RERUNNING SINCE 1837.
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If you have an excellent memory you will recognize some of today's missive. I have been having some skin problems on my lower legs and feet that are best solved by spending as much time with my legs elevated as possible. Now while I can run a laptop from an articulated bed, it is not efficient or easy, so I am recycling Tuesday from 2009 and Wednesday through Friday from 2008. It turns out that I never did the 19th of April before so you get one new day.
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Laying in bed with your feet up is a good thing. I lost 10 pounds in two days (water). The places that the skin was seeping is down to a couple of square inches instead of the major area that seemed to forget that skin is supposed to keep fluid in and not let it out. It is a fight but I seem to be winning and the way that I can tell that is that Debbie my wife of 32 years, you remember?) has not freaked out and commanded me to go to the doctor.

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

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monday 19 april
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** Never have children, only grandchildren.
***
*** - Gore Vidal
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birthdays:
1721 - Roger Sherman - He was the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, and was on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was also a representative and senator in the new republic.

He was the only person to sign the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

1787 – Deaf Smith, American frontiersman and Texas revolutionary. After fighting with the Texan Army he led a company of Texas Rangers.

1903 – Eliot Ness, American lawman. You have seen the movie. You should know the story.

1921 - Anna Lee Aldred was the first woman in the United States to receive a jockey's license.

After officials at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Mexico were unable to find a rule that would bar women jockeys, she was given a license in 1939. She lost her first professional race by a nose, but went on to win many races in state and country fairs. Six years later, having grown too tall at 5'5" and weighing in at 118 pounds, she retired from horse-racing and began a second career as a trick rider in rodeos. She married cattleman Wayne Aldred; that marriage later ended in divorce. Aldred was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas in 1983. She continued riding until breaking her hip in 2001 and died in June 2006 in Montrose at the age of 85.

events:
1770 – Captain James Cook sights Australia.

1770 – Marie Antoinette marries Louis XVI by Proxy marriage. He was 16 and she was 14. They did not actually 'Do It' for three years and then did not have children for 5 years after that. I mention this because it was a hot button topic in France at the time. Crowds would sometimes gather and chant 'Can the King do it? Can't the King do it?'. No performance anxiety there. There are a few theories as to why this happened.
1. Louis was Gay and none of the four children are his.
2. He had a medical condition which would have required surgery.
3. He was shy and distrusting of Marie, it was an arranged marriage.
4. They had no idea what they were doing and who does the King ask for sexual advice?
Who knows, I surely do not. I am just sure that during the French Revolution Marie and Louis wish they they could have been beheaded by Proxy.

1892 – Charles Duryea claims to have driven the first automobile in the United States, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1919 – Leslie Irvin makes the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a new kind of self-contained parachute. You have to believe in your product to test it like that.

1927 – Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex. They play was written by and starred Mae. The police did not bust her right away. It played for about a year before the New York PD raided West and her company, charging them with obscenity. 325,000 people had watched it, including members of the police department and their wives, judges of the criminal courts, and seven members of the district attorney’s staff. I guess you could say that Sex was popular.

West was sentenced to 10 days in jail, getting out two days early for good behavior. The resulting publicity increased her national renown.

holidays:
Garlic Day - Eat enough of it and nobody will bother you.

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tuesday 20 april
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** I couldn't wait for success,
*** so I went ahead without it.
***
*** - Jonathan Winters
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birthdays:
1818 - Heinrich Göbel born in Germany, was a precision mechanic and inventor who may have created the first practiacl incandescent light bulb, 25 years before Edison. He definately built a light bulb before Edison, many people did (when Edison developed his the light bulb was 50 years old). If is the question of practicality that is at issue. Edison made a bulb that would last more that a few minutes or hours or even days (one of his bulbs has been burning for over a hudred years). The practicallity of Göbel's bulb has never been clearly established so currently (no pun) Edison retains his title. There is also the fact that Edison invented the means make the electricity, on a large scale and get it to where the light bulbs were. The first commercial Generating plant was built only 127 years ago.

1850 – Daniel Chester French - Who is this guy? He was a sculptor and everybody in the US and millions from other countries have seen images of his work. He created the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln that sits in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. If you have never seen it, for real, I think it is a good reason to go to D.C. Even if that is all that you see, it is that good.

1851 – 'Young' Tom Morris - Basically he was the Tiger Woods of his era. His father, Old Tom Morris, was the greenskeeper of the St Andrews Links and had won four of the first eight Open Championships. He won 4 consecutive championships at the Prestwick Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland. He was called Young Tom to destiguish him from his father 'Old' Tom Morris (who won 4 of the first 8 championships at St. Andrews Links). Young Tom once scored an Albatross (what??). The term does not seem to be in use any more. A Birdie is one under par, an Eagle is two under and an Albatross was three under par. It is now refered to as a double Eagle.

1896 – Wop May - Another person you never heard of but you know his legacy. He was Canadian and he learned to fly during WWI. During his second combat mission he was told not to engage but to circle above and observe. When his Group discovered some Germans he circled. There was a German plane doing the same thing and May decided to attack it. May's target was Wolfram von Richthofen, cousin of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Like May, Wolfram was also new to flying, and had also been told to simply sit it out above the fight and watch. May attacked and chased Wolfram through the dogfight below. When his guns jammed he left the area. The Red Baron saw what had happened and gave chase. May's squadron leader (Roy Brown) flew in from above and behind the Baron and shot him down.
Wop survived the war and started the first Barnstorming company. After a couple of years that folded and he moved from Western Canada to Dayton, Ohio to work for NCR. He quit there after an injury and moved back to Canada were he started the first Bush Pilot sevice, carrying medicene to wilderness locations and helping the RCMP hunt criminals. During WWII he ferried plane to the Soviet Union and helped set up airfields in Canada that trained pilots. He thought of the idea to have Emergency personnel parachute from airplane into remote disaster areas and the idea blossomed into the Smoke Jumpers and Para-Rescue services of today. Wop - There it is.

events:
1534 – Jacques Cartier begins his voyage, in which he will discover Canada and Labrador (both the land area and the sea). Labrador is the name of a dog. It started as a Newfoundland but the Canadians wanted a smaller, smarter, soft mouth, water dog and they bred for those traits. Even though they were in Newfoundland they could not call the dog that so they named it after the sea that it spent so much time in.

1657 – Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City). New York became one of the very few metropolitan areas in the world that has not had any major persecution of Jews in the last 450 years. This is a major reason for the large Jewish presence in New York City. They have suffered varying degrees of discrimination but there was no government plot to kill them. That has to make you sleep better at night.

1828 – René Caillié is first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu. Not true. He was the first non-Muslim European. There were non-Muslims living in the city before Islam got there and there were many living in the area that continued their traditional beliefs after Islam arrived. Islamic West Africans (not Arabs) did run the city. It was a rich and cultured place with a huge gold and salt trade. A close second to the trade business was the sale of scholarly books written by the teachers of Sankore University (one of, if not the, oldest continually operating universities anywhere) and other schools in the area. Timbuktu was the major center of Islam and trade in Saharan Africa. It is still a place of learning and boasts a huge number of old manuscripts, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, dating as far back as the 12th century. This makes it the greatest collection of written African history (excluding Egypt which did not cover this part of the continent very well). A small problem, the whole city is primarily made of mud (abode, rammed earth, etc) and the desert wants it back. Desertification is seriously threatening the city. UNESCO and the Mali government are working to restore and digitize as many manuscripts as they can before they are lost.

1926 – Western Electric and Warner Brothers announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film. Talkies are here to stay. Many people thought it was a passing fad that would die out. Some people thought it was racist (what??). A silent film could be sent anywhere in the world and by splicing in the local text you had local entertainment. The talkies radically reduced the films available for foreign distribution for years. It did create and increase film making, in other countries. It also limited the penetration of foreign films in the US.

For a number of years, some US film makers would run two shifts. The day shift made the movie for release in the US and at night Spanish speaking actors would use the same sets to shoot the same scenes to make the movie for Mexican markets. If there were sets that were supposed to be destroyed they would try to do it such a way that both films could use the same footage.

holidays:
International Cannabis Day - Careful DEA agents could be lurking.

Cucko Day - To much Cannabis

National Pot Smoking Day - Careful DEA agents could be lurking.

Festival of Fabulous Wildwomen - They have had too much Pot.

National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day - Random Munchies Day

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wednesday 21 april
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** If at first you don't succeed,
*** failure may be your style.
***
*** - Quentin Crisp
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birthdays:
1930 - Don Tyson founder, Tyson Foods) He may contain up to 12% natural juices to enhance flavor.

1951 - Tony Danza - He played Tony Banta on TV's Taxi and Tony Micelli on TV's Who's the Boss. He likes long walks on the beach, fine music and punching out people who try to take his picture. Since in real life he was a boxer before becoming an actor, I have heard that he hits pretty hard. And I think they always call him Tony in all his roles because he was a boxer and got hit in the head a lot.

1978 - Aimee Delatte Miss Teen Arkansas (1996) - All I want is world peace.

1978 - Melissa Coish Miss Teen New Hampshire(1996) - All I want is whirled peas.

events:
753BCE - Traditional date of the founding of Rome.

1878 - New York installs 1st firehouse pole - It was a long drop through that hole before they put the poles in.

1913 - Gideon Sundback of Sweden patents the zipper - After installing them on their swim suits, the Swedish Bikini Team became even more popular.

1963 - The Beatles meet The Rolling Stones for 1st time - Can't get no satifaction, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

holidays:
National Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day - A delightful random food day

Alfred G. Packer Day (Colorado) - This is really a bit a dark humor. Alfred Packer is well known for.... Well I will let you read what the trial judge alledgedly said at the sentenceing (this may or may not be the actual words, there is a lack of clear proof for the judges words.) "Packer, you depraved Republican son of a bitch! There were only five Democrats in Hinsdale County and you ate them all!".

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thursday 22 april
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** The truth is more important than the facts.
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*** - Frank Lloyd Wright
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birthdays:
1923 - Betty Page - Kingsport TN, Playboy playmate (January 1955) - One of the most well known pin-up models (usually nude) ever. Her trademark black hair with bangs cut of across her forehead has been imitated many times.There are look-a-like contests and comix about her. Her haircut is a popular goth style. She has been a popular tatoo pattern for years. Pretty close to the height of her popularity she disappeared and stayed out of the public eye except for a couple of telephone interviews for many years. She was close to broke and had no idea that she had a cult following until around her 80th birthday. She has picked up some cash from a few business deals and has engaged legal help to try and get some of the money made from her photos and likeness.

1929 - Margaret Pereira CBE - (Commander of the British Empire) She was a forensic scientist, a Past President of the British Academy of Forensic Sciences and she worked at Scotland Yard. First woman controller of the Home Office Forensic Science service. She acquired her honours degree at night school but it was seven years before she was allowed to give evidence in court whereas male university graduates could get into court in one year. She is considered on of the people that made modern forensic science possible.

1950 - Peter Frampton Kent England, guitarist/vocalist. 'Frampton Comes Alive' double album is one of the largest selling live albums there is. What is really interesting is that after 30 some odd years they still only play one song off the album, 'Do You Feel Like I Do'.

events:
1793 - President George Washington attends the opening of Rickett's, 1st circus in US - George threw out the first clown.

1937 - NYC college students stage 4th annual peace strike - I don't think we were at war with anyone at the time.

1970 - First Earth Day held internationally to conserve natural resources.

1970 - Flat Earth celebrated - I suppose we could sweep the garbage off the edge.

2010 - Avatar is released on DVD and Blue Ray.

holidays:
Nebraska : Arbor Day, where they created it (1872)

USSR : Lenin's Birthday (1870) - Whether you hate him or love him or just don't care you have to admit that he and his minions made a lot of great action spy novels and movies possible.

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friday 23 april
***The Official NoButtonButton*************
***
*** A witty saying proves nothing.
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*** - Voltaire
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birthdays:
1936 Roy Orbison - One of the least good looking guys to ever become a rock star. When he was younger he was in a movie called 'The Fastest Guitar in the West' and it is bad. Roy is part of a group of Confederate raiders that are supposed to steel Union gold during the Civil War. He is heavily made up to look like other people (enough make up that they actually use other actors) and during gun fights he used a guitar that had a has a rifle barrel pop out of it. He shoots the guitargun by strumming it. He also sang that great song ' Pretty Woman' and 'Only The Lonely'. I think the best work he did was when he was with the supergroup 'The Traveling Wilburys' (George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan.) The two years they were together produced 2 albums.

The Traveling Wilburys of Volume 1 were:
Nelson Wilbury - George Harrison
Otis Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
Lefty Wilbury - Roy Orbison
Charlie T. Jr. - Tom Petty
Lucky Wilbury - Bob Dylan

There is no The Traveling Wilburys of Volume 2

The Traveling Wilburys of Volume 3 were:
Spike Wilbury - George Harrison
Clayton Wilbury - Jeff Lynne
Muddy Wilbury - Tom Petty
Boo Wilbury - Bob Dylan

Additional named Traveling Wilburys on the 2007 Collection (a re-issue of Vol1 &3 and a video) were:
Buster Sidebury - Jim Keltner
Ayrton Wilbury - Dhani Harrison

1952 - Tony Maselli - The fictional character played be Tony Danza (see Wednesday) on the TV show "Who's the Boss".

events:
1900 - First known occurrence of the word "hillbillie" (New York Journal) - Before that you had to be more polite (HillWilliam) and you could only do that if you were out of rifle shot range.

1985 - Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula - The day after New Coke was debuted, Pepsi was so happy that they gave their entire staff a paid day off. Really.

1997 - "Titanic", opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC- When the ship was built it cost $3 million, the movie cost over $100 million. The season opener of the 4th season of the new Doctor Who took place on a luxury cruise spaceship that, for purely artistic reasons looked a lot like the Titanic and The Doctor kept it from crashing into Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth and a flock of Corgies were running around the palace as the Titanic was diving it.

holidays:
National Cherry Cheesecake Day - It is days like today that make me hate Diabetes, I love Cherry Cheesecake and Debbie and I have a recipe that makes a great cheesecake. I has two and one half pounds of cream cheese in it. You could drop it on somebody's head and kill them. It is great and I am sad.

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****joe722****