★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
October 12, 2014

★~ Today’s Quote: “The marathon is a charismatic event. It has everything. It has drama. It has competition. It has camaraderie. It has heroism. Every jogger can’t dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon.” Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder:

★~ Chicago Marathon: 

45,000 runners will make their way through the streets of Chicago today as part of the 37th Annual Chicago Marathon.

The marathon begins and ends at Grant Park and travels around Chicago for 26.2 miles. For a full map of the marathon’s route, click here. You can check the results of the race by clicking here.

To celebrate let me run some trivia by you…..

The verb “run” has 645 meanings, more than any other word in the Oxford English Dictionary. In addition to putting one foot in front of the other rapidly, there’s “running an idea up the flagpole,” “the days running into weeks,” “running the numbers,” “running a fever,” “running with the wrong crowd” and “running your mouth.” When early 20th century Australians said they were “running the rabbit,” that meant they were bringing home liquor.

A cheetah runs faster than a sand gazelle, which is speedier than a zebra, which is faster than a kangaroo, which outruns a human, which can outleg a rhino. (This is based on estimated maximum running speeds; do not try at your local zoo.)

Dr. Gabe Mirkin, author of “The Sports Medicine Book,” asked more than 100 elite runners if they would be willing to take a magic pill that would make them an Olympic champion but would kill them within a year. More than half said yes.

The Chicago marathon was called the Mayor Daley Marathon in its first two years. Its first running in 1977 got off to a rocky start: Three people were sent to the hospital with powder burns when the starter’s cannon misfired.

“Freak races” were a favorite form of entertainment in 17th and 18th century England. In one race witnessed by the king, two runners were evenly matched: Each had a wooden leg. In another race, a man on stilts faced off against an accomplished runner on foot. In yet another contest, a man was given an hour to run seven miles while carrying 56 pounds of fish on his head.

Haitian runner Dieudonne Lamothe was 78th — the final finisher — in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics marathon. And it’s a good thing for Lamothe that he finished. He later revealed that dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s henchman had threatened to kill him if he did not complete the race.

Until 1950, a major league baseball player who was on base could be replaced by a “courtesy runner” without having to leave the lineup. In modern times, a pinch runner is allowed, but the player being replaced is out of the game for good. Perhaps the most unusual pinch runner was Oakland’s Herb Washington, who played in 105 games over two seasons in the 1970s and never came to bat or played the field. A track star, Washington was strictly a pinch-runner.

Two great American runners overcame potentially crippling illnesses. Sprinter Gail Devers suffered from Graves’ disease, and doctors were close to amputating her feet before her condition improved and she went on to win Olympic gold in 1992. Decades earlier, sprinter Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three track-and-field gold medals in a single Olympics — a glorious fate for a woman who was sickly as a child and wore a leg brace. “My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would,” said Rudolph. “I believed my mother.”

University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman was trying to develop a new athletic shoe, and one day in 1971 he used the family’s waffle iron to meld urethane into a waffle like tread pattern. The idea caught on for the company he started with Phil Knight. First known as Blue Ribbon Sports, it was renamed Nike. Today, a life-size statue of Bowerman at the university stands on a base of waffle irons.

★~ National Gumbo Day: 

Gumbo is a tasty, stew-like dish that originated in Louisiana. The name comes from an African word for okra. Similar to Louisiana itself, gumbo reflects an amalgamation of many cultures. Elements in the recipe can be linked to West African, Choctaw, and French cuisine. As a result, there are many variations of gumbo, and to this day chefs argue over the true recipe. The first historical reference to gumbo appears in an 1803 document, which describes the menu at a gubernatorial reception in New Orleans. Shrimp Gumbo Recipe

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1492  –There was no welcome mat waiting for him, but Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World.  After two months on the Atlantic, Columbus landed at an island north of Cuba, thinking he had reached Asia, and exchanged gifts with the natives.

♥~ 1901 – By executive order, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt renamed the ‘Executive Mansion’ ‘The White House’.

♥~ 1944 – A huge crowd of swooning bobbysoxers stopped traffic in New York’s Times Square as Frank Sinatra made his triumphant return to the famed Paramount Theatre. In what was called the ‘Columbus Day Riot’, 25,000 teenagers, mostly young women, blocked the streets, screaming and swooning for Frankie.

♥~1976 – Chart Topper: If You Leave Me Now, Chicago

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1891 – Perle Mesta (Skirvin) socialite: ‘The hostess with the mostes’; diplomat: appointment as U.S. envoy to Luxembourg [1949] inspired Broadway play Call Me Madam;died Mar 16, 1975

♥~ 1921 – Gumby Birthday –  Art Clokey and his wife Ruth invented the lovable, bendable  Gumby and his horse poky. Gumby and Pokey show biz career started with the Howdy Doody Show and later they had their own show called, The Adventures of Gumby.

♥~ 1935 – Luciano Pavarotti Emmy Award-winning opera star

♥~ 1950 – Susan Anton singer: Killin’ Time [w/Fred Knoblock]; actress: Cannonball Run 2, Goldengirl, Baywatch, Stop Susan Williams

♥~ 1970 – Kirk Cameron actor: Growing Pains, Listen to Me, The Best of Times, Like Father, like Son, Two Marriages

★~ Weekly Gallimaufry:

Awww……

[youtube]http://youtu.be/LbRVde0cr44[/youtube]

Dear Kitten….

[youtube]http://youtu.be/3yNSF7ljOoU[/youtube]

Waterfall Swing – World Maker Faire

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1uwQVtHHOQ#t=24[/youtube]
The Man Who Saves Cranes

12 fall vegetables you should know how to cook.

10 Trigger Words to Ban From Your Emails

Malcolm Gladwell on What Really Makes People Disruptive – The best-selling author says it’s not tech, money, or brainpower. Successful disrupters all tend to have one huge precondition that’s far more important.

We have Ebola: (Seth Godin)  We have an urgent and tragic medical problem, no doubt, but we also have a marketing problem.

Such Bull…..No Wings: Due to advertising with the false claim that their product “gives you wings” (yes, really), Red Bull owes everyone who ever bought their crappy energy drink $10. Well, owed, because so many people claimed the money the pool has dwindled to $3 and may even be less now.

SO COOL~ Google put its Street View camera on a camel’s back to tour the Arabian desert

And finally, My teen and I saw this sign on a Chicago Bus this past week. Kind of sums up our experience with Chicago Bus drivers.

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I’ll be staying away from the Marathon race route. From my house driving would be impossible and public transportation next to impossible. But, I will be cheering for the race from afar.  It’s a beautiful day for the spectators and I hope for runners (I have no idea what perfect race weather looks like). I don’t run but, I have a lot of friends who do run in marathons, half marathons,  and their excitement is contagious.

Last night 2 gallon bottles of milk tumble out of the back of the van on to the garage floor. I cried over the mess. Not really.  I told my teen, leave it until the morno. It’s not hot enough out  to spoil, and we can sweep up the glass and power wash that milk right out of the garage in the light of day.  In case, you’re wondering how I can just walk away until the next day….Practice, grasshopper, practice.

And what are your plans for today?

Odd Loves Company,