Saturday, May 9, 2009

nostrum \NOS-truhm\, noun:

1. A medicine of secret composition and unproven or dubious effectiveness; a quack medicine.
2. A usually questionable remedy or scheme; a cure-all.

Nostrum comes from Latin nostrum (remedium), "our (remedy)," from nos, "we."

Redshirt

• Expendable characters. Usually say one line or less before being killed in a plot-convenient manner. Most often seen in classic 60's Trek.

"Oh no, that Redshirt just fell down the bottomless pit."
"Damn, find me another one."
Trivia

What did Australian Lizzy Gardiner use to create the unusual dress she wore when she accepted the 1995 Oscar for Best Costume Design?

• American Express Gold cards—254 of them. Gardiner, who won the Oscar for the outfits she designed for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, had been given the cards by American Express. All were in her name, but were invalid because the card numbers were one digit too short.

Today in History:

• the Pill: oral contraceptive was approved by the FDA; it all began with hormones from an inedible Mexican yam (1960)
• Aldo Moro: the bullet-riddled body of the five-term Italian prime minister was found; he had been kidnapped by violently left-wing Red Brigade terrorists (1978)
• Ebola: Kinshasa was quarantined after an outbreak (1994)

Today's Birthdays:

• J.M. Barrie (1860-1937): author of Peter Pan; writer José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) shares his birthday
• Howard Carter (1874-1939): archaeologist who discovered King Tut's tomb
• Mike Wallace (91): journalist, 60 Minutes
• Pancho Gonzales (1928-1995): tennis champ
• James L. Brooks (69): TV and movie director, The Simpsons
• Billy Joel (60): singer/songwriter, Piano Man
• Audrina Partridge (24): actor, The Hills; also, actors Alan Bennett (75), Albert Finney and Glenda Jackson (both 72), Candice Bergen (63), John Corbett (48) and Rosario Dawson (30)