Sunday, January 26, 2025

preconcert \pree-kuhn-SURT\, verb:

• To arrange in advance or beforehand, as by a previous agreement.

adjective:

• Preceding a concert: a preconcert reception for sponsors.

Though today concert is most often a noun, it was usually used as a verb in the 1700s typically in the sense of "to bring together" or "to arrange." Preconcert thus meant "to arrange beforehand."

 

Google Girlfriend

• An imaginary girlfreind whom one would brag about to his friends and use a picture of "said girl" from google.

Richard: Hey guys look at my girlfriend!

Brett: Cool! shes good looking where is she from?

Richard: Google

Brett: So she is a google girlfriend?

History

• Vicente Yáñez Pinzón discovered Brazil (1500)
  

  
• Rum Rebellion: armed takeover of New South Wales, Australia (1808)
• Cullinan Diamond: was discovered in the Premier Mine, South Africa; it is the largest gem-quality diamond ever found and the stones that were cut and polished from it are now part of the British crown jewels (1905)
• Republic Day of India: India's constitution took effect two and a half years after independence (1950)
• Lotus 1-2-3: the popular spreadsheet software for the IBM PC was released (1983)
• Phantom of the Opera: opened on Broadway; went on to become the longest-running musical on Broadway (1988)

Birthdays

• Douglas MacArthur 1880
  

  
• Stephane Grappelli 1908
• Cora Baird 1912
• William Prince 1913
• James Van Heusen 1913
• William Hopper 1915
• Derek Bond 1919
• Page Cavanaugh (Page Cavanaugh Trio) 1922
• Anne Jeffreys 1923
• Paul Newman 1925
• Joan Leslie 1925
• Roger Vadim 1928
• Jules Feiffer 1929
• Mary Murphy 1931
• Claude Gray (The Tall Texan) 1932
• Huey "Piano" Smith 1934
• Bob Uecker 1935
• Scott Glenn 1942
• Jean Knight 1943
• Angela Davis 1944
• Gene Siskel 1946
• David Strathairn 1949
• David Briggs (The Little River Band) 1951
• Lucinda Williams 1953 - Singer
• Eddie Van Halen 1957 - Guitar player (Van Halen)
• Ellen DeGeneres 1958 - Actress-comedian.
• Norman Hassan (UB40) 1958 - Musician
• Tom Keifer 1961 - Musician (Cinderella) 
• Wayne Gretzky 1961 - Hockey hall-of-famer.
• Andrew Ridgeley (Wham!) 1963
• Jazzie B. (Soul II Soul) 1963
• Kirk Franklin 1970
  LeeAnna Vamp 1987

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

fob \FOB\, noun:

1. A short chain, usually with a medallion or similar ornament, worn hanging from a pocket.
2. A small pocket just below the waistline in trousers for a watch, keys, change, etc.

verb:

1. To cheat someone by substituting something spurious or inferior.
2. To put (someone) off by deception or trickery

Fob most likely derives from the Germanic fopke, "pocket."

 

Sofa Sunday

• 'Sofa Sunday' is the day or days when most people shop for the holiday gifts using their tablets.

What a sofa sunday! (I got many of my gifts for the holidays purchased from the convenience of my home, using my tablet)

History

• coed: Oberlin College became the first institution of higher learning in the US to serve both male and female students (1833)

  
• A Streetcar Named Desire: Tennessee William's Pulitzer Prize-winning play opened on Broadway (1947)
• heart transplant: the procedure was first performed by Christiaan Barnard on Louis Washkansky in Cape Town; the patient lived 18 days before succumbing to pneumonia, but his new heart didn't fail (1967)
• 20th Century Limited: luxury NYC–Chicago train, on which passengers were routinely given flowers and perfume, finished its final run (1967)
• Bhopal disaster: poison gas emission from Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, killed thousands of people in arguably the worst industrial disaster ever (1984)

Birthdays

• George McClellan 1826
  
• Joseph Conrad 1857
• Carlos Montoya 1903
• Ferlin Husky 1925
• Andy Williams 1927
• Jean-Luc Godard 1930
• Jaye P. Morgan 1931
• Bobby Allison 1937
• John Cale 1940 - Musician (Velvet Underground)
• Mary Alice 1941
• Peter C. Schulz 1942
• Ozzy Osbourne 1948 
• Heather Menzies 1949
• Mickey Thomas 1949 - Musician (Jefferson Starship)
• Don Barnes 1952 - Musician (.38 Special) 
• Rick Mears 1953
• Steve Forbert 1954
• Paul Gregg 1954 - Musician (Restless Heart)
• Daryl Hannah 1960 - Actress

• Julianne Moore 1960
• Katarina Witt 1965
• Montell Jordan 1968
• Brendan Fraser 1968 - Actor ("George of the Jungle")
• Royale Watkins 1969
• Bruno Campos 1973
• Holly Marie Combs 1973
• Lauren Roman 1975
• Anna Chlumsky 1980
• Brian Bonsall 1981
• Amanda Seyfried 1985
• Michael Angaran 1987

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, June 3, 2024

armamentarium \ahr-muh-muhn-TAIR-ee-uhm\, noun:

1. A fruitful source of devices or materials available or used for an undertaking.
2. The aggregate of equipment, methods, and techniques available to one for carrying out one's duties.

Armamentarium comes from the Latin root armament, which refers to equipment used by a military unit. The suffix -arium denotes a location or receptacle. 

 
Wall Street 

1. The biggest casino in the world for people of Main Street (bigger than Las Vegas).
2. A term used to describe the area for Day Traders in downtown New York, where people buy and sell mostly for emotional reasons.

1. (two average Joes on Main Street)

John: I diversify my investments by spreading my dollars across many stocks. 
Steve: Don't you realize you're gambling? 
John: My stock broker says I'm not gambling. 
Steve: Technically you're not gambling, but your stock broker is. 
 

 

2. (two brokers on Wall Street) 
Trever: Did you hear apple supply is up this year? 
Dave: Sell! Sell! Sell! 
Tever: But you didn't let me finish my ... 
Dave: Buy! Buy! Buy!

 

History

• ''Casey at the Bat'': was first published, in the San Francisco Examiner (1888)
• Duke of Windsor: the former King Edward VIII wed American divorcee Wallis Simpson, for love of whom he abdicated the throne of England (1937)
• Edward White: Gemini 4 astronaut became the first American to walk in space (1965)
• Tupolev Tu-144: Soviet jet crashed at the Paris Air Show; it was the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft (1973)
• The Producers: Broadway musical by Mel Brooks won a record 12 Tony Awards (2001)

Birthdays

• William Hone 1780
• Richard Cobden 1804
• Jefferson Davis 1808
• Maurice Evans 1901
• Jan Pierce 1904
• Josephine Baker 1906
• Ellen Corby 1911
• Paulette Goddard 1911
• Leo Gorcey 1915
• Lily St. Cyr 1917
• Tony Curtis 1925 - Actor
• Allen Ginsberg 1926
• Colleen Dewhurst 1926
• Boots Randolph 1927
• Chuck Barris 1929 - Game show host ("The Gong Show")
• Dakota Stanton 1932
• Larry McMurtry 1936 - Author
• Curtis Mayfield 1942
• Billy Cunningham 1943 - Basketball player
• Emmit Thomas 1943 - Football player
• Mike Clark 1944 - Musician (The Byrds)
• Ian Hunter 1946 - Musician (Mott the Hoople)
• John Paul Jones 1946 - Musician (Led Zeppelin)
• Michael Burton 1947
• Too Slim 1948 - Musician (Riders in the Sky)
• Suzi Quatro 1950 - Singer
• Deniece Williams 1951 - Actress
• Billy Powell 1952 - Musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• Dan Hill 1954
• Scott Valentine 1958
• Charles Hart 1961 
  Kerry King (1964): guitarist, Slayer
• Mike Gordon 1965 - Musician (Phish)
• Anderson Cooper 1967 - Broadcast journalist
• Gabriel Hernandez (No Mercy) 1971
• Ariel Hernandez (No Mercy) 1971
• Rafael Nadal 1986 - Tennis player
  Imogen Poots 1989 - Actress