Friday, August 27, 2010

schlep \SHLEP\, verb:

1. To move slowly, awkwardly, or tediously.

2. To carry; lug.

Schlep is a Yiddish word with a basis in the German schleifen, "to trudge."

reach out

• An unfortunately creepy term that is means "to contact" or similar. Brings to mind grasping and undesirable contact from strangers.

1) Charles, please reach out to Jane and provide her the information she requires.

2) My (political) campaign will reach out to every voter.

Trivia

When they built the dome of the Pantheon, what did the early Romans mix with cement to ensure that it wouldn’t collapse under its own weight?

• Volcanic pumice and volcanic tufa (limestone), both of which are lightweight. Experts believe an unreinforced dome of the same size built with modern cement would not be able to support its own weight.

History

• Edwin Drake: drilled America's first successful oil well near Titusville, PA
• Krakatoa: volcano erupted in the loudest explosion ever recorded; the resultant tsunami killed 36,000 (1883)
• Anglo-Zanzibar War: the shortest war in history ended after less than an hour when Zanzibar surrendered (1896)
• Kellogg-Briand Pact: multinational treaty signed in Paris outlawed war — about 11 years before the same nations took part in WWII (1928)
• Mariner 2: the US launched a space probe to Venus; it flew past the planet in December (1962)
• Mars: the red planet got up close and personal with Earth — only 55,758,006 km away (2003)

Birthdays

• Georg Hegel (1770-1831): metaphysical philosopher
• Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945): novelist, Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy; writers C.S. Forester (1899-1966), Jeanette Winterson (51) and Dean Devlin (48) were also born on this date
• Man Ray (1890-1976): photographer and painter
• Chandra Wilson (41): Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey's Anatomy; also, actors Tommy Sands (73), Tuesday Weld (67), Barbara Bach (63), Paul Reubens (58), Diana Scarwid (55), Sarah Chalke (34) and Alexa Vega (22)