★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
June 9, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: It’s kind of fun to do the impossible ~  Walt Disney

★~ Donald Duck Day:

Who is Donald Duck?   Donald Duck is an upbeat Duck with a very short fuse. When he loses his temper and takes action against ghosts, sharks, or mountain goats, his opponents know he is not ducking around.  Sometime Donald is a silly duck and can be a bit of a tease, but it’s all in good fun. Donald is a good fisherduck and loves to play hockey, but his favorite place to be is in his hammock. “Aw phooey!” “What’s the big idea?” “Hi ya toots!” and “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” are a few of Donald’s favorite expressions. Donald has always had second billing to Mickey Mouse — he would have loved to have been Walt Disney’s favorite, but Walt Disney never let anyone forget it all started with the Mouse! Donald felt that was a lot of quack!

How do you celebrate Donald’s big day? I will leave that up to your imagination of course!

★~ Belmont Stakes Day:

Giddy up! Today is the annual reprise of the oldest of the Triple Crown horse races: the Belmont Stakes!

This American tradition, which began in Elmont, New York in 1867, is a 1.5 mile race for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses. It is also called “The Test of Champions” and “Run for the Carnations” because of the blanket of white carnations that is draped over the winning horse’s neck. It is always the last of the three Triple Crown races, following the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Grab your fancy hat and gather around the TV to witness this exciting event!

★~ Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Day:

I’m not sure I have ever had rhubarb pie, and I am not even really sure I know what a rhubarb is . . . I think it looks like red celery and has toxic leaves. However, if you cook the rhubarb, add a lot of sugar to it and throw in some strawberries, it is supposed to turn into a delicious pie. Maybe it’s all about the pie crust?

★~ Today in History:

♥ ~ 1790 – The first copyright for a book was given to The Philadelphia Spelling Book.

♥ ~ 1973 – The first Triple Crown winner in 25 years of horse racing won the Belmont Stakes in New York. The thoroughbred that clinched horse racing’s most prestigious honor was Secretariat.

♥ ~ 2002 – It was announced that Rolling Stone Mick Jagger was to be given a knighthood for his services to music.

♥~ 2008 – Engineers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM Corp. unveiled the world’s fastest supercomputer. The $100-million machine, named Roadrunner, performed 1,000 trillion calculations per second in a sustained exercise.

♥~ 2010 – The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime to win the Stanley Cup. It was the Blackhawks’ first Stanley Cup win since 1961. They beat the Flyers 4 games to 2.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1926 – Mona Freeman actress: National Velvet, Black Beauty, Dear Ruth, Battle Cry

♥~ 1931 – Jackie Mason (Jacob Moshe Maza) comedian: Chicken Soup, The World According to Me, The Jerk, Caddyshack 2, History of the World: Part 1; ordained rabbi

♥~ 1961 – Michael J. Fox actor: Back to the Future, The Secret of My Success, Bright Lights Big City, Doc Hollywood, Greedy, For Love or Money, Family Ties, Boston Legal, Scrubs; voice of bulldog puppy in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey; founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research [2000])

♥ ~ 1963 – Johnny Depp (John Christopher Depp III) actor: Pirates of the Caribbean series, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arizona Dreams, Nick of Time, Dead Man, Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco, Don Juan DeMarco, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Edward Scissorhands, Platoon, A Nightmare on Elm Street, 21 Jump Street, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

★~ Did you know?

♥~ The Belmont Stakes is often called the Jewel of The Triple Crown. Why? Well, for one reason, the Belmont it is the oldest of the three Triple Crown events. The Belmont predates the Preakness by six years and the legendary Kentucky Derby by a big eight years. The first running of the Belmont Stakes was in 1867 at Jerome Park in the Bronx near Fordham University!

♥~  Race tip:  Out of 141 previous running’s of the Belmont Stakes, 60 have been won by the betting favorite (42.5 percent).

♥~  Since 1905, 54 bays have won the Belmont Stakes. Chestnut winners account for fifty of the race’s champions, and 28 dark bay, or brown horses have won the stakes. There have also been three black winners, two gray champions, and one roan victor.

♥~ The white carnation is the traditional flower of the Belmont Stakes. The blanket of 300-400 carnations worn by the winner takes 10 hours to put together. The flowers are shipped in from either California or Bogota, Colombia.

♥~ For decades the traditional theme song of the Belmont Stakes was “Sidewalks of New York,” and then in 1997 track officials decided it was time mix it up in an attempt to appeal to the under 80 crowd and made it the classic Sinatra tune”New York, New York”

But in 2010, it all changed! The New York Racing Association replaced the tune to “Empire State of Mind” as the music heard when the horses step onto the track for the $1 million Belmont on Saturday. The change is being made because Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” has become a “quintessential 21st century theme song for New York City,” says NYRA marketing director Neema Ghazi.

♥~ Most people agree that Triple-Crown Winner Secretariat is top horse when it comes to horse racing. In 1973, Secretariat set a track and world record of 2:24 for the mile and a half with his 31-length victory, a record that still stands today.

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I am off and running to the bakery to buy some Long Johns for my sweet Mom. Albuquerque offers a lot but a lot does not included good bakeries or good pizza!

What is up with you today? Odd Loves Company!