Dedicated To The Memory Of Esperanza Aquino
Friday August 27th, 2004
In Today's Edition
Don't judge people by their relatives.
Born on August 27th
Mason Betha (1978)
Alex Lifeson (1953)
Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens (1952)
Barbara Bach (1947)
Tuesday Weld (1943)
Daryl Dragon (1942)
Martha Raye (1916)
Mother Teresa (1910)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908)
Crystina Tamayo
August 29th
Alicia Rooney
Elvira and Richard Tuttle's Anniversary
Leno-Ism
"According to a recent survey, a large number of men do not wash their hands before leaving the restroom. The survey-taker said he stood in the restroom for a week, observing men going in and out.
40% of the men wash their hands,
40% of the men did not wash their hands,
and 20% of the men punched the guy in the face for watching them go to the restroom."
- Jay Leno
Today's useless fact - What's the difference between African and Asian elephants and what are their average weights?
The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest living land animal, weighing up to 7,500 kg (8 tons) and standing 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) at the shoulder. The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) weighs about 5,500 kg (6 tons) with a shoulder height of 3 meters. The Indian elephant's ears are smaller than those of the African elephant.
The Indian elephant is native to the Indian subcontinent and southeastern Asia, while the African elephant is found in sub- Saharan Africa. Both species live in habitats ranging from thick jungle to savanna. They live in small family groups, although most bulls live in bachelor herds apart from the females (cows).
The Indian elephant is considered an endangered species, and the African elephant is classified as threatened.
What's The Buzzword For August 27th?
flambeau \FLAM-boh\ noun
What does it mean?
: a flaming torch
How do you use it?
"The shadow was exchanged for the light of a flambeau, as
his carriage stopped, and the great door of his chateau was
opened to him." (Charles Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_)
Are you a word wiz?
From what language do you think English acquired the word
"flambeau"?
A. Spanish
B. Malay
C. French
D. Bantu
Answer:
Your vocabulary skills are red hot if you chose C! The
French word "flambeau" was adopted into English in the 1600s.
"Flambeau" derives from Middle French "flambe," meaning
"flame." You might have been tipped off by the "-eau" ending
of "flambeau"; many French words end in that combination of
letters. Another can be found in our quotation above.
"Chateau" is also from French, though it traces ultimately
back to Latin "castellum," meaning "fortress." By the way,
if you want to talk about more than one "flambeau" or
"chateau," you have your choice of plurals. You can pluralize
these words as "flambeaux" and "chateaux," or as "flambeaus"
and "chateaus."
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
Click Here
Organic Seven
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend.
The following is what appeared in Thursday's edition.
In Today's Edition
Women who seek to be equal to men surely lack ambition.
Born on August 26th
Macaulay Culkin (1980)
Branford Marsalis (1960)
Geraldine Ferraro (1935)
Ben Bradlee (1921)
Christopher Isherwood (1904)
Alanah Aquino
Chinese Laundry
A woman sends her clothes out to a Chinese laundry. When they comes back, there are still stains in her panties. The next week she encloses a note to the Chinaman that says, "Use more soap on panties." This goes on for several weeks, the woman sending the same note to the laundry. Finally, fed up, the Chinaman responds with his own note that said, "Use more paper on ass!"
Today's useless fact - What happened to Dolly, the cloned sheep? Did she ever have offspring and is she still alive?
Since her creation, Dolly, cloned from a mammary cell of a six- year-old sheep, has been big news. We hoped she was still making headlines as we set out to learn her fate. After checking several links in the LUKOL Cloning category, we learned that Dolly did indeed give birth -- on April 13, 1998, she had a healthy lamb named Bonnie. And a year later, she gave birth to triplets. All were conceived "the old fashioned way."
Further, we found an article from CNN.com that stated that in March of 2001, Dolly and the rest of the livestock housed at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland, were threatened by the foot-and-mouth epidemic sweeping through Britain. In response, Dolly was quarantined, and visitors, who have flocked to see her since her birth, were banned.
Later article dated July 5, 2001, reports that celebrations for Dolly's 5th birthday were put on hold due to the quarantine, so Dolly celebrated her special day in isolation.
Sadly, Dolly died on February 14, 2003. She was suffering from progressive lung disease and scientists at the Roslin Institute made the decision to put her to sleep. Her body was preserved and is now on display at the National Museum of Scotland.
What's The Buzzword For August 26th?
pinnacle \PIN-ih-kul\ noun
What does it mean?
1 : a slender tower generally coming to a point at the top
2 : a high pointed peak
3 : the highest point of achievement or development
How do you use it?
"On the edge of a jutting pinnacle, three or four hundred
feet above him, there stood a creature somewhat resembling a
sheep in appearance, but armed with a pair of gigantic horns."
(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, _A Study In Scarlet_)
Are you a word wiz?
"Pinnacle" is the word used to mean "a high peak" in the
Sherlock Holmes story we've quoted, but we detect other words
that mean the same thing. See if you can pick out a synonym
of "pinnacle" from the line up of suspects below.
A. sect
B. summit
C. savant
D. segment
Answer:
Elementary, my dear Watson: the answer is B! Like
"pinnacle," "summit" can mean "the highest point," such as
the summit of a mountain. Also like "pinnacle," it can refer
to the highest point of achievement or development, for
example, "the period that marked the summit of Egyptian
culture." Likewise, the words "peak" and "apex" can be used
to describe both a physical and a figurative high point.
Other words that top this list include "acme," "culmination,"
and "climax," which all suggest the highest point of
development that can be achieved.
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more stuff.
The following is what appeared in Wednesday's edition.
In Today's Edition
A Stanford Medical research group advertised for participants in a study of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
They were looking for therapy clients who had been diagnosed with this disorder.
The response was gratifying; they got 3,000 responses about three days after the ad came out.
All from the same person.
Born on August 25th
Kel Mitchell (1978)
Claudia Schiffer (1970)
Billy Ray Cyrus (1961)
Elvis Costello (1954)
Willy DeVille (1950)
Gene Simmons (1949)
Rollie Fingers (1946)
Regis Philbin (1933)
Sean Connery (1930)
Monty Hall (1923)
Leonard Bernstein (1918)
Mel Ferrer (1917)
Van Johnson (1916)
Ruby Keeler (1909)
Clara Bow (1905)
Frog Future
A frog telephones the Psychic Hotline and is told, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you."
The frog says, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party, or what?"
"No," says the psychic. "Next semester in her biology class."
Today's useless fact - How do I make a citizen's arrest?
As we learned from the links in the LUKOL Legal Help Category, we can tell you with full confidence that it is a very, very bad idea to try to drag someone down to the police station on your own. As one of the links in the directory says:
When you sign or make a complaint against someone for an infraction of the law, you are in affect "arresting" them...I cannot recommend that you try and "arrest" someone by restraining them physically, as you may be subject to liability if you do that. Work within the system by filing your charge with a police department or States Attorney with jurisdiction.
Needless to say, attempting to manhandle someone renders you vulnerable to all kinds of nasty lawsuits, in addition to physical harm. Another link from the directory offers this helpful four-step guide to Making a Citizen's Arrest:
1. Notify police upon observing a crime.
2. Provide police with information to assist in identifying the violator.
3. Sign the complaint form. (After this, most cases are concluded without your further involvement.)
4. Appear in court when requested by the District Attorney's Office.
The lesson? The telephone is mightier than the sword.
What's The Buzzword For August 25th?
hector \HEK-ter\ verb
What does it mean?
1 : to behave in a very proud manner; especially : to walk
with a proud strut
2 : to frighten by threatening or bullying
How do you use it?
Even though he had just pitched a no-hit game, Daryl was
too sportsmanlike to hector in front of the other team.
Are you a word wiz?
The verb "hector" was inspired by the name of someone. Of
the choices below, which one do you think this original Hector
was?
A. an ancient hero
B. a medieval knight
C. a sheriff from the Old West
D. a powerful millionaire
Answer:
You get bragging rights if you picked A! In the _Iliad_, the
epic poem authored by Greek poet Homer, the Trojan hero Hector
is portrayed as the ideal warrior and a noble human being. In
the late 1600s, however, a group of bullies known as "Hectors"
appeared on the streets of London. They thought of themselves
as gallant, daring young men, but everyone else saw them as
boastful troublemakers who waved their swords around and
threatened peaceful citizens. Because of this, the noun
"hector" came to mean a person who brags and bullies others.
Shortly afterwards, it gave rise to the verb "hector," meaning
"to strut proudly" and "to bully."
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more stuff.
The following is what appeared in Tuesday's edition.
In Today's Edition
It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there has only been 230 years of total peace throughout the civilized world.
Born on August 24th
Marlee Matlin(1965)
Craig Kilborn(1962)
Cal Ripken, Jr.(1960)
Steve Guttenberg(1958)
Yasser Arafat(1929)
Durward Kirby(1912)
Duke Kahanamoku(1890)
Dishes
A young man called his mother and announced excitedly that he had just met the woman of his dreams. Now what should he do?
His mother had an idea: "Why don't you send her flowers, and on the card invite her to your apartment for a home-cooked meal?"
He thought this was a great strategy, and a week later, the woman came to dinner. His mother called the next day to see how things had gone.
"I was totally humiliated," he moaned. "She insisted on washing the dishes."
"What's wrong with that?" asked his mother.
"We hadn't started eating yet."
Today's useless fact - Who was Jesse Owens?
There have been many heroes in the long history of the Olympic Games. One such hero competed in the 1936 games and is still an inspiration to athletes today. He was Jesse Owens.
Owens was only 23 when he competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. He had more to overcome than just athletic competition. Jesse Owens was an African-American. His father was a sharecropper in Alabama, and his grandfather had been a slave. In the 1930s, African-Americans were barred from playing on major league sports teams, a fact rather hard to believe today.
Adolf Hitler, in power in 1936, believed that the German people were the super race and that everyone else was vastly inferior, especially Jews and African-Americans. The stadium in Berlin was to be a showcase for Hitler's belief in the superiority of the German people.
Jesse Owens proved Hitler wrong. Competing against top German athletes, he won four gold medals in the sprints and long jump, a record that was not equaled for almost 50 years when Carl Lewis did the same in 1984. In winning the four medals, Owens broke three Olympic records and tied a fourth. The 10 African-Americans on the United States Olympic team won 13 medals. Hitler refused to shake any of their hands and decided that African-Americans should not be allowed to compete in future games.
One of the most stirring moments occurred when Jesse Owens fouled on his first two attempts at the long jump and had only one jump left. It's been rumored that a German long jumper, Luz Long, told Owens to place a towel behind the takeoff board to use as a starting point. Whether it is true or not, the fact is that Owens's final jump set an Olympic record. Luz Long and Jesse Owens, two competitors, walked off the field arm in arm. Of all the tributes paid to Jesse Owens during his lifetime, perhaps the most memorable are the words written on his gravestone,
OLYMPIC CHAMPION 1936 A WINNER WHO KNEW THAT WINNING WAS NOT EVERYTHING
What's The Buzzword For August 24th?
potable \POH-tuh-bul\ adjective
What does it mean?
: suitable for drinking
How do you use it?
"Before you buy the house," advised the lawyer, "have the
water in the well tested to make sure it is potable."
Are you a word wiz?
"Potable" comes from the Latin word "potare," meaning "to
drink." Which of the following words do you think is also
from "potare"?
A. potluck
B. juice
C. potion
D. nectar
Answer:
Cheers if you chose answer C! Like "potable," "potion" is
a descendant of the Latin verb "potare," meaning "to drink."
Unlike potable liquids, not all potions are safe to drink;
"potion" is defined as "a mixture of liquids, as medicine or
poison." "Potare" is akin to the Latin verb "bibere," which
also means "to drink." "Bibere" is the root word of our word
"beverage," meaning a liquid for drinking, such as milk or
juice. Another word that comes from "bibere" is "imbibe,"
which usually means "to swallow liquid."
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more stuff.
