PICK OF THE WEEK: People hosting election night parties reportedly are worrying about nasty feelings springing up among their guests. There should be no such concerns at Bryant-Lake Bowl, where the festivities will include improv comedy, music and a bowling tournament. Promoted as a multi-partisan gathering, it's being organized by the Theater of Public Policy, a civics-inspired comedy troupe. Their theme for the night: "No matter how this ends, you aren't going to want to be alone." It's Tuesday (of course), 8 p.m. to midnight, 810 W. Lake St., Mpls. Admission is free. (bryantlakebowl.com)
Cheat sheet: With everyone still adjusting to the end of daylight saving time — which means it will now start to get dark about noon — here are some thoughts about time:
• Although Ben Franklin is credited with coming up with the idea for DST, his essay suggesting that we take an hour from the start of the day and move it to the end so we can get more work done likely was sarcasm aimed at people who sleep in.
• According to the folks behind the Oxford Dictionary, "time" is the most frequently used noun in English.
• It wasn't until 1884 that world leaders agreed to standardize the globe into 24 time zones, thereby creating the martini lover's favorite saying: "It's 5 o'clock somewhere."
Flashback: Last week we recalled the 1991 Halloween blizzard, so it's only fitting that this week we remember Friday's anniversary of the 1940 Armistice Day blizzard. The temperature dropped 40 degrees during the day, and more than 2 feet of snow fell in parts of the state. The storm killed 49 people in Minnesota and 19 in Wisconsin. Most of them were hunters trapped in the snow with only the light jackets they'd been wearing when they went out that morning. At the time, our forecasts came out of Chicago. After the storm, the federal Weather Bureau gave in to Gov. Harold Stassen's demands for a Minnesota office.
recommended reading: Who's the top dog — or, more appropriately, top rodent, top wolf, top pig, etc. — when it comes to our sports mascots? They square off in Thursday's Variety.
JEFF STRICKLER • jeff.strickler@startribune.com
