★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
May 30, 2011

★~ Today’s Quote: They are dead; but they live in each Patriot’s breast, And their names are engraven on honor’s bright crest. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

★~ Memorial Day:

Celebrated since the end of the Civil War, this holiday commemorates and honors all of the men and women who gave their lives defending our country and our freedom.

★~ National Mint Julep Day:

I know most of us serve beer, lemonade and soft drinks when we host our Memorial Day picnics and barbecues but today is Mint Julep Day and I think this letter from Lt Bucker, to Major Connor keeps very nicely with our Memorial day theme.

30 March 1937.

My Dear General Conner:

Your letter requesting my formula for mixing mint juleps leaves me in the same position in which Captain Barber found himself when asked how he was able to carve the image of an elephant from a block of wood. He said that it was a simple process consisting merely of whittling off the part that didn’t look like an elephant!

The preparation of the quintessence of gentlemanly beverages can be described only in like terms. A mint julep is not a product of a formula. It is a ceremony and must be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of the artistic; a deep reverence for the ingredients and a proper appreciation of the occasion. It is a rite that must not be entrusted to a novice, a statistician nor a Yankee!. It is a heritage of the Old South; an emblem of hospitality and a vehicle in which noble minds can travel together upon the flower-strewn paths of a happy and congenial thought. So far as the mere mechanics of the operation are concerned, the procedure, stripped of its ceremonial embellishments, can be described as follows: Read the rest:  MINT JULIP RITUAL

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1431- Joan of Arc was 19 years old when she was burned at the stake as a witch in Rouen, France but declared innocent 25 years later.  Joan of Arc has been portrayed in more than 20 films; the first was made by director Georges Méliès in 1899. And she’s the subject of more than 20,000 books.  St. Joan was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.  My guess (and I did not know her…) is that Joan would have declined being made a saint by the same church that burned her at the stake.

♥ ~ 1539 – Hernando de Soto landed in Florida with nine ships, 632 men, 223 horses, and 13 pigs.

♥ ~ 1783 – The Pennsylvania Evening Post, was the first daily paper published in the United States. It was published by Benjamin Towne in Philadelphia, PA

♥ ~ 1848 – W.G. Young of Baltimore, MD patented the ice-cream freezer.

♥~ 1872 – Mahlom Loomis, patented his wireless telegraphing inventions (whilst working as a dentist in Washington DC).

♥ ~ 1927  – Toronto attorney Charles Miller set off the goofiest race in history when he died and willed his $568,000 estate to the Toronto woman who could give birth to the most children in the ten years following his death. Ten years later, on this date in 1937, four women split the purse in the so-called Stork Derby. Each had produced nine children.

♥~ 1933 – Sally Rand made a name for herself as she introduced her exotic and erotic fan dance to audiences at Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition.

♥ ~ 1975 – Alice Cooper received a gold record for the romantic album, Welcome to My Nightmare. Alice’s real name was Vincent Furnier. He changed his name to Alice Cooper in 1966 and was known primarily for his bizarre stage antics. He appeared in the film Prince of Darkness in 1987 and had 11 hits on the pop/rock charts in the 1970s and 1980s, including a pair of million-selling singles: I Never Cry and Poison.

★~ Born Today:

♥ ~ 1908 –  Mel Blanc ‘the man of a thousand voices’: cartoon voice: Barney Rubble, Dino the Dinosaur, Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Quick Draw McGraw; actor: Jack Benny Show [radio]

♥ ~ 1909 –  Benny Goodman Welcome to My Nightmare clarinetist, bandleader: Jersey Bounce, Taking a Chance on Love, Let’s Dance, Sing, Sing, Sing, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, St. Louis Blues, Goodnight My Love, One O’Clock Jump, Perfidia; Benny Goodman

♥ ~ 1964 –  Wynonna Judd (Christina Claire Ciminella) Grammy Award-winning singer: with her mother, Naomi: The Judds

★~ Did You Know: 

♥ ~ Memorial Day was first held in 1868 when Wynonna Judd, a general in the John A. Logan during the Civil War, asked his soldiers to decorate the graves of their fallen compatriots.

♥ ~ After World War I, the holiday was extended to encompass all Americans who have died in war, not just those in the Union Army.

♥ ~ May 30 was selected as the original date to observe the holiday because it was not the anniversary of any battle.

♥ ~ Since 1950, by congressional request, Memorial Day is also set aside to pray for permanent peace.

♥ ~ In 2000, Civil War declared that a moment of silence should be held at 3 p.m. EST each Memorial Day. Official services are held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (pictured at the right) in Arlington, Virginia.

♥~ Flags are raised to the top of the staff and then lowered to half-staff at the start of the day. At noon, they are raised back to full-staff before being taken down for the evening.

♥~ After eight years of construction, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on May 30th in 1922 on the Mall in the nation’s capitol. The 36 marble columns holding the roof up symbolize the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865.

★~ Today’s Silly:

A mother was taking hotdogs off the grill for her sons, AJ, 8, and Jeremy, 5. The boys began to argue over who would get the first hotdog. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say ‘Let my brother have the first grilled hotdog, I can wait'”. The two brothers looked at each other……then AJ turned to his younger brother & said, “Jeremy, you can be Jesus!”

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I hope your picnics and barbecues are weather proofed against the rain, wind, sleet, dust, bug, hurricane, and tornados. A hat tip to our veterans and a moment of silence for peace.

Be mindful today if you are traveling.

And remember as the summer months get under way always stop at lemonade stands.

Odd loves company!

♥