Famous First Words: Thank you very much... Fannie Lou Hamer: an interview from 1964
Today is National Beach Day. Seas the day, ePistliers, we can celebrate even in Kansas (about as far from a beach as you can get in the continental US). It's shore to be a funny ePistle. Example: Mermaids use shell phones to take shelfies.
..........From the park you hear the happy sound of the carousel.........The Drifters …..Under The Boardwalk
Peace is showing love to one another. Peace is having gratitude. Peace is love and gentleness. --Zaiah age 10
It is a cool (71°F) Friday morning. A light rain is falling from thin gray clouds with ragged edges that reveal a layer of white clouds above them. A light breeze accompanies the light rain. It moves leaves and willow branches around but not much more. Relief from the August heat makes people and birds and probably small wild life very happy. We smile at each other and enjoy the moment. I have just returned from taking Jeff on his errands and dropping him off to shop for Halloween shirts at Walmart. I am munching an egg and sausage sandwich washed down with decaf. But the neighborhood birds seem to be home out of the rain. There is no flitting through trees or singing to the sun. Puck is coughing in protest because he refuses to go out into the rain – sparse as it is – and settles for a turn in the recliner as compensation. The mulberry has begun to turn yellow here and there but the willow is still a deep green. A patch of blue sky has appeared above the willow, morning is moving along. I fire up a cone of pine incense to mask the night smells of the room, the dog smells, our life smells. Now I can get down to the business of writing to you.
Hope your weekend is a beach, ePistlers
First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I had a wildly stodgy Latin professor at Dartmouth who'd wave away grammar stuff like this, “Pedantry. Bullsh t. This is English, the shower drain of languages. Entrepreneur and schadenfreude are words. 'Set' has 35 definitions. Intelligibility is the only rule. Do as you please.”
Sand-tastic adventures await. / Summer Beach Reading: Minnow for Minnow by Willaim Sharkspeare / Don't worry, beach happy. / I understand the beaches of Lake Erie are a favorite swimming hole for ghosts.
..........She was afraid that somebody would see.........Brian Hyland …..Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Big Apology of the Week: Last Week (wAxy ePistle) I attributed 3 peace quotes to Stephen Douglas. All of these quotes were actually by Frederick Douglass. I have no excuse. (To be clear: I couldn't remember the 3rd word in my acuity test until much later in the session.) I am sorry. Thank you. lh of ks, for pointing it out to me.
Trivia Questions: Happy 81st Birthday to Robert (R.) Crumb!
- ^ Do you know where he was born?
- ^^ For what technique is he best known?
- ^^^ Who is his most famous character?
- ^^^^ Did he really trade some sketchbooks for a house?
- ^^^^^ We all remember the album cover for Cheap Thrills. How many album covers did he design altogether?
Big Hello: Hatyu – Obispeño (California) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Mercury is finally out of retrograde!!! So now everything is your fault again.
Image of the Week: This is my brother, Fletch, who passed away Tuesday morning.
Library Joke of the Week: Unfortunately it is not possible to leave your body to library science.
Try the beach: you can pier into the deep mysteries. / I want to say that sandals are my favorite footwear. But I often flip-flop on the issue.
..........Watching the tide roll away.........Otis Redding …..Dock Of The Bay
Moonbeam: Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. --Mary Shelley
Blasphemy of the Week: It's possible to get an A in Bible and still flunk Christianity. --Rev Fred Craddock
Blasphemous Joke of the Week: The Bible and the Quran both tell us to love one another...The Kama Sutra is a little more specific. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian
Puzzle of the Week: From listener Peter Collins, of Ann Arbor, MI. Think of a famous movie star -- first and last names, nine letters in all. The third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth letters, in order, name a profession. The star's last name is something that this profession uses. Who is the movie star and what is the profession?
Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I saw a snake in the garden that was 3.14 meters long. I think it was a πthon. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian
She had sandy toes and a sole full of soul. / How is surfing like sex? When it's good, it's really, really good. And when it's bad...it's still pretty good.
..........They are either out surfin' or they got a party growin'.........Jan & Dean …..Surf City
^ Robert was born on August 30, 1943 in Philadelphia, PA, to Charles Crumb and Beatrice Hall Crumb.
Almanac: It is Friday, August 30, 2024. The moon will be new on Tuesday (9/3) and is in Cancer. The United Nations has declared this International Day of The Victims of Enforced Disappearances. It is Whale Shark Day, National Beach Day, National Grief Awareness Day, National Holistic Pet Day, and National Toasted Marshmallow Day. Because it is the Friday before Labor Day it is also National College Colors Day.
Among those born on this day were Jacques-Louis David (1748), Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797), Ellen Arthur (1837), Ernest Rutherford (1871), Huey P. Long (1893), Raymond Massey (1896), Roy Wilkins (1901), Joan Blondell (1909), Ted Williams (1918), Kitty Wells (1919), Johnny Mann (1928), John Swigert (1931) and R. Crumb (1943).
On August thirtieth the Liberty Party convention became the first to have black participation (1843), Honolulu was incorporated (1850), 13,000 meteors were seen during one hour (1885), Ty Cobb had his first major league at bat (1905), the first negro judge was confirmed for the US District Court (1961), The Democratic National Convention refused to seat any delegates from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Fannie Lou Hamer led that delegation which was eventually seated but given no vote. (1964), Tom Brokaw became the anchor of the Today Show (1976), and President Carter was attacked by a rabbit (1979).
Night Sky, 8/30: The Aurigid Meteor Shower peaks tonight and tomorrow. It sports around 6 meteors per hour. https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20240831_10_100#google_vignette
Fraternal Picture of the Week: The boys on the bus ~~I don't know where this bus is going...
Kid Quote of the Week: You know it was a good day if you didn't hit or bite anyone. --Nathanial Parizek, age 4 --Submitted by dr of oh
This Week: Saturday, August 31 – Burnt Ends Day & Trail Mix Day & International Bat Night
Sunday, September 1 – Bowling League Day & Meteorological Autumn & World Letter Writing Day
Night Sky, 9/1: A sign of the advancing season: Cassiopeia is now high in the northeast after dark, its W pattern tilting up. And below it, starry Perseus is reaching up. The highest part of Perseus includes the wintry Double Cluster. To find it, look back to Cassiopeia. Counting down from the top, note the third segment of the W. Continue that segment downward by twice its length, and there you are. You're looking for what seems like a small spot of enhanced Milky Way glow. Binoculars or a finderscope will help you detect the Double Cluster even through a fair amount of light pollution. The pair are a glory in a telescope. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Monday, September 2 – Labor Day ---Here's Utah Phillips singing Dump The Bosses
Tuesday, September 3 – National Cinema Day & Pressed Pennies Day & Skyscraper Day
Wednesday, September 4 – National Wildlife Day & Newspaper Carrier Day
Night Sky, 9/4: Saturn: (magnitude +0.6, south of the Circlet of Pisces) glows low in the east as the stars come out. It's on the lower right of the Great Square of Pegasus, which is balancing on one corner. The Square's upper-right edge points diagonally down toward Saturn, two fists at arm's length away. Saturn shines high toward the south by midnight, through less of our blurry atmosphere then for better telescopic resolution. Saturn is nearing its opposition on the night of September 7th.
Thursday, September 5 – Be Late For Something Day & Jury Rights Day & International Day of Charity
Tides, time, and ice cream trucks wait for no one. / What do you call a professional beach volleyballer without a main squeeze? Homeless
..........Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama.........The Beach Boys …..Kokomo
^^ One of the distinctive features of Robert Crumb’s artwork is his remarkable crosshatching technique, which adds depth and texture to his drawings. Examples
Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Be the FUN in DYSFUNCTIONAL!
Moonbeam: It is hardly surprising that women concentrate on the way they look instead of what is in their minds since not much has been put in their minds to begin with. --Mary Shelley
My Brother's Story of the Week: During the flood of '51, my mother wanted us kids (I was 7, my brother was 10) to remember it. So she allowed FH and his friend Freddy to go to the bottom of the driveway and wade around in the water. During this memorable event he got bitten by a rat (there were many, many that had preceded the flood waters). ~~Meanwhile, my mother and I sat on our roof eating popcorn and watching the water rise.~~ Because of the bite our grandparents came and took us to their house so we could get shots. We lived in a rural area, on a hill, and we had to walk around through yards and fields to get to where they had to park the car to avoid driving in water. They lived on Cambridge, a hill overlooking Southwest Blvd at State Line. The boulevard was also under water and the water managed to overturn a huge Battenfeld oil tank. Then the water was covered with oil and caught fire, of course. The city was afraid the fire would reach the Thompson Chemical plant and cause an explosion. In the middle of the night the police came and told us to get out and we went to my cousin's house (neighborhood of 31st and Broadway). We both remembered lots of this activity. So, it worked; mostly due to my brother's rat bite.
Fun Fact of the Week: The Beatles used the word LOVE 613 times in their songs. https://www.facebook.com/embodypeaceandlove
Video of the Week: How to roast the ultimate marshmallow (1:28) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5QvvnETZ7c Happy National Toasted Marshmallow Day!
Peace to me means no child anywhere would know violence. --Remy age 14
Sand castles require a grainy perspective on architecture. / Metal detecting at the beach? $1,000 worth of equipment. $1.66 return per day.
..........Laid back in a thrift store beach chair.........Jake Owen …..Beachin'
^^^ Fritz the Cat, created by Robert Crumb, became an iconic character in underground comics and was featured in a popular animated film in 1972.
Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I can do paper or plastic because I'm bisackual. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian
Weird Word of the Week: Ullage – the unfilled space in a barrel or wine bottle. https://www.worldwidewords.org/ww-ull1.html
Dragon of the Week: Sand Dragon from Helium-Sedai
Old Indian Wisdom of the Week: Silence is always better than bullshit. Choctaw Nation
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Shine shoes. To shine shoes in a pinch, rub ChapStick over the leather and buff with a dry, clean cloth. The wax gives the shoes a lustrous shine. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/chapstick.html
Palm reading takes on a new meaning with sandy hands. / Aren't mermaids supposed to keep the oceans clean? How come we have all this plastic floating around?
...........From the land where the palm trees sway.........The Andrew Sisters …..Mele Kalikimaka
^^^^ His status as the bull-goose legend of underground cartooning meant that in the early '90s he was able to trade six of his sketchbooks for a house in the South of France.
Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: A worm is a pretty disappointing prize for getting up early if you ask me. --Submitted by INRITH
Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Dragon Con 2024 (8/29-9/2, Atlanta, GA) Dragon Con is where you want to be for Labor Day Weekend. ~~Perhaps it's hosted by the IWW (Intergalactic Workers of the Whole). https://www.dragoncon.org/
Lost Count Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Humanity's lucky that we invented public sewer systems before we invented “free market” think tanks. --Jon Schwarz
Actual Science Conference of the Week: 15th Annual Billington Cybersecurity Summit (9/3-6, Washington, DC) 200+ top speakers in government cybersecurity https://billingtoncybersecurity.com/15th-annual-billington-cybersecurity-summit/
Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Emma Stone – mason
Don't get tide down by waves of emotion. / I have the world's largest collection of seashells. I keep it on all the beaches of the world...perhaps you've seen it. --Steven Wright.
..........While it's still free.........Sheryl Crow …..Soak Up The Sun
^^^^^ R Crumb has designed 88 album covers so far. Here's a list
Conspiracy Theory of the Week: Fresh off of completing his failed impeachment investigation, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) appeared on Fox News to wonder if Tim Walz was maybe a Chinese agent. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/20/rights-serious-minds-have-tim-walz-chinese-sleeper-agent-theory/
Quote of the Week: The mark of immature people is that they want to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of mature people is that they want to live humbly for one. --based on a statement by J. D Salinger
Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Fishing is the most relaxing way to get frustrated. --Submitted by INRITH
Today's Peace of History: August 30, 1980: Striking Polish workers, their numbers approaching 150,000, won a sweeping victory in a battle with the Polish Communist government for the right to independent trade unions and the right to strike. Their lead negotiator was Lech Walesa, head of the union, Solidarnosc´ (Solidarity).
Great Aunt of Today's Peace of History: August 30, 1967: The Senate confirmed the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first Supreme Court Justice of African-American descent. Marshall had been counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and had been the lead attorney in the Brown v. Board of Education case. He was appointed to the Court by President Lyndon Johnson after having served as Solicitor General of the U.S. for two years, and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for four.
Sorry, I can't kelp how corny these jokes are. / The park warden accused me of fishing off the pier. I had to explain that I was teaching the worms to swim.
..........And the feel of the ocean and the taste of champagne.........Rupert Holmes …..Escape
Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, August 30, 2024, wAtery ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.
Moonbeam: I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves. --Mary Shelley
Cost of War:
- As of 08/29/24 State Department Costs: $244,502,021,362
- As of 08/22/24 State Department Costs: $243,950,177,310
- As of 08/29/24 Homeland Security: $1,177,286,712,137
- As of 08/22/24 Homeland Security: $1,176,687,331,928
- As of 08/29/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,242,023,066,924
- As of 08/22/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,240,481,821,085
- As of 08/29/24 Military Costs: $3,102,702,747,197.
- As of 08/22/24 Military Costs: $3,101,532,553,820
- As of 08/29/24 Veterans Care: $3,840,114,109,286
- As of 08/22/24 Veterans Care: $3,828,431,521,917
- As of 08/29/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,606,629,826,783
- As of 08/22/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,591,084,960,248
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
People getting along and the world being a happy place for everyone. --Miranda, age 9
Famous Last Words: Good night and good news. --Ted Baxter Mary Tyler Moore Show
..........Sunset at the shoreline, we are laughing.........Avett Brothers …..At The Beach
Hey, water you doing later? Admit it, you've had a whale of a time. / Do sharks think of water skiers as fast food?
May
Peace cap your waves
And
Joy smooth your sands
prairie
mama
christine
Last Laugh:
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