The history and science of cotton candy is often overlooked. But under the cover, it’s actually quite interesting. Machine-spun cotton candy was, strangely enough, invented by a dentist, William Morrison, and confectioner, John C. Wharton, in the year 1897. It made great success at the 1904 World’s Fair, known as “Fairy Floss”, where it sold 68,655 boxes at 25 cents each, equivalent to about 6 dollars each today. Joseph Lascaux, a dentist from New Orleans, Louisiana, invented a similar cotton candy machine in 1921. In fact, the Lascaux patent named the sweet confection “cotton candy”, which is the delicious item we know, recognise, and love today. Interestingly, Tootsie Roll of Canada Ltd., actually is the world’s largest cotton candy manufacturer, and are able to pull off making tootsie rolls, at the same time. Wow! They must be working overtime or something… The United States declared National Cotton Candy day to be December 7th. That was about four months ago, and will occur again in about seven months. Typical machines used to make cotton candy include a spinning head enclosing a small “sugar reserve” bowl, into which a charge of granulated, colored sugar (or separate sugar and food coloring) is poured. Heaters near the rim of the head melt the sugar, which is squeezed out through tiny holes by centrifugal force. Centrifugal force is when you spin so fast, you get glued to a wall. For example, if you stood in a room that started to rotate, if the room went fast enough, you’d throw up on the wall, and get a whole bucket of vomit straight up in your face. Colored sugar packed specially for the process is milled with melting characteristics. Also, size is key. Rock sugar crystals are too big to pass through the holes. Fine granulated sugar passes through easily, because, well, IT’S THINNER. Cotton candy is first white, as it’s made of sugar. Then, coloring is added to give the candy it’s color. In the US, a wide range of floss flavors are found, but the blue raspberry and pink vanilla dominate. This is what we see on the outside of the cotton candy. It’s flavoring added, not flavored sugar. Types of cotton candy include Soan Papdi in India, Dragon’s beard candy in China, Klul-tarae in Korea, Pashmak in Iran, and this last has countless more items. Sadly, we cannot eat this for life. And here’s why. If we eat too much of this, we would go on a sugar high. We would have to spend hours on the treadmill, and then go on a sugar crash. Then, our teeth could decay, giving us plaque, and very weak gums. And then, comes of course, possible death, due to an infection from weak gums. So, in conclusion, cotton candy is amazing. The history is backwards, (dentists inventing candy), the science is forwards, (it’s science), but the consequences are just plain evil. DON’T EAT TOO MUCH!
My Tribute to Kobe Bryant
I chose to write a tribute Kobe Bryant because of my love for basketball and Kobe Bryant. He, in my opinion, is one of the most talented and selfless basketball players of all time. Now he is no longer with us, and the world has been left shocked. I’ll remember him, because of what he did and how he did it. 5 x NBA Champion. 2 x Finals MVP. NBA MVP. 18 x All-Star. 2 x NBA Scoring Champion. 4th on All-Time Scoring List. These are just a few of the achievements by Kobe Bean Bryant, which he achieved over the span of his entire 20-season tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, which are legendary in the history of the NBA. He is known for his famed “Mamba Mentality”, a do-or-die situation where one does anything to win. He is known for his philanthropy, starting numerous basketball academies for children, his own and others, encouraging them to be the best they can be on and off the court. He is known for a lot of things. Or, at least, he was. On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash en route to a tournament at Bryant’s Mamba Academy, in Calabasas, California. He was left behind by his wife, and three daughters. The victims names were Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, John Altobelli, Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mauser, Ara Zobayan, and Kobe and Gianna Bryant. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement: “The NBA family is devastated by the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna … For 20 seasons, Kobe showed us what is possible when remarkable talent blends with an absolute devotion to winning. He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game with accomplishments that are legendary … But he will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability. He was generous with the wisdom he acquired and saw it as his mission to share it with future generations of players, taking special delight in passing down his love of the game to Gianna.” Now, people look back and remember. “Hey, wasn’t Bryant the one who scored 55 points in a half and finished with 81?” “Isn’t he the one who scored 60 in his last game?” “Isn’t he the one who always encouraged someone to be the best they can be?” Kobe Bryant is but a memory; he will always have a place in our hearts, and everyone’s hearts. In the NBA, teams took 8-second and 24-second violations to honor the numbers of Bryant’s jerseys. The Lakers and Mavericks have retired his two numbers, which means that no one will ever wear that number again. Staples Center, the team’s arena, has been turned into a massive tribute area for fans to pay their respects. And LeBron James, to make his absence hit your heart, delivered a heart-wrenching speech, in tears himself, to the crowd in the Lakers first game back after the Mamba’s death. He quoted Bryant’s famous saying “Mamba out,” and added “not forgotten.” But the part that struck me the most was the end. “Live on brother.”
How to Play Kabaddi: Part 2
Hello again! When I left off my last blog post (Kabaddi: Part 1), I had just finished explaining a bit about Kabbadi. Well, I’m back! In this blog we will cover how to score in Kabaddi, and how scoring is kept, as well as how to be a Kabaddi referee. Here we go! We left off with some special terms. Now, the following table shows the different ways to score. Kabaddi is a contact sport, however, you can’t just barge in like a rhino, or try to touch someone in haste, and get out; no, you have to be quick, like a ninja. Just a small touch counts! Toe Touch/Kick: Where you thrust your foot toward the defender and lightly brush him. A kick uses the entire foot, but they are practically the same. Hand Touch: When a raider lunges toward a defender and touches them with their hand. Escaping a Tackle: When the raider just drags the defender and touches the midline without losing their breath. You can make many combinations of these techniques like kicking a defender, using the same kick to get to the bonus line, get someone with a hand touch, and drag someone back to the midline. That would get you 4 points! Now, you will learn how to referee a Kabaddi game. Whenever someone scores, the ref must thrust their hand up in the air with the amount of points scored counted by the fingers. At the same time, they hold their other hand sideways and point it to the side of the team that scored, and then say how many points they scored, and say the team that scored. When the game ends, the ref must point both hands straight ahead and say, “match completed.” There are six officials: 1 Referee, 2 Umpires, 1 Scorer, and 2 Assistant Scorers. Duties of the Referee: -Take the toss. -Supervise the match. -Announces the score of each side before the last 5 minutes of the match. -Takes care of recording the time. -Warns about the time remaining at last 5 minutes of second half of the match. Duties of the two Umpires: -The Umpires conduct the match and give decisions according to the rules of the game. Duties of the Scorer: -Fills in the score sheet. -Announces the score with the permission of the referee at the end of each half. -Complete the score sheet in all respects and get it duly signed by the Umpires and Referee. Duties of the two Assistant Scorers: -Maintains record of the players who are out. -Sees that the players are seated in the order of being out. -Will help referee regarding any player who goes out of boundary. Just like in soccer, Kabaddi also had the warning card system. Here it is: -Green card: It is a warning sign. If a green card is given twice to a player or coach or manager twice, the next card shall be directly a yellow card. -Yellow card: That member is temporarily suspended for 2 minutes. If a yellow card is given twice to a player or coach or manager, the next card shall be directly a red card. -Red card: Suspension from match or debarred from tournament. Each team shall score one point for every opponent out or put out. The side which scores a special term shall score two extra points. The out and revival rule will be applicable. Each team shall score one point for every bonus point awarded. So, that’s it! I have shared with you all that I know about Kabaddi, and anything you would need to stage a Kabaddi game. Leave your thoughts in the comment section, and see you in October.
