Wednesday, April 28, 2010

pellucid \puh-LOO-sid\, adjective:

1. Transparent; clear; not opaque.
2. Easily understandable.

Pellucid comes from Latin pellucidus, "shining, transparent," from pellucere, "to shine through," from per-, "through" + lucere, "to shine."

Urban farmer

• A person who constantly plays Farmville and acts like they know everything about a real farm -- but all they do is live in the city, sit at a computer, and at a certain time, need to stop what they are doing to farm their imaginary crops.

Carly won't shut up about her stupid farm and throwing sheep. What an urban farmer.
Trivia
In days of yore, what was the job of a clodhopper?

• He was a plowman—or farm laborer.

History

• mutiny on the Bounty: mutineers led by Fletcher Christian took over the HMS Bounty and set Capt. William Bligh and other sailors adrift (1789) 
• Benito Mussolini: Italy's Fascist dictator was executed (1945) 
• Kon-Tiki: Thor Heyerdahl and 5 others set sail from Peru across the Pacific on a raft to prove that pre-Columbian South Americans could have settled Polynesia (1947)
• Muhammad Ali: refused induction into the US army; his heavyweight title was stripped and he was later convicted of draft dodging (1967)
• food pyramid: suggested eating plan was adopted by the US Department of Agriculture (1992); it has since been modified
• Aldrich Ames: CIA officer pleaded guilty to spying for the Soviet Union (1994)

Berfdays

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  James Monroe (1758-1831): 5th US president, whose administration was called the Era of Good Feelings 
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  Oscar Schindler (1908-1974): the inspiration for Schindler's List
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  Harper Lee (84): author of To Kill a Mockingbird; plus, writer Johan Borgen (1902-1979)
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  Jay Leno (60): unfunny comedian, host of The Tonight Show, douche, possible zombie
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  Penélope Cruz (36): Oscar-winner for Vicky Cristina Barcelona; also, actors Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954), Ann-Margret (69), Marcia Strassman (62), Paul Guilfoyle (61), Mary McDonnell (58), Elisabeth Röhm and Jorge Garcia (both 37), and Jessica Alba (29)