hOopy ePistle

 Famous First Words: HELLO USA --First words written in the sky above the US.

Happy Basketball Day! The athletic department at Watsmotta U doesn't have a website because they can't put together three w's in a row. (Rocky & Bullwinkle) / The difference between a baby and Barnell College Basketball fans is that the baby will eventually stop whining. (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

..........He had a boogie style that no one else could play.........Bette Midler …..Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. --Rosa Parks

It is late on a Friday morning. I have been to the doctor. The good news is I'm still alive; the bad news is I'm still old. The sky is gray without wind. The world is chilly and looks as if it will start raining at any moment. And Kansas, playing at home in Allen Fieldhouse, is predicted to win by only 3 points. Have a great day!

Hope your weekend takes home the championship, ePistlers.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The same crowd that have carried a grudge against Jane Fonda for fifty years think we should “get past” Jan 6. --Submitted by Lawrence Liberals

How many University of Los Angeles basketball players does it take to change a tire? One, unless it's a blowout, in which case they all show up. (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) / The Hudson University basketball team missed so many dunks they call them the Alley Whoops. (Law and Order)

..........Happy and free. Living and loving for me..........Lou Rawls …..Natural Man

Trivia Questions: It was 136 years ago that the world first met Sherlock Holmes.

• ^ What was the first story to be published?
• ^^ Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed fictional human. How many actors have been Holmes?
• ^^^ Where did Sherlock live?
• ^^^^ Who was Holmes' landlady?
• ^^^^^ How many Holmes stories are out there?

Big Hello: Gyebake ko – Luganda (Uganda) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Secular Confectionist: doesn't believe in a deity but faithfully observes all holidays that involve baked goods or candy. --Submitted by akb of kc

Image of the Week: The is Max and Ollie Brault with that grandma

Explanation of Image of the Week: I introduced myself to the boys as “grandma christine”. Later in the visit when Ollie was asked a question to which grandma christine was the answer, he said “that grandma” and pointed with a long outstretched arm and finger. I wished to be known as “that grandma” from now on. Thanks

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 99.9% of books about time management are returned late. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

What happened to the 2013 Perkins School for the Blind basketball team ? They became referees. (Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall) / The difference between time and the Penn Brook University basketball team is that time passes. (Higher Learning)

..........I say love, it is a flower..........Bette Midler …..The Rose

Moonbeam: I believe in the institution of marriage, and I intend to keep trying till I get it right. --Richard Pryor

Question(s) of the Week: Do birds choose which cars to poop on? If they do, how do they decide? – https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/funny-philosophical-questions/

Puzzle of the Week: From Joseph Young, who conducts the blog Puzzleria!. Name a musical instrument + part of that instrument. Drop the last letter of the instrument. Then rearrange all the remaining letters to name another musical instrument. What is it? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 11/25/23

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: After 45 years of research and study, the best advice I can give to people is to be a little kinder to each other. --Aldous Huxley

When the Faber University basketball team won the national championship, the fans turned off the Xbox and went to bed. (Animal House) / The Hillman College basketball team is in transition this year, going from bad to worse. (Different World)

..........It's been a long, a long time coming..........Lou Rawls …..A Change Is Gonna Come

^ The first Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, was published in the 1887 Beeton's Christmas Annual. Doyle was just 27 at the time and claimed it took him only three weeks to write the entire thing.

Almanac: It is Friday, December 1, 2023. The moon will go into the last quarter on Tuesday (12/5) and is in Cancer. The United Nations has declared this World AIDS Day. It is Antarctica Day, Basketball Day, Civil Air Patrol Day, Clark Kent's Birthday (Superman), Day Without Art, Mawlid Al Nabi, Rosa Parks Day, and Faux Fur Friday. Because it is the first Friday in December it is also National Salesperson Day.

Among those born on this day were Juan de Padilla (1605), Quellien (1634), Francesco Stradivari (1671), John Keill (1671), Bernhard Weber (1712), Oliver Wolcott (1726), Martin Klaproth (1743), Pyotr Turchainov (1779), Princess Alexandra (1844), Rex Stout (1886), Ernst Toller (1893), Robert Welch (1899), Charles Finney (1905), Ike Isaacs (1919), Leon Biriotti (1929), Woody Allen (Allen Stuart Konigsberg, 1935), Lou Rawls (1935 or 36), Richard Pryor (1940), and Bette Midler (1945).

On December first the Lombard League was formed (1167), first manual training school opened in north America (Maryland, 1750), Santo Domingo proclaimed independence from Spain (1821), Hans Christian Andersen published his first book of fairy tales (1835), the first telephone was installed in the white house (1878)**, Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print (1887), Naismith created basketball (1891), Boys Town was founded (1917), Milne's "Mr Pim Passes By" premiered (Manchester, 1919), Lady Nancy Astor was sworn-in as the first female member of the British Parliament (1919), the US saw its first skywriting (1922), BINGO was invented (1929), gasoline was rationed (1942), Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus (1955), Flower Drum Song opened (1958), the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen changed its name (from Independent People's Republic of South Yemen, 1970), Angola was admitted to the UN (1976), Thriller was released (1982), the Musee d'orsay opened (Paris, 1986), the Ukrainian people voted for independence (1991), and Westinghouse formally changed its name to CBS (1997).

**One (1) was the first telephone number for the White House. The phone was in the telegraph room. In fact, the Treasury Department possessed the only other direct phone line to the White House at that time. (Hoover was the first to have a real phone in the oval office. -1929)

Night Sky, 12/1: Two faint fuzzies naked-eye: The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Perseus Double Cluster are two of the most famous deep-sky objects. They're both cataloged as 4th magnitude, and in a fairly good sky you can see each with the unaided eye. Binoculars make them easier. They're located only 22° apart, very high toward the east early these evenings — to the right of Cassiopeia and closer below Cassiopeia, respectively. But they look rather different, the more so the darker your sky. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Max and Ollie and their grandpa John

This Week: Saturday, December 2 – Bike Shop Saturday & National Mutt Day & Play Outside Day

Sunday, December 3 – Be A Blessing Day & International Baboon Day & International Day of Person With Disabilities

Night Sky, 12/3: Polaris is, as always, due north. This is the time of year when the Little Dipper extends lower left from it in the early evening. The only moderately bright stars of the Little Dipper are Polaris and Kochab, the star marking the lip of its bowl. Both are 2nd magnitude. They're 17° apart. How much of the rest of the faint Little Dipper can you make out between them, if any, given the quality of your sky? By about 11 pm. Kochab has swung to be straight under Polaris.

Monday, December 4 – National Cheetah Day & National Cookie Day & National Sock Day

Tuesday, December 5 – AFL-CIO Day &World Soil Day & Krampusnacht

Wednesday, December 6 – International Day to End Femicide & Mitten Tree Day

Night Sky, 12/6: Mercury, magnitude –0.4, glimmers very low in the southwest in early twilight. Look for it about 30 or 40 minutes after sunset. Binoculars help. Nothing else in that area is nearly as bright.

Thursday, December 7 – Chanukah & National Cotton Candy Day & Brune's New Heart Day

I used to be addicted to college basketball, but I've rebounded. / A snake from the biology lab at Phogbound University swallowed a basketball. It was a bounding baby boa. (Li'l Abner)

..........Did you ever know that you're my hero..........Bette Midler …..The Wind Beneath My Wings

^^ 70 actors have played Sherlock Holmes.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Creationism: The belief that Kirk Cameron knows more than Stephen Hawking. --Submitted by IIWSPIBH

Moonbeam: I have never regarded myself as this or that. --Rex Stout

Video of the Week: The Ike Isaac's Trio: Walk On By (3:02) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygEc7xvKaBw

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: I'm the guy who makes a black hat with a buckle look sexy. I'm your Billgrim, Bill Kurtis. ... You wouldn't believe the crazy stuff that's in Leviticus. Did you know it's a sin to have a voice this sultry? --Bill Kurtis Heh, heh, heh, I'm your bievil twin. --Bill Kurtis This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds. It's Mission Impossibill. --Bill Kurtis --Wait Wait Don't Tell Me ...various episodes.

You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. --Rosa Parks

The star player on the Imperial Academy basketball team is Kobe Wan Kenobi. (Star Wars) / I don't usually roll a joint, but when I do it's my ankle.

..........What in the world do you think I see..........Lou Rawls …..Season Of The Witch

^^^ Holmes lived at 221B Baker Street in London.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If money is the root of all evil, how come they ask for it in church? --Submitted by ff of ks

Weird Word of the Week: Petrichor – the earthy smell produced when rain hits the ground. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor ~~The original Greek seems to mean stone soup.

Dragon of the Week: Southlake Carroll High School Basketball Dragon

FYI of the Week: If I had pictures of Max and Ollie in dragon costumes, they would have been here instead of this lightning breathing lizard with a mane.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Help outdoor potted plants survive the winter. Place the pot inside a Glad Trash Bag, fill the bag with Bubble Wrap to insulate the plant roots and the pot (to prevent cracking). Seal the bag tightly around the truck of the plant, and set the pot on top of a wood block so it is raised off the ground. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/bubblewrap2.html

What do the stock market and the StarFleet Academy basketball team season ticket holders have in common? They both get negative returns. (Star Trek) / The Monster University basketball team made cheese on the side to pay for expenses. It was called Swish Cheese. (Monster U)

...........Raising Cain until we got exiled..........Bette Midler …..The Witches Are Back

^^^^ Mrs Hudson rented rooms to Sherlock Holmes.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: While trying to figure out if insurance would cover her medical bills, Flo's mind wandered to simpler topics like quantum physics. --Submitted by ff of ks

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: MCM Comic Con (1-3, Birmingham, AL) Here's everything you need for a family day out. https://www.mcmcomiccon.com/birmingham/en-us/home.html

Actual Science Conference of the Week: ~~Apparently STEM people party so hardy at Thanksgiving that they need a couple of weeks to recoup. There are no math or science events that I could find.

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Cello + Bow → cowbell

The South Harmon Institute of Technology basketball team is considering changing their name to the Possums because they play dead at home and die on the road. (Accepted) / The Tech University basketball team only eats that they can dunk. (He's Got Game)

..........Beneath a hazy purple sky..........Lou Rawls …..I Wish It Were Yesterday

^^^^^ The original Sherlock Holmes stories officially consist of 4 novels and 56 short stories.

Should Have Been in Last Week's gRateful ePistle of the Week: While it's not commonly mentioned, the Pilgrims and the Natives were thankful to Keith Richards for providing the entertainment. --Submitted by cj of ks

Quote of the Week: Fox news did to our parents what our parents were afraid video games would do to us. --Stephen King

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Getting older might slow me down but it certainly hasn't shut me up. --Submitted by ss of kc

Today's Peace of History, December 1, 1966: Comedian Dick Gregory was convicted in Olympia, WA for his participation in a Nisqually Native American fishing rights protest.

The Adams University basketball team is like a treasury bond except that bonds eventually mature. (Revenge of the Nerds) / A pumpkin is playing point gourd for the Academe of Pure and Applied Sciences basketball team. (Signal to Noise)

..........Hug and kiss all through the night..........Bette Midler …..Do You Want To Dance

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, December 1, 2023, ePistle hOops. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: The fixed stars appear to be of different bignesses, not because they really are so, but because they are not all equally distant from us; those that are nearest will excel in Luster and Bigness; the more remote stars will give a fainter Light, and appear smaller to the eye. --John Keill

• Cost of War:
• As of 11/30/23 State Department War Costs since 2001: $222,823,280,690.
• As of 11/24/23 State Department War Costs since 2001: $222,324,929,987.
• As of 11/30/23 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,151,472,031,378.
• As of 11/24/23 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,180,080,058,153.
• As of 11/30/23 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,153,739,165,521.
• As of 11/24/23 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,153,197,831,389.
• As of 11/30/23 Veterans Care since 2001: $3,381,122,848,903.
• As of 11/24/23 Veterans Care since 2001:$3,370,570,897,351.
• As of 11/30/23 Military Costs since 2001: $3,056,728,977,283.
• As of 11/24/23 Military Costs since 2001: $3,055,672,054,470.
• As of 11/30/23 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,995,888,476,487.
• As of 11/24/23 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,981,847,505,421.

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

I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom. --Rosa Parks

Famous Last Words: We need the eggs. --Woody Allen Annie Hall

..........You know, it's not easy to keep love flowing smooth..........Lou Rawls …..Lady Love

During the last national championship game the refs had to carry mops and buckets because there was so much dribbling. / The Trump University basketball team (Go, Golden Chickens!) never won anything because they committed to many fowls. (fake university, real life)

May Peace make your points
And Joy run your court
prairie mama
christine

Last

Laugh: