ePistle

Friday, January 17, 2025

uPstaged ePistle

Famous First Words: It's getting frosty outside. --Anton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard

It is Konstantin Stanislavski's birthday. Nintendo has expressly forbidden Chris Pratt from using method acting in the Mario Movie. They have warned him that eating shrooms on set is both unprofessional and illegal. . ҈ Besides, Chris Pratt is only cool because he has all those fans.

It's a new year and I decided to review and share my ten universal theorems.

1) Fear Not

Be Not Afraid, it is said, are the most repeated words in all the holy texts throughout the world.

..........With some decorations bought at Tiffany's.........Eartha Kitt …..Santa Baby

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. --Dwight Eisenhower

It is a beautiful Friday morning. The sun is shining and the temperature is above freezing (47°) which is in and of itself a beautiful thing. The sky is clear of clouds but now and then a jet trail sweeps by. I've been to the doctor who declared that I am hale and hearty. It seems like everyone in town is out this morning...driving, shopping, walking. Puck is outside barking at some dog or other. I can hear the response. He is getting bolder about walking on and sometimes falling through the snow. I am finishing a cup of cold cinnamon coffee left over from before the doctor. It was better warm, but it's bad cold. Anyway, have a great weekend until it gets cold again.

Hope there's method to the madness of your weekend, Thespians

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Effective january 20^th, Air Force One will be known as Con Air. --Submitted by ma of va

Discovery of the Week: I listened to Steve Earle's Galway Girl for the first time this week. (It's because it's one of the songs of the week below and I've linked it to the YouTube of Steve singing it.) Galway Girl by Celtic Thunder is a favorite of mine. So I'm listening to an arguably perfect fusing of country and Irish music. I listened to it three times to make sure that's really what I heard. Wow! A million years ago we saw Steve Earle in concert and he was great. But it was before Galway Girl came out. I haven't decided yet whether I actually like this fusion, but I certainly respect the performance.

I was a Disneyland costume worker for a day. It's because I took method acting way too far. I was told – a little too late – that I needed to wear pants inside and outside my Donald Duck outfit. . ҈ I auditioned for a part on Broadway once. I was told the only way I would be in a cast was if I broke my arm.

2) All you have to do is straighten up.

This one comes from my mother, of course.

..........Now daddy ran the whiskey in a big-block Dodge..........Steve Earle …..Copperhead Road

Trivia Questions: Happy Birthday to the Flush Toilet (patented in 1861 or was it?)

Who and or When was the flush toilet patented?
Generally, which stall in a public restroom is the cleanest?
About how many times does the average person use the toilet annually?
When did modern toilet paper appear?
What has replaced the flush toilet on the International Space Station?

Big Hello: sat sri akāl – Punjabi https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Frequent urges to self-govern, constant aching for freedom...Mr Jefferson, you have Independicitis.

Image of the Week: Puck's winter bathroom

Coffee Joke of the Week: If you're drinking coffee it isn't procrastinating, it's procaffinating.

When an actor gets drunk to play the part of a drunk, it's method acting. So what do we think the set of Breaking Bad was like? ҈ The difference between the president of the United States and an actor is that one leads the land and the other lands the lead.

3) There is a price for enlightenment, what you pay is attention

Quoted from Stephen (Gaskin) of The Farm. http://www.thefarm.org/

..........I want to go to the devil.........Eartha Kitt …..I Want To Be Evil

Moonbeam: A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine. --Anne Bronte

Blasphemy of the Week: Some of you are sitting at the table I sent you to flip. --Jesus

Puzzle of the Week: From our friend Joseph Young, and it's a numerical challenge for a change. Take the digits 2, 3, 4, and 5. Arrange them in some way using standard arithmetic operations to equal 2,025. Can you do it? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 1/12/25

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Steve had discovered a problem with working for himself. When he called in sick, he knew he was lying.

There is a fine line between the Method Actor and the Schizophrenic. --Nicholas Cage ҈ What has 24 actors, 3 settings, 2 writers and 1 plot? 875 Hallmark movies. ~~Are there primarily comic actors who are method?

4) The only time you actually have is now.

Ram Dass Be Here Now

..........Lovers leaves and friends will let you down..........Steve Earle …..My Old Friend The Blues

Tom Crapper patented several toilet related accessories during the 1860s, none of them were the flush toilet. Alexander Cumming, a watchmaker and inventor, patented the first true flush toilet in 1875.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 17, 2025. The moon goes into the last quarter on Tuesday (1/21) and is in Virgo. Today is Cable Car Day, International Mentoring Day, Link (Muhammad Ali's birthday), Kid Inventors' Day, National Bootlegger's Day, National Rye Whiskey Day, and Popeye Day. Because it is the third Friday it is also Hat Day and International Fetish Day.

Among those born on this day were Philip the Bold (1342), Benjamin Franklin (1706), Anne Bronte (1820), Konstantin Stanislavski (1863), Mack Sennett (1880), Al Capone (1899), Nevil Shute (1899), Betty White (1922), Eartha Kitt (1927), Vidal Sassoon (1928), James Earl Jones (1931), Paul O. Williams (1935), Paul Revere (the rock and roll guy, 1938), Maury Povich (1939), Andy Kaufman (1949), Steve Earle (1955), and Jim Carrey (1962).

On January seventeenth the Treaty of Konigsberg was signed (1656), the Flush toilet was patented (1861), the cable car was patented (1871), Queen Liliuokalani was deposed (1893), The Cherry Orchard opened in Moscow (1904), George Burns married Gracie Allen (1926), the UN Security Council held its first meeting (1946), President Eisenhower warns against the "military-industrial complex" (1961), Yellow Submarine was released (1969), and La Raza Unida (The United People) formed (1970).

Night Sky, 1/17: Here it is the coldest very bottom of the year on average. But the Summer Star, Vega, is still hanging in! Look for it twinkling over the northwest horizon during and shortly after nightfall. The farther north you are the higher it will be. If you're as far south as Florida it's already gone. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Architects

Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Just drove into a pothole in Topeka and came out in Wichita. --Submitted by ar of ks

Wacky Poem of the Week: Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud

There once was a poet named Will
Who tramped his way over a hill
And was speechless for hours
Over some stupid flowers
This was before TV, but still. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian

This Week: Saturday, January 18 – Bald Eagle Appreciation Days & Pooh (Winnie The) Day & Thesaurus Day

Sunday, January 19 – National Popcorn Day & World Day of Migrants and Refugees & World Quark Day

Night Sky, 1/19: Right after dark, face east and look very high. The bright star there is Capella, the Goat Star. To the right of it, by a couple of finger-widths at arm's length, is a small, narrow triangle of 3rd- and 4th-magnitude stars known as "The Kids." Though they're not exactly eye-grabbing, they form a never-forgotten asterism with Capella.

Monday, January 20 – Blue Monday & Inauguration Day & Martin Luther King Jr Day & National Disc Jockey Day

Tuesday, January 21 – Mariachi Day & National Hugging Day & National Hug Your Puppy Day

Wednesday, January 22 – Answer Your Cat's Questions Day & National Polka Dot Day & Roe vs Wade Day

Night Sky, 1/22: Mars is in opposition this week, glaring at magnitude –1.4 near the Cancer-Gemini border below Castor and Pollux. It comes into view as a steady orange spark low in the east-northeast in twilight. Watch Mars shift position night by night to line up with Castor and Pollux on January 16th and 17th.

Thursday, January 24 – Belly Laugh Day & Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day

I'm a Method Actor. I spent years training for the drinking and carousing I had to do in this film. George Clooney. ҈ How many actors does it take to wallpaper a room? Only three if you slice them very thin.

5) It's all in your mind, you know.

George Harrison Yellow Submarine

..........I love that man like a schoolboy loves his pie.........Eartha Kitt …..St Louis Blues

2. In public restrooms, the first toilet cubicle is always the least used – which also makes it the cleanest.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I watch so many crime dramas that when I turn my television off at night, I wipe my fingerprints off the remote. --Submitted by INRITH

Moonbeam: Everybody pays lip service to the safety of the aeroplane, but nobody is prepared to pay for it. --Nevil Shute

Fun Fact of the Week: Rye Whiskey was first distilled in Pennsylvania in 1750, decades before bourbon whiskey. It was a popular choice for early Americans, especially after the war when they lost access to other spirits.

Video of the Week: Betty White on Saturday Night Live (3:23) with Census Taker, Tina Fey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbI1eJ_zAB8

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. --Dwight Eisenhower

I have no idea what “method actor” means. --Viggo Mortensen ҈ You know you're in a plane full of actors when the whining continues after the motor has been shut off.

6) Resist Not Evil

Jesus … Matthew 5:39 (This is a hard one. It is followed by if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the left.)

..........Because her hair was black and her eyes were blue..........Steve Earle …..The Galway Girl

3. The average person uses a toilet about 2,500 times a year. That works out to 6.8 times a day. It comes to about three year sitting on a toilet per lifetime.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It just spins in circles until it makes you throw up. I think they call it politics. --Bill Abbott

Weird Word of the Week: Erf – You may think this is some sort of sound, but it's actually a word that means “plot of land”. https://parade.com/1195613/marynliles/funny-words/

Dragon of the Week: Snow Dragon

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Relieve dry chapped hands. Pour one cup of Cheerios in a blender and blend into a very fine powder. Empty the powder into a large bowl. Rub your chapped hands in the powder, gently removing the top layer of dead skin cells. Rinse with cool water, pat dry, and then apply hand cream. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cheerios.html

I'm a method actor as well as a method singer. --Jill Scott ҈ At every television audition the actor brought an alarm clock because she wanted to play prime time.

7) All you need is love.

John, Paul, George, and Ringo

...........I like the old fashioned flowers, violets are for me.........Eartha Kitt …..Just An Old Fashioned Girl

4. Scott Paper Company was the first manufacturer to use a roll for toilet paper in 1890.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I was just minding my own business then all of a sudden 1995 was 30 years ago, I need to lay down. --Submitted by FNOG

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: ChattaCon (17-19, Chattanooga, TN) What are YOU doing for the weekend? https://chattacon.org/

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Human Amyloid Imaging (HAI) (15-17, San Juan, PR) Focuses on advancements in amyloid imaging for Alzheimer's... https://www.alzforum.org/conference-calendar/3181191

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: 3⁴ X 5²

When the waitress asked the Method Actor what she wanted, she said, “Whatever my character is having.” ҈ How many actors does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. That's the stage manager's job.

8) We are all one.

This is most often credited to the Buddha.

..........And God only knows all the secrets it keeps..........Steve Earle …..The Mountain

5. NASA invested more than $20 million on a suction-style toilet for the space station.

Late Night Joke of the Week: That Joe Biden story is the most Joe Biden Joe Biden has ever Joe Bidened. --Stephen Colbert

Quote of the Week: By the way, he cut the deficit, wanted to decriminalize marijuana, deregulated so many industries that he gave us cheap flights and craft beer. Basically all of those years ago, he was the first millennial. And he could make great playlists, as we’ve heard as well.” --Jason Carter at his grandfather's funeral.

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you can't summon the flames directly from hell, store bought is fine. https://www.facebook.com/PoetryandEveryemotion

Today's Peace of History: January 17, 1970: Some 300 Chicano activists gathered in Crystal City, Texas, to form an independent political party. La Raza Unida (The United People) Party addressed a broad cross-section of issues – restoration of land grants, farm workers’ rights, enhanced education, voting and political rights.

Grace has fifteen shovels. She bought a new one each time she wanted to dig deep into her character. ҈ An actor goes into a pet shop for a parrot. He is playing Long John Silver and needs a parrot to sit on his shoulder. The pet store has no parrots but the owner tells the actor that she has a stuffed parrot at home and would be happen to bring it in the next day and he could use that. “Oh, I can't do that”, he explains, “that's the day I'm having my leg cut off.”

9) Who draws water must adorn the well.

An Old Alchemy Law … This list is one of my adornments to the well of those who have influenced me.

..........En chantant des chansons..........Eartha Kitt …..C'est Si Bon

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 17, 2025, uPstaged ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Unless the theatre can ennoble you, make you a better person, you should flee from it. --Konstantin Stanislavski

Cost of War:

As of 01/16/25 State Department Costs: $255,623,915,640
As of 01/09/25 State Department Costs: $255,069,664,989
As of 01/16/25 Homeland Security: $1,189,367,404,898
As of 01/09/25 Homeland Security: $1,188,765,352,970
As of 01/16/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,273,087,708,156
As of 01/09/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,271,539,564,236
As of 01/16/25 Military Costs: $3,126,288,897,456
As of 01/09/25 Military Costs: $3,125,113,524,249
As of 01/16/25 Veterans Care: $4,075,592,554,563
As of 01/09/25 Veterans Care: $4,063,856,807,585
As of 01/16/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,919,961,043,664
As of 01/09/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,904,345,010,799

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. --Dwight Eisenhower

Famous Last Words: Hi, I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died. --Art Buchwald died at age 81 on 1/17/07

..........on the blue side of evenin' when the darkness takes control..........Steve Earle …..Down The Road

10) We are living in a decaying empire, for Pete's sake, enjoy it.

When Sue was a professional actor, she used the Method. Now she gets up early to spend an hour walking around the house in a robe with a thermometer in her mouth before she calls in sick to her waitress job. ҈ The definition of a true gentleman is someone who knows how to act but doesn't.

May Peace mold your emotions

And Joy shape your actions

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh: STELLA! I have a new hypothesis!!

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. --David Viscott

Friday, January 10, 2025

bLocked ePistle

Famous First Words: Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages... --Thomas Paine Common Sense

Today is Ray Bolger's birthday. (He would have turned 121 years old.) In Vaudeville he was known as Legomaniac because of his loose joints and strange dances. So Lego...Just today I discovered that a raspberry makes a great lego Afro. ® Clark Kent's alter Lego is Superman.

..........If words could make wishes come true.........Jim Croce …..Time In A Bottle

Where there is no vision, there is no hope. --George Washington Carver

It snowed another inch or two last night. Puck and I are back at our house on Morningside Drive. Jo's hip replacement surgery has gone well and she is at her daughter's house recuperating. Joyce (Frass/Khan) is in the hospital because she fell and broke her hip and had surgery yesterday to put screws in it. Dashiell, Veronica the cat, and Jeff seem to be okay. Jo's dogs, Mary and Martha, are with her. I think that accounts for everybody. I'm drinking regular ole coffee and eating a KC chiefs cookie. Happy Weekend!

Hope your weekend is built for fun, Legolites.

Challenge of the Week: In an attempt to spread peace we need to start when people are very young. Children need to grow up knowing what peace is and why it is valuable to seek it. There are several books for children of various ages about peace. What we need is to reach even younger children with lullabies about peace. Most lullabies have peaceful music, soft, cuddly, safe, etc. We need some that also speak of peace – the word peace, images of love and community, you are safe and so is the world, that sort of thing. Write your lullaby and send it to me. Maybe we can make videos and put them on the internet, or publish them. ~~I have a list of peace books which I will send you and I will accept additions of any peace books you have found.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The secret to surviving the cold is to put on enough layers that you can't fit through the door to go outside. --Crabby Road

Leo Lego is tired of people complaining about stepping on legos. Chuck Norris stepped on him and, let's just say, his career is over. ® A lego truck ran into a jigsaw puzzle truck on the freeway. Police are still trying to piece it all together.

..........Come on, sugar, tell me so.........Rod Stewart …..Da Ya Think I'm Sexy

Trivia Questions: Happy Birthday to the League of Nations

What American president proposed creating the League of Nations?
Where was the international headquarters of the League?
How many nations were charter members of the League of Nations?
Which was the only nation expelled from the League?
When did the League cease to exist?

Big Hello: Oi! - Portuguese (Brazil) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: This Home is Protected by Feline Security. I have 9 lives – You have 1. Do the Math!

Image of the Week: See how they've grown

Coffee Joke of the Week: Every day my coffee gives me the strength I need to screw up in new and exciting ways. --Women's Freedom Ride

Humpty Dumpty's parents have been arrested for child abuse. They gave him the legos to build that wall. ® Captain America, Iron man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye all got lego sets for Christmas. Avengers, Assemble.

..........With your eye so big and shiny..........Neville Brothers with Cyril …..Yellow Moon

Moonbeam: Mountains and ocean, water, and beasts and trees are protagonists, the human people are only symbolic interpreters. --Robinson Jeffers

Blasphemy of the Week: We're already in the presence of God. What's absent is awareness. --Richard Rohr

Jeff Foxworthy Kansas Joke of the Week: If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Kansas. https://alicewhite.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/humorous-truisms-about-my-home-state-kansas/

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Bobby Jacobs, of Richmond, Va. Think of a famous singer — first and last names. Use all of the first name, plus the first three letters and the last letter of the last name. The result, reading left to right, will spell a phrase meaning "punctual." What singer is this? NPR Sunday Puzzle 1/5/25

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Never did find out what the knights in white sat in.

After stepping on a lego for the millionth time, Judy's mom threw all of the lego sets into an old Topsy's Popcorn 6 gallon bucket. Judy didn't know what to make of it. ® No, we don't call them lego doctors, we call them plastic surgeons.

..........Have we become a habit.........Pat Benatar …..We Belong

1: Woodrow Wilson proposed the League of Nations in 1919. By the way, the United States is one of the nations that never joined the League.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 10, 2025. The moon will be full (Wolf) next Monday (1/13) and is in Gemini. Today is Houseplant Appreciation Day, League of Nations Day, National Cut Your Energy Costs Day, National Oysters Rockefeller Day, National Save The Eagles Day, and Peculiar People Day. Because it is the second Friday it is also National Hockey Mom Day.

Among those born on this day were Gasparo Visconti (1683), George Washington Carver (1864), Robinson Jeffers (1887), Ray Bolger (1904), Paul Henreid (1908), (Baby) June Haver (1926...more or less), Sal Mineo (1939), Jim Croce (1943), Rod Stewart (1945), Cyril Neville (1948), George Foreman (1949), Pat Benatar (1953), Shawn Colvin (1958) and Doug E Doug (1969).

On January tenth Cesar crossed the Rubicon (49 BCE), Common Sense published (1776), the first London underground railway opened (1863), Standard Oil incorporated (1870), Gandhi was jailed for the first time (1908), the first international air meet was held (1910), The National Women's Party began daily picketing of the white house (1917), the League of Nations first met (1920), Metropolis premiered (1927), the first meeting of the UN General Assembly was held (1946), Finian's Rainbow premiered (1947), the 45 RPM record was introduced (1949), Elvis recorded Heartbreak Hotel (1956), Delmore Schwarz won the Bollingen Prize (1960) and India and Pakistan signed peace accords (1966).

Night Sky, 1/10: Now the Moon shines in line with Jupiter and Aldebaran. How exactly in line? That will depend on your time and location. Watch the straightness of the line change hour by hour. Every hour the Moon moves by nearly its own diameter eastward against the stars. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Such handsome young men

Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: When two people argue online I believe the one who spells correctly. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian

This Week: Saturday, January 11 – Eagle Day & Heritage Treasures Day & National Milk Day

Sunday, January 12 – Kiss a Ginger Day & National Hot Tea Day

Night Sky, 1/12: At this coldest time of the year, Sirius rises around the end of twilight. Orion's three-star Belt points down almost to its rising place. After Sirius clears the horizon, it twinkles slowly and deeply through the thick layers of low atmosphere, then faster and more shallowly as it gains altitude. Its flashes of color also moderate and blend into shimmering whiteness as it climbs to shine through thinner air.

Monday, January 13 – National Clean Off Your Desk Day & Plough Monday & Public Radio Broadcasting Day & Rubber Ducky Day

Tuesday, January 14 – International Kite Day & Organize Your Home Day & World Logic Day

Wednesday, January 15 – Humanitarian Day & National Bagel Day & National Hat Day

Night Sky, 1/15: Venus (magnitude –4.6, in Aquarius) shines very high and bright as the "Evening Star" in the southwest during twilight, and lower in the west-southwest as evening grows late. Venus doesn't set until about 2½ hours after dark. It forms a long triangle with Saturn to its upper left and Fomalhaut much farther to their lower left. Get your telescope on Venus early in twilight. This week it appears very close to half-lit, at or just past dichotomy. Venus is enlarging week by week as it swings toward us while waning in phase. It now measures 24 or 25 arcseconds from pole to pole.

Thursday, January 16 – Appreciate A Dragon Day & Civil Service Day & National Nothing Day

If I give you a big bunch of lego for your birthday, don't make a big deal of it. ® I stepped on a rusty lego the other day. I'm afraid I'm getting tetris.

..........Back to the flat fine line..........Shawn Colvin …..Wichita Skyline

2: The League of Nations headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland. The League's first seat was in London, UK. Geneva was chosen largely because Switzerland had not participated in World War 1 and was seen as a neutral site.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I wish Judy Blume had done a follow up book about Margaret going through menopause. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian

Moonbeam: Learning to enjoy today has two benefits: it gives me happiness right now, and it becomes a good memory later. --George Foreman

Fun Fact of the Week: Happy National Oysters Rockefeller Day. This easy Oysters Rockefeler recipe is always a hit. Topped with creamy spinach and breadcrumbs that get hot and golden under the broiler. https://www.skinnytaste.com/oysters-rockefeller/

Video of the Week: Sal Mineo as Gene Krupa (2:19) ~~ Mineo was my movie star crush in 8^th grade. Sigh. My current movie star crush is Viggo Mortensen.

Education is the key to unlock the golden door to freedom. --George Washington Carver

A lego without a leg is just an O. ® The opposite of lego is legstop. ® When a lego minifigure dies it rests in pieces.

..........I know the rainbow's end.........Shawn Colvin …..Round of Blues

3: 42 nations signed on immediately. The charter members were: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia. An additional 21 nations eventually joined; none of them were the US.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: You make antifreeze by stealing her blanket.

Weird Word of the Week: Librocubicularist – a person who reads in bed.

Dragon of the Week: legodragon

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Give yourself a moisturizing facial. Make a paste of ground up Cheerios, lemon juice, and honey. Apply to face, let sit for ten minutes, then rinse with warm water. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cheerios.html ~~I don't endorse any of these uses, I just report them.

What has four wheels and eats lego bricks? A Vacuum cleaner ® All legos measure the world in square inches.

...........You're the right kind of sinner.........Pat Benatar …..Heartbreaker

4: In 1939, the Soviet Union became the only nation to be expelled from the League of Nations. Having joined in 1934, it was expelled for its invasion of Finland.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Bro, we don't want Greenland. We want healthcare. --Submitted by jm of ks by 98%

Science Fiction Convention Joke of the Week: What's terrifying is, though they walk among us, there is to way to tell science fiction fans from the rest of us. --Nick Downes

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Consumer Electronics Show (7-10, Las Vegas, NV) The most powerful tech event in the world. https://www.ces.tech/

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Justin Timerlake Just in time

Legos have Block Parties for their birthdays. ® How do you find lego in the dark? With your feet

..........And just like the river I've been running ever since.........Neville Brothers with Cyril …..A Change's Gonna Come

5: The League of Nations dissolved on 18 April 1946. Many of its assets were transferred to the United Nations.

Late Night Joke of the Week: I read a new report that said president elect Trump privately complains about how much Elon Musk is around. Today Trump jumped into a broom closet to hide from Musk and Melanie said, "Hey, get your own closet". --Jimmy Fallon The Tonight Show 1/6/25

Quote of the Week: Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder. --E B White

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Celebrated 4/20 on January 5^th because I know how to reduce fractions. --Submitted by IIWSPIBH

Today's Peace of History: January 10, 1946: The first General Assembly of the United Nations convened at Westminster Central Hall in London, England, and included 51 nations. On January 24, the General Assembly adopted its first resolution, a measure calling for the peaceful uses of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction.

Steal a man's wallet and he will be broke for a week. Give a man lego and he will be broke for life. ® Legos prefer square dancing.

..........You stole my heart, I couldn't leave you if I tried.........Rod Stewart …..Maggie May

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 10, 2025, bLocked ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: When you put your hand to the plow, you can't put it down until you get to the end of the row. --Alice Paul National Women's Party

Cost of War:

As of 01/09/25 State Department Costs: $255,069,664,989
As of 01/02/25 State Department Costs: $254.531,714,210
As of 01/09/25 Homeland Security: $1,188,765,352,970
As of 01/02/25 Homeland Security: $1,188,181,030,223
As of 01/09/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,271,539,564,236
As of 01/02/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,270,037,031,805
As of 01/09/25 Military Costs: $3,125,113,524,249
As of 01/02/25 Military Costs: $3,123,972,648,300
As of 01/09/25 Veterans Care: $4,063,856,807,585
As of 01/02/25 Veterans Care: $4,052,467,727,763
As of 01/09/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,904,345,010,799
As of 01/02/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,889,191,873,044

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater. --George Washington Carver

Famous Last Words: May we meet in Glocca Morra some fine day. --Petula Clark Finian's Rainbow

..........All the downtown ladies call him treetop lover.........Jim Croce …..Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

When lego people want to motivate each other they say,dream big and you'll achieve your legoals.® The latest lego movie is a real blockbuster. ® A woman obsessed with lego is known as legolass.

May Peace be your building blocks

And Joy the structure you build

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Love is the energizing elixir of the universe, the cause and effect of all harmonies. --Rumi

Friday, January 3, 2025

ePistle sUmmary

Famous First Words: Through the power given him from God... Papal Encyclical excommunicating Martin Luther

It is Someday We'll Laugh About It Week (2-8). In the 1970s, as manager of Baskin Robbins', my mom was tasked to create new flavors related to Richard Nixon. Her choices, as she told me, were 'ImPeachments & Cream' and 'Watermelon-Gate' (as a sorbet). Both were denied. This is actually true.

..........Singing songs and a-carryin' signs.........Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield) …..For What It's Worth 1966I

The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of women the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. --Lucretia Mott

It is cloudy Friday morning. The sky is slate and without texture. The temperature is 24°F with a light breeze. The media (local, national, weather.com, etc) are predicting a big snow storm starting tomorrow afternoon and running all the way through Sunday morning. So I'm staying the weekend with Jo who doesn't want to face a winter storm all alone just days before her surgery. (By the way, the Physical Therapist said to me, you can do anything but fall.) Other than that, things are fine. For now, I'm sipping that wonderful toasted almond decaf and nibbling some butter sourdough toast. But best of all, writing to you. That is one of the constant goods in my life. Happy New Year.

May your weekend give you much to laugh about for years to come, ePistliers

Challenge of the Week: Create recipes and names for ice creams of the Biden and Trump presidency. Send them to me and they'll be in the next ePistle.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I'm getting to that age where it is considered rude to pull out a bottle of ibuprofen, if you don't have enough for everyone. --Submitted by INRITH

"Fidel is being replaced by a younger, sexier Castro: his younger brother Raul. Is this even possible? Can you imagine a country run by one family for years and years and years? That could never happen here." --Craig Ferguson ++ "But his retirement will not change the relationship Cuba has with the United States. Cubans will still not legally be allowed to enter the United States unless they have an overpowering fastball." --David Letterman

I don't wanna say it's hot in my room but two hobbits just came round and threw a ring into it.

..........Though the other side is just the same.........Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield) …..On the Way Home 1968

Trivia Questions: Happy Birthday to Alaska! 66 years

Of the 20 highest mountains in the US, how many are in Alaska?
How many volcanoes does Alaska have?
On which 3 seas does Alaska have coastline?
Can you name the two largest forests both of which are in Alaska?
What does the word Alaska mean?

Big Hello: Olá - Portuguese https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's so important to stay a little feral. @savage memes

Image of the Week:

Coffee Joke of the Week: I told my shrink that I did not have a problem with coffee. I had a problem without it.

What was the weather like during the French Revolution? Storm and Terrorble Reign ++ The most popular game during the revolution was Head-over-heels.

Lord of the Rings would have been much shorter if Lelolas had an AR-15.

..........They are one person, they are two alone.........Stephen Stills (CSN) …..Helplessly Hoping 1970

Moonbeam: Silence is one of the great arts of conversation. --Marcus Tullius Cicero

Blasphemy of the Week meets Conspiracy Theory of the Week: The Atheists are using Satellites to intercept prayer to Jesus and turn them Evel (sic). https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-rumor-suggests-mtg-224800758.html

Classic Puzzle of the Week: Take the following 5-word sentence: "THOSE BARBARIANS AMBUSH HEAVIER FIANCEES." These 5 words have something very unusual in common. What is it? NPR Sunday Puzzle 1/4/15

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: May you be as happy as a seagull with a french fry.

At a roast for vice president Cheney, Joe Liberman said something to the effect that we're all at the Plaza instead of in cages after some war crimes trial. ++ Scooter Libby, everyone's favorite, brought down the house with jokes about that wacky time he was imprisoned for obstructing a federal investigation into outing a CIA agent.

Little Known Fact: The dwarves really left Erebor because of the pollution...too much Smaug.

..........Tin soldiers and Nixon coming.........Stephen Stills (CSNY) …..Ohio

1. 17 of the 20 highest peaks: 1: Denali (20,320 ft) 2: Mt Foraker (17,400 ft) 3: Mt Fairweather (15,325 ft) 4: Mt Hubbard (14, 951 ft) 5: Mt Blackburn (16,391 ft) 6: Mt Hayes (13,832 ft) 7: Mt Saint Elias (18,009 ft) 8: Mt Marcus Baker (13,176 ft) 9: Mt Redoubt (10,197 ft) 10: Mt Vancouver (15,787 ft) 11: Mt Meacola (10,253 ft) 12: Mt Torbet (11,414 ft) 13: Mt Iliamna (10,016 ft) 14: Mt Sanford (16,237 ft) 15: Mt Bona (16,552 ft) 16: Mt Bear (14,831 ft) 17: Mt Alverstone (14,500 ft)

Almanac: It is Friday, January 3, 2025. The moon goes into the first quarter on Monday (1/6) and is in Aquarius. Today is Drinking Straw Day, J.R.R. Tolkien Day, Memento Mori "Remember You Die" Day, and National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day.

Among those born on this day were Cicero (106 BCE), Lcuretia Coffin Mott (1793), Father Damien (1840), John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892), ZaSu Pitts (Parsons, KS 1898), Ngo Dinh Diem (1901), Ray Milland (1905), John Sturges (1911), Betty Furness (1916), George Martin (1926), Van Dyke Parks (1942), Stephen Stills (1945), John Paul Jones (1946) and Mel Gibson (1956).

On January third Martin Luther was excommunicated (1521), the Truce of Andrusovo was signed (1667), British seized the Falkland Islands (1833), Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco (1847), the first deep sea sounding was taken (1840), construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge (1870), the first waxed drinking straw was patented (1888), Washington requested statehood (1889), Turkey made peace with Armenia (1921), Tutankhamun's sarcophagus was discovered (1924), the March of Dimes was established to fight polio (1938), Dragnet premiered (1952), Alaska was admitted as the 49th state (1959), Reactor in ID exploded killing 3. (1961), Castro was excommunicated (1962), Carl Wilson (Beach Boy) indicted for draft evasion (1967), Apple Computers was incorporated (1977), Bush & Yeltsin agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warhead by nearly half (1993), and Brazil canceled 12 new fighter planes to spend the money on the poor (2003).

Night Sky, 1/3: Quadrantids Meteor Shower https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-quadrantid-meteor-shower/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Christmas Peace Books

This Week: Saturday, January 4 – National Play Outside Day & Tom Thumb Day & World Braille Day

Earth at Perihelion --Perihelion is the point in Earth's orbit when it is closest to the sun.

Sunday, January 5 – National Bird Day & National Screenwriters Day & Twelfth Night & Whipped Cream Day

Night Sky, 1/5: As we enter serious winter in January, the bowl of the Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris sometime around 8 or 9 pm, as if (per Leslie Peltier) from a nail on the cold north wall of the sky. The brightest star of the Little Dipper's dim bowl is Kochab, marking the bowl's lip. It's the equal of Polaris. Kochab passes precisely below Polaris around 8 pm, depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone.

Monday, January 6 – Bean Day & Epiphany aka 33 Kings Day & I Am A Mentor Day & National Technology Day

Tuesday, January 7 – Harlem Globetrotter's Day & Old Rock Day & National Bobblehead Day

Wednesday, January 8 – Argyle Day & Bubble Bath Day & Midwife's Day

Night SkY 1/8: Mercury, magnitude -0/4 for most of the week, is having one of its best apparitions. Look for it low in the southeast about 60 minutes before sunrise. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Thursday, January 9 – National Cassoulet Day & National Static Electricity Day

Napoleon: He introduced lasting legal reform, revolutionized military tactics, and was a catalyst for the transition to the modern years. Remembered for being short. ++To think, Louis and Marie-Antoinette almost won the French Revolution. They were neck and neck

Hobbit valentines: Beards can be red, Blades can glow blue, There is only one Precious and that must be you.

..........If you can't be with the one you love.........Stephen Stills (CSNY) …..Love the One You're With

2. Alaska has more than 1000 volcanoes and volcanic fields.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Anxious? Depressed? Burnt out? You might be suffering from Capitalism. --Submitted by Films for Action

Moonbeam: My greatest pleasure is to serve the Lord in his poor children rejected by other people. --Father Damien

Fun Fact of the Week: On January 4, 2002 The Mars Rover, Spirit, landed. Therover is about the size of a golf cart. It carried Panoramic cameras, navigation cameras, miniature thermal emission Spectrometers. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mer-spirit/

Video of the Week: He Needs Me from the movie Popeye. Written by Van Dyke Parks and sung by Shelly Duvall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUWNVoGm4T4

If our princip;les are right, why should we be cowards? --Lucretia Mott

Industrial Revolution...because children need to be taught about a hard day's work. ++ How many Microsoft executives does it take to change a light bulb? None. They just redefine “darkness” as an industry standard.

Saruman's arm has grown so long he can't read his wrist watch any more.

..........Sweeping cobwebs from the edges of my mnd.........Stephen Stills (CSN) …..Marrakesh Express

3. Alaska has coastlines on the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Pacific Ocean.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Coffee – because sarcasm needs to stay hydrated.

Weird Word of the Week: Xenotransplantation – Using the organs of other species to transplant into humans. https://www.worldwidewords.org/tp-xen1.html

Dragon of the Week: Baby 2025

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Prevent hair coloring from dying your skin. Rub ChapStick along your hairline before coloring your hair. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/chapstick2.html

When I hear that someone is very Catholic, I assume that person favors a very high toddler to priest ratio. ++ Lapel Button: My Pedophile Priest Supports Traditional Marriage.

Was Frodo also the ring bearer for Aragorn and Arwen's wedding?

...........I see you in the morning.........Stephen Stills (CSNY) …..Dark Star 1977

4. The two largest forests in Alaska are the Tongass in the southeast and the Chugach in the south central.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Lord, please grant me the confidence of a white dude who's about to become the head of a federal agency he doesn't understand. --Lauren Kelley

Science Fiction Convention Joke of the Week: One of the best things about conventions is the costumes (called Cosplay). My personal favorite is my Ranch hand-blacksmith-barber-barbarian-insurance-salesman.

Actual Science Conference of the Week: International Conference on Solar Power at Technology (4^th, Florida City, FL) ...practical challenges encountered... https://www.allconferencealert.com/event/1305458

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: The letters in the odd positions in each word name part of the body: TOE, BRAIN, ABS, HAIR, FACE.

Did you hear, the government evacuated all the Branch Davidians in a single school bus. 20 in the seats and the other 74 in the ashtray. ++ David Koresh's last word, “Is it hot in here or is it just me?” The FBI's last words, “Did anyone bring marshmallows?”

62% of Americans believe that second-breakfast should be a real meal.

..........We found things to do in stormy weather.........Stephen Stills (Still-Young Band) …..Long May You Run 1977

5. The name comes from the Aleut word Alyeska which means great land.

Classic Late Night Joke of the Week: The Alabama Supreme Court has just outlawed burning the dictionary, because all the words in the Bible are in there. --Shaun Eli, freelance late night joke writer ~~This was not a good week to start a late night section since they were all on holiday break.

Presidential Quote of the Week: America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, human rights invented America. --Jimmy Carter

Quote of the Week: Greed, in the end, fails even the greedy. --Cathryn Louis

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: There are literally NO rules saying your new year resolutions can't be for evil. --Linda Hopkins

Today's Peace of History: January 3, 1971: On her first day as a member of Congress, Bella Abzug (D-New York) introduced a resolution calling for the withdrawal of troops from Southeast Asia.

I wasn't going to make jokes about mass shootings, but then I thought, why not take a shot. ++ Why do Americans hardly ever make jokes about mass shootings? Because it's always too soon. ++ I knew we had gotten over covid when there started being a couple of school shootings a week in the papers.

I don't want to accuse anyone of anything. I'm just saying that it looks a bit odd. The only one in this fellowship who doesn't want Aragon to become king gets shot.

..........like yours, milady, like yours.........Stephen Stills (CSN) …..Guinevere 1971

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 3, 2025, ePistle Summary. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Short cuts make long delays. --J R R Tolkien

Cost of War:

As of 01/02/25 State Department Costs: $254.531,714,210
As of 12/26/24 State Department Costs: $253,961,920,474
As of 01/02/25 Homeland Security: $1,188,181,030,223
As of 12/26/24 Homeland Security: $1,187,562,290,640
As of 01/02/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,270,037,031,805
As of 12/26/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,268,446,208,874
As of 01/02/25 Military Costs: $3,123,972,648,300
As of 12/26/24 Military Costs: $3,122,764,814,780
As of 01/02/25 Veterans Care: $4,052,467,727,763
As of 12/26/24 Veterans Care: $4,040,409,245,368
As of 01/02/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,889,191,873,044
As of 12/26/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,873,146,765,243

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

Let our lives be in accordance with our convictions of right, each striving to carry out our principles. --Lucretia Mott

Famous Last Words: Mark VII Limited --Ending of Dragnet on television

..........And there's so much time to make up everywhere you turn.........Stephen Stills (CSNY) …..Wasted on the Way 1989

Whoopie Goldberg said a second Trump presidency feels like she is having periods again. ++ I'm surprised that Trump doesn't want to colonize Denmark. Then he could build his wall out of Legos®. ++ “Now, as a late-night host, people often say to me, ‘Come on, part of you has got to want Trump to win because he gives you so much material to work with,’” Colbert said. “No, no. No one tells the guy who cleans the bathroom: ‘Wow, you must love it when someone has explosive diarrhea. There’s so much material for you to work with.’” --Stephen Colbert

May Peace start you right

And Joy bind your year

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Remember: Love is literally the whole point...