Who Was Tchaikovsky?

Ugg Boot

Before we begin todays journey, let's have a little trivia question. Here goes:
Who did Pocahontas marry?

....and, don't forget to turn your clocks back. Why do we do that? Who came up with that crazy idea? Well, I'll tell you. Day-light Saving Time was actually the brain child of Benjamin Franklin in his essay called "An Economical Project". He wrote it while living in France. The funny thing is that Mr. Franklin intended the whole thing as a joke poking fun at the party-going, late rising French that he was living among at the time. He proposed that the time should be changed to allow the French people to rise closer to the sunrise so that they would go to bed closer to the sunset, thus saving candle and lamp oil. His proposal, being in jest, suggested that the time be changed by several hours rather than the one hour commonly used today. A few people, missing the point, took the essay to heart and began to experiment with changing their clocks to reflect the changing sunlight hours.

What do you really know about Tchaikovsky? What is his whole name? What country was he from? Let's take a look at some strange and not so strange history.

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Russia in 1840. The name totally gave that one away. In 1877, Tchaikovsky befriended a wealthy widow who adored his music and supported him financially, but never wanted to meet him. With her financial support (which ceased in 1890), he quit his job at the Conservatory and devoted all his time to his compositions. Also in 1877, however, his personal life took a dramatic turn. His homosexuality causing him feelings of guilt, he decided to marry a 28-year-old former student of the Conservatory just to quiet rumors. While married Tchaikovsky attempted suicide, and the marriage ended when Tchaikovsky fled to St. Petersburg. (His wife died in 1917, after spending more than 20 years in an insane asylum.) Click on the link above for more about Tchaikovsky.

Today in History:
1275 - Traditional founding of the city of Amsterdam.
1553 - Condemned as a heretic, Michael Servetus is burned at the stake just outside Geneva.
1682 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded.
1795 - The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid, which establishes the boundaries between Spanish colonies and the U.S.
1810 - United States annexes the former Spanish colony of West Florida.
1838 - Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state. I wonder how the Osmonds in Branson feel about that.
1904 - First New York City Subway line opens; the system becomes biggest in United States of America, and one of the biggest in world.
1924 - The Uzbek SSR is founded in the Soviet Union.
1936 - Mrs Wallis Simpson filed for divorce which would eventually allow her to marry King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, thus forcing his abdication from the throne.
1946 - First commercially-sponsored television program airs (Geographically Speaking, sponsored by Bristol-Myers).
1949 - An airliner flying from Paris to New York crashes near the Azores. Among the victims are violinist Ginette Neveu and boxer Marcel Cerdan.
1961 - NASA launched the first Saturn I rocket in Mission Saturn-Apollo 1.
1962 - Major Rudolph Anderson of the US Air Force became the only direct human casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis when his U-2 reconnaissance airplane was shot down in Cuba by a Soviet-supplied SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile.
1981 - The Soviet submarine U 137 runs aground on the east coast of Sweden.

Happy Birthday:
1401 - Catherine of Valois, queen of Henry V of England (d. 1437)
1728 - James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (d. 1779)
1811 - Isaac Singer, American inventor (d. 1875)
1858 - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1919)
1933 - Floyd Cramer, American popular pianist (d. 1997)
1939 - John Cleese, British actor and writer
1940 - John Gotti, American gangster (d. 2002)
1941 - Dick Trickle, auto racer. Now there's a name to be proud of. Were his parents intentionally trying to get this kid beat up in school or what?
1967 - Scott Weiland, American singer (Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver)
1984 - Kelly Osbourne, English television personality

Deaths on this day:
1789 - John Cook, American farmer and Governor of Delaware (b. 1730)
2003 - Rod Roddy, American television announcer (b. 1937)

My Vacation Rocked

Ugg Boot

3,540 miles, $220.50 in gasoline, 10 states experienced (not counting Louisiana), and 10 days off. The PT Cruiser is the best traveling vehicle. I wouldn't trade it for any vehicle. During my vacation, I realized a few things. In our technologically advanced society, we've gotten dumber. Just look around you. It's everywhere. Because of the microwave, people have, for the most part, forgotten how to cook. Because of Television, people read less. Because of Wal-Mart, we've closed down our family oriented shops and lost the personal touch in shopping. So many skills that were important since the beginning of man have gotten lost due to technology, yet I sit here typing away at my computer. I'm thankful but sad.


See what I mean? Room to spare. Let me tell you about my vacation. (please click on the links to learn more)

Day 1(Oct. 13): Amy and I got up a few hours before dawn. Dawn usually gets up around 6:30 am. We got on the road heading to Tennessee. Because of our very early start, we arrived in Chattanooga, Tn. at approx. 4 pm. We drove around town and found Lookout Mountain and the Lookout Mountain Inclined Railway. That was just amazing. Amy was nervous on the train ride. Then we went to Rock City at Lookout Mountain. Then on to Ruby Falls. I was most impressed with Rock City. I would love to see that again.


Day 2 (Oct. 14): Lots more driving. We went to Ashville, North Carolina to the Biltmore Estate. Let me start with the bad part first. Two tickets with audio tour cost $109 and you can't take any kind of camera, recording equipment, or sketching materials. That's just crazy. It was well worth it. Four of the most fascinating acres at Biltmore Estate are all under one roof. America's largest home boasts 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, bowling alley, priceless art and antiques. Biltmore House received its first guests in 1895 on Christmas Eve. After six years of construction, this remarkable house with its four acres of floor space had finally been completed. Simply amazing. More driving. We've gotta get to Williamsburg, Va.


Day 3 (Oct. 15): We spent an amazing day in colonial Williamsburg, Va. Colonial Williamsburg was my favorite part of vacation. Everything is as it was in the 1770's. We toured the Governors Palace(pictured above), Bruton Parish Church, several houses and taverns. There were people dressed in 1770's attire everythwere. There were probably over 150 people in full dress. Horses and carriages everywhere. We ate that night a Chownings Tavern. The menu was full of items from the 1770's. I had Smithfield Ham Biscuits($7.50) and root beer and she had Crock of Cheese with Sippets ($7.95) and root beer. Although the food tasted unlike anything I've ever had, I liked my Tavern food. Amy didn't agree. We were so tired, we could hardly walk.


Day 4 (Oct. 16): Another great day at Williamsburg. We saw Wheelwrights building carriage wheels by hand, carpenters building a harpsichord by hand, leatherworkers, blacksmiths, etc. We took a carriage ride around the town. This carriage was about 9 months old, was hand built, and cost approx. $350,000. It's amazing to watch people building everything so careful by hand. The craftsmenship of goods has definitely declined since then.


Day 5 (Oct. 17): We went to the Jamestown Settlement, first permanent English settlement in America. We saw the Jamestown fort, a glass blowing building which is a replica of the original that sits just a few feet away from the 1600's. Time to get on the road to Philly. Hmmm. Washington D.C. is on the way. What do we do? We went to the White House (sure 'nuff, it's white), the Washington monument, and the Captial. Very impressive. Then we're back on the road to Elkton.




Day 6 (Oct. 18): We begin our day at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pa. What did we see there? The plaster cast of the torso of world-famous Siamese Twins, Chang & Eng, and their conjoined livers, Joseph Hyrtl's collection of skulls, Preserved body of the "Soap Lady", Collection of 2,000 objects extracted from people's throats, Cancerous growth removed from President Grover Cleveland, Tallest skeleton on display in North America, as well as many other stomache churning items. Next, we went to Independence Hall. You've heard of this place, haven't you? They signed a piece of paper here called the Constitution(in the room pictured above). We took a tour and saw and heard some strange stories about it:
1. The basement once served as the city's dog pound
2. The second floor was once home to Charles Willson Peale's museum of natural history.
3. Some historians note that Ben Franklin would occasionally trip other delegates from his aisle seat. Gotta love that dude.
4. George Washington, knowing that his opinion would carry undue weight, contributed little to the debate over the Constitution.
5. Even though the days were very hot in the summer of 1787, windows were kept closed so others could not overhear their discussions

We saw the Liberty Bell. Cool. We walked and walked and I finally decided to look at our tourist map. I looked and saw that Benjamin Franklin was buried near the spot where we were. Wait a minute, it should be right across the street. That was neat in itself. We went in and out of small shops while looking for another historic building. There in the middle of a busy street, with no signs marking it, was a home built by Benjamin Franklin that he rented out to make money. This house had probably 6 rentable homes under one roof. If it weren't for my handy dandy tourist map, I never would've known about it. ....


And what's the one thing you have to do in Philly as a tourist? Eat a Philly Cheesteak sandwich. Mmmmm they're good. It tastes a lot better than it looks.



Day 7 (Oct. 19): (looking at the atlas) "Guess what? We're only about 100 miles from New York City. Off we go. Our first stop was Liberty National Park where we hopped a ferry, not a gay man but a boat, and went to Ellis Island, then to the Statue of Liberty. Yep, you read that right. We didn't get to go up in the statue because it was way too full and tickets sell out very quickly. We did get to take as many pictures as we wanted, and we took many. We left the Statue of Liberty via gay man, I mean ferry, and went to New York City. We started our very short tour of New York at Battery Park. We saw a few street performers there and at hot dogs from a street vendor. We walked around Greenwich Village and came to a city block that was fenced off. I looked at my handy dandy tourist map and realized it was the site of the Twin Towers. Very interesting. I really enjoyed walking around NY. I will go back. We stayed in Fredericksburg.



Day 8 (Oct 20): We went to Charlottesville, VA. and ate lunch at the Downtown Mall. This is no ordinary mall. This mall is outside, brick pathways, sidewalk eateries, etc. The weather couldn't have been better. The leaves were beautiful. The food was amazing. Time to go to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. It looks just like it does on the nickel. We toured the grounds and house. We took tons of pictures of the grounds and outside of the house. Guess what? No photography of any kind inside. It was beautiful on the inside. Inspirational. I stopped at a motel to check on a room and he was out of rooms except for Jacuzzi rooms. He made me a great rate so guess what? Jacuzzi room for us that night. Nice.


Day 9 (Oct 21): Today we're driving down to Memphis. We're both almost too tired to move. We go to Beale street, home of the blues. It was a street party. Very cool. Not wanting to walk much more, we decided to see a movie. Man of the Year, the new Robin Williams movie was playing. It was very very good.



Day 10 (Oct 22): We ate at Steak n Shake this morning. Mmmmm good. Drove by Graceland again and visited a gift shop. The pictures I took of Graceland were from the road and you could only see the trees. This picture is borrowed from another collection. I'm tired, let's go home.

Homeland Security Update

Ugg Boot

The casting company just called again. They want me to be in a few more scenes in Homeland Security. The only problem is that I'll be on vacation when they need me. Gripes!!!!! They are trying to schedule me in when I get back from vacation. Whew!!!

Ain't That a Kick in the Head

Ugg Boot

In The News:

A Bulgarian woman who killed her son was released from prison because of terminal cancer. She then went home and killed her husband. Nice.

Saddam expelled from court as punch thrown. Sore losers!



1780 - The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in the Caribbean.

1845 - In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors

1877 - Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer is given a funeral with full military honors.

1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.

1933 - A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage while en route from Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.

1935 - A tornado destroyed the 160 metre tall wooden radio tower in Langenberg. As a result of this catastrophe, few wooden towers were constructed after this date.

1944 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp.

1957 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.

1966 - Simon and Garfunkel release the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

1967 - The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, enters into force.

1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, the London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

1973 - Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.

1978 - US President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.

1979 - The Pac-Man arcade game is released to the Japanese market by Namco.

1985 - United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.

1991 - Pink Floyd are inducted in the British National Association of Brick Distributors' Hall of Fame in recognition of services to the brick industry through their The Wall album.

1997 - An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.

Happy Birthday:
1941 - Peter Coyote, American actor
1946 - John Prine, American singer
1946 - Ben Vereen, American actor
1953 - David Lee Roth, American singer
1958 - Tanya Tucker, American singer
1959 - Bradley Whitford, American actor
1961 - Julia Sweeney, American actress and comedian
1965 - Chris Penn, American actor (d. 2006)
1974 - Dale Earnhardt Jr., American race car driver

Deaths on this day:
1939 - Eleanor Rigby, a real person whose name may have suggested the title to The Beatles song (b. 1895)
1985 - Orson Welles, American director and actor (b. 1915)
2004 - Christopher Reeve, American actor (b. 1952)

Listening to Big Band

Ugg Boot

Today in History:
1000 - Leif Ericson lands at Vinland (Newfoundland), becoming the first known European to set foot in Canada. His father, Erik the Red, landed in Greenland in 982.

1514 - marriage of Louis XII of France and Mary Tudor

1604 - Supernova 1604, the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way.

1635 - Founder of Rhode Island Roger Williams is banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident after he spoke out against punishments for religious offenses and giving away Native American land.

1701 - The Collegiate School of Connecticut (later renamed Yale University) is chartered in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

1771 - The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks near the coast of Finland.

1776 - Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California.

1799 - Sinking of HMS Lutine with the loss of 240 men and a cargo worth £1,200,000.

1831 - Capo d'Istria was assassinated.

1871 - The Great Chicago Fire is brought under control.

1876 1st 2-way telephone conversation, 1st over outdoor wires

1877 American Humane Association organized in Cleveland

1888 - The Washington Monument officially opens to the general public.

1890 Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "The Red-Headed League"

1915 Woodrow Wilson becomes 1st pres to attend a world series game (World Series #12)

1916 Babe Ruth pitches & wins longest WS game (14 innings) 2-1

1921 Babe Ruth's 1st WS homer; only Sunday game ever pitched by Carl Mays

1930 1st transcontinental flight by a woman completed, Laura Ingalls

1934 - Regicide at Marseille: The assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou, Foreign Minister of France.

1936 - Generators at Boulder Dam (later renamed to Hoover Dam) begin to transmit electricity from the Colorado River 266 miles to Los Angeles, California.

1936 Hoover Dam begins transmitting electricity to LA

1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain - During a nighttime air raid by the German Luftwaffe, St. Paul's Cathedral is pierced by a bomb.

1946 1st electric blanket manufactured; sold for $39.50

1947 1st telephone conversation between a moving car & a plane

1960 Cowboy QB Eddie LeBaron throws shortest touchdown pass (2")

1962 NASA civilian test pilot John B McKay takes X-15 to 39,200 m

1965 Beatles' "Yesterday," single goes #1 & stays #1 for 4 weeks

1967 - A day after being caught, Che Guevara is executed for attempting to incite a revolution in Bolivia.

1969 - In Chicago, the United States National Guard is called in for crowd control as demonstrations continue in connection to the trial of the "Chicago Eight" (trial started on September 24).

1969 Supremes release "Someday We'll Be Together"

1973 Elvis & Priscilla Presley divorce after 6 years

1980 1st consumer use of home banking by computer (Knoxville Tn)

1980 Princess Caroline of Monaco divorces Philippe Junot

1984 Kathy Sullivan becomes 1st US woman to walk in space

1986 - The FOX Network begins broadcasting.

1989 - An official news agency in the Soviet Union reports the landing of a UFO in Voronezh.

1989 Penthouse Magazine's hebrew edition hits the newstands

1990 Radio stations around the world play "Imagine" honoring John Lennon

1990 Saddam threatens to hit Israel with a new missile

1992 - A 13 kilogram (est.) meteorite lands in the driveway of the Knapp residence in Peekskill, New York, destroying the family's 1980 Chevrolet Malibu.

1995 - An Amtrak Sunset Limited train is derailed by saboteurs near Palo Verde, Arizona.

2001 - Second mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attack.

2005 - China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announces the new accurate height of Mount Everest is 8848.43 m.

2005 - Smoking is fully banned on the UK rail network.

2006 - North Korea announces that it has tested its first nuclear device. Here we go!

Happy Birthday:
1757 - King Charles X of France (d. 1836)
1873 - Charles Walgreen, American entrepreneur (d. 1939) My brother works for him. Cool!
1935 - Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, member of the British Royal Family
1940 - John Lennon, British musician and songwriter (The Beatles) (d. 1980)
1944 - John Entwistle, British musician (The Who) (d. 2002)
1948 - Jackson Browne, American musician
1952 - Sharon Osbourne, English music manager and wife of Ozzy Osbourne
1953 - Tony Shalhoub, American actor. You know him as Monk.
1954 - Scott Bakula, American actor
1975 - Sean Lennon, English musician (John's son)

Deaths on this day:
1390 - King John I of Castile (b. 1358)
1934 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (assassinated) (b. 1888)

Homeland Security Update

Ugg Boot

Well, how should I begin? I had to start work as an extra on Homeland Security this morning at 7 am. I was dressed in blue jeans, a long sleeve blue shirt, and black Vans(shoes). I had to pull luggage behind me for most of the morning. The purpose of this post is really nothing more than jotting down my memories before they fade. Here are how the scenes went:

1. I was teamed up with Sandra P. We had our backs to the main actors and when we heard the cues, Quiet, Roll Sound, Rolling Sound, Background Action (that'd be me), and Action. On background action, me and Mrs. P. walked away from the camera and exited the airport. We did this take about 6 times.

2. I was standing outside of the airport and when they said Background Action, I entered the airport pulling my luggage and went towards one of the ticket counters. We did this one three times, I think.

3. Kissing scene. In this one, I walk up to a coke machine a buy a coke. I did this probably 6 times again. It's not easy buying an imaginary coke.

4. I pick up my luggage from a conveyer belt and walk behind Meg Ryan and a few other actors.

5. the Security Guard sessions. Decked out in my security guard outfit, I was the guard that removed your luggage from the conveyer belt after it went through the xray machine. I got to hand Colin Hanks his luggage a couple of times. He picked it up himself a couple of times. Great guy all around. We shot this many, many, many, many, many times from many, many,.....angles.

Who did I see? Antonio Banderas (shorter than I expected), Meg Ryan in "heavy" make-up (you'll have to see the movie to get more info.), Selma Blair(gorgeous), Colin Hanks (taller than I expected), George Gallo(brilliant mind,amazingly nice), Michael Negrin(brilliant mind, amazingly nice also), and a ton of people that I recognized but who's names slip my mind. What a day, what an experience.

I tried to get a couple of pictures but didn't get any good ones. A few others took some pictures and they're supposed to email them to me. I'll post 'em when I get 'em.


Today in History:
1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1793 - French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France.

1892 Dalton Gang ends in shoot-out in Coffeyville, Kansas bank holdup

1905 - Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer III in a flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes, a world record that stood until 1908.

1930 - British Airship R101 crashed in France en-route to India on its maiden voyage.

1936 - The Jarrow March sets off for London.

1944 - Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France.

1945 - Hollywood Black Friday: A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers' studios.

1947 - The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

1962 - The Beatles release their first single, "Love Me Do," in Britain.

1969 - The first broadcast of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

1970 - PBS became a television network.

1974 - I Honestly Love You first reaches #1 on the Billboard charts, giving Olivia Newton-John her first top-selling single in the United States.

1981 - Raoul Wallenberg becomes an honorary U.S. citizen.

1990 Cincinnati jury acquits art gallery of obscenity (Mapplethorpe photos)

1991 - The first official version of the Linux kernel, version 0.02, is released.

1994: Cult members die in 'mass suicide'. They're saving oxygen for the rest of us. For that, I thank them.

1999 - The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in west London kills 31 people.

2001 - Robert Stevens becomes the first victim in the 2001 anthrax attacks.


Happy Birthday:
1943 - Steve Miller, American musician
1947 - Brian Johnson, American singer (AC/DC) after replacing Bon Scott's death in 1980
1952 - Clive Barker, English writer
1958 - Bernie Mac, American actor and comedian
1962 - Michael Andretti, American race car driver
1975 - Kate Winslet, English actress
1980 - Paul Thomas, American musician (Good Charlotte)
2176 Winston Matthew Kyle Perth, Australia (Star Trek)

Deaths on this day:
877 - Charles the Bald (b. 823) What a bad nickname to have.
1805 - Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general (b. 1738)
1918 - Roland Garros, French pilot (shot down) (b. 1888)
1940 - Ballington Booth, Salvation Army Officer and co-founder of Volunteers of America (b. 1857)
1995 - Linda Gary, voice actress (b. 1944)
2003 - Timothy Treadwell, bear enthusiast featured in Grizzly Man (b. 1957)
2004 - Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian (b. 1921)

For the Good Times

Ugg Boot

I learned a new term for a child today and thought I'd share it with all of my faithful readers.
They are called Sex Trophies.

Top 10 Songs Requested at Funerals.

10. "Unchained Melody" - Righteous Brothers.
9. "Every Breath You Take - The Police
8. "Tears In Heaven" - Eric Clapton
7. "With Or Without You" - U2
6. "Candle In The Wind" - Elton John (If it's good enough for Princess Diana, it's good enough for me)
5."Pie Jesu" - Requiem
4. "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Bette Midler (excuse me, I threw up a little)
3. "I've Had The Time Of My Life" - Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley (from Dirty Dancing? That's not really appropriate. I can just see the lights go down and a couple dirty dancing. nasty)
2. "Angels" - Robbie Williams
and the number 1 song requested at funerals is..........

"Goodbye My Lover" - James Blunt

If I die tomorrow, I'd prefer to have Sinatra's My Way played. Only Sinatra can do this song justice.


In The News:
<>North Korea says will conduct nuclear test.

5 girls dead in Amish school shooting. If you're not safe in Amish country, you're not safe anywhere.

A woman in the northern Bulgarian town of Ruse survived a car crash thanks to her silicone breasts which acted as an airbag. See boobies are good. I've been sayin' all along.

New phone will scream if it's stolen. "You'd better put me back where I came from. You know I don't belong to you. Put me back bitch!"

Boxer goes naked to make weight for world title fight.

More than half of Britons polled did not use extra protection against HIV, and 22 per cent thought Aids could be caught by kissing.

Today in History:
1283 - Dafydd ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, becomes the first person executed by drawing and quartering.

1712 - The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor.
Have you seen "Rob Roy" the movie with Liam Neeson? Very good show.

1778 - British Captain James Cook anchors in Alaska.

1789 - George Washington proclaims the first Thanksgiving Day.

1795 - General Napoleon Bonaparte first rises to national prominence being named to defend the French National Convention against armed counter-revolutionary rioters threatening the three year old revolutionary government.

1863 - Thanksgiving Day declared as the fourth Thursday in November by President Abraham Lincoln. Why Thursday? Why the fourth thursday?

1873 - Captain Jack and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War

1918 - King Boris III of Bulgaria takes the throne. Take it back you thief!

1942 - First successful launch of A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany: the first man-made object to reach space.

1952 - United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon.

1955 ''Captain Kangaroo'' premiered on CBS and ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' premiered on ABC.

1962 - At Cape Canaveral the Mercury 8 blasts off with Astronaut Wally Schirra aboard for a nine-hour flight. I wanna go!

1985 - Space Shuttle Atlantis flys its maiden voyage. (STS-51-J)

1991 - Arkansas governor Bill Clinton declares candidacy for President of the United States. He'll never win.

1995 - O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of murder.

1997 Attorney General Janet Reno said she had found no evidence that President Bill Clinton broke the law with White House coffees and overnight stays for big contributors.

2003 A tiger attacked magician Roy Horn of the duo "Siegfried & Roy" during a performance in Las Vegas, leaving him partially paralyzed.

Happy Birthday:
1900 - Thomas Wolfe, American author (d. 1938)
1938 - Eddie Cochran, American singer (d. 1960)
1941 - Chubby Checker, American musician
1947 - John Perry Barlow, American musician, lyricist for the Grateful Dead.
1949 - Lindsey Buckingham, American musician, Fleetwood Mac
1954 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American musician (d. 1990)
1959 - Greg Proops, American actor and comedian
1962 - Tommy Lee, American musician (Mötley Crüe)
1969 - Gwen Stefani, American singer (No Doubt)
1976 - Seann William Scott, American actor
1984 - Ashlee Simpson, American singer

Deaths on this day: Kind of morbid, I know.
1283 - David ap Gruffydd, Welsh prince of Gwynedd (executed)
1967 - Woody Guthrie, American musician (b. 1912) He is best known for his song "This Land Is Your Land".
1994 - Dub Taylor, American actor (b. 1907) You know him. Click on his name.
2000 - Benjamin Orr, American bassist and singer (The Cars) (b. 1947)
2004 - Janet Leigh, American actress (b. 1927)

Ooops hehe

Ugg Boot

herself, you are correct. Susan Lucci is not Phyllis Dillers daughter as I posted recently. I should check my facts. Lucci's father, Victor, is Italian and her mother, Jeanette, is Swedish; both are first-generation Americans. Lucci is an outspoken conservative Republican.

In The News:
NFL PLAYER TOSSED FOR STOMPING ON PLAYER'S FACE...

George Michael Arrested on Drug Charges -- Again...




Today in History
1535 - Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec.
1552 - Conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.
1789 - George Washington transmits the proposed Constitutional amendments (the so-called "Bill of Rights") to the States for ratification.
1889 - In Colorado, Nicholas Creede strikes it rich in silver during the last great silver boom of the American Old West.
1919 - US President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.
1924 - The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.
1928 - The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, was founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá.
1937 - Samuel R. Caldwell becomes the first person is the United States to be arrested on a marijuana charge.
1950 - The comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published in seven US newspapers.
1970 - A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team, administrators, and supporters crashes in Colorado killing 31 people.
1990 - A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, it crashes into two airliners on the ground, killing 132 people.
1996 - The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
1996 - An AeroPerú Boeing 757 crashes in Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru, killing 70.
2005 - Ethan Allen Boating Accident: The Ethan Allen tour boat capsizes on Lake George in Upstate New York, killing twenty people.

Happy Birthday:
1452 - King Richard III of England (d. 1485)
1737 - Francis Hopkinson, American author and signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1791)
1800 - Nat Turner, American leader of slave uprising (d. 1831)
1847 - Paul von Hindenburg, German officer and politician (d. 1934)
1869 - Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political leader, Father of the Nation (d. 1948)
1890 - Groucho Marx, American comedian and actor (d. 1977)
1895 - Bud Abbott, American comedian and actor (d. 1974)
1911 - Jack Finney, American author (d. 1995)
1914 - Jack Parsons, American rocket scientist (d. 1952)
1928 - George "Spanky" McFarland, American actor (d. 1993)
1937 - Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., American attorney (d. 2005)
1945 - Don McLean, American songwriter
1948 - Chris LeDoux, American musician and rodeo performer (d. 2005)
1950 - Michael Rutherford, British musician (Genesis)
1951 - Sting, British musician and actor
1971 - Tiffany, American singer


Deaths on this day:
1803 - Samuel Adams, American revolutionary leader (b. 1722)
1985 - Rock Hudson, American actor (b. 1925)
1998 - Gene Autry, American singer, actor, and entrepreneur (b. 1907)

Homeland Security

Ugg Boot

Antonio Banderas, Meg Ryan, Colin Hanks, and Selma Blair will star in the romantic comedy, Homeland Security for Millennium Films.

Written and directed by George Gallo, the story concerns an uptight young federal agent who finds himself having to spy on his sexually liberated mother and her new lover after the FBI links him to an international art theft ring, notes Variety.

Homeland Security begins shooting October 2nd in Shreveport, La.


Jason, your comment was hilarious. Everyone read it. That's an order.