Famous First Words: You told'st me thou didst hold him in thy hate. Not another political ad; it's the opening line of Othello spoken by Roderigo to Iago
Happy Plan Your Epitaph Day! Adams to Atoms -Joseph J Adams + I'd rather be reading this. --Esther Freer + Excuse My Dust --Dorothy Parker
..........'cause he rides the rodeo.........Judy Collins ….Someday Soon
It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting. --Tom Stoppard
It is crisp (44°F) Friday morning. The sky is blue without cloud or jet trail. There is no breeze to cause the limbs to dance or tear the leaves from their branches. The backyard squirrels are busy talking, or perhaps it's singing, with their little squeaks. Red and yellow tomatoes (in November) still cling to the vine waiting to be chosen for a salad or salsa. As the sun rises it reveals the many colors, the greens of garden plants and the reddish brown of the tree across the street, the yellows of the leaves on the ground. Even the red car in the driveway down the street blends into the fall motif. Puck, who went out briefly, is sleeping at my feet with a gentle snort of intaken breaths. Mary comes and goes into and out of our room silently. I am sipping creamy, sweetened half-caf and watching as a light eastern breeze arises and shakes the yellowed stem of what was once a sunflower. Kansas in autumn and I get to write to you. Great day,
Have a lively weekend, ePistliers
First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Why is such a large part of early child education learning what sounds animals make. That's never going to come up. It's not even important if they ever meet those animals. I've never said “moo” to a cow and have it go “thank you for learning about my culture”. --Kyle --Submitted by FNOG
Here lies the shell, but the nut is gone –- Williams + The doctor will see you soon –Helen Tyler + There goes the neighborhood --Rodney Dangerfield
..........Who was once a bull-hooking son of a gun.........Moe Bandy ….Bandy the Rodeo Clown
Trivia Questions: Happy Prime Meridian Day!
- ^ What is the Prime Meridian anyway?
- ^^ How long is the Prime Meridian?
- ^^^ Which 3 continents does the Prime Meridian cross?
- ^^^^ How old is the Prime Meridian construct?
- ^^^^^ What's the difference between the Prime Meridian and the International Reference Meridian*
Big Hello: Alii – Palauan (Palau, Guam, & North Mariana Islands) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Has anyone else found it weird that when “Star Trek” boldly goes where no one has gone before, they always find someone there? --Submitted by bc of tx
Image of the Week: Jeff got a jump on the season. He has Christmas Lights on his third floor balcony to keep his pumpkin company.
Library Humor of the Week: I won't pay the fine; I hated that book. https://www.facebook.com/librarylaughs
Pardon me for not rising. --Johnny Yeast + At last a hole in one. --Joel Cheskin + The best is yet to come --Frank Sinatra
..........I'd like to say that I took the reins and rode away.........Reba McEntire & Cody Johnson …..Dear Rodeo
Moonbeam: Sometimes, the most profound of awakenings come wrapped in the quietest of moments. --Stephen Crane
Blasphemy of the Week: There is no biblical evidence that Jesus even knew how to parallel park. Letting him take the wheel seems a bit irresponsible. --Submitted by FNOG
Both Sides Now of the Week: Kamala Harris can run over thousands of Palestinians in a tank on 5th Avenue in broad daylight and blue maga would still vote for her. --Submitted by MMS
Puzzle of the Week: From listener David Dickerson, of Tucson, Arizona. The city UTICA, NEW YORK, when spelled out, contains 12 letters, all of them different. Think of a well-known U.S. city, that when its name is spelled out, contains 13 letters, all of them different. Your answer doesn't have to match mine. NPR Sunday Puzzle 10/28/24
Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Letting men decide about women's health care is like letting your dog make decisions about your car because he likes to ride in it sometimes. --Submitted by 98%
Shit Happens –Edith Barlow + If you can read this, you are standing on my boobs –Bolamo + In --Jack Lemmon
..........Live fast, die young.........Johnny Cash …..Bull Rider
^ The Prime Meridian is an imaginary line that runs through Greenwich, a borough of London. It passes through the North and South poles and is also known as the 0° meridian. The Prime Meridian splits the globe into eastern and western hemispheres.
Almanac: It is Friday, November 1, 2024. The moon is new today (8:47 am) and is in Scorpio. Today is All Saints' Day, Author's Day, Cinnamon Day, Dia de Los Muertos (Day of The Dead), Extra Mile Day, Forgiveness & Happiness Day, Give Up Your Shoulds Day, International Pet Groomer Appreciation Day, National Authors' Day, National Biologic Coordinators Day, National Brush Day, National Calzone Day, National Family Caregiver Day, National Family Literacy Day, National Go Cook For Your Pets Day, National Sports Fan Day, Plan Your Epitaph Day, Prime Meridian Day, and World Vegan Day.
It is also the Celtic holiday Samhain. Because it is the First Friday it is Fountain Pen Day, Love Your Lawyer Day, National (Football) Day, and National Medical Science Liaison Awareness & Appreciation Day. And because it is the first weekend it is National Farm Toys Day and Pumpkin Chunkin Days.
Among those born on this day were Benvenuto Cellini (1500), Benjamin Lee Guinness (1798), Stephen Crane (1871), Sholem Asch (1880), James J. Kilpatrick (1920), Gary Player (1935), Larry Flynt (1942), Marcia Wallace (1942), and Lyle Lovett (1960).
On November first Vesuvius buried Pompei (79), Othello was first staged (1611), the mission at San Juan Capistrano was founded (1776), John Adams was the first president to move into the White House (1800), the first US women's medical school opened (1848), the US Weather Bureau began operations (1870), the Rodeo Cowboys Association was founded (1936), Charles Cooper became the first black NBA player (Celtics, 1950), the first concert was presented at the Fillmore in San Francisco (1965), the Eisenhower dollar went into circulation (1971), and the European Union came into existence (1993).
Night Sky, 11/1: November fireballs? Every year from about late October through mid-November, a truly dazzling Taurid meteor just might take you by surprise in the night. If you get very lucky. Normally the broad, weak, South and North Taurid meteor showers sputter along sparsely. Under ideal conditions you might see 5 or 10 ordinary little meteors per hour during the poorly defined, weeks-long maximum when the two branches of the shower overlap. Both include debris shed by Comet 2P/Encke, but a recent analysis shows that a host of other objects — near-Earth asteroids, collisional fragments, and dormant cometary nuclei — might be creating several overlapping streams of particles. Consequently, both Taurid components have long-lasting "maxima" that aren’t easy to pin down. What makes the Taurids potentially exciting is that their small numbers are known for a high proportion of bright fireballs — occasionally, an extremely bright one that makes the news. The Taurids strike the atmosphere at a relatively slow 19 miles (30 km) per second. If you see an especially bright, slow meteor these nights, check whether its line of flight, if traced backward far enough across the sky, would intersect more or less the Pleiades side of Taurus. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Fraternal Picture of the Week: Gettin' spooky
This Week: Saturday, November 2 – Bison Day & National Play Outside Day & World Chili Day
Night Sky, 11/2: Daylight-saving time, observed in most of North America, ends at 2 am Sunday morning. Clocks "fall back" one hour. Daylight time for North America runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November; the rules last changed in 2007. Daylight time is not used in Hawaii, Saskatchewan, Puerto Rico, or in most of Arizona.
Sunday, November 3 – Cliché Day & Public Television Day & Sandwich Day & Zero Tasking Day
Monday, November 4 – National Candy Day & Use Your Common Sense Day
Tuesday, November 5 – Election Day & Firewood Day & World Tsunami Awareness Day
Wednesday, November 6 – International Stress Awareness Day & Marijuana Recreational Legalization Day
Night Sky, 11/6: Saturn, magnitude +0.8 in Aquarius, is well up in the southeast as the stars come out. Don't confuse it with Fomalhaut two fists to its lower right. Saturn is highest in the south by 9 pm daylight-saving time.
Thursday, November 7 – National Men Make Dinner Day & Notary Public Day & Stout Day
Finally found a place to park in Georgetown --Katherine Brown + Destined to be a woman with too many cats –Susan Blanchard + Don't try --Charles Bukowski
..........Wild horse rider with nothin' to lose...........Luke Kaufman …..Broncin'
^^ The Prime Meridian is 20,000 km (12,447 miles) long.
Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: In your guts, you know he's nuts.
Moonbeam: Baseball ought never be hurried. It is the only unhurried institution we have left, which is one reason, I think, we love it. --James J Kilpatrick
Fun Facts of the Week: Happy Fountain Pen Day! Every fountain pen is unique! After using your ink pen for a long time, the nib slowly personalizes itself to your handwriting, making the pen special for you. The tip wears out to exactly your style, making it sometimes challenging to lend your pen out to other pen pals! This might come as a surprise, but left-handed people more often use fountain pens than right-handed people around the world!
Video of the Week: Lyle Lovett: If I Had a Boat: https://americana-uk.com/video-lyle-lovett-if-i-had-a-boat
If American women would increase their voting turnout by 10% I think we would see an end to all of the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children. --Coretta Scott King
I see dumb people --Micah Green + Oh well whatever –Lola Holt + I'm a writer, but then, nobody's perfect --Billy Wilder
..........And each night begins a new day..........Willie Nelson …..Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
^^^ The Prime Meridian runs through Europe, Africa, and Antarctica.
Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Whenever you take yourself too seriously, remember that you share 70% of your DNA with a banana. --Submitted by sb of ar
Samhain 2024: From The Busy Pagan – Everything you need to know about Samhain: https://thebusypagan.com/pagan-holidays/samhain/ Sacred Samhain! Blessed Be
Weird Word of the Week: Shufti or shufty – to look. From the Arabic, “have you seen?” http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa-shu1.html
Dragon of the Week: Coffee table
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Groom a mustache or eyebrows. A little ChapStick will keep the ends of a mustache waxed together and keep bushy eyebrow hairs in place. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/chapstick.html
He never killed a man that did not need killing –Robert Allison + I'd rather be in Acapulco --Edward Gann + I will not be right back after this message. --Merv Griffin
...........It's another great day to be looking that good.........Kenny Feidler …..Barrel Racer Land
^^^^ The Prime Meridian was established in 1884 at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, DC. It was the internationally recognized prime meridian until it was replaced by the International Reference Meridian*(IRM) in 1984.
*I'd never heard of it either and though I have read the definition (below) everyday this week, I'm still not sure I understand it
Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Trump could shoot me on 5 Avenue and I would still find a way to vote for Harris. Submitted by bu of ks
Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Creation Chicago 2024 (1-3, Rosemont, IL) the ultimate Supernatural fan event /https://www.choosechicago.com/event/creation-chicago-salute-to-supernatural-2/2024-11-03/
Actual Science Conference of the Week: International Conference on Science, Engineering, and Technology (1-2, NYC) share ideas with peers in person. https://www.allconferencealert.com/event/1183171
Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Caspar, Wyoming
I knew this would happen –George W Jr + This ain't bad – once you get used to it --Murphy Dreher Jr + Damn it's dark down here –Fran Thatcher
..........And his wounds have almost healed.........Garth Brooks …..Rodeo
^^^^^ The prime meridian is a fixed line of longitude at 0°, while the IRM is a weighted average of the reference meridians of many ground stations. The IRM moves as the Earth's surface shifts.
Conspiracy Theory of the Week: In the past week, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed a voting machine had changed a voter’s ballot in her Georgia district during early voting, and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform X, has promoted various conspiracy theories about voting machines and voter fraud both online and at a rally for Trump in Pennsylvania. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/election-officials-confront-tsunami-of-voting-conspiracy-theories
Quote of the Week: When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called “the People's Stick.” --Mikhail Bakunin
Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I think I need to quit my job and focus on my laundry. --Submitted by INRITH
Today's Peace of History, November 1, 1848: The New England Female Medical College was founded, becoming the first institution in the US to train women in medicine and graduated the first black female physician, Dr Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1864)
Too bad … We had fun –Constance Bigsby + Stepped on the gas instead of the brake --Jonathan Blake + You've come home --Lucille Ball
..........what else can make a man hold on that tight..........Jenny Tolman …..Rodeo Must Be a Woman
Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, November 1, 2024, eTernal ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.
Moonbeam: Writing comes more easily if you have something to say. --Sholem Asch
Cost of War:
- As of 10/31/24 State Department Costs $249,502,256,656
- As of 10/24/24 State Department Costs: $248,970,969,494
- As of 10/31/24 Homeland Security: $1,182,718,054,199
- As of 10/24/24 Homeland Security: $1,182,140,910,690
- As of 10/31/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,255,989,416,760
- As of 10/24/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,254,505,483,247
- As of 10/31/24 Military Costs: $3,113,306,878,365
- As of 10/24/24 Military Costs: $3,112,180,158,539
- As of 10/31/24 Veterans Care: $3,945,983,427,0154
- As of 10/24/24 Veterans Care: $3,934,734,141,704
- As of 10/31/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,747,502,367,834
- As of 10/24/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,732,534,269,942
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters. --Abraham Lincoln
Famous Last Words: That's all folks --Mel Blanc's tombstone
..........just to bathe my wearisome soul.........The Byrds …..I Am a Pilgrim (from the album Sweetheart of the Rodeo) Happy 88th Birthday to the Rodeo Cowboys Association
If you're reading this, you desperately need a hobby –Alan Willcox + I'm just resting my eyes –Gloria Russell + And away we go --Jackie Gleason
May
Peace grace your days
And
Joy fill your nights
prairie
mama
christine
Last Laugh: Happy National Authors Day
