How did the horse in “Mister Ed” learn to move its lips when it “talked”?

With the new year now fully underway, let us pause for a moment.

OK, that’s long enough.

Seriously, though, I wanted to ask you: How many of your New Year’s Resolutions have you already broken?

Come on, now. You know you made them, and you know you have let a few slip already.

Of course, you could follow the path I tread … I make one resolution every New Year, and promptly break it.

I resolve never to make resolutions.

Do it like this, and you get the whole thing out of the way and can get on with the fun of making this clean, unmarked year bend to your will.

And while you’re doing that, allow me to supply you with this week’s trivia!

Did you know …

… you could suffer from defervescence? If you do, it’s a very good thing. Defervescence is the medical term that describes the decrease in body temperature in a fever patient. (It’s a scary word, but it means well.)

… golf has been played on the moon? During the mission of Apollo 14 in 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard (1923-1998) used the head of a six iron attached to a sampler handle to knock a golf ball while standing on the surface of the moon. It took Shepard three swings to get the ball to move, and though he said it went, “Miles and miles,” mathematicians estimate his lunar drive only went about 4,000 meters – still the longest drive ever struck by a golfer anywhere. (I think it’s safe to say that Shepard will hold the “longest drive” record for quite a while.)

… laws were once proposed to ban radios from automobiles? In 1930, the state legislature of Massachusetts and the City Council of St. Louis, Missouri, had laws proposed to ban car radios. The reason given in each case, according to automotive historians, is that the car radio would be a distraction to the driver. (Now where have I heard this before, I wonder?)

… it is illegal in Indiana to sell laughing gas (nitrous oxide) with the intent of causing laughter? (That’s not funny. Not funny at all.)

… a recent study showed that, of American husbands, 80% said they would marry the same partner again? Of American wives, on the other hand, only 50% said they’d do the same thing. (Draw your own conclusions from that, my friends.)

… the state of Washington was originally going to be called Columbia? The change was made after it was feared there would be confusion with the District of Columbia … where the city of Washington is located. (Yeah, that’s not confusing at all, is it?)

… horses are pretty smart? Consider, if you will, Bamboo Harvester (1949-1970), the golden Palomino who played the title role in the television series “Mister Ed” in the early 1960s. During the first season of filming, the effect of the horse’s lips moving when he was supposed to be talking (it was a show about a talking horse, if you don’t already know that) was achieved by stringing nylon fishing line through the animal’s mouth and having the trainer pull the line from off camera. This, as you might expect, bothered Bamboo Harvester, so he used his “horse sense” to get rid of the irritation. The horse began to move his lips without being “prompted” whenever actor Alan Young (1919-2016), who played Mr. Ed’s owner, stopped talking, so the trainer wouldn’t pull the line and cause the horse any mouth pain. By the end of the first season and through the remaining four years of the show, Bamboo Harvester moved his lips any time Young would stop talking – during filming, rehearsals, even when the actor first arrived on the set each day and said hello to the horse. Additional trivia note: After the series was over, Bamboo Harvester was retired to a farm, and Young would visit the horse occasionally – and the horse always moved his lips whenever Young talked to him. Oddly, the horse never did that with anyone else, only Alan Young. (Of course, of course!)

… an apple, a potato, and an onion all have the same taste? Before you go calling the boys with the butterfly net to catch me, hear me out. The difference in flavor for these three favorites is caused by the smell of each one. Flavor as we sense it is a combination of both taste and smell. If you doubt me, try this – take a bite of each while holding your nose. They’ll all taste the same. (Now you can call the boys with the butterfly net. They’ve been looking for me for a while.)

… the cleanest place on Earth is also the coldest? The continent of Antarctica is protected by strong anti-pollution laws. However, there are some areas where pollution has encroached, mostly near scientific stations. The giant McMurdo Station (sometimes called McMurdo Air Force Base) on the coast of the continent has a large area of trash and debris that, because of the cold, does not decompose. (The good news is, it doesn’t smell, either.)

… the first state in the U.S. to officially recognize Christmas was Alabama? It happened in 1836.

… there are around 200 different species of owl. (Whooooo?)

… it is impossible to kill yourself by holding your breath? (Parents, of course, already know this.)

… the creator of Sherlock Holmes enjoyed practical jokes? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) once concocted an elaborate joke on 12 friends, all of whom were people of importance and power. He sent each of them a telegram that said, “Flee at once! The secret is discovered.” Within a day, all 12 had fled the country. (Elementary, my dear Watson! They were guilty! Of what, I cannot say.)

Now … you know!

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