Grand Canyon

Yesterday Mrs. Bax0jayz and I rented  car, picked up my lovely friend Jessica who lives here in Vegas, and drove 300 miles to the Grand Canyon. Along the way we stopped one minute for the Hoover Dam which looked nothing like a vacuum, and another minute at McD's whee they totally bungled our order and gave us free upgrades, SWEET!

It took about 4 hours top get to the Grand canyon which is BREATH-TAKING! We wandered he paths for a couple hours and headed back home. We were in our room by midnight after dropping off my friend. An amazing day!

Word of the Day for Tuesday, September 9, 2008

regale \rih-GAY(uh)L\, transitive verb:

1. To entertain with something that delights.
2. To entertain sumptuously with fine food and drink.
3. To feast.4. A sumptuous feast.
4. A choice food; a delicacy.
5. Refreshment.

Regale comes from French régaler, "to entertain." It is related to gallant.
hurrication

• Evacuation from a major hurricane turned into a short holiday.

During Hurricane Katrina we took a hurrication in Jacksonville until it blew through.
Trivia

What inspired the radical Symbionese Liberation Army to give kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst the underground name Tania?

• It was the nickname of a key member of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara’s guerrilla movement—the beret-wearing Haydee Tamara Bunke Bider, who was known as Tania the Guerrilla.

Today in History

• United States: received its new name from the Second Continental Congress; it had previously been known as the Thirteen Colonies (1776)
• Elvis Presley: Elvis the Pelvis made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, shown only from the waist up (1956)

Today's Birthdays

• Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642): King Louis XIII's second-in-command
• Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910 [OS]): author of War and Peace
• Harland Sanders (1890-1980): founder of KFC
• Otis Redding (1941-1967): soul singer, "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay"
• Joe Theismann (59): former NFL quarterback
• Hugh Grant (48): actor who specializes in romantic comedies; also, actors Cliff Robertson (83), Topol (73), Tom Wopat (57), Angela Cartwright (56), Adam Sandler (42), Goran Visnjic (36) and Michelle Williams (28)
• Rachel Hunter (39): former super model, former Mrs. Rod Stewart.

Word of the Day for Friday, August 29, 2008

redress \rih-DRES\, transitive verb:

1. To put in order again; to set right; to emend; to revise.
2. To set right, as a wrong; to repair, as an injury; to make amends for; to remedy; to relieve from.
3. To make amends or compensation to; to relieve of anything unjust or oppressive; to bestow relief upon.
4. The act of redressing; a making right; reformation; correction; amendment.
5. A setting right, as of wrong, injury, or oppression; as, the redress of grievances; hence, relief; remedy; reparation; indemnification.

Redress comes from French, redresser, to straighten, from re-, re- + dresser, to arrange.

gasolina

• Spanish slang meaning skeet. Comes from the reggaeton song "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee.

Te encanta la gasolina

Trivia

What baseball slugger once had a fly ball smack him on the head and bounce over the outfield wall for a home run?

• Admitted steroid-user Jose Canseco, in 1993, when he was with the Texas Rangers. The ball was hit by Carlos Martinez of the Cleveland Indians. The Indians won the game, 7–6.

Today in History

• chop suey: was introduced in New York City by a chef for visiting Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang (1896)
• The Beatles: gave their last paid concert, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park (now Monster Park) (1966)
• Hurricane Katrina: the costliest natural disaster in US history made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, devastating cities, most notably New Orleans (2005)

Today's Birthdays

• John Locke (1632-1704): English empiricist philosopher who influenced the American and French revolutions
• Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982): Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-award winning actress; actors Elliot Gould (70) and G.W. Bailey (63) also have birthdays today
• Richard Attenborough (85): director of Gandhi and Cry Freedom; directors William Friedkin and Joel Schumacher (both 69) were also born on this date
• Michael Jackson (50): androgynous pop superstar; other musicians who share his birth date include Charlie Parker (1920-1955) and Dinah Washington (1924-1963)
• John McCain (72): US senator from Arizona, Vietnam War POW / hero, and the presumptive Republican candidate for president in 2008

Word of the Day for Friday, August 15, 2008

blackguard \BLAG-uhrd\, noun:

1. A rude or unscrupulous person; a scoundrel.
2. A person who uses foul or abusive language.
3. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, "blackguard language."
4. To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.

Blackguard is from black + guard. The term originally referred to the lowest kitchen servants of a court or of a nobleman's household. They had charge of pots and pans and kitchen other utensils, and rode in wagons conveying these during journeys from one residence to another. Being dirtied by this task, they were jocularly called the "black guard."

the royal we

• A social offense that can be called out when one is being falsely spoken for.

"God, we got so plastered last night."

"The royal we. I had a vodka tonic and called it quits. You got so shitfaced you puked on my jacket and then attempted to fornicate with it."

"Good times. We have fun."

"Go fuck a blender."

Trivia

Under what pen name did Russian-born writer Solomon Rabinowitz gain fame?

• Sholom Aleichem, which means “peace be with you” in Yiddish. Rabinowitz/Aleichem wrote humorous short stories, some featuring the character Tevye, who was immortalized in the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

Today in History

• Macbeth: king of the Scots was killed in battle by Malcolm III; Macbeth had previously killed Malcolm's father, Duncan I, to acquire the throne (1057)
• V-J Day: marked Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II (1945)
• Partition of India: led to the creation of India and Pakistan and their independence of British rule (1947)
• Woodstock: rock music festival held near Bethel, New York, began, attracting 450,000 people (1969)

Today's Birthdays

• Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821): emperor of France
• Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832): author of Ivanhoe and "Lochinvar"
• Julia Child (1912-2004): chef who taught preparation of French cuisine through TV and books
• Oscar Peterson (83): jazz pianist/composer; musicians Pete York (66) and Jimmy Webb (62) also have birthdays today
• Princess Anne (58): member of Britain's royal family
• Debra Messing (40): Will and Grace's female lead; also, actors Jim Dale (73), Tess Harper (58), Željko Ivanek (51), Debi Mazar (44), Ben Affleck (36) and Natasha Henstridge (34)

Caffeine? An FYI

CAFFEINE PER AVERAGE CUP OR BAR (MG)
ground coffee 90
instant coffee 60
decaffeinated coffee 3
tea 40
cola 40
chocolate bar 40

Found this chart here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/caffeine

Travelzoo Weekly Top 20

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TOP 20 DEALS * -- JULY 23, 2008
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$89 -- Last Minute: New York City to/from Chicago (each way)
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$199 -- Newport Waterfront Hotel This Summer
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TOP SHOW & EVENT DEALS:
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Word of the Day for Thursday, June 5, 2008

tremulous \TREM-yuh-luhs\, adjective:

1. Shaking; shivering; quivering; as, a tremulous motion of the hand or the lips; the tremulous leaf of the poplar.
2. Affected with fear or timidity; trembling.

premature joculation

• The act of celebrating an event before it has been fully resolved. Sometimes quickly followed by an embarrassing retraction when things turn out differently.

The Pulp Fiction quote by the Winston Wolf character "Let's not start sucking each other's dicks just yet, Gentleman." is a great example of premature joculation.

Trivia

How many pounds of cottage cheese does 100 pounds of milk yield?

• 15.

Today in History

• bananas: became popular at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition; they were served wrapped in foil (1876)
• Six-Day War: began; Israel was victorious against Egypt, Syria and Jordan; Jerusalem was reunited (1967)
• Robert Kennedy: US presidential candidate was shot by Sirhan Sirhan; he died the next day (1968)
• AIDS: first cases were reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1981)

Today's Birthdays

• John Couch Adams (1819-1892): mathematician and astronomer who predicted the existence of the planet Neptune
• Federico García Lorca (1898-1936): passionate Spanish poet, playwright and musician
• Bill Moyers (74): reporter and commentator who was LBJ's press secretary
• Ken Follett (59): author of Eye of the Needle; also born on this date was writer Margaret Drabble (69)
• Kenny G. (52): smooth jazz saxophonist, Duotones
• Liza Weil (31): Paris Geller on Gilmore Girls; actors Bill Hayes (83), Mark Wahlberg (37) and Navi Rawat (31) were also born on this date
• Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (56): bad-ass drummer from Iron Maiden

Missed Trivia

What famous British writer kept a tame bear as a pet while he was a student at Trinity College at Cambridge?

• George Gordon, Lord Byron. He apparently did it in defiance—because college rules barred dogs as pets but didn’t mention bears. On one occasion Byron and his bear reportedly bathed in the fountain in the center of the Great Court at Trinity.

What weapon served as the code name for one of the five main Normandy beaches where Allied forces landed on D-Day during World War II?

• Sword. The five beaches, from west to east, were code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

How did Kraft Foods come up with the idea of packaging macaroni and cheese?

• From one of its traveling salesmen, Harry Weishaar, who was using rubber bands to attach two-ounce packets of grated cheese to boxes of macaroni to promote the cheese. The company saw the potential and packaged the two ingredients together in 1937, selling them as “a meal for 4 in 10 minutes” for 19 cents.

How many whiskers does the average cat have?

• 24, with 12 on each side of its face.

Which country’s rebels were the first to call crude homemade explosives Molotov cocktails?

• Finland’s. The Finnish resistance used the improvised gasoline-filled bottle-bombs against Russians tanks during the winter of 1939–40, naming them for Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister.

At what weight does a scrod become a cod?

• At 2 ½ pounds.

Who was the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer Prize?

• Garry Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury, in 1975. He won the coveted prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Denny's outdoes themselves with a 50 pound burger

One pic says it all:

Yum!

You can find it at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Pennsylvania!

From: http://www.dennysbeerbarrelpub.com/
http://www.supersizedmeals.com/food/article.php/20060714161503920