Turtle Thursday: Dot [2008]

This is one of our sadder stories. Above you see Dot, a red eared slider. She was very friendly, and demanded human contact. Unfortunately she couldn't get along with any of the other turtles. Her vicious ways nearly ended Dante's life. So we had to give Dot away. It broke our hearts, but it was for the greater good. Who knows what damage would've been dished out upon the others.

Thursday, July 30, 2026

beget \ bih-GET \ , verb; 

1. (especially of a male parent) to procreate or generate (offspring). 
2. to cause; produce as an effect: a belief that power begets power . 

Origin: The term beget has been around in English since before 1000s. It is a cognate with the Old High German bigezzan.  

 

brush the horse

• When you are walking past someone in close proximity and your body parts touch theirs. Thus, making you feel uncomfortable.

Dude, that guy so just brushed the horse up on me.

Did that guy just brush the horse? I swear I felt his fupa on my back when he passed by me.

 

History

• Baltimore: port town and industrial center was founded (1729)
• "La Marseillaise": the French national anthem was first sung in Paris (1792)
• In God We Trust: became the official motto of the US (1956)
• Kim Philby: the Soviet news service announced that the British intelligence officer and double agent had defected to the USSR (1963)
• Medicare: insurance program for senior citizens was signed into US law (1965)
• Jimmy Hoffa: the former Teamsters president disappeared in suburban Detroit; he has never been found, but he is presumed dead (1975)
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act: "Corporate Responsibility Act" — that tightened control of financial reporting and reduced the potential for fraud — was signed into law by President George Bush (2002)

Birthdays

• Emily Bronte 1818
• Thornstein Velben 1857
• Henry Ford 1863
• Vladimir Kosmo Zworykin 1889 - Invented the iconoscope, called the "Father of Television"
• Casey Stengel 1890
• Henry Moore 1898
• Dick Wilson 1916
• Richard Johnson 1927
• Christine McGuire (The McGuire Sisters) 1929
• Thomas Sowell 1930
  
• Edd "Kookie" Byrnes 1933
• Ben Piazza 1934
• Buddy Guy 1936
• Joe Nuxhall 1938
• Eleanor Smeal 1939
• Peter Bogdanovich 1939
• Paul Anka 1941
• David Sanborn 1945
• William Atherton 1947
• Arnold Schwarzenegger 1947
• Jean Reno 1948
  
• Frank Stallone 1950
• Ken Olin 1954
• Anita Hill 1956
• Delta Burke 1956
• Rat Scabies (Damned) 1957
• Kate Bush 1958
• Richard Burgi 1958
  
• Neal McCoy 1961
• Laurence Fishburne 1961
• Lisa Kudrow 1963 - Actress ("Friends")
• Vivica A. Fox 1964
• Dwayne O'Brien (Little Texas) 1964
• Christine Taylor 1971
• Hillary Swank 1974
• Jaime Pressly 1977
• April Bowlby 1980 
  
  

   

 

   

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

  

Hasselhoff Wednesday: Eris and Pluto

Spotlight: Easy come, easy go. On this date in 2005, astronomers announced the discovery of Eris, a heavenly body slightly larger than Pluto, and called it the 10th planet. The International Astronomical Union did a little further research and decided that both bodies were too small to be official planets, so Eris and Pluto were demoted to the official designation of dwarf planet. Along with its moon, Dysnomia, Eris is the most distant known object in orbit around the sun. The word "pluto" took on a new meaning with this move — it came to be defined as "to demote or devalue someone or something."

 

Quote: "Mmm. Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing. How embarrassing." — Yoda, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

ambulant \ AM-byuh-luhnt \ , adjective;

1. moving from place to place; itinerant; shifting. 
2. Medicine/Medical . a. not confined to bed; able or strong enough to walk. b. serving patients who are able to walk. 

Origin: Ambulant comes from the Latin ambulāre meaning "to walk." It entered English in the mid-1600s. 

bats in the cave

• visible clumps of nose goblins, often found clinging to nasal hair.

"you need to blow your nose, you got some serious bats in the cave!!"

 

History

• Spanish Armada: was defeated by the English, led by Sir Francis Drake (1588)
  
• NASA: President Eisenhower signed a bill creating the space agency (1958)
• Lady Di: married Prince Charles at St. Paul's Cathedral in London (1981)
• switch hitter: Red Sox batter Bill Mueller became the first Major League Baseball player to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a single game (2003)
• Eris, a heavenly body slightly larger than Pluto, was discovered and called it the 10th planet. (2005)

Birthdays

• Booth Tarkington 1869
  
• Benito Mussolini 1883
• Sigmund Romberg 1887
• Theda Bara 1890
• Clara Bow 1894
• Melvin Belli 1907
• Stephen McNally 1913
• Richard Egan 1923
• Lloyd Bochner 1924
• Robert Horton 1924
• Ted Lindsay 1925
• Don Carter 1926
• Paul Taylor 1930
• Randy Sparks (New Christy Minstrels) 1933
• Robert Fuller 1934
• Peter Jennings 1938
• David Warner 1941
• Neal Doughty (REO Speedwagon) 1946
• Simon Kirk (Bad Company) 1949
• Ken Burns 1953
• Geddy Lee (Rush) 1953
• Michael Biehn 1956
• Patti Scialia (E Street Band) 1956
• Alexandra Paul 1963
• Martina McBride 1966
• Chris Gorman (Belly) 1967
• Wil Wheaton 1972
• Stephen Dorff 1973
• Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men) 1973

  

 

  

Review Tuesday: Hostile Dimensions (2023)

  

 

Hostile Dimensions

2023

Some people investigate the found film of a woman's disappearance into some sort of a portal. 

My BFF was trying to find something to watch and selected this movie. It looked kinda interesting. 

 

Some people were filming their deeds in an abandoned building and find a door. It apparently was a gateway to some other place. 

 

The footage went viral, of course, and aroused the interest of a couple documentarians. In their efforts to get to the bottom of things, they fall into some cultist conspiracy. 

 

At first the idea of this movie seemed okay but after a little while it went off the rails and became pretty stupid. Really not worth your time to watch.    

 

Review Tuesday: Mortal Kombat II (2026)

  

 

Mortal Kombat II

(2026) 

Select warriors have to defend Earthrealm from Shao Khan in the competition called MORTAL KOMBAT. 

I have been meaning to watch this movie, since I liked the first one but only got around to it recently thanks to my BFF. We binge watched MORTAL KOMBAT and MORTAL KOMBAT II.   

 

After the events of Mortal Kombat (reviewed HERE) the tournament is getting ready to commence. We see how Edenia was conquered by Shao Khan (Martyn Ford), and how he plans to do the same with Earthrealm. We are introduced to  Kitana and Jade (Adeline Rudolph and Tati Gabrielle) from teh Outworld perspective. We are also introduced to the aging martial artist Johnny Cage expertly portrayed by KARL URBAN. 

  

In a nutshell, this tournament is a do-or-die situation for Earthrealm. If a Realm defeats another ten times in a row, they get to claim it. Earthrealm has LOST the last nine. Losing this tournament would mean that Shao Khan can conquer our world. To ensure a victory, Shao Khan cheats. In addition, Johnny Cage wasn't even prepared to compete. So those were two easy victories and this is a best three out of five competition. 

 

The movie is about what the combatants of Earthrealm have to do to prevent Shao Khan from cheating his way to a victory. 

 

While I liked the first Mortal Kombat movie, I had some issues with it. I can say, without giving up any spoilers, that those issues were rectified in this second film. I would have to say there was much more that I liked than didn't. Johnny cage really steals the show. They show the various characters using their in-game abilities in combat and it's pretty cool! The only bummers were that both Baraka and Quan Chi both looked pretty weird, but not enough so that it actually had an impact on my opinions. Don't worry, looking at Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Kitana, and Jade makes up for it.   

 

This is a rated R movie, so don't expect that the good guys get through this unscathed. It's called MORTAL KOMBAT after-all, so there's plenty of game violence and people getting killed. Oh, of course the Scorpion / Sub Zero rivalry continues. 

 

So yep, I liked it. I would recommend it.    

 

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

foray \ FAWR-ey, FOR-ey \ , noun; 

1. a quick raid, usually for the purpose of taking plunder: Vikings made a foray on the port . 
2. a quick, sudden attack: The defenders made a foray outside the walls. 
3. an initial venture: a successful foray into politics. 

verb:

1. to make a raid; pillage; maraud. 
2. to invade or make one's way, as for profit or adventure: foreign industries foraying into U.S. markets. 
3. to ravage in search of plunder; pillage. 

Origin: Foray entered English in the late 14th century. It shares its roots with the term forage.
  

piss in the wind

• Doing something that is a complete waste of effort and time for which you can expect no results and may even backfire on you.

Telling the president that invading other countries is unpopular with many voters is like pissing in the wind.

History 

• Maximilien Robespierre: Reign of Terror leader was guillotined in Paris during the French Revolution (1794)
• Peru: declared independence from Spain (1821)
• 14th Amendment: granted full citizenship to former US slaves; introduced new civil rights safeguards, due process, equal protection (1868)
• Austria-Hungary: declared war on Serbia, precipitating World War I (1914)
• Kennewick Man: prehistoric remains were discovered on the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, sparking a debate between scientists and Native Americans (1996)
• IRA: ended its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland in favor of "exclusively peaceful means" (2005)

Birthdays

• Beatrix Potter 1866
• Joe E. Brown 1891
• Rudy Vallee 1901
• Richard Rogers 1902
• Cameron Dragon 1914
• Charles Hard Townes 1915
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 1929
• Darryl Hickman 1931
• Jacques d'Amboise 1934
  
• Peter Duchin 1937
• George Cummings 1938 - Musician (Dr. Hook)
• Phil Proctor 1940
• Mike Bloomfield 1944
• Jim Davis 1945
• Richard Wright 1945 - Musician (Pink Floyd)
• Jonathan Edwards 1946 - Singer


• Linda Kelsey 1946
• Barbara Ferrell 1947
• Sally Struthers 1948
• Georgia Bright Engel 1948
• Peter Doyle 1949 - Musician (The New Seekers)
• Simon Kirke 1949 - Musician (Bad Company, Free)
• Terry Fox 1958
• Lori Loughlin 1964
• Elizabeth Berkley 1972
• Afroman 1974

  

 

  

 

  

Look forward to Laura Michelle!

Laura Michelle Prestin

Hotty of the day

Look forward to Katerina!

Katerina Skoyrli

Max Greece November 2010

 

Hotty of the day