Wednesday, April 9, 2008

 

Spotlight: Big brown eyes. Long, slender legs. Demure smile. Hump, high and slightly tilted back. Wait... hump?? These are the features being judged in Saudi Arabia this week, at the Mazayen al-Ibl competition for most beautiful camel. Beduin Arabs have dozens of names for camel, differentiating between the species. More than 1,500 are vying in four categories: the black majaheem, white maghateer, dark brown shi'l and the sufur, which are beige with black shoulders. Winning owners will receive a sports utility vehicle and/or a cash prize. Some of the more fetching camels could sell for a million or more riyals.

Quote: "A camel comes handy/ Wherever it's sandy — Anywhere does for me." — Charles Edward Carryl

Question of the Day: Why do camels have humps?
Camels are well known for their humps. They do not, however, store water in them as is commonly believed, though they do serve this purpose through roundabout means. Their humps are a reservoir of fatty tissue, while water is stored in their blood. More

Word of the day: saponify (sə-pŏn'ə-fī)'
v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies.
v.tr.

1. To convert (an ester) by saponification.
2. To convert (a fat or oil) into soap.

v.intr.

To undergo saponification.

[French saponifier : Latin sāpō, sāpōn–, hair dye; see saponin + French –fier; see –fy.]
saponifiable sa·pon'i·fi'a·ble adj.
saponifier sa·pon'i·fi'er n. (© Houghton Mifflin Company)

Usage: No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't saponify the olive oil.

Some believe that the time-honored practice of spring cleaning came from the Jewish world's traditional pre-Passover cleaning. In the spirit of the season, dust off your thinking cap, clear the cobwebs from your mind and have some good clean fun with this week's words.

Previous words: burnish, lave, unsullied

Today's History:

Saddam Toppled

• public library: America's first tax-supported public library was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire (1833)
• US Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, ending the war (1865)
• Saddam Hussein: statue of Iraqi dictator was toppled in Baghdad, signifying the end of the Baath regime (2003)
• Prince Charles: married Camilla Parker-Bowles (2005)

Today's Birthdays:

Dennis Quaid

• Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867): poet/translator/critic
• Leon Blum (1872-1950): France's first Socialist premier
• Gregory Pincus (1903-1967): endocrinologist who helped develop the birth control pill
• Hugh Hefner (82): founder of Playboy magazine
• Dennis Quaid (54): star of American Dreamz and Vantage Point; also, actors Jean-Paul Belmondo (75), Cynthia Nixon (42) and Elle Fanning (10)
• Jesse McCartney (21): singer, Beautiful Soul; singers Paul Robeson (1898-1976), Hal Ketchum (55) and Albert Hammond, Jr. (28) were also born today