Tuesday, April 5, 2016

grok \GRAWK\, verb:

• To understand, especially in a profound and intimate way. Slang.

The slang word grok was coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the science fiction novel "Stranger in a Strange Land", where it is a Martian word meaning literally "to drink" and metaphorically "to be one with".

 

air guitar

• An ancient art that originated after God wanted to rock out but had no electric guitar on hand. He realised how sweet a thing he had just created so he wanted to pass it down onto man when man had no axe to rock with. This talent was given to man, by God, through Jesus. Jesus showed the world the ineffable art of air guitar during his ressurection. Jesus was radiating with a bright white light because he was rocking so hard. The art of the air guitar was thus written down in the Bible and succesfully passed on to man. The practice of air guitar since it's inception has been shown throughout the history of the world. Jesus is discretely air guitaring in the famous painting The Last Supper in the Galleria Borghese, Rome. On and on has this holy tradition gone. It is kept alive by generations of rockers young and old. If you are listening to a really sweet guitar solo and you have no real guitar to emulate the action of rocking, pick up your hands, put them in position, and rock and roll all night. Remember...rock on.

Adam was listening to Communication Breakdown by Led Zeppelin and it was nearing the kickass guitar solo. But he had no guitar. So he took matters into his own hands. He played air guitar and never stopped rocking.

 
History

• Pocahontas: Algonquian princess married English colonist John Rolfe, a tobacco planter (1614)
• veto: was used by a US president for 1st time — by George Washington; it was another half century before Congress first overrode a presidential veto (1792)
• manual alphabet: Anne Sullivan breaks through to Helen Keller when she spells "water" into her hand (1887)
• Akashi Kaikyō Bridge: Japanese "Pearl Bridge" opened; it links Kobe to Awaji Island and, at 1,991 meters or 6,532 feet, is the world's longest suspension bridge (1998)

Birthdays 

• Thomas Hobbes 1588
• Elihu Yale 1649
• Joseph Lister 1827 - British surgeon, inventor (Listerine mouthwash)
• Robert Smalls 1839
• Booker T. Washington 1856 - Educator, author (Up From Slavery)
• Spencer (Bonaventure) Tracy 1900 - Actor ("Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1941]")
• Melvyn Douglas (Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg) 1901 - Actor ("Ghost Story", "Being There")
• Bette (Ruth Elizabeth) Davis 1908 - Actress ("Dangerous", "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?")
• Jagjivan Ram 1908 - Political leader in India
• Gregory Peck 1916 - Actor ("To Kill a Mockingbird [1962]", "The Guns of Navarone", "Captain Horatio Hornblower")
• Arthur Hailey 1920 - Author (Airport, The Final Diagnosis)
• Robert Q. Lewis 1921 - Comedian, TV quiz show panelist ("What's My Line", "To Tell the Truth")
• Gale Storm (Josephine Cottle) 1922 - Singer ("Ivory Tower"), actress ("My Little Margie")
• Stan Levey 1925 - Drummer (in band with Charlie Parker), composer
• Roger Corman 1926 - Director
• Tony Williams 1928 - Singer (Platters)
• Nigel Hawthorne 1929 - Actor ("Richard III", "Demolition")
• Cowboy Jack Clement 1931
• Billy Bland 1932 - Singer
• Frank Gorshin 1934 - Impressionist, actor ("Batman", "The Great Imposter")

  
• Stanley Turrentine 1934 - Saxophone player
• Colin Powell 1937 - U.S. Secretary of State, four-star general, Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Ronnie White - Singer (The Miracles)
• Tommy Cash 1940 - Songwriter, country singer, brother of Johnny Cash
• David LaFlamme 1941
• Michael Moriarty 1941 - Actor ("Windmills of the Gods")
• Peter Greenaway 1942 - Director, writer
• Allan Clark 1942 - Singer (The Hollies)
• Maxwell Gail 1943 - Actor ("Barney Miller")
• Crispin St. Peters 1944
• Dave Holland 1944 - Musician (Judas Priest)
• Doug Favell 1945 - Hockey player
• Jane Asher 1946 - Actress
• Dr. Judith A. Resnik 1949 - Electric engineer, astronaut
• Agnetha Faltskog 1950 - Singer (ABBA)
• Marv Bateman 1950 - Football player
• Rennie (Renaldo Antonio Porte) Stennett 1951 - Baseball player
• Brad Van Pelt 1951 - Football player
• Mitch Pileggi 1952 - actor, The X-Files
• Peter Greenway 1952
• Peter Case 1954 - Musician (Plimsouls)
• Stan Ridgeway 1954 - Musician (Wall of Voodoo)
• Mike McCready 1966 - Musician (Pearl Jam)
• Troy Gentry 1967 - Country singer
• Paula Cole 1968 - Singer
• Krista Allen 1971 - hottie
• Pharrel Williams 1973 - Rapper