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Issue #354 - 2 November 2012
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^ WORD OF THE WEEK
Abomasum |
Friday 2 November - Matilda of Flanders, Queen consort of William the Conqueror, died, 1083. King Edward V of England born, 1470. Don Gaspar de Portolà led the first recorded visit by Europeans to San Francisco Bay, 1769. Soprano Jenny Lind died, 1887. Aerodymanicist Alexander Lippisch born, 1894. The start of the Siege of Ladysmith during the Second Boer War, 1899. The British Broadcasting Corporation started the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular "high definition" (200+ lines, then) service, 1936. Writer George Bernard Shaw died, 1950. Singer k.d. lang born, 1961. Saturday 3 November - Christopher Columbus first sighted Dominica, 1493. Author Thomas Kyd born, 1558. Astronomer John Bainbridge died, 1643. Outlaw Black Bart the poet robbed his last stagecoach, 1883. Canadian WWI fighter ace William George Barker born, 1894. Sharp-shooter Annie Oakley died, 1926. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, carrying Laika the dog, the first animal to enter orbit, 1957. British TV personality Ben Fogle born, 1973. Comic book artist and Batman co-creator Bob Kane died, 1998. Sunday 4 November - Joan of Arc liberated Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier, 1429. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb born, 1618. Admiral John Benbow died, 1702. Mozart's Symphony No. 36 premiered in Linz, 1783. Humorist Will Rogers born, 1879. War poet Wilfred Owen killed in action, 1918. The 13-year-old feral child Genie was discovered in Los Angeles, having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life, 1970. Chef Curtis Stone born, 1975. Supercentenarian Eugénie Blanchard died aged 114, 2010. Monday 5 November - Mongol ruler Mahmud Ghazan born, 1271. Artist Kano Motonobu died, 1559. Guy Fawkes was arrested before he could try to blow up the House of Lords, 1605. Poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox born, 1850. American suffragette Susan B. Anthony defied the law by voting, 1872. Physicist James Clerk Maxwell died, 1879. At a secret meeting Adolf Hitler declared his intention to acquire Lebensraum ("living space") for Germans, 1937. Actress Tilda Swinton born, 1960. Actor/director Jacques Tati died, 1982. Guy Fawkes Night in Great Britain. Tuesday 6 November - Conquistador Álvar Núñez Vabeza de Vaca became the first known European to set foot in Texas, after being shipwrecked, 1528. Poet Louis Racine born, 1692. Catherine II of Russia, aka Catherine the Great, died, 1796. Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America, 1861. Basketball inventor James Naismith born, 1861. Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died, 1893. Parker Brothers acquired the forerunner patents for the game Monopoly, 1935. British TV personality and sub-3-hour marathon runner Nell McAndrew born, 1973. Steeplejack Fred Dibnah died, 2004. Voting day in the 2012 US elections. Wednesday 7 November - Philosopher Ibn Hazm born, 994. The Ensisheim meteorite, the oldest meteorite with a recorded date of impact, fell to Earth in Alsace, France, 1492. Inventor Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel died, 1633. The London Gazette, the oldest journal still in publication, was first published, 1665. Antiquarian William Stukeley born, 1687. Naturalist and independent evolutionary theorist Alfred Russel Wallace died, 1913. Writer Albert Camus born, 1913. NASA launched the Mars Global Surveyor from Cape Canaveral, 1996. Boxer Joe Frazier died, 2011. Thursday 8 November - Oxford University's Bodleian Library opened to the public, 1602. Gunpowder plot leader Robert Catesby shot dead, 1605. Astronomer Edmond Halley born, 1656. Gunfighter Doc Holliday died, 1887. Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays, 1895. Author Margaret Mitchell born, 1900. Led Zeppelin IV was released, 1971. Actress Gretchen Mol born, 1972. Russian politician Vyacheslav Molotov died, 1986. World Urbanism Day.
This week, Will Rogers [viz. Sunday, above]:There are three types of men in the world. One type learns from books. One type learns from observations. And one type just has to urinate on the electric fence himself.
A mixed bag of quotations. Answers next issue or from the regular address.Last issue's quotations were:
- There are two kinds of people out there with a special gift. The ones who really think they have some kind of power. And the other guys, who think we can't figure them out. They're both wrong.
- This is America. Kidnapping a Christian is worse than harboring a fugitive.
- As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about.
- Am late, with mad hair, and can barely breathe in scary knickers.
- If you think for one moment I don't have the balls to send a man out to die, your instincts are dead wrong.
- To a new world of gods and monsters!
-- The Bride of Frankenstein [1935]- You're all going to die down here.
-- Resident Evil [2002]- Come play with us, Danny.
-- The Shining [1980]- I am reminded of a line from Erich Segal's Love Story: "Love means never having to say you're sorry." However, it is with sincere regret that I must now kill all of you.
-- Dark Shadows [2012]- Eddie, the guys and I were talking, we'd like, want to invite you to our card game on Friday night. Would you like that? Only thing is, you can't cut!
-- Edward Scissorhands [1990]
Strange stories from around the world, some of which might be true...
HAIRY! The Nevada, USA, town of Viginia City has been named as Nevada's "most bearded community" after sending 57 entrants to the Nevada Day beard contest in Carson City. The home team only sent 46 bearded men (well, we presume there weren't any bearded woman but, well, it was Nevada...). Among other categories awarded prizes were the blackest beard and the best salt-and-pepper beard, voted on by a panel including two Nevada Supreme Court justices and Miss Nevada Outstanding Teen.
BUT ARE THE BEINGS RUNNING THE SIMULATION THEMSELVES A SIMULATION? Physicists at the University of Bonn in Germany believe there is enough evidence to suggest that the universe is a computer simulation. In a classic thought experiment, any culture of sufficient size and intelligence will eventually create a simulated universe. The researchers noted that within a nest of simulations there would be diminishing limits on certain 'natural' laws such as particle energies, and indeed such limits are observed by physicists.
HEDGEHOG CRISPS! It took six people three-and-a-half hours to rescue a baby hedgehog - since named Crispian - that became stuck in an empty crisp packet in Weston-super-Mare, England, this week. A shopkeeper heard rustling and saw the hedgehog in the crisp packet trapped in an area behind railings, which workers had to cut through to rescue it. Julie Bishop, from Prickles Hedgehog Rescue who are caring for Caspian over the winter because of his small size told journalists that he must have been attracted by the warmth and smell of the packet, and "he was very, very cold and dehydrated when I emptied him out of the crisp packet" but is "thriving now".
MOBILES! A British insurance website has published a list of the strangest claims for lost or damaged mobile phones. Topping the chart was a Barnstaple, Devon, farmer who said he was using his iPhone's torch app while assisting a cow giving birth when the phone disappeared into the cow, and was damaged beyond use when it was eventually recovered. Also on the list were a woman who claimed to have baked her Nokia phone inside a Victoria Sponge cake, a phone that was broken when "thrown at a boyfriend," one stolen by monkeys, one flushed down a lavatory and another "worn out by 'intimate' use."
MELTING! Britain's infamous worst waxworks museum is on the verge of closure because nobody wants to take it on. The Louis Tussauds House of Wax in Greater Yarmouth has been run by the same couple since 1955 and gets thousands of visitors every year who want to see the wax effigies that bear very little resemblence to the celebrities and historical figures they are supposed to represent, but after owner Peter Hayes, 85, was hit by pneumonia this summer he and his wife Jane, 82, decided that it was time to retire. However nobody has come forward to buy out the museum and waxworks including Prince William with a full head of hair, an over-tanned Sean Connery and an unregal queen, so the Hayes are asking Great Yarmouth Borough Council for either a reduction in their rates or a change of use to residential.
IN BRIEF: Ben Whishaw, who plays gadget guru Q in Skyfall doesn't own a computer. Dogs copy their owners' yawns. Canadian Mountie, patrol car, attacked by moose (the car came off worse). Psychic duo fail scientific test (Who could have seen that coming? Not them...). Fox steals handbag, then returns it. Gandalf the agoraphobic owl given his own indoor aviary. Hurricane Sandy causes two coffins to rise up above ground in Crisfield, Maryland, cemetary. New claim that Jack the Ripper was a surgeon from Essex. Pennsylvania woman arrested for jumping into creek to try to save wild ducks during Hurricane Sandy; charged with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness amongst other things after having to be rescued by firefighters. Escaped monkey in St Petersburg, Florida, captured after two years on the run. Bananas, cassava, cowpea could replace potatoes as staple foodsource for millions in developing countries as a result of global warming. First a beluga whale mimicking the human voice, now a elephant is speaking (well, imitating) Korean. Curiosity rover finds Martian soil is similar to Hawaii's. Hurricane Sandy-uprooted tree reveals hundred-year-old skeleton buried underneath. Elvis Presley run over and killed while sleeping outside garage in San Francisco. Honey bees can bite. Europe's earliest-known prehistoric town discovered in Bulgaria. Suspected 'yeti hair' found in Russia DNA tested - not from any known animal in the region but closely related to human.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs injured in LA car crash. Alicia Keys to headline final night of 1Xtra Live tour later this month. Elizabeth Taylor overtakes Michael Jackson as highest-earning dead celebrity following jewellery auction. Madonna named UK's highest-selling singles female artist ahead of Rihanna and Kylie Minogue. Green Day cancel all commitments until next March while Billie Joe Armstrong receives treatment for substance abuse. Derren Brown accused of using actor pretending to be hypnotised in latest TV show. Publishers Penguin, Random House considering merger. Disney buys out Lucasfilms, taking over Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises; looking to at least two new Star Wars features; move divides fanbase. Prunella Scales, Timothy West to be honoured for support of regional theatre at Theatre Awards UK. Tim Rice's new musical adaptation of From Here to Eternity to open in West End next year. Paul McCartney dismisses claims that Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles. Labrinth tops UK singles chart ahead of Swedish House Mafia and Calvin Harris; Emeli Sandé tops UK album chart ahead of Jake Bugg and Lawson. Argo tops US box office ahead of Hotel Transylvania and Cloud Atlas. David Walliams, Sophie McKenzie among nominees for 2013 Red House Children's Book Award. Daniel Day Lewis, sister Tamasin, donate father poet Cecil Day-Lewis' papers to Oxford University's Bodleian Library. Skyfall has best UK opening weekend of franchise, but not enough to beat last year's record-setting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 or Toy Story 3. Bridget Riley becomes first woman to receive the Sikkens Prize for the use of colour in art. Will Ferguson wins Canada's Giller Prize literary award for 419. David Letterman's NYC-based TV chat show goes on air without audience or graphics team following Hurricane Sandy. Arts Council England axing 118 jobs, about 21% of workforce. Benedict Cumberbatch to play Beatles' manager Brian Epstein in biopic. Danny Baker's BBC London 94.9 show axed. Gary Barlow to guest in Miranda S3. New Jersey natives Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi among acts to play benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Alt-J win Mercury Prize for An Awesome Wave. X-Box Borderlands 2 hit by bug from jailbroken consoles that permakills characters. Late The Ascent of Man science broadcaster Jacob Bronowski to be honoured with blue plaque in Hull. Painting found hanging in spare room since 1960s found to be rare Samuel John Peploe work, auctions for £225,000 ($361,000). BBC Worldwide to close BBC Entertainment and CBeebies channels in India.
R&B singer Natina Reed (32), guitarist Jo Dunne (43), operatic baritone Robert Poulton (55), songwriter Bill Dees (73), astronomer Wallace 'Wal' Sargent (77), composer Hans Werner Henze (86), photographer Dody Weston Thompson (89).
Want a decent search engine without all of Google's tracking your searches and page visits? This week's site is Duck Duck Go - "better search AND no tracking".- http://duckduckgo.com/
^ THE AMAZING NOT-QUITE-RANDOM LOTTERY PREDICTOR!
Dumbledore Bear, our in-house psychic predicts that the following numbers will be lucky:11, 13, 21, 25, 27, 47
Little Jennifer's class was being visited by a priest, who was teaching the children about different religions. As part of the talk, he asked them what religions they followed. Little Mary told him that her parents were Baptists. Little Simon said that his parents were atheists and didn't believe in gods. Then it was Little Jennifer's turn. "Well," she said, remembering her recent visit to a church with her Anglican grandparents "we don't really go to church except when we're visiting my Grandpa and Grandma, because Daddy is a Catholic and Mummy is a Prostitute!"
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