Friday, August 12, 2011

mundify \MUHN-duh-fahy\, verb:

• To purge or purify.

Mundify is built from two Latin roots, mundi-, "to clean," and ficare, "to do."

Carnal Tunnel Syndrome

• A tingling or numbness or a sharp, piercing pain shooting through the wrist as a direct result of engaging in pleasuring one's self while watching excessive porn.

Leisure Suit Larry is suffering from Carnal Tunnel Syndrome ever since his divorce was final 6 months ago.

Trivia

Who was pictured on the first $5 bill authorized by the U.S. in 1861? How about the first $10 bill?

• Hamilton was on the $5 bill: Lincoln on the $10 bill—the reverse of today’s $5 and $10 bills.

History

• Chicago: the Windy City was founded with a population of 350 (1833)


• Isaac Singer: got a patent for his sewing machine (1851)


• Spanish-American War: peace protocol was signed; Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines were ceded to the US and Cuba was released from Spanish rule (1898)


• IBM-PC: IBM introduced its first personal computer, which contained an Intel chip and Microsoft's DOS operating system (1981)


• Sue: the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found was discovered in South Dakota; she now resides in Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History (1990)


• Kursk: Russian nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea, killing the whole of its 118-member crew (2000)

Birthdays

• Linda O'Neil (38): actress and the most popular body model that you probably never heard of.


• George IV (1762-1830): king of Great Britain


• Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929): poet who wrote "America the Beautiful"; plus, writers Robert Southey (1774-1843), Jacinto Benavente (1866-1954), Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958) and Ann M. Martin (56)


• Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959): director of blockbusters like The Ten Commandments; plus, director John Derek (1926-1998)


• Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961): theoretical physicist, Schrödinger's equation


• Mark Knopfler (62): composer, guitarist, rock singer; also, jazzman Pat Metheny (57)


• Peter Krause (46): Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under and Adam Braverman in Parenthood; also, actors Cantinflas (1911-1993), George Hamilton (72), Bruce Greenwood (55), Michael Ian Black (40), Rebecca Gayheart (39), Casey Affleck (36), and Maggie Lawson and Dominique Swain (both 30)


• Pete Sampras (40): tennis champ; also baseball hall-of-famer Christy Mathewson (1880-1925)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/

Comparison

I heard this on the radio this morning:

30 years ago we had Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope.

Now we have Obama, no cash, and no hope!

Weekend Box Office: 08/08/2011

Box Office

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes $54M
2. The Smurfs $21M
3. Cowboys & Aliens $15.7M
4. The Change-Up $13.5M
5. Captain America: The First Avenger $13M

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the prequel for the 70s franchise, handily took the #1 spot. Last week's top flick Cowboys & Aliens slipped into the #3 spot. My review of Planet of the Apes will be up TOMORROW!

Monday, August 8, 2011

chaptalize \SHAP-tuh-lahyz\, verb:

• To increase the alcohol in a wine by adding sugar.

Chaptalize comes from the French chaptaliser, which is in turn named for the French chemist J. A. Chaptal.

debt ceiling chicken

• A game where everyone in Congress refuses to agree on a deal to raise the debt ceiling until the last possible minute. It's like regular chicken, but instead of driving cars at each other, politicians are using the economy.

John Boehner: I don't give a shit if our country turns into Mad Max 2. I'm going to win this game of debt ceiling chicken.

Barack Obama: Challenge accepted!

Trivia

What ordinance about bigamy was issued in Nuremburg, Germany, in 1650, two years after the Thirty Years War ended?

• The parliament ruled that for the next 10 years, in order to rebuild the city’s devastated population, each male citizen would be permitted to have two wives.

History

• Mont Blanc: the tallest Alp was summited for the first time, by Frenchmen Jacques Balmat and Michel-Gabriel Paccard (1786)


• mimeograph: was patented by Thomas A. Edison (1876)


• Great Train Robbery: 15 thieves stole more than £2m. from a London-bound traveling post office after stopping the train with a false red signal in Buckinghamshire (1963)


• Richard Nixon: announced his resignation from the presidency in the wake of Watergate, six years to the day after he was nominated by the Republican Party (1974)

Birthdays

• Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919): rebel leader of the Mexican revolution


• Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953): Pulitzer Prize-winner for The Yearling; plus, winner of the first Pulitzer Prize for poetry Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)


• Paul Dirac (1902-1984): mathematician and physicist who won a Nobel Prize for work on atomic theory


• Dino De Laurentiis (92): film producer, Serpico; also, director/producer Martin Brest (60)


• Dustin Hoffman (74): award-winning actor, Rain Man; plus, actors Esther Williams (90), Connie Stevens (73), Keith Carradine (62), Donny Most (58), Tawny Cypress (35), Michael Urie (31) and Meagan Good (30)


• Drew Lachey (35): singer/dancer, 98 Degrees, DWTS; also, musicians Mel Tillis (79), Phil Balsley (72), The Edge (50), Kool Moe Dee (49) and JC Chasez (35)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/

Thursday, August 4, 2011

aesopian \ee-SOH-pee-uhn\, adjective:

1. Conveying meaning by hint, euphemism, innuendo, or the like.

2. Pertaining to, or characteristic of Aesop or his fables.

Aesopian gets this general sense from its original meaning as a reference to the inferential nature of Aesop's fables.

Gate Massage

• A TSA pat-down with a "happy landing."

I got a gate massage at the airport today. I feel great!

Trivia

Which three baseball Hall of Famers share the record for playing in the most All-Star games—24?

• Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial.

History

• freedom of the press: a legal precedent was established when newspaper editor John Peter Zenger was acquitted of seditious libel; he had published criticism of the colonial governor of New York (1735)
• US Coast Guard: was launched as the Revenue-Marine, later called the Revenue Cutter Service (1790)
• Anne Frank: teenage Jewish diarist was discovered, along with her family, by Nazis; their hiding place was revealed by a Dutch informant and they were sent to concentration camps, where most perished (1944)
• Burkina Faso: West African republic received its new name meaning "land of upright people"; it was formerly called Upper Volta (1984)

Birthdays

• Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900-2002): wife of George VI, mother of Elizabeth II
• Louis Armstrong (1901-1971): jazz trumpeter
• Raoul Wallenberg (1912-1947?): Swedish diplomat/businessman who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during WWII; in 1945, he was taken into custody by the Russians and disappeared
• Barack Obama (50): the 44th POTUS
• Roger Clemens (49): pitcher with the record for Cy Young Awards — 7; plus, runner Glenn Cunningham (1909-1988)
• Dennis Lehane (46): novelist, Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone; writers Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) and Robert Hayden (1913-1980) were also born on this date
• Daniel Dae Kim (43): Jin-Soo Kwon on Lost; also, actors Richard Belzer (67), Billy Bob Thornton (56), Lauren Tom (50), James Tupper (46) and Michael DeLuise (42)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/