I had not but that is just silly ha ha. I can't imagine who thought that was necessary and how it made it through lawmakers. In 2002, germany became the first country in the world to universally give animals constitutionally-guaranteed legal rights. In my opinion we need a lot more of that type of legislation.


Yes I remember when Germany did that and I agree more of that is needed. I wish it would happen. Gee, I never knew that animals develop white patches on their foreheads when they are domesticated.


I was not aware of that. I wonder why? I cant see any evolutionary reason for it.


I wonder why as well and will have to research that more. I do not see any reason for it either. I was also not aware that hiccups are left over from when land animals had both gills and lungs.


I was not either. I wish it would go away now because they are quite annoying ha ha. In contrast to animals, humans may have lost their body hair as recently as 240,000 years ago.


LOL, they certainly are annoying. That is very interesting and did you know that there is a sound frequency that causes fear in humans?


I did not but I know that certain pitches (usually high ones) make me jumpy so I suppose that makes sense. Almost all animals and plants synthesize their own Vitamin C, but humans cannot because the gene for this enzyme is defective. I wonder why we did not evolve to have that ability as well?


I was wondering that as well when I heard about that. It would be a lot healthier if we did have the ability to do so.  I have known some fast runners but I did not know humans were adapted for this for hunting reason. I hate hunting but I guess primitive man needed to do so.


I couldn't do it myself but I suppose it is necessary. But it would crush me. Large cats certainly seem super adept at hunting.


I wonder how the russians made a computer that ran on water in 1936


I was not aware that they did. I'm not sure how that is possible. I'm assuming it would have been extremely limited in it's abilities. The space shuttle's general purpose computer runs on 1mb of ram. That blows my mind especially with as much data as we can hold on just a flash stick or SD card now.


I find that hard to believe. Very interesting. I did not know that smoking near apple computers voids the warranty by making it a biohazard.


I did not know that either. I don't know why it would be a biohazard but I understand it voiding the warranty because the nicotine would gum up the internal parts. Someone built a working 16-bit computer using nothing but the basic minecraft building blocks. It's amazing how far we have come!


It truly is amazing. Well transhumanists want to upload their minds to memory sticks and computers, that is certainly interesting.


I think we are a long way from that technology. They sure have covered that concept several times on the series Black Mirror.


It sure has been. To think all the technology we have and yet they still experiment on animals in useless, archaic and unnecessary experiments. RH monkeys are such an abused group.


I agree. I do not like these practices either. The study of animals is called zoology. I think that would be a fascinating field to work in.


I think so too and I have wished I had done so when I was younger. Animals are so very interesting.


I agree. There are an estimated 7 million animal species in total. That's a lot of animals to study.


Yes and they do find new ones sometimes as well. It is a large field to study.


It certainly is. Around 1 million alone are just insects.


Amazing. Well it has been nice speaking with you about such an interesting topic.


I don't know anything about him but I do have a few rap-like songs.


That's an interesting perspective. Did you know that Tupac's music is considered culturally significant by the Library of Congress?


I do know that Eminem's dream was to become a comic book artist. I don't think that would have become as lucrative.


No, at least not in the age of digital music and YouTube. With Netflix, it makes up half of peak internet traffic in North America!


I can believe that.  Video, particularly HD and more, eat up bandwidth fast.  I bet they are constantly upgrading like Psy had to...


I imagine that they have vast server farms to host all of that data. It can't hurt that they have access to Google's IT infrastructure since they were purchased by them in 2006.


It's more about how many Mps they can push... They need to since YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine on the net.


Yes, the bandwidth required makes the whole net neutrality issue so interesting. Imagine if ISPs didn't just prefer certain content providers, but preferred certain types of actual content as well! It would be like censorship.


Giving the gov't any control over the internet is beyond stupid.  I think it's cool that Busta Rhymes did the voice of the Reptar Wagon in the 1998 Rugrats movie.


Yes, crossovers between art forms can broaden audiences and bring about conversations. The phrase "rap" began as a term meaning to converse in the African American lexicon of the 1960s, so it's great to see it can bring about conversations between cultures and people these days.


Yep, Korean rappers developed a new form of freestyle rap called "Compliment Battle."  I think rap is banned in N. Korea.


Haha, I bet Gangnam Style is banned there, too. It's not like regular citizens have access to non-state media there, anyway. There censorship of culture in general would prevent rap from developing.


I think it's funny that in 2001, a Michigan judge delivered her ruling with rap.


I don't think that was very professional.


Did you know that cops have their own YouTube called "BluTube"?  If it contains videos of arrests, I could see that blowing up on them.


Yes, it could be even worse if they post rap battles that they get involved in. That would get a lot of dis-likes in public opinion, maybe even as many as the most disliked video on YouTub, Justin Bieber's "Baby."


Poor Justine.  Maybe he should have become a comic book artist.


Well, he does have plenty of illustrations on his body nowadays--probably trying to imitate rappers that he admires! Maybe he also admires comic book heroes the way Eminem does and could add a Spiderman tattoo.


I didn't realize Drake was so young, only graudating HS in 2012.


I think that's indicative of the fact the he was a child actor and just took a long time to finish-he was born in 1986.


The precursor to rap is a West African griot tradition.  SO long, nice chat!


Hi! Are you a fan of the Canadian rapper Drake? I am and can't believe he graduated high school at 25. That is crazy!


Good morning! How do you like rap? I am not really a fan so I don't know much about it.


I like rap for the most part. Always loved Tupac. In fact, his music is actually in the library of Congress of cultural significance!


I don't know any of them except M and M. I kinda like his stuff. I can't believe anyone graduated from high school at 25! That's funny.


Agreed. It is surprising. Did you know Eminem actually wanted 5o be a comic book artist growing up, befoee becoming a rapper? In fact, his favorite character was Spider-Man!


I did read that somewhere. He is probably a better rapper than artist.


Yeah, true. I bet he's glad he became a rapper anyway. I'm sure he makes much more money than he would as a comic book artist. Speaking if Eminem, I can't believe that judge in Michigan gave her ruling in a rap during the suit filed against Eminem. That's hilarious!


I think that shows that some judges have a sense of humor. Sometimes you wonder whether they are human or not. I did see Psy on Youtube and thought that he was really good. I didn't realize that was rap.


Agreed. It did sort if humanize judges. Ha! Did you also see Justin Beiber's song Baby on YouTube? It's actually the most disliked song on the site!


I do not like Justin Bieber.  I like Youtube to find relaxing music for my cats. They seem to like Brahm's lullaby. I don't think they like rap!


That's awesome! Hey, if they ever want to see a good site with cop videos, the police have their own version of YouTube that's called Blutube.


I think Youtube is very useful. I like TED talks and used them in school a lot. You can fins almost anything on it including how to cook a recipe. I sometimes like to see how something is done-like home repairs. It's good for that too.


So true! It is the second largest search engine on the net, so you can find just about anything you need, especially for schooling!


The only thing is that Youtube and Netflix take up so much bandwidth that my Roku gets slow around 4-7 PM. I should probably buy a booster.


I can understand that. YouTube and Netflix both account for half the peak internet traffic in north America, unfortunately.


When I was a kid we didn't have it. We went outside to play. The rule was you had to come in as soon as the street lights went on because kids didn't have cell phones with clocks.


Oh wow! Yeah it seems a lot has changed over the years! A lot of kids now like to watch YouTube it seems. Luckily videos that are inappropriate for minors are only available to users who affirm to be at least 18.


But no one pays attention to that rule, I bet. I always feel that fresh air and friends are better than any technology when you're growing up, anyway.


That is so true! I agree 100%! Although I bet when those three guys who were fired from PayPal started YouTube  back in February of 2005, they never expected it to become what it is - especially since Google purchased it a year after they started it.


Yes, a lot of people have made a fortune with all of this new technology and one good thing about it is that you can keep in touch with your kids all the time. The world is not as safe as it used to be for children. You have to have vision to see ahead far enough to make so much money on something like Google.


You are right! And it's crazy it was purchased for $1.65 billion almost a year after it was started. Wish I had thought of that back then! Ha! Speaking of YouTube, I need to go listen to Timmy Thomas' 1972 song "Why we can't live together" since Drake actually sampled that song for the beat of his "Hotline Bling! It was great chatting with you today! Have a good one!


I did not know that.  All I knew is that he is a musician.


He is multi-talented, A rapper, singer, song writer, record producer, actor and more.


Wow.  He is doing well for being so young - he graduated high school at age 25 in 2012.


That is a little late to graduate HS.  But he was in a teen drama on TV so he probably did not give much time to studying.


Yes  he was touring in 2011 - where he spent a lot of money on children's classic books.


His first fame was from that TV teen drama, called Degrassi.


That is cool.  I know he released his first album in 2010 which debuted at #1


I was not aware of that back then.  That album was "Thank Me Later"  I like it to be able to say a rapper's album name with cursing.


Yes.  Many rap artists are rather obscene.  He had two mixtapes in 2015 which earned platinum


Apparently Kanye recognized Drake's excellence when listening to Drake's song caused Kanye to spend some time rewriting his own song.


That is really cool.  He got quadruple platinum status in streaming music.


I love it that I can look up about any musician on YouTube and hear him or her.  Google owns YouTube now.


Absolutely, I check out artists playing locally like that all the time.  400 hours of content are uploaded to youtube each minute!


Wow.  That's a lot of memory for them to store that.  It is the second largest search engine on the internet


Yes its insane.  A billion hours of content are watched every day!


Yes!  Netflix and YouTube account for half of the internet peak traffic usage.


I just heard that police actually have their own youtube called bluetube!


That is a cute play on words.  You have to be a registered user to upload a video.  I have never done that.


I have uploaded a bunch of videos.  Luckily none of mine are disliked as much as Justin Bieber's baby


I hope you made some money with your views.  Nice talking with you.


Is a 1.4 % increase in sales anything to really be proud of?


Yes, if you're talking about Macy's. I guess it depends on what 1.4% of what is.  It seems that Macy's department store wants to add some promotional gab about the consumer spending more on enhance quality of the merchandise.  Of course, it's big competitor is Amazon.


For many years Macy's has been sliding down.  Amazon is expected to surpass Macy's as the largest apparel seller this year.  1.4% is not enough.


That's what I thought too.  Amazon is just too convenient and has the better prices.  Even Best Buy and Target will price match Amazon. If Macy's did that, I don't think they'd be in business too long.


I see that some of the increase is from men's tailored clothing.  Difficult to buy that online.


True but that might the only unique item out there that fits that category.  After all, the arrow in Amazon's logo means from A to Z.


I do not understand how people can buy without trying things on.  Sure, you could return but what a hassle.  I can not imagine buying shoes on line.  Maybe Macy's would do well point out shoes are easier in a store.


Also true. Even though Amazon holds a patent on 1-click buying, some items like shoes are better tried on first before you buy them.


I wonder if Amazon ware house workers buy shoes from Amazon.  Walking 7 to 15 miles a day, they must go through some shoes.


I can imagine Amazon workers get great deals on everything.  They have a website that sells returned and like-new items with discounts.


I have never bought anything that has been returned to Amazon.  Not knowingly anyway.  Have you tried AmazonBasics?


Not personally but I've heard about it. I heard that AmazonBasics sells certain low-end products under it's in-house brand.


I wonder what feels more like sandpaper, amazon toilet paper, or generic from wallmart.  I once attended an auction to buy stuff taken from airport check in line.


Good point. I wouldn't go with the airport stuff.  Speaking of airports, did you know that a man wore 70 items of clothing in a Chinese airport to avoid the bagging charge?  Could you imagine what he looked like?  lol


Ha.  I think Joey did that on an episode of Friends.  If the wearing of clothing is restricted to human beings, then who enforces that.  No one I know is looking at chimps in hats and saying "lets see some ID."


I know, right?  Talking about clothing, some people (who apparently lived in the area) used to do their laundry in Old Faithful; they put their clothes in the geyser and it would erupt with clean clothes.


I bet clean and hot.  Now we cant fly a drone into the geyser let alone throw clothes.  I would like to see it though.


Me too. Did you know that bulletproof clothing mogul, Miguel Cabarello, shoots all his employees in order to test and enforce quality control on his wares? Gee, what a boss.


I do not like the idea at all.  To many things can go wrong.  The design of clothing and shoes vary through time and from culture to culture.  I wonder if bulletproof will be how we are remembered.


I hope not.  An African tribe still wears Victorian clothes, the style of former German occupiers that they've made their own.


Thats great.  I want to go there and have tea.  It has been said that the Pilgrims wore colorful cloths day to day.  Black was reserved for special occasions.  Think about that next thanksgiving.


Don't forget about the shoes you wear as well.  Did you know that there are 17 ways to tie your shoes?


I am going to look up how to tie shoes on the internet.  I have a pair of 5000 year old shoes that smell funny. Nice chatting with you.


I'm good thanks. Did you know that the pilgrims loved colorful clothes and only wore black now hite for special occasions? o


Really? That is so weird. They are always depicted as having such drab clothing.


It makes sense that it would be colorful though. They used plant extracts to dye the clothes and all of those extracts produce some very vibrant colors.


Yes I wonder if they felt the same way with their shoes and such.


Clothes seem like such a subjective business. I don't think I could make it as a fashion guru. It never occurs to me to look for a collar gap on someone's shirt.


Yes me either I seen also that 5000 year old shoes can perform better than new shoes. That's crazy.


I think we sometimes go to extremes with modern shoes. Some of the shoes for women in particular are more about fashion than function.


Absolutely I couldn't agree more. I cant believe ballet dancers can go through 3 pairs of tips a week .


That I can see. I'm involved in a dance studio and the sheer amount of wear on those is crazy. The hours that a pro must put in would rub that delicate fabric to nothing.


How much do ballet shoes cost approximately?


I think a good pair of pointe shoes is over 100 bucks. Simple ballet slippers can be about 25-30 bucks.


I do quite a bit. you can find anything on amazon. What about you?


Yes I do as well. Did u know that the post office has a contract with amazon to deliver packages on sundays?


I've noticed that. I never used to get my packages on sundays but now in the last year or so I've started. It is kind of nice when it is something you really need for work or school.


Yes I bet I have never had anything delivered on sundfy but do look forward to the possibility. Its been nice talking to ya.


You as well. It has been very enlightening.


I know that Carter kept the temperature really low there during winter


WOw. THere are twin buildings of it in Ireland and France


Nice. Do you know their first phone number?


I have no idea for I know that Roosevelt did not allow christmas trees in there


WOw that is really fitting. Did you know they still use floppy discs


Wow cool. There is replica of it in Alabama too and it is a private home


WOw. The white house was hit in 2011 and no one noticed for  4 days


I love dogs. Did you know they have 12 blood types?


WOw that is nest. They can learn up to 1000 words


Yes and they understand poininting, just like elephants


Yeah and they can reason better than chimps


Nice. Did you know Google declare themselves to be a dog company?


WOw that is cool. Dogs can have eureka moments and they love getting rewards for slving problems


Nice. Did you know that they are not colorblind?


I thought they were. DO you know how the drink water?


No they just see less colors than we do. How do they drink?


They actually drink with the underside of their tongue


I had no idea a cat had ever been cloned.


Hello, that was new information to me as well!


Seems a bit odd considering the overpopulation problem we have as it is lol


This is true, I wondered if the cat behaved in the same ways as the original.


I never thought of that. It also said cat not kitten so was it created with the brain and "knowledge" of whatever age the original cat was I wonder


That is an interesting point! I didn't think of it in that way. It is also interesting that cat lovers are known as "ailurophiles"


I'm a dog lover myself. I love that Istanbul has vending machines for stray dogs to get water and encourages recycling at the same time. Seems like we are slacking a bit here in the U.S


I understand, that would make you an "cynophile" according to the article. I enjoy being around animals, they have wonderful personalities. Theodore Roosevelt had over 20 pets himself apparently!


I know teddy bears are called teddy bears because of his love of bears. i don't remember the details of the story but if you google it it's actually a pretty cute part of history


I will definitely check that out. We need more cure history stories. It was interesting to read that the dog was the first species to be domesticated; it makes me sad somewhat.


Look at it this way... imagine how overpopulated they would be if they were just running wild and mating by instinct with no spay/neutering


It reminds me of a family guy episode when they were in a dimension warp and dogs ruled lol. Dogs have become accustomed to human behavior.


haha I was hoping you knew what I was referring to.


yeah, they went through a bunch of different dimensions. brian and stewie.


There was another episode when Peter ran for a political position, I can't remember if it was president or not. It was neat to hear that the white house still uses floppy disks...I can't believe those disks still exist


these articles presented information that I plan to research further


the 12 blood types thing for dogs is interesting


thats a very valid point. surely there must be a need you would think


i work in dog rescue, i may inquire about that in my community


What did you think of the Wonder Woman film in 2017? Do you think it lived up to the hype or was it a flop in your opinion?


yes, lets talk about wonder women. It earned a lot of money, being the highest grossing superhero origin movie and WW1 movie


Yeah, but I feel that the reason it was so high grossing is because of the hype built around it. You know, first female super hero and all that nonsense. I think it was too over hyped.


interesting, 2017 was the first time since 1958 that the 3 highest grossing films had female leads


True, but they this movie wasn't the only female super hero film. I mean they had a lot of different ones since 1958. I mean Cat Woman was one of them and ironically enough Gal Gadot though she was auditioning for cat woman.


yup, she also was in the Israel defense forces for two years, that must have helped her also


Yeah, I wonder if she actually saw any kind of combat or if she was just in the reserves or something. I thought she played the role decently, maybe her military training was a help to her.


yeah, the character came a long way figuring she started as a secretary when she first joined the justice society.


Yeah I think she joined in 1941. I think the movie just came out at a good time. All the other movies like star wars and beauty and the best just wasn't very good overall. Wonder Woman was kind of the only other practical choice at the time.


Lets talk about Facebook next. Myspace could have bought Facebook for 75 million , i'm guessing they regret that choice not to


Well I could see why they wouldn't buy it. At the time MySpace was the only real social media platform. Face Book was nothing more than a website for Harvard students when it was made. I wouldn't of bought it either.


schleswig-holstein in Germany made the like button illegal


I don't blame them. I'm sick of seeing their like button too. I think Burger King hated them too. They gave you a free whopper if you unfriended 10 people.


that's interesting. the reason for the blue color scheme is because zuckerburg suffers from colorblindness


Really? That is actually surprising. Just as surprising as Iceland rewriting their constitution via Facebook. I wonder if they regret doing that.


Let talk about Superheros next, in the united states there are over 300 of them


You mean fictionally right? Not actual people? I figured about 90% of super heroes were created here in the states. 300 seems to be fairly low. I guess the rest are unregistered.


I like the idea that there is a series dedicated to fixing the collateral damage caused by superheroes.


Really!? I'll have to read that. Do you consider Batman a super hero? I don't considering super heroes normally have some kind of super human ability.


that's is a tough one, maybe I do overall. There is a normalman superhero which is interesting.


Oh that is the guy that actually didn't have any super powers right? I think everyone on the planet was super human except him. Seems interesting. I wonder what he did.


me too, the loss of Stan lee is huge since he wrote 15 dc comics


Yeah, The guy lived  a long life and his work will live on as long as people read comics. He was a national treasure in my opinion.


Agreed he also re-imaged batman and superman


I really enjoyed it! It was awesome to finally see a female protagonist who was really killing it


I agree.  Did you know when Gal Gadot auditioned she thought she was testing for catwoman?


Wow, I didn't know that. That's crazy! I'm excited to see what they do with the franchise moving forward. Have you heard they're filming a sequel?


I have not heard.  But since it did so well, they must be a sequel coming.  I can't wait!


Yeah I think some of the filming was going on over the summer in Washington DC. Maybe you saw some posts on instagram or facebook about it?


Not that you mention it, I may have heard about that on social media.  I hope it comes out soon.  Did you Gadot served 2 years in the Isreal defense force?


I didn't know for sure but it makes sense. It's a requirement that people serve in the military after high school in Israel. But yeah, I think it comes out in November of this year. Are you generally a fan of superhero movies?


Yes, while i don't take them too seriously, they are very fun too watch, a good escape from the world.


Yeah definitely. And the genre is exploding right now. Did you grow up with comic books and stuff?


I did.  The Archie comics were my favorite.  It is now a TV show!  Did you have a favorite comic book series growing up?


Yeah Riverdale right? I've seen a couple episodes hahaha. No, I wasn't really into comics growing up, my parents didn't let us watch cartoons or anything. But I've seen the Ironman movies and Wonder Woman and a few other superhero things. Do you have any other favorites?


I never got into the superhero comics as a kid although i enjoy the movies today.  Did you know there is a superhero called normalman who is the only normal person on a planet of super heroes?


Hahaha I've never heard of that. I feel like that would suck! IS it from one of the big franchises? DC or Marvel? Or is it some other thing?


I am not sure where it is from but i think it is kind of a spoof on superhero comics.


That's cool. The whole origins of the genre are kind of fascinating. I mean like there are some that are probably almost a hundred years old right?


I believe so.  Marvel should make a comic book about the history of comic books.


Yeah. I think DC has done a few books including one on Batman. It's like about how one would become Batman or something.


Interesting.  Did you know there are over 300 registered superheroes just in the United States?


Wow I didn't know that. But that makes sense! I think there are 30 superhero movies set to be released between 2016-2020.


That is great.  Superhero movies are my favorite kind to see in theater.  I think they are much better on the big screen.


Definitely. I'm looking forward to seeing the new wonder woman in November. Let's catch up after!


The White House is a place with a lot of history


It is! Teddy Roosevelt banned christmas trees there


I see, well that makes sense you know the White House has twin buildings in Ireland and in France


I wonder if the heads of state reside there as well


I dont think so but thats interesting, I wonder if they have solar planels like the original White House has


I find it interesting that it was George W Bush who had them installed


I never knew Bush cared about the environment, its a great thing he did, solar energy is the future


They are relaxing to stare at. ANd dont require as much maintenance as other pets


I guess thats a good thing, maintanence can be hard, my dog sure makes it hard for me


I have a golden retriever, big dog, lots of trouble


Did you know google prefers dogs to cats?


I did know that, interesting fact about dogs is that they can have 1 out of 12 different types of blood


That is neat. And they can donate blood as well


Yeah im taking mine later, I have to contribute and help sick dogs.


Are you a big fan of attending music concerts?


omg i love concerts , my favorite but for personal reasons was tears for fears


2011 i think the way they sound .... as good as before


Definitely are you a fan of floyd at all or is that a little too old school?


just a little bit too old , not fan of pink floyd, i prefer peter gabriel


Did you ever have the opportunity to go see him live?


I have only been to music festivals where multiple bands play but never a singular artist or bands concert


to me a concert is something magical theres so much energy , it makes u feel energized and alive


Its an experience more then it is an event. Do you know how many concerts the ramones ended up playing in total during their whole career?


After touring almost non stop for 20 years it totaled to about 2,263 concerts. Do you use google alot?


every day all day for anything i want to know about


Do you know which year the company was founded?


Do you know at which University the 2 founders were enrolled at?


Yes I truly believe the changed the world and the way we currently have knowldge always at our finger tips


I sure do. Did you know Linkin Park played 324 concerts in a year?


Yeah that was because their album in 2011 was too successfull


Yeah. THe Ramones also toured for 20 years in a row


Yeah and played a total of 2263 concerts, insane


Yeah it is. In Croatia there is an ancient theatre where they host concerts


Yeah same as in Pompeii, they have one of those there too


yeah Pink Floyd once played a concert there but without an audience


Yeah that seems a bit of waste but they likely has a reason


Yes I bet so too. Did you heard about that really bad creed concert?


Yes so bad that people sued them at the end of it


Yeah that must have cost them more than the concert itself


all the time. Do you know how they calculate traffic?


Yes they take the average of android devices on the road


yes it is pretty cool and also a little bit scary that they have access to our phones


True. DId you know Google once hired goats instead of people to mow the lawn?


Yeah good for them. ANd once they went down and took most of the web traffic down with it


Yeah that was in 2003, and it was 40% of the traffic, insane


I know Do you know how they mark their maps when there is a border dispute?


yes they tailor it to the claim of each country


When is the last time you went to a concert?


I saw Elton John on his current tour.  His voice is still amazing at 70 years old.


Oh wow. That certainly sounds better than a linkin park concert


Or Imagine Dragons.  Songs with hooks, but with no edge at all.


I would love to see Imagine Dragons in concert but I haven't gotten the chance yet.


They do play a lot.  But leader Dan Reynolds tries to walk a tightrope between his music and his Mormon faith.  It doesn't always work.


I wonder if they will be able to manage a tour for as long as the Ramones did.


The Imagine Dragons did a show for HBO.  You might be able to see it if you have the right subscription services.


Unfortunately, I do not have HBO. Is it on Google or YouTube?


Not sure, you'll have to do a search.  As it is, band leader Reynolds is going through a divorce, and is try to reconcile his feelings about LGBTQ with the Mormon teachings.


Have you seen or been to the Ancient Roman amphitheater where some of the first concerts were held?


No.  Wonder what kind of music was played.


Pink Floyd once played there so I would imagine all kinds of music


And the Grateful Dead once played at the Egyptian pyramids.  Curious how they did without amplification.  The Foo Fighters one played a concert so loud it was detected on seismic monitors in New Zealand.


I saw the Foo Fighters in San Francisco after they ended a year long tour.


Lou Reed once did a high frequency concert for dogs.  I missed that one.


I did not know that. Were the dogs hurt by his music. It seems as though it might be too high pitched.


Don't know.  Deep Purple played a show so loud that three audience members ended up unconscious.


My parents were at that concert and near one of the persons who was affected. It was exhaustion and dehydration.


Apparently it is considered the loudest concert ever.


Time to go listen to some music from a prior concert on google.


Did you know that back in Caesar's day, people bred chickens for entertainment not for food?


Really, thats kind of crazy.  I heard the NFL is categorized as entertainment, not sports


That is curious I had not heard that.   The entertainment industry is funny - Ronald Reagan was once rejected from playing the president in a movie because he did not look presidential


I am not sure if there was ever anyone who looked more "presidential" whatever that means.  Lol


Perhaps not Bill Nye!  He got his big break by winning a Steve Martin lookalike contest!


Thats amazing!  He has certainly benefited greatly from that fame.


Yes.  Did you ever play Nintendo?  I used to love that system


I loved it!  IT was one of my favorite things.  I love Mario brothers!


Yes it was a great system even if only displayed 54 colors!


That is crazy, as a kid I always thought it was full color!  They stopped making the classic in 2003 i think.


Yes - did you ever play video hockey games?  They are fun but not as fun as the real sporty


No, I played a little hockey with my friends in the back yard growing up though.  I like to watch it.


Canada is the only country with 2 national sports - both lacrosse and ice hockey


I didnt know that about lacrosse.  I know there have been some crazy scores in games.


That is even crazier than the 82-0 Slovakia - Bulgaria game


Wow!  Did you know that ice hockey rinks exist under basketball courts?


Yeah.  Ive seen a few like that.  I even graduated high school in an arena that usually has a hockey rink.


Nice.  Ice hockey is a lot of work to play - a typical pro will lose 8 pounds a game!  I need to get on that diet plan


Sign me up, except Ill lose the weight just trying not to fall on skates. lol


Are you a fan of either Fall Out Boy, Pat Sajak, Sting or Shaggy?


He is a great artist, I like Fall Out Boy a bit more, one thing is for certain, they do give a great show and Vegas is lucky.


Entertainment sure is diverse these days.


It is diverese, I think thats a great thing but sometimes the classics are lost, Fall Out Boy will perform outside of the arena before  game #4 I wish I could be there


That would be awesome to see, I like their music.


I wish I was in Vegas now, do you like hockey?


I do.  I watched the entire playoff and stanley cup series last year while I was in the hospital with cancer.  It was my reprieve, so I ve really gotten into it.


That sounds terrible! I hope you are better now and yeah I like hockey too, it can change your focus and cheer you up in bad times


I am on the mend.  I loved watching them fight on skates.  It is crazy to think there was a time when there was only one box, and they would continue to fight in there.


The game has changed a lot since 1924, the first Olympic Winter games, Canada has two national sports


In 1932 India beat the US 24-1.  That is a lot.


Really? India had a hockey team? and they managed to win against the US? I guess hockey wasnt a big thing at the US at the time


Probably not, at least it wasnt the 82-0 blowout that Slovakia and Bulgaria was


I didnt watch that one either, that must be like the biggest score difference in the history of the game, did you hear about that player that got traded for only $1


Really, that is kinda crazy.  When did that happen?


That happened back in the year 1993, strange thing but the player ended up winning 4 Stanely cups after that


Wow.  Amazing investment for the other side.


I know right, I bet someone got fired that day, selling a great player for $1 I bet they did it as a mockery, well he showed them


He really did.  There was once a goalie that caught on fire.  Puck struck some matches he had in his pocket.


I  wonder what he did, I would have panicked and screamed.


Seems like Washington has a great lineup of artists in plan


Yeah who would have thought Sting and Shaggy would be hooked up together.


I think thats a great duo also Fall Out Boy,


I didn't realize the show before the Stanley Cup finals was such a big deal. Before Game 1 in Vegas there was a sword fight!


That sounds amazing, there are a lot of cool shows over there, what forms of entertainment do you like?


I like movies, music, etc. I do like to watch Hockey. It's a fun sport to watch.


I do like to watch hockey, its a fun but violent sport


It take as a lot of skill though. I didn't realize there was so many kinds...field hockey, ice hockey, bandy??


I  didnt eitehr, just hockey and ice hockey, how is bandy different do you know?


I guess it is played on ice like ice hockey but game is like field hockey. Did you know an average professional hockey player loses 8 pounds in one game?


8 pounds in a game? wow, I have to buy some skates right away and learn how to play the game lol


I know right? In 1993, a hockey player was traded for $1 then went on to win 4 stanley cups.


For $1 no kidding? I bet the other team regretted that decision, letting a player like that leave for only a dollar


True. Canada is the only country in the world with 2 national sports..ice hockey and lacrosse.


The only one really? I know they liked hocky a lot but didnt know lacrosse was their other national  sport


Yeah I was surprised too. In 1924, Canada scored 132 goals and only let in 3 at the first olympic winter games.


No I missed that one but I do like Wonder Woman in general.


The leading actress is great she used to served in the Israel defence forces


Yeah she is pretty impressive. I guess she thought she was testing for catwoman at first.


She was? thats an interesting story, well she got a better role in the end.


I know her music and could sing along to a song or two.


Did you know Daniel Craig cried when he first heard the song for the Skyfall theme?


I hope out happiness and not distress.  I'm not sure I can bring hat song to mind, is it that good?


I haven't heard it yet. I saw she went to high school with Winehouse and other famous people?


I wonder what they teach in that school, the performance artist teacher must be doing something right, or is it just chance.


I wonder as well. I saw she was influence by the Spice Girls.


I wouldn't have said anyone could be influenced by the Spice Girls.  I think as a performer she has surpassed them in terms of critical and commercial acclaim.


Never been much of fishing person, too much inactivity for me.  Had the odd goldfish in my time.


I love fishing. Did you know the black swallower fish can eat prey twice it's length?


I feel like that after some meals.  No, I've never been much of an outdoors person, I see danger where ever I look when in the wilderness.


Me too lol. Freshwater fish drink through their skin while saltwater fish can drink through their mouths.


I was watching that Planet Earth series, saw that barreleye fish with the transparent head.  It lives in the deep and looks up all the time, looking through it head.


That's pretty crazy. Did you know the seahorse is the only fish to have a neck?


They are kind of unique.  Hard to even call them a fish from looking at them.  Same with jellyfish, are they even fish?


I think they are a type of fish. I saw there is a type that is immortal and never dies


I would like to see the proof of that. Sadly whenever I had goldfish, I was so bad at keeping them alive! Another thing that's immortal, is our online profiles with things like Facebook.


I try to stay away from Facebook, I spend enough time on the computer without another excuse to on it.  It sucks up a lot of peoples time.


Me too. Well, it was good talking to you!


Have a good day, put on some Adele to listen to.  Goodbye.


All the time, both as a business and a personal account.


nice, I have a personal account. Can you imagine if myspace would have bought facebook back in the day at 75 million dollars


They would definitely be a lot more relevant today.  I havent been on my space since 2006 anyway...


me too lol. I think myspace would have ruined this. Now facebook is worth like 104 billion dollars


For sure, he has been in the press too much lately, I couldn't do that


He is actually color-blind that is why facebook is blue.


Wow didn't know that, I always thought blue was too much lol. Did you ever participate in the burger king promotion?


No!  I could have eaten well for free though.  I could get rid of some people on my friends list for a whopper.


For sure, I have a ton of friends i could unadd lol


It sure has a lot of use.  Iceland is even using it for input on constitution rewrites.


That is hilarious. I wonder if they get some crazy ideas! At least they allow the like button, some german state made it illegal


I have heard that before.  I wonder how that works, if there is some sort of geofence that disables it for all people when they are in that region.


I was just thinking the same thing. Sounds more illegal than anything lol


It really kind of does, like censorship.


for sure, oh well, at least it isn't here lol. do you like fish


I like to loo at them, eat them not so much.  However Id like to be like that immortal jellyfish.  Thatd be cool


There is no way that thing couldn't die lol, there has to be a way! It was so nice chatting with you!


It has been a great chat!  Have a great day!


I love watching movies, especially good ones.


I used to watch a lot of movies, but not nowaday because of not having time lately.  Btw, what type of movies do you like


I really enjoy foreign movies and dramas. I don't really care for too many comedies. Have you heard of this new film called Black Klansman? It's directed by Spike Lee and supposed to be about a black cop that goes undercover in the KKK.


Never heard of that movie.  But I like the work of Spike Lee so far.  Do you watch movies on TV, netflix, or others


I used to go to theaters a lot. Then I started renting videos at Blockbuster. But now I totally watch movies on Netflix.  Did you know Netflix is worth $2 billion dollars? Blockbuster turned down the chance to buy it!


Never heard about this fact.  I could not believe the success of Netflix, and I believe its value will keep increasing in the future


I'm worried about Netflix, though. They are producing more of their own movies and content, but they are racking up more and more debt, too. They owed like $21 billion in 2017 and now they owe $16.8 billion more.


I am wondering why they need to borrow money to make movies.  Did they gain dividend making those movies


They need new content to keep their viewers. Did you know that in North American, 33% of all bandwidth is being used by Netflix accounts?


It was a lot of bandwidth.  Also, YouTube is another social media juggernaut that consume that much bandwidth.


Yes, Netflix and YouTube account for half of all internet traffic in North America. I think Netflix will eventually have to drop their DVD rentals, as it costs them 20 times more to mail out DVDs then what they spend on bandwith for people watching their content.


I concur.  Also, Netflix spends 20 times more on postage than bandwidth


Yes, that's what I mentioned - postage is what they spend mailing out DVDs. Imagine though, Blockbuster, the video chain, could have purchased Netflix for $50 million, but they didn't.  Netflix is now worth $2 billion. Ouch!


I think they did not foresee the future potential of Netflix.  What a loss, ha.  Btw, did you know that Tom Hanks is the highest all time box office star


Yes, Blockbuster really missed the boat on that one. I'm surprised that Tom Hanks is that popular out of all the other movie actors out there.  Although, I heard the man who started Netflix racked up forty bucks in late fees on Tom Hank's movie Apollo 13.  That's why he started Netflix!


I have not seen a new movie played by Tom Hank for a while.  is he retired?


I'm not sure.  The last one of his that I saw was the one about the murder in the museum in Paris. I forgot the title. Weird how some movies are blockbusters immediately, and some over time. For example, Sleeping Beauty was considered a box office failure when it first came out. Disney, who made the movie, even thought about closing up their animation studio because of it!


In my opinion, the popularity of a movie depends on variety of factors, and timing is one of the factors.


Yes, but think about this. The movie Silence of the Lambs came out on Valentine's Day. That's terrible timing! Not a date movie, But it made over $270 million dollars at the box office. Oh, and by the way, that Tom Hank's movie I saw was called The Da Vinci Code. Did you see it?


Thank for your information.  Btw, nice chatting with you.  Have a happy holiday


Maybe next time we can talk about horses! lol


I'm a fan of a lot of Google's stuff but I really dislike their Smart Compose feature on Gmail


I'm not a big fan of the Smart Compose AI, I don't like the suggestions they have to responding to an email


Yeah, that seems sort of weird, they implemented it last year, right?


Yea, it's pretty ridiculous it suggested a person reply "Awesome" when reading an email about a ill friend


Hilarious, I know. I don't like it one bit. I accidently hit it the other day. LOL


Yea, companies are so focused on trying to innovate their products and service they release useless things like multi blade razors


It's pretty crazy in the 1800s they invented an alarm clock with an illuminated dial by attaching a match to it!


That is awesome. By the way, would you ever ride a bus that goes 160mph?


Yea, sound like a 160mph bus would be fun to ride


It reminds of that movie speed with Keanu Reeves. Have you seen it?


Yea, Speed was a good movie but they were going 100mph slower than the Dutch bus


LOL, that is true. Did you know in Japan there are tolls on every highway?


Yea, it's quite expense if you want to travel across Japan, it would be $300 in tolls alone


Wholly Molly! That is a lot just to drive, reminds me of D.C.


Well it's probably much more expensive to travel in Iceland since most people use domestic flights to travel


Hmm, they don't have roads there? That seems so weird. Well, nice chatting!


Iceland has roads but to public rail service. Have a nice day


Humans domesticated horses around 4000 BC


What I find interesting is that only the Przewalksi horse is the only true wild horse today.  Other wild horses like those on Tangier Island in Virginia and out west are feral horses descended from domesticated horses.


There is a whole lot about horses that a true horse lover would know. Me, I know they are bigger than me.  I always thought dogs and horsed did not get along.


I have an Appalousa mare and she works very well with the dogs when we are tending to the herd.  So I think that once they learn about each other, they can bond as a team.  What I did not know is that Icelandic horses have a fifth speed, tolt.  I wonder if that is training or if it is genetic?


Good question.  I imagine any horse could be trained to do it.  The amount of training in a Lipizzaner horse is amazing.


Their choregraphed performances are truly amazing.  But I did not know that they are born black/brown and then slowly turn white over a 6 year period.


I think most animals start light and go dark with time.  Dalmatians ran ahead of the wagon and barked at people clearing a path.  The dog guessed about the route.


I'm not quite sure about that.  My horse is 10 years old and still has the same mottled pattern.  My old dog is showing a little more white around the nose, but he is 17 years old, so he has earned the right to start graying a little.  Did you hear about the two students who got suspended for riding horses to school on a "no vehicle to school day"?  Hilarious!


The day must have been a protest about something.  These two followed the spirit of the protest.  To my way of thinking.


I guess.  Why horses are a mode of transportation, they are typically not considered a "vehicle".  But, not long ago, it was not uncommon to read about a small town drunk who lost his driver's licenses and then rode their horse drunk and got arrested again for "operating under the influence".  Horses today tend to be more a hobby with fewer and fewer working horses.  I still like riding my horse though many others have switched to ATVs.


I have some allergies, but nothing that effect my work.  Clint Eastwood got unlucky.


True.  Do you think Clint still collects royalties on his old movies?  Many are on streaming services, like Netflix.


I would think that Clint still collects.  I am sure netflix represents opportunity to make money for him. I was miserable with allergies that day, I deserve it...


I have been a Netflix subscriber since 1999 and have re-watched many Clint Eastwood westerns.  Did you know Reed Hastings got the idea to start Netflix after a $40 late fee on a VHS tape of Apollo 13?


Yes, it was a great idea whose time had come.  Blockbuster would have been smart to buy netflix.


True.  I read in the news yesterday that only one Blockbuster store remains in Big Bend, Oregon.  So, they really messed up with not buying Netflix. Did you know that Netflix spends 20 times more on postage than internet bandwidth.  I would have thought postage would have been less considering more people are streaming and very few still use the DVD mail service.


this little bit of info could have been written in 2012.  some shows like game of thrones are only available by mail.  band width is cheap I guess.


Do you go much to the movie theater for the big screen experience or primarily stream?  For me, its a 40 mile drive to go to the theater so Netflix has provided more opportunities to watch movies I would not have driven 40 miles for.  With streaming, the definition of "box office sales" has also expanded to include all means of viewing a movie.


Movie theaters are sad experience at times.  I want popcorn and a pause button.  Home is much better. Tom Hanks is the man.


It seems that movie theaters are not all that well cleaned / maintained and the cost of the concession snacks is exorbitant!  What surprised me was that Disney considered closing down animations after Sleeping Beauty flopped.  That would have been an awful mistake considering the number of animated successes they have had recently in addition to their acquisition of Lucas and Pixar!


there seems to be risk in making movies.  trojan wars lost  a lot.  the problem with popular movies in a theater is the other people. ha.good day.


Hey there do you ever travel? I travel for work all the time I usually take the airplane


Hello there, I don't as much as I would like to.  That must be very interesting as part of your job.


Thank you it is interesting. Would you ride a bus that can drive at 160 miles per hour. That seems really crazy


I don't think I would want to travel that fast on 4 wheels, but sounds very interesting.


I agree with you. Have you ever been to Japan? I guess all their highways are actually toll roads that sounds really annoying


No, but I would love to go one day!  That does sound annoying, but, I heard that the roads are in excellent condition.


That makes sense. The roads are nice but it still would cost about $300 to travel across the country like I said they are all toll roads


That is quite a bit and on top of all the gas you would have to spend as well.


You're right. Do you know the first came to travel around the world was. It was the king of Hawaii! At least he didn't have to pay for gas


Wow, that is so interesting, I wonder what he all thought on that first trip.


I know right. Have you ever been to Iceland? I guess they mostly use airplanes and not cars when they travel between different cities


No I haven't, a close friend of mine has and the pictures were incredible!


That's really cool. I wish I could see them. Have you ever been to Mackinac Island in Michigan?


I have actually, I am from Wisconsin, so I have traveled to Michigan a few times.  How about you?


Yes I've been there. I don't like it because I'm allergic to horses and it the whole island to me smells like horse poop haha


Lol, that is true, it does have a distinct smell.  I also have really bad allergies but mostly to inside stuff.


Haha. Do you ever use Google for your searches? I personally use Bing


Yeah I think I use google most of the time.  Did you hear about them using goats?


Yes they use them to cut their grass apparently haha. Maybe I should get a pet goat and it can cut my grass haha.


Yeah I think that is pretty cool, but don't know how well it would actually work.


Well maybe I'll try it haha. I guess Google what down for about 5 minutes back in 2013 and they took down 40% of all web traffic. That's insane


Yeah that just boggles my mind how big it is now.  Well it was nice talking with you today, I hope you have a good one.


did you know that starship troopers is on the reading list of several military branches? I saw the movie, it is definitely not pro military haha


I didnt know it was a book as well, I did watch the movie, thought it was pretty good makes sense the milatary has interest in study it though


ya, do you read a lot of books? I can't say that I do, I have tried speed reading and I don't retain any of the information when I do that


I do, I think im a fast reader or at least I though so until I knew the record for speed reading is 4700 words per minute.


ya that is a wild amount of words, I would definitely not remember those, I guess Enders Game is also on a lot of military reading lists, now there is another movie I saw that was pretty bad haha


I know that would be really hard! and I didnt like that movie either.


I do think it's funny there was a moral panic because so many people were reading in the 1700's, if people read so much these days everyone would think that was awesome!


It would be great, people are stuck with there phones now, someimtes they seem like zombies, I miss the days of the great authouts like CS Lewis and Tolkien


ya apparently they would do competitions on who could go the longest without laughing while reading amateur poetry, imagine if you realized those two authors were reading and laughing at your hard work haha


How fun, I wish I could compete with them, I bet I would lose like in the first round lol


haha ya although my poetry is pretty bad they would probably laugh at me, did you know the YMCA invented volleyball, basketball and softball?


No, I did not know that, although I am a fan of softball, do you play any of those sports?


I am really good at volleyball, I like playing that at the beach and in my backyard, not so much the other two, what about yoU?


I used to play softball in highschool, and wanted to become a pro player, I heard the salary is around 5 or 6 thousand


oh wow that's it? I guess Jose Canseco has the record for the longest softball hit at 622 feet, that is really impressive


I know, that is really impressive! and another interesting fact is that the first sporting event to be broadcasted on ESPN was actually a softball game


wow that is interesting, and the longest softball game in NCAA history was 31 innings, thats a long time!


That sure is a long game, I think that happened back in the 90s, I like softball but that would be a boring game.


ya that would be boring, I saw that there is a species of jellyfish that is genetically immortal, do you think life would ever get boring if you lived forever?


I think it would, in order for life to be worth it and to enjoy it to the fullest is that at some point its going to end.


yes I think so, but I would be fine if they somehow got immortal jellyfish DNA into me so I could live forever haha


I did not know Evangeline Lilly was The Wasp!


Oh, man. is she pretty. i need to watch that film. isnt she canadian?


I believe so. I really like Paul Rudd for ant man. He is a good action star!


He is good for superhero films. he is also good at comedy. I dont usually see superhero films, but i like humorous ones.


Have you seen the movie the Thor: Ragnarok'? It was hard to understand.


I have not. again. i dont usually watch the superhero films. the casting for the thor character seems good.


Im thinking back to the old nintendo. Japan kept selling them until 2003. It was so popular at its time.


I never owned one, but my friends did. they loved the NES.


I was in love with that system growing up.The story telling from the games as a kid can really broaden your imagination.  nintendo came out with great games. My favorite was Zelda.


I played the gameboy for a bit. it was a pretty good system. good games.


It is hard to believe that Bill Nye has gotten famous off of a Steve Martin look a like contest lol


I dont see the resemblance, but i guess he had great makeup. the guy is great with audiences.


Yes he has made quite a career out of his luck. I used to watch his shows back in the day.


I heard him on the radio from time to time. interesting guy. he was an adviser on the movie flubber.


Yes Bill Nye was just recently on a podcast with Elon Musk and Neal Degrassi Tyson. Speaking about mars.That guy Elon Musk might save the world.


I hope we get more people like him. smart and ambitious. I wish I had been one of those. He is not greedy either.


Sony is regretting the rights to marvel. They would be making so much more money. Luckily for marvel they didnt hand it over.


Yeah, Sony did not know the potential of the other characters. they focused on one and could have had a bounty.


Its crazy to think that the big marvel characters dont associate with disney. It was a good move by marvel again.


Yeah, they developed those characters over decades. the following was huge. Anyway, good chat!


Alright. I think I may go watch that Ant Man now


surely will. I definitely have to check that out!


Yeah it seems like this is not ending too well.


I knew dalmatians were a traditional firehouse dog, but I never realized that it was because they calmed horses.


They are great dogs and very pretty. Dogs were the first species to be domesticated.


Yeah. I always just assumed that existing wolf species were their ancestors, but apparently their ancestors are extinct now.


Dogs are my favorite animal. Maybe it is because they can perform many roles for us humans.


I like dogs, but cats are my favorites. I did consider getting some kind of earth dog breed at one time, to keep down the groundhogs and other critters that eat my garden.


Cats are ok too but dogs are "man's best friend."


Well they've been domesticated a lot longer, so that's probably why.


True, it seems Google prefers dogs to cats. They say that specifically in their code of conduct. I was not aware of that!


Same! Really weird to include that in a code of conduct.


Yeah I agree. Though dogs can do a lot for humans, they can't see as many colors as humans but they are not color blind.


I'm not even sure what's meant by color-blind. Even in humans, it just means people see red and green as the same color, not that they don't see color at all.


Makes sense. Surprisingly dogs and ELEPHANTS are the only animals that seem to understand pointing. I'm not sure I believe that.


I didn't realize even dogs understood that. I thought they just looked at your finger.


Yeah I never even paid much attention to that. I've only had a dog once and for a short time. Did you know dogs can donate blood?


I figured they must, since sometimes vets have to give transfusions. I didn't realize they had so many blood types though.


Yeah 12 seems like a lot. Course I'm not sure how many blood types humans have.


Just fewer than that, apparently. It must make things pretty complicated tracking and storing so many.


Humans started domesticating horses in 4000BC. I wonder if that was before they started domesticating dogs.


I think dogs have been domesticated for tens of thousands of years.


I think wild horses are beautiful. Apparently the endangered Przewalski is the only remaining true wild horse.


I should google an image of it. Nice chatting with you.


Do you like animals? I love them. I have dogs, but I also love horses. I love that my dogs can understand where I point. Evidently only dogs and elephants are the only animals that can understand a human's point.


I do. I love horses. Especially the Lipizzaner, it takes them 6 years to turn white.


That's so cool. Can you believe two students were suspended because they rode their horses to a "no vehicles" day at school?


That is crazy! Clint Eastwood had a mid-life allergy to horses develop.


That would be such a bummer. I would just get a lot of allergy shots and take Benedryl! Maybe he just got tired of riding them in his movies so he made up an allergy.


Maybe. I love dalmations, and didn't know that they calmed the horses at the firestations.


I believe it. Dogs are awesome creatures. Google states they are a dog company in their Code of Conduct.


I love dogs. I never knew what a tolt was, until I was reading about Icelandic horses, they basically speedwalk.


That's some funny imagery. Just like what horses must've looked like 50 million years ago. They evolved from an animal with small toes!


That is funny. Dogs can be blood donors to other dogs. I would love to see a doggy blood drive when I give blood.


Aw, that's so precious. It's a funny myth that dogs can't see color; they can see it, they just can't see as many colors as we do.


I would love to see the vending machines that they have in Istanbul here. They dispense food and water, for the price of a recycled bottle.


What a sweet idea! It's always so weird to think they evolved from wolves.


That is weird. I like how they can do all of these jobs. K-9's are my favorite.


I love that they can be used for therapeutic roles; I know I definitely consider my dogs my best friends.


Mine are mine as well. I'ts interestning that there is only one true wild horse breed, the Przewalski, I always thought the ones on the islands off of Virginia were feral


I guess I believe it. We domesticated horses as early as 3000 BC.


That doesn't seem like that long ago. Were you aware of Demetri Martin giving up law school to become a comedian?


I wonder if he thinks that's worked out for him. Ryan Stiles also missed out on an education to pursue comedy, but he dropped out of high school not Harvard!


I guess it works for them. I used to love 3rd Rock from the Sun, and was happy to learn that it won golden globe for comedy, beating Seinfield & Frasier....I never thought they were funny


They also beat Friends! I liked Friends a lot, too. Do you like "bromantic comedies"? It's the genre that includes Harold and Kumar and Pineapple Express. I also referred to those as "stoner comedies", myself.


Hey how are you, you ever listen to audiobooks?


hi how are you? i have in the past. sometimes they are quite entertaining.


For sure, there are a lot of good ones. It's nice to listen to them on a summer vacation or something because there is not much reading to do.


yes, you can listen to them in the car on the way to work, or lie back on the beach with headphones.


For sure, I bet Andrew Sean Greer's book that won the pulitizer prize would be fun to listen to, ever hear about it?


No i havent. By the way, do you like horses or dogs?


I do, dogs are awesome. I love my dog more than most humans, what about you? I should apply for a job at Google, they have it in their code of conduct that they are a dog company.


yes, google made the right choice. dogs are a great addition to an office environment. they relieve stress


For sure, did you know they have 12 different types of blood for transfusions? I bet that gets complicated!


yes, i have never had a dog. i wonder what blood type is the most common.


I'm not sure, I might take my dog to one of those blood drives and get him to donate some blood. Does your dog understand pointing?


yes. dogs and elephants are good at understanding pointing. i would like a pet elephant too


That would be awesome to have a pet elephant. Would you rather have an elephant the size of a dog, or a dog the size of an elephant?


dog sized. good for playing fetch. maybe couldnt ride it like a horse, but thats ok.


Horses are pretty cool, but not as cool as the dogs. Icelandic horses have a fifth speed, it's like powerwalking.


i bet dogs have different speeds too. i wonder if horses have different blood types.


That would be interesting to find out. At the old fire stations they had dogs and horses, horses to take the firefighters were they needed to go and the dalmations to keep the horses in check.


i think that dalmatians are often deaf and not bothered by the sirens. not sure though. dont need them now.


Oh really, I would have never thought about that. It'd be so cool to have a bunch of dogs at the fire house.


Yeah, dogs and firehouses go together like dogs and google. anway, great chat!


For sure, take care and great chatting with you too. Have a good rest of the evening!


Do you like to fish?  I love going to aquariums.


Hey there!  I do like to fish and aquariums!  I live in Florida so I get to do a lot of fishing.


Neat!  You have some exotic species down there not found around the rest of the US.


Yes, there are a lot of interesting and scary species.  We have a lot of jellyfish which scare me.  There is actually a breed that is immortal!


Yikes!  84 percent of genes known to be associated with human diseases have counterparts in the zebrafish.  Odd fact.


That is interesting.  I am curious to know if we have and black swallowers down here.  They can eat prey that weighs 10 times as much as them.


I wouldn't want to come across those for sure.  lol  I would however like to catch a peacock bass one day.  There is only one fish that has a neck and that is the seahorse!


I love seeing seahorses in the aquarium.  I learned recently that freshwater fish only drink through osmosis whereas in saltwater, fish can also drink through their mouths.  I wonder why that is?


That is interesting.  I'm curious to know.  You think it would be the other way around because of the saltwater.  lol  Do you play softball?


I have played in a couple beer leagues before.  Did you know that the YMCA invented softball?


Those are the best leagues!  I didn't know that.  Jose Canseco claims to have hit the longest softball homerun at 622 feet.


The YMCA actually invented volleyball and basketball too.  Wow, that is a crazy long ball from Jose!


No doubt.  I wonder if that was when he was on steroids? lol  The first sporting event ever shown on ESPN was a slow pitch softball game between the Kentucky Bourbons and the Milwaukee Schlitz.  Ha!  Perfect beer league names!


Haha, that is funny.  I think beer leagues are the only way to go.  Even for professional softball players, they only make about 5-6k in salary.


Nice!  I didn't know there were professional players.  In 1991 Creighton and Utah played the longest NCAA game in history when the game went on for 31 innings.


They must have been exhausted!  At least softball typically moves at a faster pace than baseball.  That would be like a 10 hour game in baseball.


lol you're right.  Do you like to read at all?  I do.


Yes, I enjoy reading quite a bit.  Funny how about 300 years ago their was a moral panic because people were reading too much!


Isn't that crazy?  How about Anne Jones?  She holds the record for speed reading at 4,700 words per minute!


That is crazy!  I cannot even imagine.  I think that questions the definition of reading as a complex interaction...


Yes it does!  Makes you wonder if she actually took in what she read. lol  I had a good time chatting with you today!


No kidding!  Enjoyed the chat too, have a great day!


I play a bit in the past.  Do you know that on 04, 18,1930 the bbc decided to broadcast piano music because no news worth reporting


wow...That is interesting. Nowadays, things have changed, they will repeat the news till you are tired of hearing it.


Exactly.  Hahhaha.  Also, in 2006 some climbers found a piano on the top of Britain's highest mountain


wow. do you believe in stars of the zodiac? What is your star?


In my religion, there is no star.  How about you


Are you interested in scientific facts about the Earth


Yes, but I have not invested too much of myself in it. I took an astronomy class in college & I was amazed at how people used to judge time and seasons by using the sun & stars


Yeah, that is fascinating.  I am still wondering how those scientists carried out such peculiar measurements


i think people from back in the day were very intelligent & observant, most of us would not last a week without the assistance of technology


Exactly.  I believe they had some kind of method or way of figuring things out


True. Would you be interested in going to Space?


I do not think I would agree. I would feel trapped in that space ship


I see.  Also, did you know that more than 80 percent of our earth's natural forests have already been destroyed


I know.  By the way, nice chatting with you.  Have a happy holiday


I do! I have 2 golden retrievers. Do you? I just learned that there are actually blood drives for dogs.


I don't want this to be a downer and I just put my 10 year old st bernard down this week. It was sad but she was great and in a better spot. I had goldens when I was right out of college. I loved that dog!


Oh my gosh... I can't even begin to imagine. I am so terribly sorry. Dogs are such amazing creatures!!! What was her name?


Sasha. It's the 3rd dog I have had to put down and although it was emotionally easier this time, I still miss her. My first dog, the golden, I took three days off of work from.


Sasha is a beautiful name. I'm sure she was very loved over those 10 long years. My 4 year old golden, Lily, is my first dog. I will be absolutely devastated if something happens to her. Do you plan on getting another dog?


Not for a while. We have a 7 and 5 year old that my wife and I are concentrating on. Plus we always need to find sitters and walkers for her. It only happens once every two months but still, it gets hard. Once my kids go off to college, I will get another one. Plus I am alergic...


I have a 4 year old and 7 month old golden. They require a lot of attention but its totally worth it. Thankfully I am not allergic, but I do sometimes despise the hair lol. I have yet to have children.


HA! I remember my golden's hair floating by like tubleweed in the old south. So much hair! I thought my st bernard would have a lot but didn't.


I am currently watching my wife sweep under the TV stand as tumbleweeds of blonde hair comes rolling out lol. The shedding is aggravating but I couldn't imagine my life without either of them


Oh no, completely worth it. Especially when you have someone else to clean it up for you!


No, no haha. I am currently waiting for her to be done so I can go through with the vacuum and dust. We have a pretty good system. Theres an entire puppy worth of hair when we're finished.


I remember those days. In my golden's 8 years, I think I went through 6 vacuums because of the hair. I loved that dog so much though. What are their names? Lilly and????


We are on vacuum #2 haha. We also have a roomba we run during the day to get the excess hair we missed. Its crazy! Lily & Ben! I love them like they are my own kids.


How long have you had your roomba? That thing is going to die soon. The hair will kill the motor...


I got it as a gift for Christmas, so only about 3 months. I'd give it another 3-4 months before it dies. I did not buy it for a reason haha too much hair for this thing


I wanted a roomba but was going to wait until my dog was gone. I can now buy a roomba!


They are nice to have, especially if you don't have a pet. It gets a pretty decent amount of hair up. It was really nice chatting with you!


Ditto. Go give those puppies a big hug and kiss!


Do you like instruments? I love the Piano though i can not play it, lol.


Hi! I like the piano and the guitar although I don't know how to play either haha well I can do mary had a little lamb on the piano but that's it!


Right me too and chopsticks, well some of it. An aluminum grand piano was built for a lounge of the airship Hindenburg.


It truly is fascinating and I applaud all those that learn an instrument, Its a great form of expression and healing. even pianos have "stress testing" its a song that exists but its not remotely playable by humans, its crazy, I've seen the keys... there is no way a human can play that song! its called circus gallop


Wow that is interesting! What's more interesting is that the piano aboard the Hindenburg weighed 356 pounds.


There are a lot of interesting facts surrounding pianos which one of my favorite stories would be when the news had no stories to report and played piano music instead! Makes me wish we could turn on the TV and hear about Peace in the world, and listen to piano music. What a day that would be!


What a day indeed! Oh yeah that happened back in the 30's right?


Yes! so long ago! Have you heard the song "Hey Jude" by Paul Mccartney? It's one of my all time fav songs played with the piano.


I don't think i have ever heard that song. did it win any awards?


I dont think so but it should! I thinks its before my time but its one of my fav oldie songs! What would you do if you climbed the top of the highest mountain and find a piano there? sounds weird right? Its a true story! a mystery...


Wow wonder how they got it up there? Did you know that building blocks of life were discovered in a planetary system 455 light years away.


Thats really really far away! How in the world did they discover that. It just amazes me! There is also a planet that "rolls" Im getting sick just thinking about living there...blaaah


Yeah i hear you apparently one of Jupiter's moon's would be considered a planet if it rotated the sun.


All these planets... Im sure there are other people living somewhere out in the Universe! It would be trippy to meet Aliens though, did you know that when earth was first formed. a Day lasted 5.5 hours long... and i complain about not having enough time in a day!


Right! Also more than 80% of earths natural forest have been destroyed. That's a lot of oxygen.


That makes me sad for mother earth! The fascinating thing is that if Earth entire history was reviewed as a 24 hour period, humans would only represent only a little over a minute... incredible right?


Very! Wow did you know that we have an official Ambassador to extraterrestrials?


Apparently September of 2010 the United Nation thought it prudent to do so just in case.


Wow, I would of thought that would of been in place hundreds of years ago when they first did contact... wonder why they waited so long to appoint someone "publicly"


Right or they thought we were idiots and didn't want to admit what went on in area 51.


I know, its right in front of our faces and they still lie and hide it " its not what it looks like" in a creepy whisper voice...not in a helium voice apparently helium will no longer be available by the end of the 21st century. Anyway, fun chatting!


Hello there, I am well thank you.  Do you watch much basketball?


Yeah I do sometimes. Mostly in the playoffs. I havent really watched much this year though.


I mostly just follow my local team, which has been really good this season so far, they are best in the league.


Oh yeah, college or pros. Were you aware that the only head coach in kansas University history with a losing record is james naismith. The inventor of basketball.


Wow, that is a very impressive program.  I wonder what Mr. Naismith would think of the game today?


I would say he would be surprised at the athletic ability of the players these days. I doubt this is what he really imagined. Not to say he would be disappointed.


Yeah I think he would be most impressed by the amount and style of dunking that happens today.


I know it impresses me a lot. Another fun fact is that in 39 out of the 50 states. The highest played employee is a college football or basketball coach. Thats just crazy.


That is crazy, not to say that those jobs aren't important but that just blows my mind.


Yeah mine to. I have always like playing basketball. Never been great at it , but I enjoy playing.


Yeah that used to be my go to sport when I was a kid.  I used to tape all of the dunk contests.  I used to love Larry Johnson and Shawn Kemp.


A hornets fan huh. I liked the heat when I was a kid. I liked that crossover Tim Hardaway did. Until Allen Iverson came to the league then he was my favorite.


Heck yeah Tim Hardaway was awesome, I remember watching him on the Warriors.  Iverson was awesome too, he got the best of my team back in 2001, but, I think we will be back there this year.


I haven't really followed it much this year. Are they doing pretty well.


Yeah the Bucks, they are first place in the whole league, I really hope we can make the finals, I have never seen it in my lifetime.


Yeah Giannis is pretty good. i think he is better than Lebron, at least at this stage in their careers.


Yeah Giannis has been a diamond in the rough and turned this franchise around since he has been here.  I like Lebron, he has done so much, but I think it's Giannis's time.


I think Lebron is a great player, I just hate it how he has done cleveland. I think he should have stayed there his whole career and brought them a bunch of championships. It would have been a great story.


Yeah if he would've done like Dirk and the Mavs, imagine how many titles, and yeah we would've gone down as Clevelands biggest hero.


It is kind of sad what he has done. He basically said forget my hometown, just to go get a couple more championships that he probably could have got anyway.


Yeah I don't like when players leave a team just to get a ring.  If you want to do it right, play for one team, and do enough to make it happen while you're there. It was nice talking with you today, I hope you have a good day.


I like how good of an exercise it is, and it's fun for recreation


Yes, I love swimming. Did you know that there's a type of competitive swimming where the athlete has their hands and legs bound, and swims like a dolphin?


That would take a lot of core strength! The front crawl still seems to be the fastest though. We can thanks the Native Americans for showing that to the British


Yes, and all Cornell University student must pass a basic swimming test before they're allowed to graduate.


I think that's a good thing. Americans seem to do well at swimming, considering we have more gold medals than the other nations combined


Yes, they get famous in our country, too. Speaking of the Olympics, did you know that there's a banned swimsuit so good that 94% of all swimming races in the 2008 Olympics were won in it?


I wonder what it's made of that they would ban it like that?


Not sure but as a formalized sport, swimming features a range of local, national, and international competitions. Also, it's consistently among to top public recreational activities.


I wonder if it's popular in Canada, or if they prefer playing ice hockey considering how much colder it is


They probably would rather play hockey in Canada since hockey is one of the two national sports there with the other being Lacrosse.


Ice hockey in the winter and lacrosse in the summer. On average, a professional hockey player loses about 8 pounds, so it must be good exercise


No doubt. There was a hockey player that was traded for $1 in 1993 and went on to win four Stanley cups.


That was definitely a steal for whatever team got him! I guess it happens in every sport


Probably so true. Did you know that an ice hockey ring remains under a basketball court when switching stadium sports? I didn't realize that one.


It makes sense though to utilize the space for more than one sport. Both are popular in other countries


Yes, I agree.  Did you know that in 1924, in the first Olympic winter games, Canada scored 132 goals and let in 3 in the entire ice hockey competition?


No wonder it's a national sport. I've never heard of bandy, but apparently it's a type of hockey


Yes, and field hockey as well as what we've been chatting about, ice hockey.  In most of the world, hockey refers to field hockey.


But it seems the basics are the same, no matter the arena it's played in


Yes, that is true, hockey is a sport in which two teams play against each other by trying to manoeurvre a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.


Basketball is a great sport do you follow it?


Hi! Yes I love basketball but I don't have a favorite team in particular, do you?


I like the Mets but Im not a big fan either, I just think they have a great team and like how they play


Yeah, they're a good team, don't have a favorite in particular on that team but I'm sure the coach is one of the highest paid employees like other college football and basketball coaches.


I always thought players earned a higher salary I was shocked to learn that as well, apparently in 39 out of 50 states this is the case


I think players do earn a higher salary because I think that statement refers to college players and coaches and I don't think students can earn money for being on the team, they get paid in the form of scholarships, I suppose.


Oh I see, that makes a lot more sense, Basketball is so popular the Supreme Court has a court on one of its floors.


I wonder if any of the supreme court justices play, probably the aides play since I imagine the justices are much older


Thats an interesting question, I bet some of them are on the team, maybe on the bench, there is a team called Tall Blacks or well at least thats their nickname,


Do you know what the reason is for a nickname like that?


Not sure, possibly because of the height of the players and the tone of their skins, the team is from New Zealand


Yeah, I find that a little odd. I wonder if they have a swim team and what the nickname is for them, maybe dolphins because there is a type of competitive swimming where the athletes have their limbs bounded and have to swim like dolphins!


I havent heard of that before but who knows maybe there is, you know that the US has more Gold medals than almost the rest of the world combined


combined?! Is that only for swimming only or for all sports combined?


Thats only for swimming and it makes sense, the US have great swimmers, Michael Phelps is one of them


Yeah, I really enjoy watching the swim competitions when it comes time for the olympics. Don't really enjoy hockey quite as much, maybe the only entertaining one was when Canada scored 132 goals in one game in 1924.


That was a long time ago lol, I bet the other team didnt have a goalie, and you might not like it that much but it sure is a great way to exercise, players lose about 8 pounds per game


I would probably lose more than 8 pounds from the constant falling and slipping and lack of hand eye coordination and struggle in the frigid temperatures.


Its a tough sport to play indeed, back in 1993 a player was traded for only $1, that player then won 4 Stanley Cups


What a bad investment decision! Way to stick it to them! I think I'd be a little discouraged if that happened to me, wouldn't you?


They definitely meant it as a joke and a way to humilliate the player, sounds like he showed them what he was made of


Did you watch the Academy Awards this year?


I did, not all 24 awards but some of them, they have been around for a while a lot of history


Didn't they start as a private dinner in 1929? I thought there was more than 24 given it takes forever to get through the show haha.


Yeah it started out as a small event hosted by Douglas Fairbanks I guess the awards have grown a lot since then.


After that, they went to radio in 1930 and then televised for the first time in 1953.


I do! I like him in a bunch of movies! Has he won many oscars?


He has one the best actor Oscar 3 times, his the only actor to win it that times.


That is fitting for him! Can you believe the oscars were nominated for 9 emmys in 2013? Must have been a rough year lol.


Really? that can happen? an award nominated for another award? lol that is insane.


Sounds like the movie Inception lol. I heard that George Lucas's wife has more Oscars than him!


Even Eminem has more Oscars than Lucas lol, so that is a soft topic for him.


I bet you don't speak of the oscars in front of him haha. Do you watch the NFL at all?


Yeah thats a sensible topic indeed lol, I do watch the NFL, what about you?


Same here. Did you know it's considered an entertainment business rather than a sport?


No first time hearing about that, do you like the Walt Disney Company?


I do to a point! I didn't know they accept outside ads from companies.


I like Disney movies, Big Hero 6 was one of my favorites it required a lot of computing power and I didnt know that either.


That is interesting! Did you know they make 1110 dollars per second that is insane! I need to get on that haha. Nice chatting with you!


That is a lot of money! wow, I would be traveling the world with that much green lol, it was nice chatting with you as well have a great day


Yes, I heard they are adding a new category.


Yeah i just read that too.  I think thats great,  more opportunity for people to win awards!


Yeah, I think it's for best popular film.  They're probably doing it to attract younger viewers.


This is funny: Bill nye "the science guy" got his break in entertainment by winning a steve martin lookalike contest.


Yesss!  Absolutely!  Have you been to Disneyland or world lately?


Yes, I was at Disneyland a couple of days ago. When


Really?!  Im so jealous!  I was there like 2 months ago.  I got to take a picture with Jack Skellington!  Is the haunted mansion still nightmare before christmas themed?


Yes it is.  I didn't go in but it was still the same theme.


Pixar named "wall-e" as a tip of the hat to walter elias disney. Thats an interesting fact.


That makes sense. Minnie Mouse's real name is Minerva. It doesn't have the same ring.


It definitely doesnt have the same ring.  Do you ever look for the hidden Mickeys?


Not actively.  Sometimes I see them though.  Are you excited for Star wars land?


Yes I'm a big Star Wars fan.  Maybe with this new category they'll win an Oscar this year.


I hope so!  Awesome,  which star wars is your favorite?


I do.  I love watching it in the Olympics!


Me too. There is a type of swimming where the swimmer has their hands and legs bound and swim like a dolphin.\


That sounds equal parts cool and dangerous.


I agree. All Cornell students must pass a basic swimming test before they are allowed to graduate.


I am surprised more Florida schools don't have that standard.  The US is pretty strong in swimming, they have more gold medals than the rest of the world combined.


That's really good. Native Americans introduced the front crawl swimming stroke.


I heard it was to beat the British who only used the Breast Stroke


I heard that too. There is a banned swimsuit that is so good that 94% of all swimming races were won with it.


That was back in the 2008 Olympics wasnt it.  They were so fast that year!


Yep, that was back in 2008. Do you like basketball?


I watch some, I am excited for the NCAA tournament, you?


Me too. I love college basketball and March Madness.


Abdul-Jabbar was so good at the dunk he got it banned from college hoops.


That's interesting that they banned the dunk. Naismith who was the inventor of basketball was the only losing coach in Kansas's history.


I cant believe he could lose at the game he created.


I know...so sad. In 39 of 50 states, the top paying employee in the state is either a college basketball or football coach.


Looks like it is time for me to have a career change.  But on another note that is ridiculous.


HAHA. The New Zealand basketball team was nicknamed the Tall Blacks.


I am sure there is something behind that name, but in todays climate that sounds a bit racist.


I think so too. Well, it was great talking. Have a good day!


Actually, I haven't, but I heard the main character is an unconventional superhero.


Supposedly the seasons are getting better and better and the third season is a winner.


I guess the hope is that a series gets better as it goes on, especially in a franchise as big as the Marvel universe that's part of something as huge as Disney.


Sony was offered to buy the characters for $25 million but they declined and only bought the rights to Spiderman. Bet they are regretting that now.


Yes, that was a poor choice. Apparently due to a contract from the 90s its signed with Universal Studios, even Disney can't use the major Marvel characters in its theme parks east of the Mississippi River.


Do you like DC as well? There is one character owned by Marvel and DC. It's only purpose is to keep the universes separate.


I guess there's a purpose for each character. Marvel even created a superhero just for a 4 year old boy who was uncomfortable wearing hearing aids.


That's cool! Blue Ear, right? I just heard about him.


Superheros really are inspirational, even it's one named "Normalman" who's just the only person on a planet of superheroes without superpowers.


That actually sounds interesting! I think I'd rather have my kids watch Pet Force though, Garfield as a superhero!


I wonder what Odie was like in that haha. I guess re-purposing or re-imagining characters is common; Stan Lee, the creator of Marvel, actually wrote 15 DC comics that re-imagined superheroes like Batman and Superman.


Interesting! I wonder why. Also, have you heard of real life superheroes? Apparently there is a website where you can register to be a superhero?


That's interesting, especially since there are over 300 registered (trademarked?) superheroes in the U.S.


Yeah, how weird. If there were actual superheroes on earth though would they cause a lot of damage? There was a comic series all about fixing the collateral damage from superheroes.


I guess that would make a good Netflix show, too; it seems like they'll produce pretty much anything these days.


I love the Marvel series on Netflix, more so than the movies.


You're not alone, apparently; from 9 PM to 12 AM, Netflix accounts for a third of bandwidth use in North America.


Yeah I am guilty of using up some of that bandwidth during that time. Surprisingly though Netflix still spends 20 times more on postage than bandwidth.


I used to rent DVDs at Blockbuster, and VHS before that. I bet they regret not taking the offer to buy Netflix!


Apparently Canada is the only country with 2 national sports. I wonder how they define what a national sport is.


Hockey is a good game. I also like basketball. They put the hockey rink under the basketball courts in stadiums.


Do you like ice hockey or field hockey? In the U.S. hockey refers to ice hockey, but in most countries saying hockey means field hockey.


I don't watch hockey, but when I think of hockey, I think of ice hockey. Interestingly it has been in the Olympics since 1924.


I think football and basketball are more popular than hockey in the U.S.. For example, the highest paid public employees in the majority of our states are coaches for these games.


I don't know how many points a goal is in hockey, but in basketball most shots are worth 2 points. I wonder if they are similar.


okey.Swimming is consistently among the top public recreational activities,[2][3][4][5] and in some countries, swimming lessons are a compulsory part of the educational curriculum.[6] As a formalized sport, swimming features in a range of local, national, and international competitions, including every modern Summer Olympics.


It is interesting that babies can even perform movements like swimming with in weeks of birth. It is a very innate and natural sport.


I used to swim as a kid. I never did it competitively, even though there are even competitions where swimmers have their hands and legs bound!


Can you imagine how they swim like that? Apparently Native Americans were the first to swim using the front crawl. That is interesting.


There is a banned swimsuit so good that 94% of all swimming races at the 2008 Olympics wearing one won in it?


That is amazing. I wonder what the suit is made of. The U.S. has more gold medals than the rest of the whole world, so I wonder if they ever used it.


Freestyle in swimming technically means you can swim in any style; however the front crawl is synonymous with freestyle since it is the fastest and most efficient stroke.


That makes sense. I think the butterfly is one of hardest ones, but a Wisconsin swimmer in boys swimming swam it in 49.09. (he was the 3rd fastest though.)


Hello!  I'm doing great, how are you doing?


I'm good.  Thanks for asking.  Do you know how to swim?


I do know how to swim.  Do you know much about the sport and do you swim?


Yes, I know how to swim, also.  I learned when I was very small.  I understand there is a type of competitive swimming called dolphin swimming.  Have you ever heard of that?


I have never heard of dolphin swimming.  I also learned when I was very young how to swim.


That's cool.  Apparently, the swimmer has their hands and legs bound and swim like a dolphin.  I don't know if I could swim that way?


I would sink that way and I consider myself a pretty good swimmer.  Did you know that Cornell University students have to pass a basic swimming test in order to graduate?


Oh wow!  I did not know that, but I think it's something everyone should know how to do.  It's a good thing!


I completely agree!  It is an important life skill to know since most humans live near water or have pools.  Did you know that Native Americans taught the front crawl swimming stroke to the European pioneers?


That's interesting, I thought the Indians and pioneers did not get along, so well?


I thought the same.  Interesting that pioneers wouldn't know how to swing their arms in a huge variety of ways. Apparently the British only used the breaststroke which is a very slow method of swimming.


Well, that makes sense, the Indians probably had to swim all the time and surely more than the British!  I read somewhere that the United States has almost as many gold medals in swimming as the rest of thw orld combined.  That awesome!


Wow that is amazing that the US has almost as many gold medals as the rest of the world combined.  It makes sense due to the fact that most other countries near the equator are very small and wouldn't field a large team of athletes.


That's true, do you like basketball, by chance?


I love basketball.  Unfortunately, it seems to cause me more injuries and pain these days though!


Me too!  But, we still can watch it being played.  Who's your favorite player?


Well, I actually like older players better.  Everybody likes Steph Curry these days but he wouldn't get a shot off in the 1980's NBA.  My favorite is probably Shaq even though he irked me a lot.


That's great, I go back even further. lol Kareem Abdul Jabbar is my favorite all time player.  Nobody dunked like him!


Very true!  Lew Alcindor, got the dunk banned from the college game!  He is a favorite as well.  He had such a long career.


Well done.  It's been nice chatting with you this morning.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.


Good morning! How are you? I am a sports fan, what about you?


Yeah I especially like basketball. Whats your favorite?


I like all sports to watch. To participate it would be swimming, but just for fun. No way I could compete in a dolphin like swimming style with my arms and legs bound.


No I dont think I could either. Did you hear about kareem abdul jabbars dunking?


No, I did not. Was there something special?


He was just so dominant with it that they banned the dunk for  over a decade.


Oh that is a long time for a ban. So, back to swimming, there are more gold medals awarded to the US than almost the whole world combined.


Thats awesome. Go U.S.A. Did you know that all cornell university students have to pass a swimming test before they can graduate?


That is insane! Graduation should be based on academics!


Well it doesnt hurt to be able to swim. Im sure if there is some reason likemedically you cant swim then they will let you slide.


I would think so. There is a ban on a swimsuit that is so good 94% of the swimming races in the 2008 Olympics were won wearing it.


Maybe it was just the trend that year. I dont see how a swim suit couldmmake you faster. MAybe more aerodynamic but come on.


It is weird. Almost as weird as humans being able to just weeks after birth swim as a survival response.


That is crazy. We have a strong will to survive I guess. Did you know that native americans introduced the front crawl swimming stroke to the west.


No, I did not. I wonder how they learned it?


I would say from swimming a lot and figuring out the fastest way to swim. Lol. They beat the british with that stroke though. The british only used the breast stroke.


Good for them. I think they were smart beyond their years. Swimming is a top recreational sport, so it seems its popularity has been around a long time.


Yep. Anywhere there is water people swim. With our competitive nature we are bound to turn it into sport.


I would have to agree with you on that one. Swimming lessons are even part of education lessons in some countries.


My school actually had a swimming pool in middle school. I think it is an important thing for people to learn.


I agree. I think it is better safe than sorry. That's for sure.


It sure is. Well I better get some stuff done around here. Have a nice day.


I do watch basketball on occasion. Which is your favorite team?


I like the bulls, not doing too hot these recent years lol. How about you?


I'm a fan of the Celtics and I'm not that impressed as we were blown out by Clippers yesterday.


yea Clippers scored a lot of points last night! Did you hear who the most losingest coach is in college history?


Yes. I read this somewhere very recently and it is James Naismith if I'm not mistaking.


right, he is the one that invented basketball! You think he would have rigged it in his favor!


Ha Ha!!! Do you happen to know at which college he was a coach at?


It was Kansas if I heard right, a really good program now


A very good program at that university indeed.


for sure! Speaking of college, have you heard of kareem abdul-jabbar?


I love Kareen Abdul-Jabbar what a fantastic basketball player!!! What did you hear about him, I'm very curious?


He got the dunk banned in college for like 10 years! He was amazing at it!


He was amazing at this. I agree but I didn't know that the dunk got banned for that long. Do the women also have a league here in America?


Oh! That's what it was called. I didn't remember the name of league. Yes I was talking about the WNBA.


Did you know the supreme court even as a court  in the building? Justice Ginsburg can slam dunk there since she isn't in the WNBA


Ha Ha!!! That is very funny. I also read somewhere that the New Zealand basketball team has a nickname. Do you happen to know what they are called?


I don't know, hopefully something good lol