Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Review Tuesday: The Matarese Countdown by Robert Ludlum
0 comments Posted by jaraneilang at 11:22 AMThe book is a series of twists and turns as the good guys and bad guys are in a death grip for control of the entire planet.
All in all, it was a fun book to read and the 566 pages went by very quickly. If you like Ludlum and read the first one, definitely consider this book as well!
Labels: Literature, Reviews
Thursday, August 11, 2011
1. To provide or obtain lodging.2. To direct (a soldier) by ticket, note, or verbal order, where to lodge.
1. Lodging for a soldier, student, etc., as in a private home or nonmilitary public building.2. A small chunk of wood; a short section of a log, especially one cut for fuel.
- The general state of mind characterized by complete ignorance about sex and human reproduction.
- Not a python—a woolly lemur. It was named for Cleese, who played a lemur-loving zookeeper in the 1997 film comedy Fierce Creatures and hosted a 1998 documentary about the endangered species titled Operation Lemur.
- SOS: Arapahoe became the first American ship to use the distress signal (1909)
- Alcatraz: island prison in San Francisco Bay received its first civilian inmates (1934)
- Hussein ibn Talal: 16-year-old was proclaimed king of Jordan after his father was declared mentally unfit (1952)
- Watts riots: civil disturbances in Los Angeles left 34 dead (1965)
- The Mall of America: the most-visited mall in the world opened on the site of Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota (1992)
- Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778-1852): father of gymnastics
- Alex Haley (1921-1992): author of Roots; also, writers Eduard Devrient (1801-1877), Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978) and Louise Bogan (1897-1970)
- Jerry Falwell (1933-2007): Moral Majority founder
- Steve Wozniak (61): cofounder of Apple Computers
- Hulk Hogan (58): wrestler/actor, host of NBC's American Gladiators
- Julia Anne Clarke (39): aka Julie Clarke, Playmate 03/91, actress, model, hardbody
Labels: Babes, Birthdays, Cinema, Geek-Out, History, Humor, Literature, politics, Technology, Television, Theology, Trivia, Word of the day
Sunday, August 7, 2011
- A vein, as of a leaf or the wing of an insect.
- When you buy a bag of chips thinking that it will be full of chips but when you open the bag it's barely full.
- Three—each with a different husband. The first was a son, Wade; the second, a daughter, Ella; the third, a daughter, Bonnie. The first two children were eliminated from the 1939 movie.
- Purple Heart: the military decoration was instituted by George Washington (1782)
- Ulysses: a US appeals court ruled that the James Joyce novel was not obscene and therefore should not be banned (1934)
- Kon-Tiki: the balsa wood raft made it across the Pacific, crashing at the end on a reef in the Tuomotu Islands; this demonstrated that pre-Columbian South Americans could have reached and settled Polynesia (1947)
- Gulf of Tonkin resolution: US Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to use military force in Vietnam (1964)
- Lynne Cox: swims the frigid Bering Strait, becoming the first person to swim from the US to the Soviet Union (1987)
- Twin Towers: Philippe Petit walked a tightrope between the towers of New York's World Trade Center (1974)
- US embassy bombings: simultaneous al-Qaeda attacks in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killed over 200 people and wounded thousands (1998)
- Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga (1533-1594): soldier and poet, La Araucana
- Mata Hari (1876-1917): dancer/spy
- Louis Leakey (1903-1972): paleoanthropologist
- Garrison Keillor (69): writer/host of A Prairie Home Companion
- David Duchovny (51): actor, The X-Files, Californication; also, performers Stan Freberg (85), Wayne Knight (56), Harold Perrineau (48) and Charlize Theron (36)
- Jimmy Wales (45): founder of Wikipedia
- Sidney Crosby (24): center for Pittsburgh Penguins; runners Abebe Bikila (1932-1973) and Alberto Salazar (53) share this birth date
Labels: Babes, Birthdays, Cinema, Food, History, Literature, politics, Sports, Television, Things in a jar, Trivia, Violence, Word of the day, X-Files
Saturday, August 6, 2011
1. Vigor; verve; pep.2. Courage and aggressiveness.3. Skill; know-how.
- When a woman officially declares a man to be in her 'friend zone'.
- The naval semaphore signals for “N” and “D”—shorthand for nuclear disarmament.
- Holy Roman Empire: came to an end with the abdication of Francis II (1806)
- Bolivia: declared independence from Spain (1825)
- electric chair: was first used as method of execution, on murderer William Kemmler at New York's Auburn Prison (1890)
- Enola Gay: US bomber dropped an atomic weapon on Hiroshima, killing over 60,000 instantly; it was the first-ever use of nuclear warfare (1945)
- Voting Rights Act: was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson; it prohibited states from imposing racial discrimination at the polls based on literacy or financial ability (1965)
- Gerry Adams: the Sinn Féin president and British PM Tony Blair meet; it's the first time in 76 years that a British leader met with an IRA ally (1997)
- Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892): Victorian age poet, "The Lady of Shalott"
- Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955): bacteriologist who discovered penicillin
- Richard Hofstadter (1916-1970): Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
- Andy Warhol (1928-1987): pop artist who had his "fifteen minutes of fame"
Jeremy Ratchford (46): actor, Cold Case; also, actors Lucille Ball (1911-1989), Robert Mitchum (1917-1997), Peter Bonerz (73), Dorian Harewood (61), Catherine Hicks (60), Michelle Yeoh (49), Merrin Dungey (40), David Campbell (38), Vera Farmiga and Ever Carradine (both 37), Soleil Moon Frye (35), and Stepfanie Kramer (54)
- Geri Halliwell (39): the former Ginger Spice; musicians Charlie Haden (74), Pat MacDonald (59) and Patsy and Peggy Lynn (both 46) were also born on this date
Labels: Babes, Birthdays, Cinema, History, Literature, Music, New York, People who suck, politics, Pop, Television, Trivia, Violence, Word of the day
Friday, August 5, 2011
- To pass over or disregard (a person) by giving a promotion, position, etc., to another instead.
- When the cooking time of food needs to be adjusted to account for a weaker or stronger microwave.
- “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
- "Damn the torpedoes": famous order was given by Union Admiral David G. Farragut as he led his fleet at Mobile Bay during the Civil War (1864)
- Little Orphan Annie: Harold Gray's comic strip debuted (1924)
- Nelson Mandela: South African resistance leader and later president was arrested and jailed; his imprisonment lasted till 1990 (1962)
- Marilyn Monroe: was found dead after overdosing on sleeping pills (1962)
- Test Ban Treaty: the US, Britain and the Soviet Union agreed to prohibit nuclear weapon tests underwater, in the atmosphere and in outer space (1963)
- Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893): author of novels and short stories, "The Necklace"
- Neil Armstrong (81): first human to walk on the moon
- Erika Slezak (65): Victoria Lord on One Life to Live; other actors born on this date include Zakes Mokae (1934-2009), John Saxon (75), Loni Anderson (65), Holly Palance (61), Maureen McCormick (55) and Jonathan Silverman (45)
- Patrick Ewing (49): former NY Knicks basketball star
- Adam "MCA" Yauch (47): filmmaker who began as a rapper with the Beastie Boys
Labels: Astronomy, Babes, Birthdays, Cinema, Food, History, Humor, Literature, politics, Sports, Television, Trivia, Violence, Word of the day
Thursday, August 4, 2011
1. Conveying meaning by hint, euphemism, innuendo, or the like.2. Pertaining to, or characteristic of Aesop or his fables.
- A TSA pat-down with a "happy landing."
- Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial.
- freedom of the press: a legal precedent was established when newspaper editor John Peter Zenger was acquitted of seditious libel; he had published criticism of the colonial governor of New York (1735)
- US Coast Guard: was launched as the Revenue-Marine, later called the Revenue Cutter Service (1790)
- Anne Frank: teenage Jewish diarist was discovered, along with her family, by Nazis; their hiding place was revealed by a Dutch informant and they were sent to concentration camps, where most perished (1944)
- Burkina Faso: West African republic received its new name meaning "land of upright people"; it was formerly called Upper Volta (1984)
- Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900-2002): wife of George VI, mother of Elizabeth II
- Louis Armstrong (1901-1971): jazz trumpeter
- Barack Obama (50): the 44th POTUS
- Roger Clemens (49): pitcher with the record for Cy Young Awards — 7; plus, runner Glenn Cunningham (1909-1988)
- Dennis Lehane (46): novelist, Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone; writers Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) and Robert Hayden (1913-1980) were also born on this date
- Daniel Dae Kim (43): Jin-Soo Kwon on Lost; also, actors Richard Belzer (67), Billy Bob Thornton (56), Lauren Tom (50), James Tupper (46) and Michael DeLuise (42)
Labels: Babes, Birthdays, Cinema, History, Literature, Money, Music, People who suck, politics, Sports, Television, Trivia, Word of the day
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
- A realization or actuality as opposed to a potentiality.
- In vitalist philosophy, a vital agent or force directing growth and life.
- chilling cinematic moments when hungry sharks chomp on underwater aluminum cages, filled with divers, during TV news stories and so-called documentaries
- An earl’s wife is a countess; a marquis’s wife, a marchioness.
Declaration of Independence
: members of the Continental Congress began putting their John Hancocks on "The Unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America" (1776)
- Marihuana Tax Act: US law doused marijuana use, sale and possession with sheer legal intricacy (1937)
- PT-109: a torpedo boat pathetically commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy was sunk off the Solomon Islands by a Japanese destroyer (1943)
- Gulf of Tonkin: the Pentagon reported attacks on US ships by North Vietnamese; the incident led to a Congressional resolution and expansion of the war effort (1964)
- Kuwait: was invaded by Iraq, triggering the Gulf War five months later (1990)
- Wes Craven (72): director, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream; director Kevin Smith (41) was also born on this date
- Isabel Allende (69): novelist, The House of the Spirits; novelists Rómulo Gallegos (1884-1969) and James Baldwin (1924-1987) shared this birth date
- Mary-Louise Parker (47): Weeds' Nancy Botwin; also, actors Peter O'Toole (79), Max Wright (68), Joanna Cassidy (66), Kathryn Harrold (61), Butch Patrick (58), Victoria Jackson (52), Cynthia Stevenson (49), Sam Worthington (35), Edward Furlong (34) and Hallie Kate Eisenberg (19)
Labels: Babes, Birthdays, Cinema, History, Literature, People who suck, politics, pr0n, Television, Trivia, Violence, Wild Life, Word of the day
Monday, August 1, 2011
- Characterized by the singing of several notes to one syllable of text, for emotional impact, as in blues and other musical styles.
- When you try not to be rude texting while you are out with friends so you hide it by texting with the phone still in your bag. This is an attempt to trick people that you are with into not thinking you are rude when in fact it is so obvious when you are standing there with your bag open and your whole hand is in the bag, holding your phone, texting.
- Chico’s Bail Bonds.
- WWI: erupted as Germany declared war on Russia (1914)
- Fulbright: scholarship program was signed into US law (1946)
- MTV: cable music station was launched with, aptly, The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1981)
- Claudius (10 BCE-54 CE): 4th Roman emperor
- Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829): the naturalist credited with first use of the word "biology"
- Herman Melville (1819-1891): author of Moby Dick; plus, writer Anne Hébert (1916-2000)
- Dom DeLuise (1933-2009): actor and cookbook writer; actors Giancarlo Giannini (69) and John Carroll Lynch (48) share this birth date
- Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008): fashion designer, popularized pants for women
- Robert Cray (58): blues guitarist and singer; musicians Jerry Garcia (1942-1995), Michael Penn (53), Joe Elliot (52), Chuck D (51), Coolio (48) and Adam Duritz (47) also celebrate birthdays today
Labels: Birthdays, Cinema, Clothing, Food, History, Literature, Music, People who suck, politics, Rock, Trivia, Violence, Word of the day




