Thursday
May 27th 2004
In Today's Tribune
I hear Gilbert
Villalba is having a big old bash at his place. If you want to rock
and mingle, that seems like the place you want to be at this Sunday.
I hope you all have a safe
and fun-filled Memorial Day weekend. See you Monday.
Here's today's tidbits
Born on May 27th
Joseph Fiennes
(1970)
Jeremy Mayfield
(1969)
Todd Bridges
(1965)
Louis Gossett, Jr.
(1936)
Henry Kissinger
(1923)
Christopher Lee
(1922)
Hubert H. Humphrey
(1911)
Vincent Price
(1911)
Dashiell Hammett
(1894)
Isadora Duncan
(1878)
Wild Bill Hickock
(1837)
May 28th (1982)
Happy Anniversary to Larry and Roni Aquino
Hamster
and Frog
A guy walks into a bar and asks the bartender
if he will give him a free beer if he shows him
something amazing. The bartender agrees, so
the guys pulls out a hamster, who begins dancing and singing "Tuff
Enuff" by the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
"That IS amazing!" says the bartender and gives
the guy his free beer.
"If I show you something else amazing, will
you give me another beer?" The bartender
agrees, so the guy pulls out a small piano
and a hamster and a frog. Now the hamster
plays the piano while the frog dances and sings
"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner
Overdrive.
The bartender, completely wowed, gives him
another beer. A man in a suit, who's been watching
the entire time, offers to buy the frog for a princely
sum, which the man agrees to.
"Are you nuts?" asks the bartender. "You could've
made a fortune off that frog."
"Can you keep a secret?" asks the man.
"The hamster's a ventriloquist." ''
How I Spent My Christmas
Today's useless
fact - What flavor is Dr Pepper?
We've been known to enjoy a Dr Pepper every now and again, and we've
often pondered how the good doctor gets the peculiar taste. We've
heard it's prune juice. We've heard it's grape juice. We've even
heard it's a top-secret combination of ingredients that only a few
people know.
In hopes to find the answer we turned to the Lukol search engine and
found several web sites dedicated to the popular soft drink. We went
straight to the site from the doctor himself, Drpepper.com, a pretty
cool site with Flash animation.
We clicked on the "Our Story" link and quickly learned that Dr
Pepper is the oldest major soft drink in the U.S. It was first made
and sold in 1885 in Waco, Texas. We scrolled down and learned more
about the soft drink, its history, and Dr. Charles Pepper, the man
after whom the drink is named. However, we didn't find any
information on the drink's flavor. We decided to check out the FAQs.
The quest for an answer was solved, sort of. The second question
asks, "What's in Dr Pepper? Is prune juice in Dr Pepper?"
The answer:
The formula for Dr Pepper is proprietary, but prune juice is
definitely not one of the ingredients. It is a blend of many spices
and flavor extracts. The color is supplied by caramel especially
made for the product.
So, the question remains unsolved, but at least some of the
conjecture can be put to rest. Looks like you'll just have to be
satisfied knowing that "Dr Pepper makes the world taste better."
Hare Piece
What's The Buzzword For May 27th?
influence \IN-floo-unss\
verb
What does it mean?
: to affect or change in an indirect but usually important
way : sway
How do you use it?
Many factors influenced Allison's decision to take up
playing drums.
Are you a word wiz?
Today we've featured the verb "influence." But when
"influence" first came into English in the Middle Ages, it
was a noun that referred to something believed to affect
human behavior. To what do you think "influence" first referred?
A. a bodily fluid
B. the ocean tides
C. a fluid believed to flow from the stars
D. a drink prepared with milk and honey
Answer:
Back in the 14th century, when "influence" first came into
English, people believed that the stars had the power to
affect human behavior. In fact, they thought that a fluid
flowed to earth from the stars and affected people's
actions. They used the word "influence" to refer to this
ethereal fluid. ("Influence" traces back to the Latin verb
"fluere," meaning "to flow.") Over time, belief in the
celestial fluid died out. But the word "influence" retained
the meaning of something that has the power to affect or
change. As a verb it came to mean to affect or change in an
indirect way.
Today's Jigsaw puzzle
CLICK HERE
LARRY, RONI AND FAMILY
That's all for this week. Have
a great and safe weekend.
The following is what appeared in Wednesday's edition.............
In Today's Tribune
The other day I was doing a search on
Google and afterwards, out of curiosity, I typed in "Amerfino". Up
popped up two links to the Neen Tribune. I hit the "items omitted"
link and five more pages for the Neen Tribune showed up. This peaked
my curiosity even more so I went to Yahoo search and did the same
thing. A total of eight pages showed up there with my name plastered
all over them. Man! I felt like a celebrity!
If any of you would like my autograph,
please send ten dollars and a self-addressed envelope to:
Amerfino c/o AquinoHotline, Hollywood, Ca.
My secretary and I will try to fill your
requests from my jacuzzi. Thank you.
Maybe I'll take the next two weeks off.
Here's today's tidbits
Born on May 26th
Lenny Kravitz
(1964)
Sally Ride
(1951)
Philip Michael Thomas
(1949)
Hank Williams, Jr.
(1949)
Stevie Nicks
(1948)
Brent Musburger
(1939)
James Arness
(1923)
Peggy Lee
(1920)
Jay Silverheels
(1919)
Frankie Manning
(1914)
Peter Cushing
(1913)
Robert Morley
(1908)
John Wayne
(1907)
Al Jolson
(1886)
The
Thrill is Gone
"The thrill is gone from my marriage," Bill told his friend Doug.
Doug suggests, "Why not add some intrigue to your life and have an
affair?"
"But what if my wife finds out?" asks Bill.
"Heck, this is a new age we live in, Bill. Go ahead and tell her
about it!" said Doug.
So Bill went home and said, "Dear, I think an affair will bring us
closer together."
"Forget it," said his wife. "I've tried that—it didn't work."
Bride Of Munster
Today's useless
fact - What is the difference between white sugar and brown sugar?
Granulated white sugar is essentially pure sucrose, whether derived
from tropical sugar cane, or temperate sugar beets. White sugars
vary mostly in the size of their crystals. The degree of processing
by the manufacturer may also account for different degrees of
whiteness.
Brown sugars are of two basic types: sticky and free-flowing. Both
are produced by adding a suitable type of syrup (these days it's
usually molasses) to purified or refined sugar. The color and
texture of the final product are determined by the ratio of sugar to
syrup in the mix, as well the the original colors of the constituent
ingredients.
One more noteworthy difference: a cup of brown sugar has slightly
more calories than white, but it "also contains 187 milligrams of
calcium, 56 of phosphorous, 4.8 of iron, 757 of potassium and 97 of
sodium, compared to only scant traces of those nutrients found in
granulated sugar."
What's The Buzzword For May 26th?
tentacle
\TEN-tih-kul\ noun
What does it mean?
1 : one of the long flexible structures that stick out
usually around the head or mouth of an animal (as a worm or
fish) and are used especially for feeling or grasping
2 : something that resembles a tentacle; especially : a
sensitive hair on a plant
How do you use it?
The nautilus, which captures its prey with its numerous
tentacles, was one of the most bizarre and intriguing
creatures on display at the aquarium.
Are you a word wiz?
Which one of these words do you think comes from the same
root as "tentacle"?
A. tender
B. barnacle
C. tempt
D. nautical
Answer:
You've touched on the right answer with C. Both "tentacle"
and "tempt" come from the Latin verb "tentare," which means
"to touch or feel" or "to try." An animal's tentacle is a
feeler that often causes whatever it feels to end up as a
meal. When someone tempts you, he or she may be feeling you
out and trying to "touch" some weakness inside of you.
The adjective "tentative" is another offspring of "tentare."
"Tentative" means "not fully worked out" (as "tentative plans")
or "hesitant, uncertain" (as "a tentative smile.") When you
are "tentative" about something, it's as if you are trying it
out by touching or feeling it, but haven't decided yet whether
to really grab onto it.
Today's Jigsaw puzzle
CLICK HERE
THE PARTRIDGE PAMILY
That's all for today. Tune in
tomorrow for more stuff.
The following is what appeared in Tuesday's edition.............
In Today's Tribune
About three weeks ago Christine and I were
browsing through a sports memorabilia store in Universal City Walk
and I was truly astounded. First of all, I haven't really kept up to
date on sports for the last 10 years or thereabouts so maybe I've
been kept in the dark, but who is this Derek Jeter guy? I know
he's the toast of New York. The guy with a huge salary who's
supposed to lead the Yankees to another World Series this year. How
long has he been around? 10 years or so? What records has he set?
This store was selling an autographed
Willie Mays #24 Giants jersey in a glass frame for $800. Right next
to that was Hank Aaron's jersey for $900. And right next to
hammering Hank's was a Reggie Jackson jersey for $1000. All three of
these gentlemen were great ballplayers and have contributed
enormously to the game of baseball.
Then there's Derek Jeter. His autographed
jersey was going for a whopping $1,300.
I'll bet Jeter has never made "the catch"
like Willie did in the 1954 World Series.
To the best of my knowledge, I don't think
Jeter has hit as many home runs as Hank did.
As much as I hate Reggie Jackson, it's hard
not to admire a guy who hit 3 home runs in one game against the
Dodgers in the 1977 World Series. Four home runs in four at bats.
That's truly a remarkable feat. Has Jeter done that?
Ain't nothing sacred?
Here's today's tidbits
Born on May 25th
Mike Myers
(1963)
Connie Sellecca
(1955)
Frank Oz
(1944)
Leslie Uggams
(1943)
Tom T. Hall
(1936)
Beverly Sills
(1929)
Robert Ludlum
(1927)
Miles Davis
(1926)
Jeanne Crain
(1925)
Claude Akins
(1918)
Ralph W. Emerson
(1803)
Robbing
Lawyers
A gang of robbers broke into a lawyer's club by mistake. The old
legal lions gave them a fight for their life and their money. The
gang was very happy to escape.
"It ain't so bad," one crook noted. "We got $25 between us."
The boss screamed: "You idiot--we had $175 when we broke in!"
The Day I Got Kicked Out Of Dodger Stadium
Today's useless
fact - Is the Red Sea really red?
Browsing
LUKOL Red Sea Directory,
we came across a destination guide, created by the Egyptian Ministry
of Tourism, which offered one answer. Author E.M. Forster stated
that the "exquisite corridor of tinted mountains and radiant water"
was named Mare Rostrum (Latin for Red Sea) by early travelers
because of the region's reddish mineral-rich mountains.
Encyclopedia Britannica suggests that the Red Sea is named not for
the glowing color of its coastal mountains, but rather for an
occasional bloom of Trichodesmium erythraeum algae, which clouds and
muddies the usually translucent blue-green waters.
A 1646 chapter from English author and physician Sir Thomas Browne
reports that Sir Walter Raleigh believed the unusual color of the
water to be "no more then a seeming rednesse." Raleigh also observed
that the water varied, "in some places it is very green, in others
white and yellow, according to the colour of the earth or sand at
the bottome."
Although our sources may vary on the explanation for the unique hue
of the sea, they all agree that the answer to today's question is NO
- the Red Sea is not really red.
What's The Buzzword For May 25th?
syzygy \SIH-zuh-jee\ noun
What does it mean?
: the nearly straight-line configuration of three celestial
bodies (as the sun, moon, and earth during a solar or lunar
eclipse) in a gravitational system
How do you use it?
When syzygy occurs, the tide-producing forces of the sun and
moon reinforce one another, making the tides more extreme than
usual.
Are you a word wiz?
"Syzygy" is an uncommon word for most of us, but people who
study astronomy are likely to have heard of it. Which of the
following do you think is another word from the field of
astronomy?
A. blunderbuss
B. stethoscope
C. palladium
D. quadrature
Answer:
Give yourself a star if you picked D! Like "syzygy,"
"quadrature" has to do with planets, stars, and the like.
"Quadrature" refers to a configuration of celestial objects
in which two bodies, such as the moon and the sun, have an
angular separation of 90 degrees as seen from the earth.
Here's more vocabulary that's out of this world. The noun
"perihelion" refers to the point in the path of a heavenly
body, such as a planet, that is nearest to the sun. By
contrast, "aphelion" means the point in the path of a
heavenly body that is farthest from the sun.
Today's Jigsaw puzzle
CLICK HERE
ELVIS WANNABES
That's all for today. Tune in
tomorrow for more stuff.
The following is what appeared in Monday's edition.............
In Today's Tribune
Childhood Memories
You must know that there is nothing higher and stronger and more
wholesome for life in the future than some good memory, especially a
memory of childhood, of home. People talk to you a great deal about
education. But some good, sacred memory preserved from childhood –
that is perhaps the best education. For if a man has only one good
memory left in his heart, even that may keep him from evil…And if he
carries many such memories with him into life, he is safe for the
end of his days.
-Fyodor Dostoevsky
Here's today's tidbits
Born on May 24th
Billy Gilman
(1988)
Joe Dumars
(1963)
Rosanne Cash
(1955)
Priscilla Presley
(1945)
Patti LaBelle
(1944)
Gary Burghoff
(1943)
Bob Dylan
(1941)
Tommy Chong
(1938)
Pentagon
Study
The Pentagon once did a study on why so many American Servicemen
marry women in the countries where they're stationed.
Contrary to popular belief, loneliness had nothing to do with it.
Once the men rotated back to the US, all their in-laws were
thousands of miles away.
Today's useless
fact - Who was the Birdman of Alcatraz?
A quick perusal of LUKOL's Alcatraz Island category yielded some
interesting biographical facts about the world's most famous
incarcerated ornithologist. Curiously enough, Robert Stroud was
never allowed to own birds during his 17 years on Alcatraz. He made
his reputation during the 30 years he previously spent at
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas.
Robert Stroud was a career prisoner; he was sentenced to 12 years
after he killed a bartender in 1909, then, seven years later,
sentenced to life for killing a prison guard. He was considered a
dangerous inmate, capable of instigating violence at a moment's
notice, and was kept in relative isolation.
At Leavenworth, Stroud developed a keen interest in birds, and
eventually housed up to 300 of them in two additional cells.
Eventually he wrote two books on canaries and their diseases, and
became something of a celebrity. But he became too famous for his
own good; one dark and stormy night in 1942, he was transferred to
Alcatraz.
He spent 17 years on The Rock - 6 years in segregation, and 11 years
in the prison hospital. There he wrote his life story, which was
subsequently turned into a popular movie starring Burt Lancaster,
but he was never allowed to keep birds, and he was never allowed to
see the film. He died in the Medical Center for Federal prisoners in
Springfield, Missouri, on November 21, 1963.
Today's Jigsaw puzzle
CLICK HERE
THE FOUR OF US
That's all for today. Tune in
tomorrow for more stuff.
