Sunday, May 5, 2013

porpoise \PAWR-puhs\, verb:

1. to move forward with a rising and falling motion.
2. (of a speeding motorboat) to leap clear of the water after striking a wave.
3. (of a torpedo) to appear above the surface of the water.

noun:

1. any of several small, gregarious cetaceans of the genus Phocoena, usually blackish above and paler beneath, and having a blunt, rounded snout, especially the common porpoise, P. phocoena, of both the North Atlantic and Pacific.
2. any of several other small cetaceans, as the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis.

Porpoise entered English in the fifteenth century from the Old French porc + peis literally meaning "pork fish." It is thought that this name was given to the marine animal because its snout resembled a pig snout.

Cinco de Drinko

• A clever play on "Cinco de Mayo," yet another foreign "holiday" that white folks (particularly teens and those in their early 20s) use as an excuse to drink copious amounts of alcohol (in this case Cuervo and Corona)during daylight hours.

Spencer: Say, what are we doing for Cinco de Mayo?

Ashton: You mean Cinco de Drinko!! We're gonna get gooned on tequila, broseph!!

Trivia

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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 ("ALIENS")
• 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)
• Tina Yothers 1973 - Actress ("Family Ties")
• Craig David 1981
• Danielle Fishel 1981
• Adele 1988 Singer