Friday, March 10, 2017

eMbellished ePistle

Famous First Words: Charles the Second, by the grace of God... --Charter of the Territory of Pennsylvania
Happy International Bagpipe Day ! Do you know about the joke invented by a drunk Irishman? It's called bagpipes and the Scots still don't get it. / What's the only thing worse than a bagpiper? Good question, I'll get back to you.
..........Philosophy, is the talk on a cereal box..........Edie Brickell …..What I Am
It's crucial to understand that as a society, we can reorganize. We can reorganize socially, politically, and economically, and we can reorganize according to our values. --Rebecca Adamson
It is a chilly (27°F) Friday morning. There is not a cloud in the sky, not even a waning jet trail and the breeze is light but cold. Bird song is full and varied from the cheeing of the starling flock, the call and answer of unseen cardinals to the friendly chirping of the sparrows. There is even a woodpecker somewhere beating out percussion. Puck runs the perimeter and determines neither squirrels nor rabbits haunt the backyard and so he moves on to smell smaller, interior clumps of grass. The cold has muted recent scents of spring...soil and dampness, growth and flowers. It's true the willow is dressed in spring green and showing it off in the wind. And trees with white blossoms are dancing about in their new clothes. If it weren't cold, it would be a delightful sight. But I retreat to the breezeless inside, to the warmth and hum of the furnace, to the smell and taste of fresh brewed decaf. I observe a moment of silence, mouth full of the taste of sweet coffee, thoughts of you in my head. Ahhh, and then the trash truck passes by, straining to a stop, and crashes and banging trash cans. Reality intrudes again.
Hope the weekend is a grace note**, ePistliers.
  **Bagpiper's grace note - a short note which isn't part of the melody and doesn't officially take up any time
   ** Embellishment - clusters of grace notes which produce particular rhythmic effects.
Why do so many people hate a bagpipe right off? It saves time. / A group of terrorists hijacked a plane full of bagpipers. They called ground control with a list of demands. Then they told the negotiator if their demands aren't met they will release one bagpiper player an hour.
..........We'll never be this forever..........Edie Brickell …..Stranger Things
Trivia Questions: Happy Birthday, Purdue.
^ Where is Purdue anyway?
^^ About how many students attend Purdue?
^^^ Where did the name come from?
^^^^ What is the Purdue mascot?
^^^^^ In what conference does Purdue play sports?
Fake Library Statistic of the Week: During a normal work day, a librarian will ask "How did that happen?" 47 times. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts
Moonbeam: The world is my country, science is my religion. --Constantijn Huygens Jr.
Know why bagpipers always walk when they play; a moving target is harder to hit. / Know why bagpipers always walk when they play; so they can annoy even more people.
..........Raise the window, listen to the rain..........Edie Brickell …..Times Like This
Something to Think About of the Week: So, if we're going to fast from anything this Lent, Pope Francis suggests that even more than candy or alcohol, we fast from indifference towards others.
Big Hello: Salut/ Bouônjour – Jèrriais (Norman language – Channel Islands)
Week of the Week: National Sleep Awareness Week … Fall asleep much faster – decorate your bedroom like a church.
Science Fiction Convention of the Week: RevelCon 28: The Little Con with a Texas Sized Heart (3/10-12, Houston TX) …

Other Convention of the Week: This week my daughter attended National Bike Summit 2017 in DC. http://bikeleague.org/summit --The pedestrian (lemming) stepped off the curb into the road without looking and got knocked down by a passing cyclist: “You were lucky” said the cyclist “What are you on about! That really hurt!” said the pedestrian “Usually I drive a bus!” the cyclist replied.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “that's the bagpiper's Porsche”? / The very definition of a gentleman is someone who knows how to play bagpipes but doesn't.
..........I've spent a little time with you, I want a little more..........Edie Brickell …..Good Times
^ Purdue is in Lafayette, Indiana
Almanac: It is Friday, March 10, 2017. The moon will be full (Worm) on Sunday and is in Virgo. In addition to International Bagpipe Day it is International Day of Awesomeness, Land Line Telephone Day, Mario Day, Salvation Army Day, US Paper Money Day, Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and World Sleep Day. Dominica and St Lucia celebrate Independence Day (1967) and Laos comemmorates Teachers' Day. Because it is Friday it is also Arbor Day in New Mexico and Middle Name Pride Day.
Among those born on this day were Ferdinand I of Germany (1503), Constantije Huygens Jr. (1628), John Playfair (1748), Willem R Foelofs (1822), Alexander III Romanov (1845), Jakob Wassermann (1873), Barry Fitzgerald (1888), Sam Jaffe (1891), Arthur Honnegger (1892), James Herriot (1916), Jethro Burns (1920 or 23, there is a dispute), Ara Parseghian (1923), James Earl Ray (1928), Gary Owens (1935), Chuck Norris (Carlos Ray, 1940), Kim Campbell (1947), Eddie Grundy (1948), Sharon Stone (1958), and Edie Brickell (1966).
On March tenth William Penn received a charter for the territory of Pennsylvania (1681), Franklin and Marshell College was founded (1787), the pile driver was patented (1791), Hawaii minted its first money (1847), the US issued its first paper money (1862), Purdue University admitted its first student (1874), Bell made the first telephone call (1876), Franck's Psyche debuted (1888), the multigraph duplicating machine was patented (1903), Ravel's Sonatine premiered (1906), The Pittsburgh Courier began publishing (1910), Nevada became the first state to regulate narcotics (1933), J Edgar Hoover declined the post of baseball commissioner (1951), Sweet Bird of Youth premiered (1959), James Earl Ray plead guilty to the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr (1969), the Rings of Uranus were discovered (1977), and 1 million Greeks attended Melina Mercouri's funeral (1994).
Night Sky (3/10): The waxing moon shines to the right of the Sickle of Leo, a few degrees to the lower left of Regulus.
This Week: Saturday, March 11 – National Johnny Appleseed Day & National Worship of Tools Day
Sunday, March 12 – Plant a Flower Day & Daylight Saving Time Day
Night Sky (3/12): If you follow the curve of the Dipper's handle out and around by a little more than a Dipper length, you'll arc to Arcturus, now rising in the east.
Monday, March 13 – Good Samaritan Day & K9 Veterans Day
Night Sky (3/13): Half an hour after sunset, Mars, Uranus are within a few degrees of each other and Venus is to their lower right are visible west. Mercury is also in the west in the evening sky.
Tuesday, March 14 – Learn About Butterflies Day & National Pi Day
Night Sky (3/14): Look at the two stars forming the open top of the Dipper's bowl. Follow this line past the bowl's lip far across the sky, and you crash into Capella.
Wednesday, March 15 – National Shoe the World Day & Everything You Think Is Wrong Day
Night Sky (3/15): Before sunrise we have Jupiter (SW), Saturn (S), Neptune and Venus (E).
Thursday, March 16 – Everything You Do Is Right Day & National Freedom of Information Day
You can tell the bunch of people on your porch are bagpipers because no one know when to come in. / Did you hear about the bagpiper who played in tune? Neither did I.
..........Give me strength and give me love..........Edie Brickell …..Black and Blue
^^ about 40,000 students attend Purdue
Funniest thing I read of the Week: I'm no biologist but has anyone tried sprinkling salt on Steve Bannon. --Sarah Lazarus submitted by lj of ks
Moonbeam: Cats are connoisseurs of comfort. --James Herriot
Late Night Snacks: A new financial app from JP Morgan can now do in seconds what it once took Wall Street financiers 360,000 hours to accomplish. That’s right, the app wrecks the global economy. --Conan O'Brien / For those of you keeping score at home, Donald Drumpf has gone golfing six times in 30 days. That explains the bumper sticker on Air Force One: “I’d rather be golfing, and there’s a 20% chance that I am.” --Stephen Colbert / Apparently, House Republicans are keeping their Obamacare replacement bill hidden in a basement in Congress, and other lawmakers can’t get to it. Then Nicolas Cage was like, “Don’t worry, you guys — I got this! I gotta break through the dome and find the hidden treasure!” --Jimmy Fallon / The Senate today also confirmed Ben Carson as secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The news came as a surprise to Carson, who thought he dreamed it. --Seth Meyers / Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were the presenters that announced the wrong film. Basically they were the Sean Spicers of the Oscars. --James Corden
Why are they the ones that get to say what is right and wrong? The profits before people way makes it hard to get along. We want a world that's fair and just with peace for everyone. We've got to go on now, we must, before our world is done. We want our world back. --Robert Alan Silverstein.
The bagpiper has fingers like lightning; they rarely struck the same spot twice. / How many bagpipers does it take to screw in a light bulb? 5: one to do it and four to criticize his fingering style.
..........But they whisper in my soul..........Edie Brickell …..Strings of Love
^^^ Businessman John Purdue donated land and money to establish a college of science, technology, and agriculture in his name.
Worthless Fact of the Week: In 1847, the Kingdom of Hawai'i, under the reign of King Kamehaheha III, issued its first official coinage—a large one-cent copper penny—to alleviate the chronic shortage of small denomination coins circulating in the kingdom.
Weird Word of the Week: Yuhangyuan – the Chinese term for an astronaut. (replaces taikonaut – a western word made up to mean Chinese astronaut) http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-yuh1.htm
Wicked Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I'm calling a family meeting. Because Mommy can't fight fascism if she has to pick up after y'all. --Jane Wright Jones --submitted by ls of ks
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Stop yourself from biting your fingernails. Use a cotton swab to dab your fingernails with Tabasco Pepper Sauce. Let dry. Should your fingernails unconsciously wander up to your lips, the zesty tang will quickly jolt your attention, reminding you to correct your behavior. http://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/tabasco.html
The difference between a trampoline and a bagpipe is that you take your shoes off when you jump on a trampoline. / Know how to make a chain saw sound like a bagpipe, add more vibrato.
...........Looked up through the white light and reached out his hand..........Edie Brickell …..Lost In the Moment
^^^^ Purdue Pete is a mascot of Purdue. Despite his visible and constant on-field presence at Purdue sporting events, Pete is not the official mascot of the university. The official mascot of Purdue is the Boilermaker Special.
Word Shakespeare Made Up of the Week: fixture – a piece of equipment or furniture that is fixed in position. The Merry Wives of Windsor Act III Scene III Falstaff: ...and the firm fixture of thy foot would give an excellent motion to thy gait in a semi-circled farthingale.
Amazing Thing on the Internet of the Week: Astronaut Kjell Lindren playing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes on the International Space Station: Click Here
Puck the Brave Episode of the Week: Here's our fearless Puck ignoring the Great White Light in the case of the Mystic Mioritic.
Funniest Video on the Internet of the Week: East India Company singing “Trump USA” in the style of the Village People's YMCA. http://boingboing.net/2017/02/28/watch-the-trump-song-a-parod.html
In some parts of the world leaving your bagpipes on the dashboard serves as a handicapped parking permit. / What's the difference between the Great Highland and the Northumbrian bagpipes? The GHB burns longer but the Northumbrian burns hotter.
..........I heard the angels laughing way above my head..........Edie Brickell …..10,000 Angels
^^^^^ Purdue is part of the Big Ten Conference.
Month of the Week: March is Mad for Plaid Month …

Shameless Self Promotion of the Week: Pictures from the Stand Up to Hate demonstration are online at http://dovedrop8.wixsite.com/prairiemama/fear-2016
Famous Kansans: Clark Joseph Kent (1938), adopted child of Jonathan & Martha Kent of Smallville, KS, aka Kal-El, aka Superman. http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superman_(Clark_Kent)
Today's Peace of History, March 10, 1968: Cesar Chavez ended a 23-day fast for US farm workers in a Delano, California, public park with 4000 supporters at his side including Senator Robert Kennedy (D-New York). Cesar Chavez led the effort to organize farm workers into a union for better pay and better working and living conditions.
..........There comes somebody like you..........Edie Brickell …..Once In a Blue Moon
Masthead of the Week: fRiday ePistle March 10, 2017. eMbellished ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Fake? Real? Both are Bullsh*t. Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 1800 Goodell Ct. Lawrence, KS 66046
Moonbeam: Amid all the revolutions of the globe, the economy of Nature has been uniform, ... and her laws are the only things that have resisted the general movement. The rivers and the rocks, the seas and the continents, have been changed in all their parts; but the laws which direct those changes, and the rules to which they are subject, have remained invariably the same. -John Playfair
Cost of War:
Tax dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 3/9/17: $765,282,072,910.
Tax dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 2/23/17: $764,310,772,154.
Tax dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 3/9/17: $820,298,378,835.
Tax dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 2/23/17: $820,269,991,517.
Tax dollars spent on Daesh conflict as of 3/9/17: $13,999,487,926.
Tax dollars spent on Daesh conflict as of 2/23/17: $13,850,204,096.
Tax dollars spent on the Pentagon Slush Fund as of 3/9/17: $144,090,139,307.
Tax dollars spent on the Pentagon Slush Fund as of 2/23/17: $143,259,500,614.
Tax dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 3/9/17: $1,745,940,586,232.
Tax dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 2/23/17: $1,747,968,828,708.
No piecemeal solution is going to prevent the collapse of whole societies and ecosystems...a radical re-thinking of our values, priorities, and political systems is urgent. --Maude Barlow
..........When I'm by myself nobody else can say goodbye..........Edie Brickell …..Circle
How can you tell if a bagpiper has perfect pitch? He can throw a baseball into the middle of a pond and not hit any of the ducks. / Playing a bagpipe is a lot like throwing javelin blindfolded; you don't have to be very good to get people's attention.
Famous Last Words: The miracle of love is at last complete. --Franck's Psyché
May Peace be your birl
And Joy your roll
prairie mama
christine
Last Laugh:

  **Birl - Onomatopoeic name for a Highland bagpipe embellishment on low A, consisting of two very fast taps or strikes to low G.
    **Roll - An embellishment used in uilleann piping, consisting of two grace notes on the melody note. The name derives from an analogous fiddle decoration.

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