Saturday, April 6, 2013 @ Automotive World

marmoreal \mahr-MAWR-ee-uhl, -MOHR-\, adjective:

• of or like marble: skin of marmoreal smoothness.

First appearing in English in the late 1700s, marmoreal comes from the Latin term marmoreus, which literally means "of marble."

window eating

• The act of standing in front of a refrigerator with the door open for an over-excessive amount of time and then closing the door without taking anything. Usually done by picky eaters or one who is bored out of his/her mind.

If your so hungry stop window eating and just grab something!

Trivia
When it comes to showbiz slang, what’s a chopsocky? How about a zitcom?

• A chopsocky is a martial arts film; a zitcom is a TV sitcom that targets a teen audience.

History

• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: Mormon church was founded by Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York (1830)
• Olympics: the first modern games opened in Athens (1896)
• North Pole: Robert Peary and his assistant, Matthew Henson, along with four Inuit men, became the first visitors to the site; their claim has been disputed (1909)
• WWI: US declared war on Germany and entered the Great War (1917)
• Twinkie: golden sponge cake snack food with creamy filling was invented (1930)
• Teflon: nonstick coating was accidentally invented by Roy J. Plunkett (1938)

Birthdays

• Raphael Sanit 1483 - Artist
• Rose Schneiderman 1882 - U.S. women’s rights activist
• Walter Huston (Houghston) 1884 - Actor (Treasure of the Sierra Madre [1948])
• Lowell Thomas 1892 - Broadcaster, journalist
• "Pappy" Wade Ray 1913 - Country musician, entertainer ("Grand Ol' Opry")
• Herb Thomas 1923 - NASCAR auto racer
• Mimi Benzell 1924 - Opera singer
• Dorothy Donegan 1924 - Jazz pianist
• Gerry Mulligan 1927 - Jazz musician, composer
• Joi Lansing (Joyce Wassmansdoff) 1928 - Actress ("Easter Parade", "Singin’ in the Rain")
• André (Ludwig) Previn 1929 - Pianist, composer of film scores ("Gigi", "Porgy and Bess"), conductor
• Ivan Dixon 1931 - Actor ("Hogan's Heroes"), director, producer
• Merle Haggard 1937 - Country musician, songwriter
• Billy Dee (December) Williams 1937 - Actor ("Brian's Song", "The Return of the Jedi", "Batman")
• Roy Thinnes 1938 - Actor ("The Invaders", "Outer Limits")
• Philip Austin 1941 - Comedian and writer
• Barry Levinson 1942 - Director, producer
• Marty (Martin William) Pattin 1943 - Baseball pitcher
• John Stax 1944 - Musician (The Pretty Things)
• John Huarte 1944 - Football player
• John Ratzenberger 1947 - Actor ("Cheers")
• Bert (Rik Aalbert) Blyleven 1951 - Baseball pitcher
• Marilu Henner 1952 - Actress ("Taxi", "Evening Shade", "Cannonball Run 2")
• Janet Lynn (Nowicki) 1953 - Figure skater, Olympic bronze medalist
• Michelle Rooker 1955 - Actor
• Warren Haynes 1960 - Musician (Gov't Mule, The Allman Brothers)
• Stan Cullimore 1962 - Musician, songwriter (The Housemartins)
• Frank Black 1965 - Singer, musician (The Pixies)
• Vince Flynn 1966 - Author
• Paul Rudd 1969 - Actor ("Friends")
• Ari Meyers 1970 - Actress ("Author! Author!", "Kate & Allie")
• Jason Hervey 1972 - Actor ("The Wonder Years", "Back to the Future")
• Markku Lappalainen 1973 - Musician (Hoobastank)
• Zach Braff 1975 - Actor ("Scrubs")
• Candace Cameron Bure 1976 - Actress ("Full House")
• Bret Harrison 1982 - Actor ("Grounded for Life")

John Carter and the Giant of Mars (1940) by John Coleman Burroughs @ Automotive World

Book ELEVEN in the Barsoom series is John Carter and the Giant of Mars (1940) which was actually written by Edgar Rice Burroughs's son, John Coleman Burroughs.

Here's the full listing and proper order of the series of books:

1. A Princess of Mars (1912)
2. The Gods of Mars (1914)
3. The Warlord of Mars (1918)
4. Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920)
5. The Chessmen of Mars (1922)
6. The Master Mind of Mars (1928)
7. A Fighting Man of Mars (1931)
8. Swords of Mars (1936)
9. Synthetic Men of Mars (1940)
10. Llana of Gathol (1948)
11. John Carter and the Giant of Mars (1940) Actually written by Burroughs's son, John Coleman Burroughs.
12. Skeleton Men of Jupiter (1942)

Conquering all of Barsoom is the goal of genius hormad Pew Mogel with his army of human-brained white apes and a giant he created. His plan for world domination starts at Helium with the abduction of a Princess of Mars, Dejah Thoris.

From the first word you read in this short novel you can tell something is amiss. The lack of olde tyme flowery language is missing. The strangely brief descriptions and explanations. Even the basics of martian life and culture seemed off. It was certainly EASIER to read, but didn't make the story better. Examples:

• While the hormads were involved in this story, the name HORMAD was never used. Instead, they were referred to repeatedly as Synthetic Men, which was never used in the book Synthetic Men of Mars. (My review here) 
• John Carter was referred to as Earthman several times, however Martians call the Earth Jassoom. Why would that come up at all?
• Instead of using the radium pistols and rifles from all the previous books, suddenly warriors were equipped with RAY GUNS! Warriors didn't use flyers and airships, but PLANES?!?!
• For the first time ever we see the use of televisions and long-wave radio. Um, what? When did that technology arrive on Barsoom?

With so many inconsistencies in this story, it makes you wonder if JCB ever read any of his father's books!

Those issues aside, it was still a fun ride. While it moved at a faster pace than a usual John Carter novel, it still painted an interesting picture of another tale of hard life on Barsoom. As always, Dejah Thoris gets captured and John Carter has to thwart the villain.

An easy read, although not keeping in time with the entire series. If you got this far, you should just knock this short tale out, as well.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013 @ Automotive World

ha-ha \HAH-hah\, noun:

• sunk fence.

Ha-ha comes from the French ha!, a common exclamation of surprise. Because ha-has are designed to be difficult to see, people would shout in surprise upon stumbling into them.

Jesus

• Man who was nailed to a plank for saying how nice it would be if everyone was nice to each other. Had his message misinterpreted by millions (Christians) who now think it is their job to persecute certain groups of people.

Jesus: Yo! Be nice to others, aight?

Trivia
What band beat out the Beatles when the two groups auditioned for a contract at the London studios of Decca Records?

• Brian Poole & the Tremeloes, in 1962. Decca’s decision reportedly was based on location—the Tremeloes were from the London area, making them more accessible than the Liverpool-based Beatles.

History

• Florida: Juan Ponce de León discovered this state's flowery coast, naming it for Pascua florida ("flowery Easter"); he was searching for the Fountain of Youth; the event is commemorated as Pascua Florida Day (1513)
• Turin: the first Italian Parliament convened in the first capital of the new Kingdom of Italy (1860)
• "The world must be made safe for democracy": with these words, US President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress to enter WWI (1917)
• Falkland Islands War: Argentina invaded British-occupied Falkland Islands; Argentina's defeat within a few months discredited its military government, and civilian rule was restored the following year (1982)

Birthdays

• Giovanni Casanova 1725 - Writer, philanderer
• Hans Christian Andersen 1805 - Author ("The Ugly Duckling")
• Frederic Bartholdi 1834
• Emile Zola 1840 - Novelist
• Walter Chrysler 1875 - Auto manufacturer (Chrysler Corporation)
• Max Ernst 1891 - Sculptor and painter
• Buddy Ebsen 1908 - Actor ("The Beverly Hillbillies", "Barnaby Jones")
• Herbert Mills 1912 - Singer (The Mills Brothers)
• Sir Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness de Cuffe) 1914 - Actor ("Bridge Over River Kwai", "A Passage to India", "The Empire Strikes Back", "Star Wars")
• Lou Monte 1917 - Singer
• Dabbs Greer 1917
• Charles White 1918 - Artist
• Jack Webb (John Randolf) 1920 - Director, actor
• Sir Jack Brabham - Auto racer
• Bobby (Roberto Francisco Gonzales) Avila 1924 - Baseball player
• Carmen Basilio 1927 - Boxer
• Rita Gam 1928 - Actress ("The Thief", "Midnight")
• Sharon Acker 1935
• Warner Mack 1938 - Country singer
• Marvin Gaye, Jr. 1939 - Singer ("I Heard It Through The Grapevine")
• Leon Russel 1942 - Singer, songwriter
• Larry Coryell 1943
• Glen Dale 1943 - Musician (The Fortunes)
• Marlene Floyd 1944 - Golfer, golf commentator
• Linda Hunt 1945 - Actress ("Kindergarten Cop")
• Reggie (Carl Reginald) Smith 1945 - Baseball player
• Don Sutton 1945 - Baseball pitcher
• Emmylou Harris 1947 - Singer
• Leon Wilkerson 1952 - Musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• Pamela Reed 1953 - Actress
• Debralee Scott 1953 - Actress ("Police Academy")
• Ron "Horshack" Palillo 1954
• Christopher Meloni 1961 - Actor ("Law and Order: Special Victims Unit")
• Keren Woodward 1961 - Singer (Bananarama)
• Clark Gregg 1962 - Actor
• Billy Dean 1962
• Bill Romanowski 1966 - Football player
• Roselyn Sanchez 1973 - Actress ("Without a Trace")
• Jeremy Garrett 1976
• Michael Fassbender 1977
• Jesse Plemons 1988 - Actor ("Friday Night Lights")

  

Easter Egg Hunt @ Automotive World

I don't think I want to find THESE eggs..

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 @ Automotive World

furl \furl\, verb:

1. to gather into a compact roll and bind securely, as a sail against a spar or a flag against its staff.
2. to become furled.

noun:

1. the act of furling.
2. something furled, as a roll.

The origins of furl are unknown, though it is believed to come either from the Middle English ferler meaning "to fold," or from the Old French ferliier meaning "chain," "tie up," or "lock away." While furl entered the English lexicon in the late 1500s, nearly 100 years before unfurl, it is now the more rare of the two terms.

Pepperazzi

• Foodie who obsessively insists on snapping photos of everything they eat and of every other dish at the table.

The pepperazzi are stalking each other's dishes at that table over there.

Trivia
What city is home to the oldest Torah in the United States?

• Savannah, Georgia. The deerskin Torah was brought there from England in 1733 by Jews who were originally from Portugal, Spain, and Germany. The sacred scroll is now kept on display by Congregation Mickve Israel, the synagogue they founded.

History

• Popeye: a statue of the spinach-loving cartoon character was erected in Crystal City, Texas (1937)
• Bangladesh: declared independence from Pakistan (1971)
• Camp David Accords: Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement was signed at the White House (1979)
• Mercosur: the Southern Common Market, which joins Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, was established with the Treaty of Asunción (1991)

Birthdays

• Nathaniel Bowditch 1773
• Louise Otto 1819
• Edward Bellamy 1850
• A.E. Housman 1859
• Robert Frost 1874
• Duncan Hines 1880
• Al Jolson 1886
• Clarence Stroud 1907 - Actor, father of actor Don Stroud
• Chips Rafferty 1909
• Tennessee Williams 1911
• William C. Westmoreland 1914 - U.S. Army general
• Sterling Hayden 1916
• Rufus Thomas 1917
• Strother Martin 1919
• Joe Loco 1921
• Bob Elliott 1923
• James Clifton Williams 1923
• James Moody 1925 - Jazz saxophonist
• Pierre Boulez 1925 - Conductor, composer
• Maurice Simon 1929
• Sandra Day O'Connor 1930 - U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• Leonard Nimoy 1931 - Actor ("Star Trek")
• Alan Arkin 1934 - Actor
• James Caan 1939 - Actor
• Rod Lauren 1940
• Braulio Baeza 1940
• Nancy Pelosi 1940 - U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Erica Jong 1942 - Author
• Bob Woodard 1943 - Journalist
• Diana Ross 1944 - Singer
• Johnny Crawford 1946 - Actor
• Fred Paris 1946 - Musician (Five Satins)
• Steven Tyler 1948 - Singer (Aerosmith)
• Richard Tandy 1948 - Musician (Electric Light Orchestra)
• Vicki Lawrence 1949 - Singer, actress
• Fran Sheehan 1949 - Musician (Boston)
• Martin Short 1950 - Actor, comedian
• Ronnie McDowell 1950 - Country singer
• Teddy Pendergrass 1950 - Singer
• Curtis Sliwa 1954
• Dean Dillon 1955 - Country singer
• Charly McClain 1956 - Country singer
• Leeza Gibbons 1957 - TV personality
• Marcus Allen 1960 - Football player
• Jennifer Grey 1960 - Actress ("Dirty Dancing")
• Gabriele "Nena" Kerner 1960
• John Stockton 1962 - Basketball player
• Michael Imperioli 1966 - Actor ("The Sopranos")
• Kenny Chesney 1968 - Country singer
• James Iha 1968 - Musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
• Juvenile 1975 - Rapper
• Amy Smart 1976 - Actress
• Keira Knightley 1985 - Actress ("Pirates of the Caribbean")

• Nina Agdal - 1992

Joe Weider Dead at 93 @ Automotive World

Arnold Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding mentor, Joe Weider, died at the age of 93.

More here.

TGIF! Friday March 22, 2013 @ Automotive World

shilly-shally \SHIL-ee-shal-ee\, verb:

1. to show indecision or hesitation; be irresolute; vacillate.
2. to waste time; dawdle.

noun:

1. irresolution; indecision; vacillation: It was sheer shilly-shally on his part.

adjective:

1. irresolute; undecided; vacillating.

In the great tradition of reduplicating a phrase to infuse it with a dose of levity, shilly-shally comes from the phrase “shall I, shall I.” When shilly-shally first entered English at the turn of the eighteenth century, it was spelled "shill I, shall I."

ermahgerd

• used for internet memes. An obnoxious way to say "Oh, My God" with strong emphasis on the R sounds. Typically followed by other words with emphasis on the R sounds.

ERMAHGERD, ERNSTAGERM (Oh, my god, Instagram)

ERMAHGERD, MER FERCE HERTS (Oh, my god, my face hurts)

Trivia
What served as the trophy in 1876 when dancers Nelly Saunders and Rose Harland competed in the first women’s boxing match in the U.S.?

• A silver-plated butter dish. Saunders, a boxer’s wife, also won $200. The match was held in New York City.

History

• Stamp Act: tax was imposed by Britain on the American colonies; it raised intense opposition (1765)
• hockey: the first Stanley Cup championship game was played; Montreal's Amateur Athletic Association beat the Ottawa Capitals, 3-1 (1894)
• motion pictures: August and Louis Lumière demonstrated the first movies using celluloid film in Paris (1895)
• Equal Rights Amendment: was approved by US Congress; it was never ratified by requisite majority of states (1972)
• Flying Wallendas: patriarch Karl Wallenda fell to his death from a tightrope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico (1978)
• Hale-Bopp: comet passed the closest to Earth till the year 4397 at a distance of 1.315 AU (1997)

Birthdays

• Sir Anthony Van Dyke 1599
• Johnny Evers 1883 - Baseball player
• Chico Marx 1887
• Louis L'Amour 1908 - Author
• Wilfrid Brambell 1912
• Karl Malden 1913 - Actor
• Virginia Grey 1917
• Ross Martin 1920
• Werner Klemperer 1920
• Marcel Marceau 1923 - Pantomimist
• Bill Wendell 1924
• Allen H. Neuharth 1924 - Founder of USA Today
• Easy Ed Macauley 1928
• Pat Robertson 1930
• Stephen Sondheim 1930 - Composer, lyricist
• William Shatner 1931 - Actor
• May Britt 1933
• J.P. McCarthy 1933
• M. Emmett Walsh 1935 - Actor
• Glen Campbell 1936
• Tom Flores 1937 - Football player
• Johnny Ferguson 1937
• Dave Keon 1940 - Hockey player
• Bruno Ganz 1941
• Barbara Parkins 1942
• George Benson 1943 - Singer, musician
• Keith Relf 1943 - Musician (Yardbirds)
• Jeremy Clyde 1944 - Actor, singer (Chad & Jeremy)
• Harry Vanda 1947 - Musician (The Easybeats)
• James Patterson 1947 - Author
• Wolf Blitzer 1948 - liberal mouthpiece
• Andrew Lloyd Webber 1948 - Composer
• Randy Hobbs 1948 - Musician (The McCoys)
• Fanny Ardent 1949 - Actress
• Bob Costas 1952 - Sportscaster
• James House 1955 - Country singer
• Lena Olin 1955 - Actress ("Alias")
• Stephani Mills 1957 - Actress, singer
• Matthew Modine 1959 - Actor
• Marcus Camby 1974 - Basketball player
• Cole Hauser 1975 - Actor
• Kellie Williams 1976 - Actress
• Reese Witherspoon 1976 - Actress ("American Psycho")
• John Otto 1977 - Musician (Limp Bizkit)