~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
November 24, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.  ~ Dale Carnegie

★~ Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day:

We all have at least one extraordinary—and many times Odd—ability. Now’s the time to get out there and flaunt your special talent.

Do you have a unique talent….perhaps you can talking in cartoon voices or quake like a duck? Do you burp at 110 decibels?  Can you squeeze your head through a tennis racquet, or fit an entire coke can in your mouth? Are you able to draw a perfect free hand circle? Inquiring minds want to know about your odd talent!

★~National Sardines Day:

Happy Sardine Day! Alan Bennett,actor and writer, once said “Life is like a box of sardines, and everyone is looking for the key.” Alas, when it comes to the slippery fish, not everyone is interested in opening up that can. And it seems foodies have a love-hate relationship with the chow.

Love them or hate them one thing most foodies agree on is that “Sardines aren’t for sissies.” What about you do you like sardines?

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1835 – The Corps of Rangers, later formally known as the Texas Rangers, was organized to protect the frontier from Indians. The mounted police force was authorized by the provincial government. The rangers were paid $1.25 a day.

♥~ 1963 – In a scene captured on live national television, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

♥~ 1969 – Apollo program: the Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.

♥~ 1971 – It was a dark, freezing-cold, rainy Thanksgiving eve when Dan Cooper, now better known as D.B. Cooper, boarded a Northwest Orient airliner in Portland, Oregon. The chain-smoking Cooper, in his mid-forties, wore dark glasses, a dark suit and tie, and white shirt. He carried a black briefcase containing what resembled a bomb, and using it as a threat hijack the Boeing 727 plane. Cooper demanded and received $200,000, then parachuted from the plane over the Cascade Mountains in Southwestern Washington, never to be seen again. The “Cooper Vane” was invented, a device that prevents the tail stairways on Boeing 727s from being lowered while in flight (Cooper’s escape route).

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1888 – Dale Carnegie lecturer, author: How to Win Friends and Influence People; died Nov 1, 1955; see Win Friends and Influence People Day

♥~ 1941 – Pete (Randolph) Best musician: drums: original Beatle pre-Ringo Starr; autobiography: Beatle!

♥~ 1978 – Katherine Heigl actress: Grey’s Anatomy, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Prince Valiant, Bride of Chucky, The Tempest, Roswell

♥~ 1990 – Sarah Hyland actress: Modern Family, Struck by Lightning, Conception, Cougars, Inc., All My Children, One Life to Live

★~ Did You Know: 

The Macy’s day parade was first celebrate on Christmas 1924. It was organized by employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. The balloons—which used to be filled with  air—made their debut in 1927; Felix the Cat was the first character balloon. Now, 85 years later, the inflation of the balloons is an event itself. The parade closes off the streets next to the American Museum of Natural History, pins down its balloons, begins to inflate them, and invites the public to watch.

For 43 years, the balloons were designed and made in a former Tootsie Roll factory in Hoboken, New Jersey. Last year, the Macy’s Design Studio moved to a new 72,000 square foot studio in nearby Moonachie.

♥~There will be 56 balloons in the parade this year: 16 giant character balloons and 40 novelty balloons.

♥~ The characters flying for the first time this year are Hello Kitty, Elf on the Shelf, Papa Smurf, and Companion by KAWS. Here’s what they look like on the ground:

♥~ The balloons used to be made of rubber; now they’re made of polyurethane fabric.

♥~ The balloons are filled with a mixture of helium and air. The highest point of a balloon requires 100 percent helium, while something like a smile or a button needs only air.

♥~ It takes 90 minutes to inflate a giant balloon.

♥~ The average life of a balloon is eight years. This Kermit has been flying since 2002. He’s 78 feet long, 61 feet high, and 36 feet wide.

♥~ On average, balloons are filled with 12,000 cubic feet of helium—that’s enough to lift 746 pounds!

♥~ Balloons under nets are finished being inflated; the ones not under nets are still inflating. When those balloons are done, they’ll be moved under a net.

♥~ SpongeBob SquarePants took its first flight in 2004, the year The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie came out.

♥~ The Aflac Duck, which debuted last year, is a “balloonicle.” It combines a cold-air balloon and self-propelled vehicle.

Ready to inflate your balloon next year and enter the parade–well save your money because First-time balloons cost at least $190,000 – this covers admission into the parade and the cost of balloon construction. After the initial year, companies can expect to pay Macy’s about $90,000 to get a character on the parade route. If you consider that the parade runs about three hours or so, that’s about $500 a minute. Those figures are  from several years ago, so no doubt the cost of balloons has seen some inflation.

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Just in case  drawing a perfect circle free handed is in on your bucket list…

So how are you spending this fine Saturday? I plan to start a fire in our outside fire pit, sip some hot chocolate and take some pictures of my campers running amuck in a good way.

Odd Loves Company!