Happiness is the Perseid meteor shower 2018, courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project from Castel Santa Maria in Italy

Hosted by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, here.

Click the images to enlarge.

Happiness is a homemade bean burrito, perhaps the best for you and cheapest meal you can make for yourself

I reckon the most expensive thing is the tortilla itself, while the whole shebang is something just north of 72 cents:

Flour tortilla: 33 cents

1 oz. sharp cheddar cheese: 18 cents

2/3 cup prepared pinto beans (13 cents) and basmati rice (4 cents): 17 cents

0.11 oz. spice mixture I prepare from bulk purchased salt, onion and garlic powders, chili powder, crushed red pepper, oregano leaves and cumin: 4.6 cents.

I can season a one pound batch of beans, which makes nine burritos, however I like for 41 cents doing it this way instead of 79 cents for an unadjustable store purchased packet, a savings of 48%.

The price of the beans shown is for a store purchased one pound bag at $1.19. At Sam's Club you can cut this to 63 cents per pound by buying the 12 lb. bulk bag. Per burrito that's 7 cents instead of 13 cents, bringing the whole enchilada down to 66 cents.

The price of a little canola oil for frying is not included.

Toppings are another matter entirely, which with the salsa are really the salad part of the meal.

Happiness is heart healthy sweet bing cherries, on sale last week for $1.99/lb

This week they're $3.99, alas.

A serving is about one dozen cherries, giving you 12% of your daily dietary fiber and 16% of your vitamin C. You also get vitamins A and K, folate, potassium, calcium, zinc, iron and copper, and some important anti-inflammatory compounds.

The dark red color of cherries comes from anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins, which are compounds that help decrease inflammation in your body, according to Michael T. Murray, author of "The Condensed Encyclopedia of Healing Foods." A 2006 article published in the "Journal of Nutrition" reports that Bing cherries can reduce inflammation associated with cardiovascular disease and stroke. The study also suggests that eating cherries can lower your cholesterol. The beneficial compounds in cherries can ease the discomfort of arthritis as well, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.

More at the link.

Happiness is homegrown, if you know when to strike

It is many a man's case to tire himself out with hunting after that abroad, which he carries about him all the while, and may have it better cheap at home.

-- Roger L'Estrange

Happiness is Rosie, the cat with her own pack of Huskies

Here!

Happiness is a Rush Limbaugh sendup

Rush Hudson Limbaugh,

a febrile font of faux pas,

everyday, from his throne,

behind a golden microphone,

grifts millions spoutin' hoo-ha.

-- Johnny

Happiness was the plumber Alan Longmuir, founder of the Scottish supergroup Bay City Rollers

From the obituary here in the UK Guardian:

“Just a plumber from Edinburgh who got lucky” was Alan Longmuir’s dry assessment of his career. ... In their peak year, 1975, they had two UK No 1 singles, including the signature hit Bye Bye Baby; the end of that year saw them top the American chart with the stomping Saturday Night . . .. Alan and his younger brother, Derek – the Rollers’ future drummer – went to Tynecastle high school, which Alan left at 15. After a year of office work he was apprenticed as a plumber, but the job was secondary to his yearning to be a musician. ... He returned to working as a plumber and from 2000 until retirement was a bylaws inspector. ... He viewed the 70s with wry humour, saying in 2008: “I remember sitting at the bar of the Beverly Hills hotel – there was Patrick Magee, Barbra Streisand, David Soul – and Alan Longmuir, the plumber from Edinburgh.”

Omega-3 supplements found to be just as inefficacious as vitamins

Tim Chico, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Sheffield University, said it was unlikely any one element of the diet could alone prevent heart disease. “Previous experience has shown that although some types of diet are linked to lower risk of heart disease, when we try to identify the beneficial element of the diet and give it as a supplement it generally has little or no benefit,” he said. It happened with vitamins and now the Cochrane research had shown the same thing with omega-3.

“Such supplements come with a significant cost,” he said, “so to anyone buying them in the hope that they reduce the risk of heart disease, I’d advise them to spend their money on vegetables instead.”

More here.

Happiness is how far one can go on nothing more than lubricated imagination

Should but his muse descending drop

A slice of bread and mutton chop,

Or kindly, when his credit's out,

Surprise him with a pint of stout;

Exalted in his mighty mind,

He flies and leaves the stars behind.

-- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Happiness is a gift of coffee: Every cup is a fond reminder of the giver

This drink comforteth the brain and heart, and helpeth digestion.

-- Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Happiness is being a pork-eating infidel

Ounce for ounce, pork has three times less saturated fat than beef.

Happiness is a chart comparing the nutritional characteristics of cheeses

Seen here.

a

b

Happiness is eradicating plants poisonous to pets

Foxglove is toxic to cats and dogs

 

 

 

 Of simples in these groves that grow,

We'll learn the perfect skill;

The nature of each herb to know,

Which cures, and which can kill.

-- Michael Drayton (1563-1631), The Quest of Cynthia

Happiness over the 4th of July holiday was a six-pack of Edmund Fitzgerald Porter by Ohio's Great Lakes Brewing Company

Available in longnecks at Sam's Club for $7.96, plus deposit.

"Does any one know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"

Happiness is Frankie Ford's 1959 cover of "Sea Cruise"

Here.

Oo-ee! Sort of a cross between the characters Alfred E. Neuman and Gilligan, singing.

Happiness is that you're a little less likely to die sooner if you drink coffee than if you don't

From the story here:

The apparent longevity boost was seen with instant, ground and decaffeinated, results that echo U.S. research. It’s the first large study to suggest a benefit even in people with genetic glitches affecting how their bodies use caffeine.

Overall, coffee drinkers were about 10 percent to 15 percent less likely to die than abstainers during a decade of follow-up. Differences by amount of coffee consumed and genetic variations were minimal.

Happiness is mustard from France

Unlike yours mine came on a plane from France on Air France, in the hands of two French.

Nanny nanny boo boo.

Happiness is new research which may explain why small amounts of alcohol are heart healthy

"Shun the excess in either direction" Republic 10.619a

From the story here:

In tests on mice's hearts researchers interrupted the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the heart for 30 minutes to simulate myocardial infarction – a heart attack. This was less damaging for hearts which had been exposed to alcohol, they found. Some 50 per cent of cells died during the heart attack in the hearts which was not exposed to alcohol. However, in the hearts that had been exposed to the equivalent of two cans of beer or two glasses of wine for an average man, only 30 per cent of cells died. 'Our data suggest moderate exposure to ethanol causes minor stress in heart cells but not enough to kill them,' says Professor Julio Cesar Batista Ferreira. 'Heart cells eventually create a biochemical memory to protect against stress, also known as preconditioning. 'When the cells are submitted to a higher level of stress, they know how to deal with it.'

Happiness is cheap, plentiful canola oil for a happy, healthy heart

Otherwise known as rapeseed oil.

From the story here:

Although care must be taken in handling and processing of canola oil and other vegetable oils, canola oil is a safe and healthy form of fat that will reduce blood LDL cholesterol levels and heart disease risk compared to carbohydrates or saturated fats such as found in beef tallow or butter. Indeed, in a randomized trial that showed one of the most striking reductions in risk of heart disease, canola oil was used as the primary form of fat. Whether using cold pressed canola oil provides some small additional benefit is not clear.

Happiness is how sleep, exercise, and just a little alcohol "clean" the brain, preventing dementia

If you want it prevented, that is.

From the story here:

Researchers at University College London (UCL) have discovered a combination of sleep, exercise and a small amount of alcohol all help stimulate the ‘brain drain’, preventing the dangerous build up of sticky plaques which drive dementia.

Happiness is lycopene from tomatoes in pizza, linked to lower incidence of cancer

From the story here:

Research last year showed tomatoes can slow the growth of stomach cancer, and the World Health Organization recommended in May that other countries follow a diet high in olive oil, fruits and vegetables. ... This is not the first time pizza has been said to help prevent cancer. Research in 2003 discovered people who eat pizza at least twice a week are 59 per cent less likely to develop cancer of the oesophagus, have a 34 per cent lower risk of throat cancer and are 26 per cent less likely to get bowel cancer. Dr Silvano Gallus, of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmaceutical Research in Milan, said at the time: 'We knew that the tomatoes used in the sauce are considered to be a food that prevents certain tumours. 'However, we did not expect that pizza as a whole offered such high prevention against cancer.' 

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B9 (daily need is 400 micrograms)

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B9, also known as folate (daily need is 400 micrograms):

lentils (1 cup cooked): 358 micrograms

pinto beans (1 cup cooked): 296 micrograms

asparagus (1 cup cooked): 268 micrograms

spinach (1 cup cooked): 263 micrograms

broccoli (1 cup cooked): 168 micrograms

avocado (whole, 201 grams): 163 micrograms

mango (whole, 336 grams): 145 micrograms

romaine lettuce (3 ounces): 116 micrograms

orange (whole, 121 grams): 47 micrograms

wheat bread (slice, 29 grams): 25 micrograms

More here. 

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B12, per ounce (daily need is 6 micrograms)

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B12, per 28 grams or roughly 1 ounce (daily need is 6 micrograms):

clams: 27.6 micrograms

liver: 23.9 micrograms

fortified cereal: 5.8 micrograms

mackerel: 5.3 micrograms

king crab: 3.2 micrograms

beef steak: 2.1 micrograms

swiss cheese: 0.8 micrograms

fortified tofu: 0.6 micrograms

eggs: 0.3 micrograms

low fat yogurt: 0.1 micrograms

More here.

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B6, per ounce (daily need is 2 mg)

Some of the top food sources for vitamin B6, per 28 grams or roughly one ounce (daily need is 2 mg):

sunflower seeds: 0.38 mg

pistachio nuts: 0.31 mg

wild salmon (cooked): 0.26 mg

white meat poultry (cooked): 0.23 mg

pork sirloin (cooked): 0.22 mg

prunes: 0.20 mg

beef (cooked): 0.19 mg

bananas: 0.10 mg

avocado: 0.08 mg

spinach (cooked): 0.06 mg

More here.

The only vitamin supplements that can do you any good are B6, B12, and folic acid (folate in foods)

So says the story here:

The only supplements that showed any benefit among the studies were folic acid or B-vitamins that contained B6, B12, and folic acid, which could lower one’s risk of heart disease and stroke. Folic acid alone showed a 20 percent lowered risk of stroke. Conversely, the review found that niacin and antioxidants had a “very small” effect that could potentially raise the risk of death from any cause.

Happiness was shopping at Prange's in Sheboygan in the 1960s: It had EVERYTHING

Part of the Prange empire, detailed here.

Mom and I often took the bus there. She'd shop in the grocery and pay, and Prange's would deliver it later that day. Almost anything else we needed, or wanted, could be found on the floors of that store. And of course Dad always stopped in the bakery on Friday or Saturday to bring home the Sunday sour cream coffee cake.

The Christmas window displays drew in everyone starting the day after Thanksgiving.

Northeast of the store directly across the street from the parking lot was a Standard Oil gasoline station owned by family friend Norm Voigt, who did a brisk business at the pumps and in the service bay. He had a Coca Cola bottle machine cooler, into which you plunked a dime, opened the lid and slid out a shorty bottle, the cap of which you prised off with the opener on the side of it. You couldn't enjoy this without some salted peanuts from his little dispenser, either. A nickel a turn, if I remember right.

A little oyster of a world, and it was all ours.

Happiness is Raleigh cigarette coupons from 1960

Dad smoked these and collected the coupons. He cashed them in to buy me my first baseball mitt. I've still got the glove, a memory of the love.

Happiness is someone celebrating one's birthday humorously to the tune of Red River Valley

It's your day for some special attention!

An occasion to be wined and dined!

You should get everything that you wish for!

And the whole world should kiss your behind!

The Lily of the Valley has bloomed here in Michigan for Mother's Day

Its fragrance fills the air as I write this, and reminds me of my mother, who grew it prolifically on the west northwest side of our old house in Wisconsin.

"For her the lilies hang their heads, and die".

-- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

Happiness is the sound words make

The Mary Rose, perhaps planned under Henry VII, sank in 1545

I confess I do not like to see

words written out of melody.

On the page alarms do ring

whene'er the author makes them sing

out of tune to aural sense,

mixing past and perfect tense.

As when The Rosemary instantly sunk,

an ugly phrase that goes kerplunk.

-- Johnny

Happiness is rice

Rice is of excellent use for illnesses of the stomach, that proceed from cold or moist humours; a great digester and restorer of appetite.

-- William Temple (1628-1699), a follower of Epicurus

The blushing poppy

Ypres, Belgium

Why does one climate and one soil endue

The blushing poppey with a crimson hue,

Yet leave the lily pale, and tinge the violet blue?

-- Matthew Prior (1664-1721)

Properly stored, some pills retain their potency indefinitely

From the story here:

Numerous studies on expired, properly stored drugs, mostly pills, have found them fully potent or close, some many years after that date. In one case, unopened bottles of painkillers, antihistamines and other drugs from the 1960s were still very potent when tested a half-century later. ... The exceptions are aspirin and the antibiotic tetracycline, which can deteriorate soon after expiration dates. ... But experts say don't use expired liquid medicines, insulin and other injected drugs that must be refrigerated. They can break down faster than pills, especially if they aren't kept cold. Ditto for drugs not properly stored. Medicines kept in areas with high humidity or fluctuating temperatures — like a bathroom cabinet — or left in direct light degrade faster and can lose potency. Instead, keep them in a cool, dark place, advises Michael Gaino of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Happiness is Braddah Iz singin' "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"

Here.

Happiness is knowing where to plant what

 

 

 

 The north is a noier to grass of all suits,

The east a destroyer to herbs and all fruits.

-- Thomas Tusser

Happiness is the 1996 gem "Luigi's Welcome" sung by Jerry Hadley

Here.

The song is from the film, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and is adapted from the 1880 Neapolitan song "Funiculi, Funicula".

The sun . . . she's like-a the luscious yellow cherry, without the pit, without the pit

The day . . . so bright and extraordinary, so welcome it, so welcome it!

My wife . . . she sparkles like a ray of sunlight, she smiles at me, she smiles at me

A queen . . .  to grace the morning with her yawning, and I her king, and you her king!

Welcome! Welcome! Blessed morning sun . . .

The dawn . . . she's breaking all across the valley, here comes the sun, here comes the sun

The dawn . . . she sang Wake Up Everybody! the day's begun, the day's begun

The bells . . . they're ringing loudly in the steeple, they ring for me, they ring for me!

This town . . . has got a lot of friendly faces, to sing with me, to sing with me! . . .

 

 

Not happiness exactly: Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones

1966, here.

Happiness is low-sodium Cento San Marzano tomatoes in the BIG MOTHER 90 oz. can

This one big can yields 10 cups + of smooth sauce through my press.

And only 20 mg sodium per half cup!

It's fabulous!

Happiness is Cento extra virgin olive oil in the 3-liter can

Filippo Berio raised its prices enough recently for me to try Cento.

And you know what? Cento is better!

Happiness is filing income taxes with TurboTax . . . eleven years in a row

And to think I did it with paper and pencil before that. Perish the thought! 

Happiness is John Prine singing "Dear Abby"

Here.

Happiness was flying Economy Class . . . in the 1960s

Happiness is reading the Bible like General George S. Patton

Every . . . . . . . day.

Here.

Happiness is a Joey Bag O' Donuts

Here.

Goodbye WLUP.

Happiness is Tiangong-1 impact in the Pacific Ocean, not in my backyard