ePistle Take Out

Famous First Words: Pretty, huh?....Pinocchio (Disney's movie, that is)

Curling Is Cool Day: Curling...all the excitement of skipping rocks plus the majesty of sweeping the floor at 27° F. / What do you call a curler with insomnia? Sweepless

..........mind it's strictly rhythm..........Dire Straits …..Sultans of Swing

50 Ways to Promote Peace #29: Volunteer at a domestic violence shelter

It is a cold (33°) Friday morning. The sky is a universal gray with only a hint to texture from grayer grays under the thick upper level. Ploppy drops of water fall from eaves and down drainpipes; it sounds like wind playing some strange instrument made of rosebush stalks and small stones. Birdsong comes to us now and again, from the little wood across the street and from a murder of crows flying high overhead. But there are no birds at the feeders. From the bare limbs of redbud hang tiny drops of water that shine like diamonds. Those limbs support a lone bird, large and black with a bar of yellow across the wing. She is silent and very still. Puck chased the only squirrel into the neighbors yard and now lectures him at great length and with much gusto. The ice is melting around grass blades and fence posts leaving a lacework of crunch. A step on it snaps – more a feel than a sound – and leaves a fractured footstep of white snow. Underneath the ground is not frozen but muddy and squishy. There is little traffic and the sound of distant machinery seems muted. Finally, Puck's paws complain of cold and we return to our warm rooms. The smell of brewing Moose Munch with a hint of left over mint fills our lungs. It makes me feel comfortable and at home. But the best part, so far anyway, is sitting down with a cup of sweet goodness and a chance to write to you.

Hope your weekend rocks, ePistliers.

Curling...as much of a sport than twirling around on the ice in a tutu. / I understand Swiffer is sponsoring the curling team./ If a man makes fun of "women's sports", ask him about curling.

..........I got a dragon at noon.........Dire Straits …..Angel of Mercy

Trivia Questions: Guantanamo became our (the US') responsibility 115 years ago today.

^ What is the rent we pay to Cuba for the base?

^^ Which song is favored as torture for the prisoners at Gitmo?

^^^ More or less, how much does it cost to keep a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay?

^^^^ What concessions does Gitmo make for prisoners who are Muslim?

^^^^^ Altogether about how many people are there at Guantanamo Bay?

Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Schrodinger's Immigrant: Simultaneously stealing your job and too lazy to work. --Submitted by both sd of ks and sb of ak

FYI of the Week: TAKE OUT – Curling - removal of a stone from the playing area by hitting it with another stone.

Fake Library Statistic of the Week: If it allows them to read, 48% of librarians pick a longer commute. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Curling...prepare yourself for disappointment. / Curling Shakespeare: Sweep, you fat and greasy citizens. --As You Like It

..........said let it rock and let it roll.........Dire Straits …..Tunnel of Love

Moonbeam: Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody. --Samuel Pepys

Something to Think About of the Week: 

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Cat Valentines: I tolerate you so much! --submitted by sd of ks

Big Hello: lǫkwe – Marshallese (Micronesia) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Week of the Week: National Engineers Week (February 18-24) – Fake Engineer Statistics: 71% of engineers don't trust the first answer their calculator gives them.

Curling...throwing stones is okay, but all that sweeping is too much like housework. --Maxine / I should exercise more. Is there WII curling?

..........Turning all the night time into the day.........Dire Straits …..Walk of Life

^ The United States has leased Guantanamo Bay from Cuba for $4085 a month, but Cuba has only cashed one check in the past 5 decades

Almanac: It is Friday, February 23, 2018. The moon is first quarter today and it is Gemini. In addition to being Curling is Cool Day, it is Digital Learning Day, Diesel Engine Day, Iwo Jima Day (flag raised), National Dog Biscuit Day, National Tile Day, Single Tasking Day, and Women in Blue Jeans Days. In Brunei it is National Day and in Guyana it is Republic Day (1970). Because it is the fourth Friday it is Skip The Straw Day.

Among those born on this day were Paul II, (1417), Samuel Pepys (1633), John Blow (1649), Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1734), Emma Willard (1787), Istvan Ferenczi (1792), William E B Du Bois (1868), Karl Jaspers (1883), William L Shirer (1904), Margaret Farrer (1914), Tom Wesselman (1931), Peter Fonda (1940), Johnny Winter (1944), and Too Tall Jones (1951).

On February twenty-third the Humane Society of Massachusetts incorporated (1792), Haydn's 94th Symphony in G premiered (1792), William III was proclaimed king of England (1689), the College of Apothecaries was organized as the US's first pharmacy school (1821), Boston incorporated (1822), Texas seceded (1861), Mississippi was re-admitted to the union (1870), Alabama became the first state to enact antitrust laws (1883), the first college student government was established (Bryn Mawr, 1892), Cuba leased Guantanamo to the USA (1903), the US acquired control of the Panama Canal Zone ($10 million, 1904), the first transcontinental airmail arrived in NYC (from San Francisco, 1921), Disney's Pinocchio was released (1940), the Salk vaccine was first used on a mass scale (Pittsburgh, 1954), demolition began on Ebbets Field (opened 1913, 1960), Charlies Finley signed a 4 year lease to keep the A's in KC (1964), the 25th amendment was ratified (presidential succession, 1967), Wilt Chamerlain became the first NBAer to score 25,000 points (1968), the Holy Eucharist was first given by women (1970), and Dire Straits began their first US tour (1979).

Night Sky, 2/23: First-quarter Moon (3:09 am EST). For North America this evening the Moon shines left or upper left of Aldebaran, and farther upper right of Orion. The Moon occults Aldebaran in daylight or twilight. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Escapade 2018: The Slash Slumber Party! (2/23-25, Los Angeles) ...Escapade is a weekend-long con attended mostly but not exclusively by women, all of whom are slash fans of many fandoms and flavors. https://escapadecon.net/

'Nother Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Ronald Reagan was surrounded by Secret Service agents when he was shot. I guess they just needed a few armed math teachers. --submitted by ra of ks

Actual Science Convention of the Week: The RAAS: Emerging Interactions with the Microbiome, Immune and Nervous System (February 18023, Ventura, CA) https://www.grc.org/angiotensin-conference/2018/

This Week: Saturday, February 24 – National Dance Day & Forget Me Not Day & World Bartender Night

Sunday, February 25 – Brotherhood Sunday

Night Sky, 2/25: Under the feet of Orion, and to the right of Sirius now, hides Lepus the Hare. As with Canis Major, you can connect Lepus's dots to make it look like what it's supposed to be. He's a crouching bunny, with his nose pointing lower right, his faint ears extending up toward Rigel, and his body bunched to the left. His brightest two stars, Beta and Alpha Leporis, form the front and back of his neck.

Monday, February 26 – Museum Advocacy Day & National Cupcake Day

Tuesday, February 27 – International Polar Bear Day & Travel Africa Day

Wednesday, February 28 – Pink Shirt Day & Floral Design Day & National Tooth Fairy Day

Night Sky, 2/28: Sirius blazes high in the south on the meridian by 8 or 9 pm now. Using binoculars, examine the spot 4° south of Sirius: directly below it when on the meridian. Four degrees is somewhat less than the width of a typical binocular's field of view. Can you see an irregular little patch of gray haze? That's the open star cluster M41, about 2,200 light-years away. Sirius, by comparison, is only 8.6 light-years away.

Thursday, March 1 – National Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Day & Peace Corps Day & Pig Day

Curling...just about the only winter sport you can compete in and win while drinking massive quantities of beer and lighting up whatever it is you like to smoke. / Curling the bible: He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. (John 8:7)

..........There's a bird up in a tree sitting up high.........Dire Straits ….. Water of Love

^^ At Guantanamo Bay the children’s song “I Love You” by Barney the Purple Dinosaur is used as a form of torture.

Third Funniest thing I read of the Week: A Neighborhood Watch sign really means “you are being judged by old people and cats”.

Moonbeam: Only as an individual man can become a philosopher. --Karl Jaspers

Classic Late Night Snacks: Organizers for the Sochi Olympics have had trouble filling seats for the biathlon. This is because Vladimir Putin is warning people away from any event containing "bi." --Conan O'Brien, 2/10/14 / Before the games, a lot of people were worried that hotels in Sochi wouldn't be ready. For the most part, things seem to be working well. The only problems occur when people try to do something crazy like, you know, open a door. --Seth Meyer 2/10/14 / One Sochi elevator has two up buttons. If you want to go down, you have to stand on your head. --Jimmy Kimmel 2/10/14 / We're halfway through the Winter Olympics. The American speed skaters say there's a reason their times are off. They're blaming it on their suits, and I thought maybe I should do that. It was my suit. --David Letterman / At the Olympics, the Russian men's hockey team was knocked out by Finland. Vladimir Putin was said to be furious. He was yelling, waving a sword around, threatening to send people to Siberia. Then the game started. --Craig Ferguson

Not So Late Night Snacks: Basically, on the gubernatorial ballot in Kansas is one 16-year-old, five 17-year-olds and a dog. So at the moment, Kansas law has no age restriction on candidates running for statewide office - which explains why the current comptroller is just a zygote who showed an early aptitude for accounting. Nobody knew this was a problem, and then these six teenagers figured it out. They all filed to run. They're running on platforms as varied as marijuana legalization and marijuana even more legalization. --Peter Sagal Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me.

50 Ways to Promote Peace #28: Reduce your carbon footprint.

Curling...It's serious business, eh? / Curling remains steroid-free, apparently steroids ruin the taste of beer.

..........of toulouse and dauphine.........Dire Straits …..The Planet of New Orleans

^^^ Guantanamo Bay spends $800,000 per year on each detainee.

Worthless Fact of the Week: On February 23, 1893, Rudolf Diesel received a patent for his diesel engine. Instead of gasoline, this engine burns fuel oil and uses compressed air in the cylinder instead of a spark to ignite the fuel.

Weird Word of the Week: Yedsirag – head man, foreman http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-yed1.htm

Wicked Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The 2 white actors in Black Panther also played Gollum & Bilbo Baggins. Meaning, they are the two Tolkien white guys of the movie. --Submitted by abf of ks

Worthlesser Fact of the Week: The USA men's curling team will play Sweden for the gold medal on Saturday afternoon. The Korean team plays the Swedish team for gold in women's finals on Friday evening. Canada took gold, Switzerland took silver and the Olympic Athletes from Russia won bronze in mixed doubles.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Make a stress ball. Fill a Trojan Condom with sand or flour, and tie a knot in the open end. http://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/trojan.html

Curling...in Canada it's a sport; in the US it's a snack food. / You know you're having a bad game when the sweepers burst into laughter as you release your rock.

...........We've got to move these colour Tvs.........Dire Straits …..Money for Nothing

^^^^ Guantanamo Bay provides its Muslim prisoners with a copy of the Quran, a chess set, and an arrow pointing towards Mecca.

Word Shakespeare Made Up of the Week: Swagger – walk or behave in a very confident , arrogant or aggressive way. A Midsummer Night's Dream Act III, Scene 1 Puck: What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen?

Christine Update: I finally got over my dizziness. I went to the chiropractor who adjusted my neck and I stopped being so dizzy I could hardly walk immediately and over the course of 4 days, it went away completely. I was amazed. But mostly, I just sit around feeling not dizzy.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Apparently, he's as faithful to the country as he is to Melania.

Science on the Internet of the Week: Dry Ice Bubble – an experiment you can try at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76CNkxizQuc

Puck the Brave Episode of the Week: Here's our fearless Puck pulling a dramatic pose in the case of the Modeling Moyen.

The curling team had a garage band on the side; it was called Asweep at the Wheel. / Their hit song was Sweeping Beauty. / I won an Olympic gold medal in curling but the only job I'm qualified for is maid.

..........rain come down wash away my tears.........Dire Straits …..Hand in Hand

^^^^^ Around 2,000 troops and civilians are stationed at Guantanamo to staff the prison. There are currently 80 detainees, which amounts to roughly 25 staff members to one detainee held.

Month of the Week: February is Love The Bus Month –Bus: a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it than when your are in it. / Eels get around town on the octobus

Most Beautiful Thing in the State: Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota --Bison, elk, and other wildlife roam the rolling prairie grasslands and forested hillsides of one of America's oldest national parks. Below the remnant island of intact prairie sits Wind Cave, one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. Named for barometric winds at its entrance, this maze of passages is home to boxwork, a unique formation rarely found elsewhere. https://www.nps.gov/wica/index.htm

Rumination of the Week: There were 4 million 13-year old kids in the USA in 2010. They turn 18 this year. The midterms are in 250 days. Spread the word. Get Registered. Register everyone you know. Fight back. --Submitted by rhb of ks

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: People defending the 2^nd amendment seem awfully scared of teenagers armed only with the 1^st amendment. --Submitted by dr of oh

Today's Peace of History, February 23, 1982: Wales declared itself a nuclear weapons-free zone. Its last nuclear power plant, Wylfa at Anglesey with two reactors, was shut down completely in 2015.

Curling...And if hell freezes over, I'll curl there too. / The Israel Curling team's motto is taken from Isaish 14:27: I will sweep with the besom of destruction.

..........I wish I'd never been tattooed.........Dire Straits …..Fade to Black

Masthead of the Week: fRiday ePistle February 23, 2018, ePistle Take Out. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Peace and Stones. Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 1800 Goodell Ct. Lawrence, KS 66046

Moonbeam: No class or group or party in Germany could escape its share of responsibility for the abandonment of the democratic Republic and the advent of Adolf Hitler. The cardinal error of the Germans who opposed Nazism was their failure to unite against it. --William L Shirer

Cost of War: Tax dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 2/22/17: $798,926,562,826.

Tax dollars spent in Afghanistan: as of 2/8/17: $797,963,235,911.

Tax dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 2/22/17: $821,281,680,217.

Tax dollars spent on the Iraq war since 2001 as of 2/12/17: $821,253,525,681.

Tax dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 2/22/17: $1,818,230,988,701.

Tax dollars spent on all wars since 2001 as of 2/12/17: $1,816,219,195,003.

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

50 Ways to Promote Peace #27: Hang Tibetan prayer flags. http://uncustomary.org/50-ways-promote-peace/

..........In my peace of mind..........Dire Straits ….Ticket to Heaven

The Olympic committee banned head shots from hockey and tequila shots from curling. / When proposing to his girl friend the curling stone promised he wouldn't take her for granite.

Famous Last Words: ...the assurances of its consideration. --Lease of Guantanamo

May Peace cast your rock

And Joy sweep its path

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh: