►Provocative Quote
"The hardest thing to do is to disguise your feelings when sending a large crowd of visiting relatives home."
~Unknown
Happy New Year To All. While 09 was not very bad for me, it was for many of my friends. I, for one, am glad to see it go. I sure hope the new decade brings sanity back to our country, our state, and our town.
What’s up with College Football. I want to return to the days of New Year’s Day Bowls…all football all day, and then it’s over. One of the big things in the first decade was to encourage kids and not prepare them for real life. Don’t let kids fail. Now almost any football player in a college can add a Bowl Game to his resume. This year there are 34 end of season bowls. Cities, towns, companies, all want to get the money. What parent and family wouldn’t travel across the country during the holidays to watch their son play in a Bowl? Travel dollars, hotel dollars, vendor dollars, advertising dollars. I just don’t get how playing in these bowls really enhance one’s resume: Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, R+L Carriers Bowl MAACO Bowl S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, Little Caesars Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl, Emerald Bowl, Gaylord Hotels Bowl, Music City EagleBank Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, Brut Bowl, Sun Insight Bowl, Chick-fil-A Bowl, Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl, Valero Alamo Bowl, GMAC Bowl. I can see it now: “My football career included playing in the ’09 MAACO Bowl, where I was named MVP. Our Po-dunk University Badgers beat Po-dunk College Hogs 3-0. That experience prepared me to be become a good candidate for your Assistant Intern in Design and Production.”
Bring back the Big Bowls: Orange, Cotton, Sugar, Rose, Fiesta and dump the rest. I can live with the National Championship Game, but they sure need a better way of picking the two teams.
►Quotes from Values.com—LIVE LIFE
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
~Dolly Parton: Singer Songwriter, Actress, Author, Philanthropist
►Unusual News
Toronto, Canada - A gas station attendant had no trouble identifying a robber for police, even though the man had worn a pair of women's panties over his head as a disguise. The thief, who later admitted that his mind was clouded by intoxicants, had stuck his face through one of the leg-holes so he could see.
►Random Fact The first time the New Year was celebrated on January 1st was in Rome in 153 B.C. The new year was moved from March to January because that was the beginning of the civil year, the month that the two newly elected Roman consuls—the highest officials in the Roman republic—began their one-year tenure.
§ January Trivial Pursuits
~2010 is the UN Year of Biodiversity
~On New Year's Day, people in certain countries gather on beaches and run into the water to celebrate the new year. Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States and Australia are the most popular countries for this.
~In Pennsylvania and Ohio, mostly in or near Pennsylvania "Dutch" (Deitch/German) areas, it is common to celebrate New Year's Day with a meal of pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes.
~In the Philippines, people light fireworks, loud firecrackers, booming sound system, bamboo canons as well as make a lot of noise with the belief that the noises would scare evil spirits away and prevent them from bringing bad luck to the coming new year.
~In New York City, the 11,875-pound (5,386-kg), 12-foot-diameter (3.7-m) Times Square Ball located high above Times Square is lowered starting at 11:59:00 p.m
~In Scotland, there are many special customs associated with the New Year. These are a part of the Scottish celebration Hogmanay, the Scots name for the New Year.
~In Russia the New Year is greeted by fireworks and drinking champagne. The New Year is considered a family celebration, with lavish dinner tables and gifts.
~In South Korea, the most popular way of celebrating New Year's Day is to travel to Jung dong jin, the place on the peninsula where the Sun can first be seen each day.
~In Wales, Calennig is celebrated, with celebrations attracting thousands of people in the capital, Cardiff.
~In Greece, families and relatives switch off the lights at midnight, then celebrate by cutting the "vassilopita" (Basil's pie) which usually contains one coin or equivalent, whoever wins expects luck for the whole year
§ December Month Long Observances
Birthstone: Garnet …Flower: Carnation
Book Blitz Month * Bath Safety Month * Birth Defects Month * California Dried Plum Digestive Month * Celebration of Life Month * Cervical Cancer Screening Month * Financial Wellness Month * High Tech Month * International Creativity Month * International Quality of Life Month * International Wayfinding Month * International Wealth Mentality Month * National Be On-Purpose Month * National Bird Feeding Month * National Clean Up Your Computer Month * National Get Organized Month * National Glaucoma Awareness Month * National Hot Tea Month * National Mail Order Gardening Month * National Mentoring Month * National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month * National Poverty in America Awareness Month * National Radon Action Month * National Skating Month * National Soup Month * National Volunteer Blood Donor Month * Oatmeal Month * Rising Star Month * Self-help Group Awareness Month * Senior Women’s Travel Month * Shape Up US Month * Thyroid Awareness Month
§ Observance Weeks in JanuaryKwanzaa: (26-1/1)
Celebration of Life Week: 1-7
Diet Resolution Week: 1-7
National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week: 1-8
§ 1 January Observances—US/UN/World
New Years Day
New Year's Dishonor List Day: Words removed from vocabulary due to overuse, misuse, or uselessness.
Every Horses’ Birthday—all US race horses become a year older today
Alabama : Mobile Carnival
Pasadena CA : Tournament of Roses Parade
Philadelphia : Mummers' Parade
§ 1 January Observances—by country
Cameroon : Independence Day (from France: 1960)
Cuba : Revolution Day
Greece: Saint Basil's Day—kindness and generosity to poor.
Haiti : Independence Day (from France: 1804)
Japan : New Year (year = AD + 660)
Mozambique : Universal Fraternity
Sudan : Independence Day (from UK:1956)
Western Samoa : Independence Day (from New Zealand: 1962)
Taiwan : Foundation of the Republic
► Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1847…Michigan is 1st state to abolish capital punishment
►Who was born on this day?
~ The Arts
Dana Andrews in 1909 actor
Javier Cugat [Mingall de Brue y Deulofeo] in 1900 Spain, bandleader (married Charo)
Tom Dugan Dublin Ireland, in 1889 actor (Circus Clown, Drag, Skyway)
E M Forster in 1879 London England, novelist (Howard's End, Passage to India)
Country Joe McDonald in 1942 rock guitarist/vocalist (& the Fish)
JD [Jerome David]Salinger in 1919 novelist
~Athletics
Jack Kiefer in 1940 PGA golfer
Derrick Thomas in 1967 NFL linebacker (Chiefs)
~Business, Education, Politics
J Edgar Hoover in 1895 Director of US FBI
Elizabeth Griscom (Betsy) Ross in 1752 flag maker
Barry Goldwater in 1909 (Senator -AZ/Presidential candidate (R) 1964)
Paul Revere in 1735 silversmith/US patriot
~Science/Religion
►Who Died on this day?
Hank Williams in 1953 country singer—heart failure/drugs/alcohol @ 29
Maurice A Chevalier in 1972 French actor (Can Can, Gigi), @ 83
Cesar Romero in 1994 US actor (Joker-Batman), @ 86
►What happened on this day?
404…Last gladiator competition in Rome
1651…Charles II Stuart crowned king of Scotland
1701…Great Britain & Ireland union is in effect, creating United Kingdom
1772…1st traveler's checks issued (London)
1788…Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipate their slaves
1805…Lewis & Clark attend a party with the local Indians.
1818…Official reopening of the White House
1847…Michigan is 1st state to abolish capital punishment
1853…1st practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service
1862…1st US income tax (3% of incomes > $600, 5% of incomes > $10,000)
1863…Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by Lincoln
1880…Building of Panamá Canal, begins
1886…1st Tournament of Roses, Pasadena CA
1899…Cuba liberated from Spain by US (National Day) (US occupies till 1902)
1901…The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed
1902…1st Rose Bowl game (Pasadena CA) (University of Michigan-49, Stanford-0)
1928…1st US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio
1934…Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison
1934…Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (US bank guarantor) effective
1935 1st Sugar Bowl & 1st Orange Bowl
1948…1st color newsreel filmed, Pasadena CA
1958…European Economic Community (Common Market) starts operation
1977…1st woman formally ordained an Episcopal priest (Jacqueline Means)
2000…“Y2K Crisis” doesn’t materialize.
►Rhyme & Reason Puzzle
Answer the following clue in two rhyming words (e.g. an obese feline is a fat cat) If only one number is given, the answer is a word featuring internal rhyme (e.g. voodoo)
1. much of the movie Titanic was filmed on a ___ ___ (3,3):
2. giving refuge for a fugitive (9,6):
3. purchases a skyscraper (4,8):
4. concealed the cephalopod (3,5):
5. death notice appearing in first month (7,8):
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ANSWERS
1. much of the movie Titanic was filmed on a ___ ___ (3,3): wet set
2. giving refuge for a fugitive (9,6): providing hiding
3. purchases a skyscraper (4,8): buys highrise
4. concealed the cephalopod (3,5): hid squid
5. death notice appearing in first month (7,8): January obituary
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