~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
Jan 29, 2014

 ★~ Today’s Quote:  “If you sing for children, you can’t really say there’s no hope.” ~ Pete Seeger 

♥~ Freethinkers Day:

Freethinkers day is intended to celebrate Thomas Paine (1737) whose writing inspired people to strive for political, economic, and social advancement. Paine was also one of the first people to call for an end to slavery and universal human rights. However, perhaps today, we might celebrate a more recent freethinker, Pete Seeger, who died yesterday at the age of 94 and inspired so many people through his folk music.

“A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late”

★~ Puzzle Day:

John Spilsbury, a London engraver and mapmaker, produced the first jigsaw puzzle around 1760 by mounting one of his maps on a sheet of hardwood and cutting around the borders of the countries to create interlocking pieces. Since then, puzzles have become an educational tool, and a family pastime. May I take this moment to remind everyone the proper way way to start a puzzle is to turn all the pieces over and work the border first, peeps…work the boarder first!

★~ Corn Chip Day:

The corn chip is often overlooked on the snack table. Put a bowl of chips next to some salsa or guac and it’s the dip that gets all the attention. Make a plate of nachos and the chips are the least thrilling layer. But while the humble corn chip doesn’t ask for much fanfare, today we salute it for all its hard work. On Superbowl Sunday over 96,000,000 tons of chips will be consumed. 

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1802 – John Beckley became the first Librarian of the U.S. Congress. He was paid $2 a day. Not bad, considering in 1802 you could buy a house for $25.00 and two chickens.

♥~ 1845 – The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe, was published for the first time in the New York Evening Mirror.

♥~ 1861 – Kansas, the Sunflower State, became a state. The capital of the 34th state is Topeka., The western meadowlark is the state bird, and the state song is Home on the Range. The roaming buffalo is the state animal, and the state tree is the cottonwood. Kansas, derived from the Sioux Indian word meaning ‘people of the southwind’, uses the Latin phrase ‘Ad astra per aspera’ or ‘To the stars through difficulties’ as its motto.

♥~ 1929 – The Seeing Eye (founded in Nashville, TN) was incorporated. Its purpose was to train dogs to guide the blind. They have gone on to matched thousands of dogs with persons who are blind or visually impaired in the U.S. and Canada.

♥~ 1959 – Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty was released. The animated fantasy features the voices Mary Costa (as Princess Aurora and Briar Rose), Bill Shirley (as Prince Phillip) Eleanor Audley (Maleficent) Verna Felton (Flora) Barbara Luddy (Merryweather) Barbara Jo Allen (Fauna) Taylor Holmes (King Stefan) and Bill Thompson (as King Hubert).

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1737 – Thomas Paine American revolutionary leader, political philosopher: :  The man who said, “These are the times that try men’s souls” came to America in 1774 at the request of Benjamin Franklin. Throughout his life, he wrote a number of influential books and pamphlets including The Age of Reason, The Rights of Man, and Common Sense. Each of these works brought public attention to key issues and helped establish the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution. Paine’s writing inspired many people to strive for political, economic, and social advancement. He was also one of the first people to call for an end to slavery and universal human rights.

♥~ 1880 – W.C. (William Claude) Fields (Dukenfield) entertainer; the man who said, “Comedy is a serious business,”  He ran away from home as a child, stole to survive, got in a lot of fistfights, and was arrested often. He was a skilled juggler, and at 14 he  joined the carnival. He went from juggling to doing a witty comedic routine, and then to acting in films. He toured a lot, and the more famous he became, the more he drank. When he was filming movies, he kept a flask of mixed martinis near at hand, referring to it as his “pineapple juice.” He quipped about his drinking a lot, saying things like, “Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.” And, “Everyone must believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.” And, “If I had to live life over, I’d live over a saloon.” Toward the end of his life, his career fizzled out some — he gained a reputation for being extremely hard to work with, was passed over for some coveted movie roles, and his alcoholism was taking its toll. He died Christmas Day 1946. And then his persona made a sort of comeback in the late 1960s. The Beatles even included his face in the collage on the cover of their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

♥~ 1945 – Tom Selleck Emmy Award-winning actor: Magnum, P.I. [1983-1984], Three Men and a Baby, Mr. Baseball, Runaway, Lassiter, Quigley Down Under, 3 Men and a Little Lady, Running Mates, Las Vegas, Blue Bloods

♥~ 1954 – Oprah Winfrey Emmy Award-winning talk show host: Oprah Winfrey [1986, 1990-1994]; actress: The Color Purple, Native Son, The Women of Brewster Place

★~ Good to Know:

Let me be perfectly clear…I know the State of The Union Address was last night. However, I thought some of these facts were interesting. You know, for the “ordinary people.”

♥~ How it Began: The State Of The Union Address traces its roots back to the Constitution. Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution says that the President “shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

♥~ First Address: George Washington gave the First State Of The Union address at Federal Hall in New York City in January 1790.  He praised the 1st Congress’ work and outlined a brief legislative plan for the upcoming year.

♥~ Skip the Pomp: When Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801, he decided that the idea of showing up before Congress to deliver a grand address sounded like something a monarch would do, so he decided to skip the speech. Instead, he wrote down an annual message and sent it to Congress, where a clerk read it aloud to the assembled legislators.

♥~ Must Attend:  Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the President’s cabinet is seated at the front of the audience.

♥~ Designated Survivor: Since the Cold War, one member of the cabinet has holed up in an undisclosed secure location during big government gatherings like the State of the Union address and presidential inaugurations. This absent member is dubbed the “designated survivor.” In the unlikely event that an attack or a disaster leads to the deaths of all of the assembled leaders, having a designated survivor hiding out somewhere safe maintains the line of presidential succession. Since 2005 a few members of Congress have also stayed away from big events so there would be at least a tiny legislature remaining in the event of a disaster.

♥~ Television: President Truman gave the first televised State of the Union in 1947, but it didn’t become a primetime spectacle until 1965. when Lyndon B. Johnson decided to give his address in the evening that year in order to reach the largest number of people.

♥~ Honored Guests:  President Reagan’s 1982 address was the first to feature personal guests that the President publicly recognized over the course of his speech. Openly gay NBA veteran Jason Collins and two survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing were among this year’s guests. A few other guests have been: : 12-year-old music prodigy Tyrone Ford (1986), baseball sluggers Sammy Sosa (1999) and Hank Aaron (2000), Baby Einstein founder Julie Aigner-Clark (2007), and NBA star Dikembe Mutombo (2007).

♥~ He said, He said: In 1966, television networks offered the Republican Party a half-hour slot for a rebuttal of LBJ’s address. Senator Everett Dirksen and Representative Gerald Ford made counterarguments to Johnson’s comments. Since 1976, the opposition’s response has been slotted in directly behind the State of the Union.

♥~ Longest Address In History: According to the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, Harry Truman takes that prize with a 1946 speech—over 25,000 words. George Washington wins the award for brevity; his first address in 1790 was just 833 words long.

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Sometimes it’s fun to look at El Morno “for this date” and  looking back on January 29, 2013  this is what I wrote: I’m off and running in in our 62 degree weather. Ha, This year in Chicago we have seen 48.2 inches of snow breaking the 1978-79 record. And we have had 20 days at or below 0.  Today, however, schools are open and we are suppose to feel warmer temps.  I’m not expecting 62 degrees, tho, currently the temp is 7. 

Thanks to El Morno friend Adelaide for this Morno’s sunrise picture from Albuquerque, New Mexico. As she put it, “You can’t complain about the beauty of New Mexico skies.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Stay warm Southern Folk! We are cheering your snow plow onward!

Odd Loves Company!

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