Turtle Apocalypse Thursday!

Florida man threatens to unleash army of turtles to cause destruction

Turtle Thursday: 6% of Drivers Are Sadistic Animal Killers [2012]

Here's a link to a very interesting scientific survey about drivers and animals on the road.

VERY SCIENTIFIC.

http://gizmodo.com/5927083/roadkill-experiment-shows-that-six-percent-of-drivers-are-sadistic-animal-killers

Thanks to Ed for sending this my way!

"Alice"

Allosaurus

 

 

From my email:

Allosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago, in the late Jurassic period. A large bipedal predator, it averaged 8.5 meters (28 ft) in length, possibly reaching over 12 meters (39 ft). Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, its three-fingered forelimbs were small; the body was balanced by a long, heavy tail. Allosaurus was at the top of the food chain; potential prey included ornithopods, stegosaurids, and sauropods. Some paleontologists believe Allosaurus had cooperative social behavior and hunted in packs, while others think they worked individually. It may have attacked large prey by ambush, using its upper jaws like a hatchet. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside paleontological circles, and has been a lead dinosaur in several films and documentaries.

Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allosaurus

Cap'n Jack....

From my email:

Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character portrayed by Johnny Depp, introduced in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). He appears in the back-to-back sequels, Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End (2007), as well as in a future film, On Stranger Tides (2011). He is the main protagonist in all the films. He is also the subject of a children's book series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow, which chronicles his teenage years, and the character's image was introduced into the theme park ride that inspired the films when it was revamped in 2006. The character has also appeared in numerous video games. Sparrow is one of the Brethren Court, the Pirate Lords of the Caribbean Sea and can be treacherous, surviving mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapons and force; although he will fight if necessary, he tries to flee most dangerous situations. Sparrow is introduced seeking to regain his ship, the Black Pearl from his mutinous first mate Hector Barbossa, and attempts to escape his blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones while battling the East India Trading Co.

Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Jack_Sparrow

The Dark Side of the Moon

From my email:

The Dark Side of the Moon is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released in March 1973, the concept built on the ideas that the band had explored in their live shows and previous recordings, but it lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterized their work following the departure in 1968 of founding member, principal composer and lyricist, Syd Barrett. The album's themes include conflict, greed, ageing, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett's deteriorating mental state. The album was developed as part of a forthcoming tour of live performances, and premiered several months before studio recording began. The new material was further refined during the tour, and was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at Abbey Road Studios in London. Pink Floyd used some of the most advanced recording techniques of the time, including multi-track recording and tape loops. Analogue synthesizers were given prominence in several tracks, and a series of recorded interviews with staff and band personnel provided the source material for a range of philosophical quotations used throughout. Engineer Alan Parsons was directly responsible for some of the most notable sonic aspects of the album, including the non-lexical performance of Clare
Torry.

Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon

Not David

James Bowie

From my email: 

James Bowie (1796–1836) was a nineteenth-century American pioneer and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo. Countless stories of him as a fighter and frontiersman, both real and fictitious, have made him a legendary figure in Texas history. Born in Kentucky, Bowie spent most of his life in Louisiana, where he was raised and later worked as a land speculator. His rise to fame began in 1827 on reports of the Sandbar Fight. What began as a duel between two other men deteriorated into a melee in which Bowie, having been shot and stabbed, killed the sheriff of Rapides Parish with a large knife. This and other stories of Bowie's prowess with the knife led to the widespread popularity of the Bowie knife. Bowie's reputation was cemented by his role in the Texas Revolution. After moving to Texas in 1830, Bowie became a Mexican citizen and married the daughter of the vice governor of the province. His fame in Texas grew following his failed expedition to find the lost San Saba mine, where his small party repelled an attack by a large Indian raiding party. At the outbreak of the Texas Revolution, Bowie joined the Texas militia, leading forces at the Battle of Concepcion and the Grass Fight. In January 1836, he arrived at the Alamo, where he commanded the volunteer forces until an illness left him bedridden. Bowie died with the other Alamo defenders on March 6. Despite conflicting accounts of the manner of his death, the "most popular, and probably the most accurate" accounts maintain that he died in his bed after emptying his pistols into several Mexican soldiers.

Read the rest of this article: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bowie

Saturday, May 15, 2021

*515*

 

apotheosis

1. Exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification.
2. Elevation to a preeminent or transcendent position; glorification: Down here I'm the apotheosis of cool (Sewer Urchin from the animated series The Tick).
3. An exalted or glorified example: Their leader was the apotheosis of courage.

querulous \KWER-uh-luhs; -yuh\, adjective:

1. Apt to find fault; habitually complaining.
2. Expressing complaint; fretful; whining.

Querulous comes from Latin querulus, from queri, "to complain."
 
text-end

• When a text-messaging distracted driver rear-ends the vehicle in front of them. Recently demonstrated by public transit drivers in San Francisco, Texas and Boston.

Did you hear about that San Francisco MUNI train driver who text-ended another train?

 

 

Holiday

• Armed Forces Day
  

History

• Las Vegas: the glitzy "entertainment capital of the world" was founded (1905)
• Standard Oil Company: in a historic ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Rockefeller's mega-monopoly; several of the pieces would later be known as Exxon, Mobil, Amoco and Chevron (1911)
• air mail: first route in US was set up between NY and Washington (1918); on a Boeing flight 12 years later, Ellen Church became the first stewardess (1930)
  

  
• nylon stockings: first went on sale in the US (1940)
• Portrait of Dr. Gachet: Van Gogh painting fetched a record high price of $82.5 million; the record stood till 2006, and Dr. Gachet is now No. 4 (1990)

Birthdays

• Lyman Frank Baum 1856 - Author of children's books ("The Wonderful Wizard of Oz")
• Pierre Curie 1859 - Physicist
• Katherine Anne Porter 1890 - Journalist, essayist, short story writer
• Joseph Cotten (Joseph Cheshire Cotten) 1905 - Actor
• James Mason (James Neville Mason) 1909 - Actor
• Constance Cummings 1910 - Actress
• Max Frisch 1911 - Architect, playwright, novelist
• Eddy Arnold (Richard Edward Arnold) 1918 - Country singer
• Ellis Larkins 1923 - Musician
• Richard Avedon 1923 - Photographer
• Anthony Shaffer 1926 - Playwright, novelist, screenwriter
• Jasper Johns 1930 - Artist
• Wavy Gravy (Hugh Nanton Romney) 1936 - Entertainer, peace activist
• Paul Zindel 1936 - Playwright, author
• Anna Maria Alberghetti 1936 - Opera singer, actress
• Trini Lopez (Trinidad López III) 1937 - Singer, guitarist
  

  
• Madeleine Albright 1937 - First woman to become a U.S. Secretary of State
• Lenny Welch 1938 - Singer
• Paul Rudd 1940 - Actor
• Lainie Kazan 1940 - Actress, singer
• K.T. Oslin (Kay Toinette Oslin) 1942 - Country singer, songwriter
• Graham Goble 1947 - Musician (Little River Band)
• Brian Eno 1948 - Musician (Roxy Music)
• Chazz Palminteri (Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri) 1951 - Actor, writer
• Pat Hickey 1953 - Hockey player
  

  
• George Brett 1953 - Baseball player
• Mike Oldfield (Michael Gordon "Mike" Oldfield) 1953 - Musician, composer
• Lee Horsley 1955 - Actor
• Emmitt Smith 1969 - Football player
• Prince Be 1970 - (PM Dawn)
• David Charvet 1972 - Singer, actor
• Ahmet Rodan Zappa  1974 - Musician
• Amy Chow 1978 - Comedienne
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler 1981
  Julieta "Keyra Agustina" Machado 1986 
  

  

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

droll \drohl\, adjective:

1. amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish.

noun:

1. a droll person; jester; wag.

verb:

1. Archaic. to jest; joke.

Droll originally comes from the Middle Dutch word drol referring to "a fat little man." The word came to English through the French droll which meant "pleasant rascal."

scamazon

• Ordering an item on Amazon and claiming it never arrived to your home which results in a refund and you can keep the item.

How'd you get that grinder?
 
I scamazoned it.

History

• Las Vegas: the glitzy "entertainment capital of the world" was founded (1905)
• Standard Oil Company: in a historic ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Rockefeller's mega-monopoly; several of the pieces would later be known as Exxon, Mobil, Amoco and Chevron (1911)
• air mail: first route in US was set up between NY and Washington (1918); on a Boeing flight 12 years later, Ellen Church became the first stewardess (1930)

  
• nylon stockings: first went on sale in the US (1940)
• Portrait of Dr. Gachet: Van Gogh painting fetched a record high price of $82.5 million; the record stood till 2006, and Dr. Gachet is now No. 4 (1990)

Birthdays

• Lyman Frank Baum 1856 - Author of children's books ("The Wonderful Wizard of Oz")
• Pierre Curie 1859 - Physicist
• Katherine Anne Porter 1890 - Journalist, essayist, short story writer
• Joseph Cotten (Joseph Cheshire Cotten) 1905 - Actor
• James Mason (James Neville Mason) 1909 - Actor
• Constance Cummings 1910 - Actress
• Max Frisch 1911 - Architect, playwright, novelist
• Eddy Arnold (Richard Edward Arnold) 1918 - Country singer
• Ellis Larkins 1923 - Musician
• Richard Avedon 1923 - Photographer
• Anthony Shaffer 1926 - Playwright, novelist, screenwriter
• Jasper Johns 1930 - Artist
• Wavy Gravy (Hugh Nanton Romney) 1936 - Entertainer, peace activist
• Paul Zindel 1936 - Playwright, author
• Anna Maria Alberghetti 1936 - Opera singer, actress
• Trini Lopez (Trinidad López III) 1937 - Singer, guitarist

  
• Madeleine Albright 1937 - First woman to become a U.S. Secretary of State
• Lenny Welch 1938 - Singer
• Paul Rudd 1940 - Actor
• Lainie Kazan 1940 - Actress, singer
• K.T. Oslin (Kay Toinette Oslin) 1942 - Country singer, songwriter
• Graham Goble 1947 - Musician (Little River Band)
• Brian Eno 1948 - Musician (Roxy Music)
• Chazz Palminteri (Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri) 1951 - Actor, writer
• Pat Hickey 1953 - Hockey player

  
• George Brett 1953 - Baseball player
• Mike Oldfield (Michael Gordon "Mike" Oldfield) 1953 - Musician, composer
• Lee Horsley 1955 - Actor
• Emmitt Smith 1969 - Football player
• Prince Be 1970 - (PM Dawn)
• David Charvet 1972 - Singer, actor
• Ahmet Rodan Zappa 1974 - Musician
• Amy Chow 1978 - Comedienne
• Jamie-Lynn Sigler 1981
  Julieta "Keyra Augustina" Machado 1986 

  

 

Olmec colossal heads

From my email:

The Olmec colossal heads consist of at least seventeen monumental stone representations of human male heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. The heads date from at least before 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature men with fleshy cheeks, flat noses and slightly crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The boulders were brought from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz; given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported over large distances, presumably involving a great deal of people and resources, it is thought that finished monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers; each is given a distinctive headdress. The heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear. The discovery of a colossal head at Tres Zapotes in the 19th century spurred the first archaeological investigations of Olmec culture by Matthew Stirling in 1938. Dating the monuments remains difficult due to the movement of many from their original context prior to archaeological investigation. Most have been dated to the Early Preclassic period (1500–1000 BC) with some to the Middle Preclassic (1000–400 BC) period.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec_colossal_heads

Turtle Thursday: 6% of Drivers Are Sadistic Animal Killers [2012]

Here's a link to a very interesting scientific survey about drivers and animals on the road.

VERY SCIENTIFIC.

http://gizmodo.com/5927083/roadkill-experiment-shows-that-six-percent-of-drivers-are-sadistic-animal-killers

Thanks to Ed for sending this my way!

Turtle Thursday: Butterflies drink turtle tears!

I have a little difficulty with this theory. Turtle DO NOT create their own tears. They don't ave tear ducts. So what gives?

Story here:

https://www.livescience.com/63092-butterflies-drink-turtle-tears.html

In 1492 he sailed the ocean blue....

Spotlight: On this date in 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that would take him to the present-day Americas. His trip financed by Ferdinand of Aragón andIsabella of Castile, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic with three ships — the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria — on a quest to show that one could get to India by sailing west. Columbus and his compatriots made landfall somewhere in the Bahamas. Though he is given credit for "discovering America," he didn't get the land named for him; that honor went to Amerigo Vespucci, who led voyages to the area at around the same time as Columbus. Vespucci reasoned that America was not the eastern part of Asia — as Columbus believed — but a new continent.

Quote: "By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination." — Christopher Columbus

WTF Friday: Tampons are a versatile survival tool!

This is a very smart and impressive article. I think I'll keep a couple in my glove box now!

http://www.damnlol.com/survival-uses-of-a-tampon-21271.html

Turtle Thursday: Loggerhead Sea Turtle 2018

From my email:

The loggerhead sea turtle is an oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. An adult weighs around 135 kilograms (300 lb), with the largest specimens weighing in at more than 454 kilograms (1,000 lb). The skin ranges from yellow to brown in color, and the shell is typically reddish-brown. Found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea, the loggerhead sea turtle spends most of its life in saltwater and estuarine habitats, with females briefly coming ashore to lay eggs. The loggerhead sea turtle has a low reproductive rate and a lifespan of 47–67 years. Omnivorous, the species feeds mainly on bottom dwelling invertebrates. Its large and powerful jaws serve as an effective tool in dismantling its prey. Loggerheads are considered an endangered species and are protected by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Turtle excluder devices (TEDs) have been implemented in efforts to reduce mortality by providing the turtle an escape route. Loss of suitable nesting beaches and the introduction of exotic predators has also taken a toll on loggerhead populations. Efforts to restore their numbers will require international cooperation since the turtles roam vast areas of ocean and critical nesting beaches are scattered among several countries. (more...)

Read the rest of this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loggerhead_sea_turtle

Friday, September 15, 2017

bacchanalia \bak-uh-NAIL-yuh\, noun:

1. (plural, capitalized) The ancient Roman festival in honor of Bacchus, celebrated with dancing, song, and revelry.

2. A riotous, boisterous, or drunken festivity; a revel.

Bacchanalia comes from Latin, from Bacchus, god of wine, from Greek Bakkhos. The adjective form is bacchanalian. One who celebrates the Bacchanalia, or indulges in drunken revels, is a bacchanal \BAK-uh-nuhl; bak-uh-NAL\, which is also another term for a drunken or riotous celebration.

Dragon Ass

• A state of sluggishness, inactivity, and apathy usually brought on by an extended period of hard work.

This has been a such a long day. I've got a bad case of dragon ass.

History

• Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica declared their independence of Spain (1821)
• Galápagos Islands: were reached by naturalist Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle (1835)
  

  
• Nuremberg Laws: deprived Jews of their citizenship and made the swastika the official emblem of Nazi Germany (1935)
• civil rights: a bomb killed four black girls when it exploded during Sunday services in a Birmingham, Alabama, church, sparking race riots (1963)
• USA Today: Gannett's national newspaper hit the stands; it's America's top-selling daily newspaper in print (1982)
• Lehman Brothers: the investment bank filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — the largest bankruptcy in US history (2008)

Birthdays

• James Fenimore Cooper 1789
• William H. Taft (U.S.) 1857
• Robert Benchley 1889
• Agatha Christie 1890
• Jean Renoir 1894
• Roy Acuff 1903
• Fay Wray 1907
• Penny Singleton 1908
• Margaret Lockwood 1916
• Snooky Pryor 1921
• Jackie Cooper 1922
  
• Bobby Short 1926
• Norm Crosby 1927
• Cannonball Adderly 1928
• Gaylord Perry 1938
• Merlin Olsen 1940
• Jimmy Gilmer (Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs) 1940
• Les Braid (The Swinging Blue Jeans) 1941
• Carmen Maura 1945
• Jessye Norman 1945
• Lee Dorman (Iron Butterfly) 1945
• Oliver Stone 1946
• Tommy Lee Jones 1946
  
• Mitch Dorge (Crash Test Dummies) 1960
• Dan Marino (NFL) 1961
• Danny Nucci 1968
• Kay Gee (Naughty by Nature) 1969
• Josh Charles 1971
• Tom Hardy 1977 (Bane from The Dark Knight)
• Amy Davidson 1978
• Prince Harry of Wales 1984
• Jenna "Marbles" Mourey 1986 - blogger, model, comedian, go-go dancer
• Heidi Montag 1986 - nit-wit