Heather Hitchcock, Bevan Quinn, and Rebecca Curran of Rockingham, Guilford, and somewhere in cyberspace, respectively, knew that Julio Buel of Poultney invented the first fishing spoon lure. In 1824, the teenager was fishing in Lake Bomoseen (the lonesome beak anagram) when he inadvertently dropped a silver spoon over the side of his boat. As he watched it sink towards the bottom, a fish appeared (maybe the Bomoseen Coelacanth?) and swallowed it. When he got home, he cut the handle off another spoon, soldered a hook to it, and the fishing spoon lure industry was born. “Kuka bez korova” is of course Bosnian for “weedless hook,” which the young fishing maestro is also credited with inventing.
A recent dream featuring the number three was so vivid that I felt compelled to incorporate it into something, which is why this month’s triviality column comprises three queries. They were all supposed to feature a geographical theme but then the last one didn’t, more’s the pity. Anyway:
- What Vermont county measures 34 north-to-south miles by 31 east-to-west miles?
- How well do you know your longitudes and latitudes? (I’ll save platitudes for another time.) What Vermont historical markers are located at 44° 0.842' N, 73° 9.992' W; 43° 59.316' N, 72° 35.64' W; and 43° 27.106' N, 72° 47.191' W?
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For many years, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra has commissioned a new tune from a Vermont composer for its autumnal “Made in Vermont” tour. But on only one occasion did that commission require the featured musician to use Ewe drums, timbales, cajón, cabasa, conga, cowbell, tar (not the paving material), and hi-hat. What was the title of the piece and who was the commissioned composer?
When you have figured out the answers, email them to dgunn@vlct.org. My answers, all ENIAC-verified, will appear in the scintillatingly Somewhere-Over-The-Rainbow September Journal.