Saturday, May 5, 2012

xylography \zye-LAH-gruh-fee\ noun

• the art of making engravings on wood especially for printing

cinco de gringo

• play on words from the holiday cinco de mayo where the mexican town of puebla won a military victory over french forces. a relatively insignificant holiday to mexicans, especially in comparison to the day of mexican independence where there is much more emphasis and celebration among mexican communities in the united states. Cinco de Mayo, in short, merely acts as another holiday where people can party and get drunk. White people seem to like the holiday more than mexican immigrant families do, hence the name.
• Can also be called Cinco de Drinko.

Charlie: Yeah, cinco de mayo let's party

José: güerro, we don't celebrate that
Charlie: Whatever, I'm gonna party and get smashed tonight
José: Just go celebrate Cinco de Gringo already

Trivia

What popular 1980s family sitcom is shown on Italian TV as I Robinson,or The Robinsons?

• The Cosby Show. Apparently Robinson is easier for Italians to pronounce than Huxtable.

Holiday

• Cinco De Mayo: The day the Mexicans get to celebrate their turn defeating the French. I'll drink to that!

History

• Kublai Khan: followed his brother Möngke in becoming ruler of the Mongol Empire, which he expanded to include China (1260)
• Mary Dixon Kies: Connecticut woman became the first female to be granted a patent, for an innovation in weaving straw with silk and thread (1809)
• Carnegie Hall: opened in NYC; Peter Tchaikovsky was the guest conductor (1891)
• Cy Young: threw the first perfect game in modern Major League Baseball history (1904)
• West Germany: became a sovereign state and a member of NATO (1955)
• Alan Shepard Jr.: America's first man in space piloted Freedom 7 in a 15-minute suborbital flight (1961)
• "Boy with a Pipe": Picasso masterpiece sold for a record $104,168,000 at Sotheby's (2004)

Birthdays

• Soren Kierkegaard 1813
• Karl Marx 1818 - Socialist writer ("Das Kapital", "The Communist Manifesto"), founder of communism
• John B. Stetson 1830
• Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochran Seaman) 1865 - Journalist, wrote about taboo subjects for her time period (divorce, poverty, capital punishment, insanity), women’s rights advocate
• Charles Bender 1883
• Christopher Morley 1890 - Writer (New York Evening Post, Saturday Review), novelist
• Rex Harrison 1908
• Tyrone Power (Tyrone Edmund Power Jr.) 1913 - Actor ("The Mark of Zorro", "The Eddie Duchin Story")
• Duane Carter 1913 - Auto racer
• Alice Faye (Alice Jeanne Leppert) 1915 - Actress ("State Fair")
• Arthur Schawlow 1921
• Ann B. Davis (Ann Bradford Davis) 1926 - Actress ("The Brady Bunch")
• Art Pollard 1927 - Auto racer
• Pat Carroll 1927 - Comedienne, actress ("The Ted Knight Show")
• Ace Cannon (John Henry Cannon Jr.) 1934 - Saxophonist
• Jose (Antonio Rodriguez) Pagan 1935 - Baseball player
• Sandy Baron (Sanford Beresofsky) 1937 - Comedian, actor ("This Must Be Belgium")
• Johnnie Taylor 1937
• Roni Stoneman 1938
• Michael Murphy 1938 - Actor ("Batman Returns")
• Lance Henriksen 1940 - Actor ("The Last Samurai", "Dog Day Afternoon")
• Tommy (Vann) Helms 1941 - Baseball player
• Tammy Wynette (Virginia Wynette Pugh) 1942 - Country singer
• Michael Palin 1943 - Comedian, actor ("Monty Python’s Flying Circus", "A Fish Called Wanda")
• Roger Rees 1944 - Actor ("Robin Hood: Men in Tights", "If Looks Could Kill")
• John Rhys-Davies 1944 - Actor
• Jean-Pierre Léaud 1944 - Actor ("Last Tango in Paris")
• Larry (Eugene) Hisle 1947 - Baseball player
• John Hummer 1948 - Basketball player
• Bill Ward 1948 - Musician (Black Sabbath)
• Nick Bebout 1951 - Football player
• Richard E. Grant 1957 - Actor ("Ready to Wear", "Bram Stoker’s Dracula")
• John Miller 1958 - Broadcast journalist
• Annette Bening 1959 - Actress
• Ian McCullough 1959 - Musician (Echo and the Bunnymen)
• Cathy Moriarty 1960
• Gary Daly 1962 - Singer (China Crisis)
• Kevin Mooney 1962 - Musician (Adam & The Ants)
• Kevin James LaBrie 1963 - Musician (Dream Theater), Dream Theater Official Store
• Tina Yothers 1973 - Actress ("Family Ties")
• Craig David 1981
• Danielle Fishel 1981
• Adele 1988 Singer