~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
April 11, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote: “Bachelor’s wives and maid’s children are well taught.” Heywood, 1546

 

★~ Barbershop Quartet Day:

On April 11, 1938, the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, marking the official celebration of Barbershop Quartet Day. The image of four men wearing straw hats singing together with complex harmonies could be considered a cultural cornerstone of the 1940s.

However, the barbershop quartet is by no means an American invention. The popularity of barbershops in England among men during the time of Shakespeare extended as far as in-house entertainment, often taking the form of a lutist providing a melody to which the queuing patrons could harmonize. This practice became popular in America in the West during the late 1800s, though a banjo was often used instead of a lute.

★~ 8-Track Cassette Tape Day: 

Today — when you can literally take your music anywhere — it’s hard to imagine a time when that wasn’t possible.  Remember 8-track tapes? In the 1960s and early ’70s, they were the way that millions of Americans took their music with them on a magnetic tape and rolled up in a bulky plastic cartridge. It got tangled, and mangled, and was sensitive to dust and temperature — the 8-track tape, the precursor to the cassette tape, the CD, and the MP3. Its chunkiness was rivaled only by that of the VHS tape.

~ William Powell Lear, the man behind LearJet, was  the inventor of the 8-track cartridge tape system.

~ The 8-Track tape player was commonly used in Movie Theaters in the 1920′s through 60′s.

~ Both the four-track and eight track tape were made popular by the Ford Motor Company, In 1965 Ford introduced factory-installed eight track tape players options on three of its 1966 models—The Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln.

~ Home players for the 8 track tapes were introduced in 1966 this was the first time music could be shared between homes and portable systems. The boom box became popular around this time.

~ The last commercial 8 track cassette released by a major label, was Fleetwood Mac‘s Greatest Hits in November 1988.

Today might be the perfect day to celebrate the music of the 60s and 70s.

★~ Cheese Fondue Day:

Cheese fondue originated in Switzerland during the eighteenth century. The traditional pot used to make fondue is called a caquelon, which is made of heavy earthenware. A heavy pot promotes even heat distribution and heat retention in the fondue.

Typical fondue cheese recipes include sharp cheeses (like cheddar) or strong cheeses (like Swiss). Additional ingredients such as milk, spices, cream, wine, or brandy may be added to the fondue to balance out the cheese flavor and thicken it.

The key to a successful fondue is to make sure that the sauce stays smooth. Cheese has the tendency to get stringy or clumpy as the fat separates from the protein at high temperatures. To ensure that this does not happen, gradually stir the cheese at a temperature just below its melting point. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, holds the world’s largest working fondue pot record. The pot is 8 feet in diameter, weighs about 2,000 pounds, and is capable of holding 2,500 pounds of melted cheese.

Have a cheese fondue party! You make the cheese fondue, and your friends bring over different types of bread, such as baguettes, French bread, or pumpernickel to dip in the cheese fondue. Swiss Cheese Fondue, Aztec Taco Fondue, Brie Fondue, Swiss Beer Fondue

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1900 – The United States Navy accepted its first modern, commissioned submarine. It cost $150,000. Submarine Torpedo Boat #1 or USS Holland (SS-1) as it was eventually known, was the product of Holland (the inventor not the count

♥~ 1956 – Elvis Presley reached the top spot on the Billboard music chart with his first double-sided hit. The disk featured Heartbreak Hotel and I Was the One. The RCA Victor record stayed at number one for eight weeks. Elvis also made the country and R&B charts, as well

♥~ 1961 – Bob Dylan made his professional singing debut in Greenwich Village. He sang Blowin’ in the Wind.

♥~ 1962 –The New York Mets played their first regular season game. The team, managed by Casey Stengel, lost its first ten games. The St. Louis Cardinals won by a score of 11-4 — prompting Stengel to say, before a group of reporters and players, “Can anyone here play this game?”

♥~ 1970 – Apollo 13 blasted off on a mission to the moon with crew James Lovell, Fred Haise, and John Swigert. The mission was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module exploded into space and crippled the spacecraft. The astronauts aborted their lunar landing attempt and managed to return safely to Earth..

★~ Born Today:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/rxedxkx88t0[/youtube]

♥~1935 –  Richard Berry ,singer, songwriter of Louie Louie.  The song Louie Louie has been has been called best party song of all time, and has been recorded more times than any other rock song in history.

♥~1939 – Louise Lasser actress: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex [But Were Afraid to Ask], Frankenhooker, Rude Awakening, The Night We Never Met, Slither

♥~1950 – Bill Irwin, actor: Stepping Out, Scenes from a Mall, Hot Shots!, My Blue Heaven, Eight Men Out, Popeye; choreographer: The Regard of Flight

♥~1961 – Vincent Gallo model, songwriter, actor: Get Well Soon, Buffalo ’66, Hollywood Shalome, Palookaville, Goodfellas, The Way It Is

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ In numerology, the number eleven is considered the master number. 11 carries a vibrational frequency of balance and often signifies invention, refinement, fulfillment, vision and congruence in a person. In astrology, the number eleven is considered a magical number that strikes a balance of emotion, thoughts and spirits. A few fun facts about the number 11.

♥~ 11 is the first number which cannot be represented by a human counting with his or her eight fingers and two thumbs additively.

♥~ If a number is divisible by 11, reversing its digits will result in another multiple of 11

♥~ The mathematical relationships throughout the Great Pyramid of Giza are 11:11 ratios.

♥~ Total solar eclipse was observed throughout Europe on 11 August 1999 at 11:11 am.

♥~ The sunspot cycle or the solar cycle lasts for 11 years. This solar cycle started in 2012.

♥~ All events in existence (be it matter, the universe, life, a force, motion) demand a 1:1 relationship in order to occur, including each ‘1’ in the 1:1 formula

♥~ There are 111 days from September 11 to December 31.

♥~ The first lunar landing was made by Apollo 11.

♥~ Jupiter takes 11 Earth years to make one trip around the sun.

♥~ The largest cat in the world is the Siberian tiger, measuring 11 feet long. I’m pretty sure this is an average length.

♥~ A rocket needs to travel at over eleven kilometers per second to escape the gravity of the earth

♥~ Soccer, cricket, American football and field hockey are all played with teams of 11 players on the field.

♥~ The rugby ball is 11 inches

♥~ World War I ended on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour.

♥~ The television show Cheers ran for 11 seasons with 11 main characters.

♥~ The television show MASH ran for 11 seasons with 11 main characters.

♥~ The flag of Canada features a maple leaf having eleven points.

♥~ Jesus Christ = 11 letters (There are tons of biblical associations to the number 11)

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It has been storming in Chicago area for hours. Cole has an 8am flight out of Albuquerque, and I hope he flies without weather delays. On the other hand, if the skies aren’t friendly, he can sit tight. Yep, his movie is downloaded  (In case you were wondering).

If you are so inclined, watch and see if the number 11 turns up during your day, such as on computer screens, digital clocks, addresses, etc. And if you do see the number 11, immediately review what you were thinking about before you saw the number…. It could be a cosmic wink from the universe….

Wishing you a thoughtful Thursday,

Odd Loves Company!

 

P.S. If you have seen the e-mail on the number 11 in relationship to the World Trade Center many of the facts are incorrect, according to Snoops and Fact Finder. I do find it interesting that the attack occurred on September 11 and the World Trade center looked like the number 11 and there are some other uncanny if not factual associations between the attack and the date of the attack.