~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 2nd, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: “It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice-cream sandwiches.” Lemony Snicket.

★~ Ice Cream Sandwich Day:

Childhood memories and refreshingly cool freezer temperatures make ice cream sandwiches FUN. These delicious ice cream sandwiches have been around since the early 1900s. Vanilla, chocolate or a combination of the two, are the most popular. Our Aussie friends enjoy “Giant Sandwiches and Maxibons. In Scotland, the treats are called “sliders.” But the most exotic ice cream sandwiches are sold in Singapore, and popular flavors include red bean, yam, and honeydew.

According to El Morno-er Teresa, the best way to celebrate National Ice Cream Sandwich Day is to grab an ice cream sandwich out of your fridge, tear off its wrapper, and savor it while it melts in your mouth. “The sweet cream and chocolate outer cake layer combination will surpass any ecstatic cold novelty you dare to venture upon.” My sweet Mother gave me an ice cream sandwich maker for my birthday! We will try it out today.

Click for more fascinating Ice Cream Sandwich Facts. 

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1970 – The first U.S. Census was conducted. The United States was the first country in the world to make a census mandatory in its constitution. It is to be held every 10 years and to serve as the basis for Congressional seats, electoral votes, and to aid planning of government services. In 1790, only the names of the heads of households were recorded and the number of “free white males” were counted for draft purposes. Women were not allowed to work as census takers and were rarely named in the census except when widowed. Genders and ethnicities of all other residents were noted, but slaves were only counted as three-fifths of a person, and American Indians were not counted at all. Obviously, It wasn’t accurate, but the first census recorded just under 4 million people residing in the United States. In 2010, almost 310 million residents were recorded. It is now the largest peacetime operation in the country and employs more than a million Americans.

♥~ 1876 – Wild Bill (James Butler) Hickok was gunned down by Jack McCall, a desperado from Texas, in Saloon #10 at Deadwood, in the Dakota Territory. Hickok was playing poker (with his back to the door) at the time of the shooting. McCall shot Wild Bill in the back, and was hanged for the shooting, never revealing his motive. The poker hand Hickok was holding when he died consisted of a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This combination became known as the dead man’s hand.

♥~ 1945 –  Norma Jean Dougherty filled out an application for the Blue Book Modeling Agency. Later, she would change her name to Marilyn Monroe.

♥~ 1984 – Charles Schulz’ award-winning comic strip was picked up by the Daily Times in Portsmouth, OH. With the addition of that paper, Peanuts, featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Pigpen, Linus, Peppermint Pattie, Woodstock and the gang, became the first comic strip to appear in 2,000 newspapers.

♥~ 1998 – A woman called San Francisco Animal Control to complain that an iguana was “staring at” her cat. The “iguana” turned out to be a 4-foot crocodile named Ernest, who escaped while his owner was moving. Though he reported Ernest missing, the owner kept moving because it’s illegal to own a crocodile in San Francisco.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1834 – Frederic Bartholdi sculptor: Statue of Liberty, Lion of Belfort; died Oct 4, 1904

♥~ 1924 – Carroll O’Connor Emmy Award-winning actor: All in the Family, Cleopatra, The Devil’s Brigade, In Harm’s Way, Kelly’s Heroes, Marlowe; died June 21, 2001

♥~ 1932 – Peter O’Toole actor: Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, A Lion in Winter, The Last Emperor; autobiography: Loitering with Intent

♥~ 1945 – Joanna Cassidy actress: Boston Legal, Six Feet Under, Blade Runner, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Under Fire, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Package, Buffalo Bill

★~  Did You Know:  Athletes Great Excuses For Failed Drug Tests

♥~ In 2005, American cyclist Tyler Hamilton offered a unique explanation after drug testing officials discovered evidence of blood doping. Hamilton said the different blood found mixed with his own could have come from a “vanishing twin” whom he had absorbed in utero. Thirty-four years earlier.

♥~ German runner Dieter Baumann, a former Olympic champ in the 5000 meters, tested positive for nandrolone. His two-year suspension cost him the 2000 Summer Olympics. Baumann voluntarily underwent further tests that showed fluctuating amounts of nandrolone in his system depending on the time of day. Baumann’s explanation: the nandrolone was in his toothpaste, which obviously had been spiked.

♥~ Tennis star Petr Korda tested positive at Wimbledon in 1998, claiming the nandrolone in his system came from a veal entree. Some experts estimated he would’ve had to eat 40 calves a day for 20 years to account for the levels of nandrolone in his system.

♥~ Five North Korean soccer players tested positive for steroids at the Women’s World Cup in 2011. The North Korean delegation claimed the steroids were unknowingly included with traditional Chinese medicines based on musk deer glands. Why were they taking medicines based on musk deer glands? The federation said the players needed them to recover from being struck by lightning during training.

♥~ Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor tested positive for cocaine at the 1999 Pan American Games and was stripped of his gold medal. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro defended him, blaming the sabotage on the “Cuban-American mafia.”

♥~ Fani Halkia, who won gold for Greece in the Olympic 400m hurdles in 2004, tested positive for methyltrienalone in Beijing and was banned from competition for two years. Her story? She blamed it on tampered diet supplements. Fifteen Greek athletes, including 11 members of the Olympic weightlifting team, were also suspended for methyltrienolone. That’s a lot of tampering.

.♥~ Bulgarian tennis star Sesil Karatancheva attributed one of her two positive tests for nandrolone to being pregnant despite the fact her urine samples showed no evidence of a pregnancy.

♥~ American track star Dennis Mitchell, part of the 1992 gold medal relay team, claimed his positive test for elevated levels of testosterone came from having five beers and four sexual encounters with his wife the night before a 1998 test.

♥~ Richard Gasquet, a French tennis player, tested positive for cocaine at a tournament in Florida a few years ago. He said he kissed a girl who had ingested cocaine at a nightclub. A tribunal cleared him to return to competition.

♥~ American track star Justin Gatlin said he didn’t know how high levels of testosterone got into his system at a 2006 track meet in Kansas. His coach, Trevor Graham, blamed a vengeful massage therapist for rubbing a cream containing the steroid into Gatlin’s legs without his knowledge.

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I know drug-usage charges are very serious, but I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the excuses athletes have presented to explain failed drug tests. I might give them points for creativity!

Anyway, Cole insisted I watch Olympic table tennis last night because he’s sure he’s an Olympic table tennis hopeful. I’m not quite as sure, but just like when he wanted to be a ninja I try to be encouraging. It’s what moms do. And sometimes it works to my benefit: When he wanted to be a Ninja I shared that he’d need to learn the skill of never leaving a trace of himself behind (pick up your dirty plate, because when you’re a Ninja forgetting to put it away could cost you your life, buddy!). In the case of table tennis, I’ve noted it’s a quick sport, and my lizard moving teen should speed it up a bit in preparation of his Olympic trial. He can practice by unloading the dishwasher at the speed of light. I’m a supportive mom that way!

Enjoy and ice cream sandwich and stay cool out there!