~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
June 13

★~ Today’s Quote: Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing.  William Butler Yeats

★~ Kitchen Klutzes Of America Day

If a Cuisinart blade is falling—do not try and catch it! Always put the lid on the blender when you are pureeing hot soup, and slice away from you. It is possible to burn a salad if you are adding croutons; write on a note card, all cooking prep times start at two hours.

I am the blogger that does not cook and am personally acquainted with almost every cooking accident imaginable. However, since my accidents have never caused massive injury or destruction, I would be considered a Kitchen Klutz and not a menace in the kitchen.

Celebrate today by being kind and generous to those that add a little flesh and red coloring to your meals. If you are a Kitchen Klutz, celebrate by making reservations.

★~ Roller Coaster Day:

Today is full of ups and downs. In 1884, the world’s first roller coaster opened at Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY. Built and later patented by LaMarcus Thompson, the “Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway” boasted two parallel 600-foot tracks that descended from 50 feet. The cars traveled at six miles per hour. Riders paid five cents each for their rides. The roller coaster was a sensation, and soon amusement parks all over the US and the world featured them.

I find it fascinating that the most safety-minded, careful people I know seem to love riding roller coasters, where they are treated to a ride in tiny open carts and plummeted downward at outrageous speeds headfirst. I rode my last roller coaster in Kansas City. My fingerprints are still embedded in the metal bar I was holding on to…I prefer to take my ups and downs with my feet firmly on the ground—thank you very much. Do you like roller coasters or not? Let’s celebrate roller coasters by deeply pondering why anyone in their right mind would enjoy a near-death thrill at extreme speeds.

★~ Today in History:

♥ ~ The Queen’s official birthday is celebrated today however it is not the day she was actually born, which April 21.

♥ ~ 1789 – Mrs. Alexander Hamilton served a new dessert treat for General George Washington. The highlight of the dinner party was ice cream! And you thought all this time that Dolley Madison was responsible. Not so.

♥ ~ 1921 – Babe Ruth connected for a 460-foot home run deep into the center-field bleachers at the Polo Grounds in New York City. It was the longest homer in the career of ‘The Sultan of Swat’.

♥~ 1935 – Jim Braddock defeated Max Baer in a 15-round decision. Braddock captured the world heavyweight boxing title for the win in New York City.

♥~ 1970 – The song Make It with You, by David Gates and Bread, was released. It turned out to be a number-one hit (8/22/70). Though Bread had a dozen hits, including one other million-seller (Baby I’m-A Want You, 1971); Make It with You was the soft-pop group’s only number-one tune.

♥~ 1985 – A Doonesbury cartoon strip took a shot at Frank Sinatra by portraying the ‘Chairman of the Board’ as a friend of organized crime; the Mafia, in fact. Several of the over 800 newspapers that carried the strip by cartoonist, Garry Trudeau, carried the comic strip panel with a disclaimer.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1865 – William Butler Yeats Nobel Prize–winning Irish poet and dramatist, born in Dublin, Ireland. He once wrote: “If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.”; died Jan 28, 1939

♥ ~ 1903 – Red (Harold) Grange Pro and College Football Hall of Famer:. Perhaps the most famous football player of all time, Grange had a spectacular college career at the University of Illinois, being named an All-American in 1923, 1924 and 1925. When Illinois dedicated its Memorial Stadium on Oct 18, 1924, Grange scored four touchdowns against Michigan in the game’s first 12 minutes. Known as the “Galloping Ghost,” Grange joined the Chicago Bears in 1925 for what amounted to a barnstorming tour, the start of a professional career dictated by Grange and his manager, Charles C. (“Cash and Carry”) Pyle.

♥~ 1926 – Paul Lynde comedian, actor: The Paul Lynde Show, Hollywood Squares, Love American Style, Temperatures Rising, Bewitched, The Red Buttons Show; cartoon voice: Claude Pertwee; died Jan 10, 1982

♥~ 1951 – Richard Thomas Emmy Award-winning actor: The Waltons [1973]; Roots: The Next Generation, All Quiet on the Western Front, Johnny Belinda

♥~ 1953 – Tim Allen (Timothy Allen Dick) comedian, actor: Home Improvement, Showtime Comedy Club All-Stars II, The Santa Clause, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Galaxy Quest

♥~ 1986 – Mary-Kate Olsen actress: Full House, It Takes Two, Two of a Kind, So Little Time

♥~  1992 – Billy Ray Cyrus started a 17-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Some Gave All’.

★~ Did You Know:

♥~ Most conventional roller coasters do not have engines, instead they work by converting potential energy into kinetic energy.

♥~ The Fastest: The fastest roller coaster in the world title goes to the newly opened Formula Rossa ride, at Abu Dhabi’s Formula One theme park. The ride launches thrill seekers to a top speed of 149 miles per hour.

♥~ The Tallest: The Six Flags Great Adventure Park is home to the Kingda Ka roller coaster, which is currently the tallest in the world, reaching a whopping height of 465 feet.

♥~ The Longest: The longest roller coaster in the world can be found at Japan’s Nagashima Spa Land. The steel dragon 2000 has a track that covers 8133 feet.

♥~ The Oldest: he oldest recorded roller coaster was built in 1904, and now stands in Lakemont Park, Pennsylvania.

♥~ In 2010, 102 roller coaster enthusiasts set a new world record at Adventure Island in Essex, for the most amount of people riding a roller coaster nude.

♥~ Richard Rodriguez holds the world record for the longest time spent on a roller coaster, a total of 401 hours.  *This makes me ill just reading it.

★~ Today’s Giggle:

“What happened?” asked the hospital visitor to the heavily bandaged man sitting up in bed.

“Well, I went down to Margate at the weekend and decided to take a ride on the roller coaster. As we came up to the top of the highest loop, I noticed a little sign by the side of the track. I tried to read it but it was very small and I couldn’t make it out. I was so curious that I decided to go round again, but we went by so quickly that I couldn’t see what the sign said. By now, I was determined to read that sign so I went round a third time. As we reached the top, I stood up in the car to get a better view.”

“And did you manage to see what the sign said this time?” asked the visitor.

“Yes.”

“What did it say?”

“Don’t stand up in the car!”

 

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It would be kind of cool to have an official birthday and a real birthday. After all, you only add a year on one birthday, and I’m sure you receive presents on both birthdays. Cole and I are leaving for Ireland today, and it just so happens that today is also William Yeats’s birthday — an unplanned surprise. What a poetic way to start our Irish adventure.

If you have an El Morno moment leave me a comment about your thoughts for the day, or tell me what you think about roller coaster klutzes or poets . . . Odd Loves Company!

♥

Kb