Friday 24 July 2009

                                                

JULY 24th

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
1567 – Mary Queen of Scots is deposed and replaced by her 1 year

            old son James VI.
1715 – A Spanish treasure fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Ubilla leaves

           Havana, Cuba for Spain. Seven days later, 9 of them sink in a storm

           off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged

           from these wrecks.
1823 – Slavery is abolished in Chile.
1832 – Benjamin Bonneville leads the first wagon train across the Rocky

            Mountains by using Wyoming’s South Pass.
1866 – Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. State to be

            readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.
1901 – O. Henry is released from prison in Austin, Texas after serving

            three years for embezzlement from a bank.
1911 – Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas".
1924 – The World Chess Federation FIDE is founded in Paris.
1935 – The dust bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to

            109°F (44°C) in Chicago and 104°F (40°C) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1948 – Looney Tunes character Marvin the Martian makes his first appearance

            in the cartoon Haredevil Hare.
1950 – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch

            of a Bumper rocket.
1956 – At New York City’s Copacabana Club, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform

            their last comedy show together. They began performing together

            on July 25, 1946.
1967 – During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle

            declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre!

           ("Long live free Quebec!"). The statement, interpreted as support for

           Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the

           Canadian government and many English Canadians.
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

 

1725 – John Newton, English cleric and hymnist (d. 1807)
1853 – William Gillette, American actor and author (d. 1937)
1897 – Amelia Earhart, American aviator (disappeared 1937)
1900 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American artist (d. 1948)
1904 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (d. 1991)
1904 – Richard B. Morris, American constitutional, legal, diplomatic historian (d. 1989)
1908 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter (d. 1985)
1910 – Harry Horner, American art director (d. 1994)
1936 – Ruth Buzzi, American actress and comedian
1948  MARVIN THE MARTIAN-cartoon
1951 – Lynda Carter, American actress
1957 – Pam Tillis, American singer
1969 – Jennifer Lopez, American actress and singer
1970 – Stephanie Adams, American model and author
1990 – Daveigh Chase, American actress 

     

Marvin in Duck Dodgers in                            EMBLEM

the 24½th Century

 

First appearance Haredevil Hare (July 24, 1948)
Created by Chuck Jones
Voiced by Mel Blanc (1948-1989)
        Joe Alaskey (1990- current)
Bob Bergen (Space Jam)
Eric Goldberg (Looney Tunes: Back in Action)

Animation director Chuck Jones noted that Bugs Bunny
soon learned to out wit Yosemite Sam (the creation of the
senior director, Friz Freleng), so he decided to create the
opposite type of character; one who was quiet and
soft-spoken, but whose actions were incredibly destructive
and legitimately dangerous. Marvin the Martian made his
debut in 1948’s Haredevil Hare.

Marvin’s design was based on a conception of the god Mars.
"That was the uniform that Mars wore – that helmet and skirt.
We thought putting it on this ant-like creature might be funny.
But since he had no mouth, we had to convey that he was
speaking totally through his movements. It demanded a kind
of expressive body mechanics."

Marvin was never named in the original shorts
(though he was called Commander, Flying Saucer X-2 in
The Hasty Hare in 1952), but decades later when the
character attracted merchandising interest,
the current name was selected.

  our 1960s

superstar

              

Young, handsome, and sexy, Warren Beatty stirred the hearts
of many a woman in the 1960’s. He first got exposure in the
popular 1950’s TV series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis."
Beatty made very few films, preferring to devote time to his
busy romantic life, including romances with Julie Christie,
Diane Keaton, and Joan Collins, among many others.

Beatty’s notable films include:
SHAMPOO, HEAVEN CAN WAIT, McCABE AND MRS. MILLER,
REDS, DICK TRACY, and THE PARALLAX VIEW.
Warren Beatty’s defining role was as the sexually ambiguous
outlaw in BONNIE AND CLYDE.

As star, co-director, co-writer and co-producer, he became
one of the few people to be nominated for four Academy
Awards for the same film.
– He would repeat that feat with his epic triumph, REDS, which
netted him his own Oscar, as Best Director (in all, he has been
nominated for an Oscar fourteen times, and also received the
Academy’s Irving G. Thalberg Award). From that high to the low
of Ishtar, he went on to Dick Tracy, Bugsy and Bulworth.
– The American Film Institute honored him this year with their
lifetime achievement award. The USA Network will broadcast
the festivities tomorrow night at 9:00 PM EST.

Born Henry Warren Beaty
March 30, 1937 (age 72)
Richmond, Virginia
Occupation Actor, director
Years active 1957–present
Spouse(s) Annette Bening (1992–present)

In 1989, he recorded the duet, "Now I’m Following You"
with Madonna for her 1990 album, I’m Breathless.

After years of dating many famous women, he married
Annette Bening on March 10, 1992, with whom he
co-starred in the film Bugsy.
They have four children: Kathlyn Elizabeth Beatty
(born January 8, 1992), Benjamin MacLean Beatty
(born August 23, 1994), Isabel Ira Ashley Beatty
(born January 11, 1997) and Ella Corinne Beatty
(born April 8, 2000).

 

 

          

    

   ~PATTI S.~              

         

Although it has been assumed that Betty’s first name was
established in the 1931 Screen Songs cartoon Betty Co-ed,
this "Betty" was an entirely different character. Though the
song may have led to Betty’s eventual christening, any
references to Betty Co-ed as a Betty Boop vehicle are
incorrect. (The official Betty Boop website describes the
titular character as a "prototype" of Betty.) In all, there
were at least 12 Screen Songs cartoons that featured
either Betty Boop or a similar character.

 

          Series:   Answers To Science Questions Asked of a Third Grade Class

1)Most of the houses in France are made of plaster of Paris.

2)The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 opossums.

3)The spinal column is a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the

top and you sit on the bottom.

            

                     Is your spanner or wrench too big?
If your wrench is slightly too big for the job in hand,place a slice
of inner tube rubber around the nut head and then place the wrench
around that. It could well do the job.

One cup of raw, chopped red peppers provides over 100% of the DV

for vitamin C and vitamin A. Red peppers are also an excellent source

of vitamin B6. Green peppers are a very good source of fiber, folate,

and vitamin K as well as the minerals molybdenum and manganese.

 

In addition to beta-carotene, red peppers contain the beneficial

phytonutrients lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin.

 

STUFFED SPICY BELL PEPPERS
What better way to use those large, sweet bell peppers than

with this easy, and delicious, spicy beef stuffed pepper recipe?

The sweetness of the peppers flavors the spicy ground beef

used to stuff them, and the result is a colorful combination

perfect for a festive meal.

 

If desired, this stuffed pepper recipe can be made using ground

pork, turkey, or chicken. Also, this version for stuffed peppers

doesn’t call for rice, so it’s perfect for low-carb diets.

 

Makes 6 Spicy Beef Stuffed Peppers
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
 

Ingredients:
•1 1/2 pound ground beef
•1 large onion, diced
•1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
•1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
•1 tbsp chili powder
•1 tsp dried oregano
•2 tsp ground cumin
•1/2 tsp cayenne, or to taste
•1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•1 (15-oz) can pinto beans, drained
•1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
•1 tsp salt
•1/2 cup water
•6 large red bell peppers
•8 oz Pepper Jack cheese, or regular Jack cheese, shredded
Preparation:
In a large skillet, cook the beef and onions over medium heat,

until lightly browned. Drain off excess grease, and add the

tomato sauce, corn, chili powder, oregano, cumin, cayenne,

Worcestershire sauce, garlic, beans, salt, pepper, and water.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes,

stirring occasionally.

Prep the peppers by slicing off the top 1/2-inch

(from the larger stem end) and remove the seeds, and white

membranes with a spoon. Place peppers upright in a baking dish

(trim bottoms slightly, if necessary, so peppers stand straight).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spoon the beef mixture into

each pepper. Top each stuffed pepper with the cheese.

Bake 35 minutes until the peppers are tender, and the

cheese is golden brown.

                         

Controlling of Aphids:

Aphids gather in huge numbers. They often prefer
the underside of leaves, making control a little more difficult.

Here are some methods for controlling or eliminating
them from your favorite plants:

Directly spray them with a stream of water. This works
best on trees and shrubs where the plant is sturdy
enough to withstand a strong steam of water from your
garden hose. It can damage tender flowers and vegetables.

Organic insecticidal soaps

Insecticides, many kinds are effective against aphids.
Check the label before you buy to be sure.

Fruit tree oils are effective on fruits trees.

Important Note: The sprays and insecticides need to
come in contact with the aphids. Spraying of the
underside of the leaves is a must.

 

                  KEEPING WOOD UNTENSILS FRESH

If you want to keep your wood utensils and salad sets looking like new,

it is easier than you would think.

 

After thoroughly washing the items, rub each item down with a piece of wax paper.

This will leave a thin coating of wax on the wood that will help protect it from drying

out and absorbing liquids that you prepare or serve.

       

 

   Nautical Phrase                    

Shiver my timbers

Meaning

An oath, expressing annoyance or surprise.

Origin

Those of a certain age will remember Robert Newton, rolling his eyes

and yarring it up in his archetypal Hollywood pirate role –

Long John Silver in the 1950 film Treasure Island.

Robert Louis Stevenson used shiver my timbers several times in the

original 1883 book, for example:

"Well, he [Old Pew] is dead now and under hatches; but for two

`Of course,

 Newton made the most of such ‘parrot on the shoulder’

phrases and it also appears several times in the film’s screenplay.

Newton’s version, like that of all self-respecting stage pirates,

was shiver me timbers, with the occasional ‘aaarh, Jim lad’ thrown in.

The first appearance of the phrase in print is in Frederick Marryat’s Jacob Faithful, 1834:

"I won’t thrash you Tom. Shiver my timbers if I do."

One meaning of shiver, which is now largely forgotten, is ‘to break into pieces’.

That meaning originated at least as early as the 14th century and is recorded in

several Old English texts. A more recent citation, which makes that meaning

clear, is James Froude’s Caesar; a sketch, 1879:

 

"As he crossed the hall, his statue fell, and shivered on the stones."

So, the sailor’s oath shiver my timbers, is synonymous with

(if so and so happens then…) let my boat breaks into pieces.

The question is whether any real sailor used the term or whether it was just

a literary invention. Well, we can’t be sure, although the fact that it actually

means something and isn’t just Newton-style hokum must count in favor

of it being an authentic sailor’s oath.

            

 

                                              

 Phrase of the Week

                  Fuddy-duddy

Meaning

A stuffy or foolishly old-fashioned person.

Origin

If any term sounds old and English, it must be this one.
As so often, intuition is found to be inadequate as fuddy-duddy
appears to be of American origin, possibly via Scotland, nor is
it especially old. The first record that I can find of it is from the
Texas newspaper The Galveston Daily News, 1889:

"Look here; I’m Smith – Hamilton Smith. I’m a minister and
I try to do about right … I object to being represented
as an old fuddy-duddy."

That usage – without any accompanying explanation – seems to
suggest that the readership would have been expected to have
been familiar with it. That is quite possible, there are several
citations in American newspapers from the end of the 19th
century that relate to a pair of fictional wags called
Fuddy and Duddy. A string of their rather weak gags was printed
in the Boston Evening Transcript. Here’s an example from
a November 1895 edition:

Fuddy: So Miss Dandervecken is going to marry an Englishman.
A lord, I suppose?
Duddy: Well, no, not exactly: but I understand that he’s often
as drunk as a lord.

Whether or not the expression ‘fuddy-duddy’ was already known
and the names were taken from it, or whether it was the other
way round, we can’t now tell. The coincidence in the dates of
the arrival of the two characters and the phrase does suggest
that there was a connection of some kind.

Duddy was a Scottish term meaning ragged – duds having been
used to refer to rough tattered clothes since the 15th century.
Fud, or fuddy, was a Scots dialect term for buttocks. In 1833,
the Scots poet James Ballantyne wrote The Wee Raggit Laddie:

Wee stuffy, stumpy, dumpie laddie,
Thou urchin elfin, bare an’ duddy,
Thy plumpit kite an’ cheek sae ruddy
Are fairly baggit,
Although the breekums on thy fuddy
Are e’en right raggit.

The full-on Scots dialect in that sentimental, Burns influenced rhyme
is difficult to translate precisely. The gist of the meaning is:

Poor scruffy little lad, bare and ragged, your wet belly and
red cheeks are swollen and the trousers on your buttocks are torn.

There is a British term – ‘duddy fuddiel’, which is also recorded from
around the same date. William Dickinson’s A glossary of words
and phrases pertaining to the dialect of Cumberland, 1899, has:

"Duddy fuddiel, a ragged fellow."

There may be a link between ‘duddy fuddiel’ and ‘fuddy-duddy’ but,
as they don’t mean exactly the same thing, we can’t be certain.

One thing we can be sure about; that the cartoon character
Elmer Fudd inherited the name from the phrase. ‘Fuddy-duddy’
was in general circulation in the US well before the character was
created in around 1940 and the expression accords with his
old-fashioned and obsessive temperament.

 

Golf was banned in England and Scotland in 1457 by King

James II because he claimed it distracted people from the archery

practice necessary for national defense.

 

A booger is made of a piece of dried nasal mucus or snot.

Mucus is the thin, slippery material that is found inside your nose.

  Quote of the Day

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.
  – Woodrow Wilson

          

Firecracker Grilled Alaska Salmon

"These are salmon fillets in a tasty, tangy sauce with a little heat!
Serve with rice and a simple stir-fry of baby corn, shiitake
mushrooms and snow peas."

PREP TIME  20 Min 
COOK TIME  20 Min 
READY IN  6 Hrs 40 Min 
SERVINGS 8

INGREDIENTS
8 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
1/2 cup peanut oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons green onions, chopped
3 teaspoons brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Place salmon filets in a medium, nonporous glass dish.
In a separate medium bowl, combine the peanut oil, soy sauce,
vinegar, green onions, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes,
sesame oil and salt.
Whisk together well, and pour over the fish.
Cover and marinate the fish in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.
Prepare an outdoor grill with coals about 5 inches from the grate,
and lightly oil the grate.
Grill the fillets 5 inches from coals for 10 minutes per inch
of thickness, measured at the thickest part, or until fish just
flakes with a fork. Turn over halfway through cooking.

             

                              

   Send Me Old Postcard Pictures of Your State Or Town – I’ll put them here!

Thought For The Day

The humorous man recognizes that absolute purity, absolute justice,

absolute logic and perfection are beyond human achievement and that

men have been able to live happily for thousands of years in a state of

genial frailty. -Brooks Atkinson

 

 

                            

                                       60s Music-Slideshow-automatic

                               You’ll Love It!