~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
July 1st, 2011

★ ~ Today’s Quote: Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole live believing that it is stupid. Albert Einstein (thank you Mary Lee)

★ ~ Happy Canada Day:

O Canada! Today is the birthday of America’s neighbor, eh? On this day in 1867, the British North America Act united two big colonies to form what is today known as Canada. Canadians celebrate ‘Canada’s birthday,’ with a day off work, parades, and festivals. We can celebrate our friendly neighbors to the north by eating Canadian bacon and playing hockey, or hooky!

★ ~ International Joke Day:

Are we all giggling?! Good! Today is all about silly jokes and laughter.  Most of the time we tell jokes too fast, our timing is off, and we forget the punch-line—but really, that is part of the fun. So, celebrate today by sharing your favorite joke—even if it’s so old the Dead Sea was just getting sick the first time someone told it!

★ ~ Create your own Ice Cream Flavor Day:

July is Ice Cream Month, officially designated by Ronald Reagan in 1984. To kick the month off, we are invited to create our own ice cream flavor. But I have a feeling my Odd friends are not going to make up flavors like Raspberry-Lemon-Pistachio-Pickle Surprise. Because we are old enough and wise enough to not be surprised when it tastes awful. I suggest we celebrate today by branching out and trying a new brand of ice cream, or enjoying our ice cream on a cone instead of in a cup, or perhaps if you are feeling especially wild and creative, buying a flavor of ice cream you have not tried before.

★~ Today in History:

♥ ~ 1847 – The first adhesive postage stamps went on sale. Ben Franklin graced the nickel stamp while George Washington was pictured on the ten-cent stamp. Prior to 1846 all United States mail was sent without postage affixed and was either prepaid or paid by the recipient with the markings and cancels indicating the method of payment and the method of transportation.

♥ ~ 1874 – The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia, PA. Over 3,000 visitors paid 25 cents (adults) or 10 cents (children) to see the 1,000 animals housed in the Philadelphia Zoological Society zoo

♥ ~ 1910 – Black and Decker was founded by Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker. They started in Baltimore, with milk bottle cap machines and candy dippers. The partners introduced their first major tool in 1917 – a portable 1/2-inch electric drill with patented pistol grip and trigger switch, with can now be viewed at the Smithsonian.

♥ ~ 1941 – Bulova Watch company sponsored the first TV commercial. Remember “It’s Bulova Watch Time?” It was broadcast over WNBT-TV in New York City, and was a familiar advertising message on TV, radio and in print for many years. That first TV ad, incidentally, cost the watchmaker $9.

♥ ~ 1989 – Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner and former Playmate Kimberly Conrad were married in Los Angeles. He was 63 and she was 26.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1908 – Estée Lauder  cosmetics mogul; died Apr 24, 2004

♥ ~ 1934 – Sydney Pollack director: The Firm, Out of Africa, Tootsie, Absence of Malice, They Shoot Horses Don’t They, Three Days of the Condor, The Way We Were; died May 26, 2008

♥ ~ 1934 – Jamie Farr (Jameel Joseph Farah) actor: M*A*S*H, The Blackboard Jungle, Scrooged, Cannonball Run, With Six You Get Egg Roll

♥ ~ 1951 – Daryl Anderson, Actor (“Lou Grant”)

♥ ~ 1952 – Dan Aykroyd comedian, actor: Driving Miss Daisy, Sneakers, Coneheads, Saturday Night Live, Dragnet, Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, Pearl Harbor

♥ ~ 1961 – Princess Diana (Spencer) Princess of Wales; killed in car crash in Paris, France, August 31, 1997

♥ ~ 1963 – Mr. Zip of the United States Post Office. He’s the familiar character seen on the sides of mailboxes and on posters. Mr. Zip was introduced to help educate people to use the 5-digit ZIP (Zone Improvement Program) code. Mr. Zip now has new members of the family. There are four digits after the original five, to get that mail to you even faster. No matter what you call it it’s still snail mail to us.

♥ ~ 1977 – Liv Tyler model, actress: Silent Fall, Heavy, That Thing You Do!, Armageddon, Cookie’s Fortune, Lord of the Rings series

★~ Did You Know:

♥ ~ The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. At 5,525 miles, including 1,538 miles between Canada and Alaska, it is the world’s longest border between two nations.

♥ ~ The Canadian motto, A Mari Usque ad Mare, means “From sea to sea

♥ ~ At 3,855,103 square miles, Canada is the second largest country in the world, behind Russia.

♥ ~ The average life expectancy at birth for a Canadian is 81.16 years, the eighth highest in the world. The United States ranks 46th, at 78.14 years

♥ ~ Ice hockey is Canada’s official national game. The modern game of ice hockey was developed in Canada, based on games that have been played since the tenth century. The rules were first published in the Montreal Gazette in 1877.

♥ ~ The Moosehead Brewery in Saint John, New Brunswick, turns out 1,642 bottles of beer per minute.

♥ ~ The capital city, Ottawa, was originally named Bytown and was the deadliest city in North America because of the violent nature of the loggers.

♥ ~ In 1883, the baseball glove was invented in Canada.

♥~ There are more donut shops per capita in Canada than any other country.

♥~ The literacy rate in Canada is over 99%.

♥~ The narrowest house in North America is 6 Donnacona Street in Quebec City and is only 3.7 m wide.

★~ Today’s Giggle: A True Canadian:

It’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, and a man makes his way to his seat right at center ice. He sits down, noticing that the seat next to him is empty. He leans over and asks his neighbor if someone will be sitting there. “No,” says the neighbor. “The seat is empty.” “This is incredible”, said the man. “Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs and not use it?” The neighbor says “Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Stanley Cup we haven’t been to together since we got married in 1967.” “Oh … I’m sorry to hear that. That’s terrible. But couldn’t you find someone else, a friend or relative, or even a neighbor to take the seat?” The man shakes his head “No, they’re all at the funeral.”

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Happy Canada Day to Wendy, a Canadian blogger friend, and any other Odd friends that are celebrating Canada Day!

For Americans it’s Friday and the start of a fabulous three day weekend! I heard today that the governor of New Mexico issued a “State of Emergency” against fireworks and three big chain stores said they would stop selling them…I have nothing against fireworks but let’s face it in parts of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona the last thing they need is more fire of any kind– lets do a rain dance for the southwest and hope it pours throughout the three day weekend.

What is new with you? If you have an El Morno moment leave a comment…Odd Loves Company!

♥
Kb