Wednesday, October 14, 2009

pukka \PUHK-uh\, adjective:

1. Authentic; genuine.
2. Superior; first-class.

Pukka comes from Hindi pakka, "cooked, ripe," from Sanskrit pakva-, from pacati, "he cooks."
Caraoke

• Singing along with music in a car, especially loudly and passionately.

That long road trip felt a lot (shorter/longer) because of the Caraoke.
Trivia
What sports-loving Hollywood celebrity paid $239,000 for a Mickey Mantle baseball glove?

• Billy Crystal, at an auction in 1999.

Today in History

• Battle of Hastings: the last Anglo-Saxon king of England fell to William the Conquerorduring the Norman conquest (1066)
• sound barrier: was broken for the first time by a person, United States Air Force test pilotChuck Yeager, who flew a secret experimental Bell X-1 jet at supersonic speed (1947)
• Peace Corps: the idea to send American volunteers abroad was first mentioned by JFKwhen he was a presidential candidate (1960)

Today's Birthdays

• Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969): 34th US president; other political leaders born on this date include James II (1633-1701), William Penn (1644-1718), Ferdinand VII (1784-1833) and Éamon De Valera (1882-1975)
• E.E. Cummings (1894-1962): writer of poetry with unusual grammar, syntax and punctuation
• John Wooden (99): twice-enshrined NCAA Hall-of-Famer
• Roger Moore (82): suave one-time James Bond; actors who share this birth date include Udo Kier (65), Harry Anderson (57) and Jon Seda (39)
• Ralph Lauren (70) : fashion designer
• Usher (31): R&B star; also, musicians Cliff Richard (69), Justin Hayward (63), Thomas Dolby (51), Karyn White (44) andNatalie Maines (39)