~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 13, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote: “On the neck of a young man sparkles no gem so gracious as enterprise” – Hafiz.

★~ Jewel Day:

Celebrate your gems and jewels today! Spruce up your jewelry box, wear a seldom-worn piece of jewelry, or polish up those gems. Reminder: My sweet mom makes it a point to take her gems to the jeweler a couple times each year to check the stones and make sure they are nice and secure in their settings. So glad she is taking such good care of my inheritance!

★~ Ear Muff Day:

Big-eared Chester Greenwood is the father of the ear muff. Greenwood patented the “Champion Ear Protector” on March 13, 1877. It later became known as “ear mufflers,” and was eventually shortened to “ear muffs.” Ear Muff Day is celebrated by wearing ear muffs. I don’t know where you all live, but I don’t think many Chicagoans will be wearing ear muffs today…so may I suggest a pretty pair of earrings instead?

★~ Happy Coconut Torte Day!

Indulge in creamy layers of flavor with the ultimate sugar addict’s dessert, the torte, and enjoy some sweet coconut on top.

Rich and built up of three or more layers of cake, tortes are known for the luscious fillings in between. Rather than flour, ground nuts or even breadcrumbs make up the base, along with sugar, eggs and intense flavorings.
Icing is often the focus and star of a good torte, especially coconut torte. Thick swaths of icing are slathered in between the cakey layers and then heavily garnish the top and sides as well. There is no escaping the fresh taste of flaky coconut in this dish.

Not enough for you? Serve your own coconut crunch torte with a scoop of ice cream to amp up the perfect meld of coconut and vanilla.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1781 – Astronomer William Herschel announced that he had found the planet Uranus. It was the first planet in the solar system to be discovered by telescope.

♥~ 1930 –  Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh announced to the Harvard College Observatory that he had discovered a ninth planet, which would be named Pluto. In 2006, Pluto was downgraded to the status of “dwarf planet.”

♥~ 1938 – Attorney Clarence Darrow, the defense lawyer at the Scopes “Monkey” trial, died on this date in 1938. It was exactly 13 years after the day the Tennessee House voted to ban the teaching of evolution in state schools. Passage of that law led to the Scopes trial.

♥~ 1968 – The Byrds received a gold record for the album, Greatest Hits, which featured Turn! Turn! Turn!, written by Pete Seeger.

♥~ 1970 – The cover of LIFE magazine was extremely popular. It showed the extremes of the new hemline hassle that was raging a battle between long versus short skirts.

♥~ 1988 – Yielding to student protests, the board of trustees of Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired, chose Irving King Jordan to become the school’s first deaf president, replacing Elisabeth Ann Zinser, who could hear.

♥~ 1998 – Candice Bergen and the cast of Murphy Brown filmed the 247th and final episode of the award-winning and sometimes controversial CBS sitcom. The episode, titled Never Can Say Goodbye (Part 2), featured appearances by Julia Roberts, George Clooney, and Mike Wallace, as well as Bergen’s real mother, Frances.

~ Born Today:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/1aFymSogiUY[/youtube]

♥~ 1939 – Neil Sedaka, songwriter, singer: Oh! Carol, The Diary, Stairway to Heaven, Calendar Girl, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

♥~ 1941 – Charo (Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza): ‘The Cuchi Cuchi Girl,’ actress

♥~ 1955 – Glenne Headly, actress: Mr. Holland’s Opus, Grand Isle, Mortal Thoughts, Dick Tracy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Purple Rose of Cairo

♥~ 1956 – Dana Delany, actress: China Beach, Baby for Sale, A Time to Remember, Sirens, Mother Ghost, Final Jeopardy, Desperate Housewives

♥~1960 – Adam Clayton, musician (group U2): Sunday Bloody Sunday, With You or Without You

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ The average person will walk about 100,000 miles (160,934.4 km) in his or her lifetime, roughly equal to four trips around the Earth.

♥~There are differences in the walking habits of people living in different parts of the world. For example, the average American adult takes about 5,117 steps per day, and the average person in Western Australia takes 9,695 steps. Gender also plays a role, with men taking an average of 5,340 steps per day, compared with 4,912 for women.

♥~The elephant is the only land mammal without the ability to jump because its legs simply could not survive the impact from its own bodyweight.

♥~ Michael Flatley, of Riverdance fame, insured his legs in 1999 for a reported $40 million.

♥~ Before becoming the Queen of France, Catherine de Medici had her cobbler make her the very first pair of high heels in 1533.

♥~ Longest legs in the world? Svetlana Pankratova of Russia is believed to hold this title, with 52” legs.

♥~ Centipedes do not have 100 legs. Though their common name means “one hundred legs,” centipedes can have significantly less or more than 100 legs. Depending on the species, a centipede can have as few as 15 pairs of legs, or as many as 171 pairs.

♥~ If you would rather read facts about gems than legs—Click Did You Know March 13, 2012

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Fascinating about Centipedes, right?  If you meet up with an entomologist today, they are going to be so impressed.  It is 3 in the morno and I am sleepless in Chicago, so if El Morno is more poorly punctuated than usual forgive me. I will try to make sure every, but has a comma before it.

As long as I’m awake, let’s talk about the want-to-be Pope. I was having my hair trimmed yesterday (yes, I am happy with how it turned out–thanks!) and during the trim, I watched the Cardinals sworn to secrecy and the big conclave doors pulled shut. Very cool. While, I may not be very Catholic anymore (ok, I never was very Catholic) I do love the whole Pope selection process. I’m not a big Cubs fan, either, but if they are in the World Series this year–I’ll be cheering!

I have a FUN idea! Let’s all take a guess at who will be the next Pope and how long the selection process will take. But, first I want to reassure my Odd Jewish readers, that while the whole Pope selection process is very exclusionary to Jews, your guess is as good as anyone else’s on Odd! (I know Pope is not suppose to be capitalized when it denotes a job position, but it looks wrong in lower case, I feel the same way about Cardinal–Forgive me )

Darn, I just realized I should have written Pope facts instead of leg facts under ‘Did You Know.’ Oh well,  it’s too late now, just consider the centipede and leg facts an El Morno bonus and below are a few of the top Cardinals contenders for Pope—I am so good to you!

♥~ First, cross  Cardinal Bonifacius Steuer off your list, he had been on the shortlist to replace Benedict XVI as Pope, but his fellow cardinals abandoned him after the startling emergence of the photos, which chronicle Steuer on a seventy-two-hour nonstop-party rampage in Florida.  Come on, If you’re serious about becoming Pope, you have to look at every single photo you’ve posted on Facebook and Instagram. If there’s someone on your arm who makes you look fallible, crop them out, for heavens sake!

♥~ Cardinal Maradiaga, 70, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa, is among a handful of Latin American prelates considered to have a credible shot at the papacy.

♥~ Canada’s Cardinal Ouellet, 68, once said that being pope “would be a nightmare.” He would know, having enjoyed the confidence of two popes as a top-ranked Vatican insider. His high-profile position as head of the Vatican’s office for bishops, his conservative leanings, his years in Latin America and his work in Rome as president of a key commission for Latin America all make him a favorite to become the first pontiff from the Americas.

♥~ Cardinal Ravasi, 70, the Vatican’s culture minister, is an erudite scholar with a modern touch _ just the combination some faithful see as ideal for reviving a church beset by scandal and a shrinking flock. Ravasi is one of the favorites among Catholics who long to see a return to the tradition of Italian popes.

♥~ Cardinal Schoenborn, 68, is a soft-spoken conservative who is ready to listen to those espousing reform. His Austrian nationality may be his biggest disadvantage: Electors may be reluctant to choose another German speaker as a successor to Benedict

♥~ Cardinal Tagle, 58, Asia’s most prominent Roman Catholic leader knows how to reach the masses: He sings on stage, preaches on TV, brings churchgoers to laughter and tears with his homilies. And he’s on Facebook. But Tagle best response against the tide of secularism, clergy sex abuse scandals and rival-faith competition could be his reputation for humility. His chances are very slim.

♥~ Cardinal Turkson, 64, is often cast as the social conscience of the church, Ghana’s Turkson is viewed by many as the top African contender for pope.

♥~ Cardinal Dolan, 63, the archbishop of New York, is an upbeat, affable defender of Catholic orthodoxy, and a well-known religious figure in the United States. He holds a job Pope John Paul II once called “archbishop of the capital of the world.” But scholars question whether his charisma and experience are enough for a real shot at succeeding Benedict.

♥~ Cardinal Bergoglio, 76, has spent nearly his entire career at home in Argentina, overseeing churches and shoe-leather priests.  Bergoglio is known for modernizing an Argentine church that had been among the most conservative in Latin America.

♥~ Cardinal Scherer, 63, is known for prolific tweeting, appearances on Brazil’s most popular late-night talk show and squeezing into the subway for morning commutes. Brazil’s best hope to supply the next pontiff is increasingly being touted as one of the top overall contenders.

♥~ Cardinal Scola, 71, is seen as Italy’s best chance at reclaiming the papacy, following back-to-back pontiffs from outside the country that had a lock on the job for centuries. He’s also one of the top names among all of the papal contenders.

Now it’s your turn—Who do you think will be the next Pope? And how long do you think it will be before the white smoke rises and a decision is made? Keep in mind, I have only given a few of the most talked about contenders, please feel free to choose off my list. I heard yesterday (where? don’t ask me where—please!) the procedure for selecting a new Pope is the slowest moving election process not involving Florida. If that helps you out any.

Give your opinion, take a guess.  And you can’t say you don’t care!! Of-course you care!! It’s the Pope!

Ok, I have to get a leg on..(Ha, I knew I had it in me….)

Odd Loves Company!

Smoke Ring Tips:

El Morno friend and fellow blogger Debbie knows about Papal matters….

El Morno friend Julianne is guessing Cardinal Dolan (Julianne goes to Church and gave up something for Lent!) and she thinks the selection will be over on the 14th.

The Cardinals have to hurry–Palm Sunday, Good Thursday, Good Friday AND Easter is just a few weeks away these holidays should be top of mind for any Cardinal or future Pope present at the Papal proceedings. Really, Pope Benedict could not have picked a worst time of year to give up being Pope; why not just give up potato chipes or twitter and wait until the middle of April for bigger announcements? Just like a man. Sigh.