What scares you? I have been watching 'scary' movies for the past few weeks. Scary movies that I thought I remembered as being scary. Now, not so much. Is it because I know the movie? I know what's coming? I don't think so. I get the same 'eh' feeling from a scary movie I hadn't seen before.

A bit ago, I watched what many people considered scary when it was released in 1982...The Thing. Even now they call it the scariest movie of all time.

To summarize, it didn't scare me. In fact, I laughed. Some of the scenes were so comical, I laughed so hard I cried. I don't know why I wasn't scared. Have I been scared out? Can I not be scared anymore? Am I too old?

When I say scared, I mean scared - not startled. Yes, I will jump, catch my breath, maybe even yelp a bit if someone comes out from around a corner and says BOO. But that really isn't scary. Anyone have a good scary movie for me?

New Celebration

What can we celebrate today? In the past, I have scoured the internet looking for already made up unique and bizarre holidays, read the History Channel web page and found famous people's birthdays. I think I would like to change the theme of this page.

Today, after a hard exercise of pressing the off button to the television set. I think I will celebrate that. I have been sitting on the front porch in this beautiful sunny weather. If you don't know me, which most of you do right now because no strangers have 'liked' this blog, I am a TV-aholic. Even if I am not watching it...if I am deep cleaning the bathroom, the television is on. I need it for background noise. Some say it is so I don't feel alone. Maybe. Who really knows?

So, I set myself up on the front porch. Yes, I brought my computer. I thought I might become inspired and write something. And, I have. This is my second blog posting (if you haven't already see my other blog www.handmedownthoughts.blogspot.com). AND I have been writing words, at Words with Friends, a new addiction.

The birds have kept me company, Blue Jays, Cat Birds, Sparrows and a couple of squirrels. It has been nice. I think I might be able to arrange for another no TV afternoon...but now, I have to go inside, this chair is killing my butt!

Wish me luck!

Space, the Final Frontier

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of manned flight.

On  April 12, 1969, Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gaugarian, stepped into a thin metal tube filled with an explosive liquid, crossed his fingers and said, okay, light it...(well, if he said those EXACT words they would have been in Russian, of course). Vostok 1 traveled around the Earth one time for a total spaceflight time of 108 minutes. Now just over an hour and a half in space is nothing, it probably seemed like forever. Especially at blast off.

I recommend that everyone celebrate this special time by taking 108 minutes and blasting your own mind into orbit while sitting at your desk or wherever you regularly work (unless you are a driver-DO NOT GO INTO SPACE WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING!!!).

Happy flying!

Gardening

It is Lawn and Garden Month, Keep America Beautiful Month and Garden Week. I have not found a National Garden Day but since it is Saturday, I am proclaiming today that special day. If you haven't already done so I recommend going to your favorite garden center (or Wally-world) and picking out a few starter flowers, shrubs and maybe even a tree or two. It will only take a bit of time to shred out the old overgrown weedy garden in front of the house and plant the new things. It will give your house a neat little face lift and make you feel great afterwards because of all the fresh air your steal from Mother Nature (don't worry she won't mind because the plants you just planted will refurbish the stale air and make new fresh air).

This year I will be unable to participate because I have moved into a condo and someone else is in charge of the gardens. Maybe I will get a cool deck garden for the corner. Nice.

Oh, if you have a mind to, my friend Grace has a cool page on FaceBook called Oh Pretty Flowers. A place you can look at and post pictures of pretty flowers from your yard or wherever. Go take a look and click like. Pictures of pretty flowers can't really take the place of real "in-person' flowers, but they give a close second feeling...http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Oh-Pretty-Flowers/144875168909477

Celebrate!

SeaBees

On this day in 1942, the SeaBees were founded.

Today I celebrate this founding. Other than the fact that my mother's step-father was a SeaBee (maybe even one of the original members) what SeaBees do is awesome and essential during times of war and disaster (natural or otherwise).

A little bit of trivia for you...SeaBee...yes, they are seamen, sailors, understandable where the Sea part came from but what about the Bee...well, it might be part of that. But "SeaBee" is long (yeah, long instead of short for a change) for CB. CB is short (sorry it is a bit of a long story) for Construction Battalions. The SeaBee logo? Of course, a flying be carrying a hammer in one hand (?), a wrench in a second, and a rifle in two others. I wonder, what is in the other two?

So, to celebrate the founding of the SeaBees, I will remember Grandpa Rabbit, you stubborn SOG. Here's a Bud! Enjoy!

Peanut Butter

Today is Peanut Butter Lover's Day. I love Peanut Butter. Today is my day. I think I will have Peanut Butter toast for breakfast. Oh, no toaster guess that's out. Peanut Butter Sandwich for lunch. Yum, where's the jelly? What can I do with peanut butter for dinner, Any ideas?

Oh, I wonder if my Peanut Butter Tagalongs will come in tomorrow...how appropriate...

Captain Stubing

Happy Birthday, Gavin McLeod!

I know you were around before 1977 when I fell in love with your boat Pacific Princess.  Because later I discovered you with one of my favorite people, Mary Tyler Moore, working at a TV station. I am glad that you were able to work your way up from Lieutenant to Captain in just 20 years especially after you were demoted on Pork Chop Hill to private. And then to Seaman while serving on Operation Petticoat.

No matter, you know where the fun jobs are and there can't be anything more fun than to cruise the high seas stopping at beautiful ports of call. Mazatlan, Acapulco, sigh.

I wonder, did you ever sail to Fantasy Island???

Bear Hug

Bears are one of the world's most awesome creatures. What is your favorite type of bear?

American Black Bear; Cinnamon Bear; Kermode Bear; Asiatic Black Bear; Baluchistan Bear; Formosan Black Bear; Pakistan Black Bear; Brown Bear; Atlas Bear; Bergman's Bear; Blue Bear; Eurasian Brown Bear; European Brown Bear; Gobi Bear; Grizzly Bear; Himalayan Brown Bear; Hokkaido Brown Bear; Kamchatka Brown Bear; Kodiak Bear; Marsican Brown Bear; Mexican Grizzly Bear; Siberian Brown Bear; Syrian Brown Bear; Giant Panda; Qinling Panda; Sloth Bear; Sri Lankan Sloth Bear; Sun Bear; Polar Bear; Ursid hybrid; Grizzly–polar bear hybrid; Spectacled Bear.

This is a list of bears around the world I inventoried from Wikipedia. Do you see anything missing? Do you see one that you didn't expect to see? I was surprised by the hybrid bears. Although I knew it I figure many will be surprised that Koala Bears are not on the list.

I have a friend that will be upset that Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are not there along with the other bears...and another friend who will take offense that Yogi Bear is not there either.

Today is Polar Bear Day. Did you know that the powers that be believe all polar bears are left handed.  

Viola

Once upon a time, in a land far away to many, lived a little girl named Viola. Viola loved purple and she especially loved purple flowers. She grew up in a pretty room painted purple, lilac and lavender.  She loved purple so much she had a pair of purple lensed glasses so that no matter where she went she could see everything purple.

Viola loved to walk in the woods in the winter time with her purple shaded glasses. The trees were purple, the ground was purple and the sky was purple.

One Spring day Viola was walking near the Tower Caverns near Trilling Lake when she heard a loud echoing bang. Before she could identify it as the sound of gunfire from King's afternoon hunting party. Another noise came to her from above. It sounded like her stomach when dinner was delayed on days she missed lunch. Only louder.

Viola looked up at the approaching sound where she spied boulders falling quickly toward her. She was frozen in place. Suddenly, she was hit from behind and into the pond.

When Viola and her abuser-savior came up from below the surface of the water he held the little girl drenched to the bone but safe and sound.

"Are you okay?" he asked the stunned little girl.

"Yes, thank you," she said, not taking her eyes off the man. "You look...strange."

"Strange?" he replied.

The girl smiled. Her unshaded eyes glinted in the bright sunlight.

"You aren't," she looked at the other side of the mans face. "...purple."

He smiled. "No. I am not purple."

From that day forward Viola did not wear purple glasses. Oh, she still liked purple but she decided that the color she loved looked better when it lived next to other colors. Especially, her white wedding dress.

And she lived happily ever after.

The End.

Please help me celebrate Tell a Fairy Tale Day. Either make up your own, or tell someone your favorite fairy tale.

The Day The Music Died

It has been 42 years since the death of Buddy Holley, JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens. Today, let us remember Chantilly Lace, Donna and Peggy Sue and wonder, what would these (then) superstars be doing today had fate turned tables and not take them away from the world.

Small Private Celebrations

Today, a friends little 2-year old boy underwent surgery for a lump that was found by his mother on his shoulder. The family (and friends) have been riding a roller coaster of emotions for the past two weeks.  When I think of that analogy, I always wonder what it means. Is it because the experience is so difficult, it is like trudging up hill so steep it seems unsurmountable? OR is it because your feelings rush down on you so fast and so furious that you feel like you are going to hit the ground in a horrendous crash?? Oh, well, I guess that doesn't matter. It could be either, it could be both.

Surgery, of any kind, is a serious event. I am not trying to minimalize it but I can't believe there weren't celebrations (albeit, silent maybe) the night before his surgery.  Because a host of other tests were done including bone scans, cat scans, MRIs were read the day before. They revealed the mass was localized and had not spread.

Not that they all don't have a long road to hoe with chemo and radiation, but it all has to be easier to take knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A very real possibility of a life free of cancer.

A celebration in the middle of a taxing, tense situation, no matter how small or private, can help the psyche, soul and mind.

Happy Birthday, Elvis

Today would have been Elvis Presly's 76th birthday. On his 11th birthday, his mama bought him a gift from the local hardware store. It wasn't the most newly released hunting rifle, a new bike or a train set. She bought him a $6.95 guitar. With this gift, she started an unforgettably awesome life, not only for her baby boy, but also for the United States, the world, and who know, maybe even, the universe and beyond.

What if Elvis had gotten that bike he wanted for his birthday way back in 1946? Would he have eventually found his way to music? If you believe in fate, you would say yes.

Happy Birthday, Elvis, where ever you are.

Jane Austen

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen.

It is funny. I hear (read) her name and smile. My heart seems to warm and be happy. I don't believe I have ever 'read' any of her works. Many titles are familiar and I may have watched films based on her stories. But I haven't read anything. So why am I so connected to her name?

A few days ago I opened a Christmas gift from my sister. She bought me a Kindle. I am thrilled with the things that it can do and am having a great time flipping through the lists of available title. So many classics that I haven't read that I should be able to catch up on. If only I could read more than a few pages before feeling the need to nap.

Now, off to look at a few more books to download. Merry Christmas!

Keith, Leon, Marie, Steve, Art, Craig, Jeannette and Thomas

Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

Celebrate these Birthdays...

1959 - Keith Lockhart, the 20th conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, studied at Brevard Music Festival (15 miles from me!) and has conducted orchestras across the country, and now, internationally with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

1943 – Joni Mitchell, singer/songwriter known for songs such as Both Sides Now and Woodstock.

1938 – Barry Newman, actor, from Pretty Boy Floyd (1960) to The Edge of Night (1964-1965) to his breakout roll as Kowalski in the 1971 film Vanishing Point to his most recent appearance on The Ghost Whisperer (in 2009).

1922 – Al Hirt, jazz musician with 38 albums featuring his genius performances on the trumpet.

1918 – Billy Graham, evangelist, who has spread his message from his Southern Baptist pulpit in Charlotte,NC.

1913 – Albert Camus, novelist of such titles The Stranger, The Plague and The Myth of Sisyphus. He was killed in a car accident at the age of 46.

1879 - Leon Trotsky, a leader of Russia during the October Revolution

1867 – Marie Curie, chemist/physicist known for her work in radioactivity. She was the first person hw was honored with two Nobel Prizes, one in Chemistry and the other in Physics.

Notice these historical events...

1980 – Steve McQueen, start of many films including Bullitt and The Towering Inferno,died in Mexico while undergoing cancer (mesothelioma) treatment.

1965 – Art Arfons set the land-speed record of 576.553 miles per hour. He held the record for 8 days when Craig Breedlove set the land-speed record with 600.601 mph.  For the next year, the two men passed the record between them. It is now held by Andy Green, set in 1997 at 760.343mph.

1944 – For the third time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was reelected President of the United States of America. He served only three months before dying from a stroke.

1940 – The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the third longest bridge in the world (at the time) at 5,959 feet, collapsed due to high winds. One death was reported-an anonymous  dog.

1916 – Jeannette Rankin became the first woman to be elected to serve in the US House Of Representatives.

1885 – Craigellachie, Canada hosts a “party” when the last spike of Canada’s first transcontinental railway was driven 5 years after the project began. The 4,600 kilometer line traverses bogs and mountains 6 years ahead of schedule.

1874 – The Republican Party welcomed (maybe not with open arms at the time) their new mascot. Thomas Nast drew an elephant to represent the group for a cartoon in Harper’s Weekly. 

White Cane Safety Day

In History:

1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

1965 – David Miller was the first person to burn his draft card.

1954 – Hurricane Hazel made landfall at Myrtle Beach SC and ran up the coast to Ontario, Canada. Effects of the storm were felt as far inland as Raleigh with recorded winds of over 100mph. Over $1billion in damage was recorded and more than 400 people were killed.

1951 – Premiere of “I Love Lucy”. It ran for 6 season and a total of 181 episodes.

1948 – For the murder of his wife 2-1/2 years earlier, Arthur Eggers was executed in the San Quentin gas chamber.

1917 – Mata Hari was executed by firing squad for her spying activities.

1863 – CSS Hunley sank to its death during a (second) trial run. The first test resulted in the death of 6 of its 8 crew. The second test was successful in that it planted an explosive devise on the hull of a Yankee ship, but sank on its return to Charleston killing all 8 of its crew, including the inventor.

  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

  1969 – Actress, Vanessa Marcil, I met her on General Hospital but she was cute in the Sean Connery/Nicholas Cage flick, “The Rock”.

  1959 – Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. She is a descendant of King Charles II, albeit an one from a broken one, shall we say. Sometimes, that’s all there is.

  1959 – Chef Emeril Lagasse. He was born in Fall River, Mass. Not that I am saying I wouldn’t eat his food, but he was born in the same town as Lizzie Borden!

  1946 – Richard Carpenter, singer/piano player and sister of Karen Carpenter. The duo made up the group, The Carpenters.

  1943 – Actress/director Penny Marshall. Some of my favorite directed movies are A League of Their Own, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Big, Awakenings, and Riding in Cars with Boys.

  1924 – Lee Iacocca, savior of Chrysler Motor Company in the 1980’s.

  1920 – Novelist of such stories as The Godfather, Mario Puzo.

  1917 – Arthur Schlesinger, Jr, a historian in America and was known as the court historian to President Kennedy.

  1908 – John Kenneth Galbraith, economist. I could list a few books he wrote, but I’m afraid that you might fall asleep and not finish reading, maybe drop the computer off your lap.

1881 – Novelist, PG Wodehouse was born. She created the infamously known butler, Jeeves.

October 14th

Be Bald and Free Day & National Dessert Day

The History Book, Chapter: 

1975 – Ronald DeFeo, Jr went on trial for killing his parents and brothers and sisters.  In 1977, a book was published about the next owners of the house. A book called The Amityville Horror.

1964 – Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Martin Luther King, Jr.

1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis began.

1957 -  Wake Up Little Susie hit #1 on the charts for The Everly Brothers, their first.

1947 – Captain Chuck Yeager flew faster than sound, the first person ever. Does that mean he couldn’t hear himself think while he was flying?

1913 – An explosion in a Welsh coal mine killed 439 workers.

1912 – President Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest at near point blank range. Because of a glasses case and his evening speech folded up in his breast pocket, he merely received a flesh wound.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY…

…Rap singer, Usher (1979),  I’ve never been a follower.

Fashion Designer, Ralph Lauren (1939), I’ve never been a follower.

…John Dean (1938), attorney known for being the White House council during the Watergate Scandal.

…James Bond actor, Roger Moore (1927).

Previous US Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop (1916).

…poet ee cummings (1894), with over 2,900 poems, I won’t attempt to list them.

…Dwight D Eisenhower (1890), 34^th president of the US.

…Elwood Haynes (1857). Mr. Haynes not only received patents for stainless steel, stellite (I don’t know) and a cobalt-chromium alloy, but he is known to have designed one of the first automobiles. He called it “Pioneer”. You can visit it at the Smithsonian.

…Founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn (1644).

Suicide? Seriously?

IN…

…2008, at a speed of 192mpg, Luc Costermans set a new land speed record…for blind drivers.

…2002, former US President, Jimmy Carter, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

…1984, The first American woman “walked” in space. Congrats Kathryn Sullivan. I wonder if she took her pedometer.

…1975, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham marry.

…1975, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtain and Laraine Newman appear together for the first time. Saturday Night Live debuts on NBC.

…1975, Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen, hit the top 40.

…1968, the first manned Apollo mission was launched.

…1809, Meriwether Lewis died under mysterious circumstances…with two gunshot wounds and a multitude of razor cuts from head to toe.  Suicide is the most accepted conclusion.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY…

Luke Perry (1966) Actor; Joan Cusack (1962) Actress; Steve Young (1961)Quarterback; Daryl Hall (1946) Half of Hall and Oates; Ron Leibman (1937) Actor; Dottie West (1932-1991) Country Singer; Elmore Leonard (1925) Author; Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady; Henry John Heniz (1844-1919) Has 57 favorite flavors, horseradish being his fave. 

Good-Superman

Today is National Angel Food Cake Day

2004 (6 years ago) – Christopher Reeve, my generation’s “Superman” died of heart failure at the age of 52, 9 years after falling from a horse and becoming paralyzed.

1991 (19 years ago) – Joseph Harris went postal, when going postal was a literal event. He killed former postal workers at the post office. The night before, he had gone to his supervisors home and killed her along with her husband.

1985 (25 years ago) – Three days after terrorists hijack the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, US Navy fighters force down the getaway plane. The terrorists were arrested by Italian police.

1973 (37 yeasrs ago) – Spiro Agnew resigned his position as Vice President of the United States, the first to do so.

1935 (75 years ago) – Porgy and Bess premiered on Broadway. It was written by George Gershwin and is considered to be the first great American Opera.

1877 (133 years ago) – General George Armstrong Custer was laid to rest at the US Military Academy in West Point, NY.

1845 (165 years ago) – The Naval School (US Naval Academy) opened in Annapolis, MD. Its first class included 50 students being taught by 7 professors.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATORS:

Dale Earnhardt, Jr-NASCAR driver; Brett Favre-NFL Quarterback; Tanya Tucker-Singer; Ben Vereen-Actor/Singer/Dancer; Dorothy Lamour-Actress; Helen Hayes-Actress.

Meteor or Meteorite?

Curious Events Day             Fire Prevention Day

Leif Erikson Day               Moldy Cheese Day

In…

1992, a 28 pound meteorite struck an orange 1980 Chevrolet Malibu. Let me rephrase, it bore a hole in the car and the driveway beneath. Meteorite/car collisions has only happened (that we know of) twice before.

…1974, Oskar Schindler, German businessman who is generally known for saving the lives of 1,200 Jewish.

…1967, Che Guevara, socialist revolutionary, was executed by the army of Bolivia after having been captured the day before.

…1936, the Hoover Dam began transmitting electricity to LA.

…1888, Washington Monument was officially opened to the general public.

…1635, Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With help from the local Indians, he founded Providence, Rhode Island promising no punishment for religious dissension and no Indian land confiscation.

…1547, author, Miguel de Cervantes was baptized.

Happy Birthday: Zachary Ty Bryan, Scott Bakula, Sharon Osbourne, Jackson Browne, John Lennon and Russell Myers. I think y’all know everyone on the list except maybe Russell Myers who created the cartoon Broom Hilda, I remember her, she was funny.

Fires, Fired, Planes, Prizes and a Wedding

American Touch Tag Day (you’re IT) and World Egg Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

Matt Damon, Sigorney Weaver, RL Stine, Chevy Chase, Jesse Jackson, Paul Hogan, David Carradine and Eddie Rickenbacker.

On This Day In…

…1998, the US House of Representatives voted to proceed toward impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

…1970, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize in Literature. His early works included One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Cancer Ward and The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956.

…1957, (coincidentally?) Great Balls of Fire was recorded in Memphis, TN by Jerry Lee Lewis even though he felt that the song was too sinful for him to record. If it hadn’t been for Sam Phillips and a stubborn streak, this signature song for Lewis may not have been.

…1937, Dorothy Sayers’ fictional detective, Lord Peter Wimsey married Harriet Vane in Busman’s Honeymoon.

…1919, 15 airplanes left San Francisco, CA and 48 airplanes left NYC in the first US transcontinental air race. This round trip race was won by Lt. Belvin Maynard in less than 10 days or 24hrs, 59min 49 secs flying time.

…1871, the great Chicago fire began. Damages: 200-300 people killed, 17,450 building destroyed, 100,000 homeless, $200 million in damages (2007$=$3 billion). Was it a the O’Leary’s prized cow, someone who had it out for the O’Leary’s OR a comet??