Baseball's Speed Limit?

     Watching baseball games, you get to wondering: Why do baseball pitchers seem to have speed limit around 97mph or so? Runners run faster every year, jumpers jump higher, Olympic records are made to be broken. Why not pitchers?
     According to experts in biomechanics, that 100-mph baseball speed limit isn't an illusion—it's a basic property of human physiology. You would think that building up the muscles in the legs, upper body, arm, and shoulder could generate more force and make a pitcher's arm move faster. Not so. There's a point when more torque doesn't yield a faster pitch.
     For more about this oddity of sports, see the article at Slate.com: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2005/04/pitcher_perfect.html

Monkeys That Fish

Sure, monkeys have a reputation for knowing how to find food - whether it be grabbing a Fruit Platter for a birthday party, or snatching a Banana Strawberry smoothie near the Kid's Jungle... But it turns out researchers have been observing monkeys in Indonesia fishing for their dinner for the past 10 years.  Imagine! Monkeys fishing?

They need to sudy this further to understand what prompts monkeys to go fishing, or how common it really might be as a survival behavior.  The Funky Monkey has served up Shrimp Louie Salads at the best party place for kids in Santa Rosa, so that may be another indicator of this little known skill.

For more on what scientists are learning about monkey fishing, please see the following article:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-06-11/news/17161548_1_macaques-tailed-great-ape-trust

Banana tips - First in a Series!



The Funky Monkey:
Banana Expert

The Funky Monkey loves bananas-- especially in our strawberry-banana smoothies!  Do bananas ripen too fast at your house?  Here are some funky "banana tips"on how to keep his favorite fruit nice and fresh.
   
Keep the fruit in a well ventilated space and, if possible, place the bunched fruit on a banana stand. It turns out ethylene gas is one of the main causes of bananas ripening too fast and turning brown.  Air circulation will minimize exposure to a naturally occurring gas emitted by the fruit called ethylene. The gas also accelerates the ripening process.
     Another way to minimize ethylene exposure for your bananas is to separate each banana physically from the bunch.  Also keep the bananas away from other fruit (like apples) that have already ripened or been bruised. Such fruit will give off large amounts of ethylene gas, which, again, will hasten the ripening process.
     The other reason bananas ripen before their time is heat.  Keep the fruit away from heat sources such as direct sunlight. Heat will accelerate the ripening process so don't put them in a window.
     You can also freeze bananas to slow down the ripening process, but the skins will turn brown... stay tuned for more about frozen bananas in our next Banana Tips!

Amazing Helium Balloons

Nothing says “birthday party” like balloons!  When you have a hosted party at the Funky Monkey, you get a colorful bouquet of helium balloons in your party area.  We use helium every day making birthday dreams come true-- but helium is very special stuff.   

Helium is used in liquid-fueled rockets, for making semiconductors and optical fibers, and is even employed to cool particle accelerators for advanced research.  Our modern supply of helium has gradually built up over billions of years in subterranean pockets of natural gas as a byproduct of decaying radioactive elements.  Since 1903, when helium gas pockets were discovered in a Kansas oil field, the United States has provided the majority of the world’s supply.  

Helium would seem to be easy to come by, since it's the second most common substance in the universe (after Hydrogen).  Actually, in the form suppliers harvest it for birthday balloons it's a rare by-product of natural gas production.  There's a limited supply and, someday, it might be as precious as gold!

We love seeing lots of balloons at The Funky Monkey, and appreciate the joy these precious floating marvels bring to your birthday child on their special day.

A Blog for Friends of The Funky Monkey

The Funky Monkey in Santa Rosa, California is pleased to provide this forum for our
customers.  One purpose is to share our philosophy of providing entertainment and birthday
parties at Sonoma County's most popular family-owned birthday party center.  Our customers
might be interested to know that there is a method behind the seeming madness of a busy
Saturday night at 'The Monkey'!  And our staff may share a few stories that we hope will
capture the excitement of a business where each day we open our doors it's "Show Time."

Often we host a birthday party at the Funky Monkey and then hear kind words from the party
parents and party attendees afterwards.   Occasionally, we learn from a unique situation,
and we'll share some of those with you, too.  We think providing information about kids
birthday parties, and a comment forum about The Funky Monkey, may be a great help both to
our regular customers and to future customers... So whether your recent visit or party at
The Funky Monkey was the best ever, or you have a suggestion for us to improve, feel free
to leave a comment on this blog.  We'll be happy to hear from you.

You found our blog already at http://the-funkymonkey.blogspot.com.  As a reminder, here are
other places you can find information & coupons for The Funky Monkey:
    http://www.the-funkymonkey.com - Our main website, where you'll find party packages, online
games, our menu and other useful information.  Sign up for our Funky Monkey Kids Club and
get our monthly email with coupons and event information.
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Funky-Monkey-Parties-Pizza/194837560579235 - our facebook page.  "Like" us today, and participate in our group discounts as our popularity grows.
    http://twitter.com/funkymonkey_fun - We tweet @funkymonkey_fun.  This is where we try
to help our customers and followers -- families from Windsor to Petaluma, from Sebastopol to Santa Rosa, from Lake County to Marin County -- keep up on news of interest to parents of young children.

From all of us at The Funky Monkey: Thank You!