~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
January 4, 2012

★~ Count Down: 361 days remaining until the end of the year

★~ Today’s Quote: I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun. Katharine Hepburn

★~ Spaghetti Day:

Spaghetti and meatballs: a worldwide favorite! In the year 2000, over 1.3 million pounds of spaghetti were sold in American grocery stores. If all of those packages were lined up, they could circle the Earth nine times!

It was the Chinese who first invented pasta but it was the Italians who revolutionized this well-loved dish. Marco Polo brought the recipe for pasta back to Europe with him after his famous trip to the Middle Kingdom during the 13th century.

So your problem of what to have for dinner is solved. Spaghetti! It’s easy to make, impossible to mess up, and everyone (except El Morno friend Teresa) likes it. In fact, with all the fork turning and slurping it could be called FUN-ghetti! No, I did not make that up. Someone else did and I’m kind of glad….

★~ Trivia Day:

I was going to post all sorts of facts and uselessology but as I began to explore trivia lists, I found it remarkable that there was so much WRONG information. For example, when I read that a duck’s quack does not echo, I was amazed. I wondered why a duck would have been given some special sonic power that would cause its quack not to echo. Well let me be one the first to set the record straight–a duck’s quack echoes. And while I was checking out ducks, I also learned that porcupines float, that it’s possible but unlikely that Loren Green had a nipple bitten off by an alligator, and that while the emu and the kangaroo are unofficially on the Australian coat of arms, it is doubtful that it’s because they can not walk backwards. The San Francisco cable cars are not a national monument, polar bears are not left-handed but ambidextrous, and the AOL guy does not get 2 cents for every “You’ve got mail!” and “Goodbye.”

♥~ 1896 – Utah (45th state) entered the United States of America; capital: Salt Lake City; bird: seagull; flower: sego lily; nickname: Beehive State.

♥~ 1953 – Tufted plastic carpeting was introduced by Barwick Mills. The new carpet was said to be mothproof and stain resistant.

♥~ 1984 – Wayne ‘The Great One’ Gretzky scored eight points for the second time in his National Hockey League career. Edmonton’s Oilers defeated the Minnesota North Stars, 12-8. Gretzky had four goals on his own and four assists.

♥~ 2010 – The Russian government set a minimum price for vodka that more than doubled existing prices in an effort to fight rampant alcoholism.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1785 – Jacob Grimm, born in Hanau, Germany along with his younger brother, Wilhelm, collected more than 200 German folk tales and published Grimm’s Fairy Tales in 1812. The fairy tales included, “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Snow White,” “Rapunzel,” and “Hansel and Grethel.”

♥~ 1809 – Louis Braille,   Blinded at the age of three by a leather working awl in his father’s saddle-making shop, Braille developed a system of writing that used, ironically, an awl-like stylus to punch marks in paper that could be felt and interpreted by people who are blind. The system was largely ignored until after his death.

♥~ 1838 – General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) entertainer: world’s most famous midget

♥~ 1960 – Michael Stipe Grammy Award-winning singer: Out of Time [1991]; group: R.E.M.: Losing My Religion [1991], Radio Free Europe, Talk About the Passion, So Central Rain, [Don’t Go Back to] Rockville, Seven Chinese Brothers

♥~ 1964 Dot Jones, Actress (“Glee”)

★~ Trivia Game: 

1. Which British Politician was given the name Vindaloo in the 1990’s?

2. Which toy was named from the Greek word meaning ‘beautiful shape to see’?

3. What is Sir Alan Sugar’s charter airline called?

4. In which comic would you find Minnie The Minx?

5. What was the best selling album of the 80’s?

6. Which entertainer born in 1929, saw his coffin decorated with four candles at his funeral in 2005?

7. Who played Elliot Ness in the 1987 film The Untouchables?

8. Which car manufacturer has produced models called Bravo And Tempra?

9. What’s the connection between Tom Jomes, Shirley Basey & The Alarm?

10. What element is used in the process of galvanisation?

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If you have a Morno moment, add a trivia comment or a trivial comment to El Morno–

Odd Loves Company. Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday!

♥

 

 

Answers: 1. Edwina Currie 2. Kaleidoscope 3. Amsair 4. The Beano 5. Michael Jacksons (Thriller) 6. Ronnie Barker 7. Kevin Costner 8. Fiat 9. Wales 10. Zinc