Thursday, August 12, 2010

rhapsodize \RAP-suh-dahyz\, verb:

1. To talk with extravagant enthusiasm.

2. To speak or write rhapsodies.

Rhapsodize connects to ancient Greek rhapsodes, professional reciters of poetry.

ineption

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  Completely inept at understanding the film, Inception.

You don't understand Christopher Nolan's latest masterpiece? Talk about ineption.

Trivia

What actress used the pseudonym Olga Mallsnerd in the film credits for 2010, the 1984 sequel to the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey?

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  Candice Bergen, who provided the voice for the SAL 9000 computer. The name Mallsnerd was created by combining the surname of her then-husband, director Louis Malle, with that of Mortimer Snerd, one of the puppets of her ventriloquist father, Edgar Bergen.

History

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  Chicago: the Windy City was founded with a population of 350 (1833)
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  Isaac Singer: got a patent for his sewing machine (1851)
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  Spanish-American War: peace protocol was signed; Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines were ceded to the US and Cuba was released from Spanish rule (1898)
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  IBM-PC: IBM introduced its first personal computer, which contained an Intel chip and Microsoft's DOS operating system (1981)
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  Sue: the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found was discovered in South Dakota; she now resides in Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History (1990)
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  Kursk: Russian nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea, killing the whole of its 118-member crew (2000)

Birthdays

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  Linda O'Neil (37): actress and the most famous body model that you probably don't know.
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  George IV (1762-1830): king of Great Britain
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  Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929): poet who wrote "America the Beautiful"; plus, writers Robert Southey (1774-1843), Jacinto Benavente (1866-1954), Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958) and Ann M. Martin (55)
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  Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959): director of blockbusters like The Ten Commandments; plus, director John Derek (1926-1998)
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  Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961): theoretical physicist, Schrödinger's equation
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  Mark Knopfler (61): composer, guitarist, rock singer; also, jazzman Pat Metheny (56)

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  Peter Krause (45): Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under and Adam Braverman in Parenthood; also, actors Cantinflas (1911-1993), George Hamilton (71), Bruce Greenwood (54), Michael Ian Black (39), Rebecca Gayheart (38), Casey Affleck (35), and Maggie Lawson and Dominique Swain (both 30)
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  Pete Sampras (39): tennis champ; also baseball hall-of-famer Christy Mathewson (1880-1925)