Happy Birthday, Mickey!

Walt Disney was born in Chicago on December 5, 1901. Mickey Mouse made his screen debut on November 18, 1928 in Steamboat Willie , a short black-and-white animated musical. So began a partnership that charmed generations and has had an amazing influence on American culture and the way the US is seen around the world. 

When TIME magazine named Walt Disney as one of the most important people of the twentieth century, they wrote, "He created Mickey Mouse and produced the first full-length animated movie. He invented the theme park and originated the modern multimedia corporation. For better or worse, his innovations have shaped our world and the way we experience it. But the most significant thing Walt Disney made was a good name for himself." 

To parents around the world Disney means clean, decent entertainment for their children. And it all started with a mouse. Happy Birthday, Mickey!!

A Brief History of Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse - Wikipedia

An unofficial Mickey site

Sandwiches

Wikipedia tells us that: A sandwich is a food item, often consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or picnics to be eaten as part of a packed lunch. They generally contain a combination of salad vegetables, meat, cheese, and a variety of sauces. The bread can be used as it is, or it can be coated with any condiments to enhance flavor and texture. They are widely sold in restaurants and cafes.

But a sandwich in the U.S. is sooooo much more than that. It can be a regional identity (Philly Cheesesteaks, New Orleans Po' Boys) or a family tradition. The names may be different in different areas (hoagies, subs, po'boys...) even when the ingredients are the same. There is always that one sandwich that is your absolute favorite. Some people are mayonaise traditionalists, others like only mustards. Lettuce? Cole slaw? Pickles? Heated arguments can arise over sandwich loyalties. And really - a slice of ham and a slice of cheese with mayo and a piece of lettuce doesn't even come close to being a real sandwich. Real sandwiches require artistry.


Serious Eats produced their 2010 version of  The Best Sandwiches in America. Once you take a look at the slide show and read the descriptions you'll want to run out and have one of each.


Here are just some of the more well-known sandwiches from the U.S. that you have to know about:

• Beef on weck (Buffalo) roast beef and horseradish on a Kaiser roll topped with pretzel salt and caraway seeds
• BLT, bacon, lettuce, and tomato
• California Club sandwich, turkey, avocado, lettuce, and tomato
• Cheesesteak (Philadelphia) sandwich made from strips of steak and cheese, sometimes with peppers and onions
• Club sandwich, turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato
• Cuban sandwich (Cuba/South Florida) ham, Swiss cheese, pickled peppers, and roasted pork
• Dagwood,  distinguished by size more than contents. Named after the cartoon character who loved large sandwiches.
• French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef (or, sometimes, other meats) on a "French roll" or baguette. It is most commonly served au jus.
• Grilled cheese, fried or broiled sandwich consisting of melted cheese between slices of buttered bread.
• Hamburger, ground meat patty in a round bun, usually served with some combination of tomato, onion, lettuce, pickle, mustard, and mayonnaise
• Horseshoe ( Springfield, IL) an open sandwich topped with French fries and cheese sauce
• Hot Brown ( Kentucky) open-face sandwich of meat, Mornay sauce or cheese
• Italian beef (Chicago) thin slices of seasoned roast beef, dripping with meat juices, on a dense, long Italian-style roll
• Melt sandwich, Tuna melt, Patty melt, etc.—filling includes melted cheese
• Monte Cristo, a fried ham and/or turkey sandwich
• Mother-in-law (Chicago area) fast food staple that features a Mississippi tamale in a hot dogbun and smothered with chili
• Muffuletta (New Orleans) based on Sicilian bread
• Peanut butter and jelly, a chilhood favorite and general comfort food little understood outside of North America
• Rachel, also referred to as the "Turkey Reuben"; coleslaw with Swiss cheese, 1000 Island or Russian dressing, and sliced turkey
• Reuben, sauerkraut with Swiss cheese, 1000 Island or Russian dressing, and corned beef or pastrami
• Roast beef, made with roast beef, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and mayonnaise or horseradish sauce.
• Sloppy Joe, hot ground beef in a flavorful and sloppy sauce.
• Submarine, also known as sub, grinder, hero, hoagie, Italian sandwich, po' boy, wedge, zep, torpedo or roll. Can contain an infinite variety of ingredients, although each area swears that their version is the only authentic one.

Daylight Saving Time

Most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.
Children (and many adults) use the memory aid "Spring ahead, Fall back" to help remember the direction of the clock changes. During DST, clocks are turned forward an hour in the spring, effectively moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.

The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time.

Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Because of this, it would be more accurate to refer to DST as daylight-saving time. Similar examples would be a mind-expanding book or a man-eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account.

Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an 's') flows more mellifluously off the tongue. Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage, and can be found in dictionaries.

Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, and Daylight Time Shifting more accurate, but neither is politically desirable.

Learn much more about Daylight Saving Time in this 8-page presentation. On page 3 you will find out how DST helped avoid a terrorist attack, why there are sometimes riots when the clock changes, and how birth order in twins can be changed by DST time shifts. On page 8 you can see that Venezuela is one of the countries that has never implemented DST.

A Fun Fact: In the U.S., Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time, but the Navajo Nation (parts of which are in three states) does. However, the Hopi Reservation, which is entirely surrounded by the Navajo Nation, doesn’t observe DST. In effect, there is a donut-shaped area of Arizona that does observe DST, but the “hole” in the center does not.

Road Trip

Road trips are a part of American life. Everybody has their road trip story. It might come from a family vacation, the trip off to college, or just that summer you took off across the country with a friend. Eating in diners, sleeping in out-of-the-way places and discovering local treasures are all part of a road trip - as are car troubles and wrong turns.

In the film Due Date, Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis, as an expectant father and aspiring actor, race west from Atlanta across the south to LA. It’s a great route, and even better if you take it slow.  


Lonely Planet has some ideas to make your road trip special if you decide to follow their route, and some great pictures of the journey across the southwest.

Use Less Plastic

The American way of life has led to many excesses, but we are nothing if not self-critical and are always reforming and improving. 
Help save our oceans. Use less plastic.