TALKING TO ROCKS AND TREES SINCE 1837
(Brother Rock is really pissed at what we are doing to Brother Tree).

Wednesday and Thursday Debbie and I looked at trees. While the trees were not as spectacular as they have been, they were much better than the last several years. We like to drive around in the hills north of Granville and Newark. There are some valleys there that had huge stands of yellow and gold trees (with an occasional red one and those strange shimmery kind that are both yellow and green). We did not see as many trees as we would have liked but we saw enough to give us our fix. By the time the rain quits most everything will be brown or down. One of the really nice things that Nestle did for me was send me to a conference in Connecticut, in the fall. Driving up from New York City, I went through this small town that was built half way up a very big hill (or a small mountain, hard to tell). The town had trees on every property so looking up and down that hill, all you saw was trees clad in buttery-golden leaves. Even the road was covered with them (it made stopping a bit tricky). Totally beautiful.

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Speaking of driving, sometimes when I am alone, with no other traffic, and I am on a straight road, I like to let go of the steering wheel and hold my arms straight out in front of me and pretend I am flying. I don't do it for very long but I don't worry about hitting anything since I am in the optimal position to go through the wind shield.

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Well you need a map so you go to Yahoo or Google or Microsoft and get a map. Wait they only have road maps and satellite maps or if you are lucky an occasional Topographical map and you want to know about lakes and rivers or elevations or earthquakes. For that and a whole lot of other geological info for the US and the rest of the world goto:
http://geology.com

Their geology store even sells waterproof paper that you can run through your laser or ink jet printers so you can make your own maps for tramping around outside, in the rain, assuming you are not smart enough... (I mean adventurous, really, you noodlehead) to come in out of the rain.

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Culinary tip of the week -

For years I have met people who will eat Mayonnaise (Hellman's) but hate Salad Dressing (Miracle Whip) and vice versa. So I just started thinking 'What if you mixed the two together?' I really like it. It tastes better than Mayo or Salad Dressing. I mix them half and half. An easy way to do that on a sandwich is to Mayo one piece of bread and put Dressing on the other. Apply desired fillings and consume. I would avoid Mexican brands because they often have lime in them. I like the taste of it alone. It does not play well with others.
I will probably be stabbed by some mad chef that thinks I am a heretic.

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The Universe is a scary place. There is theory about the origin of our Moon which says a huge object hit the Earth (about 4 billion years) and sheared off a big chunk. That object and the material it carried with it became our Moon. Gravity, plate tectonics and time healed all scars on Earth. The Moon just had time and gravity but that appears to have been enough.

Now we find out that Mars got hit by something about 100 million years later. A 1,200 mile wide chunk of rock (bigger than Pluto) caused a 5,300 wide crater that covers 40% of Mars. It is a little subtle since the crater wall has such this huge section of Mars rising out of it. It is like a ring around the entire planet, just below the equator. Want more? Goto:
http://geology.com/nasa/largest-impact-crater.shtml

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If you think you know where the Kroger Store, in Johnstown, you are probably wrong.

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Now to the reasons to be happy this week (or at least civil).
Here goes:

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monday 26 October
******The Official NoButtonButton **************************
******
****** The ability to forget the things that really sucked.
******
****** NOSTALGIA
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birthdays:
1865 – Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (read as 'he inherited a bunch of money and did not lose it'). He died aboard RMS Titanic along with his chauffeur. His Mistress and her maid survived. He and his chauffeur dressed in their finest clothes (when they realized the ship was going to sink) and were determined to meet their fate 'like gentlemen'. Some of the wealthy (of that age) had standards that the neither poor or rich can meet today. The idea of maintaining your manners as you meet death is so foreign to us today when we are expected to kick and scream for every second. I think the gentlemanly approach is more dignified and a much less stressful exit than many of us have. I respect his style and courage. I hope to be a Gentleman when my time comes.

1874 - Abby Aldrich Rockefeller was a prominent socialite and philanthropist and the second-generation matriarch of the Rockefeller family. If you know what MOMA is then you probably like her. She was the driving force behind the establishment of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), on 53rd Street in New York.

1888 - Nestor Ivanovych Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War. The reason he is in here is that he is credited as the inventor of the 'tachanka', a horse-drawn wagon that had a heavy machine gun bolted to it.

Now the term 'technical' describing a vehicle with a heavy weapon (usually a machine gun)mounted on it, appears to have originated in Somalia. One theory of the origin of the term is that aid agencies would cover up the bribes they had to pay (to the War Lords) by listing them in the budget as 'technical expenses'. I don't agree.

From 1976 to 1991 Somalia was ruled by the Marxist-Leninist 'Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party' (also known as the XHKS). They developed ties to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The USSR gave aid to Somalia and I believe the word 'technical' is a English misunderstanding of the Russian word 'tachanka'. It is just a theory but it seems to be a short leap.

events:
1775 – King George III goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution. I wonder how that ever worked out.

1825 – The Erie Canal opens – passage from Albany, New York to Lake Erie. So why do we care. The Erie Canal goes from Albany (less than 50 miles to the coast) out into Lake Erie which now gave you cheap (as much as 95% cheaper) access to Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota. Once we established peaceful relations with Britain that access was extended to Canada. At the time you could not just sail down the St. Lawrence Seaway into Lake Erie because of a little thing called Niagara Falls (today there is a shipping channel that bypasses the falls).

Immigrants and finished goods flowed in and farm produce, furs and timber flowed out. The Canal's proximity to New York City guaranteed that it would become our largest port. It brought new citizens to the midwest faster than any other means of travel available at the time. The 4-6 miles an hour that the barges moved was blindingly fast compared to walking, Ox-cart or even horseback and once you got to the lake you could get 15-20 miles an hour (maybe better). Unlike the canal system that was built in Ohio the Erie Canal (well its modern larger version) is still in business today. The original Erie was deepened, widened and sealed (they had a lot of problems with leakage originally). Three other canals were joined to it.

Today the canal still carries cargo but is used mostly for recreational purposes with over 8,000 tourist boat excursions made a year. The canal is a tourist destination and I have heard that the tours are a very good way to relax.

1881 – The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona. After the Alamo, this is perhaps the most famous (or infamous) event in the Wild West. This gave the following actors (and many others) a good pay day.

First the Wyatt Earps:
Randolph Scott Henry Fonda Hugh O'Brian
Burt Lancaster James Garner Kurt Russell
Kevin Costner James Stewart Joel McCrea
Richard Dix Will Geer Leo Gordon

Some of the Doc Hollidays:
Cesar Romero Victor Mature Kent Taylor
Kirk Douglas Jason Robards Val Kilmer
Dennis Quaid

Some other actors and their roles:
Walter Brennan - Old Man Clanton
Ward Bond - Morgan Earp
DeForest Kelley - Morgan Earp
Dennis Hopper - Billy Clanton
Earl Holliman - Deputy Sheriff Charlie Bassett
Rhonda Fleming - Laura Denbow
Martin Milner - James 'Jimmy' Earp
Lee Van Cleef - Ed Bailey
Jon Voight - Curly Bill Brocius
Sam Elliott - Virgil Earp
Charlton Heston - Henry Hooker
Thomas Haden Church - Billy Clanton
Dana Delany - Josephine Marcus
Harry Carey, Jr. - Marshal Fred White
Billy Bob Thornton - Johnny Tyler
Billy Zane - Mr. Fabian
Gene Hackman - Nicholas Earp
Mark Harmon - Johnny Behan
Isabella Rossellini - Big Nose Kate (Doc Holliday's common law wife)
Tea Leoni - Sally

The Gunfight has also been featured in TV series - some of them are:
M*A*S*H Monty Python's Flying Circus
Deadwood Doctor Who
Star Trek

There is almost no historical evidence that Wyatt carried a 'Buntline Special'. The pistol was a 45 cal. Colt Peacemaker with a 12" barrel. Well since it had to be specially ordered it cost one dollar an inch over the 7.5 inches of the standard Peacemaker and you could order however many inches you wanted (keep down the sexual comments please). There are actual historical examples with barrels up to 16 inches (but not in Wyatt's arsenal). It had a removable stock. The long barrel gave the weapon better precision and range and the stock turned the revolver into a short barrel, rapid fire rifle. Colt can not find any record of the 5 special order guns (supposedly ordered by Ned Buntline, the dime novelist). They appear to be figments of creative writing from the 1930s.

2009 - Krogers open a new store in Johnstown at 4:00 PM (the old store closes at 1:00 pm). The new store is 84,000 square feet (so I've heard) and is supposed to be the largest size store they build before they go to The Market Place.

holidays:
National Mincemeat Pie Day - I always wondered what Mincemeat was but I am scared to find out. I have been assured that no actual meat is used.

Horseless Carriage Day - With freedom and pollution for all. I love them but they stink.

Mule Day - For those that don't 'get' Horseless Carriages.

Pumpkin Day - Random Edible Squash (Gourd? Fruit? Vegetable?) Day

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tuesday 27 October
******The Official NoButtonButton **************************
******
****** I can stop the injections anytime.
******
****** I'm NOT addicted to chocolate!
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birthdays:
1811 – Isaac Singer - Yes he invented the Sewing Machine.

1858 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Three other US Presidents have won the Peace Prize and they are Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.

1920 – Nanette Fabray was a US actress and comedian. I remember her from the few times I saw her on Caesar's Hour. Caesar's Hour was a comedy skit TV program that aired on NBC (1954-57). The program starred, among others, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, and Milt Kamen. They had some funny writers Mel Tolkin (head writer), Neil Simon, Danny Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart and Sheldon Keller, to name a few.

events:
1275 – Traditional founding date of the city of Amsterdam. They probably drank a couple of beers, smoked a joint and headed down to the Red light district.
Actually Amsterdam is a wealthy city with 7 of the 500 largest companies in the world, having their Headquarters there. Amsterdam is the financial and business capital of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is currently one of the best European cities in which to locate an International Business. It is ranked fifth behind London, Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona.

Amsterdam tends to be mostly tolerant of all religions but that might be because most of the residents do not claim any religion. As the little joke I made above suggests the citizens of Amsterdam are tolerant of a lot of stuff. About 30 years ago I came into possession of a news magazine from the Netherlands and it looked pretty normal until I came to the article that had photos of a woman having sex in what looked like a bar with 30 or 40 men and women watching. There were also pictures of her fully dressed with a baby and a man in what looked like a small apartment and the three of them at a playground. Since I have always been interested in other languages I tried to translate the article. I had enough success to figure out that the live sex show was her job and the baby and man in the apartment were her son and husband. The magazine was asking about the difficulties of juggling her job with her family life. They also asked her husband what he thought about it and he said he was trying to become established as an artist and her job allowed him to only have to work part time. He was happy that he could spend more time with his art and his son and he knew it was just a job (for his wife). Can I get an big OMG from the congregation. WTF... Close enough.

The number of Brothels in the Red Light districts is dropping and the Chamber of Commerce is concerned. 26% of the tourists that come to Amsterdam go to the Red Light district to 'LOOK' around. hmmmm? Can you said STD boys and girls? Sure you can.

1806 – The French Army enters Berlin. 134 years later the German Army will return the favor, in Paris. What comes around...

1810 – United States annexes the former Spanish colony of West Florida. Officials immediately complain that nobody knows how to speak English (just kidding).

1904 – The first underground New York City Subway line opens; the system becomes the biggest in United States, and one of the biggest in world. It will provide a setting for countless movies, TV shows and books. Drugs, romance, murder, large alien insects, comedy and countless felonies have have all been subway plot devices.

When I was 10, I rode the NYC subway, once (with my mom and sister). The station we got on the train at, smelled like pee. I much prefer the Washington DC subway. Airier, cleaner (much less pee) and newer.

holidays:
National Potato Day - Random Edible Buried in the Dirt Stuff Day

American Beer Day - For the last several years we can hold up our heads and say "Not all the beer in the US sucks." We now brew some World Class beers (but not at Budweiser or or Coors). Stone Brewing, Sam Addams, Goose Island, Left Hand Brewing, Cleveland Brewing, Columbus Brewing, Elevator Brewing and Steel Brewing Company are a very few of the amazing rebirth of quality beer brewing companies that were killed by Prohibition. Tomorrow (in 1919) Congress will vote to cut of the beer, wine and booze.

Good Bear Day - I know many of you won't understand this, but I don't care what the real reason for this day is, but I know what I what it to be. Rest my friend.

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wednesday 28 October
******The Official NoButtonButton **************************
******
****** I need a broom, dustpan and a trash bag.
******
****** Sorry, my angst-train derailed for a minute there.
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birthdays:
1845 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski was a Polish physicist. In 1883 Wróblewski and his co-worker Olszewski condensed oxygen into a liquid, later that year they did the same with nitrogen. They were the first to liquefy oxygen and nitrogen from the atmosphere.

1875 - Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was the father of photojournalism and the first full-time editor of National Geographic Magazine (he took over during the first year). Gilbert was the son-in-law of Alexander Graham Bell (the second president of the National Geographic Society). The Magazine is the Journal of the Society which is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. They have partially or fully funded expeditions to every part of the world, from the North and South Poles, to the deepest trench in the ocean. Gorillas In the Mist, Jane Goodall and her Chimpanzees, Jacques Cousteau, the first flight over South Pole, the discovery of fossil dinosaurs in China that have feathers and the excavation of Machu Picchu were all Nat Geo expeditions.

1837 – Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Japan's last shogun - 1837 1837 1837

1960 – Landon Curt Noll, Astronomer, Cryptographer and Mathematician: youngest (18) to hold the world record for the largest known prime. He will hold that record twice more. Currently the largest prime number is 12,978,189 digits long and was discovered in June 2009. There may actually be larger prime numbers known to humans just not the public. Governments (definitely ours) use very large prime numbers in encryption and they keep them secret. Our government was quite annoyed when Mathematicians started using massive distributed computers to discover large primes.

A distributed computer is really a large number of computers (maybe thousands) which have an Internet connection and the right software loaded. When the computer is idle (the time, maybe seconds, between commands) the software runs part of a program. The seconds on each of a large enough number of computers give you a de facto super computer.

events:
1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established. It closed in 1832. The Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo is a public university in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was founded in 1914, as an attempt to reopen the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino. The university claims to be the successor of the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino.

1636 – A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University. Due to the fact that Harvard has never closed, it has been operating for more years than the older Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino.

1886 – In New York Harbor, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty. In 1883 Emma Lazarus was requested to write a poem to be auctioned off to help raise funds to build the base for the Statue. In 1912 the sonnet (that Emma wrote) was cast into a bronze plaque and attached inside Miss Liberty. It is so ironic that this nation of immigrants is so hostile to immigrants (I guess we do not like what we or our ancestors were).

FYI: A Sonnet is a 14 line poem. Each line has 10 syllables. This one has a different rhyme scheme than the most classic form but conforms on the other points.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
—Emma Lazarus, 1883

This sonnet chokes me up every time I read it.

FYI: There are 526 steps to get to the crown of Miss Liberty. The elevator in the base is currently down for renovation.

1919 – Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto (he tried), paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January. Prohibition insured the survival of dying organized crime families. Pot, LSD, Cocaine and Ecstasy prohibitions have helped keep criminal organizations afloat in the 60s and 90s. Drug laws make us less safe. Half of all crime in the US is to get money for drugs. Those drugs would be dirt cheap if they were legal, because the expense is the transportation and paying someone to take the risk. People are not going to stop using, why should the straight population have to pay more for failed drug policies. We spend so much on enforcement that we cut back on Rehab programs. I'm just saying...

1929 – Black Monday, the Wall Street Crash of 1929. And you could not even get drunk. This is what happens when you go 10 years without a drink.

holidays:
National Chocolate Day - No laughing matter. Treat this day with the reverence and awe deserved by the food of the gods.

Wild Foods Day - Party with your Pork. Samba with your Sushi. Break it down with your Beef. Wait... I am getting a message... the message says "This is about food you find in the wild, not parties. Bonehead!" So sorry. My face is red.

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thursday 29 October
******The Official NoButtonButton **************************
******
****** And maybe Wanda Sikes
******
****** We have nothing to fear but the scary stuff.
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birthdays:
1891 – Ormer Locklear, US movie stunt pilot.
Buster Keaton had his first plane flight with Locklear at DeMille Airfield. Cecil B. DeMille operated three airfields. The site of this flight was the airfield at Wilshire Blvd. and Cresent Ave. in Los Angeles. Locklear's aerial loop-the-loop had Keaton hanging upside down at 5000 ft.

1921 – Bill Mauldin, American editorial cartoonist. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers represented by the long suffering Willie and Joe. They were weary, beat up and dirty infantrymen who stoically endured the absurdities and dangers of being at war. I remember one cartoon that showed a Jeep with one wheel blown off. Willie has one hand over his eyes and a 45 cal. pistol in the other hand, aimed at the Jeep's hood, like he was going to put it down. Sad but funny. On Veteran's Day, Charles Schultz (Peanuts) would send Snoopy, dressed as an army vet, to Mauldin's house to "quaff a few root beers and tell war stories." Schultz also served in the Army during WWII.

Bill Mauldin was a combat soldier during WWII. He drew his cartoons as he fought in the invasion of Sicily and the fighting on Anzio Beach, Italy. He was a Sargent and has a Purple Heart and an Army Legion of Merit. Before the war ended he was reassigned to 'Stars and Strips' (the official soldiers news paper) and drew 6 Willie and Joe cartoons a week. Patton threatened to throw Bill in jail because of the cartoons and Ike told Patton to leave him alone.

His Civilian honors are many, topped by two Pulitzer Prizes and a Reuben (National Cartoonist Society Award for Editorial Cartooning). Willie was on the cover of Time Magazine in 1945, and Mauldin himself made the cover, in 1958. In 2001 the Army gave him an honorary promotion to First Sargent. As well as cartooning he acted in some films, wrote books and articles and did illustration for books and pamphlets. One the films he acted in has been in production for years and it looks like it will be released this year (Milites Christi)(he is the Chaplain).

To see some of his 'Willie and Joe' cartoons goto:
http://www.jeanalbanogallery.com/mauldin/index1.html
Be sure to scroll down because the first one you see is the editorial cartoon he drew the day after John Kennedy was assassinated. It is considered one of his finest works.

For more political cartoons goto:
http://www.jeanalbanogallery.com/mauldin/index.html

events:
1675 – Leibniz makes the first use of the long s (∫) as a symbol of the integral in calculus. I think it is far to say that most of the people in the world (even some who have taken calculus) have not idea what that first sentence said.

1863 – Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross. They were countries then but as you know, Europe changes borders and countries every time somebody sneezes. The countries were: Baden(Germany), Bavaria(Germany), France, Britain, Hanover(Germany), Hesse(Germany), Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Prussia(Germany & Poland), Russia, Saxony(Germany), Sweden, and Spain, But not Germany since they did not exist, yet.

1944 – The city of Breda in the Netherlands is liberated by 1st Polish Armoured Division. They had a few beers, smoked some pot and checked out the Red Light district.

1955 – The Soviet battleship 'Novorossiisk' strikes a World War II mine. Maybe. This is a darling of conspiracy fans. The 'Novorossiisk' was laid down in 1920 as the Italian battleship the 'Giulio Cesare' and served the Italians until the end of WWII. She was given to the USSR (as war reparations) and relaunched as the 'Novorossiisk' in 1949. She was the flagship of the Black Sea fleet.
Theories:
1. She was sunk by Italian Naval divers (an Italian SEAL team called Decima Flottiglia MAS) as revenge for having her been taken.
2. The Italians hid explosive on board the ship before they turned it over to the USSR.
3. The USSR did it themselves and were going to blame Turkey and use it as an excuse to take control of Bosporus and Dardanelles giving them unrestricted access to the Mediterranean Sea. The plan was abandoned, but not soon enough.
4. Sabotage by parties unknown.
5. A WWII German magnetic mine drifted up from the bottom and exploded when it made contact.

There is not enough evidence to rule out or confirm any theory. Perfect conspiracy material.

She must have been cut up for scrap because she was never recommissioned and I could not find her in the Sevastopol harbor. Yes I looked on Google Earth and yes sunken ships show up well in shallow water (there are two at Sevastopol). Sunken ships are items that fans of Google Earth love to find because they think it makes them look clever. They are partially right. It also makes them look like they don't have enough social life to drag their butts away from the computer. Like me.


holidays:
Laugh Suddenly For No Reason A Lot Today Day - So this is the "Tip Your Co-workers or Parents Off to the Fact That You Are a Big Druggie Day"? That is one of the warning signs of drug abuse and mental problems (inappropriate laughter). Of course if you are not using drugs or crazy it is a total hoot to freak out the straight people. Warning it can be a career limiting event. What the hell, make them get their knickers in a twist.

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friday 30 October
******The Official NoButtonButton **************************
******
****** Grace Slick talks about smoking cigarettes:
******
****** "I smoke every minute that I'm awake and have since I was 15,
****** It's so stupid; it doesn't even get me high."
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birthdays:
1847 – Galileo Ferraris was an Italian physicist. He developed an alternating-current electric motor. Like so many things more than one person solved the problem at the same time and Galileo invented his motor the same year that Tesla was granted US Patent 381,968 for an 'Electro-Magnetic Motor'. Very few Americans have heard of Ferraris and have of the ones who have heard the name would probably wonder how 'the Day he took off' turned out.

1857 - Georges Albert Édouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette was a French neurologist. And before you ask, this is the guy that discovered 'Tourette's Syndrome'. Tourette's is characterised (most commonly) by uncontrollable eye blinking (or facial tics) and repetitive vocal sounds. The symptoms come and go usually being the worst in childhood and getting better as you grow older. Most people just live ordinary lives and others may not even know they have a condition. Repeating your own words or the words of others or saying bad words is rare and adults with Tourette's is very rare. I guess I am going to have to find another excuse for cussing people out.

1939 – Grace Slick, The Real Acid Queen and lead female vocalist for 'The Great Society', 'Jefferson Airplane', 'Jefferson Starship' and 'Starship'. She is 70 today and I still love her to death. She speaks her mind and you had better get out of the way.

She gave up the drugs and booze. I think part of the reason was reflection on the danger she was in when she was drunk and pointed a shotgun at a couple of police officers and when her daughter was 13 she had to go to rehab for serious alcohol problems.

She is an artist now. Some critics like her work and some hate it. She doesn't care "If you like my stuff, buy it. If you don't like my stuff, don't buy it."

If you want to be a fan you can go to a fan site at:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1395/whiterabbits.html
It has not been updated for 7 years so don't expect any late breaking news, but some of still works.

If you are interested in today's Jefferson Starship try:
http://www.jeffersonstarshipsf.com/
This site is maintained and they are still around. They have a new album they are flogging (okay it was released in 2008). I have not heard it yet.

Trouble Girls
The lone female on a stage full of long-haired men strode between speaker towers like an empress, porcelain-faced and brilliant in her Chinese robes. Even her name was perfect. Grace Slick.....She raised the microphone and the crowd looked up expectantly. Jefferson Airplane was San Francisco's pioneering psychedelic band, so she might be going to tell them about flowing with the changes or beginning to see the light. Instead her question crackled like a whip above their heads: "which one of you has the biggest cock?"

--Excerpt from Trouble Girls- The Rolling Stone Book Of Women In Rock. chapter II

You have to love her!

events:
1938 – Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's 'The War of the Worlds', causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States. Rioting, suicides, panic, I guess that does indicate a little anxiety.

In Quito, Ecuador a Spanish version was broadcast and the resulted in two days of rioting that burned down the radio station and killed at least 6 people (including the show's producer's girlfriend and his nephew).

Now it is a Halloween tradition and you can hear somebody rebroadcast it over most of the country. I believe it is even downloadable from the Web. I have heard that XM Satellite Radio has broadcast an updated version titled "Not From Space", in which Microsoft's Bill Gates is one of the Martians. Hmmmm? Is he? It would explain a lot.

1947 – The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is the foundation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is founded. The WTO gives Conspiracy Theorists absolute fits. There are people who believe we are directly controlled by the organizations that control the WTO. I don't really believe that because I think it is crazy to think we can get the entire planet to do something, for any reason.

1980 – El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice. The Court decided the case and the terms have still not been implemented.

holidays:
Devil's Night - An excuse to burn Detroit down. At its height there were as many as 800 arson fires set in Detroit this night. If you are a fireman or police officer you are working overtime today. The cases of arson have declined (in the last 10 years) but that is probably because there is a 6 PM curfew for this day, tons of 'Angel Night' activities and there are 50,000 (actual number) volunteers helping the police.

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****joe722****
You laugh at me because I'm different,
I laugh at you because you're all the same.