We Hardly Knew Ye - People We Lost in November, 2007

1

• Sonny Bupp, 79, American child actor (Our Gang, Citizen Kane), last surviving credited cast member of Citizen Kane.
  
• Paul Tibbets, 92, American pilot of the Enola Gay which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, heart failure.

6

• George Osmond, 90, American patriarch of the Osmond singing family.

10

• Laraine Day, 87, American actress (Foreign Correspondent, The High and the Mighty).
• Norman Mailer, 84, American Pulitzer Prize–winning author (The Naked and the Dead, The Executioner's Song), renal failure. [199]
• John H. Noble, 84, American prisoner in Russian gulag and author (I Was a Slave in Russia), heart attack.

12

• Ira Levin, 78, American author (Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives) and playwright (Deathtrap), heart attack.

14

• Michael Blodgett, 68, American actor and screenwriter (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls), heart attack. [158]
• Ronnie Burns, 72, American actor, adopted son of George Burns and Gracie Allen, cancer. [159]
• Bertha Fry, 113, American supercentenarian, third-oldest person in the world, pneumonia.

19

• Kevin DuBrow, 52, American rock singer (Quiet Riot), accidental cocaine overdose. [112]
• Dick Wilson, 91, British-born American actor ("Mr. Whipple"), natural causes.

26

• Mel Tolkin, 94, American head writer for Your Show of Shows.

27

• Robert Cade, 80, American doctor, inventor of Gatorade, kidney failure
• Cecil Payne, 84, American saxophonist, prostate cancer.
  
• Sean Taylor, 24, American football player (Washington Redskins), homicide by gunshot.

28

• Jeanne Bates, 89, American film actress, breast cancer.

29

• Ralph Beard, 79, American college basketball player for the University of Kentucky involved in point-shaving scandal.
• Nardi Reeder Campion, 90, American author and columnist.
• Jim Nesbitt, 76, American country music singer.

30

• Ralph Ezell, 54, American bass guitarist (Shenandoah), heart attack.
• Robert "Evel" Knievel, Jr., 69, American stunt performer.

Word of the Day

perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun:

Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.

His predictions over the years have mixed unusual aristocratic insight with devastating perspicacity.
-- "Why fine titles make exceedingly fine writers", Independent, November 3, 1996

Doubtless these thumbnail sketches, like everything else Stendhal wrote, were intended ultimately to relate to his own notion of himself as a creature of invincible perspicacity and sophistication.
-- Jonathan Keates, Stendhal

Perspicacity comes from Latin perspicax, perspicac-, "sharp-sighted," from perspicere, "to look through," from per, "through" + specere, "to look."

With lies you may get ahead in the world but you can never go back.

— Russian proverb

Frost over the World - Benazir Bhutto - 02 Nov 07

Sir David speaks to former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto about her controversial return to Pakistan, who she thinks is behind the deadly bombing of her convoy in Karachi last month, and whether she and Musharraf can forge a powersharing agreement.

Why the Democrats Could Lose in 2008

Democrats think the public is just interested in new social programs, but voters are looking for something more inspirational.

For weight loss that really counts, count calories

Study finds those who shed pounds and kept them off limited portions

Website of the Day - The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project

Another Blonde Joke

A blonde named Mary decides to rent a movie

She goes to the video store, and after looking around for a while, selects a title that sounds good.

She drives home, makes some popcorn and gets comfortable by the Television set.

To her disappointment, there's nothing but static on the screen, so she calls the video store to complain.

Mary: "I just rented a movie from you and there's nothing on the tape but static."

Clerk: "Sorry about that. We've had problems with some tapes. Which title did you rent?"

Mary: "Head Cleaner."

Most complex problems do have a solution

Most complex problems do have a solution,... Stretch your mind.

Many years ago in a small Russian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the village money lender.

The money lender, who was old and horrible, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. The cunning money lender suggested that they decide the matter this way: He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble
from the bag.

1. If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.

2. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.

3. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer's field, the money lender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag.

He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field that day. What would you have done if you were th e girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl could refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl could show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money lender as a cheat. But he will not forgive the loan.

3. The girl could pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her Father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over this story. Experts use it to make people appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.

The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chose any of the logical choices.

What would you recommend the girl do?

Do not look at the answer yet, give your advice after a few minutes of your own lateral thinking................

Well, here is what she did:
She put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble.

Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. "Oh how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble was black, they had to assume that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Most complex problems do have a solution, which you can find if you stretch your mind.
If logic isn't working, try lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is a creative exercise. Practice it every day.

"The simple step of writing down your ideal scene can lead you to discover the unfailing natural laws of manifestation."

Marc Allen
Author of The Greatest Secret of All: Moving Beyond Abundance to a Life of True Fulfillment

A Great Republican Record

Here's a little part of US history

I can't vouch for the validity of any of these.....

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are comprised of fifteen letters.

Lincoln was shot at the theatre named 'Kennedy'. Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln'. (I thought Llincoln was shot in FORD Theatre!)

Booth ran from the theatre and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theatre.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

Sign The Petition

Eastern Promises

From VSL:

In 2005, critics and fans were outraged when A History of Violence star Viggo Mortensen was overlooked during Oscar season. But Mortensen and director David Cronenberg re-teamed for this year’s Eastern Promises (available 12/26), an elegant and even superior thriller that picks up the main theme from Violence: the exploration of man’s mysterious, complicated, and often animal nature.

The movie is set in the shadows of London side streets, and Mortensen plays Nikolai, a Russian-born driver rising through the ranks of a Russian organized-crime family. There are all sorts of twists and turns (and, not surprisingly, lots of bloodshed), but the film remains streamlined and focused in its intensity. The performances — Naomi Watts is the midwife unwittingly entangled with the baddies, Vincent Cassel the reckless son of the boss — are all excellent, but it’s Mortensen’s movie. His character is complex — as ruthless as he is inscrutable — and utterly impossible to look away from.

We Hardly Knew Ye - People We Lost in October, 2007

3

• Jimmy Hutmaker, 75, American alleged to be 'Mr. Jimmy" in The Rolling Stones song You Can't Always Get What You Want.

8

• John Henry, 32, American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse, euthanized after kidney failure.

9

• Carol Bruce, 87, American actress (WKRP in Cincinnati), COPD

13

• Alec Kessler, 40, American basketball player (Georgia Bulldogs, Miami Heat), heart attack.

14

• Salih Saif Aldin, 32, Iraqi correspondent for The Washington Post, shot.
• Big Moe, 33, American rapper, heart attack.
  
• Slew o'Gold, 27, American thoroughbred racehorse and Hall of Fame inductee, euthanized. [133]
• Sigrid Valdis, 72, American actress (Hogan's Heroes), lung cancer.

15

• Nicky James, 64, British pop singer (The Moody Blues), brain tumour.
• Lucius Theus, 85, American airforce major-general, Tuskegee Airman.

16

• Deborah Kerr, 86, British actress (From Here to Eternity, Black Narcissus, The King and I), complications of Parkinson's disease.

17

• Billy Berroa, 79, Dominican Spanish broadcaster for New York Mets on WADO, prostate cancer. [102]
• Joey Bishop, 89, American entertainer, last surviving member of the Rat Pack.
• Teresa Brewer, 76, American pop and jazz singer, supranuclear palsy.
• Taku, 14, American orca at SeaWorld San Antonio.

18

• Vincent DeDomenico, 92, American inventor of Rice-a-Roni.

19

• LaLa Brown, 21, American R&B singer, shot.

26

• Jim Cummins, 62, American correspondent for NBC News, cancer.
  
• John L. Gaunt, 83, American Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, congestive heart failure.

28

• Porter Wagoner, 80, American country music singer, lung cancer.

30

• Robert Goulet, 73, American singer and actor, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
• Linda S. Stein, 62, American former manager of the Ramones, real estate agent, beaten.

Word of the Day

deracinate \dee-RAS-uh-nayt\, transitive verb:

1. To pluck up by the roots; to uproot.
2. To displace from one's native or accustomed environment.

In the People's Republic, communism's utilitarian bent first poisoned the culinary arts and then, in the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, tried to deracinate what were regarded as the insidious strains of China's former culture.
-- Benjamin and Christina Schwarz, "Going All Out for Chinese", The Atlantic, January 1999

He was a Jew who was never given a chance to belong anywhere, a deracinated intellectual.
-- David Cesarani, Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind

Deracinate comes from Middle French desraciner, from des-, "from" (from Latin de-) + racine, "root" (from Late Latin radicina, from Latin radix, radic-). The noun form is deracination.

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

- E.E. Cummings

We Hardly Knew Ye - People We Lost in September, 2007

1

• Russell Ellington, 69, American basketball coach for the Harlem Globetrotters, lung cancer.
• Sally Haley, 99, American painter, natural causes.

2

• Anthony Day, 74, American editorial page editor for the Los Angeles Times, emphysema.
• Marcia Mae Jones, 83, American actress (Heidi, These Three). [198]

3

• Carter Albrecht, 34, American keyboardist, guitarist (Edie Brickell & New Bohemians), shot. [183]
• Clarke Bynum, 45, American basketball player (Clemson Tigers) and 2000 hijack hero, cancer.
  
• Janis Martin, 67, American singer, cancer.
• Steve Ryan, 60, American theater and television actor.
  

4

• Michael Evans, 87, American stage and television actor.
  
• Seth Tobias, 44, American financial commentator for CNBC's Squawk Box.

7

• Alex, 31, American-born African grey parrot, subject of animal language experiments.
  
• Russell E. Dougherty, 87, American former commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command. [150]
• Joseph W. Eschbach, 74, American doctor and kidney specialist whose research lead to treatment for anemia, cancer.

9

• Hughie Thomasson, 55, American guitarist (The Outlaws), heart attack.

10

• Loretta King Hadler, 90, American film actress, natural causes.
  
• Ted Stepien, 82, American businessman and former owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team.
• Jane Wyman, 90, American Academy Award-winning actress and first wife of Ronald Reagan.

11

• Gene Savoy, 80, American explorer, claimed discovery of over 40 lost cities in Peru, founder of religion, natural causes.
• Willie Tee, 63, American singer, songwriter and producer, colon cancer.
  

12

• Bobby Byrd, 73, American soul/funk singer, long-time friend and collaborator of James Brown, cancer.
• Daryl Holton, 55, American murderer, first man executed by electric chair in Tennessee in 47 years.

15

• Brett Somers, 83, American actress, comedienne and panelist (Match Game), stomach and colon cancer.

18

• Norman Gaylord, 84, American chemist, developed permeable contact lens.
• Nate Hill, 41, American football player (Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins).

21

• Rex Humbard, 88, American televangelist, congestive heart failure.
• Coral Watts, 53, American serial killer, complications of prostate cancer. [68]

26

• Velma Wayne Dawson, 94, American creator of the Howdy Doody puppet.
• Randy Van Horne, 83, American singer of TV theme songs (The Flintstones, The Jetsons), cancer.
  

27

• Dale Houston, 67, American musician (Dale and Grace).
  
• Rena Rago, 85, American artist, stroke complications.
  
• George Rieveschl, 91, American inventor of Benadryl, pneumonia.
  

28

• Charles B. Griffith, 77, American screenwriter.
• Evelyn Knight, 89, American singer, lung cancer.
• Martin Manulis, 92, American Emmy Award-winning television and film producer.
• Wally Parks, 94, American drag racing and hot rod pioneer, pneumonia.
  

29

• Lois Maxwell, 80, Canadian Golden Globe-winning actress, first Miss Moneypenny in James Bond film series, colorectal cancer.

30

• Al Chang, 85, American two-time Pulitzer prize-nominated military photographer, leukemia.
• John Henebry, 89, American Air Force major general, heart failure.

The Diet After Christmas

Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,

The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt---

I said to myself, as I only can
"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"
So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
"Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.

I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore---
But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

Website of the Day - Post Secret

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.