Monday, April 11, 2011

balderdash \BAWL-der-dash\, noun:

1. Senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing; nonsense.

2. (Archaic:) A muddled mixture of liquors.

Balderdash has a mysterious origin, but originally meant a muddled mixture of liquors.

Fuck You Tax

• A non-discretionary charge or fee placed on orders or purchases from certain companies, frequently ticket retailers and cinemas. The charge never relates to a specific cost incurred by the company and is purely an additional fee to boost profits. So called as the company in question knows the consumer has no option but to pay, so their charging it is the company saying, "Fuck You, Pay it."

ﾃつ｣1.50 'Booking fee' on my cinema tickets - that's just a 'Fuck You tax'!

Trivia

What baseball Hall of Famer—author of the autobiography Catch You Later—was able to hold seven baseballs at a time in one hand?

• Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench.

History

• William III: was crowned along with his wife, Mary II, as joint sovereigns of Britain (1689)
• Napoleon Bonaparte: abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to Elba (1814)
• The Tramp: Charlie Chaplin's comic silent film was released (1915)
• Jackie Robinson: broke the color barrier in major league baseball, appearing in his first exhibition game (1947)
• 1968 Civil Rights Act: LBJ signed into law an act prohibiting discrimination in selling or renting housing
• Apollo 13: 3rd lunar landing mission launched; it was aborted midflight (1970)
• Uganda: Idi Amin's military regime was overthrown (1979)

Birthdays

• Percy Lavon Julian (1899-1975): chemist who invented synthetic cortisone
• Oleg Cassini (1913-2006): fashion designer
• Joel Grey (79): Tony and Oscar winner, Cabaret; also, actors Louise Lasser (72), Peter Riegert and Meshach Taylor (both 64) and Bill Irwin (61)
• Ellen Goodman (70): Pulitzer-winning Boston Globe columnist; other writers born on this date include John Davidson (1857-1909), Quentin Reynolds (1902-1965), Attila József (1905-1937), Leo Rosten (1908-1997) and John Milius (67)
• Jason Varitek (39): MLB catcher and switch hitter; sluggers Trot Nixon (37) and Mark Teixeira (31) share this birth date
• Joss Stone (24): rock singer/songwriter, Introducing Joss Stone