The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

18:16 Oct 25 2011
Times Read: 650


RED HAIR FACTS

ELIZABETH johansen © 2005





Some of us are drawn to the color Red like a bull in Spain, relentless, fixed, and pure. Less than four percent of the world population has naturally red hair. That is less than two percent in America. The gene for Ginger hair was discovered in 1995 and this discovery got little attention. This is not consistent as red heads have gotten lots of it. Some negative such as the association with witches and a crazy temper. Some are positive, such as our love for Lucy, The Little Mermaid, and the Feminist icon of Lilith, the first wife of Adam who insisted on sexual equality. So many deceptive MYTHS are of common knowledge concerning the crimson strand. Read up on the TRUE history of this striking genetic endowment.



Sixty percent of women who dye their hair do so at home. Of them twenty six percent choose to go blonde, twenty seven percent go basic brunette, and thirty percent choose to become redheads. The sale of at home red dye kits has gone up seventeen percent since the year two thousand hit.



Professor Jonathan Rees conducted a study of redheads at Edinburgh University.He identified the"gene for red hair" the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), found on the 16th chromosome. He found that this single gene was responsible for red hair.



Red hair is a genetic mutation.



Red hair is seen on the heads of only four percent of people. Most of these exist in the U.K., the Republic of Ireland, and Australia.



The highest percentage of natural redheads in the world is in Scotland (13%), followed closely by Ireland with 10%. In the US, about 2% of the population are natural redheads.



There is a belief that redheads are prone to industrial deafness. This actually could be true as the melanocytes are found in the middle ear.



The color Green tempers red. Look at a color chart. This is why redheads are taught as children to wear lots of green. As if red hair is a shameful state of being.



In the early 1600’s, at the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the belief of Pixies (aka fairies) emerged in southwest England. They were then and have since been strongly associated with red hair for their mischievousness and otherworldly talents.



A 2002 study found that redhead are harder to sedate than any other people requiring twenty percent more anesthesia. Inadequate doses cause people to wake up during surgery and have increased recall of procedures. (I can vouch that study is accurate)



Adults have about 120,000 hairs on their head; redheads have fewer, blondes have more, brunettes have the most.



Harvard Dermatologist Madhu Pathak calls redheads "three-time losers" because their red pigment is an inadequate filter of sunlight and their skin is more susceptible to sunburn, skin cancer and wrinkling with age. Wear your sun block !!! We are not losers though.



Red headedness is, genetically speaking, a recessive trait. It may appear after several generations of darker hair.



Redheads don't turn grey. Red hair turned sandy, then white. They are also found to loose their color later in life than people carrying other hair colors.



The perception of the color red, scientifically speaking, enhances the viewers metabolism and increases heart rate and respiration.



The first human redheads walked this earth about 50,000 years ago in Africa and then spread throughout Northern Europe.



The country name of Russia means "land of reds" in honor of a redheaded Viking by the name of Rurik.



Red-haired Clowns have their origins in Russia.



From the 1930’s to 1950;s in Cassville, Missouri, there existed a women’s basketball team called “The Redheads.” For a while they became the talk of the country and a much sought after exhibition team compared to the Harlem Globe trotters. It is important to note that they were not natural red heads, at least not all of them.



In the late 16th century, the fat of a redheaded man was an essential ingredient for poison.



Adams first wife Lilith, always depicted as a redhead, is known to have refused to lie beneath Adam during sexual intercourse, and stated” why should I lie beneath you when I am your equal since both of us were created from dust” –Patai



At St. Paul’s cathedral in London, figurines tell the story of the fall in the Garden of Eden. Adam points one hand to the forbidden fruit and the other to a golden haired Eve. Then the arch angel drives them from the garden. Adam with his fig leaf loops his arm around Eve who is now cowering and sporting a main of long red hair.



Similarly in the paintings of the Sistine Chapel in 1874, Michelangelo’s Temptation depicts a brown haired Eve being handed a red apple by a red headed bare breasted serpent woman (Satan manifested as woman of course carries red hair). In the adjacent fresco Eve is thrown out of the garden with a shameful face and a twist of red hair.



Eves’ red hair is seen as the stain of sin like the original scarlet letter. Later her son, Cain, will bare the red hair and also a fall from grace.



The first redheaded British monarch was a woman. Boudicca was a Celtic warrior was led her people, the Icenti, against the Romans in the C.E. 60’s.



Belief that redheads are witches is a folk belief in Germanic culture. From 1483-1784 thousands of suspected witches were nearly always stripped and searched for “marks of the devil”. These included any “abnormality” such as freckles, moles, warts, and birthmarks. Red hair was certainly considered an abnormality. Considering the freckle factor for redheads this was a deadly and shocking horror. Somewhere around 45,000 women were tortured and murdered usually by burning at the stake or by drowning.



The Egyptians regarded the color as so unlucky that they had a ceremony in which they burned red-headed maidens alive to wipe out the tint- Claudie De Lys.



British Press recently reported that that the MC1R (redhead gene) will be used in DNA testing to rule out, or in, if suspected killers in crime scenes are redheads. This will narrow a search if the gene is found to a small percentage of perpetrators. The hope is that next skin color and physical features will be detectable.-Marion Roach



In central Africa’s Cameroon redheaded albinos, called Nguenguerous, are believed also to come by this color by menstrual intercourse. The UN and other world organizations have studied and advocated for their rights as there have been allegations of the ritual murders in some regions of Africa.



Archaeological digs in the Chinese desert of Takla Makan found mummified redheads dating back 3,000 years.



An Irish judge in 2001 fined a man for disorderly conduct stating “I am a firm believer that hair coloring has an effect on temper and your coloring suggests you have a temper.”



Redheads have always been thought untrustworthy. Judas is most always depicted as a redhead displaying the prejudice against red hair.



The Romans kept red haired slaves, and at a higher price.



Adolph Hitler reportedly banned the marriages of two redheads as he feared their children would be “deviant offspring”.



“Ill beat you like a redheaded stepchild”. This phrase was born out of the American south and implies the status of illegitimate offspring with a white master.



At some point in history Brahmins were forbidden to marry redheads.



In France, to be redheaded is thought to be a fate so dire that some women have formed a “Proud to be Red” association.



Red haired children have been historically branded as offspring of “unclean” sex. This has earned them taunts such as “red-knob” or “tampon tops.”



The Bible states in I Corinthians 11:15 that a woman’s long hair is a glory to her because it can be used as a covering. Yet in Song of Solomon 4:1 it states that it is an object that invites desire. I guess there is no loosing.



Bees are thought to sting redheads more than others.



In Denmark it is an honor to have a redheaded child.



In Corsica, if you pass a redhead in the street you are to spit and turn around.



In Poland, if you pass three red-heads you'll win the state lottery-Sylvia Stevez



In Greek Mythology, redheads turn into Vampires when they die.



During the Spanish Inquisition flame colored hair was evidence that its owner had stolen the fire of hell and had to be burned as a witch.



Russian tradition declares that red hair is both a sign that a person holds a fiery temper and craziness.

A Russian Proverb warns “There was never a saint with red hair.”



Folklore in Liverpool states that meeting a redhead at the beginning of a journey is a terrible luck and bad omen. If you came upon one while still on dock or aboard the ship, you are smart to return home.



In English and Scottish tradition when the New Year arrives, your “first caller” will bring you luck. Brunettes bring the best luck. Blondes bring no luck at all. A widower brings bad luck. A redhead brings the worst luck. This “first footing” custom was so strongly practiced at one time that some homes would hire first callers.



Aristotle was known to believe that redheads were emotionally unhousebroken.



A French Proverb states that “redheaded women are either violent or false, and usually are both.”



http://www.purgatory.net/kornelia/1603/red_hair_facts.htm

00:36 Oct 22 2011
Times Read: 664

I guess this is only important to me. Something came up about music and I thought back to 1975 and Fest-Awe-Faire. I think I may have written about this before but it's on my mind so I want to talk about it.



I was living in Stanton CA in the mid 70s. If you don't know where that is, it is between Midway City and Buena Park more or less. (Knotts Berry Farm is in Buena Park. I only lived a few blocks from there)

I had a male roommate at the time and he introduced me to this guy, Mike. Mike needed an office manager. I could do regular office work and run one in general but specific to what he wanted, I had no experience.



I took the job and got on the bus at 6 am to ride down to the end of the street (Beach Blvd.) which was Huntington Beach. Switch to another bus and go into Laguna Beach, arriving about 9:00 am. Our office was on the corner of the two main cross streets down town. His company was Master Mikes Page 1 Productions. I did this for three months and went into a temporary office in Huntington Beach. By this time I had moved to Huntington Beach with a friend not far from where the office was located.



Mike was putting on a fair in 1975 over Labor Day weekend. Prior I called and wrote to all sorts of places. I wrote to Ringling Brothers, talked to people from Rolling Stone and I don't remember who all now.



The fair was held in Huntington and I don't remember the exact location now, except it was near Adams and Beach Blvd on a corner where there are trailer parks now. It was about five miles from the beach.



I ended up interviewing a lot of bands or singers. We had a large outdoor stage for entertainment. He really didn't plan long enough. We had one or two carnival units, a wild west show, an arts and crafts tent (large one) and one of the Gentle Bens (you had to wrestle him down some way). I can't remember what else. He was competing essentially with the L. A. County Fair and the Food Fair in the City of Orange and a slew of other annual activities.



At the time the Ramones were playing at the Golden Bear (doesn't exist anymore). This is what it looked like and some of the history.

"In 1974 brothers Rick and Chuck Babiracki and Rick's wife Carole purchased the Golden Bear. They continued to book a diverse list of musicians such as Muddy Waters, Jerry Garcia, Patti Smith, Agent Orange, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur and Peter Gabriel.



In 1979 an artist that lived next door painted the outside wall of the building. It showed musical notes and some of the artists that performed at the venue. The artist was a young Wyland, who later became famous for his Whaling Walls.



(Wikipedia)



In the 1970s and '80s, the Golden Bear was a familiar stopping place for many veteran acts on their way down and a new generation hoping to be headed up. As trends in music shifted, the Babirackis tried to shift with them, booking such new wave and alternative music acts as Men at Work, the Motels, Oingo Boingo, the Plimsouls and the Ramones."



(http://www.stockteam.com/hbpix18.html)



As most people know, punk started in NYC. Groups would play at CBGB's and a particular promoter visited the place. He saw what was happening and went back to England and formed the Sex Pistols. Punk was much bigger there. I personally never liked it. Shrugs...



I'm going to show you another picture:







Marvell Tube Amp "Hand Made"

Built in America, From Vintage Parts, Stored by Bob Rissi.



A lot of bands use to use his sound equipment at that time. It was well known. By the late eighties he was building computer systems (he was an electronic engineeer). I got my first computer in 1989 from him. He built the system for the Santa Ana Police Department at that time period. I haven't seen him since then.



Anyway he and my brother who is a musician for basically his whole life did the mixing for the bands. I have to say, he hated the Romones. They were obnoxious and he almost got into a fight with them. He said they could barely play their instruments. I don't think that was the point at the time though. I got stuck in the office during most of the concerts but I could hear them. Punk was just starting out so what was big at that time was country-rock. Although there were a variety of genres there.



The tent that housed the arts and crafts people was loaned to him by Cal Worthington's son. (the used car dealer with all the crazy tv advertisements) His name was Rod and he was a friend of Mike's. Rod was a pilot and did banner advertisements in the air among other things. A really nice man. I would say he was in his early 30s then (just a guess). He also brought air balloons as another attraction. He would let people ride into the air to a certain level and bring them back down.



Then there was the bear. It had no claws or teeth. This is the bear they used for close contact on the tv series. There were five of them all called Ben or that is what they told me. I got asked out by the owner, a psychiatrist in Hollywood and by the trainer. I went out with the doctor once but I didn't like him much. I went out with the trainer a number of times but at the end of the fair he had to go to Texas. I could have gone but I said no. I had a feeling it wouldn't be a good choice. All I will say is his first name was Steve. He got into a little trouble after that but I had no association to him at the time. The whole thing was fun but Mike had spent all his savings and had to file bankrupcy. It happens...



I was watching Bandslam and for some unknown reason it brought all of this back to me.

20:43 Oct 17 2011
Times Read: 668

Brain aging found to start at 40



Genes can begin to fail early



By William J. Cromie

Harvard News Office



Bruce Yankner, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, is



He and his colleagues at Children's Hospital in Boston and Harvard searched brain tissue from 30 people for changes in genes involved in learning and memory, and for damage to these genes caused by the normal stresses of living. From ages 26 to 40 years, their brains show similar patterns of wear and tear and low levels of gene damage. Brains 73 years and older exhibited more damage, as expected.



A big surprise, however, came in the middle ages. Some people between 40 and 70 had gene patterns more like younger people, and some like older people. "In other words, people in their middle-age years show variable rates of brain aging," says Yankner, who is 50.



These results suggest that deleterious changes can occur much earlier than expected. But that's not necessarily true for everyone. The data also indicate that our brains contain protective and repair mechanisms that can compensate for gene damage. "Thus, our findings raise the exciting possibility that drugs or lifestyle changes in young adults could delay cognitive declines and protect against the onset of brain diseases in later years," Yankner concludes.



The research team can already mimic this pattern of gene damage to some extent by growing human brain cells in the lab and exposing them to the kinds of stresses involved in aging. They have also prevented gene damage and restored their function by manipulating repair proteins in the cells. However, doing the same thing in a human brain, Yankner admits, "would require a major leap in medical technology."



A goal of the research is to determine if the gene changes they find raise the risk of brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. If so, it might accelerate the detection and treatment of such infirmities at a time when the population of senior citizens is exploding in the United States and elsewhere.



Aging at different rates



For years, Yankner has been banking brain tissue for the purpose of solving some of the mysteries of normal aging and accelerated aging brought on by Alzheimer's. The tissue comes from both cadavers and from small samples taken during brain surgeries. "Obtaining material from older people has been easy, but collecting it from young brains is very difficult," Yankner observes.



Brain banking and the technology of studying the genes brains contain have evolved together and have now reached the point where evaluating the activity of thousands of genes can be done quickly.



Looking through this technological window, Yankner's team sees negative changes in two groups of genes. "We found genes involved in learning and memory were among those most significantly reduced in the aging human brain," Yankner notes. Other glitches appear in a set of genes that regulate energy protection and transport of proteins in cells, functions vital for normal brain activity and to protect brain cells from damage. Some of these alterations show up in people as young as their 40s.



Younger brains apparently can prevent impairment of these genes. But in middle age, damaging modifications start to creep in. By age 50, gene patterns in some brains look like those of older people, while others resemble those of young adults. They appear to be approaching old age at different speeds. "You can look at middle-aged people on a line at Starbucks and get a good idea of how well their brains are doing," Yankner comments.



Tao Lu, a postdoctoral fellow in Yankner's lab, did much of the work that revealed these variations. The research is described in technical detail in an article published in the June 10 issue of Nature, a British scientific journal.



Promoters demoted



To better understand what's going on, the team aged human cells in test tubes. The cells were challenged by the kind of stresses produced by their own energy-burning activities - the exhaust gases of metabolism. The most vulnerable are so-called promoter regions of the genes, which turn them on and off. Sometimes gene damage is repaired when cells divide, but brain cells don't divide, leaving them more vulnerable to aging. You can think of promoter regions as the engines that drive genes. In brain aging these regions eventually run out of gas.



Alzheimer's disease may involve cases of running out of gas too soon. "An interesting possibility is that Alzheimer's and other brain disorders might represent a poorly suited response to gene damage," Yankner suggests. Comparing gene changes and DNA damage in normal aging and early Alzheimer's may provide the kind of new insight needed to develop better treatments.



A big mystery to solve is whether gene deterioration takes place throughout the brain and body, or only in specific regions. If the same fingerprint of aging can be detected in blood and skin cells, they might make possible simple tests to detect who is at greatest risk for Alzheimer's and other age-related conditions.



Such tests might also reveal whether drugs or lifestyle changes can slow brain aging. For example, antioxidant vitamins, like vitamin E, have been touted as a means to counteract the damage produced by our own cells and by smoke and other pollutants. Gene fingerprinting might reveal if taking such vitamins, drastically cutting calories, or taking certain drugs would encourage good brain health during middle and old age.



If you are in your 40s, should you worry about your brain? Yankner points out that not all middle agers are in the fast-aging lane. "Some of the people 50, 60, and older had remarkably good-looking brains, Yankner points out. That group includes one man in his early 90s. People can take solace from that.



http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/06.17/03-brainaging.html