Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Care for a libation?

(Your humble narrator pictured above)

libation \ly-BAY-shun\, noun:

1. The act of pouring a liquid (usually wine) either on the ground or on a victim in sacrifice to some deity; also, the wine or liquid thus poured out.
2. A beverage, especially an alcoholic beverage.
3. An act or instance of drinking.

Libation is from Latin libatio, from libare, "to take a little from anything, to taste, to pour out as an offering."

bad economy

• An all-purpose excuse that people use during a recession to justify doing things that are below their usual standard. Often these things in reality have little or nothing to do with the economic circumstances.

Harry: "You took your girlfriend to Applebee's on Valentine's Day? Pretty weak."
Larry: "Whatever man, I didn't have a choice. Bad economy."

Senator: "Mr. Paulson, you really want to give the greedy, soulless bankers who caused this mess $700 billion with no strings attached?"
Henry Paulson: "Hey guys, bad economy. Just do it."
Senator: "Good point. I vote yes."

Fred: "Dude, tell me you didn't go home with that broke down 300-pound whale I saw you with at O'Shea's last night."

Brendan: "Dude, it's a bad economy. I'll take what I can get."
Fred: "Yeah, I guess you have to."
Trivia
In which three states is Irish the largest ancestry group?

• Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Today in History:

• Italy: the modern Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed; it lasted until the Republic was formed in 1946 (1861)
• National Gallery of Art: museum designed by John Russell Pope was dedicated in Washington, DC (1941)
• californium: creation of radioactive element was announced by scientists at UC Berkeley; it was made by bombarding curium with helium isotopes (1950)

Today's Birthdays:

• Nat King Cole (1919-1965): "Unforgettable" singer; other musicians born on this date include Paul Kantner (68), Jim Weatherly (66), John Sebastian (65), Susie Allanson (57), Paul Overstreet (54), Billy Corgan (42) and Caroline Corr (36)
• Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993): superstar ballet dancer and choreographer
• Rob Lowe (45): actor, The West Wing and Brothers and Sisters; actors Patrick Duffy (60), Kurt Russell (58), Gary Sinise (54), Matthew St. Patrick (41) and Yanic Truesdale (39) were also born on this date
• Mia Hamm (37): Olympic gold medalist in soccer; athlete Bobby Jones (1902-1971) was also born on this date