Wednesday, September 8, 2010

rubric \ROO-brik\, noun:

1. A title, heading, or the like, written or printed in red or otherwise distinguished from the rest of the text.

2. A direction for the conduct of divine service.

3. Any established mode of conduct or procedure.

Rubric's origin relates to its color; the source is the Latin rubrica, "red ocher."

Right of Wave

• The expectation that a fellow driver will offer a wave after allowing them to cut into traffic.

Hey, Ponch just cut me off on the 405 and he didn't give me the "right of wave."

Trivia

What famous American funnyman portrayed the “first gravedigger” in Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 film version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet?

•  Billy Crystal.

History

• St. Augustine: the oldest permanent European settlement in the US was founded (1565)
• Galveston Hurricane: made landfall; it was the deadliest natural disaster to strike the US to date (1900)
• Miss America: the annual pageant was first held in Atlantic City; 16-year-old Margaret Gorman of Washington DC was the first to be crowned (1921)
• Siege of Leningrad: nearly 2.5-year blockade of the city by the Germans in WWII began (1941)
• Star Trek: TV series recounting the adventures of the starship Enterprise premiered (1966)
• John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: opened in Washington, DC, with the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass (1971)
• Watergate: US president Gerald Ford granted his predecessor, Richard Nixon, a full pardon for "crimes he committed or may have committed" (1974)

Birthdays

• Richard I (1157-1199): aka Richard the Lionhearted, the third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904): Czech composer
• Sid Caesar (88): comedian and actor, Your Show of Shows; other comic actors born on this date include Peter Sellers (1925-1980), David Arquette and Martin Freeman (both 39), Nate Corddry (33) and Jonathan Taylor Thomas (29)
• Ann Beattie (63): author of short stories and novels; writers Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), Frederic Mistral (1830-1914) and Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) shared this birth date
• Brooke Burke (39): co-host of Dancing With the Stars
• Pink (31): singer, "Get The Party Started"; also, musicians Patsy Cline (1932-1963), Will Lee (58) and Aimee Mann (50)