Founded : December 2000 Created By : Esther Aquino and Joseph Garcia
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ESPERANZA AQUINO
Founded : December 2000 Created By : Esther Aquino and Joseph Garcia
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ESPERANZA AQUINO
May 19th, 2005
In Today's Edition
"If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball." ~Jack Lemmon
Born on May 19th
Grace Jones (1952)
Pete Townshend (1945)
Nora Ephron (1941)
James Fox (1939)
Malcolm X (1925)
Ho Chi Minh (1890)
Kevin Garnett (1976)
May 21st
Ronnie & Kim Hernandez's Anniversary
Dapper
A very elderly gentleman, (mid nineties) very well dressed, hair well groomed, great looking suit, flower in his lapel smelling slightly of a good after shave, presenting a well looked after image, walks into an upscale cocktail lounge.
Seated at the bar is an elderly looking lady, (mid eighties).
The gentleman walks over, sits along side of her, orders a drink, takes a sip, turns to her and says, "So tell me, do I come here often?".
Today's useless fact - What is the difference between a black light and a normal light bulb?
Here's what we learned from the links in the Lukol Glow in the Dark category:
Black lights come in two varieties -- fluorescent tube and incandescent bulb. Each type works slightly differently, but both are very similar to their normal white-light cousins.
Fluorescent tube lights are glass tubes that contain a near- vacuum with a little mercury vapor. When electricity is passed through the tube and reacts with the mercury, it creates light. The mercury atoms emit energy in the form of light photons. These photos are mostly in the ultraviolet (UV) range of the light spectrum. We can't see this light, so a white phosphor coating on the light tube is used to convert the UV energy into visible light.
A black light works the same way, except the tube is made of dark blue glass, and it is coated with a special phosphor that blocks visible light and harmful UV rays. Only the rays of UV light that are harmless pass through, along with a little bit of blue and violet visible light, resulting in the distinctive glow of a black light.
The incandescent bulb type of black light also uses dark-blue glass, but a filter inside the bulb absorbs visible light and lets harmless UV light through. This is because of the differences in how incandescent lights and fluorescent lights work. Bulb black lights are generally less powerful than tube black lights.
When you see something glow under a black light, that item contains phosphors, which glow in UV light. Teeth, fingernails, and some bodily fluids naturally contain phosphors, and this makes black lights useful in criminal forensics. Many laundry detergents contain phosphors to make white clothes look brighter, which explains why white T-shirts may glow at a rave. Fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark paints, inks, fabrics, plastics, and makeup all contain phosphors to give them a nifty glow. There's even a fluorescent security thread in paper currency from the U.S. and other countries that shows up under black light and acts as a deterrent to counterfeiting.
The Buzzword for May 19th
distend \dih-STEND\ verb
What does it mean?
: to stretch or bulge out in all directions : swell
How do you use it?
"Breathe in and balloon the belly out," said the yoga
instructor, reminding the class to breathe deeply and distend
the abdomen with each inhalation.
Are you a word wiz?
English is bulging with words that are related to "distend."
See if you can expand your knowledge of "distend" by finding
one if its relatives in the list below.
A. entertain
B. protrude
C. transmit
D. attend
Answer:
It's not a stretch to see the connection between "distend" and
answer D, "attend." The histories of these words stretch back
to the Latin verb "tendere," meaning "to stretch, extend, or
spread" -- a root whose kin have really expanded our
language. To find evidence of this expansion, look for words
that include "tend" or "tent." Many of those words have
"tendere" in their family tree. Perhaps the simplest example
is "tent," which names a shelter made from a piece of
material stretched over a frame. You'll also find the
influence of "tendere" in "extend," "tendon," "contend,"
"pretend," "intend," "tendency" and of course, "distend."
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
CLICK HERE
The Gold Man
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend.
The following is what appeared in Wednesday's edition.
In Today's Edition
It's hard to understand how a cemetery can raise its burial costs and blame it on the high cost of living.
Born on May 18th
Chow Yun-Fat (1955)
George Strait (1952)
Reggie Jackson (1946)
Dwayne Hickman (1934)
Robert Morse (1931)
Pernell Roberts (1930)
Pope John Paul II (1920)
Margot Fonteyn (1919)
Perry Como (1912)
Frank Capra (1897)
Temecia Watson
Lost Wife
The man approached the very beautiful woman in the large supermarket and asked, "You know, I've lost my wife here in the supermarket. Can you talk to me for a couple of minutes?"
"Why?" she asked.
"Because every time I talk to a beautiful woman my wife appears out of nowhere."
Today's useless fact - Who was the character in Greek mythology forced to push a rock up a hill for eternity?
According to the links in the links in the Lukol Greek Mythology category, Sisyphus was a very crafty king who defied the gods and tried to elude death. His punishment in Hades was to endlessly roll a huge stone up a hill -- as soon as it reached the top, it would fall back to the bottom. The poor king spawned his own adjective, Sisyphean, meaning an impossible task. First, Sisyphus angered the gods by telling Asopus that Zeus had carried off his daughter, Aegina. Then when Death came for Sisyphus, the king chained Death up, thus temporarily granting immortality to all of humanity (until the god Ares freed Death). Before Sisyphus was finally brought down to the underworld, he instructed his wife to leave his body unburied. This served as a good excuse to travel back up (in order to punish his wife), and he lived for a long time before dying again. By that time, however, he had run out of delay tactics and had built up a lot of bad blood down in Hades. This resulted in a cruel and unusual sentence.
Homer describes Sisyphus:
And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone with both his hands. With hands and feet he tried to roll it up to the top of the hill, but always, just before he could roll it over on to the other side, its weight would be too much for him, and the pitiless stone would come thundering down again on to the plain. Talk about a fate worse than death.
The Buzzword for May 18th
honcho \HAHN-cho\ noun
What does it mean?
: boss : big shot; also : hotshot
How do you use it?
"Just because you're the oldest, you don't have to act like
the head honcho all the time," grumbled Terry's younger
brother.
Are you a word wiz?
What language do you think gave us the word "honcho"?
A. Japanese
B. Spanish
C. Arabic
D. Norwegian
Answer:
The roots of "honcho" are "han," the Japanese word for
"squad," and "cho," meaning "head" or "chief." "Honcho" goes
back to the U.S. presence in Japan following World War II.
While we're not sure how it found its way into American
military vocabulary in the mid-1950s, we do know that the
Japanese applied the word "hancho" to certain British or
Australian officers. After it was adapted into English,
"honcho" only gained general popularity in the 1960s, when it
was often used in connection with politics. It has also been
occasionally used as a verb meaning "to supervise."
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
CLICK HERE
That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more stuff.
The following is what appeared in Tuesday's edition.
In Today's Edition
I don't know if Joseph wanted to keep this a secret because he sure didn't tell me but he's a new grandpa again.
The proud parents are John and Elizabeth Turner. Here's the baby's stats:
Natalie Elizabeth Turner
Born April 11, 2005
6lbs. 11oz.
21 inches long
Congratulations John and Elizabeth!
Born on May 17th
Tahj Mowry (1987)
Andrea Corr (1974)
Jordan Knight (1970)
Trent Reznor (1965)
Enya (1961)
Sugar Ray Leonard (1956)
Bob Saget (1956)
Dennis Hopper (1936)
Maureen O'Sullivan (1911)
Ayatollah Khomeini (1902)
Frantic Father
A man speaks frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" the doctor queries.
"No, you idiot!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!"
Today's useless fact - Who's the guy on the NBA logo?
As we learned from the Basketball History category, the fabled Jerry West, otherwise known as "Mr.Clutch," is the player in profile on the official NBA logo. As his biography on NBA.com points out, West is widely regarded as one of the greatest guards in the history of the game. Not especially gifted by height or athleticism, he was a notoriously driven player who broke his nose nine times and often had to be carried off the court.
Jerry West grew up in a blue-collar family in Cheylan, West Virginia. After a stellar career at West Virginia University, he was recruited by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1960. The team moved down to Los Angeles that year, and over the next 14 years, West's career with the Lakers proved the stuff of legends.
West was elected to the All Star Team 14 times but only won one championship. He was the third player to score more than 25,000 points, and averaged 27 points per game. His most famous shot, a 60-footer with no time left, sent a 1970 Laker-Knick championship game into overtime.
In 1997, West was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. For the casual basketball fan, the list features some fairly obvious names (Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), but you'll also find some more scholarly choices like Dolph Schayes and Dave Bing.
The Buzzword for May 17th
artifice \AHR-tuh-fuss\ noun
What does it mean?
1 a : a clever device : trick b : false or dishonest
behavior
2 : clever skill
How do you use it?
Yolanda suspects that sometimes her little sister's tears are
nothing more than an artifice designed to get her sympathy or
attention.
Are you a word wiz?
There's no artifice in this question: which of the following
words do you think is synonym of "artifice"?
A. eddy
B. ruse
C. pivot
D. kelp
Answer:
We're telling the truth here: B is the answer. "Ruse," defined
as "a clever way to fool someone, trick," is a synonym of
"artifice." Both of these words, as well as a few others,
refer to an indirect way to get something that you want.
Another synonym is "stratagem," a word that means "a trick in
war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy" or more generally,
"a clever trick or scheme." "Trick" is the most common synonym
of "artifice." It has several meanings, among them "an action
meant to deceive or cheat," "a mischievous act, prank," and
"a skillful or clever feat designed to puzzle or amuse."
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
CLICK HERE
That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more stuff.
The following is what appeared in Monday's edition.
In Today's Edition
First of all, I want to thank all of you who participated in the contest. It was pretty easy, time consuming but easy. All of the contestants that got all the answers right had their names put into a barrel and three were chosen.
Here are the winners:
Esther Aquino
Ralph G. Tuttle
Larry Aquino
Congratulations! Since I correspond with Neen on a semi-regular basis, I am leaving the mugs in her care for Larry and Ralph to pick up at their leisure.
Thanks again to all of you who entered. We'll be having another mug contest near the middle of next month.
Born on May 16th
Tori Spelling (1973)
David Boreanaz (1971)
Tracey Gold (1969)
Janet Jackson (1966)Olga Korbut (1955)
Debra Winger (1955)
Pierce Brosnan (1952)Liberace (1919)
Henry Fonda (1905)
William Seward (1801)
May 15th
A Special Happy Belated Anniversary to John and Teena Aquino
Blonde's Car
A blonde made several attempts to sell her old car. She was having a lot of problems finding a buyer because the car had 340,000 miles on it. She discussed her problem with a brunette that she worked with at a bar.
The brunette suggested, "There may be a chance to sell that car easier, but it's not going to be legal."
"That doesn't matter at all," replied the blonde. "All that matters it that I am able to sell this car."
"Alright," replied the brunette. In a quiet voice, she told the blonde: "Here is the address of a friend of mine. He owns a car repair shop around here. Tell him I sent you, and he will turn the counter back on your car to 40,000 miles. Then it shouldn't be a problem to sell your car."
The following weekend, the blonde took a trip to the mechanic on the brunette's advice. About one month after that, the brunette saw the blonde and asked, "Did you sell your car?"
"No!" replied the blonde. "Why should I? It only has 40,000 miles on it!"
Doomed Venice will disappear in 100 years
Venice will "almost certainly" be uninhabitable by 2100 because of rising water levels and flooding, a meeting of international scientists in Cambridge, England, was warned.
The famed Italian city, built on 118 sea islets and joined by 400 bridges, may not be around in another 100 years.
For Venice, which rests on millions of wooden piles pounded into marshy ground, is gradually sinking into the water.
A four-day conference organised by the Venice in Peril Fund to find a way to rescue the city was told that its population has fallen from 150,000 in the 1950s to 58,000 today.
After spending a morning on the river Cam in gondolas and punts, more than 100 scientists started their meeting which is due to hear from two British about their knowledge of the Thames Barrier.
The conference comes at a time when St Mark's Square in Venice is being flooded about 100 times each year, compared with 10 times in 1900.
The city is 23 centimetres further under water than it was 100 years ago. Rising water levels in the lagoon account for 10cm of the total and 13cm come from subsidence.
Nicky Baly, the development director of Venice in Peril, founded after the 1966 Venice flood by a former British ambassador to Italy, said: "We can keep on paying to restore Venetian buildings, but what if the city is no longer there for our grandchildren? If Venice is to continue to survive, solutions are required, fast."
The charity, which has donated millions to the upkeep of buildings, warned that Venice remains as "undefended" as it was in 1966 when the entire city was flooded.
- September 15, 2003
The Buzzword for May 16th
candid \KAN-did\ adjective
What does it mean?
1 : marked by or showing sincere honesty : frank
2 : relating to photography of people acting naturally without
being posed
How do you use it?
In my candid opinion, the book was much better than the movie.
Are you a word wiz?
Which word do you think is a synonym of "candid"?
A. evasive
B. forthright
C. conscionable
D. obvious
Answer:
Candidly, "forthright" is the right answer. "Frank" and
"plain" join "candid" and "forthright" in suggesting a
willingness to say what you really feel or think. "Candid"
implies sincerity and honesty especially in offering a
criticism or an opinion, as in "gave me a candid
appraisal of my essay." "Forthright" suggests being direct and
clear in expressing your thoughts, as in "impressed by his
forthright manner." "Frank" stresses lack of shyness or
secretiveness and lack of concern for tact, as in "had a frank
discussion about improving his grades." "Plain" suggests simple
and straightforward _expression, as in "ready to hear the plain
truth."
Today's Jigsaw Puzzle
CLICK HERE
That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more stuff.
