~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
January 20, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:  “Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another. But by all means, try something.”  ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

★~ Penguin Awareness Day: 

Our flightless, flippered friends of the Southern Hemisphere have just one request today. They ask simply that we express our appreciation for them, maybe “ooh and ahh” a bit— just for today, they would like us to not imitate their goofy ever-so-graceful manner of waddling. Also, you know, belly sliding is perfectly normal. Thank you. (Statement made on behalf of the Concerned Penguin Waddlers and Belly Sliders Society of the Southern Hemisphere.)

★~ National Disc Jokey Day:

Disc Jockey Day is all about celebrating the hard working entertainers that have brought energy to dance floors across the globe. Today we celebrate the velvet suited wedding crooners and the DJ international superstars –

Superstar DJ’ing was born out of the popularity of the Ibiza dance scene and now dance music and DJs are global and the technology has moved way beyond two turntables and a microphone.

★~ National Cheese Lover’s Day:

Americans Love Cheese, consuming about 31 pounds of cheese each year but not as much as the French who consumes 50 pounds of cheese each year. I did not find figures for the Italians, I’m sure they are off the chart.

There are more than 900 known cheeses in the world, and they can all be classified by texture. Here are the primary classifications and some examples: fresh cheese (ricotta); soft cheese (feta); semi-soft cheese (Fontina); semi-hard cheese (Gouda); hard cheese (Cheddar); double or triple crème cheese (Brillat-Savarin); blue cheese (Gorgonzola); washed rind cheese (Limburger); and bloomy rind cheese (Brie).

People have been making cheese for at least 8,000 years, so the cheeses we enjoy today are all relatively young by comparison. Take Emmental (also known as Swiss cheese), for example. It’s only been around since the first century BC!

Gooey Grilled cheese for lunch, anyone?

★~ Today in History:

♥~ Jan 20-Feb 19. Aquarius, the Water Carrier.  In the astronomical/astrological zodiac, which divides the sun’s apparent orbit into 12 segments, the period Jan 20–Feb 19 is traditionally identified as the sun sign of Aquarius, the Water Carrier. The ruling planet is Uranus or Saturn.

♥~ 1801 – John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice. He led the Supreme Court for 34 years, serving under six presidents.

♥~ 1885 – The first Coney Island roller coaster was patented by La Marcus Thompson.It was called the Gravity Switchback Railway, it cost a nickel to ride, and it was an immediate success, drawing huge crowds and bringing in $600 a day. It’s considered the first commercially successful roller coaster, and it was the first roller coaster specifically built as an amusement park ride

♥~ 1937 –  January 20th became Inauguration Day in the U.S., the traditional day for the Chief Justice to swear in the newly-elected president. Before that year, presidents had to wait until March 4th to begin their terms. Roosevelt was the first president sworn in on the new date.

♥~ 1964 – This was a big day in U.S. record stores  the first album by The Beatles was released. The LP, Meet the Beatles, became a huge success and was #1 on the charts by February 15, 1964.

★~ Trending Today: Drawn from top internet searches.

♥~ Earl Weaver dies at 82; Hall of Fame manager of Baltimore Orioles.

♥~ Baseball great Stan ‘The Man’ Musial dies at 92

♥~ Review ‘Prosecuting Casey Anthony on Lifetime.

♥~ Penguins beat Flyers 3-1 in opener (for those that don’t know…. Hockey teams: In the 3-1 opener Pittsburgh Penguins beat Philadelphia Flyers

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1896 – George Burns  (Nathan Birnbaum , Actor: With cigar in hand,  and young and beautiful woman on his arm, George Burns, made millions of us laugh with his quick wit and easy style. Burns’ show biz career got started with his straight man act for zany Gracie Allen back in 1922. On January 7, 1926 the two were wed and the Burns and Allen team made history from vaudeville to radio (1932) to films and then, TV beginning in 1950. Remember  Burns’ trademark close, “Say goodnight, Gracie?

♥~ 1930 – Buzz (Edwin) Aldrin Jr. astronaut: Gemini 12 [Nov 11, 1966]: made then-record 5.5 hour space walk; Apollo 11: one of first trio of American men to land on the moon [July 16, 1969]

♥~ 1956 – Bill Maher TV host: commentator: Politically Incorrect, Real Time with Bill Maher

♥~ 1963 – James Denton actor: Desperate Housewives, The Pretender, Jumbo Girl, Primary Colors, Face/Off, That Old Feeling, Hunter’s Moon, Theives Quartet, Ally McBeal,The West Wing, Threat Matrix

♥~ 1966 – Rainn Wilson, Actor (“The Office”).

★~ Did You Know:  To celebrate the start of Hockey, here are few hockey puck facts…

♥~ The earliest hockey games were played with chunks of froze cow dung.

♥~ The first rubber hockey pucks were made from sliced up Lacrosse balls. When the sport moved indoors, whole balls were originally used, but rink owners soon found it preferable to cut them into thirds and keep the middle section. This basic design was the standard by 1885.

♥~ A Swedish player once scored by dropping the puck out of his pants. When the puck got inadvertently lodged in Alexander Wennberg’s trousers, he skated behind the goalie and squatted until it plopped out. The goal counted

♥~ Angry voters once made their point by mailing hockey pucks. In 2000, the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation urged the country’s citizens to protest their government’s $12 million bailout of domestic NHL franchises. How? By mailing oodles of hockey pucks to then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien. According to group president Walter Robinson, “When the rubber hits the Prime Minister’s office in a shower of hockey pucks, Mr. Chretien might have some sense knocked into him and respond.” The Prime Minister never revealed how many pucks he’d actually received.

♥~ The fastest puck shot on record reached 114 miles per hour. The fastest slap shot was launched by KHL player Alexander Ryazantsev. The second-fastest shot was launched by fellow KHL-er Denis Kulyash and was recorded at 110.43 Mph. Zdeno Chara holds the record for fastest slapshot in an NHL game, when he fired one off at 105.9 Mph.

♥~ Pucks can split during games, although it is a rare occurrence, but forwards Shane Doan and Andrew Procho have each managed to break a puck in half against a goal post during the past 5 years in their respective leagues (as has center Patrick Kane).

♥~ The average NHL games uses a dozen pucks. Players are required to use frozen pucks which are easier to control than unaltered pucks, but these tend to thaw quickly. Thus, they’re constantly replaced by officials and an average of 12 come into play per game, though as many as 22 have been recorded. (The last NHL game to use only a single puck—which is currently on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame—was in 1979.)

#

Busy Sunday for me! Cole and I are having breakfast with his kindergarten teacher. We still quote Mrs. Donkel frequently and Cole sees her most mornings as he heads up the stairs to his high school classes. It will be fun to catch up. She has a son who started college this year, so perhaps she will have some words of wisdom for us.

This afternoon, I’m off to enjoy an afternoon high tea. La-de-da-da. I will eat a scone for you and hopefully come back with a story to share.

What are your plans for this fine day?

Odd Loves Company!