~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
September 25, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: “How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em.” ― Shel Silverstein

★~ National One Hit Wonder Day:

“We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun. But the hills that we climbed were just seasons out of time.” Do you recognize those lyrics? If so, you’re familiar with the one-hit wonder “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks.

Andy Warhol said everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, but if you ask one-hit wonders, they’ll say you’re lucky to get 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Before reality TV started turning ordinary folks into stars, there was no faster path to the peak of celebrity — and no more direct route back to the depths of obscurity — than being a one-hit wonder.

Granted, there are probably good reasons why folks like Los Del Rio, the two middle-aged Spanish guys who took “Macarena” to No. 1 in 1996, never followed up their big hit, and the world was surely okay with making C.W. McCall’s 1976 hit “Convoy” the only No. 1 song dedicated to CB radio.

But we come here to praise one-hit wonders, not to bury them. For every one-and-done novelty like “Disco Duck” by Rick Dees or annoyingly catchy and cloying tune like Charlene’s 1983 smash “I’ve Never Been To Me,” there is a stone-cold classic like “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. or “Sex And Candy” by Marcy Playground.

Music writer Steve Rosen thinks all of them have a place and deserve a special day so today we play and celebrate One Hit Wonders.

★~ National Comic Book Day:

Today is National Comic Book Day.  Not to be confused with the better known Free Comic Book Day held every May, this is a day for people of all ages to celebrate the comic book and graphic novel.

Without comic books we wouldn’t have super heroes. And without superheroes what would people be for Halloween? Scary thought isn’t it? Comic Book Day is all about enjoying a good comic.

★~ Crab Meat Newburg Day:

Crab Meat Newburg is a rich, creamy seafood dish made with lump crab meat, butter, Today is the perfect  day to indulge in this delicious seafood dish  Pick up some fresh crab meat on your way home and try out a new recipe! Or just make reservations! Bon appétit!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1962 – John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Steinbeck won the prize “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.”

♥~ 1975 –  Billy Petty sold his prize turkey at a Pasadena, Texas, rodeo for $1,600, the highest price ever paid for a turkey.

♥~ 11981 – Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to sit on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was sworn in as the 102nd Justice.

♥~ 1984 – Deepak Lele arrived in New York City to become the first person to cross the United States on a unicycle. He pedaled 3,963 miles from Los Angeles in three months and 19 days.

♥~1986 – An 1884-S Barber Head dime – one of only a dozen in existence – brought $83,000 in a California coin auction.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1897 – William (Cuthbert) Faulkner Nobel Prize-winning writer[1949]; The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom, Absolom!, Sanctuary, The Bear, Soldiers’ Pay, The Reivers; movie scripts: The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not;  died July 6, 1962

♥~ 1929 – Barbara (Ann) Walters has chronicled the life world leaders from all walks of life .They include the Shah of IranMohammad Reza Pahlavi and his wife the Empress Farah Pahlavi; Russia’s Boris Yeltsin; China’s Jiang Zemin; the UK’s Margaret Thatcher; Cuba’s Fidel Castro, as well as India’s Indira Gandhi,Václav Havel, Muammar al-Gaddafi, King Hussein of Jordan, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez among many others. Other interviews with influential people include pop icon Michael Jackson, Katharine Hepburn, Anna Wintour, and in 1980 Lord Olivier. Walters considered Dr. Robert Smithdas, a deaf-blind man who spent his life improving the life of other individuals who are deaf-blind, as her most inspirational interview.

On March 3, 1999, her interview of Monica Lewinsky was seen by a record 74 million viewers, the highest rating ever for a journalist’s interview. Walters asked Lewinsky, “What will you tell your children about this matter?” and Lewinsky replied, “I guess Mommy made some mistakes,” at which point Walters brought the program to a dramatic conclusion, turning to the viewers, saying, “And that is the understatement of the century.”

♥~ 1930 – Shel Silverstein poet, cartoonist, songwriter: The Cover of the Rolling Stone, Freakin’ at the Freakers’ Ball, Sylvia’s Mother;author: Where the Sidewalk Ends: A Light in the Attic, The Giving Tree; died May 10, 1999

♥~ 1943 –  Robert Walden actor: Lou Grant, All the King’s Men

♥~ 1944 – Michael Douglas Academy Award-winning actor: Wall Street [1987]; Disclosure, The China Syndrome, Fatal Attraction, Black Rain, A Chorus Line, The Jewel of the Nile, Romancing the Stone, Basic Instinct, The Game, The Streets of San Francisco; son of actor Kirk Douglas; married since 2000 to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones

♥~ 1952 – Christopher Reeve actor: Superman series, Blood Horse, Black Fox, Somewhere in Time, Village of the Damned, The Remains of the Day; champion of people with paralytic injuries; died Oct 10, 2004

♥~ 1961 – Heather Locklear actress: Melrose Place, Dynasty, T.J. Hooker

♥~ 1969 – Catherine Zeta-Jones actress: The Phantom, The Mask of Zorro, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, Entrapment; ; married since 2000 to actor, movie mogul Michael Douglas

★~ Do You Know: How Comic Hero’s have influenced our world:

Superman Defeats the Ku Klux Klan: In the 1940s, The Adventures of Superman was a radio sensation. Kids across the country huddled around their sets as the Man of Steel leapt off the page and over the airwaves It was on the radio that Superman first faced kryptonite, met The Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen, and became associated with “truth, justice, and the American way.” So, it’s no wonder that when a young writer and activist named Stetson Kennedy decided to expose the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan, he looked to a certain superhero for inspiration.

In the post-World War II era, the Klan experienced a huge resurgence. Its membership was skyrocketing, and its political influence was increasing, so Kennedy went undercover to infiltrate the group. By regularly attending meetings, he became privy to the organization’s secrets. But when he took the information to local authorities, they had little interest in acting on it. Struggling to make use of his findings, Kennedy approached the writers of the Superman radio serial. It was perfect timing. With the war over and the Nazis no longer a threat, the producers were looking for a new villain for Superman to fight. The KKK was a great fit for the role. In a 16-episode series titled “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” the writers pitted the Man of Steel against the men in white hoods. As the storyline progressed, the shows exposed many of the KKK’s most guarded secrets.  Within two weeks of the broadcast, KKK recruitment was almost non-exsistent. And by 1948, people were showing up to Klan rallies just to mock them.

Popeye Helps America Survive the Great Depression. Everyone knows Popeye’s secret. Whenever the cartoon sailor is on the verge of losing a fight, he squeezes open a can of spinach, pours the greens down his throat, and uses his supercharged muscles to pummel opponents. But fewer people know that the U.S. government is directly responsible for his dependence on canned vegetables.

In the 1930s, America was mired in the Great Depression, and the government was looking for a way to promote iron-rich spinach as a meat substitute. To help spread the word, they hired one of America’s favorite celebrities, Popeye the Sailor Man. It was a smart plan. In all of the comic strips to that point, Popeye’s superhuman strength had never been explained. But with the government’s campaign in place, Popeye was suddenly more than willing to share the secret to his strength. Sure enough, soon after Popeye took up spinach, American sales of the mighty veggie increased by one-third. Better still, American children rated it their third favorite food, right after turkey and ice cream.

Captain Marvel Jr. Saves the Bad-Hair Day: During his early teen years, Elvis was obsessed with Captain Marvel Jr., known as “America’s most famous boy hero.” A younger version of Captain Marvel, the character sported an unusual hairstyle that featured a curly tuft of hair falling over the side of his forehead. Sound familiar? When Elvis set out to conquer America with his rock ‘n’ roll ways, he copied the ’do, thus making it one of the most famous hairstyles of the 20th century.

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I would have been hear sooner but I have a mouse hang-over. It was a long night. A VERY LONG NIGHT.

Yesterday was Punctuation Day and I found this “funny error” on my internet travels. I’m thinking of e-mailing Rachel and asking for her recipe.

See you later alligators. Wishing you a terrific Tuesday.

♥~