~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 22, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:  It is a happy talent to know how to play.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

★~ Goof-Off-Day: 

Embrace the Ferris Bueller approach to life! Check in with your inner adolescent, and reconnect to a wonderful, carefree, and thrilling spirit that nourishes your soul. It’s a beautiful thing to throw a little caution to the wind, goof off, act young at heart, and play hooky from life every now and then. The school-skipping, life-living character in the film put it best when he observed, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Goof-off today! (Or someday very soon.)

★~ World Water Day: 

The purpose of this day is to raise awareness about the state of sustainable freshwater resources around the world. More than 880 million people on the planet do not have access to safe drinking water, and the amount of water we need to drink and to produce food, goods, and services continues to grow. The United Nations General Assembly announced the first World Water Day in 1993.

The United States is one of the world’s biggest users of water – a single American can use as much water as 900 Kenyans. As a result, water resources in the United States are shrinking. In the last five years, there have been water shortages in almost every part of the country, including the worst drought in at least 25 years, which hit 80 percent of the country’s farmland in 2012. This year, at least 36 states are expecting local, regional, or statewide water shortages, even if the drought doesn’t persist.

Here are few steps we can take to save water in the United States:

• Eating a little less meat. Switching from a meat-centered weekly menu to a diet rich in vegetables and grains could save 2,500 liters of water a day!

• Steam veggies instead of boiling. In general, steaming vegetables uses less water than boiling, and according to a study in the Journal of Food Quality, it is more nutritious.

• Streamline water use in home gardens. Manually watering plants, instead of using automatic sprinklers, cuts water use by 33 percent, according to the EPA. Consumers can also buy self-watering planters or construct rain barrels that can save you up to 1,300 gallons of water.

★~ Coq Au Vin Day: (also on May 29)

Coq au vin is a French dish that literally means “rooster in wine.” The meal is made of braised chicken, red wine, mushrooms, and garlic; and it boasts a long history, with legends tracing it back to Julius Caesar and, later, Napoleon. In spite of its early beginnings, Coq au vin did not become popular until the early twentieth century. It’s not a dish easy did to whip together, so I suggest making reservations and going out. However, if you would like to give it a try, why not try it with Julia Childs’ recipe. If at first you do not succeed, don’t worry—this dish is celebrated again on May 29.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1767 – Joseph Priestly invented carbonated soda water, in Leeds, England.

♥~ 1914 – The world’s first airline began operations in St. Petersburg, Florida: The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line.

♥~ 1948 – The Voice of Firestone was the first commercial radio program to be carried simultaneously on both AM and FM radio stations.

♥~ 1972 – The U.S. Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (a.k.a. the Shafer Commission) urged an end to criminal penalties for the private possession and use of marijuana.

♥~ 2007 – Dorie-Ann Kahale and her five daughters moved from a homeless shelter to a mansion, courtesy of billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto. The Japanese real estate mogul handed over eight of his multimillion-dollar homes in Hawaii to low-income Native Hawaiian families.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1908 – Louis L’Amour novelist (Westerns): The Iron Marshal, The Quick and the Dead, Down the Long Hills, The Shadow Riders, The Daybreakers, Sackett, The Broken Gun, Utah Blaine, Kilkenny.

♥~ 1931 – William Shatner Emmy Award-winning actor: The Practice [2004], Boston Legal [2005]; Star Trek, Rescue 9-1-1, T.J. Hooker

♥~ 1947 – James Patterson mystery author: Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women’s Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard series; many stand-alone thrillers, nonfiction and romance novels

♥~ 1948 – Andrew Lloyd Webber composer: Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Cats, Phantom of the Opera

♥~ 1976 – Reese Witherspoon Academy Award-winning actress: Walk the Line [2005]; Freeway, Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions, American Psycho, Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, The Importance of Being Earnest

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ The phrase “March Madness” was coined by Henry V. Porter in 1939 to describe an Illinois high school basketball tourney. Brent Musburger first used it during NCAA coverage in 1982 causing a legal battle almost as insane as the playoffs.

♥~   Even though one of their own coined the term, the IHSA didn’t own the trademark “March Madness.” You might suspect the NCAA snapped it up first ““ nope. By the time anyone thought to go after a trademark in the 1990s, it had already been taken by a television company. The IHSA bought the rights and then tried to sue the NCAA for using the term, but the United States Court of Appeals decided it was a dual-use trademark, so both parties are able to legally use the phrase.

♥~  You’ve probably noticed the winning team cutting down the net at the end of the game, but what happens to it? Well, everyone gets a piece. Each player gets to cut a strand off of the net, and the head coach gets the final strand and whatever part of the net is left.

♥~ The 5 schools who have the winningest history in NCAA Division I Men’s basketball are:

♥~ UCLA with 11 championships;

♥~ Kentucky who won the March Madness games 7 times;

♥~ Indiana with 5 Big Dance victories;

♥~ North Carolina outlasted all the other teams 4 times, including their championship win in 2005

♥~ Duke has 4 titles

♥~ Although past history is no guarantee, the number one seeds have won every time in the first round for the past 16 years and number two seeds have only lost three first round games… a 95% win average.

♥~ What makes the brackets exciting are the number 13 and 14 seeds who came out winners in the first round 20 times since 1992… a sweet 16% that leads to dreams of glory.

♥~ For more than 20 years, the winning team has also gotten to keep the floor from the game that won them the title. The school can do whatever they want with it ““ some reuse in their own arenas, some sell pieces to students and fans, and others even donate it.

♥~ When the NCAA tournament was first held, there were slots for only eight teams The first eight teams were Texas, Oklahoma, Utah State, Villanova, Brown, Wake Forest, Oregon and Ohio State. The latter two competed for the championship and Oregon won. It’s the only time they’ve won.

♥~ According to one estimate, American business lose around $237 million a day during March Madness because employees are busy talking about games, filling out brackets, checking scores on the computer or taking time off to sit in front of the T.V.

♥~ In 1940, Mary Jo McCracken, the wife of Indiana coach Branch McCracken thought his players were too stressed about the game. So she sneaked them out of the hotel room after her husband went to bed and took them to see Gone with the Wind. It must have worked “they smashed the Jay hawks 60-42 and won the championship.

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TGIF!  Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday.  I am off and running, it’s a tail wagging day at camp!

♥