Minimalist poet, minimalist lifestyle

A first grade teacher collected well known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb.

Strike while the .........insect is close.
Never underestimate the power of............ants.
Don't bite the hand that....................looks dirty.
Better to be safe than................punch a grade 7 boy.
If you lie down with dogs, you'll.......stink in the morning.
It's always darkest before............Daylight Saving Time.
You can lead a horse to water but...........how?
No news is..................................impossible.
A miss is as good as a......................Mr.
You can't teach an old dog new..............maths.
Love all, trust.............................me.
The pen is mightier than the................pigs.
An idle mind is.....................the best way to relax.
Where there's smoke there's.................pollution.
Happy the bride who...............gets all the presents.
A penny saved is............................not much.
Two's company, three's.....................the Musketeers.
Don't put off till tomorrow what....you put on to go to bed.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and..........you have to blow your nose.
There are none so blind as..................Stevie Wonder.
Children should be seen and not.............smacked or grounded.
If at first you don't succeed...............get new batteries.
You get out of something only what you......see in the picture on the box.
When the blind leadeth the blind........get out of the way.
And the favorite:
Better late than............................pregnant

"Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments."
Julius Sextus Frontinus, Roman Engineer, AD 10.

"Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax."
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British physicist, 1899.

"Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breath, would die of asphyxia."
Dionysius Lardner, British scientist, 1823.

"This 'telephone' has too many short comings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. This device is inherently of no value to us."
Internal memo, Western Union, 1876.

"That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"
President Rutherford B. Hayes to Alexander Graham Bell, 1876.

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
Associates of David Sarnoff in response to his call for investment in radio, 1920's.

"I have anticipated [radio's] complete disappearance ­ confident that the unfortunate people, who must now subdue themselves to 'listening-in' will soon find a better pastime for their leisure."
H.G. Wells, The Way the World is Going, 1925.

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
H.M. Warner, Warner Bros, 1927.

"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility."
Lee DeForest, Radio pioneer.

"The problem with television is that the people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn't time for it."
The New York Times, after a prototype demonstration at the 1939 World's Fair.

"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."
Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology, Toulouse, 1872.

"However fascinating it may be as a scholarly achievement, there is virtually nothing that has come from molecular biology that can be of any value to human living."
Frank MacFarlane Burnet, Nobel Prize winning immunologist (1899-1985).

"There will be no epidemics. There will be no incurable diseases."
Norman Bel Geddes, Ten Years from Now, 1931.

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon."
John Eric Ericksen, Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.

"Teeth will disappear in about 75 years from now, because the food of the future will be concentrated and made directly from chemicals so that there will be no strain on the digestion, or gums."
Editor, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1900.

"We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium."
Winston Churchill, "Fifty Years Hence" in Popular Mechanics, 1930.

"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone."
Charles Darwin, The Origin of the Species, 1869.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"1930 will be a splendid employment year."
U.S. Department of Labor, 1929.

"Law will be simplified [over the next 100 years]. Lawyers will have diminished, and their fees will have been vastly curtailed."
Junius Henri Browne, Journalist, 1893.

"Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances."
Lee DeForest, Radio Pioneer, 1957.

"Before man reaches the moon your mail will be delivered within hours from New York to Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail."
Arthur Summerfield, U.S. Postmaster General, 1959.

"Nuclear powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within 10 years."
Alex Lewyt, President, Lewyt Vacuum Cleaner Co, 1955.

"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will."
Albert Einstein, 1932.

"It doesn't matter what he does, he will never amount to anything."
Albert Einstein's teacher, 1895.

"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."
Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."
Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

"There will never be a bigger plane built."
A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane holding ten people.

"Houses will be able to fly [by the year 2000] The time may come when whole communities may migrate south in the winter, or move to new lands whenever they feel the need for a change of scenery."
Arthur C. Clarke, Vogue, 1966.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, Chairman IBM, 1943.

"It would appear we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements; they tend to sound pretty silly in five years."
John von Neumann, computer scientist, 1949.

"I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
Editor of Business Books, Prentice Hall, 1957.

"Despite the trends to compactness and lower costs, it is unlikely everyone will have their own computer any time soon."
Stanley Penn, The Wall Street Journal, 1966.

"But what is [the microchip] good for?"
Engineer, Advanced Computing Systems Division, IBM, 1968.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Ken Olsen, Founder, Digital Equipment Corp, 1977.

"I predict the internet will go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse."
Bob Metcalfe, InfoWorld, 1995.

"That's not a penis pump...it's a bomb!"

Mary the hanged elephant.

Ancient Romans trained eels.

The bearded lady disease.

638 ways to kill Castro.

Warpaint used by ancient Celts fights breast cancer.

The gold; yours, if you can lift it.

Elvis ate 94,000 calories a day.

Crisp bags for wheelchairs.

Spud Guns
These were pistols that would shoot out potatoes. They were also known as potato cannons, tennis ball cannons, potato guns, or spudguns.

Frisbee
Everyone loved throwing the frisbee around. Childrens first reaction to seeing the high flying toy was, 'Wow! What's that?'. Even today people still throw frisbees around at parks, beaches, bbq's etc. Even dogs love chasing frisbees...but nothing compares to how people enjoyed them in the 1950's

Ant Farm
Real ants were put in a glass framed case with dirt and paths for the ants to follow. It was fun to watch as your insects interacted on the farm.

Telephone Booth Stuffing
One of the most well known fads of all time was Telephone Booth stuffing. It was started by several college students who would squeeze themselves into a telephone booth until no one else could fit inside. Although the fad was popularized by colleges from the west coast in the U.S., it was actually started in South Africa where twenty-five students packed themselves into a booth and claimed they had set a world record. Soon, many colleges around the world were trying to beat each other's records. The fad died out in 1959, but was reincarnated in the form of Volkswagen stuffing a few years later.

Hula Hoop
One of the biggest fads of all time is the hula-hoop, invented in 1957, by an Australian.
The name "hula hoop" came from the Hawaiian dance its users seemed to imitate. The invention was licensed to Wham-O, who sold 25 million hula-hoops in two months. Almost 100 million international orders followed. They were manufacturing 20,000 hoops a day at the peak of popularity.

Not all nations thought this was such a spiffy idea. Japan banned the hoops thinking they might promote improprieties. The Soviet Union said the hula-hoop was an example of the "emptiness of American culture." Hula-hoops lost their popularity by the late 1970's but are still sold in major retails stores today.

3D Movies
Movie studio executives worried that the new medium, television, would steal away their audiences. What was required was a hook to bring people back into the movie theatre. As the strippers sang in "Gypsy," you gotta have a gimmick.

Even though 3-D movies had been around as far back as 1922 and had lost favor, it was decided to try again. Arch Oboler's "Bwana Devil" started the 3-D craze of the 1950's. It premiered on Nov. 26, 1952 and starred Robert Stack, Barbara Britton and Nigel Bruce.

People were issued glasses, which facilitated the 3-D effect. Previously, 3-D used the anaglyphic process and those glasses were the red and green ones. This distorted the whole film by discoloration. Enter Polaroid and a newer system called Natural Vision. Polaroid glasses were nearly clear and so did not detract from the viewing experience.

At first industry experts predicted that 3-D would do for movies what the "talkies" had done. Some surprising titles were filmed in 3-D, such as Hondo, Kiss Me Kate and Dial M for Murder. But often their 2-D versions outsold the 3-D, and the industry got the big hint.

Coonskin Caps
Became a hot commodity in late 1954 with the debut of Walt Disney's Davy Crockett. The hat became the most popular of all the Davy Crockett products, which netted Disney a cool hundred million dollars.

DA Haircut
In the 1950's the DA (Ducks Ass), was the haircut of choice for the "cool" guys. Formed by combing the hair back on the sides of the head and holding it there with a dab of grease (hence the term "greaser"). Became popular by many rock and roll idols, making parents frown upon them and the effect it had upon their children. So legions of rebels without a cause delighted in slicking their hair back with a little brylcream and a plastic comb.

Panty Raids
Legend states the tradition started on the night of March 21st 1952, at the university of Michigan. Approximately 600 male students stormed a women's dormitory and confiscated lingerie. Word got out and soon college guys across the country started participating in the escapades. The practice died out in the 1960's, some have speculated that panty raids were squelched by the onset of the sexual revolution.

Sideburns
James Dean and Elvis Presley among others, got loads of mileage out of those strips of facial hair that grew down about an inch and a half below the ears. Sideburns became the crucial detail to go along with the leather jackets and the DA haircuts. Eventually sideburns could be seen everywhere and realization of the grooming seemed to be more trouble then it was worth. The sideburns soon faded out.

Poodle Skirts
This is the look most associated with the Fifties. And when you saw the "skirt" link, it's what you most expected to find. A poodle skirt is a wide swing skirt with a poodle appliquéd or transferred onto the fabric. Poodles were not the only items used to adorn these skirts, they are just the best remembered.

Saddle Shoes
Nothing characterizes the Fifties quite as well as the saddle shoe. These things are heavy and rather stiff. And you couldn't just throw them in the washer when they got dirty!

Other different and derivative styles popular in the 50s included: two piece bathing suits; circle-skirts, bobby sox and ponytails; sack dresses; women wore pants outside the home, hooded dresses; short shorts; poodle hair styles for women; pink clothing for men and women; duck tail and apache hairstyles for men. Famous redheaded supermodel Suzy Parker displayed many of the decade's fashions.

Blackjack Chewing Gum
Black licorice flavored gum.

Bubble Gum Cigars
Gum shaped to look like cigars (some even had a pink tip, to look like they were lit).

Car Hops
Burger joints and diners. Waitresses would roller-skate to your car and take your order.

Letter Sweaters
Girls would wear their boyfriends letterman jackets and sweaters, to show everyone they were dating a jock.

Virgin Pins
Big in the 1950's...at least in Cleveland, Ohio. Always circular, usually gold-colored metal, may have been made of other materials but not at our school. Girls wore them pinned on their right upper blouse/sweater front to proudly advertise that they were the coveted virginal "good girl" material, highly prized in that era.

Rattlebones Inn

Good or Quiet Woman

The Idle Cook (Idle, Bradford)

The Fanny On The Hill (Kent)

Ducks Don't Float

The Frog & Radiator (Greenwich)

Who'd Have Thought Of It (London)

The Case Is Altered - a corruption of the Spanish 'Casa Altera', the other place [i.e. a brothel]

The Gate Hangs Well

The Struggling Monkey

The Moon Under The Water (Manchester)