Monday, August 2, 2010

spatchcock \SPACH-kok\, verb:

1. To insert or interpolate, esp. in a forced or incongruous manner.

noun:

1. A fowl that has been dressed and split open for grilling.

verb:

• 1. To prepare and roast (a fowl) in this manner.

Spatchcock is possibly an alteration of spitchcock, "an eel that is split, cut into pieces, and broiled or fried."

violent agreement 

• When two people think they are arguing, but fail to realize they actually agree.

Ross: This arena is bigger than the old one.

Morgan: Not much bigger.

Ross: It is bigger.

Morgan: Barely, hardly enough to notice.

Ross: It's definitely bigger!

Morgan: But NOT MUCH bigger!

Chris: Uhhh, guys? You're in violent agreement.

Trivia

What song from the Grammy-winning Broadway musical Annie inspired an international hip-hop hit? 

• “It’s the Hard-Knock Life.” Rapper Jay-Z’s version, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” was built around the borrowed line, “’Steada treated/ We get tricked/’ Steada kisses/ We get kicked.”

History

• Declaration of Independence: members of the Continental Congress began putting their John Hancocks on "The Unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America" (1776)
• Marihuana Tax Act: US law doused marijuana use, sale and possession with sheer legal intricacy (1937)
• PT-109: a torpedo boat commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy was sunk off the Solomon Islands by a Japanese destroyer (1943)
• Gulf of Tonkin: the Pentagon reported attacks on US ships by North Vietnamese; the incident led to a Congressional resolution and expansion of the war effort (1964)
• Kuwait: was invaded by Iraq, triggering the Gulf War five months later (1990) 

Birthdays

• Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754-1825): architect/city planner who designed Washington, DC
• Wes Craven (71): director, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream; director Kevin Smith (40) was also born on this date
• Isabel Allende (68): novelist, The House of the Spirits; novelists Rómulo Gallegos (1884-1969) and James Baldwin (1924-1987) shared this birth date
• Mary-Louise Parker (46): Weeds' Nancy Botwin; also, actors Peter O'Toole (78), Max Wright (67), Joanna Cassidy (65), Kathryn Harrold (60), Butch Patrick (57), Victoria Jackson (51), Cynthia Stevenson (48), Sam Worthington (34), Edward Furlong (33) and Hallie Kate Eisenberg (18)