January 13th 2013 Old Ranch Dinner Dance

Did You Know? - Walking the plank was a form of murder thought to have been practised on special occasion by pirates, mutineers, and other rogue seafarers. For the amusement of the perpetrators (and the psychological torture of the victims), captives were forced to walk off a wooden plank or beam extended over the side of a ship. The victims were usually bound, blindfolded and/or weighed down, causing them to drown in the water or be killed by sharks (which would often follow ships).

The earliest known use of the phrase is the latter half of the 18th century. Some writers in the 20th century erroneously speculated that walking the plank may be a myth created by cinema; however, the phrase "walking the plank" is recorded in English writer Francis Grose's "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue",[1] which was published in 1788 (first published in 1785).

Did You Know? - Well, the piano started out with only about 60 keys, same as the harpsichord--in fact it WAS a harpsichord, except that the harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori (try saying that 10 times fast!) got the bright idea of putting hammers on one (to HIT the strings) instead of plectra (to PLUCK the strings).  So the piano was invented--this was around 1700, or maybe a little before that.

Anyway, as composers began to use the new instrument they started writing more and more complicated and brilliant music for it. Pretty soon, the keyboard had to expand in both directions.  By the middle of the 19th century, it had 85 notes--up to A--then finally they added the last three at the top. There's even a piano made today--the Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand--which has 96 keys; the bass notes go all the way down to C.  It's nine-and-a-half feet long and weighs almost a ton.

Did You Know? - The word dessert is most commonly used for this course in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Ireland, while "pudding" or, informally, "sweet" or "afters" are alternative terms that may also be used in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, including New Zealand, Hong Kong, and India.

Did You Know? - A clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval (see applause), but also in rhythm to match the sounds in music and dance.

Some people slap the back of one hand into the palm of the other hand to signify urgency or enthusiasm. This act may be considered uncouth by others.

Did You Know? - The origins of the kiss were studied in the early 20th century by anthropological writer Ernest Crawley. He wrote that kissing was "a universal expression in the social life of the higher civilizations of the feelings of affection, love (sexual, parental, and filial), and veneration." According to Crawley, touch is "the mother of the senses," and the kiss was a tactile and specialized form of intimate contact.

However, he notes that the act of kissing was very rare among the "lower and semi-civilized races," but was "fully established as instinctive in the higher societies." Yet even among higher civilizations Crawley saw differences: while the kiss seems to have been unknown to ancient Egypt, it was well established in early Greece, Assyria, and India.

Did You Know? - Dori \d(o) - ri\ as a girl's name is a variant of Adora (Greek, Old German, Latin), Doria (Greek), Doris (Greek) and Dorothy (Greek), and the meaning of Dori is "a gift; beloved; adored; from Doris; gift; gift of God".