HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE

 

Tucson Weather Today


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TRIVIA

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, May 23, in 1934, wanted outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police officers as they attempt to escape apprehension in a stolen 1934 Ford Deluxe near Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

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WORD FOR TODAY
    
austerian
noun
 Pejorative. A person who advocates austerity, that is, the cutting government expenditures, particularly social expenditures, in an effort to cut governmental deficits. (A comic formation based on the word "austerity" blended with the word "Austrian," since austerity policies are associated with the "Austrian School of Economics")
adjective
of or pertaining to policies advocated by austerians or to austerians themselves.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


Michael William Chambers
(Born May 23, 1960)

Drew Allison Carey
(born May 23, 1958)

Drew Carey is an American actor, comedian, sports executive, and game show host. After making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as host of the U.S. version of the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, both of which aired on ABC.

Karen Duffy
(born May 23, 1962)

Karen Duffy is an American model, television personality, and actress. She has had small roles in a handful of films including Dumb & Dumber, and by 1995 she was working as a correspondent for documentary film-maker Michael Moore on his television shows TV Nation and The Awful Truth.

Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers
(May 23, 1910 - November 22, 1986)

Scatman Crothers was an American actor, singer, dancer and musician known for his work as Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and as Dick Hallorann in The Shining in 1980. He was also a prolific voiceover artist, and provided the voices of Meadowlark Lemon in the animated TV version of The Harlem Globetrotters, Jazz the Autobot in The Transformers, the title character in Hong Kong Phooey, and Scat Cat in the 1970 film The Aristocats.

Joan Henrietta Collins
(born 23 May 1933)

Joan Collins is a British actress, author and columnist. After making her stage debut in A Doll's House at the age of 9, she was trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.

At the age of 22, Collins headed to Hollywood and landed sultry roles in several popular films, including The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) and Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958).  She starred in two films based on best-selling novels by her younger sister Jackie Collins: The Stud (1978) and its sequel The Bitch (1979). Returning to her theatrical roots, she played the title role in the 1980 British revival of The Last of Mrs. Cheyney and later had a lead role in the 1990 revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives. In 1981, Collins landed Alexis Carrington Colby, the role for which she is perhaps best known, in the long-running 1980s television soap opera Dynasty.

By the time the soap opera had been cancelled, Collins followed in her sister's footsteps and published her first novel Prime Time (1988) which became a bestseller despite critical pans. Despite a protracted legal battle with Random House in 1996, she has since published many books: both fictional, non-fictional and autobiographical. Flamboyant in her personal life and in roles she pursues, Collins continues to act in theatre, film and television in a career that has spanned more than 60 years.


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“The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.”
--Tacitus

5-22-13

  

Tucson Weather Today


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On May 22, 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls Of Fire" fame dropped a bombshell in London by revealing that his new bride, Myra Gail Lewis was not only his first cousin but was only 13 years old. England did not take the news well, and on his return to the U.S, he found himself under a black cloud from which he never completely emerged.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


Richard Benjamin
(born May 22, 1938)

Richard Benjamin is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including Goodbye, Columbus (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; Catch-22 (1970), from the Joseph Heller best-seller; Westworld (1973), a science-fiction thriller by Michael Crichton, and The Sunshine Boys (1978), written by Neil Simon.

Susan Elizabeth Strasberg
(May 22, 1938 - January 21, 1999)

Susan Strasberg was an American film and stage actress. After a widely praised performance as a teenager in Picnic, Strasberg originated the title role in the Broadway production of The Diary of Anne Frank and was nominated for a Tony Award at the age of 18. Strasberg became the youngest actress to star on Broadway with her name above the marquee title.

From the 1960s through the 1980s she guest-starred in such television series as The Virginian, The Invaders, Bonanza, The F.B.I., Breaking Point, Burke's Law, The Streets of San Francisco, Night Gallery, McCloud, Alias Smith & Jones, The Big Valley, Remington Steele and twice on The Rockford Files (as Deborah Ryder and as Karen Stiles (Rockford's ex-girlfriend.

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier
May 22, 1907 - July 11, 1989)

Laurence Olivier was a British actor, director, and producer. He eventually came to be regarded as one of the foremost Shakespeare interpreters of the 20th century. His three Shakespeare films as actor-director, Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955), are among the pinnacles of the bard at the cinema. Olivier played many other roles on stage and screen.

On stage his more than 120 roles included Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly 60 films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights (1939), Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960), and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth (1972). His other Shakespeare roles for the cinema were as Orlando in As You Like It (1936) and the lead in Othello (1965),

Margaret Denise Quigley
(born May 22, 1979)

Margaret Denise Quigley professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American actress and former fashion model. As of 2010, she stars in the title role on The CW's action-thriller series Nikita.

In 1998, she started her acting career in the TV drama House of the Dragon, which was a huge hit in Asia. In 2002 she appeared in the horror film Model from Hell, and went on to star as an FBI agent Jane Quigley in the action thriller Gen-Y Cops the same year. Her appearance in Gen-Y Cops impressed Jackie Chan so much that she was cast in Manhattan Midnight and Rush Hour 2.

In 2002, she starred as martial artist assassin Charlene Ching in the action film Naked Weapon. In 2005, Q played Harmony in the German-Singaporean TV mini-series House of Harmony, opposite Fann Wong. The same year she also co-produced the animal treatment documentary Earthlings narrated by Joaquin Phoenix.

In 2006, she starred alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible III. She played Zhen, the only female member of the IMF team. In 2007, she appeared as Mai Linh in the Bruce Willis movie Live Free or Die Hard, the fourth film in the Die Hard series, and as Maggie in Balls of Fury.

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5-21-13

Tucson Weather Today


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TRIVIA

What was the first CD pressed in the USA?
(Answer at bottom)

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On May 21 in 1927, American pilot Charles A. Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Field in Paris, successfully completing the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight and the first ever nonstop flight between New York to Paris. His single-engine monoplane,

The Spirit of St. Louis, had lifted off from Roosevelt Field in New York 33 1/2 hours before.

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WORD FOR TODAY

bloviate [BLO-vee-ate]
verb
To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner

This word -- meaning to speak pompously -- is almost entirely restricted to the United States; it doesn’t appear in any of my British English dictionaries, not even the big Oxford English Dictionary or the very recent New Oxford Dictionary of English. Yet it has a long history.

It’s most closely associated with U S President Warren Gamaliel Harding, who used it a lot and who was by all accounts the classic example of somebody who orates verbosely and windily.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


Lisa Edelstein
(born May 21, 1966)

 Lisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She spent the early 1990s appearing in guest roles on several popular comedies, including Mad About You, Wings, The Larry Sanders Show, Sports Night and Seinfeld, where she played George Costanza's frustrated girlfriend, the "Risotto Girl".

Bigger roles in TV dramas soon followed, among them the lesbian sister on ABC's Relativity (1996); a high-priced call girl turned Rob Lowe's date on The West Wing (1999); an assigned male at birth (AMAB) transgender woman on Ally McBeal (2000); and Ben Covington's girlfriend on Felicity (2001). She also continued to land guest star spots on such shows as ER, Frasier, Just Shoot Me!, Without a Trace, and Judging Amy.

From 2004 to 2011, she played Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and frequent character foil and ex-girlfriend to title character Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) on Fox's TV series House, M.D.

Alan Stuart "Al" Franken
(born May 21, 1951)

 Al Franken is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from Minnesota, serving since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman in 2008. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was a writer and performer for the television show Saturday Night Live from its conception in 1975 to 1980, returning in 1985 until 1995.

Judge Reinhold
(born May 21, 1957)

 Judge Reinhold is an American actor, known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer
(May 21, 1960 - November 28, 1994)

 Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender. Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with the majority of the murders occurring between 1987 and 1991. His murders involved rape, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism. On Nov. 28, 1994, he was beaten to death by an inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution, where he had been incarcerated.

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Answer to todays' TRIVIA question:
Bruce Springstein's 'Born in the USA.'

Credit For And Blame For

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Tucson Weather Today

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While walking West on the sidewalk alongside Speedway Boulevard, I noticed that Mesquite Valley Growers Nursery was erecting a new advertising display. So far, it consists of a pair of oversize gardening tools.

I am not sure, but I suspect that there will be some more items added to this display before long.

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Two Sites That Sincerely Fight For Better Government

POGO

The Primary Mission Of POGO
(Project On Government Oversight)

Founded in 1981, the Project On Government Oversight is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that champions good government reforms. POGO’s investigations into corruption, misconduct, and conflicts of interest achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government.


OPEN SECRETS

The Center For Responsive Politics

Our Mission: Inform, Empower and Advocate

The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government. In short, the Center's mission is to:

-    Inform citizens about how money in politics affects their lives
-    Empower voters and activists by providing unbiased information
 -   Advocate for a transparent and responsive government

We pursue our mission largely through our award-winning website, OpenSecrets, which is the most comprehensive resource for federal campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available anywhere. And for other organizations and news media, the Center's exclusive data powers their online features tracking money in politics -- counting cash to make change.

The Center relies on financial support from a combination of foundation grants, individual contributions and income earned from custom research and licensing data for commercial use. The Center accepts no contributions from businesses, labor unions or trade associations.

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TRIVIA

What is the dot over the letter i called?
(Answer at bottom)

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this date, May 20 in 1956, The United States conducted the first airborne test of an improved hydrogen bomb, dropping it from a plane over the tiny island of Namu in the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.  Observers said that the fireball caused by the explosion measured at least four miles in diameter and was brighter than the light from 500 suns. The successful test indicated that hydrogen bombs were viable airborne weapons and that the arms race had taken another giant leap forward.

The massive open-air blast caused concerns among scientists and environmentalists about the effects of such testing on human and animal life. During the coming years, a growing movement in the United States and elsewhere began to push for a ban on open-air atomic testing. The Limited Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1963 by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain, prohibited open-air and underwater nuclear testing.

There is, however, no credible ban on using a hydrogen bomb when deemed necessary during a time of war.

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WORD FOR TODAY

lobby
noun
1. A hall, foyer, or waiting room at or near the entrance to a building, such as a hotel or theater.
2. A public room next to the assembly chamber of a legislative body.
3. A group of persons engaged in trying to influence legislators or other public officials in favor of a specific cause.
verb
1. To try to influence (an official) to take a desired action.
2. To try to influence public officials on behalf of or against (proposed legislation, for example)

Lobbying (also lobby) is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by many different types of people and organized groups, including individuals in the private sector, corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or advocacy groups (interest groups). Lobbyists may be among a legislator's constituencies, meaning a voter or bloc of voters within his or her electoral district, or not; they may engage in lobbying as a business, or not.

Professional lobbyists are people whose business is trying to influence legislation on behalf of a group or individual who hires them. Individuals and nonprofit organizations can also lobby as an act of volunteering or as a small part of their normal job (for instance, a CEO meeting with a representative about a project important to his/her company, or an activist meeting with his/her legislator in an unpaid capacity). Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying that has become influential.

More

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS


Cher
(born May 20, 1946)

Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) is an American singer and actress with a career spanning five decades. Recognized for having brought the sense of female autonomy and self-actualization into the entertainment industry, she is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in various areas of entertainment, as well as for continuously reinventing both her music and image which has led to her being called the Goddess of Pop.

James Maitland Stewart
(May 20, 1908 - July 2, 1997)

Jimmie Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime Achievement award. He was a major MGM contract star. He also had a noted military career and was a World War II and Cold War veteran, who rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve.

Some of his more memorable films were: It Happened One Night You Can't Take It With You, The Philadelphia Story, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Destry Rides Again, Harvey, The Stratton Story, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, and many more.

George Leslie Gobel
(May 20, 1919 - February 24, 1991)

George Gobel was an American comedian and actor. He was best known as the star of his own weekly NBC television show, The George Gobel Show, which ran from 1954 to 1960. Gobel labeled himself "Lonesome George," and the nickname stuck for the rest of his career. His monologues popularized several catchphrases, notably "Well, I'll be a dirty bird" (spoken by the Kathy Bates character in the 1990 film Misery), "You don't hardly get those any more" and "Well then there now" (spoken by the James Dean character during a brief imitation of Gobel in the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause).

Dolley Payne Todd Madison
(May 20, 1768 - July 12, 1849)

Dolley Madison was the spouse of the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, and was First Lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was notable for her social gifts and helped define the role of the First Lady. Her success as a hostess contributed to increasing the popularity of Madison as president.

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Answer to today's Trivia Question:
The dot over the 'i' is called a tittle.

Guest Blogger

 

Do Dog!

Tracker grows like a weed and is starting to look like a dog. Training is going well in some places; not so well in others.

It appears we have a Do Dog.

First we thought we had an Action Dog. "Sit" he caught really quickly. "Stay" was pretty fast, too. But when we got to "Ball" or "Cow" (another toy) or "Cat" (as in Get Off The Cat!), he wasn't so bright.

Now we know better. He's not an Action Dog, he's a Do Dog. Action words which require doing, he does well. Action words which require not doing, on the other hand, he just doesn't get.

No Bite, No Jump, Don't Pee On The Carpet, Don't Harass The Cat, Leave The Dirty Clothes Alone, Stay Out Of The Trash....  all these, and probably some I've forgotten, he hasn't caught on to yet.

We have patience, though, and hope.

In the meantime, since he's much better with do words, we'll be working on:
Laundry
Dishes
Clean
Bring In The Mail
Pay The Bills....


Copyright 2013 Michelle Hakala

http://www.winebird.com/

Very Interesting . . . To Me

Tucson Weather Today

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Again today I prepared two eggs for my  lunch. And again not wanting to fry my food, I baked them. First I cracked the two eggs into a bowl and whipped them full of air with a fork. Then I poured the beaten eggs into a 6 by 4 inch, Pam sprayed casserole dish. covered it with aluminum foil, and cooked them for fifteen minutes in a 400 degree oven. I then removed the cover and continued cooking for another fifteen minutes. When the contents of the dish were dry and curling up at the edges, I cut it into two equal parts, topped each with a thin slice of Sargento Baby Swiss cheese and returned it to the oven until the cheese melted. I then placed each portion on its own slice of Honey Oat bread, making a pair of delicious, open-face sandwiches.

Then I ate them. Both of them. Yum!

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The TV quiz show Jeopardy for the last few days has been devoted to the College Bowl type of Tournament. The finals feature two male students and one female. One of the questions concerned identifying products. The product was Multivac. The girl buzzed in and answered (with a little giggle) "What is a vacuum?" Alex Trebeck said, "No." Then one of the boys buzzed in and answered, 'What is a computer?" That was correct.

Then I remembered that this same girl, the day  before, when asked the name of the outlaw who was shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett, answered, "Who was Buffalo Bill?" Alex said, "No, Buffalo Bill was not an outlaw." The boy who then buzzed in correctly answered, "Who was Billy The Kid?"

Deep inside me I fear that there resides a latent sexist, of some sort. I didn't find it strange at all that the girl was neither a student with a good memory, nor a good guesser. It was just something I would have expected to happen, and it did.

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I saw a photo on Facebook that was hard to look at:

Foreign flags and a marine doing flunky duty.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On May 18, 1926, Aimee Semple McPherson, a nationally known evangelist, disappeared from Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. Police dispatched planes and ships in an effort to find her, but she was nowhere to be found. Authorities later discovered that radio announcer Kenneth Ormiston, a friend of McPherson, had also vanished.

A month later, McPherson turned up in Agua Prieta, New Mexico, with a wild tale of being kidnapped, but reporters quickly uncovered information to prove that she had been with Ormiston the entire time. McPherson attempted a comeback evangelism tour after the scandal had died down, but it flopped and she slowly faded from the public's memory.

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WORD FOR TODAY

predator  (prehd-uh-tr)
noun
1. An organism that lives by preying on other organisms.
2. One that victimizes, plunders, or destroys, especially for one's own gain.

Terrestrial Predator
Tasmanian Devil

Extraterrestrial Predator
Yautja

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TRIVIA

Who baptized Marilyn Monroe?
(Answer is at the end of entry)

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey
(born May 18, 1970)

Tina Fey is an American actress, comedienne, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (SNL, 1997–2006), the critically acclaimed NBC comedy series 30 Rock (2006–2013), and such films as Mean Girls (2004), Baby Mama (2008), Date Night (2010), and Admission (2013).

George Harvey Strait
(born May 18, 1952)

George Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country" and has been called a living legend by some critics. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional country music. George Strait holds the world record for more number-one hit singles than any other artist in the history of music on any chart or in any genre, having recorded 60 number-one hit singles as of 2013.

Dwayne Bernard Hickman
(born May 18, 1934)

Dwayne Hickman is a former American actor and television executive at CBS. Hickman is known primarily for his "teenager" roles on television sitcoms. The naturally brown-headed Hickman portrayed Chuck MacDonald on the popular 1950s NBC series The Bob Cummings Show and then the blond title character in CBS's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Pernell Roberts
(May 18, 1928 - January 24, 2010)

Pernell Roberts was an American stage, movie and television actor. In addition to guest starring in over 60 television series, he was best known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam Cartwright, on the western series Bonanza, a role he played from 1959 until 1965 -- and as chief surgeon Dr. John McIntyre, the title character on Trapper John, M.D. (1979–1986).

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Answer to Trivia Question:
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in the charity ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital. According to biographer Fred Lawrence Guiles, her grandmother, Della Monroe Grainger, had her baptised Norma Jeane Baker by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson

5-17-13

 

Tucson Weather Today

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TRIVIA

By the reckoning of one scientist, a single pencil can draw a line 731 miles (1178 kilometers) long.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On May 17 in 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional. The historic decision, which brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, specifically dealt with Linda Brown, a young African American girl who had been denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.

More . . .

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Leven Alice Rambin
(born May 17, 1990)

Leven Rambin is an American actress. She is best known for playing look-alike half-sisters Lily Montgomery and Ava Benton on All My Children (2004–2008) and her recurring roles in; Grey's Anatomy, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, One Tree Hill, Wizards of Waverly Place and CSI: Miami. She co-starred in the 2012 movie The Hunger Games as the District 1 tribute Glimmer.

Sugar Ray Leonard
(born May 17, 1956)

Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles. Leonard was the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses, won world titles in five weight divisions and defeated future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Wilfred Benítez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Durán and Marvin Hagler. Leonard was named "Boxer of the Decade" for the 1980s.

Dennis Lee Hopper
(May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010)

Dennis Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). Hopper directed and starred in Easy Rider (1969).

A featured role, that of the American Photojournalist, in Apocalypse Now (1979) brought him attention. He subsequently appeared in Rumble Fish (1983) and The Osterman Weekend (1983), and received critical recognition for his work in Blue Velvet and Hoosiers. He directed Colors (1988), played the lead character named after the movie title in Paris Trout, and played the villain in Speed (1994). He played another villain, King Koopa, in Super Mario Bros. (1993). Hopper also played heroes, such as John Canyon in Space Truckers. Hopper's later work included a leading role in the television series Crash.

William "Bill" Paxton
(born May 17, 1955)

Bill Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Weird Science, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic. Paxton starred in the HBO series Big Love (2006–2011) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.