I understand...

Saturday, July 25, 2026

strident \ STRAHYD-nt \ , adjective; 

1. making or having a harsh sound; grating; creaking: strident insects; strident hinges . 
2. having a shrill, irritating quality or character: a strident tone in his writings . 
3. Linguistics . (in distinctive feature analysis) characterized acoustically by noise of relatively high intensity, as sibilants, labiodental and uvular fricatives, and most affricates.

Origin: Strident entered English in the mid-1600s from the Latin strīdēre meaning "to make a harsh noise."

Fwerking

• The act of fapping and twerking simultaneously. Some see as a dance move, others a sign of the devil.

"Dude check out this fwerking! 

"THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU"

History

• Caracas: Captain Diego de Losada founded Venezuela's capital, then known as Santiago de Leon de Caracas (1567)
• Henry IV of France: embraced Roman Catholicism for the second time; he had abandoned Protestantism in order to win Paris (1593)
• General of the Army: Ulysses S. Grant became the first officer to hold the US army's highest rank (1866)
• Bikini Atoll: America tested the first underwater atomic bomb (1946)
• Rock band YES released their debut album (1969) 
  test-tube baby: Louise Joy Brown, the first baby conceived by in vitro fertilization, was born in Oldham, England (1978)
• Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace: at the White House, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein agreed to end their official state of war (1994)

  

Birthdays

• Thomas Eakins 1844
  
• Morris Raphel Cohen 1880
• Walter Brennan 1894
• Eric Hoffer 1902
• Jack Gilford 1907
• Estelle Getty 1924
• Stanley Dancer 1927
• Don Ellis 1934
• Barbara Harris 1935
• John Pennel 1940
• Manuel Charlton (Nazareth) 1941
• Janet Margolin 1943
• Jim McCarty (Yardbirds) 1943
• Donna Theodore 1945
• Verdine White (Earth, Wind & Fire) 1951
• Walter Payton (NFL) 1954
• Iman 1955
• Ray Billingsley 1957
• Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) 1958
• Marty Brown 1965
• Illeana Douglas 1965
• Matt LeBlanc 1967 - Actor ("Friends")
• Brad Renfro 1982

  

 

  

Rock out with your RELIGION out!

Rock out with your cock out!

• Front 242: Religion [7 inch mix] vid

'Right' branded on my brow
'Wrong' graven on my mind
You see, the sin is in me
When will it stop unfolding
When will I ever be face to face
With the devil in me
Chorus
Let me burn you... let me burn you...
Let me burn you down...
Let me burn you... let me burn you...
Let me burn you down...
Burn you down...
(Let me... let me...)
Brain wants to rule the heart
Heart wants to tie the hands
Unseat the assassin in me
So you cry, not to give it away
So you lie...
Chorus (2x)
Born with a wicked charm
Torn by this driving harm
You see, it moves into me
So you lie, not to give it away
So you cry
Chorus (2x)

WTF Friday: I don't like the look of this

Have a great weekend!

Friday, July 24, 2026

prate \ preyt \ , verb; 

1. to talk excessively and pointlessly; babble: They prated on until I was ready to scream . 
2. to utter in empty or foolish talk: to prate absurdities with the greatest seriousness . 

noun: 

1. act of prating. 
2. empty or foolish talk. 

Origin: Prate finds its roots in the Middle Dutch praeten meaning "to speak." It came to English during the time when Middle English was spoken.

 

critical ass, adj. 

• The stage in fat accumulation when fabric can no longer contain the enormity of one's buttocks.

Jesus, I can't zip up these jeans anymore - I've reached critical ass!

lbd 

• LBD: Little Black Dress. A knee-length or shorter black dress, suitable for cocktail parties, etc.

The hunt for the perfect LBD has ended--I've got it!

 

Trivia

What futuristic 1948 car had a center headlight that turned with the steering wheel?

• The Tucker sedan, built by Preston Tucker. The swiveling “Cyclops eye” center beam enabled the motorist to see what lay ahead in the direction the car would be traveling.

History

• Detroit: La Ville d'Etroit, or "city of the strait," was founded by Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, a French fur trader (1701)
• Brigham Young: seeking a safe haven, the Mormon leader and his followers arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, in what is now Utah (1847)
• kitchen debate: US vice president Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev debated the merits of capitalism vs. communism in a replica of an American kitchen, set up at the American National Exhibition in Moscow (1959)
• Watergate: the US Supreme Court ordered President Richard Nixon to turn over incriminating subpoenaed White House recordings (1974)

Birthdays

• Simon Bolivar 1783
• Alexander Dumas 1802
• Amelia Earhart 1898
• Chief Dan George 1899
• Cootie Williams 1908
• Vera (Salaff) 1910
• Frank Silvera 1914
• Bob Eberly 1915
• Bella Abzug 1920
• Alexander H. Cohen 1920
• Billy Taylor (Billy Taylor Trio) 1921
• Jaqueline Brookes 1930
• Doug Sanders 1933
• Rudy Collins (Dizzy Gillespie Quintet) 1934
• Pat Oliphant 1935
• Ruth Buzzi 1936
• Mark Goddard 1936
• Dan Hedaya 1940
• Barbara Jean Love (Friends of Distinction) 1941
  
• Cris Sarandon 1942
• Roger Lafreniere 1942
• Heinze Burt (The Tornadoes) 1942
• Robert Hayes 1947
• Michael Richards 1949
• Lynda Carter 1951
• Lynval Golding 1951
• Pam Tillis 1957
• Robbie Grey (Modern English) 1957
• Kadeem Hardison 1965
• Laura Leighton 1968
• John P. Navin Jr. 1968
• Jennifer Lopez 1970 - Singer, actress
• Summer Glau 1981
• Anna Paquin 1982
• Mara Wilson 1987

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Turtle Thursday: Time to lounge around [from 4/16/09]

My pets sure have the life. Pictured are Lord Tyrannus (left) with his Queen, Snappy, enjoying some leisure time under their basking lamp. Now that July 15th has past I can do some of that, too!

Thursday, July 23, 2026

peregrine \ PER-i-grin, -green, -grahyn \ , noun; 

1. foreign; alien; coming from abroad. 
2. wandering, traveling, or migrating. 

noun: 

1. peregrine falcon. 

Origin: Peregrine entered English in the late 1300s from the Latin peregrē literally meaning "beyond the borders of the field." 

Textpectation

• The anticipation one feels when waiting for a response to a text message.

I just texted her for a date but now the textpectation is killing me.

History

• typographer: William Burt received a patent for his forerunner of the typewriter (1829)
  Batman - the caped crusader debuted (1939)
• Gamal Abdel Nasser: led the Egyptian army in an overthrow of King Farouk I (1952)
• 12th Street riot: police raid at a blind pig sparked five days of race riots in Detroit; 43 people died and 2,000 buildings burned down (1967)
• Tiger Woods: at 24, became the youngest golfer to win a career Grand Slam (2000)

Birthdays

• Karl Menninger 1893
• Vincent Sardi 1894
• Arthur Treacher 1894
• Karl Swenson 1908
• Michael Wilding 1912
• Coral Browne 1913
• Calvert DeForest 1921
• Gloria De Haven 1925
• Billy Maxwell 1929
• Bert Convey 1933
• Stacy Lacy 1934
• Cleveland Duncan 1935 - Musician (Penguins)
• Don Drysdale 1936
• Ronny Cox 1938
• Nicholas Gage 1939
• Don Imus 1940 - Radio personality, possible zombie
• Gary Stites 1940
• Tony Joe White 1943
• Dino Danelli 1945 - Musician (The Rascals)
• Andy Mackay 1946 - Musician (Roxy Music)
• David Essex 1947
• Larry Manetti 1947
• Belinda Montgomery 1950
• Blair Thornton 1950 - Musician (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
• Edie McClurg 1951
• Woody Harrelson 1961
• Martin Lee Gore 1961 - Musician (Depeche Mode)
  
• Eriq LaSalle 1962
• Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing) 1963
• Nick Menza 1964 - Musician (Megadeth)
• Slash (Saul Hudson) 1965 - Muscian (Guns N' Roses)
• Stephanie Seymour 1968
• Charisma Carpenter 1970
• Sam Watters 1970 - Musician (Color Me Badd)
• Alison Krauss 1971
• Chad Gracey 1971 - Musician (Live)
• Mr. Dalvin (Jodeci) 1971
• Marlon Wayans 1972 
• Omar Epps 1973
• Michelle Williams 1980 - Singer (Destiny's Child)