Nasty Nagging Little Niggles

    

Tucson Weather Today

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It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.
--Winston Churchill

A long time ago, when I lived in Florida, I was once overheard by a family in-law one evening when I mentioned the actor Patrick Macnee in his role as secret agent John Steed in the series, The Avengers (with Diana Rigg as Emma Peel). And I was somewhat scathingly corrected by this in-law, being told that the actor's last name was not Macnee, but was McGee.

Well, back then I was not as much of a Grumpy Gus as I am now, so I just let it go. But I still remember it well, even though it happened in the 1980s. And yes, it still gnaws at my sensibilities.

I knew that I was right, and he was wrong.

A few minutes ago I looked it up.

Daniel Patrick Macnee --  English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.

I was right.

As usual.

Another of those little nagging fragments from back in the day is still stuck in my craw and stabs into my flesh occasionally. Here it is:

A close member of my family asked about road conditions to the North. I told him that, according to the TV news, traffic was light but a newly built cruise ship, larger than usual was scheduled to pass under a certain bridge and the police were going to be stopping all vehicles at that bridge until the ship had passed safely below it.

Another family member quickly said to him in a lowered voice (and with a somewhat condescending smirk) that this particular bridge was not a drawbridge but a stationary bridge, so it wouldn't be necessary for police to be there and he should pay it no mind. In other words, I, being an old fart, was wrong and there was no need for caution.

I did not object but just let it go.

But, once again I was right and the other person was wrong.

You see, the reason the police were to hold back traffic was because it was a stationary bridge, and it was possible that the large ship was too tall for the bridge and until the ship was safely on the other side, traffic was being halted and held at the bridge entrance. If it had been a drawbridge, such a precaution would not have been needed.

You see? I was right.

Such examples abound in my memory, to my considerable discontent.

Of course, it is well known that I have now become a surly old curmudgeon.

(Grumble, grumble, grumble)

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Did You Know . . .?

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt sold the rights for the first images of their twins to People and Hello! magazines for fourteen million dollars -- making them the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The money went to the Jolie-Putt Foundation.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On April 8, 1994, rock star Kurt Cobain was found dead in his home outside Seattle, Washington, with fresh injection marks in both arms and a fatal wound to the head from the 20-gauge shotgun found between his knees. Cobain's suicide brought an end to a life marked by far more suffering than is generally associated with rock superstardom. But rock superstardom never did sit well with Kurt Cobain, a committed social outsider who was reluctantly dubbed the spokesman of his generation.

Cobain's suicide note was found stabbed to a pile of potting soil with a ballpoint pen, nearby his body in the greenhouse on his Lake Washington property.

 

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WORD FOR TODAY

aged  [AY-juhd]
adjective
1. Being of advanced age; old.
2. Characteristic of old age.
3. Having reached the age of: aged 75.
4. Brought to a desired ripeness or maturity: aged cheese.
noun
Elderly people considered as a group. Used with the.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

 

Gabriella Zanna Vanessa Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe
(born April 8, 1989)

Gabriella Wilde is an English model and actress who has appeared in The Three Musketeers (2011), Carrie (2013), and Endless Love (2014).

Kathryn Ann "Katee" Sackhoff
(born April 8, 1980)

Katee Sackhoff is an American actress best known for playing Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica (2003–2009). She was nominated for four Saturn Awards for her work on Battlestar Galactica, winning the award for Best Supporting Actress on Television in 2005.

 

 

 

Emma Caulfield
(born April 8, 1973)

Emma Caulfield is an American actress best known for her role as ex-demon Anya Jenkins on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as Susan Keats, a love interest of Brandon Walsh's on the series Beverly Hills, 90210. Her film roles include the 2009 film TiMER and the 2003 film Darkness Falls.

Robin Gayle Wright
(born April 8, 1966)

Robin Wright is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Kelly Capwell in Santa Barbara, Buttercup in The Princess Bride, Jenny Curran in Forrest Gump, and Claire Underwood in the Netflix series House of Cards. Wright was married to actor Sean Penn, with whom she has two children.

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Aging can be fun if you lay back and enjoy it.
--Clint Eastwood

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