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February 3, 2010

aubade

aubade \oh-BAHD\ , noun;
1. A song or poem greeting the dawn; also, a composition suggestive of morning.



Sometimes I wake up sneezing, but I don't think that counts as an aubade.

Maybe It's Because I'm a Blob




You Are a Lava Lamp



You are dreamy, relaxed, and contemplative. You like to get lost inside your own head.

You never know where your thoughts will take you, and you consider reflection to be a wild ride.

You're happy to sit and be alone for long periods of time. You only do well with others who are like minded.

You appreciate other peaceful, creative types. Great things can come when great minds get together.


The Day the Music Died

via Mental Floss

Fifty-one years ago today, a plane crashed shortly after taking off from Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four people aboard. They were pilot Roger Peterson, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. Richardson, known as “The Big Bopper.” February 3rd, 1959, became known as The Day the Music Died.

Valens, Richardon, and Holly were on tour with a show called “The Winter Dance Party Tour” with Dion and the Belmonts. The tour bus was so cold and miserable that one band member reportedly developed frostbite. Buddy Holly had had enough, and decided to charter a plane in Clear Lake to fly to Fargo, North Dakota for the next gig. Dwyer Flying Service was hired for $36 a seat, and the plane was ready to leave after the show at the Surf Ballroom. Waylon Jennings, a backup singer for the show, relinquished his seat on the plane to Richardson because he was running a fever. Another backup singer, Tommy Allsup, lost his chance to fly in a coin flip with Valens.






Wiki entry: Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in an airplane crash, Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll.". His works and innovations inspired and influenced both his contemporaries and later musicians, notably The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, and Bob Dylan, and exerted a profound influence on popular music.

Holly was in the first group of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Holly #13 among "The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time".



There's an excellent movie about Holly's rise to fame: The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey in what was, IMHO, an Oscar-deserving performance. Busey not only nailed Holly's look and mannerisms, he also did a fantastic job singing.

February 2, 2010

gelid

gelid \JEL-id\ , adjective;
1. Extremely cold; icy.



My online friends Alison and Chester would say a picture is worth a thousand words.

16,000 word's worth

Groundhog Day

One of my favorite movies.

February 1, 2010

denouement

Usually, I post the most interesting words from our Dictionary.com Word of the Day feed, but "denouement" is not from today's word; instead it comes from a post I read earlier this morning in a Dallas Cowboys forum. The subject was last night's Pro Bowl, and one poster had this to say:

"....if the Super Bowl is the climax I always thought the Pro Bowl made a good denouement."

I will admit to being ignorant of the word, but in the context of the sentence, I thought I understood the meaning. Still, I went and looked it up:



denouement –noun [dey-noo-mahn]

1. the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
2. the place in the plot at which this occurs.
3. the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences.

In literature, denouement is the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot in a play, especially in a tragedy. Catastrophe is a synonym of denouement. The term is sometimes applied to a similar action in a novel or story.



It wasn't so much the word I found unique to my reading experience; no, it was that someone used "denouement" in a sports forum.


EDIT: I was going to make a reference to Dennis Miller when he was on Monday Night Football, but, as it is with any joke (and all MY jokes), it's not funny if you have to explain it... sort of like not knowing a word is humorous until you know the meaning.

The Top 14 Dennis Miller Monday Night Football Quotes

The Top 14 Dennis Miller Monday Night Football Quotes (Part II)