Thursday, March 7, 2013

yare \yair\, adjective:

1. quick; agile; lively.
2. (of a ship) quick to the helm; easily handled or maneuvered.
3. Archaic. a. ready; prepared. b. nimble; quick.

Yare was used in Middle English before the year 900, but its Old English progenitor gearu meant "ready" or "prepared."

Vatication

• When the Pope abdicates the the Chair (cathedra) of Peter before his natural death, the Emeritus Pope is said to be on permanent Vatication. Vatication is like the ultimate staycation, since it is a vacation in the Vatican taken on a permanent basis by Emeritus Pope.

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI starts his permanent Vatication on February 28, 2013, the day he abdicates the pontifical throne, doffs his signature red Prada loafers, and his papal ring is destroyed.

Trivia
What wood was used to make Harry Potter’s magic wand? How about Voldemort’s wand?

• Harry’s wand was made of holly; Voldemort’s was made of yew. Both had a phoenix-feather core—from the same phoenix.

History

• Daniel Webster: orator delivered his Seventh of March speech defending the Compromise of 1850 (1850)
• telephone: transmitter/receiver of sound was patented by Alexander Graham Bell (1876); exactly 50 years later, the first successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation took place, between New York City and London (1926)
• fair use: the US Supreme Court ruled in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music that parodies are not copyright infringements (1994)

Birthdays

• Luther Burbank 1849
• Pieter Mondrian 1872
• Maurice Ravel 1875
• Anna Magnani 1908
• Lee Young 1917 - Musician (Nat King Cole Trio)
• Mahlon Clark 1923 - Musician (Lawrence Welk's band)
• James Broderick 1927
• Lord Snowdon 1930 - Photographer
• Frank Morelli 1932
• Willard Scott 1934 - Television personality ("Today")
• Janet Guthrie 1938 - Auto racer
• Homero Blancas 1938
• Daniel J. Travanti 1940 - Actor ("Hill Street Blues")
• Michael York 1942
• Michael Eisner 1942 - Walt Disney CEO
• Tammy Faye Bakker 1942
• Billy MacMillan 1943
• Chris White 1943 - Musician (The Zombies)
• John Heard 1946
• Peter Wolf 1946 - Musician (J. Geils Band)
• Matthew Fisher 1946 - Musician (Procol Harum)
• Donna Loren 1947
• Peggy March 1948
• Franco Harris 1950 - Football player
• Lynn Swann 1952 - Football player
• Ernie Isley 1952 - Musician (The Isley Brothers)
• Jules Shear 1953
• Bryan Cranston 1956
• Ivan Lendl 1960 - Tennis player
• Bill Brochtrup 1963
• Wanda Sykes 1964 - Comedian, actress
• Taylor Dayne 1965 - Singer
• Paul Davis 1966 - Musician (Happy Mondays)
• Randy Guss 1967 - Musician (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
• Jeff Kent 1968 - Baseball player
• Rachel Weisz 1971 - Actress
• Peter Sarsgaard 1971 - Actor
• Hugo Ferreira 1974 - Musician (Tantric)
• Jenna Fischer 1974 - Actress ("The Office")
• Laura Prepon 1980 - Actress ("That 70s Show")