, because he uses just enough movements to make it impossible to select them. He never tells you where you are -- he cannot predict that until the very end. He only knows where your finger is not because he has not allowed enough moves to get to that one point.

Aw, shucks. It's no fun at all once you know, is it?

Predictable?

Impressed? Check back tomorrow.

He's no poet, but he don't know it.

William Topaz McGonagall, (1825-1902) poet and tragedian of Dundee, has been widely hailed as the writer of the worst poetry in the English language. A self-educated hand loom weaver of Irish descent, he discovered his discordant muse in 1877 and embarked upon a 25 year career as a working poet, delighting and appalling audiences across Scotland and beyond.

His audiences threw rotten fish at him, the authorities banned his performances, and he died a pauper over a century ago. But his books remain in print to this day, and he’s remembered and quoted long after more talented contemporaries have been forgotten.

Source: McGonagall Online

His most famous work is the well-named  "The Tay Bridge Disaster." For historical background, click here.

The Tay Bridge Disaster

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
’Twas about seven o’clock at night,
And the wind it blew with all its might,
And the rain came pouring down,
And the dark clouds seem’d to frown,
And the Demon of the air seem’d to say-
“I’ll blow down the Bridge of Tay.”
When the train left Edinburgh
The passengers’ hearts were light and felt no sorrow,
But Boreas blew a terrific gale,
Which made their hearts for to quail,
And many of the passengers with fear did say-
“I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay.”
But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
So the train sped on with all its might,
And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sight,
And the passengers’ hearts felt light,
Thinking they would enjoy themselves on the New Year,
With their friends at home they lov’d most dear,
And wish them all a happy New Year.
So the train mov’d slowly along the Bridge of Tay,
Until it was about midway,
Then the central girders with a crash gave way,
And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!
The Storm Fiend did loudly bray,
Because ninety lives had been taken away,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
As soon as the catastrophe came to be known
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,
And the cry rang out all o’er the town,
Good Heavens! the Tay Bridge is blown down,
And a passenger train from Edinburgh,
Which fill’d all the peoples hearts with sorrow,
And made them for to turn pale,
Because none of the passengers were sav’d to tell the tale
How the disaster happen’d on the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,
I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.

Because financial fraud is timeless

On February 21, 1814, during the Napoleonic Wars between the French Empire and its opposing forces (the Bourbons supported by the UK and other nations), a man calling himself Colonel du Bourg arrived in Dover, England, and began spreading word of Napoleon’s death. His news of the Bourbon’s victory quickly spread, and was verified by numerous other military officers who delivered the news to London and surrounding areas. In response to the newly established peacetime, the London Stock Exchange experienced a market boom, and prices on government securities skyrocketed.

However, word from French officials soon arrived, stating that the news of Napoleon’s death had been false. Stock market prices returned to their original levels, but not before several massive sales had taken place. Detecting possible fraud, the London Stock Exchange Committee began investigating the sales in question. They quickly discovered that a large collection of government stocks had been purchased a week prior to the news of Napoleon’s death, and had been sold for more than one million British Pounds. 

The committee charged Parliament member and former Naval enlistee Lord Cochrane with financial fraud, fined him (and his conspirators) 1,000 Pounds apiece, and sentenced them to twelve months in prison, as well as an hour of confinement in a public pillory.

Source: Johnson, P. (2002). Fraud and Profit in Nineteenth Century London 
---------------
Damien's note: The reprehensible Lady Catherine de Bourgh appeared in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813, the year before the scam. One assumes the slight similarity in names is a coincidence.

Om mane padme hum

Scientists found something strange inside of an ancient Buddha statue — the mummified remains of a monk. The statue was subjected to CT scans in December at Meander Medical Center in Amsterdam. Researchers determined that the monk went through self-mummification, a process that involves being buried alive inside of a chamber while meditating.

 

 

 Drents Museum/German-Mummy-Project

The statue next to a CT reconstruction created by the German-Mummy-Project at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen.

"The object is a rarity," Wilfried Rosendahl, head of the German-Mummy-Project at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen in Mannheim, Germany, told NBC News via email. Nothing like it has been studied in Europe before, he said. The CT scans revealed that the mummy was a man, between 30 to 50 years old, who was mummified and probably kept in a monastery for 200 years before he was covered by paper and enamel to make a statue. Rosendahl and a team of researchers determined that the mummy dates back to around the year 900 to 1,000. The statue was originally discovered in China and can currently be seen at the Natural History Museum in Budapest.