Through the Keyhole - July 2019

View this email in your browser JULY 2019 Through the Keyhole Take a break from your day... Not your typical company OR newsletter Can you guess the location? "This famous city has been featured here before and considered the birthplace of the Renaissance. However, this picturesque town is historic, beautiful and very cultural (except if you saw the Jersey Shore film here..." Send your guess HERE Ready. Set. SUMMER! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!   On our first Independence Day celebration, held in Philadelphia on July 4, 1777, when the country was still in the midst of the Revolutionary War against Britain, citizens came together to watch their new nation’s sky illuminated in a grand display meant to raise spirits. “I think they wanted to create a morale booster, and it worked,” James R. Heintze, author of The Fourth of July Encyclopedia, told USA Today. “The news spread, and Fourth of July celebrations with fireworks took hold quickly in other places.” One of our Founding Fathers had even predicted that Americans would commemorate their independence with pomp and circumstance. On July 3, 1776, a day ahead of the Continental Congress’ adoption of the final version of the Declaration of Independence, Massachusetts delegate John Adams penned a letter to his wife, envisioning the festivities. “I am apt to believe that [Independence Day] will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival,” he wrote. “It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” But that first fireworks display was a far cry from today’s elaborate, choreographed pyrotechnic shows.   From USA Today: “The centerpieces were raised platforms covered with fireworks arranged to evoke patriotic images — George Washington’s profile, for example. There were some rockets, but they were crude by contemporary standards.” Fireworks certainly have grown and not only in complexity. The American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) estimates that more than 14,000 fireworks displays light up the nation’s sky each Independence Day. If only John Adams could see ‘Merica’s birthday parties now! Remember to wear your hat this summer! Guess the Location Game Last month the winner of the guess the location game was Lauri McDonald who guessed the right answer.  I appreciate all of the participation.  THANKS FOR PLAYING! Mt. McKinnley/DENALI-Alaska "This famous National Park was once named for a President of the United States and is now known as its proper Indian name.  At just over 20,000 feet above sea level, it is the 3rd highest peak on the planet.  You would have to be a very accomplished climber to summit this famous peak(s)."   My good friend, Stephen Zabinski, just summited Mt. Denali and shared how incredibly difficult it was to accomplish.  To my knowledge, this was his second attempt and the only one he completed to the very top.  Stephen is very fit and his sentiments made me believe that very few people should even attempt to climb this mountain... Here is what I have learned: Over 90% of the people who climb Denali these days ascend it by the standard route up the West Buttress. It was first identified as the best line of ascent from an aircraft by Denali legend Bradford Washburn in the 1930s. Washburn climbed the mountain twice by what was then the normal route up the Muldrow Glacier before making the first ascent of the West Buttress with Jim Gale and Bill Hackett in 1951. It was a pioneering ascent in more ways than one, and they owe their success as much to the pilot Terris Moore, inventor of the aircraft wheel ski which allows a pilot to take off on wheels and lower a ski into place for a glacier landing while airborne. Moore landed them on the Kahiltna Glacier at the start of their climb, and this cut out many days of laborious hauling of supplies across mosquito-infested tundra which had dogged expeditions to Denali before then. These days there are several bush pilots in Talkeetna, Denali’s gateway town, offering a regular service of glacier landings, and the national park ranger service has a full time base camp manager living on the Kahiltna Glacier during the climbing season. It’s easy to see why Washburn predicted the West Buttress would become the standard route if aircraft support became available. A straightforward snow ramp leads between peaks and ridges, and it’s possible to haul a sledge to 14,000 ft Camp (4300m) on a broad plateau looking south. Above here the route is steeper but the climbing is straightforward. A steep slope leads up to a dramatic ridge which needs to be traversed to high camp at 5250m. Summit day involves a short traverse to Denali Pass, the 5545m col between Denali’s north peak and main summit. Above this the route climbs to the left of the ridge crest and crosses a flat expanse known as the Football Field before reaching the short but exposed summit ridge. Here is what Stephen said and I quote:  "You have no idea how hard the climb was...THE HARDEST THING I have EVER DONE IN MY LIFE." That is a very strong statement and I will not be climbing this mountain.     Why Few Survive a Climb up Denali (~2 min.) Denali 2016 - Climb Highlights (~4 min.) A group Summits the Mountain... New Monopoly   Monopoly, the beloved board game known for teaching players basic money principles, has a new lesson to teach: Cash is so yesteryear. Toy company Hasbro, which makes the game, recently announced a digital version that does away with the classic paper money and adds a voice assistant to manage all the buying and selling. Instead of handling the familiar pink, blue and orange bank notes, players can press a button atop a top hat at the center of the board to access a digital "Mr. Monopoly," a nod to the game mascot traditionally known as "Rich Uncle Pennybags," to purchase property or pay rent. "Say a command like, 'Pay Rent on Marvin Gardens,'" reads a description of the game. "Mr. Monopoly will respond and move the payment to an opponent's account." The game will be available for purchase starting July 1 and may be pre-ordered from Target and Walmart for around $30. Buy it HERE from Target   The Endless Runway Will Circular Runways ever TAKE OFF? The Endless Runway is a radical and novel airport concept, which applies a circular runway. The concept of the Endless Runway can generate a breakthrough in sustainable airport capacity by avoiding the physical constraints of conventional runways through shifting the lift-off and touchdown points of individual aircraft. The main feature of the circular runway is that it will become possible to let an aircraft operate always at landing and take-off with headwind. Whatever its strength and direction, the Endless Runway becomes independent of the wind. When allowing limited crosswind, airspace users can shorten the global trajectory of the flights through optimized departure and arrival routes.  The circle of the runway, whose diameter is set to 3 kilometers, is large enough to provide sufficient room for infrastructure preferably inside the circle, even for a hub airport. This makes the airport compact, while allowing current-day aircraft to use the circle without significant structural modifications. See video above. Get it?  Dominos... Amazing Dogs. Belgian Malinois are an athletic breed to say the least. Atmosphere TV for your FireStick This TV station is free and might be a cool thing to play in your lobby or bar... Man Forgets He Has a Family... But not BATMAN This is hilarious coming out of anesthesia... Top Ten FLYBYs Give this one a gander... We all remember Tom Cruise in the Movie "TOP GUN" when he makes a low pass near the control tower and causes an officer to spill coffee down his shirt. Well here are short clips of the top 10 low pass flybys ever filmed ... and of course for nostalgia, we see that Top Gun low pass again.   Pay particular attention to the last shown low pass. It is number one. Watch the halo of water around the plane. It happened during a Blue Angels event over San Francisco several years ago. It was the pilot's last show with the team and he had nothing to lose.   Many of the boats in the bay lost windows to the sonic blast. It's a kick to watch.   Number 3 was pretty impressive too. ( Sound ON ) Midwesterners use this phrase Spot the Robot Dog This thing is creepy but could be useful in taking over the human race... What a Food Truck Vendor... Lifeguard needs a break This is about 6 years old but Jamie Kennedy is the king of these types of pranks. Randomness Just for FUN Things the next generation won't use In home, dedicated phones. Keys.  Who would have thought... Physical Buttons Checks and Checkbooks. Take out menus. DVDs, CDs and the holders for them. Credit cards will give way to mobile pay and app pay. Telephone books are done already. Alarm Clocks Handy single purpose cameras Incandescent lightbulbs. USB drives will be overtaken by cloud storage solutions. Amazing TURKEY Burgers (really)    Ingredients For the Burgers 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions 1/2 cup finely chopped celery 3 Granny Smith apples , peeled and diced 1/8 cup canola oil 4 pounds ground turkey breast 2 Tablespoons salt 2 Tablespoons black pepper 2 teaspoons Tabasco® chipotle pepper sauce 1 lemon , juiced and grated zest 1/2 bunch parsley , finely chopped 1/4 cup Major Grey's Chutney , pureed Chutney 1 Anjou pear , peeled and diced 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 1/2 cups Major Grey's Chutney 1/4 cup dried currants or raisins Instructions For the Burgers Sauté the scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool. Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight 8-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes. For the Chutney Preheat oven to 350°. Toss the diced pears with the cinnamon and salt. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Cool and mix with the chutney and currants or raisins. *Note* We halved the recipe and still got 8 burgers. Also I have heard many say that the chutney is unnecessary... LIES!   All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 210 S. Milwaukee Ave. Wheeling, IL 60090 USA Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.