Wednesday, April 13, 2011

praxis \PRAK-sis\, noun:

1. Practice, as distinguished from theory; application or use, as of knowledge or skills.

2. Convention, habit, or custom.

3. A set of examples for practice.

Praxis comes into English from the same Greek word, meaning "deed, act, action."

sheenfluence

• Under the influence or having been influenced by Charlie Sheen.

His comment may have just a little sheenfluence in there somewhere.

Trivia

Before succeeding as an actor, what Hollywood heartthrob supported himself by dressing as a giant chicken to promote El Pollo Loco fast-food restaurants?

• Brad Pitt.

History

• Edict of Nantes: Henry IV granted freedom of religion to the Huguenots of France (1598); the edict was repealed by Louis XIV in 1685
• Messiah: Handel oratorio premiered in Dublin's New Musick Hall; proceeds went to local hospitals for the mentally ill (1742)
• MoMA: founded in NYC (1870)
• Jefferson Memorial: was dedicated in Washington, DC, on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth (1943)
• Sidney Poitier: became first African American to win an Oscar for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field (1964)
• "Houston, we've had a problem": a liquid oxygen tank burst during the Apollo 13 flight to the moon; the crew turned the ship around and made a safe, though harrowing, return (1970)
• Tiger Woods: won his first major golf tournament, the Masters, by a record 12 strokes, at age 21 (1997)

Birthdays

• Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): the US president who authored the Declaration of Independence
• Eli Terry (1772-1852): clockmaker and innovator in mass production; also, inventors John Hays Hammond, Jr., (1888-1965) and Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973)
• Butch Cassidy (1866-1908): outlaw, leader of the Hole in the Wall Gang
• Alfred M. Butts (1899-1993): inventor of Scrabble
• Samuel Beckett (1906-1989): playwright who wrote Waiting for Godot; plus, authors György Lukács (1885-1971), Eudora Welty (1909-2001), John Braine (1922-1987), Lanford Wilson (1937-2011) and Seamus Heaney (72)
• Stanley Donen (87): director/choreographer, Singin' in the Rain; plus, actors Lyle Waggoner (76), Edward Fox (74), Paul Sorvino (72), Tony Dow (66), Ron Perlman and William Sadler (both 61), Caroline Rhea (47), Rick Schroder (41) and Kyle Howard (33)
• Max Weinberg (60): drummer, Max Weinberg 7; also, musicians Bill Conti (69), Jack Casady (67), Al Green (65), Peabo Bryson (60), and Aaron Lewis (39) of Staind
• Davis Love III (47): champion golfer; also, chess master Garry Kasparov (48)