Edison, Sousa & Sudoku

From today's Writer's Almanac:

"It was on this day in 1877 that Thomas Edison announced that he had invented a new device for recording and playing back sound, which he called the phonograph...Most people who saw the early demonstrations of the phonograph found it spooky, as though it were playing back the voice of a ghost...In order to help American customers feel more comfortable with the idea of playing back sound, the Columbia Phonograph Company commissioned a recording of marching music by John Philip Sousa's U.S. Marine Band. The idea was that Americans couldn't be spooked out by patriotic music, and those recordings became some of the first successful musical recordings ever sold."


When I spoke to the MOPS group this week, I told them about Dr. Frank Lawlis' advice that chewing gum can help our minds.

Well, he also recommends listening to marches. In the 4th slide under "We're going to activate their brains," he says, "For example, marching music ... that particular kind of music really excites the brain, gets somebody very excited and inspired. This does have a direct effect on the brain."

We can thank Edison for so many things, including the ability to listen to recorded Sousa marches...which can help our mushy minds and improve our IQ, or so they say.

These days I grab on to anything that might give my brain a boost.

Has anyone seen my book of Sudoku puzzles?