★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 15, 2014

Taken from his window seat (with his iPhone) as he approached O’Hare, amateur photographer Mark Hersch captured this incredible photo that shows Chicago skyline reflected in Lake Michigan below, just as the sun sets above. Talk about perfect timing! Larger picture 

★~ Today’s Quote:  They say rather than cursing the darkness, one should light a candle. They don’t mention anything about cursing a lack of candles. George Carlin.

★~ The Ides of March: 

“Beware the Ides of March” is good advice, especially if you happen to be an ancient Roman dictator. But what are ides anyway, and how do you avoid them?

The ancient Romans didn’t think there was anything particularly inauspicious about the Ides of March, or the ides of any other month, for that matter. The day was usually an occasion for honoring the deity of the month, Mars, by holding a military parade. In 44 BC, however, March 15 stood out as an especially bad day for at least one ancient Roman: Julius Caesar.

We hear a lot about the soothsayer who had foretold Caesar’s death, but his wife Calpurnia also pleaded with him not to leave his house on that fatal day. She had had a restless night, and she cried out three times in her dream for help. Calpurnia saw this as a sign, and urged her stubborn husband to heed her warning.

Caesar was not about to join that pathetic minority who give credence to the silly feelings of their wives. He would rather die than admit a woman’s intuition had any validity, and so he went out for the last time and died. Poof. The rest is history. You might want to share this story with your significant other over a glass of wine. Some people believe that every glass of wine that you drink on March 15 will add a year to your life.

★~ Pears Helene Day:

Pears Hélène or Pears Belle-Hélène is a delicious French dessert that combines warm poached pears, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate sauce. Auguste Escoffier created this dish and named it after the opera La belle Hélène.

 Pears Helene Recipe 

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1776 – South Caolina Declares Independence: Prior to the start of the Revolutionary War South Carolina became the first American colony to declare independence from England and set up its own government.

♥~ 1820- Maine became the 23 state.  Maine,  is the Pine Tree State. The white pine cone with its tassel is the state flower.  The chickadee is the state bird.  ‘I direct’ is the state motto which is ‘dirigo’ in Latin.  Augusta is the capital of Maine

♥~ 1948 – – Sir Laurence Olivier was on the cover of LIFE magazine for his starring role in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

♥~ 1956 –  My Fair Lady, the musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion premiered on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 15, 1956. Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews starred in the production. The show ran for 6-1/2 years before 2,717 audiences. Nine years later, the film version, starring Audrey Hepburn (whose singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon), premiered.

♥~ 1964 – Wedding bells (the first time) for actor Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The couple wed in secret ceremonies in Montreal, Canada.

♥~ 1972 – “The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola’s epic gangster movie based on the Mario Puzo novel and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premiered in New York.

♥~ 1985 – The first Internet domain name, symbolics.com, was registered by the Symbolics Computer Corp. of Massachusetts.

♥~ 1987 – The place: Orlando, Florida. The golf course: the Arnold Palmer-designed Bay Hill layout. The tournament: the Bay Hill Classic.Don Pooley showed the golf world what a true million-dollar swing looked like, as he made a hole in one during the final round. The tournament sponsor had offered a million dollars to anyone making an ace. Pooley didn’t win the tourney, but won a lot more than anyone else.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1767 – Andrew Jackson  7th President of the United States.

♥~ 1935 – Judd Hirsch Emmy Award-winning actor: Taxi [1980-81,1982-83]; Ordinary People, The Good-bye People, Running on Empty, Numb3rs

♥~ 1940 – Phil Lesh (Chapman) musician: bass: group: Grateful Dead: St. Stephen, China Cat Sunflower, Dark Star, Uncle John’s Band, New Speedway Boogie, Truckin’, Box of Rain, Alabama Gateway; composer: electronic music

♥~ 1955 – Dee Snider composer, singer: group: Twisted Sister: We’re Not Gonna Take It, Ride Through the Storm, Hard Core [Lemmy’s Song], The Wanderer, Desperato

♥~ 1959 – Fabio (Lanzoni) model: covers of romance novels; writer: Pirate

★~ Good to Know: Facts that run amuck on the Internet: True, True-ish, False, Who Knows

♥~ Turtles were living on our planet before dinosaurs were.  True. Some of the first turtles are believed to have lived on Earth about 220-260 million years ago. The oldest known dinosaur fossils are about 240 million years old.

♥~ Women attempt suicide about 3 times more often than men.  True-ish. Women do attempt suicide at a higher rate than men, but this fact in isolation would give most people the wrong impression that more women die from suicide. Women in the U.S. are roughly one fourth as likely as men to successfully commit suicide.

♥~ In California, there are more required hours of training to become a barber than to become a police officer. True. In the state of California, a barber requires 1,500 hours of training before they can take the State Board exams. The minimum training requirements for becoming a police officer in California is 664 hours of training, including the exams.

♥~ Singapore Airlines have “corpse cupboards” to store people who die mid-flight. True-ish. Only some of Singapore Airlines’s airplanes have a compartment near the exit row that’s large enough to fit a body. This is limited to their longest flights — specifically their Airbus A340-500 aircraft that fly from Singapore to Los Angeles and New York. But somehow this fact, originally from a 2004 Guardian article, has taken on a life of its own, evolving to the point where it’s become accepted as fact that all of Singapore Airlines flights have “corpse cupboards.” Even the planes that have them only use them as a last resort. As the airline told the Guardian at the time, “The compartment will be used only if no suitable space can be found elsewhere in the cabin.”

♥~ Starfish don’t have brains. True. While starfish have a complex nervous system, they lack a centralized brain.

♥~ Cuddling with a teddy bear releases the same amount of endorphins as having sex – Putting you in a good mood.  False. This supposed fact appears to come from a popular email chain letter. While hugging a teddy bear may feel good, there’s no evidence that it releases the same amount of endorphins as having sex.

♥~ Foods rich in vitamin B6 have the ability to make your dreams more vivid and help you remember them.  True-ish. Yes, there was one study done in 2002 that suggested B6 may cause people to have more vivid dreams. But it was done using just 12 students over the course of five days.

♥~  A female praying mantis rips the head off of the male during sex. True-ish. Yes, the female praying mantis will sometimes bite off its mate’s head during sex, but less than the majority of the time.  Laboratory conditions (bright lights and such) seem to cause it to happen more frequently.

♥~  A man named Ramon Artagaveytia survived a sinking ship in 1871. Forty-one  years later, he was able to finally overcome his fear and decided to take a trip aboard  “The Titanic.” He went down with The Titanic.  True. Ramon should have quit while he was ahead.

♥~ Chewing gum can help your brain function more efficiently. True-ish. Some studies have shown that chewing gum helps some people be more alert, but it didn’t help with other things like memory.

♥~ Married couples have sex an average of 58 times a year. True. But that average doesn’t really tell us much. About 15 percent of married couples haven’t had sex in the past 6 months to a year, while married couples under the age of 30 average about 111 times per year.

♥~  On average, people will spend about two weeks of their life kissing. False. This fact comes from the highly acclaimed  Journal of Snapple Studies.

♥~ LEGO men have those little holes in the top of their heads to allow air to pass through them, should a child ever get one stuck in their throat.  True.

♥~  In the Netherlands, citizens with disabilities receive money from the country to pay for sexual services up to 12 times a year. True-ish. Disabled citizens can receive benefits that include visits to prostitutes, but the “12 times a year” figure is actually pulled from advocates in the UK who have proposed a Netherlands-style program in their own country. It’s not clear if people in the Netherlands have a specific number of visits allowed per year.

♥~ The US government spends about $300,000 a year to study the body language of Putin and other world leaders. True. Though according to the Pentagon, those studies have not yet informed any policy decisions.

♥~  On average, US citizens drink 3 shots of liquor a week – Russian citizens drink twice that amount every week. True-ish. The actual number is 3.3 shots for Americans. And 6.3 shots for Russians. South Koreans drink the most hard alcohol per week with 13.7 shots.

♥~  Over-thinking is one of the top causes of depression. False. This is one of those “fun facts” you’ll only find on low rent self-help websites.

♥~  Ikea is  the world’s largest and richest “non-profit charity.” False. Ikea’s founder, Ingvar Kamprad, started the Stichting INGKA Foundation, one of the largest charitable organizations in the world. Ikea uses this foundation to avoid paying much in taxes — as little as 3.5 percent on annual profits some years. But given the elaborate tax evasion schemes of many huge corporations, this should come as no surprise. Calling Ikea the world’s largest “non-profit charity” however is very misleading.

♥~ The background noise in a room affects the taste of the food you’re eating.  True.

♥~ No matter how hard you pinch the extra skin on your elbow, you will not feel pain.  False. Your elbow has fewer pain detectors than many other parts of your body, but can still feel pain. Feel free to try this one out at home — just stay away from any vise-grips.

♥~  In 1997, Mattel released Becky, Barbie’s friend, who’s hot-pink wheelchair could not fit into the elevator of Barbie’s $100 Dream House. True. Back in 1997, Barbie’s Dream House had some major ADA violations. Mattel promised that future dream houses wouldn’t make that mistake.

♥~  It takes your brain approximately 90 seconds to decide whether or not you like someone. True. But the range appears to be more like 90 seconds to 4 minutes.

♥~  Putting dry tea bags in a pair of smelly shoes will help absorb the unpleasant odor. True. Dryer sheets are also popular.

♥~ Bob Marley was the father of 3 children born to 3 different women in one month. True. Stephen was born April 20, 1972 to Rita Marley; Robert was born May 16, 1972 to Pat Williams; and Rohan was born May 19, 1972 to Janet Hunt.

♥~ There is approximately 20 trillion pounds of ants on the earth. False. It’s actually about 6 trillion.

♥~ Luis Garavito, the world’s most dangerous serial killer (140 victims) was sentenced  to serve 22 years in prison and should be released in 2021.  True. The Colombians have since increased the maximum possible sentence for similar crimes to 60 years, but they won’t  apply to Garavito.

♥~  Humans have the natural ability to smell fear in other people’s sweat.  True. However, the studies have been rather small.

♥~  Peter B. Lewis, chairman of the Progressive Insurance company, donated over $2.3 million towards to the legalization of marijuana.  True. In 2000, Lewis was arrested in New Zealand for possession of marijuana. He died of a heart attack in November of 2013 at the age of 80. Lewis had an estimated net worth of $1.25 billion.

♥~  More tigers are living as pets in the US than there are living in the wild in Asia. True. It’s estimated that there are only about 3,200 wild tigers in all of Asia. There are about 5,000 tigers in captivity in the United States. And most of those aren’t even in zoos — they’re owned by private individuals.

♥~ Chickens with white earlobes will lay white eggs, while chickens with red earlobes lay brown eggs. True. And Aracona chickens lay green – blue eggs.

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It’s a beautiful Saturday morning and I plan to make the most of it as soon as I have a bowl of Lucky Charms. But not just any Lucky Charms.  I went to the store at about 9pm last night because we didn’t have eggs and Cole and I were starving for a fried egg sandwich. It was fated that I walked down exactly the right aisle, at the right time, on a Friday night and ran smack dab into…..

LUCKY CHARMS WITH MARSHMALLOW SHAMROCKS!!  And I’ll head you off at that pass… the Leprechaun is simple enthusiastic about being on such an exciting product. I snatched up two boxes and brought them right home. Announcing my excitement as I did a jig through the front door. Cole immediately tore open a box and grabbed a handful. Rather barbaric but how could I deny him…we are talking LUCKY CHARMS WITH MARSHMALLOW SHAMROCKS!!

Hope your day is as good as mine already is….mmmmm.

Odd Loves Company!