★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
June 28, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:  “I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.” Gilda Radner

★~ Paul Bunyun Day: 

In the western folklore canon, there is one story that’s the tallest tale of them all: the story of 30 foot tall lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his beloved companion, Babe, the Blue Ox! Paul Bunyan possessed skills and speed that far exceeded those of a normal human and because of this he is a commonly celebrated folk hero in the northern states (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, the Dakotas, etc) but today we all celebrate the America’s tallest folk hero.

Some say Paul Bunyan could eat 50 pancakes in under a minute so you could celebrate today by enjoying some pancakes this morno or tonight for dinner! And don’t forget to THINK BIG today!

★~ Tapioca Day:

Tapioca, that mysterious ingredient in the pudding you loved  growing up, is a derivative from the cassava plant, a root vegetable. The starch makes a fine thickener or sweetener, as well as in the traditional pudding or as pearls in the bottom of cold bubble teas.

Tapioca pudding was the star food in the movie “New in Town,” where outsider Renée Zellweger helps the towns folk of New Ulm, Minnesota, turn their ailing factory into a profitable protein-powered tapioca pudding distributor.  A bit like turning swords into plowshares, isn’t it?

And of-course you’ve heard about  the Wales Tapioca Freighter Time Bomb? In 1972 this an innocent treat became  ship destroyer. The crew of the Swiss freighter Cassarate were hauling 1,500 tons of the stuff when a fire started in some timber in the upper holds. The freighter docked in Cardiff, Wales, so firefighters could extinguish the blaze the crew had kept under control for more than 25 days. But the fire wasn’t the ship’s biggest problem. The water from the firefighter’s hoses seeped into the cargo hold, and the fire started cooking the tapioca. The food swelled to massive size and raised concerns that 500 truckloads of the dessert treat could buckle the ship’s supports and sink it. Fortunately, crews were able to stamp out the fire and cool down the pudding before it could do any real damage to the ship’s supports, the town’s docks or the crews blood sugar levels.

★~ Today in History:

 

(route 66)

♥~ 1914 – Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated on June 28th, 1914, while riding in an open car in Sarajevo. They were shot several hours after someone else tried to bomb their car. Historians argue that the assassinations set off the First World War – which ended exactly five years later, June 28th, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

♥~ 1968 – The Uniform Holiday Bill was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law moved the celebration of Washington’s Birthday to the third Monday in February; Memorial Day to the last Monday in May; and Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. Johnson said, “The bill that we sign today will help Americans to enjoy more fully the country that is their magnificent heritage. It will also aid the work of Government and bring new efficiency to our economy.”

♥~ 1997 – Mike Tyson was trying to win the WBA heavyweight boxing crown back from Evander Holyfield when he bit Holyfield’s ears during the third round of their title fight on June 28th, 1997. Tyson was disqualified, and Holyfield kept the title.

♥~ 1979 – Billie Jean King defeated Linda Siegel with a first at the 102-year-old Wimbledon tennis championships. Perhaps the most memorable moment in the match was when Siegel’s, plunging neckline tennis top plunged a little too far.

♥~ 1985 – Route 66- the 59-year-old highway of 2,200 miles of blacktop was decertified as a U.S. highway. Click here for a few facts about the Route 66, the primary path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Click here to read ‘Did You Know’ facts about Route 66.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1926 – Mel Brooks (Kaminsky) director, actor: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, The Producers; comedy writer: Your Show of Shows, Get Smart; Broadway producer: The Producers

♥~ 1946 – Gilda Radner Emmy Award-winning comedienne, actress: Saturday Night Live [1977-78]; Haunted Honeymoon [w/husband Gene Wilder]; died May 20, 1989

♥~ 1948 – Kathy Bates Academy Award-winning actress: Misery [1990]; Fried Green Tomatoes, Home of Our Own, Prelude to a Kiss

♥~ 1965 – Jessica Hecht actress: Friends, At Last, The Forgotten, Sideways, Seven Girlfriends, Harvey, Intimate Betrayal, The Heidi Chronicles, The Single Guy, Dan in Real Life

♥~ 1966 – John Cusack actor: Money for Nothing, The Player, True Colors, Bullets over Broadway, The Grifters, Say Anything

★~ Good to Know….Big, Better, Best….Never let it rest….

♥~ The tallest dog, Zeus measures about 7 feet 4 inches when he stands on his hind legs. Standing normally, he’s about the height of an average donkey. He eats 12 cups of food each day.

♥ ~ World’s Largest Book: The award for largest published book goes to an author and scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michael Hawley. The 133-pound book is five by seven feet, 112 pages, needs a gallon of ink for printing, and costs $2,000 to produce. Its title? “Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Kingdom.”

♥ ~World’s Largest Bottle of Wine: It’s a 490 liter Grande Cuvee TBA NV No.7 2005 of Austrian wine maker Kracher, presented in Rehetobel Switzerland. The bottle itself has been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest bottle of wine, holding the equivalent to 640 regular bottles of wine.

♥ ~ Worlds Largest Pencil: According to the Guinness Book of World Records the world’s largest pencil, was built by Ashrita Furman, and is 76 feet long and weighs 21,500 pounds. The pencil was built out of 8,000 wooden boards, a 10-inch graphite piece, and a 200 pound pink eraser.

♥ ~ Worlds Largest Piñata: Breaking the Guinness Record for the world’s largest piñata, according to an onsite Guinness adjudicator, this giant mock donkey measured  23.6 feet wide and 59 feet tall and was filled with 8,000 pounds  of candy. A wrecking ball was used to help smash the piñata during a public event, where Carnival Cruise Lines was producing a television commercial.

♥~ World’s Largest Gummy Bear:  This Five-pound gummy bear is equal to 1400 regular-sized bears and is the lion of the candy world. This five-pound beast is the equivalent of 1,400 regular sized gummy bears and packs a whopping 6,120 calories.

♥~ Worlds Largest Pineapple: The Big Pineapple is a tourist attraction on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland, Australia. It is 52 feet high. El Morno friend Antoinette would also like Aussieland to be acknowledged for being the home to the largest Banana!

♥~ The great state of Indiana has the largest ball of paint

♥~ Southern Il is home to some of the world’s biggest noses–this is documented by an annual Big Nose Contest. I guess that’s why you see a lot of signs that say “Honk if your love Southern Il” when you visit Southern Il.

♥~ A New York man known for his unusually large penis was patted down by airport security at San Francisco International after they questioned him about the bulge in his pants….. If you are interested in reading about the man with the largest penis (and who wouldn’t be?) click the link. . .”

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Chicago’s rainfall accumulation this year (6 months into the year), is 24 inches. To put that in perspective, Seattle rainfall accumulation has been 12 inches. I love rain, I love a storm, I’ve been accused of not knowing when to come in out of the rain, but enough is enough. Light showers would be sufficient for awhile.

Only one question this Friday: What was your best field trip?

Have a great day!

Odd Loves Company!