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Friday, August 14, 2026

dactylogram \ dak-TIL-uh-gram \ , noun; 

• a fingerprint. 

Origin: Dactylogram is a combination of dactylo- meaning "finger" and -gram meaning "something written." It entered English in the 1910s.

driving finger

• Your middle finger. Usually refers to the one on the left hand so it can be displayed out the driver's side window to comment on another driver's behavior.

Your driving finger is the longest finger.

History

• Oregon Territory: was organized by an act of US Congress, consisting of all of present-day Oregon, Idaho and Washington, and parts of Montana and Wyoming (1848)

  
• Social Security Act: was signed into law by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt, establishing pensions and unemployment insurance (1935)
• V-J Day: Japan surrendered, ending World War II (1945)
• Pakistan: southern Asia country became independent of Britain (1947)
• Ilich Ramírez Sánchez: the terrorist known as "Carlos the Jackal" was captured (1994)
• Northeast Blackout of 2003: 50 million people — one-third the population of Canada plus one-seventh the population of the US — lost electricity (2003)

Birthdays

• Ernest Thayer 1863
• John Galsworthy 1867
• Russell Baker 1925
• Buddy Greco 1926
• Alice Ghostly 1926
• John Brodie 1935
• Dash Crofts (Seals and Crofts) 1940
• David Crosby 1941
• Connie Smith 1941
• Robyn Smith Astaire 1944
• Steve Martin 1945
• Antonio Fargas 1946
• Susan St. James 1946
• Larry Graham (Sly and the Family Stone) 1946
• Danielle Steel 1947
• Gary Larson 1950 - Creator of "The Far Side"
• Terry Adams (NRBQ) 1950
• Debbie Meyer 1952
• James Horner 1953
• Jackee Harry 1956
• Earvin "Magic" Johnson (NBA) 1959
• Susan Olsen 1961
  
• Emanuelle Beart 1965
• Halle Berry 1968
• Catherine Bell 1968
• Mila Kunis 1983

  

  

 

 

  

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

  

 

  

 

  

Monday, July 27, 2026

hemidemisemiquaver \ hem-ee-dem-ee-SEM-ee-kwey-ver \ , noun; 

• Music. Chiefly British . a sixty-fourth note.

Origin: Hemidemisemiquaver entered English in the mid-1800s, as an extension of demisemiquave , a thirty-second note. A quaver is chiefly British word for an eighth note. 

meter high club

• In the spirit of the mile high club, but for those who couldn't afford the plane tickets so are just taking the train.

Me and my girlfriend thought we would join the ranks of the prestigious mile high club, but had to take the train home instead. We went for the meter high club instead, but forgot that they can throw you off a train a lot easier than a plane.

History

• transatlantic telegraph cable: was completed, linking the US and Europe; the cord shortened communication time from days to minutes (1866)
• insulin: physiologists isolated the hormone used to manage diabetes (1921)
• Bugs Bunny: debuted in The Wild Hare (1940)
• Billboard: the magazine published its first singles record chart (1940)
• Korean War: the conflict ended with no clear winner, splitting the country into North and South (1953)
• Coronation Street: British soap characters Ken Barlow and Deirdre Langton tied the knot; their wedding got higher telly ratings than that of Prince Charles and Lady Di (1981)

Birthdays

• Charlotte Corday 1768
  
• George Foster Peabody 1852
• Keenan Wynn 1916
• Homer (Henry D. Haynes) 1918
• Charles P. Ginsburg 1920
• Norman Lear 1922
• Bob Morse (Hi-Lo's) 1927
• Harvey Fuqua (The Moonglows) 1929
• Jerry Van Dyke 1931
• Nick Reynolds (The Kingston Trio) 1933
• Don Galloway 1937
• Irv Cross 1939
• James Victor 1939
• Dennis Ralston 1942
• John Pleshette 1942
  
• Bobbie Gentry 1944
• Al Ramsey (Gary Lewis & The Playboys) 1946
• Betty Thomas 1948
• Peggy Fleming 1948
• Maury Chaykin 1949
• Maureen McGovern 1949
• Michael Vaughn (Paperlace) 1950
• Janet Eilber 1951
• Roxanne Hart 1952
• 
  Duncan Cameron (Sawyer Brown) 1956
• Karl Mueller (Soul Asylum) 1963
• Rex Brown (Pantera) 1964
• Juliana Hatfield 1967
• Stacy Dean Campbell 1967
• Julian McMahon 1968
• Maya Rudolph 1972
• Peter Yorn 1974
• Alex Rodriguez (MLB) 1975
• John Rhys Meyers 1977

  

 

  

Review Tuesday: Attack on Titan

  

 

Attack on Titan

People living in fear behind giant walls are hiding a secret they didn't even realize. 

I don't get to watch a lot of anime. Watching a series is hard for me. It's a big investment of time which I do not have. However, one of the biggest names in recent years is ATTACK ON TITAN. My BFF asked me to watch it with her, so why not? It's only 4 seasons...

 

I don't know what to say. It's a very long and weird series. It's mostly very well developed, but I feel like after season three, they went ape-shit trying to finish up the story. However, in doing so they added so many zigs and zags that it felt like it turned into something completely different. 

 

It starts off with a city behind walls to protect it from the monstrous TITANS getting attacked and the Titans getting in causing mass damages and casualties. Eren Yeager vows to exterminate the beasts. Pretty much entire rest of the series is his journey to meet that goal.

 

To me, I felt that since the story isn't linear with all of the jumping back and forth it led to all sorts of confusion. A massive conspiracy emerges. However, in the end it's mostly coherent if not rushed at the end. All that taken into account I am still glad I had the opportunity to watch it. I am up to date on that part of modern pop culture, as the series only concluded a couple years ago.    

 

 

  

Review Tuesday: Mad God 2021

  

 

MAD

GOD

2021

The Assassin navigates a ruined world of nightmares. 

This movie has been on my to-watch list for years. I own a copy but have never gotten around to watching it. So when my BFF wanted to watch it on movie night, I agreed. 

 

The bid thing about this movie is that this work has taken Phil Tippett 30 years to get it done. That's a massive commitment. Tippett's animations are well known for how great they are, so this had a lot of promise. 

 

The Assassin descended into some ruined world of horrors. We see the nightmares that occupy this space as he goes to do his job. 

 

There's not much to this movie. It's just extended scenes of imaginative yet horrific animations. That's it. Not much of a story. No character development. A lot of WTF. It looks cool and all, but it left me feeling MEH after watching it.   

  

  

Review Tuesday: “Belladonna of Sadness” Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, 1973

  

 

Belladonna of Sadness

Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto

1973 

One woman's psychedelic journey into history.

I was discussing animation styles with a friend recently and she recommended Belladonna of Sadness. 

 

On the night that Jeanne and Jean got married, she is raped by a local noble. To get her revenge Jeanne makes a pact with the devil. 

 

Seems like a simple enough story, but toss in the typical 70s psychedelics and tons of sexual imagery and you get this thing. It's less than an hour and a half, but feels like it's at least 3-4 times longer. I really feel like I needed to be loaded up on some substance to have appreciated it more. As it was, I would call it okay. The animation is not bad considering the shoe-string budget it was made with. It just wasn't my cup of tea. I am not big on gratuitous weirdo animated pr0n or violence aimed at women.