Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News The RoundTable Round Table For Friday, November 21st, 2008

1972 - Here’s one event that you can participate in without it costing you a dime or even one red cent. It’s easy, and it’s good for everyone. What could possibly be so wonderful? World Hello Day, that’s what. This friendly annual event began on this day and has grown enormously since. People in over 180 countries have participated and the heads of state of 114 countries have given their approval. Now here’s what you do to participate: you just say “hello” to ten people on this day. Greet them warmly and with a smile. And you can say “hello” in any language. The reason: World Hello Day will put us all one step further ahead in the attempt to advance world peace through personal communication.



Click on the picture!


Today In History~

1783 - Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis Francois Laurant d’Arlandes made the first flight in a balloon, thus becoming the first men to fly - period. The pair flew nearly six miles around Paris in 25 minutes reaching an altitude of around 300 feet. Ben Franklin was one of the spectators at the big event. The flight came less than six months after the first (unmanned) public balloon demonstration.

1789 - The 12th of the 13 original colonies to become the United States of America, did so on this day. North Carolina or the Tar Heel State, boasts the brilliant red cardinal as its state bird, the graceful dogwood as its state flower, and lays claim to being the nation’s largest producer of tobacco and textiles. Raleigh is the state capital.

1871 - The cigar lighter was patented by Moses F. Gale of New York City.

1877 - Thomas A. Edison, who really dug the jazz he heard coming from his newest invention, told those gathered that he just invented the ‘talking machine’ (phonograph). On February 19, 1878, Edison received a patent for the device and was enrolled as a charter member of the Columbia House Record Club where he received his first 10 selections free -- with only six selections purchased at regular prices over the next three years...

1925 - Harold ‘Red’ Grange played his last game for the University of Illinois. The next day he joined the Chicago Bears. Two months later, Grange was so famous that he was offered $120,000 and a real estate company.

1934 - Cole Porter’s "Anything Goes" opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. The show ran for 420 performances.

1937 - Following Carnegie Hall performances in both 1906 and 1919, Artur Rubinstein presented another historic and highly acclaimed performance at the arts center this day.

1938 - WBOE in Cleveland, OH became the first school-operated radio station (owned by a municipality) to receive a license from the FCC. WBOE went on the air as a 500-watt AM station and later became an FM station.

1938 - The first broadcast of "Central City" was heard. It was an adventure-mystery show set at the newspaper in, you guessed it, Central City. Elspeth Eric played the part of crime reporter Emily Olson; and Van Heflin was crime reporter Bob Shellenberger (later, the part was played by Myron McCormick). "Central City" aired until 1941.

1944 - “Happy trails to you, until we meet again....” "The Roy Rogers Show" was first heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Singing along with Roy (‘The King of the Cowboys’), were the Whippoorwills and The Sons of the Pioneers.

1944 - "I’m Beginning to See the Light", the song that would become the theme song for Harry James and his orchestra, was recorded this day. The song featured the lovely voice of Kitty Kallen ("Little Things Mean a Lot").

1955 - The first lady of the American stage, Helen Hayes, was honored for her many remarkable years in show business, as the Fulton Theatre in New York City was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre.

1959 - Following his firing from WABC Radio in New York the day before, Alan Freed refused “on principle” to sign a statement that he never received money or gifts (payola) for plugging records. Incidentally, few may remember, but Freed left WABC while he was on the air. He was replaced in mid-record by Fred Robbins, who later became a nationally-known entertainment reporter for Mutual Radio.

1964 - The Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened. Actually, the upper deck was opened to traffic on this day. The bridge, linking Brooklyn and Staten Island, was the world’s longest suspension bridge at 4,260 ft.

1980 - The largest TV audience ever, an estimated 82 million people, watched as Sue Ellen’s sister, Kristin Shepard, shot J.R. Ewing on "Dallas". The jilted mistress was seen holding the smoking gun after a summer of viewers asking that haunting question, “Who Shot J.R.?” Eighty percent of all viewers watched the show.

1981 - Olivia Newton-John started the first of 10 weeks at the top of the pop music charts when "Physical" became the music world’s top tune.

1995 - The Beatles’ "Anthology I" sold 450,000 copies in its first day of release. Acording to Capitol Records, it was the most single-day sales ever for an album. Yeah, yeah, yeah...

1997 - These movies debuted in the U.S.: "Anastasia" (the lost Russian Princess Anastasia and her quest to find her true identity), starring Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst and Angela Lansbury; "The Rainmaker" (young lawyer and cynical partner take on powerful law firm representing a corrupt insurance company), with Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Mary Kay Place, Mickey Rourke, Danny Devito and Danny Glover; and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (set in Savannah GA amid beautiful architecture and odd doings), starring Kevin Spacey, John Cusack, Jack Thompson, Lady Chablis, Alison Eastwood, Irma P. Hall, Paul Hipp and Jude Law.


Music For The Day~



Click on the picture! Gordon Lightfoot-The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald


Quote For The Day~

The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.
Elbert Hubbard






Chuckle For The Day~

The Local Strip Club
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Because Dave works hard at the plant and spends most evenings bowling or playing basketball at the gym, his wife thinks he is pushing himself too hard, so for his birthday she takes him to a local strip club.

The doorman at the club greets them and says, ''Hey, Dave! How ya doin?'' His wife is puzzled and asks if he's been to this club before. ''Oh no,'' says Dave. ''He's on my bowling team.''

When they are seated, a waitress asks Dave if he'd like his usual Budweiser. His wife is becoming uncomfortable and says, ''You must come here a lot for that woman to know you drink Budweiser.'' ''No, honey, she's in the Ladies Bowling League. We share lanes with them.'' A stripper comes over to their table and throws her arms around Dave. ''Hi, Davey,'' she says, ''Want your usual table dance?''

Dave's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club. Dave follows and spots her getting into a cab. Before she can slam the door, he jumps in beside her and she starts screaming at him.

The cabby turns his head and says, ''Looks like you picked up a real doozie this time, Dave!''





Picture For The Day~



Holocaust monument in Berlin, Germany


Trivia For The Day~

The giant African millipede is the largest of the species.

Morning All!
Great opener Scout, I did the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald two weeks ago on the anniversary of the Wreck so I guess you must really like that song!

COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!


FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY

a) A Requiem for the GOP
Its leader, George Bush is reviled by the masses. His second in command and former attorney general was indicted by a Texas grand jury. After losing ground in every state but Oklahoma, the GOP's first response is to turn more conservative and more religious (but only if it is the reich flavor of religion) The elders of the Senate are gone or going. Their congresscritters have been excised from both coasts, the northeast, much of the midwest, and even Flordia. It more resembles the regional parties during Lincoln's era, than an organized, powerful national party.

Their second response is to look to a new generation of leaders.
Willard Mitt Romney
With his plastic hair, ceramic smile, and artificially chiseled chin, if Willard were an animal, he'd be the brass rooster on top of the barn, changing directions each time the wind blew.

Mike Huckabee
The more you listen to his content, the more it becomes obvious that this man is stark raving insane, without the raving. A certifiable lunatic, with a friendly, warm, smiling demeanor, his belief system is so irrational that the idea of him in control of a nation should scare everyone, even those who believe in a god.

Sarah Palin
The queen turkey of the gala. If one was forced to label her with one term, it would be NOUVEAU RASH. Instead of some book deal with Regerny, (which will shaft her on fees, artificially inflate her "sales" with bulk buys through its agents), she should license her image to the Oxford English Dictionary to be used as a perfect example and definition of "clueless". If nothing else, yesterday's appearance at a turkey processing plant will forever define Wassilly Sarah.

That's it. Newt? Only in our nachtmares. Frist? the long distance diagnostician has lost his stethoscope. Rickie Sanitorium? With an IQ that rivals Dan Quayle, he poses a smaller threat than an army of pet rocks. Tom DeLay? hard to campaign from prison? Karl Rove? He's been reduced to giving advice to the democrats.

Rest In Piece, GOP. The damage done by you will take a generation to fix.
In unrelated news, only 34% of Americans hold a favorable view of the newly configured regional GOP.

- - -

b) Michael Mukasey
This apologist for torture, this protector of the White House, this master of the subtle cover-up collapsed on stage yesterday.

He was giving a "Rah Rah" speech to the Federalist Society, a group of demented, GOP, free-market, no regulation, no tax ultra-conservatives, telling them that Bush's unconstitutional powers actually are a good thing. A state judge finally had enough of Mukasey's cr&p and yelled, "YOU TYRANT!" The few rational members of the Society considered standing and cheering, when Mukasey was reduced to one syllable words, before his collapse.

It remains unknown whether being properly called a tyrant caused his collapse, or whether he suffered from a rare pique of conscience. This morning, Mukasey is resting comfortably, and is as alert and responsive as he was before his collapse.

- - -

c) Joe The Plumber
He landed a book deal with a vanity publisher, Pearlgate. Which has printed exactly one book before Joe's. Written by Pearlgate's publisher. Who will be ghost-writing Joe's story. Because Joe can't put three words together on paper, much less tell his compelling story of drain clogs, power snakes, the relative advantages of lye vs. acid, and how proper venting of pipes prevents stop-ups.

- - -

d) Verizon Wireless
Their employees illegally accessed President Elect's cell phone records.
Time for Verizon customers to switch.

- - -
e) Dubai
What was once described as the illegitimate spawn of Saudi Arabia and Las Vegas has hit a major rut.

I know of two professors who seriously considered relocating to Dubai, because they would have doubled their salaries, tax free.
No longer.

In 1979, the night before my senior year started, my family & I moved to Southern Indiana. One of the first people I met was my friend Shari, who the previous year had drawn a comic of a sarcastic, wise-cracking character named J.R. Oddly enough, this character looked just like me (aviator frames, long hair parted in the middle) and even more astounding, had my initials. My nickname was born.

I spent the entire school year meeting new people who, while barely able to contain their laughter, asked me "who shot you?" (yeah, it was just as side-splitting hilarious the thousandth time as it was the first). I hated it at the time but, in retrospect, my last year of High school in a completely new town, I met a lot of people in a relatively short time and they all remembered my name with ease. Some people still call me J.R. and a lot of them don't even remember "Dallas". Take that Larry Hagman!

Thanks for the memories Scout!

Hey Jeffro,
Southern Indiana? Am from Henderson, KY myself, right by Evansville, IN- where my sister lives today. I thankfully escaped to San Francisco, as I see you did too.

F&N

I have a friend in Evansville, F&N. She calls it "the steamy toe of Indiana".

What a lovely start to the opener today, Scout! I'm leading a discussion at Meeting this Sunday about the ordinary things we do every day to promote peace. Saying "hello" with a warm smile to people we don't even know is one of the biggies.

The photo of the Holocaust Memorial was so moving. I can imagine what it would be like in person. When I went to the Holocaust Memorial in Boston I had to go through it twice. I was so overwhelmed the first time I forgot to take pictures. Both Memorials convey the numbing depersonalization of the victims. In Boston, six tall plexiglas spires are inscribed with six million serial numbers in tiny print. The blank tombs in the Berlin memorial affect me the same way as the blur of digits.

I can't help but wonder: how many more generations will pass before we are ready to create such a memorial for the millions of victims of the Vietnam War?

Yesterday, for the first time in a while I filled up my tank with gas for less than $30. Regular gas at local Costco was $2.07 and this is in California. It'll soon be under $2 a gallon.

GET OUTTA HERE! We moved to Mount Vernon. I lived in Evansville for about 9 years. I went to ISUE (now USI), I worked at FolzCity at North Park (if you remember that, it later became "CAT'S" - coolest record store in the Midwest at the time). I spent a lot of time at the Swinging Door and The Other Side (what creative names for gay bars, I mean, who would know?). I don't know how old you are but it is possible we know each other - though I don't remember meeting anyone named "FruityANDNutty" it's entirely possible, I drank a lot more back then.

My best friend lived in Henderson and wrote for the newspaper there. My brothers are still in Mt.Vernon/Evansville and I have gone back every year for the past several years for nephews and nieces High School graduations. I still have friends there - two of my best friends are kind of local celebs: John Gibson (on WIKY) and April Mitchell (used to be an anchor and I think she had some public interest show or something). I like getting to see them every year.

Yeah, I moved to the East Coast first - Connecticut for about a year and a half (hated it), then finally got here in 1989. I won't be leaving.

Yes, I do! Sorry for the duplication, but that is the featured chart topper song for this date...I forget which year, though.

Clear and sunny outside, with today's high predicted in the mid 80's!