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17 February 2012
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^ WORD OF THE WEEK
gobslotch |
Friday 17 February - Myles Standish was appointed as the first commander of the Plymouth colony, 1621. Composer Arcangelo Corelli born, 1653. Playwright Molière died, 1673. Dancer and courtesan Lola Montez born, 1821. Puccini's original version of Madame Butterfly premiered at La Scala in Milan, 1904. Apache leader Geronimo died, 1909. Swimmer Rebecca Adlington born, 1989. Actress Katherine Grayson died, 2010. Bloody Thursday in Bahrain as security forces launched a pre-dawn attack on pro-reform protesters camped at Pearl Roundabout in Manama, 2011. Saturday 18 February - Mongol emperor Kublai Khan died, 1294. Queen Mary I of England born, 1516. Artist Michelangelo died, 1564. Founding of Surakarta, Central Java, 1745. Glassmaker Louis Comfort Tiffany born, 1848. Inauguration of Jefferson Davis as provisional President of the Confederate States of America, 1861. Actress Cybil Shepherd born, 1950. FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for spying for the Soviet Union/Russia, 2001. NASCAR racing driver Dale Earnhardt died, 2001. Sunday 19 February - The Battle of Lugdunum, 197. Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus born, 1473. Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi died, 1709. The first rescuers reached the Donner Party, 1847. Actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke born, 1893. Composer Robert Fuchs died, 1927. Start of the Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945. Singer Seal born, 1963. Chinese Communist leader Deng Xiaoping died, 1997. Monday 20 February - Norway pawned Orkney and Shetland to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark, 1472. Tecún Umán, last leader of the K'iche' Maya people died, 1524. Philanthropist John 'Mad Jack' Fuller born, 1757. Abolitionist writer Frederick Douglass died, 1895. Photographer Ansel Adams born, 1902. Le Figaro published the Futurist manifesto, 1909. Actress Imogen Stubbs born, 1961. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, aboard Friendship 7, 1962. Journalist Hunter S. Thompson died, 2005. World Day of Social Justice. Tuesday 21 February - King James I of Scotland died, 1437. The Battle of Wayna Daga, 1543. Tsar Peter III of Russia born, 1728. Marx and Engels published The Communist Manifesto, 1848. Supercentenarian and longest-lived human on record Jeanne Calment born, 1875. Runner Eric Liddell died, 1945. Nixon went to China, 1972. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt born, 1979. Prima Ballerina Assoluta Dame Margot Fonteyn died, 1991. International Mother Language Day. Wednesday 22 February - Explorer Amerigo Vespucci died, 1512. Publication of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, 1632. George Washington, first President of the United States, born, 1732. Frank Woolworth opened his first 5 and Dime store, in Utica, New York, 1879. Sculptor and typographer Eric Gill born, 1882. Singer Florence Ballard died, 1976. Actress Dichan Lachman born, 1982. Legendary Broadway flop Moose Murders opened - and closed on the same night, 1983. Actor Nicholas Courtney died, 2011. Thursday 23 February - Diarist Samuel Pepys born, 1633. Posing as Richard Palmer, highwayman Dick Turpin was identified at York Castle by his former teacher, 1739. Artist Joshua Reynolds died, 1792. Exposure of the Cato Street Conspiracy to assassinate the entire British cabinet, 1820. Hotelier César Ritz born, 1850. Heisenberg first outlined his uncertainty principle in a letter to Wolfgang Pauli, 1927. Composer Edward Elgar died, 1934. Actress Dakota Fanning born, 1994. Soccer player Stanley Matthews died, 2000.
This week, Douglas Adams [attributed]:A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'
A mixed bag of quotations. Answers next issue or from the regular address.Last issue's quotations were:
- My daddy always said, "When you want to hammer a nail into a piece of wood, don't do anything fancy. Just get a hammer and pound the son of a bitch."
- For your information, Pete Townshend, at one point, almost quit The Who. And if he had, he would have ended up in this group, thus making it Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick, Tich and Pete. And if you ask me, he should have.
- You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good, doesn't it?
- Hatred can be suppressed, with reason. But you must give in to it at times or it will eat you alive.
- We love you Denver! City by the Bay!
- Sorry, girls, no monsters. Beautiful people can pass, but monsters... no. Do you understand? Look, your faces... ugh!... offend my mirror.
-- Kevin & Perry Go Large [2000]- In the name of the father, the son and the holy goat. Er... ghost.
-- Four Weddings and a Funeral [1994]- Excuse me? Am I being flirted with by a psychotic rat?
-- Fantastic Mr Fox [2009]- We've been over, and over, and over this, first you say you can't commit, and then... would you come down from there?
-- Burn After Reading [2008]- - Squirt? I'm a king.
- Not in this world.
-- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [2010]
Strange stories from around the world, some of which might be true...
F-F-F-FROZEN! Passers-by in Heidelberg, Germany, hastily called emergency services when they saw a penguin seemingly trapped on a block of ice floating down the River Necker and unable to move for fear. Crews rushed to the scene and attempted to rescue the bird, only to discover that it was a soft toy frozen to the ice. "It was someone's idea of a joke about the freezing weather," one officer explained, "but people thought it was a real penguin that had escaped from a local zoo."
DOH NUTS! Californians Jeremiah Franco and Carin Schreve have entered the record books after watching consecutive episodes of The Simpsons for 86 hours 37 minutes. They beat the previous record for continuous TV viewing - held by three fans of 24 - by 31 minutes. Held as part of The Simpsons Ultimate Fan Marathon, contestants were allowed to eat and drink but not to fall asleep during the marathon. Franco and Shreve each won a lot of Simpsons goodies and $10,500 (£6,600). The Simpsons is due to premiere its 500th episode in the USA this weekend.
BOUND FOR TROUBLE. When concerned Portland, Oregon, shoppers thought they'd seen a naked, "hazy" woman bound with duct tape in the back of a car at New Seasons Market they called the police, giving the car's license plate, and a description of the driver - a white male in his 20s with a goatee and sunglasses. The car was tracked and an officer spotted it pulling up to a house. He approached, saw the woman lying in the back, and interrogated the driver. Nikolas Harber, 31, told them that he and his girlfriend were just doing some Valentine's Day role-playing. Once unbound 26-year-old Stephanie Morgan Pelzer confirmed his story, that she had been voluntarily bound and naked in the Subaru. They were both arrested for Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree and placed in custody. It wasn't reported whether they were put in a cell together, but it's unlikely to be a Valentine's Day they'll forget.
GAS ATTACK? Eleven emergency agencies responded to an alert at a Mississipi junior college after a student allegedly wrote a note on toilet paper which read "I passed a bomb in the library." Another student found the note and handed it to a teacher, who recognised the handwriting. There was no bomb, it wasn't even a real hoax. As 19-year-old Harold Wayne Hadley's aunt explained, "He was in the restroom doodling on some toilet paper ... we are from the country, and he calls passing gas, bombs." Hadley, a straight A's student due to graduate this May, was arrested and held on $20,000 (£12,660) bail. If convicted of threatening to blow up the school he could face 10 years in prison and a $10,000 (£6,330) fine.
IT'S GRIFFIN! Following a home invasion robbery in San Diego the suspect was known to police, and was going to be arrested at his parole officer's office, but had phoned ahead to report that his car was broken down on the freeway. San Diego and California Highway Patrol officers located the vehicle at the side of the road, surrounded the tinted-windowed car with their guns drawn and used a megaphone to instruct the suspect to get out, but got no response. After two hours of a tense standoff, and with freeway traffic backed up for miles, police officers approached the car and smashed the driver's-side windows only to find that it was unoccupied. Media footage filmed from a local Fox News affiliate helicopter even shows a police dog entering a window and coming out again. At last report the police didn't think their suspect had been tipped off about the planned arrest, and were still looking for him.
Tim Vine wins best joke at the Laftas with "conjunctivitis.com - that's a site for sore eyes". Hugh Laurie announces House to end after current series. Guns N' Roses original line-up to reunite for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in April; unclear if they'll perform. Billy Connolly cast as hobbit Dain Ironfoot in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Miro's Painting-Poem sets new record price for the artist's work at Sotheby's auction (£16.8m, $26.5m), but another of his paintings, Peinture fails to sell. British Library appoints Christopher Green as its first artist-in-residence. Sir Paul McCartney finally joins other Beatles by getting star on Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Guard wins Guardian First Film award. West End revival of Alan Ayckbourn's Absent Friends getting rave reviews. James Joyce Foundation up in arms over publication of disputed public domain The Cats of Copenhagen children's story without their permission. BBC Radio 3 to mark 215th anniversary of Schubert's birth with 200 hours' continuous broadcasting of his works including the world premiere of the unfinished Symphony in D (D.708a), completed by Brian Newbould. The Artist takes seven Bafta awards including best film, best actor and best director - but not best sound (for which the 'silent' film was actually nominated). Adele returns to performing at the Grammy Awards, takes six prizes including best song and album of the year. Sir Mick Jagger back in UK singles charts with will.i.am's T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever). The Vow tops US box office, with 72% of audience female; 3D reissue of The Phantom Menace makes #4 spot. Belgian court rules that Tintin in the Congo is not racist. BBC Four to mark tenth anniversary next month with disco themed evening. Al Pacino receives National Medal of Arts at White House. Christopher Ecclestone joins cast of National Theatre's production of Sophocles' Antigone. The Woman in Black tops UK box office ahead of The Muppets and 3D The Phantom Menace. Michael Bay signs on for fourth Transformers film; probably a franchise reboot in summer 2014. Johnny Lee Miller to play Sherlock Holmes in contemporary US CBS TV pilot. NBC developing Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham prequel TV show. Retired The Artist canine star Uggie will not appear at the Oscars. New Blue Peter garden at Media City in Salford to open to the public. Finnish SF Nazi space invasion comedy Iron Sky talk of Berlin Film Festival. Sales of video games in the US down 34% on last year, ahead of PS Vita launch next week. UK police shut down RnBXclusive.com, users see warning - with their IP address - that they may have committed a criminal offence by downloading music from the site, and their activities may be logged. 90-year-old Elgar manuscript discovered during clear-out of Charnwood Borough Council storage room. Obits: singer-turned-tabloid-fodder Whitney Houston (48), musician Luis Alberto Spinetta (62), dancer Zina Bethune (66), royal journalist James Whitaker (71), actor David Kelly (82), singer/composer Dory Previn (86).
With The Muppets in cinemas this week's site is a classic - it's the Muppets' take on Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY
^ THE AMAZING NOT-QUITE-RANDOM LOTTERY PREDICTOR!
Dumbledore Bear, our in-house psychic predicts that the following numbers will be lucky:4, 6, 15, 39, 45, 49
Little Jennifer's teacher had taken her class outside and was telling them about road safety and the importance of looking both ways before crossing the road when a car raced past. "Now that is why you need to be careful when you cross the road - that car could have seriously injured you if you walked out in front of it," she said. She looked at the nearby speed limit signs and had an idea for a question. "OK, who can tell me what you would do to encourage drivers to slow down?"
Little Jennifer's hand shot up. "Miss! I'd drive a police car with flashing lights and a siren. That always makes my daddy slow right down and pull over to talk with the policeman..."