Saturday 6: 9 Colors Named After People

Here are some random links I ran across this week that I hope you’ll enjoy.

Let’s begin.

1. A Swim with a View

This won’t be your grandfather’s swimming hole. The luxury apartment complex Embassy Gardens in London is planning the world’s first “Sky Pool.” The pool will allow residents to swim across the gap between the two apartment buildings in a glass-bottomed pool 10 stories above ground. Click the link and have a look at the artist’s rendering. Would you take a swim in that?

2. Notables Wage War on Confederate Flag

Dozens of prominent Mississippi natives — including Morgan Freeman and John Grisham — called on their home state to remove the Confederate battle flag from the official state flag in a full-page ad in the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger. The ad argues that it’s unfair to expect black Mississippians to learn, work, serve and even play under a state flag that “glorifies a war fought to keep their own ancestors enslaved.” But it also points out a somewhat unknown — or more likely ignored point of history: Jefferson Davis’s own request about displaying the Confederate flag after the war. Do you think it’s appropriate to redesign state flags that contain Confederate symbols?

3. 9 Colors Named After People

Did you know the color fuchsia, otherwise known as “hot pink,” was named after a real person? It’s just one of nine examples. Have a look.

4. Fudge in a Microwave?

So apparently a microwave can do anything. That’s the only thing I can figure after seeing a recipe for microwave-made fudge. “A few ingredients and a microwave are all that’s required to make this rich, creamy fudge,” the intro says. Have you ever made fudge in your microwave?

5. ‘Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin?’ Not So Fast!

Here’s an interesting take on an age-old Christian mantra. It begins with one notable point often lost on the people who quote it as a God-given rule: Jesus never said it. Do you agree?

6. Lights, Camera, Warp Speed Ahead!

If you’re willing to make a donation that will support nine charities, you have a chance to appear in the next Star Trek motion picture. The grand prize winner will receive a walk-on role in the film, which is shooting in Vancouver, and get to meet the cast and crew. Donors get multiple chances based on the amount of the donation. Ten bucks earns you 100 chances to win. If you have a lot to give to the cause, $50,000 will earn you half-a-million chances to win as well as an advance pre-screening of Star Trek Beyond in or near your hometown. Details here. How do you feel about the rebooted Star Trek: do you like it as much or less or more than the original?

I hope you get out and enjoy these non-traditional August holidays. Are there any others that sound good to you?