★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
June 19, 2014

Today’s Quote: “Martinis are the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet.” H. L. Mencken

★~ National Martini Day:

In the good old days martini drinkers had only a few simple choices: gin or vodka, rocks or neat, olive or twist. But now we have appletinis, chocotinis and even cavitinis (made with caviar)! What will they think of next?

The classic martini had much more humble beginnings. Here’s an early “Martinez” recipe from San Francisco’s Occidental Hotel in 1887: “One dash of bitters, two dashes of maraschino, one wine glass of vermouth, two lumps of ice and a pony of Old Tom Gin, served with a quarter slice of lemon.”

Today, 50% of all cocktails are served in a martini glass. Some of the most famous (historical and fictional) martini lovers include: John D. Rockefeller, Humphrey Bogart, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Clark Gable, Ernest Hemingway, and James Bond.

10 Killer Martinis To Try

★~   Sauntering Day:

The point of this holiday is to slow down & appreciate the world around you…with a Martini.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1865 – Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston with news that the Civil War had ended. The South had lost, and all slaves were now free. Even though President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier, it wasn’t until 1865 that Texas had enough federal troops to enforce the end of slavery. Due to this historic event, June 19 was dubbed “Juneteenth” and is celebrated throughout the U.S. each year with rodeos, barbecues, parades and prayer services.

♥~ 1846 – The first organized baseball game was played on this day. The location was Hoboken, New Jersey. The New York Baseball Club defeated the Knickerbocker Club, 23 to 1. This first game was only four innings long. The New York Nine, as the winners were known, must have really studied the rules to have twenty-three runs batted in. The rules had been formulated just one year earlier by a Mr. Alexander Cartwright, Jr.

♥~ 1943 – The National Football League approved the merger of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers (the Steagles), a team that lasted one 5-4-1 season; but turned down approval of a similar merger of the Chicago Cardinals and the Bears. The following year the Steelers merged with the Cardinals, another one season combo. The reason teams were merging in the 1940s: so many men were in the armed forces due to WWII, football players were at a premium.

♥~ 1973 – Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds reached the 2,000-career-hit plateau. The milestone came a decade after his first professional baseball appearance in Cincinnati.

♥~ 1973 – The stage production of The Rocky Horror Show opened in London at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. It later played in Los Angeles and New York. Star Tim Curry reprised his role in the 1975 movie version, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which developed into a cult phenomenon. Fans, dressed up as their favorite characters from the film, continued to show up at midnight screenings for a decade.

♥~ 1978 – Garfield creator Jim Davis came up with the idea for a comic about a lasagna-loving cat in 1978 – and he made his first appearance 35 years ago today in 41 newspapers. The name came from Davis’s grandfather, James A Garfield Davis. Since then, Garfield has become the most-syndicated comic in the world, appearing in more than 2,500 publications. It has also spawned at least two television series and two feature-length films.

♥~ 1997 – The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats became the longest-running show in Broadway history. The 6,138th performance of the musical broke the record held by A Chorus Line.

♥~ 1997 – McDonald’s won a libel case in London against two vegetarian activists. The judge in the case did admit to agreeing with some of the defendants’ sharpest criticisms of the fast-food giant.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1897 – Moe Howard (Moses Horowitz) actor: one of the original Three Stooges; Dr. Death, Seeker of Souls, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World;

♥~ 1936 – Tommy DeVito singer: group: The Four Seasons: Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk like a Man, Rag Doll

♥~ 1948 – Phylicia (Allen) Rashad Tony Award-winning actress: A Raisin in the Sun; TV: The Cosby Show, One Life to Live, Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man; dancer Debbie Allen’s sister; married to football announcer Ahmad Rashad

♥~ 1962 – Paula Abdul singer: Forever Your Girl, Straight Up, Opposites Attract, Promises of a New Day; actress: The Waiting Game, Mr. Rock ’n’ Roll: The Alan Freed Story; dancer: Laker Girl; TV talent judge: American Idol: The Search for a Superstar

♥~ 1983 – Ben Haggerty (Macklemore) rapper who became widely known for his song Thrift Shop, featured on his debut album The Heist.

★~ Good to Know:  

It all began when a homeless calico cat made her way into the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Zoo. The stray found food in a lynx’s enclosure, and the lynx accepted the cat into her life. Soon enough, they became besties. Watch the video above to see this dynamic duo in action

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

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I couldn’t let us miss Martini Day and Sauntering day entirely. Feel free to extend today into the weekend. Hope everyone had a terr

Odd Loves Company!