~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 3rd, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: I don’t believe in the after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear.Woody Allen

★~ National Underwear Day:

When I mentioned to Cole that today was Underwear Day, he immediately suggested we celebrate by going over to the Express so I could buy him a couple new pairs of undies that he had his eye on. Or, better yet, just fork over the cash and he would go head over to buy the undies with a promise to model them for me because they were pretty darn cool. Our twelve-year-old visitor said he did not want to go undie shopping with me, and would prefer not to see Cole in his undies, thank you very much. Then both boys discussed the kind of underwear they liked and didn’t like. I told Captain Underpants and his co-pilot that I thought if they both just wore clean undies today, that would suffice as a proper celebration. But I have a feeling National Underwear Day is going to turn into a gift giving occasion in my house. Did you know that 79.999% of Americans wear the same type of underwear their entire life?

★~ National Watermelon Day: 

Cousin Carla cut a watermelon up for the oobleck party and people could not pop it in their mouths fast enough (the melon, that is!). Just about everyone loves the refreshing taste of watermelon.

Watermelon goes back as far as the 12th Egyptian Dynasty, with seeds found in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Pioneer David Livingstone was also impressed by the abundance of watermelons he encountered throughout his missionary travels through Africa in the mid-19th century. It is believed that the watermelon originated somewhere in Africa.

You can celebrate “National Watermelon Day” by eating watermelon as a snack, or enjoying it as a side dish, a dessert, or adult beverage (when fortified with alcohol or made into wine).

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1933 – The world-famous Mickey Mouse Watch was introduced. The timepiece sold for $2.75. A Mickey Mouse Clock sold for $1.50. New models now sell for $25 or more and the original watches and clocks are worth hundreds of dollars.

♥~ 1958 – James Robert Sordelet of Fort Wayne, IN, became the first person to reenlist in the U.S. Navy while under the North Pole! He did so while serving on the submarine Nautilus as it crossed under the Arctic ice.

♥~ 1963 – Comedian Allan Sherman’s summer camp parody, Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp) was released on Warner Brothers Records. It went to number two on the pop charts (8/24/63).

♥~ 1963- the Beatles had to enter the Blackpool, England, concert hall where they were performing via a trap door on the roof. To get to that trap door, they had to climb up the scaffolding of the neighboring building. Fans had blocked all the other entrances to the concert hall.

♥~ 1971 – Paul McCartney formed a new band called Wings. Joining McCartney in the group were Denny Laine, formerly of The Moody Blues, Denny Seilwell and McCartney’s wife, Linda.

♥~ 1996 – “Give your body happiness, Macarena…” Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix), by Los Del Rio, hit #1 on Billboard. It stayed and stayed at the top — for 14 smash weeks — as dancers swayed and swayed. “Ehhhhhh, Macarena!”

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1926 – Tony Bennett (Benedetto) Grammy Award-winning singer: I Left My Heart in San Francisco [1962], MTV Unplugged [1994]; I Wanna Be Around, Who Can I Turn To, The Shadow of Your Smile, Because of You, Rags to Riches, Stranger in Paradise, In the Middle of an Island, The Good Life; appeared in film: The Oscar

♥~ 1940 – Martin Sheen (Ramon Estevez) actor: The West Wing, Apocalypse Now, J.F.K., Wall Street, Badlands, Ghandi, Gettysburg, The Final Countdown; father of actors Charlie Sheen & Emilio Estevez

♥~ 1941 – Martha Stewart cooking, craft, decorating, planting advisor; Martha Stewart’s Living [TV show and magazine]

♥~ 1951 – Jay North, Actor, “Dennis the Menace”,

★~ Did You Know: Olympic Inspiration: 

♥~ Guor Marial (South Sudan): Twenty-eight-year-old Guor Marial was born in what is now South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation. He became a refugee of the Sudanese conflict in 1993 when he was only nine years old, as he fled across border after border seeking asylum from the violence. Marial was granted asylum in the U.S. in 2001, and is a permanent resident here. An All-American cross-country runner and an accomplished marathoner, Marial rejected an offer from the Sudan Olympic Committee to run under its flag at the London Olympics. “Never,” he said of his refusal to run for Sudan. “For me to even consider that is a betrayal. My family lost 28 members in the war with Sudan. Millions of my people were killed by Sudan forces. I can only forgive, but I cannot honor and glorify a country that killed my people.” However, South Sudan, the nation that Marial considers his own, does not yet have an official Olympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee has granted Marial the right to participate as an Independent Olympic Athlete, a category reserved for those in such situations.

♥~ Gladys Tejeda (Peru): Four years ago, Gladys Tejeda had never heard of the Olympics. In London, she will be running the marathon for Peru. Tejeda comes from a poor farming family, in which the many children began working at around eight years old. The 26-year-old has been an outstanding runner since she was a child, though, and once the idea of an Olympic run was raised by her brother while the family watched the Beijing games on their very first TV set, Tejeda was there. Living at 13,000 feet above sea level helped her become a marathoner, as her endurance level is extremely high. Tejeda qualified for the Olympics on her very first marathon, and the London competition will be only her third.

♥~ Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi (Malaysia): Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi will compete in the London Olympics as the first female shooting sports competitor from Malaysia. She is also eight months pregnant. Therefore, she joins a small and exclusive club of athletes who go for the gold while expecting. However, other competitors were in the early stages of pregnancy. Taibi is a bit concerned that the baby may kick at the exact moment she must aim with world-class accuracy. Malaysian officials were more worried about her ability to travel to London, but with her doctor’s blessing, she was cleared for the long flight.

♥~ Oscar Pistorius (South Africa): South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius will compete in the individual 400 meters and the 4×400-meter relay at the London Olympics. He runs on specially-designed carbon-fiber prosthetics called Cheetahs, which sparked an ongoing controversy about the place of prosthetic enhancements in competitive sports. In 2008, Pistorius won a court battle to compete for an Olympic spot. However, he then failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. This year, Pistorius will be the first amputee to compete in track at the Olympics, although not the first Summer Olympian -that honor belongs to swimmer Natalie duToit.

♥~ Caster Semenya (South Africa): Caster Semenya is a 21-year-old track and field star from South Africa. In 2009, Semenya became known around the world, not for winning the world championship in the 800 meter event, but for suspicions that she is not fully female. The International Association of Athletics Federations ordered gender-verification testing, which humiliated the then 18-year-old, who had never questioned her own sex. She was banned from racing for 11 months, during which she underwent a barrage of tests. Semenya was finally cleared to compete as female, and will not only run, but will carry the flag for the South African team.

♥~ Behdad Salimi(Iran): Weightlifter Behdad Salimi is the world’s strongest man, designated so after he lifted 472 pounds at the world weight-lifting championships in Paris in 2011. Salimi began his athletic career as a gymnast, but found his niche when a friend suggested he try weightlifting instead. Of the 54 Olympic athletes from Iran, Salimi is the country’s best hope for a gold medal.

♥~ Hiroshi Hoketsu (Japan): Hiroshi Hoketsu is representing Japan in Olympic dressage competition for the third time: he competed in Beijing in 2008 and in Tokyo in 1964. Yes, 1964. Hoketsu was born in 1941 and is 71 years old. He has spent the past five years grooming his horse Whisper for the event. Whisper is only 15. Surprisingly, Hoketsu is not the oldest Olympian ever. In 1920, Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn won his sixth medal at age 72.

♥~ Sarah Attar (Saudi Arabia): Saudi Arabia has never sent women to the Olympics before, but pressure from the IOC led them to place two women on the 2012 team. One is Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani, who will compete in judo despite never competing in a national event (Saudi Arabia has none for women). The other female competitor is track runner Sarah Attar, who grew up in the United States and is a current student at Pepperdine University. Attar holds dual U.S./Saudi citizenship, and will run the 800 meter event. When Attar was invited to represent Saudi Arabia, her parents requested all photos of her be removed from Pepperdine’s website, and she changed her usual American dress to long sleeves and head coverings. She says she hopes her participation in the Olympics will open doors for women athletes in that country.

♥~ Tahmina Kohistani (Afghanistan): Sprinter Tahmina Kohistani is one of only two track runners who will compete for Afghanistan in the London Olympics -and the only female. She faces some long odds because of the lack of support from her country — which loves sports but only in those events they expect to win — and because of the air pollution in Kabul. However, Kohistani has the freedom to run, which would not have been tolerated under the Taliban, and the support of her family, which many Afghan female athletes do not have. Like other Muslim athletes, she runs fully covered, including practicing in a baseball cap in place of a hijab -although she will wear a headscarf at the games. Kohistani is a national champion in her events, the 100 and 200 meters, but her times would place her in high school competition in most countries. Kohistani is proud just to participate in the Olympics. See her in a video interview.

♥~ Kayla Harrison (United States): Judoka Kayla Harrison started her Olympic journey farther behind than most U.S. athletes. As a teenager, she was sexually abused by her judo coach for three years. Harrison finally stood up and testified against her attacker in court, and he was convicted. But the small-town publicity of the trial forced her to move to Boston and start over. Harrison’s new trainer got her into therapy so she could put the past behind her and look forward to victory. Five years later, she has graduated from high school, earned her EMT certification, is engaged to a firefighter, won a world championship, and is favored to win a gold medal in London.

#

In the spirit of underwear day–let’s share…what color is your underwear today? Mine blue and white stripped—I wanted to be festive.