Say cheese – means you want a big smile for the picture you’re going to take of someone.

This evening, two of Pádraig’s friends were with him in the room, chatting away, laughing. They were having fun. And when they looked at Pádraig – he had a big smile on his face, a ‘cheesy’ kind of smile.

Tonight, I checked out the complexity of a smile, and this is what I found:

There are 43 muscles in the face, most of which are controlled by the seventh cranial nerve (also known as the facial nerve). This nerve exits the cerebral cortex and emerges from your skull just in front of your ears. It then splits into five primary branches: temporal, zygomatic, buccal, mandibular and cervical. These branches reach different areas of the face and enervate muscles that allow the face to twist and contort into a variety of expressions.

Some people say that there are 40 of these muscles involved in smiling. Others say it depends. What most agree on is that smiling is a quite complex operation.

Truth is, Pádraig has much to smile about: back out in his wheelchair, around two hours with the speech valve, and – above all – four lovely visitors to have lots of fun with!

Today is D-Day. 70 years ago almost 4,500 allied soldiers and between 4,000 and 9,000 German soldiers died. – Listening to the Irish news: 4 out of 5 new born babies died in ‘homes’ for unmarried mother.

Good luck and a big ‘thank you’ to all who will join tomorrow’s Mountain Flag Challenge!

Today’s German Music Tip
Not a music tip today, but two jokes from “Das Leben der Andern” (think NSA): Witz über Erich Honecker (2006)
What’s hot
Jokes
What’s cold
Straight faces
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Treffen sich zwei Schnecken im Wald. Fragt die eine: „Warum hast du ein blaues Auge?“ Sagt die andere: „Ich war joggen – und da ist plötzlich ein Pilz aus dem Boden geschossen…“