Trail Mix

Trail Mix. The Hub Radio Show for Monday August 31, 2020. View the completely nutritious playlist for 8-31-20 (CLICK HERE)

Air Traffic Controller, Dan Croll, All We Are, Blossoms, Cut Copy

National Trail Mix Day is dedicated to the snack mix of sustenance, which was conceived to be taken along on hikes. It is easy to carry and usually nutritious, often containing raisins, nuts, and granola. Chocolate is often also added. It's at least been around since 1910, when it was mentioned in Horace Kephart's The Book of Camping and Woodcraft. In many European countries it is known as "student snack" or "student food", and many hikers refer to trail mix as "gorp". This may be an acronym for "good old raisins and peanuts" or "granola, oats, raisins, peanuts." Celebrate the day by eating trail mix! Go on a hike or bike ride and take it along.

Can Opener

Can Opener. The Hub Radio Show for Monday August 24, 2020. View the completely utilitarian playlist for 08-24-20 (CLICK HERE)

All Them Witches, Cut Worms, Fantastic Negrito, Matt Maltese, Eeels, Arlo Parks

Does it seem odd that there is a day dedicated to the can opener? Well, did you know that there was about a half century between the invention of canned food and the invention of the can opener? Maybe after all those years of people struggling to open cans without one, they thought the can opener needed some recognition. There was some canning of goods in the Netherlands before 1800, but it was not until 1810 when the preservation of food in cans was patented. By the 1820's, food was being canned in Britain, France, and the United States. But, the first can opener was not patented until 1855 in Britain, and 1858 in the United States. Prior to this, phrases such as "Cut round the top near the outer edge with a chisel and hammer" were written on cans. The early can openers were primitive, however, and the first rotating wheel opener was not patented until 1870. This too was problematic, as the can had to be pierced before the opener could be used. In 1925, a second serrated wheel was added by the Star Can Opener Company, which greatly improved the functionality of the opener. This opener was improved in 1931 so that it had pliers-like handles and could hold a can on its own. This two wheeled opener that held the can is the main style that is still in use today. The first electric can openers were patented in the 1930's.

Cat Nights

Cat Nights. The Hub Radio Show for Monday August 17, 2020. View the completely feline playlist for 08-17-20 (CLICK HERE)

Fontaines D.C., Bully  Bob Mould , Fast Romantics, Liza Anne, Sports Team

Cat Nights begin on August 17. This term harks back to the days when people believed in witches. A rather obscure old Irish legend said that a witch could turn herself into a cat eight times, but on the ninth time (August 17), she couldn’t regain her human form. This bit of folklore also gives us the saying, “A cat has nine lives.” Because August is a yowly time for cats, this may have prompted the speculation about witches on the prowl in the first place. Also, nights continue to get longer. Cats, crepuscular creatures, are nocturnal hunters. Their superior night vision means that the nights belong to them.

Lazy Day

Lazy Day. The Hub Radio Show for Monday August 10, 2020. View the completely slow moving playlist for 8-10-20 (CLICK HERE)

Matt Berringer, Margo Price, My Morning Jacket, Tanya Donelly & The Parkington Sisters

Lazy Day is your chance to goof off, and definitely not work. And, it definitely comes at a good time. Hot, muggy weather makes it easy to kick back and be lazy for a day. If summer chores are not done by now, they can just wait one more day. It is a day best spent on a hammock, along with your favorite summer beverage. Take a lot of naps. Lay in a hammock, on the couch, or never leave your bed. Don't prepare any food today. Order a pizza or something else to be delivered to your house. Drink some ice-cold beverages. Shirk whatever responsibilities you have for your job, forgo any chores you should be completing, and do whatever you think is fun instead. Watch a bunch of television, or listen to a lot of music.

Grab Some Nuts

Grab Some Nuts. The Hub Radio Show for Monday August 3, 2020. View the completely healthy playlist for 8-3-20 (CLICK HERE)

Sports Team, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Lawn, Protomartyr

Many of what people call nuts technically aren't nuts, they are dried seeds. Nuts can be classified in a culinary sense and in a botanical sense. Botanical nuts are those that are technically nuts. The shell of these nuts is hard and doesn't open to release the seed. Some examples are hazelnuts, acorns, and chestnuts. Most seeds that we call nuts are just nuts in a culinary sense. This is a less restrictive term to identify nuts, where the criteria needed to be classified as botanical nuts is not met. Culinary nuts are usually any edible, large, and oily kernel that grows in a shell. Examples are almonds, pistachios, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and pecans.

Nap Day

Nap Day. The Hub Radio Show for Monday July 20, 2020. View the completely refreshed playlist for 7-20-20 (CLICK HERE)

Christian Lee Hutson, A.A. Williams, Kalen & Aslyn, Bibio

Humans are monophasic sleepers, meaning that they devote one part of the day to sleep, and the other part to being awake. But there is one exception to this. Naps! And being that today is Nap Day, it's the perfect day to take one.
Naps provide numerous benefits, as long as they aren't too long. Naps that are about 10 to 30 minutes in length improve mood, alertness, and performance—both mentally and physically. The alertness that naps provide can last for a few hours time. Naps of 10 minutes in length provide the most benefit of improved cognitive performance and reduced sleepiness. Naps also provide relaxation and rejuvenation. Celebrate the day by taking a nap! In order to reap its benefits, make sure it's about 10 to 30 minutes long. It's a good idea to make sure you have a good sleep environment too, with good room temperature, and limited light and noise. Also, make sure that you aren't napping too close to the morning or evening.

Cornscateous Day

Cornscateous Day. The Hub Radio Show for Monday July 13, 2020. View the completely still playlist for 7-13-20 (CLICK HERE)

The Beths, Motion City Soundtrack, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Hum

Well, as you might guess, it has to do with corn. The old almanac makers dreamed it up, we figure, and used it to signify a time in July when the air is damp and warm, which the farmers considered ideal for growing corn, but which could also pose a serious health threat to old-timers (or others) suffering from asthma, pneumonia or other respiratory ills. Those old-timers were valued work force come husking time, you understand, when every good hand was needed. Our 1805 Old Farmer's Almanac advised: "If you make a husking, keep an old man between every two boys, else your husking will turn out a loafing. In a husking there is some fun and frolic, but on the whole, it hardly pays the way; for they will not husk clean, since many go more for the sport than to do real work." You can store corn unhusked (husks still on) in the refrigerator for about two days, but the sooner you eat it, the better it will taste. Right off the stalks is about right. As Garrison Keillor put it, "Sex is good, but not as good as fresh, sweet corn."