Famous
First Words: When he was nearly thirteen... Harper Lee To
Kill A Mockingbird
Happy
Spring Astronomy Week (April 24-28, er...half-week). I was up all
night wondering where the sun had gone … then it dawned on me. /
This Year's Time Travel Seminar will be held last Tuesday.
Favorite
March for Science Signs: Can we try harnessing the power of Lincoln
rolling in his grave?
..........I
don't know what I want to say.........Tom Petty & the
Heartbreakers …..Moon Pie
Peace
is always beautiful. --Walt Whitman
It
is a rainy Friday morning. The light of the rising sun is muted by a
thick layer of gray. Everything outside is wet and fragrant – damp
pavement, muddy soil, dripping foliage. Puck refuses to stay with me
even though nothing is falling at the moment. He barks at the world
in general and stands by the door to return inside and I let him in.
I travel to the backyard by myself for a morning meditation.
Birdsong is not so varied this morning and seems at a distance
perhaps protected by the little wood across the street. Even the
local sparrow house is quiet. But a woodpecker practices percussion
somewhere east. There is a light breeze that stirs the aromas and
mixes them with drops of water that roll off the ends of the very
green leaves of late April. It is as awaking and arousing a beverage
as the coffee that waits for me inside. Two school buses pull up
stop, absorb students, and move on. Three drops plop onto my face
and spread a little cold chill. So I move inside. Puck is asleep on
the closet floor and the decaf is filling the room with another sweet
smell. Still, I doctor it up with real cream and artificial sugar.
It tastes so fine going down. And now, here you are, what a morning.
Hope
your weekend reaches the sky, ePistliers.
Two
astrophysicists are discussing their research in a bar one evening
when a drunk who overhears them. He turns and says in a very worried
voice, “What was that you just said?” “We were discussion
stellar evolution, and I said to my colleague here that the Sun would
run out of nuclear fuel and turn into a red giant star in about 5
billion years, possibly melting the Earth.” “Whew!” says the
drunk, “You really had me worried. I thought you said 5 million.”
Causing
Alkynes of Trouble / Read Question Think / Resist the Orange
Monster / Isen
Har Ikke Agenda, Den Bare Smelter
(Ice has no agenda, it only melts)
..........Honey,
take me through the night.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
…..Breakdown
Trivia
Questions: Billy Martin, what can we say?
^
Any idea what Billy's birth name was?
^^
What position did Billy play when he was a player?
^^^
More or less what year was Billy most valuable player in the World
Series?
^^^^
What teams did Billy manage besides the Yankees?
^^^^^
How many times did Billy manage the Yankees?
Fake
Library Statistic of the Week:
100% of librarian requests to add a still to the library's maker
space have been rejected by management
https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts
Moonbeam:
The one thing that doesn't abide by
majority rule is a person's conscience. --Harper Lee
Why
didn't the Dog Star laugh at the joke? It was too Sirius. / What kind
of songs do planets like to sing? Neptunes
Evidence-Based
Policy not Policy-Based Evidence / Vaccinate Your Damned Kids
..........We
got smilin' politicians, got songs from rich musicians.........Tom
Petty & the Heartbreakers …..It Ain't Nothin' To Me
Big
Hello: Halau – Khoekhoe (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa)
Week
of the Week: National Tattoo Week (April
26-30) –Joe decided to get a tattoo. “I want something to really
attract women. Can you put the Good Housekeeping Seal right here?”
Something
to Think About of the Week:
Science
Fiction Convention of the Week:
Constellation 8: Octopus' Garden (April 28-30, Lincoln, NE) ...We've
taken our inspiration for our eighth year in the Octopus's Garden...
though we're not quite sure if it's located under the sea, or in
outer space... come explore with us. http://www.constellationne.net/
~~The Constellation I went to was stellar!
“There’s
just one thing I can promise you about the outer space program –
your tax dollar will go further.” — Wernher von Braun / ...first
star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might...o, wait, it's just
a satellite.
Nevertheless
Science Persisted! / Peace Love Science
Some
Favorite Chants from the March for Science: We need a leader, not a
filthy tweeter
..........The
clouds are all silver and black.........Tom Petty & the
Heartbreakers …..Luna
^
Billy Martin was born Alfred Manuel Pesano, Jr. in Berkeley, CA.
Almanac:
It is Friday, April 27, 2017. The moon was new last Wednesday and is
in Gemini. The UN has declared this World Day for Safety and Health
at Work. It is Biological Clock Day, Brave Hearts
Day, National Teach Your Children To Save Day, and Workers Memorial
Day. InMaryland it is Ratification Day (1788).
Because it is the last Friday it is also Arbor
Day and National Hairball Awareness Day.
Among
those born on this day were Edward IV (1442), Lorenz Ott (1748),
Franz Achard (1753), James Monroe (1758), Francis Baily (1774),
Tobias Carel Asser (1838), Johann Backlund (1846), Sidney Toler
(1874), Lionel Barrymore (Herbert Blythe, 1878), Jan Hendrik Oort
(1900), Robert Anderson (1917), Harper Lee (1926), Carolyn Jones
(1929), Oliver Jackson (Bops Jr, 1933), Ann Margaret (Olsson, 1941),
John Oliver Creighton (1943), Jay Apt (1949), Jay Leon (1950), Paul
Lockhart (1956), and Leopold Eyharts (1957).
On
April twenty-eighth parliament demanded supervision of royal spending
(1376), the Edict of Worms was signed (1521), mutiny broke out on the
HMS Bounty (1789), French colonies freed their last slaves (1848),
Dvorak's Carneval
premiered (1892), the air conditioner was patented (1914), the first
commerical flight acorss the Pacific took off (1937), Thor Heyerdahl
in the Kon-Tiki set sail from Peru for Polynesia (1947), Charles de
Gaulle resigned as president of France (1969), the last Americans
were evacuated from Saigon (1975), Billy Martin was named Yankee
manager for the fourth time (1985), Chernobyl had a melt down (1986),
the space shuttle Discovery 12 was launched (STS 30, 1991), and Tom
Petty & the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame (1999).
Night
Sky 4/28:
As twilight fades in the west, spot Aldebaran and Mars to the lower
right of the crescent Moon.
This
Week: Saturday, April 29 – Save
the Frogs Day, Peace Rose Day, & Sense of Smell Day
Night
Sky 4/29: To the left of Jupiter by 30° (about three fists at
arm's length) shines the second-brightest point in the area:
Arcturus, pale yellow-orange.
Sunday,
April 30 – Beltane (and Walpurgis Night), Kiss of Hope Day,
& National Honesty day
Night
Sky 4/30: Bright Arcturus is climbing high in the east these
evenings. Equally bright Capella is descending high in the northwest.
Monday,
May 1 – Beltane, Global Love Day, & National Library
Legislative Day
Tuesday,
May 2 – National Teacher Day & Buddha Day
Night
Sky 5/2: Venus is very bright in the eastern morning sky, seen
high above the eastern horizon from the southern hemisphere, and
lower down as seen from the north. Mars may still be visible in the
western twilight.
Wednesday,
May 3 – Lumpy Rug Day, Garden Meditation Day, & Public
Radio Day
Night
Sky 5/3: Jupiter has passed its maximum brightness this year,
but still shines very prominently in the evening and early night sky.
Thursday,
May 4 – Bird Day, World Password Day, & International
Respect for Chickens Day
My
sibling kept asking me about the orbits of planets and the amount of
area swept in any given time. Finally, I asked him, “Am I my
brother's Kepler?”
Evolution:
Belief is optional. Participation is not. / There's no vaccine for
Stupid but we are working on it
Oceans
are rising, So are we / Fund Science, Not the Wall
..........So
let's get to the point.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
…..Roll Another Joint
^^
Billy played second base for Idaho Falls (Class D Pioneer League,
1946) and for the Oaks (1947) and finally for the Yankees under
Stengel's management (1950).
Funniest
thing I read of the Week: Earth Day Fun Fact: 3500 trombone
players can provide enough electricity to sustain a city the size of
Poughkeepsie, NY for more than 30 days. --Submitted by sd of ks
Moonbeam:
The history of electricity yields a well-known
truth—that the physicist shirking measurement only plays, different
from children only in the nature of his game and the construction of
his toys. --Franz Karl Achard
Late
Night Snacks: The nation’s first
drive-through marijuana dispensary is opening tomorrow in Colorado.
Also, down the street will be the world’s most successful DUI
checkpoint. --James Corden / In honor of 4/20, Ben and Jerry's
introduced a new menu item that's an ice cream waffle cone taco with
fudge called a "Choloco." Or as stoners put it, "You
had us at ice cream . . . And then you had us at waffle and then cone
and then taco!" --Jimmy Fallon / People really get into the
spirit here. Here's the thing: The truth is, if you're celebrating
4/20 today, chances are you were celebrating it yesterday. And the
day before that too. Between Easter and 4/20, this has been a huge
week for eating candy and rolling stuff. --Jimmy Kimmel / Today is
4/20. 4/20 is that special day of the year when everyone who smokes
pot continues to smoke pot. --Conan O'Brien / Trump also weighed in
on tomorrow’s special election in Georgia, saying, “The super
liberal Democrat in the Georgia congressioal race tomorrow wants to
protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!”
That’s right, “congressioal.” Someone’s being tutored by
Betsy DeVos. --Stephen Colbert
I
want, of course, peace, grace, and beauty. How do you do that? You
work for it. --Studs Terkel
Logic
is All We Have! / Back off, man, I'm a Scientist / Too Many Issues,
Not Enough Sign
2,4,6,8,
Everybody Vaccinate! / Get Down, Get Down, Chicago is a Science Town
..........I've
been wrapped up in confusion.........Tom Petty & the
Heartbreakers …..Zero From Outer Space
^^^
In 1953 Billy was MVP...he batted .500 with a .958 slugging
percentage.
Worthless
Fact of the Week: Thor Heyerdahl and five crewmen left Callao,
Peru, on a balsa-wood raft named the Kon-Tiki. They hoped to prove
that ancient South Americans could have sailed to Polynesia.
Weird
Word of the Week:
Fizgig – a type of firework that hissed rather than banged.
Mentioned by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a letter of 1799.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-fiz1.htm
Wacky
Uses for Common Products: Get short-term relief from nicotine
withdrawal symptoms. Drinking several glasses of Tang eases the
pangs of nicotine withdrawal. The ascorbic acid raises the acid
level in your urine, clearing nicotine from the body faster.
http://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/tang.html
“In
awe, I watched the waxing moon ride across the zenith of the heavens
like an ambered chariot towards the ebony void of infinite space,
wherein the tethered belts of Jupiter and Mars hang forever festooned
in their orbital majesty. And as I looked at all this I thought: ‘I
have to put a roof over this toilet’.”
Science
is like magic but real / Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a protester
Make
America Think Again / We're nerds, we're wet, we're really quite
upset
...........And
you know you better watch your step.........Tom Petty & the
Heartbreakers …..Don't Do Me Like That
^^^^
Billy managed the Minnesota Twins (1962-69), the Detroit Tigers
(1971-73), the Oakland As (1980-82), and the Texas Rangers (1974).
Word
Shakespeare Made Up of the Week: Gust – a brief, strong rush
of wind. Titus Andronicus
Act V, Scene III Marcus Andronicus: ...scatter'd by winds and high
tempestuous gusts....
Amazing
Thing on the Internet of the Week:
Dances of Universal Peace: The Kalama
–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vNpZlpcHs8
~~Local Dances of Universal Peace will be part of the May Day Peace
Gala in Lawrence (Monday, May 1, Centennial Park West Shelter, 600
Rockledge Rd.) Dances, planting a new peace pole, and awarding the
2017 Tom & Anne Moore Peace & Justice Award. 6:30pm
Puck
the Brave Episode of the Week:
Here's our fearless Puck mooning alternative facts in the case of
the Lying Llewellin.
How
does Jupiter hold up its trousers? With an asteroid belt. / The
density of Saturn is so low that the whole planet would float on the
water in your bath? However, you wouldn’t want to try this
experiment at home as it would leave a massive ring around the tub.
There
is no Planet B / Facts you don't like are still facts /
..........Roll
up your window, honey.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
…..It's Rainin' Again
^^^^^
Martin managed the Yankees from 1975-78, 1979, 1983, 1985, and 1988.
At
the time of his death, Martin was preparing to manage the Yankees a
sixth time for the 1990
season
Month
of the Week: May is American Wetlands
Month From a Save the Wetlands Rally at KU in 2013.
Famous
Kansans:
Dean and Sam Winchester, demon hunters, were born in Lawrence in 1979
and 1983 respectively. They can be seen on the tv series
Supernatural.
https://people.rit.edu/~anw1667/140/project2/characters.html
Today's
Peace of History, April
28, 1996: Sixty-one were arrested for
dismantling railroad tracks leading out of the Gundremmingen nuclear
power station in Bavaria, Germany.
How
many absolute relativists does it take to change a light bulb? 2 –
one to hold the bulb and one to rotate the universe. / Black holes
are most commonly found in black socks.
The
Dinosaurs didn't see it coming either! / Turn and Face the Change
..........And
revel in your abandon.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
…..Refugee
Masthead
of the Week:
fRiday ePistle April 28, 2017, ePliptic ePistle. Online at:
http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/
News
to me.
Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 1800 Goodell Ct. Lawrence, KS
66046
Moonbeam:
I take a deep interest, as a parent and a citizen in
the success of female education, and have been delighted whenever I
have been, to witness the attention paid to it. --James Monroe
Cost
of War:
Tax
dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 4/27/17: $770,018,519,377.
Tax
dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 4/20/17: $769,314,888,731.
Tax
dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 4/27/17:
$820,436,807,468.
Tax
dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 4/20/17:
$820,416,243,607.
Tax
dollars spent on Daesh conflict as of 4/27/17: $14,727,477,668.
Tax
dollars spent on Daesh conflict as of 4/20/17: $14,619,330,964.
Tax
dollars spent on the Pentagon Slush Fund as of 4/27/17:
$148,140,817,465.
Tax
dollars spent on the Pentagon Slush Fund as of 4/20/17:
$147,539,068,062.
Tax
dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 4/27/17:
$1,757,860,450,472.
Tax
dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 4/20/17:
$1,756,391,059,196.
Share
your smile with the world. It's a symbol of friendship and peace.
--Christie Brinkley
..........and
by evening see him gone.........Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
…..High in the Morning
The
Oceans are rising and so are we! / Don't Mess with Science. We have
lasers.
Did
you hear about the new restaurant on the moon? The food is out of the
world but there's no atmosphere. / This week astrophysicists
irrefutable proof that contrary to the recent executive order, Donald
Trump is not the center of the universe.
Famous
Last Words: Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is.
--Russell Banks Continental Drift
May
Peace guide your planets
And
Joy steer your stars
prairie
mama
christine
Last
Laugh:
