Friday, November 2, 2018

uncanny \uhn-KAN-ee\, adjective:

1. Having or seeming to have a supernatural or inexplicable basis; beyond the ordinary or normal; extraordinary: uncanny accuracy; an uncanny knack of foreseeing trouble.
2. Mysterious; arousing superstitious fear or dread; uncomfortably strange: Uncanny sounds filled the house.

Uncanny once meant "mischievous." The association with the supernatural arose in the 1770s. The word canny means careful, astute, skilled and frugal. 

 

Frankenstorm 

• A Frankenstorm is a hurricane and winter storm hybrid, involving a "monster" combination of high winds, heavy rain, extreme tides and snow. A Frankenstorm carries with it a risk of fatalities, power outages and severe property damage.

Farewell! I leave you, and in you the last of humankind whom these eyes will ever behold. Farewell, Frankenstorm!

 

Trivia

In the world of animal hybrids, what is a pizzly?

• A cross between a polar bear and a grizzly bear. The hybrid is sometimes referred to as a grolar bear.

History

• North Dakota : became the 39th state; South Dakota became No. 40 on the same day (1889)
• Balfour Declaration: British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour declared support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" (1917)
• Spruce Goose: made of birch, not spruce, the largest flying boat was flown on its first and only flight by its designer, billionaire Howard Hughes (1947)
• Levelland UFO sighting: several separate witnesses in Texas claimed to have seen, late at night, a bright egg-shaped object near which their car engines died (1957)
• Lady Chatterley's Lover: in Britain, publisher Penguin Books was found not guilty of obscenity for printing the D.H. Lawrence novel (1960)

Birthdays

• Daniel Boone 1734
• James Knox Polk (U.S.) 1795
• Warren G. Harding (U.S.) 1865
• Paul Ford 1901
• Burt Lancaster 1913
• Ray Walston 1914
• Ann Rutherford 1920
• Charlie Walker 1926
• Earl "Speedo" Carroll (The Coasters) 1937
• Patrick J. Buchanan 1938
• Jay Black (Jay and The Americans) 1938
• David Stockton 1941
• Shere Hite 1942
• Stefanie Powers 1942
• Keith Emmerson (ELP) 1944
• Maxine Nightingale 1953
• Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses) 1960
• k.d. lang 1961
• Bobby Dall (Poison) 1961
• Ron McGovney 1962 - Musician (Metallica)
• David Schwimmer 1966 - Actor ("Friends")
• Alvin Chea (Take 6) 1967
• Charlie 'Steele' Pennachio (Linear) 1967
• Brandi Brandt (Playboy Centerfold 10/87) 1968
• Nelly 1974 - Pop-rapper