Thursday, December 30, 2010

dithyrambic \dith-uh-RAM-bik\, adjective:

1. Wildly enthusiastic.
2. Wildly irregular in form.
3. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a dithyramb.

Dithyrambic is ultimately from dithyrambos, a word of unknown origin but associated with Greek, meaning "a wild choric hymn, originally in honor of Dionysus."

Internet Coma

• When you are sitting on your couch, feet up on the coffee table, laptop on your lap. 4-10 hours later you are in an entirely prone position with your legs off the edge of the coffee table and your head on the seat cushion. You become completely unresponsive to your surroundings.
• Loss of peripheral vision, amnesia, severely reduced motor function ability, and drooling with one eye closed are common symptoms.

I got online this morning to check my email and mess around on facebook for a bit. Next thing I know it's 7pm, my legs are totally numb, and I have this nasty trail of dried drool down my chin. That internet coma completely ruined my day!

Trivia

What food manufacturer’s name combines the first three letters of two state names?

• Ore-Ida Potato Products. The two states, of course, are Oregon and Idaho. The name was chosen in 1952, when the company was formed, because it had a processing plant in eastern Oregon, near the Idaho border.

History

• Gadsden Purchase: was signed, acquiring the land of southern New Mexico and Arizona from Mexico (1853)
• The Pirates of Penzance: Gilbert and Sullivan operetta was first staged (1879)
• USSR: was established when Russia joined Byelorussia, Ukraine and the Transcaucasian Federation (1922)
• Arroyo Seco Parkway: aka the Pasadena Freeway, connecting Los Angeles with Pasadena, opened (1940)
• Saddam Hussein: the Iraqi dictator was executed by hanging for war crimes in the Dujail massacre (2006)

Birthdays

• John Milne (1850-1913): inventor of the seismograph
• Sandy Koufax (75): pitcher; plus, athletes Tiger Woods (35), A.J. Pierzynski (34), LeBron James (26) and Ryan Sheckler (21)
• Paul Stookey (73): folk singer, Peter, Paul and Mary; also, musicians Bo Diddley (1928-2008), Michael Nesmith (68), Davy Jones (65), Patti Smith (64), Jeff Lynne (63), Rob Hotchkiss (49), Daniel Sunjata (39) and Tyrese (32)
• James Burrows (70): sitcom director, Cheers, Will and Grace
• Meredith Vieira (57): co-host of Today, along with colleague Matt Lauer (53)
• Tracey Ullman (51): award-winning actor and comedian; also, actors Joseph Bologna and Russ Tamblyn (both 76), Fred Ward (68), Sheryl Lee Ralph (54), Patricia Kalember (53), Daniel Sunjata (39), Jason Behr (37), Eliza Dushku (30) and Kristin Kreuk (28)