Meeting Opener

At 7:30 President Phil opened the meeting by shouting at us — we had a few technical difficulties with the microphone. Phil welcomed us to the Newport Yacht Club and reminded us that the next meeting on January 18th will be back at Glendale.

Collie Radford lead us through the invocation and pledge, and although there wre no visiting Rotarians in attendance, both Ercan Turkarslan and Rourke O’Brien were joined by guests.

Friday Program:
Computers for the World — Istanbul, Turkey

John Martinka shared the history of the BBRC’s participation in the Computers for the World effort. John explained that it began with a visit to a Rotary Club in Slovakia. The Slovakian club wished to work with the BBRC on a project involving youth. Slowly, the conversation began to center around computers and a few years later, the collaboration between our clubs resulted in two generations of Computers for the World in Slovakia.

Forward to 2007, working with an Istanbul club, 14 computer labs are now operating in various parts of Turkey, with over 600 students using the computers provided by Computers for the World. John said there are six schools in the eastern part of Turkey and two labs catering to students with spinal cord injuries.

John Martinka also shared scandalous details about our mates’ visit to Turkey (Margie Burnett, Sadru Kabani, John DeWater, and Jenny Andrews). I think it best to simply say “what happens in Istanbul bazaars stays in Istanbul bazaars.”

New Member Classification Talk — Diane Gamache

Diane Gamache grew up in beautiful Yakima, among the hops and apples of the valley. Diane’s childhood household was a busy place with 20 residents (parents and 18 children).

Diane shared that she is a Certified Public Account and has formerly worked with the Big Eight. Over the years Diane has undertaken a number of philanthropic efforts. Most recently Diane has served on the board of Wilderness Camping, which provides terminally ill children with the opportunity to enjoy the camping experience.

Diane explained that her hunger to join Rotary was born from her wish to continue to work for philanthropic efforts with people who embody this spirit.

Welcome, Diane!

Valentine Dine-Around — February 9th

Now in its 12th year, the BBRC Valentine Dine-Around will take place February 9th. The Valentine Dine-Around is a wonderful opportunity to get to know fellow Rotarians and their partners in a more intimate setting, amid good food and wine. Hosts welcome four to six guests each into their homes for a wonderful evening of camaraderie and romance.

Sign up online now for this year's Dine-Around. Deadline for sign-ups is February 1.

Rotary First Harvest 4th Saturday

BBRC members are encouraged to join the Rotary First Harvest project every 4th Saturday at Food Lifeline Warehouse in Seattle.

The address is:

Food Lifeline Warehouse
4th Saturday (BBRC Focus)
1702 NE 150th St
Seattle, WA 98155
GOOGLE MAP

Looking for 3 RYLA Candidates
Ruben LadLad

It is that time of the year again! Once more we need your help to provide us with three candidates for this year's RYLA. Any junior or senior in high school can qualify. You can nominate your neighbors' and friends' kids or your own.

Deadline for sending applications is February 29th, and the program this year will run from March 6 to 9. RYLA will again be held at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.

Registration will be from 3 to 5 pm, Thursday, March 6, and finish is around 11:00 am, Sunday, March 9.

To strengthen the RYLA Program, for 2008 RYLA is following the Australian custom of asking Rotarians to be present at the RYLA Seminar. The Rotarian Observers may share fully in the experience with the young people and provide counsel and assistance as needed. Primary prerequisite for Rotarian-Observers is interest in helping young people.

If you are interested in helping as an observer, please let me know. There is a form to complete and a $60 per person fee to cover board and registration.

Some RYLA observers prefer to stay off campus (you make your own arrangements), and others bring their own sleeping bags and "camp" on the floor with the young people.

Let me know if you have any questions. I will have the necessary application and release forms ready.

Web Fun

Beauty of Math!
Courtesy of Wally Mahoney

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

• • •

Interesting Facts
Courtesy of Wally Mahoney

"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

"Lollipop" is the longest word typed with your right hand.

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes). There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo DaVinci invented the scissors

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruiseliner QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.