A Matter Of CHOICE

     

Tucson Weather Today

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The Nobel Peace Prize has always been a joke - albeit a grim one. Alfred Bernhard Nobel famously invented dynamite and felt sorry about it.
--P. J. O'Rourke

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2014

was won by Kailash Satyarthi and

by 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai

More at BBC News

There was a record number of 278 nominees for the prize this year, including Pope Francis and Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege.

According to the BBC, this is not the first prize to be awarded to 17-year-old Malala. She won the EU's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize in 2013. She was also named one of Time magazine's most influential people in 2013.

Go figure.

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The New Humanist has an interesting article:

Ten cosmic myths

After reading the piece, you will believe that you know a lot more science than you did before you read it... but you probably won't. You'll just think you do. And you know what they say about perception being reality.

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Did You Know . . .?

An elephant's trunk is actually a long nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things -- like a potential meal. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 different muscles.

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HISTORICAL EVENTS

On this day in 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr.; Donn F. Eisele; and Walter Cunningham aboard. Under the command of Schirra, the crew of Apollo 7 conducted an 11-day orbit of Earth, during which the crew transmitted the first live television broadcasts from orbit.


Also -- On this day in 2002, former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

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WORD FOR TODAY

accretion [uh-KREE-shuh n]
noun
1. an increase by natural growth or by gradual external addition; growth in size or extent.
2. the result of this process.
3. an added part; addition: The last part of the legend is a later accretion.
4. the growing together of separate parts into a single whole.
5. Law. increase of property by gradual natural additions.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III

(born October 11, 1966)

Luke Perry is an American actor. He starred as Dylan McKay on the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000.

David Bowditch Morse

(born October 11, 1953)

David Morse is an American actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama series St. Elsewhere. He continued his film career with roles in Dancer in the Dark, The Indian Runner, The Negotiator, Contact, The Green Mile, Disturbia, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Crossing Guard, The Rock, Extreme Measures, 12 Monkeys, 16 Blocks, and Hounddog.

Elmore John Leonard, Jr.

(Oct 11, 1925 - Aug 20, 2013)

Elmore Leonard was an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Among his best-known works are Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Hombre, Mr. Majestyk, and Rum Punch (adapted for the movie Jackie Brown). Leonard's writings include short stories that became the films 3:10 to Yuma and The Tall T, as well as the FX television series Justified.

Emily Erin Deschanel

(born 11 October 1976)

Emily Deschanel is an American actress. She is best known for starring in the crime procedural series Bones as Dr. Temperance Brennan.

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The Nobel Peace Prize has become hopelessly politicized. I think it cheapens the prize itself.
--John Bolton

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Having Fun Viewing Movies

    

Tucson Weather Today

 

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Again, I spent lots of time yesterday watching movies on HBO, Encore, The Movie Channel, and such. One of thee movies was titled Dogma, and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Dogma is a 1999 American comedy film with a cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Bud Cort, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, George Carlin and Janeane Garofalo,

The film follows two fallen angels, Loki (Damon) and Bartleby (Affleck)  who were banished from Heaven after an inebriated Loki, with Bartleby's encouragement, resigned as the Angel of Death. Loki and Bartleby, through an alleged loophole in Catholic dogma, seek to get back into Heaven after being cast out by God.

The movie is funny. Just imagine George Carlin as a Catholic Cardinal, Chris Rock as Rufus the 13th apostle, and of course, Jay and Silent Bob.

Way, way too much profanity for broadcast television, though.

Another movie I'm glad I caught was The Incredible Hulk. It had some most enjoyable special effects and a few scenes wherein facial expressions expressed deep emotion, somewhat reminiscent of the silent movie style of exaggerated acting. Of course that is just my opinion. I've found (strangely enough) that others often see things differently than I do.

Also, I was amused by those little bits of whimsy occasionally thrown in by the writers (or the director) for the titillation of those who are sharp enough to latch onto them. Such as Bruce Banner's brief encounter with a certain security guard who is played by Lou Farigno (who played The Hulk in the original TV series.)

Ah yes . . . I do like me movies.

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TRIVIA

Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1980, country music artist Willie Nelson and his band performed at the White House with President Jimmy Carter in attendance. Later that night, unbeknownst to the president, Nelson allegedly retired to the White House roof to smoke a marijuana cigarette.

A fan of Nelson's music, Carter frequently attended the singer's concerts and invited Nelson to stay at the White House during his presidency. The two formed a friendship that continued after Carter left the White House in 1980. In 2004, Carter told reporter Beverly Keel from Rolling Stone magazine that while under immense pressure as president he would relax in his study, tying flies for fishing while listening to Nelson's music.

In 1980, Carter invited Nelson to perform on the South Lawn of the White House. A week later, The New York Times reported on an unusual event that raised a few eyebrows among Washington's conservative set: first lady Rosalynn Carter had joined Nelson for a duet.

 

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WORD FOR TODAY

periwinkle
noun
1. Any of several shrubby, trailing, evergreen plants having glossy, dark green, opposite leaves and flowers with a blue, funnel-shaped corolla. Also called myrtle.
2. Any of several erect herbs having flowers with a rose-pink or white salverform corolla and a closed throat.
3. A pale purplish blue.

Periwinkle is a color in the blue and purple family. Its name is derived from the lesser periwinkle or myrtle herb which bears flowers of the same color. This color is also similar to the mint color. The color periwinkle is also called lavender.

 

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Jacqueline Bisset
(born 13 September 1944)

 Jacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Casino Royale (1967), Bullitt (1968), Airport (1970), The Deep (1977), Class (1983), and the TV series Nip/Tuck (2006).

Bennett Joseph "Ben" Savage
(born September 13, 1980)

 Ben Savage is an American film and TV actor and child star of late 1980s and 1990s. Savage is best known for his role as lead character Cory Matthews on the TV sitcoms Boy Meets World from 1993 until 2000. His brother is actor/director Fred Savage.

Nell Carter
(Sept 13, 1948 – Jan 23, 2003)

 Nell Carter was an American singer and actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin', as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television. From 1981 to 1987, Carter starred in the NBC sitcom Gimme a Break!. She received two Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations for her work on the series.

Richard Dawson Kiel
(born 1939)

 Richard Kiel is an American actor known for his role as the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) as well as the video game Everything or Nothing. He is also well known as Mr. Larson in the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore.

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It's the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it.
--Andy Warhol

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