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WITandWISDOM(tm) - September 4, 2002 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Some people are working backstage, some are playing in the orchestra, some are on-stage singing, some are in the audience as critics and some are there to applaud. Know who and where you are. - Author Unknown Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright 2002, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: When the Royal Palace of Tehran in Iran was designed, the artist specified huge sheets of mirrors on the walls. When the first shipment arrived from Paris, they found to their horror that the mirrors were shattered. The contractor threw them in the trash and brought the sad news to the architect. Amazingly, the architect ordered all the broken pieces collected, then smashed them into tiny pieces and glued into the walls to become a mosaic of silvery, shimmering, and mirrored bits of glass. It is one of the most beautiful mosaics in the world. The ceilings and the walls flash like diamonds in multifaceted reflections. Broken to become beautiful. It's possible to turn your scars into stars. It is possible to be better because of the brokenness. It is extremely rare to find in the great museums of the world objects of antiquity that are unbroken. Indeed, some of the most precious pieces in the world are only fragments that remained a hallowed reminder of glorious past. Never underestimate God's power to repair and restore. By Robert Schuller, More Stories for the Heart Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright 2002, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: One time Albert Einstein was taking a train to an out of town engagement. The conductor stopped by to punch his ticket, but the great scientist preoccupied with his work, explained that he couldn't find his ticket. Not in the coat pockets, not in the briefcase. The conductor said, "We all know who you are, Dr. Einstein. I'm sure you bought ticket. Don't worry about it." As the conductor moved along, he looked back to see Einstein on his hands and knees searching under the seats for his ticket. The conductor walked back, "Dr. Einstein, please, don't worry about it. I know who you are." Exasperated, Einstein looked up and said, "I, too, know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going." (Story not verified.) Source: A Joke a Day http://www.topica.com/lists/ajokeaday7 ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Anybody can win unless there happens to be a second entry. - George Ade Source: Jest A Quote, http://www.topica.com/lists/quote/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: THE ODDBALL WALL - The Biggest of the Big What do you think the largest mammal that ever lived was? The tyrannosaurus rex? The brontosaurus? A mouse? What if I told you the largest mammal to roam the earth... still roams the earth today. What would you guess it is now? An elephant? A walrus? A giant ribbledribbet? Actually, the blue whale is considered by scientists to be the largest mammal ever, and it's still roaming the oceans today. An average blue whale is about 80 feet long and weighs 150 tons. The largest recorded blue whale was 94 feet long and weighed an estimated 174 tons. At least, I'm assuming that's an estimated weight. If not, I'd like to get a look at those fish scales, no pun intended, whales don't have scales, and who can blame them - if you weighed 300,000 pounds would you want to be reminded of it? Scientists have estimate that the largest blue whale to have ever lived probably weighed more than 200 tons, that's 400,000 pounds, and was more massive than herd of thirty full grown elephants. Yep, that's a little bit big. A baby blue whale is called a calf (moo), and is born about 25 feet long and weighs in at a whopping 3 tons at birth. As large as the blue whale is, it's surprising to know they feed on tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill, and even smaller plankton. They eat up to 4.5 tons of food per day. It's so hard to find a decent swimming suit when you eat 4.5 tons of food a day! In the early 1900's, when ships became fast enough to catch them, blue whales became the major whale species hunted by man, for the meat, oil, and baleen. At that time, there were over 200,000 blue whales estimated to be alive, but the blues were over hunted and their survival threatened. Protection came in 1964, when fewer than 2000 blues remained - less than one per cent of the population just fifty years earlier- when they were named an endangered species. Not all nations honor the protected species designation though, and they still hunt them today. However, the blues are rebounding some, with an estimated population of 14,000 today. Source: The Internet Tutor, http://www.shagmail.com/sample/tutor.html |