2114 CE

     

Tucson Weather Today

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"Books really are a message in a bottle."
--Margaret Atwood

Prize-winning novelist Margaret Atwood has a new work, but it will remain unseen for a century.

The novelist says it is delicious to be the first contributor to the Future Library, which will compile 100 texts for publication in 2114.

More at The Guardian

'Future Library' is a forest that will become books 100 years from now.

The Christian Science Monitor reports, "Future Library" is a forest of trees, now saplings, that will be cut down and made into books. The catch is, those books won't be published until 2114.

More about Future Library

Note: I first learned of the Future Library from a posting by a member of my WRITERS group


Yesterday afternoon I was flipping through the channels and happened to pause on TV Land, a channel I never watch for some reason or other. But I was intrigued when I spotted a familiar face. Evidently they have resurrected the TV show, Candid Camera. The host of the show is Mayim Bialik who is a gifted comedic actress.

Mayim Hoya Bialik is an American actress and neuroscientist. From early January 1991 to May 1995, she played the title character of NBC's Blossom. Since May 2010, she has played Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS's The Big Bang Theory, which is my favorite comedy show.

Mayim Bialik

(Amy Farrah Fowler)

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Did You Know . . .?

An abandoned dog found wandering the streets of Montreal was so matted and caked in dirt that he was mistaken for a pile of trash. Luckily, his rescuers cleaned him up by shaving off nearly half his visible size, giving him a massive, and much needed, transformation.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1974, President Gerald Ford, who assumed office on the heels of President Richard M. Nixon's resignation, pardoned his predecessor for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. From his home in California, Nixon responded to Ford's pardon, saying he had gained a different perspective on the Watergate affair since his resignation. He admitted that he was "wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy."

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WORD FOR TODAY

parlance [PAR-luhns]
noun
1. any discussion, such as a debate
2. a particular manner of speaking, especially when specialized; idiom: political parlance.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Martin John Christopher Freeman

(born September 8, 1971)

Martin Freeman is an English actor. He is perhaps best known for portraying Tim Canterbury in The Office, Dr. John Watson in Sherlock, Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy, and Lester Nygaard in Fargo.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

(born September 8, 1981)

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is an American actor. He is known for his roles as the middle child Randy Taylor on the sitcom Home Improvement and as the voice of the young Simba in Disney's The Lion King.

Austin "Chumlee" Russell

(born September 8, 1982)

Chumlee is an American reality television personality, known as a cast member on the History Channel television show Pawn Stars, which depicts the daily business at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas where Russell works as an employee.

Brooke Burke

(born September 8, 1971)

Brooke Burke is an American actress, dancer, model and television personality. She is known for Rock Star (2005–2006), winning the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars and for co-hosting Dancing With the Stars from 2010-2013

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Heroes need monsters to establish their heroic credentials. You need something scary to overcome.
--Margaret Atwood

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

The Coward In Winter

Winter officially began today, December 21, 2013 at 12:11 a.m. EST, marking the slow return of the sun making the days become longer for those north of the equator. The day itself is the darkest and shortest day of the year, when the sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky. On this day, the United States will receive only 9 hours and 32 minutes of daylight.

Why is Christmas tied to the Winter Solstice?

Long before there was a man called Jesus, the winter solstice was celebrated as a the return of the sun. In Scandinavia, the time would be marked by burning large logs -- believing that each spark from the fire would represent a new pig or calf in the new year. In Rome, early Romans observed Saturnalia, a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture, and Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome.

The early Christian Church decided to "adopt" December 25 as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ in an effort to absorb pagan celebrations and popularize the holiday.


Note: How Jesus Got His Name is the title of an interesting piece I read yesterday.

Tucson Weather Today

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"A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once."
--William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar


"'The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one...' (The man who first said that) was probably a coward.... He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing about the brave. The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he's intelligent. He simply doesn't mention them."
--Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms


The concept of cowardice should probably be deprecated, because really what it boils down to is having a certain set of priorities and a certain level of risk averseness that cannot necessarily be objectively proven better or worse than someone else's.
--Essay: Courage and cowardice


I have nothing to say, at this time, regarding my personal thoughts on courage or cowardice. I was going to; had it pretty well prepared in my thoughts. But then I realized that to do so could be hurtful to close friends and especially to family members. Also, I do not feel that I am intelligent enough yet to offer a true and definitive opinion that makes much sense.

If ever I feel a pressing need to expound in print upon these traits I will do so in fictional form.

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Did You Know . . .?

When lightning strikes it can reach up to 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1970, rock star Elvis Presley was greeted at the White House by President Richard M. Nixon. Presley's visit was not just a social call: He wanted to meet Nixon in order to offer his services in the government's war on drugs.

On December 31, Nixon wrote a thank-you note to Presley for the gift of a World War II-era Colt .45 pistol, and for visiting him at the White House. He said nothing about enlisting Presley's aid in the war on drugs, however.

Presley died from heart failure in 1977, which the coroner's report said was due to "undetermined causes."

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WORD FOR TODAY

craven
adjective
1.  cowardly; contemptibly timid.
2.  lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful.
noun
a coward.

A craven man is no Superman or Spiderman, nor is he a firefighter or a soldier. A craven man is the opposite of those guys: he has not an ounce of courage.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Jane Fonda

(born December 21, 1937)

Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She won two Academy Awards, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and received movie awards and nominations in more than 50 years as an actress.

After 15 years in retirement, she returned to film in 2005 with Monster-in-Law, followed by Georgia Rule two years later. She produced and starred in exercise videos released between 1982 and 1995, and again in 2010.

Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland

(born 21 December 1966)

Kiefer Sutherland is an actor, film producer, and film director. He is best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox series 24 for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Satellite Awards. He also starred as Martin Bohm in the Fox drama Touch.

Stand by Me was the first film Sutherland made in the United States. He played the neighborhood bully in this coming of age story about the search for a dead body. Sutherland has appeared in more than 70 films, most notably Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, A Few Good Men, Flatliners, Young Guns, The Vanishing, The Three Musketeers, Eye for an Eye, Dark City, A Time To Kill, and The Sentinel.

Sutherland was born in London, the son of Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, both of whom are successful Canadian actors.

Raymond Albert "Ray" Romano

(born December 21, 1957)

Ray Romano is an American actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and voice actor, best known for his roles on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and voicing Manny in the Ice Age film series. He appeared in the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age.

Samuel Leroy Jackson

(born December 21, 1948)

Samuel L. Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor, Morgan Freeman, and the director Spike Lee. After gaining critical acclaim for his role in Jungle Fever in 1991, he appeared in films such as Patriot Games, Amos & Andrew, True Romance and Jurassic Park. In 1994, he was cast as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction.

Jackson has since appeared in over 100 films, including Die Hard with a Vengeance, The 51st State, Jackie Brown, Unbreakable, The Incredibles, Black Snake Moan, Shaft, Snakes on a Plane, Django Unchained, as well as the Star Wars prequel trilogy and small roles in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Inglourious Basterds.

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"The world was full of cravens who pretended to be heroes."
--George R.R. Martin

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

6-17-13

    

Tucson Weather Today

 

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TRIVIA

All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day, June 17, in 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Senate investigations eventually revealed that President Richard Nixon had been personally involved in the subsequent cover-up of the break-in; additional investigation uncovered a related group of illegal activities that included political espionage and falsification of official documents, all sanctioned by the White House. Nixon became increasingly embroiled in the political scandal.

On July 29 and 30, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment, charging that Nixon had misused his powers to violate the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, obstructed justice, and defied Judiciary Committee subpoenas. To avoid almost certain impeachment, Nixon resigned from office on August 9.

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WORD FOR TODAY

corollary
noun
1.  natural consequence: something that is a natural consequence of or accompaniment to something else
2.  statement easily proved from another: a proposition that follows, with little or no further reasoning, from the proof of another
3.  obvious deduction: something that is very obviously or easily deduced from something already proven

A corollary is a statement that follows readily from a previous statement.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

 

Barry Manilow
(born June 17, 1943)

 

Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He is best known for such recordings as "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)". In 1978, five of his albums were on the best-seller charts simultaneously, a feat equalled only by Herb Alpert, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Johnny Mathis.

Venus Ebony Starr Williams
(born June 17, 1980)

 

Venus Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 32 in singles as of May 27, 2013. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions. She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first African American woman to achieve this feat during the Open Era.

Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich
(born June 17, 1943)

 

Newt Gingrich (born Newton Leroy McPherson) is an American politician, author, and political consultant. He represented Georgia's 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1979 until his resignation in 1999, and served as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. Gingrich was a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.

Erin Margaret Murphy
(born June 17, 1964)

 

Erin Murphy is an American actress who is best known for her role as young Tabitha Stephens on the top-ten television sitcom Bewitched, which ran from 1964 to 1972. For the first season, she shared this role with her sister, Diane, as they were of similar appearance and stature. As they got older and looked less alike, Erin played the part alone.

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The Bible is literature, not dogma.
--George Santayana
    

What Is This Thing Called Fear?

For several days I have been researching the subject of FEAR. And I was surprised to find that there is not much of value to be found. Those famous quotations most of us are most familiar with are seemingly not original thoughts at all but merely re-worked repetitions of earlier statements made by long-dead, supposed philosophers.

One thing is certain. Research is unbelievably time-consuming. I've spent the last four hours reading other peoples ideas regarding FEAR. And I have learned nothing new whatsoever.

It's almost as if this notion of FEAR is not a reality in itself, but is merely human-intelligence's mental embellishment of the lower animals' natural reactive instinct

But of course I know FEAR is more than that. I just don't know what that 'more' is. Yet.

People react to fear, not love;

they don't teach that in Sunday

School, but it's true.

--Richard M. Nixon

Well . . . back to the research. Maybe I will have more about the subject tomorrow.