LUCY DAHL

Screenwriter Lucy Dahl was born healthy on August 4, 1965--while her mother, actress Patricia Neal, was comatose from a stroke. [Source: www.imdb.com.]

MYSTERIES OF THE BIBLE: SATAN

The first mention of Satan ("Adversary") by name in The Bible is in Chronicles I 21:1. Here he is named as the being who commanded King David to take a census of Israel and Judah--an act which incurred God's wrath because it involved relying on humans instead of God. However, earlier, in Samuel 2 24:1-9, the command to David is attributed to God Himself. Perhaps Satan had tricked David into believing he was following God. The earliest references to Satan are as the serpent in Genesis 3: 1-5 and in Genesis 3: 13,14.

SHERLOCK HOLMES

The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes was based on a real-life Scottish surgeon, Joseph Bell. The character's creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was an understudy of Dr. Bell at the University of Edinburgh Medical School in 1877 and was later his assistant. Upon meeting a patient Bell could by power of observation and deduction instantly determine the person's medical condition without examination or questioning. He would often guess with startling accuracy the patients' habits, occupations, nationalities and sometimes even their names. Sir Arthur noted: "Dr. Bell would sit in his receiving room ... and diagnose the people as they came in, before they even opened their mouths. He would tell them details of their past life; and hardly would he ever make a mistake." [Source: Biography magazine, "Bioscope: Fact or Fiction," December 2001]

THE REAL DIGGITY DOGGONE DIGGITY: STRANGE ACTUAL WORDS & EVENTS

I'm an accomplished pianist/keyboardist. Over the years I've been willing to practice any style of music, figuring I can learn something from practicing even the world's corniest song. Here's a partial list of songs I've practiced over the years:

The Beverly Hillbillies theme song
The Hogan's Heroes theme song
The I Dream of Jeannie theme song
The Flintstones theme song
The Family Affair theme song
The Scooby Doo theme song
The Gilligan's Island theme song
The "Little Red Book"
"Patricia" (the Real Sex theme song)
"Steppin' Out"
"Crimson & Clover"
"Sweet Caroline"
A 1974 Juicy Fruit commercial jingle
"It's A Heartache"
"You're The One That I Want"
"I Will Survive"

I could probably think of other songs, but I think I'll stop right here--then practice "Hooked On A Feeling." (I'm joking there.) Corn syrup is unhealthful.

SCIENCE: ENSIGN WASP

This strange-looking bug resembles a cross between a house fly and a cricket. You may have seen it and wondered what it is. One answer is "your friend against cockroaches." Another answer is "ensign wasp." The adult wasp feeds on pollen from certain flowers and its larvae feed on roach eggs. The adult female lays several eggs within a roach egg casing. When the eggs hatch the wasp larvae eat the roach eggs. The wasps don't sting. [Source: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2009/07/04/ensign-wasp-4/, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BI036, et al.]

THE REAL DIGGITY DOGGONE DIGGITY: STRANGE ACTUAL WORDS & EVENTS

Above is the name of an island in Newfoundland and the island itself.

HISTORY: DUKE UNIVERSITY

The black architect Julian Francis Abele (1881-1950) designed Duke University. However, racism kept him from being invited to the campus--during and after construction. The university's white administrators did not want others to know that a black person designed the campus. A cousin, Julian Abele Cook, later designed Howard University. [Source: American Legacy magazine, Fall 2003, Volume 9, Number 3]