Respect - Aretha Franklin

Happy Birthday to the Queen of Soul!

American Pie - Don McLean

February 3, 1959 The Day the Music Died



What do the lyrics mean?

Friday the 13th Trivia

Any month that begins on a Sunday will have a Friday the 13th in it.

Showdown - ELO

Since today is the Winter Solstice, I've been seeing all sorts of posts and articles about it.  One I just read said "Today will be the shortest day of the year and tonight is the longest night." and I was blasted with a memory of this ELO song which has that line in it.   I also remember when the song came out...but that was a LONG time ago, so I don't really want to think about that right now.  It's not easy knowing I'm in the winter of my life and all the days from here on will be shorter and all the nights longer.  -sigh-

You Better Believe

First Video on MTV

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles was the first music video shown on MTV in the United States at 12:01am on August 1, 1981.

1752 - The Shortest Year

Year 1752 (MDCCLII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar. In the British Empire, it was the only year with 355 days, as September 3 through September 13 were skipped.

Never Forget

Remembering D-Day

70 years later

Ooops

On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day.*

*Note:  That's a world-wide average, not in the U.S.

The Red Baron

Today in history:  Manfred von Richthofen aka "The Red Baron" was shot down and killed near Amiens on 21 April 1918.

Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron - Royal Guardsmen

Happy Waffle Day!

You Are Innovative

You find entirely new ways of doing things. You are progressive and original. You are knowledgeable and well-read. If no one can teach you, you'll teach yourself. Nothing escapes notice your notice. You are highly observant and attentive. You are wise and thoughtful. You are very philosophical about life.

The Waffle Test

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Coincidentally enough, I "waffled" on choosing the waffle pics. I finally settled on this one, even though I've never had waffles with chocolate sauce and fruit, which sounds/looks delicious.  I'm not sure the results really fit me, but I'd like to think so. (except I'm definitely not "progressive", at least in the political sense)

I haven't had waffles in years and years;  I guess the last time was at an IHOP and it was a mistake on my order but the place was so busy I didn't have the heart or inclination to send them back for the pancakes I had originally ordered.  They were pretty good, so much better than the frozen type we used to sometimes have when I was a kid.  I don't know what it was about those things, but they usually had a cold or frozen spot left in them and if you toasted them longer, they'd come out nearly black, inedible and tough.

As my friends and loyal readers of this blog know, I subscribe to a bunch of recipe sites in my reader.  Every now and then a recipe for chicken and waffles pops up and while that isn't something that's on the menu in this part of the country, I think it would be good.  Then again, I'm a person who likes to dip  french fries into my chocolate shake, so....

Today is Waffle Day, btw, although there's a little bit of controversy about just what day it really is.

Spring Has Sprung!

It's the first day of Spring, or Spring equinox.

Be sure and check out the cute Google Doodle today.

Flipping Out

Yesterday was National Pancake Day, but Blogthings didn't post this quiz until later in the day and I didn't see it in time. The best news was that Liberal beats Olney, England, in annual Pancake Day race.

 

You Are Buttermilk Pancakes

Your prefer traditional, old fashioned foods. You shy away from anything fake, and you like meals with simple ingredients. It's not likely someone would find margarine or diet soda in your kitchen. Instead, someone might find a loaf of homemade bread baking or a soup simmering.

What Kind of Pancakes Are You?

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Actually, you WOULD find diet soda in my house...not in my kitchen, but right next to my computer desk. I don't drink much of it, but it's what I drink, along with coffee and most of the time, water.  You also wouldn't find margarine in my fridge, but I'm not sure the butter that's in there is any good now.  I just don't use a lot of it.

About the title of this post: I used to run around with a guy who was bi-polar and when he'd be coming out of his depressed phase, he'd say he was "goin' to see Aunt Jemima". It was his way of saying he was flipping out...flipping like a pancake.

Anniversary of the British Invasion

It officially began at 8 pm on Sunday 9th February, 1964 when the live broadcast of the first Ed Sullivan Show was aired with the full Beatles line-up. The band played five songs (All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There and I Want To Hold Your Hand) and made broadcasting history.

Just a snippet of the first show, but someone on YouTube has made all three Ed Sullivan shows with the Beatles available in a single video.

Groundhog Day Countdown

10 Groundhog Day countdown banners

There are quite a few other sites that offer holiday countdown banners and loads of scripts one can use, but several of those won't work on Blogger and while some will work, they conflict with my calendar at the top of the page.

I know one thing for certain, though: No matter how many years I will be blessed to live, I will always think of my online pal Garazon on Groundhog Day.

I might be senile, and not remember his name (or my own), but I'll think of him.

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I meant to add that these things are fun to put into any email program that allows it. I've done it before, added a line separator and used it as a signature.

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A little "bump" because...well, just because.

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Another bump because why waste a perfectly good Groundhog Day post?

What a Days!

Today is National Peanut Butter Day. It's also National Compliment Day.

My loyal readers of this blog are all nicer than a peanut butter sandwich. (not sure if you're all nicer than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, though)

And I'm sure you don't stick to the roof of the mouth, either.

Saturday Siren Sounds

They test the system ea. Sat. at noon, except when there is stormy weather in the area or during high school commencement ceremonies. They also break in on all cable channels with a test message preceded by a different sounding and extremely loud and harsh-toned siren, interrupting my Martha Bakes program on PBS.

That is NOT a good thing.*

*Just in case you aren't familiar with Martha Stewart, "That's a good thing." is a signature phrase she uses.

R.I.P. Brian

If you're a Family Guy fan and happened to catch last night's episode, you know that Brian (the family dog) died in the episode.

If you didn't....Oops, spoiler alert! Sorry, too late for that, huh?

I only started watching the show a few years ago; I guess I had lumped it in with The Simpsons (which I find anything but funny) and didn't think it would be worth wasting a half-hour watching it.  However, one Sunday I had watched the late football game on Fox and didn't bother to turn the channel and Family Guy came on.  I didn't know where the remote was and I was too lazy to get up and turn the channel, so I started watching and was - for better or worse -  hooked. 

The creator of the show, Seth MacFarlane, is an unabashed liberal and he takes a lot of potshots at conservatives, but a few weeks after I started watching, Rush Limbaugh "starred" on an episode and it was one of the funniest of the entire series.  There HAVE been some really bad episodes, though, not that they were without humor, but sometimes the humor crossed the line. (some about religion, such as making fun of Jesus being crucified and others showing "retarded" characters...the show does a lot of cruel humor directed at people with disabilities) It's those shows that make me re-think watching it, but then there will be a flash of brilliant comedy that gives me hope there will be more like it.  It's constantly on a teeter-totter of enjoyment with me - 51% funny and 49% disgusting and sometimes those percentages reverse.  It's hard for me to explain why I keep watching it and certainly harder trying to defend my watching it.

Without delving into each of the characters and their personalities, I always figured that MacFarlane actually had the Brian character in mind as his animated alter-ego when he created him;  after all, Brian is the most liberal of any of the characters, and while many slams are directed towards conservatism (and religion), I think MacFarlane is actually making fun of liberals in a subtle way with Brian.  Here's an example, one of my favorite scenes of the series:

I loved that rant and particularly the Catcher in the Rye reference. (most worthless "classic literature" I ever wasted time reading)  All the things Quagmire said about Brian were true and not only is Brian a dog, if he were a human he'd also be a dog.

I don't think Brian is gone for good; Stewie will make another time machine and will go back in time and save Brian. I hope so, because the "replacement dog" Vinnie is annoying.

Ivy Mike

Ivy Mike was the codename given to the first test of a thermonuclear device, in which part of the explosive yield comes from nuclear fusion. It was detonated on November 1, 1952 by the United States on Enewetak, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, as part of Operation Ivy. The device was the first full test of the Teller-Ulam design, a staged fusion bomb, and was the first successful test of a hydrogen bomb.