Old Growth ePistle

 Famous First Words: We're gonna make it... Theme song from Laverne and Shirley

It is World Rainforest Week (10-16) – It rains so much in that jungle that even the jaguars are spotless. / I'm so old that I remember when Amazon was a rainforest.

..........Music is a world within itself.........Stevie Wonder …..Sir Duke

The rainforests hold answers to questions we have yet to ask. --Mark Plotkin

It is a cool (51°) Friday morning. The sky is almost completely covered with clouds – some thin and high and smeared, other thick and beneath and gray. Now and again the breeze blows them apart and a shaft of sun beams down on the world with a sense of majesty. Birds are singing merrily and Bruno is arguing with the world or Puck whichever presents itself to him. The same breeze that blows around the clouds adds to the chill reminding one that it is autumn after all. Many trees are still full and green but the big cottonwoods on the corner are visibly shedding leaves that do not don bright colors before they fall. Yellow willow leaves are everywhere and the tree itself still looks full and is dancing beautifully in the wind. Damp ground, still muddy from recent rains is slippery and clinging; so we return indoors. I doctor the coffee that has waited for me since Jeff made it this morning. Coffee steam in my face smells good and opens the sinuses. And now I get to sit down and write to you. What a morning.

Hope your weekend is as richly textured as the forest itself, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: People blame rap music for violence. So what was Columbus listening to on his way to America. --Submitted by ab of kc

How many acres were destroyed in the Amazon fire? About a Brazilian. / Trees are worth more alive than dead. --Prince.

..........wash your face and hands.........Stevie Wonder …..Superstition

Trivia Questions: It's Mammography Day.

^ If you are at average risk for breast cancer, at what age should you have a baseline mammogram?

^^ What age group accounts for the most cancer detection results?

^^^ How many mammograms are done in the United States in a year?

^^^^ What percentage of people who get mammograms actually have cancer?

^^^^^ If the mammogram shows an area that needs closer examination what kind of test will be done next?

Big Hello: Khaíre! - Ancient Greek https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Scientists have found that one dog year does not equal 7 human years. In fact, the only thing that equals 7 human years is 2020. --Submitted by INRITH

Max Picture of the Week: Max and the not so secret life of bees

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: How are librarians like elephants? Librarians never forget and we're paid peanuts. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Tropical rainforests are the only place you can go nowadays and not get “friended”. --Rives / I think the Rainforest Cafe takes the whole theme too far. This one time I was sitting there eating my chicken tenders and they bulldozed 40% of the restaurant.

..........There's so many ways to love ya.........Usher …..OMG

Moonbeam: Each of us bears his own Hell. --Virgil

Meditation Seed of the Week: Would we still see ourselves as 'human' if other hominid species hadn't gone extinct?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Gay sex also prevents abortion. It's the Christian thing to do. --Sarah Wood --Submitted by Marginal Mennonite Society MMS

Week of the Week: National School Lunch Week (11-15) --The cafeteria at the magnet school for the gifted has Heisenburgers and sides decartes on the menu. / The chemistry class took over the cafeteria today; the food was okay but the seating was a challenge. They only had periodic tables.

I certainly thought the Amazon Rainforest would be a hotter tropic by now. / Has anyone noticed before the Amazon rainforest caught fire, Amazon, the company, made a product called the "Kindle"?

..........how the hell am I supposed to leave.........Usher …..Yeah

^ The benefits and limitations of mammography vary, based on factors like age and personal risk. Experts have different recommendations for mammography. Currently, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening every 2 years for women ages 50 to 74. The American Cancer Society recommends that yearly screening be an option for women at average risk, starting at age 40. The ACS also recommends yearly mammograms be done from age 45 to 54. At age 55, women should switch to mammograms every 2 years, or they may continue yearly screening. Women should talk with their doctors about their personal risk factors before making a decision about when to start getting mammograms or how often they should get them.

Almanac: It is Friday, October 15, 2021. The moon was in the first quarter last Wednesday and is in Aquarius. It is Blind Americans Equality Day, Global Handwashing Day, International Day of Rural Women, I Love Lucy Day, National Aesthetician Day, National Cake Decorating Day, National Cheese Curd Day, National Grouch Day, National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, National Shawarma Day, National White Cane Safety Day, and National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. It is also National Boss's Day aka Boss's Day which usually falls on October 16. But if that falls on a weekend, then it's the closest workday. Because it is the third Friday it is also Mammography Day.

Among those born on this day were Virgil (70 BCE), Robert Herrick (1674), Friedrich Nietzsche (1831), John L Sullivan (1858), P G Wodehouse (1881), John Kenneth Galbraith (1908), Arthur Schlesinger Jr (1917), Mario Puzo (1921), Lee Iacocca (1924), Abby Dalton (1932), Barry McGuire (1937), Linda Lavin (1937), Penny Marshall (1942), Tito Jackson (1953), and Sarah Ferguson (1959).

On October fifteenth Henry VIII ordered bowling lanes installed at Whitehall (1520), ether was first used publicly (1846), Cliff House opened in San Francisco (1863), the Edison Electric Light Company incorporated (1878), the American Angler became the first fishing magazine published in the US (1881), the Civil Court declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional (1893), the American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers (ASCAP) was founded (1914), the Clayton Antitrust Act was passed (1914), the German dirigible Graf Zeppelin landed in New Jersey (1928), Hemingway published To Have and Have Not (1937), LaGuardia airport opened (1939), I Love Lucy debuted (CBS, 1851), LBJ created the Department of Transportation (1966), Vietnam Moratorium Day (1969), National Guard enforces integration of Boston schools (1974), the Columbia carried Spacelab into orbit (1985), Clarence Thomas was confirmed as Supreme Court Justice (1991), and Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, & Usher performed at Bill Clinton's 65th birthday party (2011).

Night Sky, 10/15: Spot Venus low in the west in twilight. Just lower left of it, by 1½° (about a finger width at arm's length), look for orange Antares. It's less than 1% as bright. Venus stays about this close to Antares for the next two days, but watch their orientation change. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Image of the Week: Eruption of Fagradalsfjall in the Geldingadalir valley of Iceland.

This Week: Saturday, October 16 – American Frog Day & Sweetest Day & World Food Day

Sunday, October 17 – Black Poetry Day & Mulligan Day & Wear Something Gaudy Day

Night Sky, 10/17:This is the time of year when, soon after nightfall, W-shaped Cassiopeia stands on end halfway up the northeastern sky — and when, off to its left in the north, the dim Little Dipper extends directly leftward from Polaris.

Monday, October 18 – Lung Health Day & Newspaper Comic Strip Appreciation Day & World Menopause Day

Tuesday, October 19 – Evaluate Your Life Day & Pay Back A Friend Day

Night Sky, 10/19: Full Moon (Aquarius): The Orionids are a medium strength shower that sometimes reaches high strength activity. In a normal year the Orionids produce 10-20 shower members at maximum.

Wednesday, October 20 – Chicken and Waffles Day & International Kissing Day & International Pronouns Day

Thursday, October 21 – Celebration of the Mind Day & Reptile Awareness Day & Spirit Day

A rainforest sleepover is called pajamazon. / A particular species of frog, found in South American rainforests, has been observed to leap higher than a 1 story house. This is due to the extremely powerful hind legs of the frog, and the fact that houses cannot leap.

..........And wondering when we'll be free.........K'naan …..Flag Wavin'

^^ Breast cancer occurs more often in women ages 50 and older.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I am now ”take a picture of labels with my phone so I can blow it up bigger and read it” years old. --Submitted by RHOZ

Moonbeam: Death twitches my ear, “Live,” he says, “I am coming” --Virgil

Video of the Week: Lucy and Ethel at the Candy Factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbNcQlzV-4

Ollie's Very Own Picture of the Week: Double Ollies and the magic mirror

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: Move over Cayman Islands. Stand down, Switzerland. The hip new cool place to stash your ill gotten gains is the sovereign state of South Dakota. --Peter Sagal So is Lincoln's head just full of cash? --Adam Burke No, but he now has a pair of diamond earrings. --Peter Sagal Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 10/9/21

At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity. --Chico Mendes

There's a rainforest in South America where all the animals are conversant in current world events? It's called a topical rainforest. / Jungle pups get their flowers from the rain florist.

..........I can be cool if you want to be mad........Lady Gaga …..Government Hooker

^^^ From January through June of 2020, 452,083 screening mammograms were done and 112,207 diagnostic mammograms were done.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Ambiguity: What happens in Vagueness stays in Vagueness. --Submitted by Philosophy Matters

Collective Noun of the Week: A catalog of Librarians

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Cure bad breath. Dissolve two Alka-Seltzer tablets in a glass of warm water and use as a mouthwash. The baking soda in the Alka-Seltzer lowers the pH level in your mouth, killing odor-producing bacteria. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/alkaseltzer.html

Puzzle of the Week: This challenge came from listener Anthony Gray, of Bergen County, N.J. Write down the name of a country and its largest city, one after the other. Hidden in this string, in consecutive letters, is another country's capital (in six letters)? What is it? NPR Sunday Puzzle 10/10/21

When the Koch Brothers heard that scientists claimed that 85% of rainforests would be gone by 2025 they said, "Here, hold my beer". / We all can do better to help save the planet. With this in mind, I’ve just published a book on preserving the rainforest, and what we can do as a human race to help protect it. It's over 2000 pages long.

...........want your Bill Romance........Lady Gaga …..Bad Romance

^^^^ For every 1,000 women screened, 100 are recalled. Of the 100, 81 are either found negative and re-screened in a year or have another imaging study in six months. Nineteen undergo a minimally invasive needle biopsy, and five of them are diagnosed with breast cancer. So,..5 per 1000.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My friend, Jack, claims that he can communicate with vegetables. Jack and the beans talk. --Submitted by The English Teacher's Daughter TETD

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: ValleyCon 46 (14-17, Fargo, ND) ValleyCon strives to bring the best and most relevant guests featured in sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comics, gaming and film & TV! – http://valleycon.com/

Name That Poet of the Week: A people’s peace for which men can enthuse / A peace that brings reality to our dream.

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Stochastic Physics in Biology (10-15, Ventura, CA) Trends of current biomedical research https://10times.com/stochastic-physics-biology

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Pakistan + Karachi --> Ankara

The poorest plants in the rainforest are vines; they can't support themselves. / Plant a tree. Do it so the rainforest doesn't have to do all the work. As you shovel in the dirt around it, remember to say, “May the forest be with you”.

..........down in the trenches........Bono and the Edge …..Bulletproof Pride

^^^^^ Next step - Diagnostic mammogram. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a screening mammogram is an X-ray of the breast used to detect breast changes in women who have no signs of breast cancer. It usually involves two X-rays of each breast. Using a mammogram, it is possible to detect a tumor that cannot be felt. A diagnostic mammogram is an X-ray of the breast used to diagnose unusual breast changes, such as a lump, pain, nipple thickening or discharge, or a change in breast size or shape. A diagnostic mammogram is also used to evaluate abnormalities detected on a screening mammogram. It usually involves more X-rays of the breast from different angles.

My Own Writing of the Week: The most elusive problem of losing weight is perception. So we're all on the same page, I adhere to Lily Tomlin's philosophy, "Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs". But reality can be inconsistent at the best of times. My brain and my body know that I am way lighter than I used to be. I see that my arms are smaller as I type at my keyboard. My legs are thinner; my stomach has definition. I only have 2 chins. I feel thinner, healthier, and fit. But I'm still fat. 225 pounds is fat by anybody's standards. People just meeting me perceive me as fat. So, I end up with these little jolts as two totally accurate and totally opposite realities bump up against each other. I look in the mirror one day and am pleased with how much of me there isn't and the next day horrified by how much of me there is. And if Ms Tomlin was also right when she said "Reality is nothing but a collective hunch", where does that leave me? From The Downside of Losing Weight

Poet of the Week: Langston Hughes Give Us Our Peace

Vintage Players One Liner of the Week: If history repeats itself, I'm so getting a dinosaur.

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: In Athens, no one wakes up before noon. Dawn is tough on Greece.

Today's Peace of History, October 15, 1966: Huey Newton and Bobby Seale formed the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland, California.

The jaguar eats lunch in a different part of the rainforest each day. She doesn't have a favorite spot. / Rainforest frogs wear open toad shoes.

..........Little sister, don't you worry about a thing today.........Bono and the Edge …..A Man And A Woman ~~Dedicated to Chelsea and Marc

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle October 15, 2021, the Old-Growth ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 2511 Morningside Dr. Lawrence, KS 66047

Moonbeam: Fear is proof of a degenerate mind. --Virgil

Cost of War:

As of 10/14/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,925,761,501,722.

As of 10/7/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,924,595,411,491.

As of 10/14/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,086,658,359,933.

As of 10/7/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,086,061,088,794.

As of 10/14/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $161,066,466,129.

As of 10/7/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $160,516,592,285.

As of 10/14/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,008,978,834,294.

As of 10/7/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,007,443,113,633.

As of 10/14/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,073,580,052,642.

As of 10/7/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,061,938,359,048.

As of 10/14/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,256,048,185,071.

As of 10/7/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,240,556,796,011.

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

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people. --Franklin D. Roosevelt

Famous Last Words: 'Cause I love Lucy and Lucy loves me. The I Love Lucy theme song.

..........unafraid, I can go where life leads me.........Stevie Wonder …..For Once In My Life ~~Today's songs are from Bill Clinton's 65^th Birthday Gala on this day in 2011.

If you want to learn about rainforest spiders, check out their website. / Where do you find rainforests with no trees? On a map

May Peace cool your reality

And Joy purify your spirit

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Spare ePistle

 Famous First Words: Imagine there's no heaven... John Lennon Imagine

October is Learn To Bowl Month. Bowling is the ideal sport. It's basically an hour of drinking beer occasionally interrupted by 6 seconds of exercise. / When bowling champion, John, was accused of stealing, he claimed he was framed.

..........Conservatives can cry........The Ramones …..Howling At The Moon

"If you don't know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he's just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes, and fears. It's one world, pal. We're all neighbors." -- Frank Sinatra.

It is a beautiful Friday morning. The sky is laced, here and there, with soft, small clouds like white sheep grazing a blue meadow. 67°F is nearly perfect, especially with a very light breeze...just enough to move the leaves of mighty willows and of a small basil shrub wantonly spreading sweet scent into the wind. Bright sun picks out colors and makes them gleam...a plethora of greens, a few yellow and amber fall flowers, and the ubiquitous black and orange of Halloween decorations. Birds chatter and dart about and Puck barks at everything but it drowns out the traffic noises and makes a soothing soundtrack to the day. The neighborhood is busy this morning; the cleaning ladies crew is gathering supplies and talking about the weekend. Down the block someone is replacing their hot water heater. Three people pass us on their way to work. We make it home to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the taste of it creamed and sweetened. Ahh! But the most beautiful thing about this morning is getting to write to you.

Hope your weekend rolls a turkey, meine freunde

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: So many village idiots, so few dragons. --Submitted by mja of ks

I was about to write a really bad bowling pun here, but I spared you. / We called our bowling team Lightning because we rolled so many strikes.

..........Chewin' out a rhythm on my bubble gum........The Ramones …..Rockaway Beach

Trivia Questions: Happy World Egg Day!

^ What is the relationship between eggs and a chef's hat?

^^ Do you have any idea how big the biggest hen's egg ever measured?

^^^ More or less, how long does it take for a hen to produce an egg?

^^^^ Why has the world chosen hen eggs over other fowl producers?

^^^^^ Iowa is the nation's leading egg producing state; about how many eggs do they harvest per year?

Big Hello: Guten Tag – German https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Sometimes you meet someone and you know from the first moment that you want to spend your whole life without them. --Submitted by INRITH

Max Picture of the Week: A boy and his dad

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: The best part of fall in a library is that the coffee-stained books all smell like pumpkin spice. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Which bowler floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee? Muhammad Alley. / Our local bowling alley has a cat that lives in the building. She's an alley cat.

..........That's what they want to give me........The Ramones …..Psycho Therapy

Moonbeam: Aviation is proof that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible. --Eddie Rickenbacker

Meditation Seed of the Week: Can you imagine a new color that hasn’t been discovered before?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My friend has a yellow coiled snake shirt but it says “Don't Cough On Me”. --Submitted by nam of ??

Week of the Week: World Goat Days (3-8) --3 mountain goats, called the hillbillies, watched their favorite movie, You've Goat Mail.

Oppressed bowling pins go on strike. --Tony the Tiger ~~Boycott Kellogg's!!! / Bowlers often wear armor for knight games.

..........They both went down to Berlin, joined the Ice Capades........The Ramones …..Judy Is A Punk

^ Chef hats traditionally have pleats equal to the number of ways that they can cook an egg.

Almanac: It is Friday, October 8, 2021. The moon was new last Wednesday and is in Scorpio. It is Alvin C. York Day, National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, National Pierogi Day, National Salmon Day, and World Octopus Day. Because it is the second Friday it is also National Family Bowling Day (or Kids Bowl Free Day) and World Egg Day.

Among those born on this day were Ejnar Hertzsprung (1873), Eddie Rickenbacker (1890), Juan Perón (1895), Frank Herbert (1920), David Carradine (1936), Paul Hogan (1939), Jesse Jackson (1941), Chevy Chase (1943), Sigourney Weaver (Susan Alexandra, 1949), Robert Kool Bell (1950), Johnny Ramone (1951), and Stephanie Zimbalist (1956).

On October eighth the Fourth Ecumenical Council opened (451), The first supernova was sighted (Kepler's Nova, 1604), the Great Fire destroyed much of Chicago (1871), Dow Jones issued their first report (1896), Ozzie married Harriet (1935), the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuted on radio (1944), the Brooklyn Dodgers announced their move to Los Angeles (1957), Algeria was admitted to the United Nations (109th, 1962), and John Lennon released the record Imagine (1971).

Night Sky, 10/8: Celebrate the start of fall under the stars as the Draconid meteor shower, the first of the season, peaks on Oct. 8-9. The shower has a rich history of spectacular cosmic shows for stargazers. https://www.accuweather.com/en/space-news/how-to-see-draconid-meteor-shower-friday-night/1027963?fbclid=IwAR190Zi_ewDb8xNNy41CTXKPzBomoEHTDivjidKt1kE13CkHFp1aHu43fbE

Image of the Week: A sign from the thousands at Saturday's March for Women's Reproductive Rights at marches across the country

This Week: Saturday, October 9 – I Love Yarn Day & Costume Swap Day & National Chess Day

Sunday, October 10 – Clergy Appreciation Day & Hug A Drummer Day & International Stage Management Day

Night Sky, 10/10: Jupiter & Saturn continue to shine in the southeast to south during evening, 16° apart on opposite sides of dim Capricornus. Jupiter is the eye-grabber at magnitude –2.7. Saturn, to its right, is a twentieth as bright at mag +0.5. By the end of twilight they sit equally high in the south-southeast https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-october-1-9/

Monday, October 11 – National Coming Out Day & Native American Day aka Indigenous Peoples' Day

Tuesday, October 12 – Free Thought Day & National Farmers; Day & World Arthritis Day

Wednesday, October 13 - Bullying Prevention Day & National Chess Day & No Bra Day

Night Sky, 10/13: Vega is the brightest star very high in the west, while Arcturus is getting low in the west-northwest. The brightest star in the vast expanse between them, about a third of the way from Arcturus up toward Vega, is Alphecca, magnitude 2.2 — the crown jewel of dim Corona Borealis.

Thursday, October 14 – Be Bald and Be Free Day & Spiderman Day & World Standards Day

The KU football team has been banned from the bowling alley. It seems they spiked the ball every time they got a strike and now all of the lanes need to be refinished. / Old bowlers never die; they just end up in the gutter.

..........I got no cerebellum gonna get by PhD........The Ramones …..Teenage Lobotomy

^^ Harriet, a hen from the United Kingdom, laid the world’s largest egg in 2010. Her astonishing egg measured 9.1 inches in diameter.

Wicked Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Where is the capital of the United States? In the off-shore bank accounts of the 1%. --Submitted by gr of oh

Moonbeam: Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty. --Frank Herbert

Video of the Week: Ricky Nelson (my very first crush) sings on the Ozzie & Harriet Show (TV): https://teachrock.org/video/ricky-nelson-sings-on-the-adventures-of-ozzie-and-harriet-1957/

Ollie's Very Own Picture of the Week: Ollie and the Yellow Submarine sailing The Sea of Pumpkins

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: True or false?: When Trump got a colonoscopy at Walter Reed he refused anesthetic because he didn't want to appear weak. False. He refused anesthetic because he didn't want Pence to be acting president even for half an hour. Peter Sagal Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 10/2/21

“I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war… But we have no more urgent task.” -- John F. Kennedy.

A gutter ball is officially known as Alley Oop. / If your bowling team needs new shirts, try New Jersey.

..........Pull yourself back together........The Ramones …..Bonzo Goes to Bitburg

^^^ It takes a hen between 24 and 26 hours to develop an egg. Once she lays an egg, the development of a new egg normally starts within 30 minutes.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Funny how the British conquered so much land looking for spices but then refused to use them. --Submitted by arh of AR

Collective Noun of the Week: A bike of bees. https://www.jellyfish.com/en-gb/training/blog/collective-nouns

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Clean the pipes and tubes in a coffee maker. Fill the water chamber with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer tablets, and run the coffeemaker through a regular cycle. The ascorbic acid cleanses the system. Then flush the system clean by running clear water through the cycle twice. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/alkaseltzer.html

Name That Poet Of The Week: ...(and buds know better than books don't grow)...

Puzzle of the Week: This challenge came from listener Dan Pitt of Palo Alto, Calif. Take the common abbreviation for a major American city. Insert it inside an airport code for that city. And you'll name a flower. What flower is it? NPR Puzzle Sunday 10/3/21

Penny Pin installed a RESET mechanism at home in case her aging parents fell down. / Like most billionaires, Elon Musk prefers to bowl with crystal pins.

...........How do you move in a world of fog........The Ramones …..I Don't Want To Grow Up

^^^^ There are several reasons why we commonly eat chicken eggs instead of duck or turkey eggs. Chickens lay more eggs, they need less nesting space, and they don’t have the strong mothering instincts of turkeys and ducks, which makes egg collection easier.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. --Denis Diderot

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Monsterama 2021 (8-10, Atlanta, GA) This year we’re rolling our other event, SPY CON, into the weekend at no extra charge... https://monsteramacon.com/

Poet of the Week: e e cummings if everything happens that can't be done

Actual Science Conference of the Week: International Conference on Wildlife Science and Sociology (7-8, NYC) Human dimensions of wildlife management https://conferenceindex.org/event/international-conference-on-wildlife-science-and-sociology-icwss-2021-october-new-york-us

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Chi (Chicago) + ORD = Orchid

Spinal Tap used to go eleven pin bowling. / This is NOT politics. It's bowling; there are rules.

..........If you think you can, well, come on man........The Ramones …..53^rd & 3rd

^^^^^ When it comes to the number of eggs laid each year, Iowa leads the nation with more than 14.8 billion eggs produced annually. Ohio is the next state in line, producing 7.9 billion eggs each year.

My Own Writing of the Week: The only "extra" energy I have is due to the fact that I am not carrying around those pounds and so not using up the energy it takes to carry around those pounds. I certainly don't have less energy and I'm not complaining except that EVERY ad for weight loss products or services says, "more energy". From The Down Side of Losing Weight

Vintage Players One-Liner of the Week: I went to an antiques auction and people were bidding on me.

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My favorite allergy song is “Blowin in the Wind” by Peter Pollen Mary

Today's Peace of History, October 8, 1993: Toni Morrison became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Did you know that The Empire Strikes Back was originally a bowling story.. / Don't bowl at Lois Lanes; they don't have pin boys, they have alley-gaters.

..........Tanqueray and tonic's my favorite drink........The Ramones …..Somebody Put Something In My Drink

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle October 8, 2021, Spare ePistle. Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ 2511 Morningside Dr. Lawrence, KS 66047

Moonbeam: Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get your change. --Jesse Jackson

Cost of War:

As of 10/7/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,924,595,411,491.

As of 9/30/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,923,414,724,218.

As of 10/7/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,086,061,088,794.

As of 9/30/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,085,456,299,533.

As of 10/7/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $160,516,592,285.

As of 9/30/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $159,395,968,675.

As of 10/7/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,007,443,113,633.

As of 9/30/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,005,887,548,479.

As of 10/7/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,061,938,359,048.

As of 9/30/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,050,146,054,438.

As of 10/7/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,240,556,796,011.

As of 9/30/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,224,868,873,504.

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

“Though force can protect in an emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration, and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.” -- President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Famous Last Words: And the world will live as one. John Lennon Imagine

..........After all these years, I'm still alive.........The Ramones …..I Believe In Miracles

Let's face it, bowling is a sport for people with time to spare. / This is too much bowl shit !

May Peace dust your lanes

And Joy reset your pins

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

eUphorious ePistle

 Famous First Words: In part (A), for convenience of the reader... Constitution of the State of Washington

An actor died while performing stunts for a movie made in Mexico. During the funeral, his mother walked towards the director and screamed, “Jesus died for your scenes”. / The Hollywood Repertory Theater was doing a play about famous musicians. Robert Downey Jr claimed Beethoven. Hugh Jackman snapped up Freddie Mercury, then Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “I'll be Bach.” ~~A lot of famous actors were born on this day, that's why.

..........Nella bionda egli ha l'usanza.........Ezio Pinza …..Madamina, il catalogo è questo ~~It is International Music Day and these are a few foreign language songs that crept onto the US musicscape.

What I did at Ole Miss had nothing to do with going to classes. My objective was to destroy the system of white supremacy. --James Meredith

It is a cloudy Friday morning. 67°F is a near perfect temperature for a walk or running errands. The sky is a solid gray without texture or variations; no wisps float beneath the gray sheet, no wind blows ridges into the surface. The world smells damp and small puddles have filled small holes in the street, yet the pavement and sidewalks are dry. Birds fly silently through the near fog. Only Puck barking at the very busy squirrels breaks the quiet. The willow branches are still as if waiting, waiting for rain, waiting for fall. I do not know. A fat rabbit sits in the grass, neatly camouflaged. It too seems to be waiting and sits still as we pass. Puck and I return to the house just as a murder of crows flies down the block and bids us a raucous farewell. I can hear them still as I sweeten and cream my coffee. The blinds and curtains spread wide to watch the trees and skies so I too might catch what the world is waiting for.

Hope your weekend makes you smile like the Mona Lisa, ePistliers.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's officially “wear a sweater in the morning and regret it in the afternoon weather. --Submitted by RHOZ

That actor who fell through the floorboards, turns out he was just going through a stage. / For a while Orson Wells was only hiring overweight actors for his movies. But he was accused to flabbercasting and so he stopped.

..........I could say bella, bella, even sehr wunderbar.........Andrew Sisters …..Bei Mir Bist Du Schön

Trivia Questions: Happy International Coffee Week

^ When did the world start drinking coffee, more or less?

^^ About how many beans does it take to make a pound of roasted coffee?

^^^ How many cups of coffee are consumed world wide each year?

^^^^ We're heard “there's an awfully lot of coffee in Brazil”. How many coffee trees does Brazil have, anyway?

^^^^^ What is the caffeine limit in an athlete's bloodstream in the Olympics, beyond which the athlete will be banned from competing?

Big Hello: Buiti binafi – Garifuna (Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Good morning to everyone except my partner who, at 2 am, mid-dream, sat bolt upright in bed and terrifyingly shouted into the dark: “will there be a buffet?
--Submitted by FNOG

Max Picture of the Week: Look carefully, Max is performing a Vulcan Nerve Pinch on a sea turtle.

Fake Library Statistic of the Week: 56% of librarians don't really mind that their coworker is giving them the silent treatment. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

What has 27 actors, three settings, two writers, and one plot. --671 Hallmark Movies / What actor could never play Quasimodo? Humpfree Bogart

..........Il est entré dans mon cœur..........Edith Piaf …..La Vie En Rose

Moonbeam: No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism. --Annie Besant

Meditation Seed of the Week: What price would you ask to sell your soul to the devil?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I'm Bi because the bible said Adam AND Eve not Adam OR Eve --Submitted by MMS

Week of the Week: National Walk Your Dog Week (1-7) – My boyfriend left me because I'm so insecure. O, never mind, he was just walking the dog. / Last week I walked my dog past a flea circus and she stole the show.

The only 2 white actors in Black Panther are Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins), and Andy Serkin (Gollum). Yes, they're the Tolkien white guys. / When you're too ugly to be an actor and too lazy to learn an instrument...you become a comedian.

..........Shiawase was kumo no ue ni.......... …..Kyu Sakamoto …..Sukiyaki

^ Believe it or not, the first coffee lovers might've been goats. See, much like humankind may have begun in Ethiopia, so did coffee. Back in the 9th century, according to Mental Floss, popular folklore says that an Ethiopian man named Kaldi noticed that his goats were acting funny: every time the animals ate a batch of delicious red cherries (coffee is a fruit, if you didn't know), they'd become weirdly energetic.

Almanac: It is Friday, October 1, 2021. The moon was at last quarter last Tuesday and is in Leo. It is Fire Pup Day, International Day of Older Persons, International Music Day, Model T Day, National Black Dog Day, National Book It! Day, National Hair Day, National Lace Day, National Walk Your Dog Day, Vegan Baking Day, Willy Wonka Day, and World Vegetarian Day. Because it is the first Friday it is also Kids Music Day, Lee's National Denim Day, Manufacturing Day, National Body Language Day, National Diversity Day, and World Smile Day.

Among those born on this day were Henry III (King of England, 1207), John Muhlenberg (1746), Annie Besant (1847), William E Boeing (1881), Louis Untermeyer (1885), Vladimir Horowitz (1904), Walter Matthau (1920), James Whitmore (1921), William Rehnqist (1924), Tom Bosley (1927), George Peppard (1928), Laurence Harvey (1928), Richard Harris (1930), Julie Andrews (1935), Stella Stevens (1936), Annie Leibovitz (1949), Randy Quaid (1950), and Mark McGwire (1963).

On October first Spain ceded Louisiana to France in a secret treaty (1800), Hawaii issued its first stamps (1851), special delivery mail service began in the US (1885), the US mint in Carson City, NV closed (1886), Washington adopted its state constitution (1889), Yosemite National Park was established (1890), the first world series was played (Pittsburg vs Boston, 1903), Franco established the state of Spain (1936), the Pullman Company formally recognized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (1937), the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened (1940), the California Supreme Court voided the statute banning interracial marriage (1947), The People's Republic of China was proclaimed and the Republic of China formed on Formosa (1949), the first treaty was signed by a woman, ambassador Eugenie Anderson (1951), NASA was inaugurated and took over the Vanguard Project from the military (1958), Nigeria gained independence from Britain (1960), East & West Cameroon merged to become the Federal Republic of Cameroon (1961), James Meredith became the first black man at the University of Mississippi (1962), Johnny Carson hosted his first Tonight Show (1962), the Free Speech Movement was launched (Berkley, 1964), and the US returned the canal zone to Panama (1979).

Night Sky, 10/1: Vega is the brightest star just west of the zenith after dark. Face west and look to Vega's right by 14° (nearly a fist and a half at arm's length) for Eltanin, the nose of Draco the Dragon. The rest of Draco's fainter, lozenge-shaped head is a little farther behind. Draco always eyes Vega as they wheel around the sky. The main stars of Vega's own constellation, Lyra — faint by comparison — extend to its left (by 7°). http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Image of the Week: Lawrence Busker Festival 2021 – In front of the Arts Center

This Week: Saturday, October 2 – Guardian Angels Day & Name Your Car Day & National Play Outside Day

Sunday, October 3 – Inter-generation Day & Pickle Day & World Communion Day

Night Sky,10/3: Before and during early dawn Sunday morning October 3rd, the waning crescent Moon forms a flat, almost isosceles triangle with Regulus and Algieba (Gamma Leonis) to Regulus's left or upper left.

Monday, October 4 – Child Health Day & National Taco Day & Vodka Day

Tuesday, October 5 – Get Funky Day & National Fruit At Work Day & World Teachers Day

Wednesday, October 6 – American Libraries Day & Coffee With A Cop Day & Random Acts of Poetry Day

Night Sky, 10/6: Neptune (magnitude 7.8) is high in the southeast by 9 or 10 pm while Uranus (magnitude 5.7) climbs high in the east by midnight.

Thursday, October 7 – National Forgiveness Day & Pick A Tune Day & World Cotton Day

The Fox Network is offering a new show where big celebrities box each other. They call it Star Wars. / How many buffalo could Mark Ruffalo buffalo, if Mark Ruffalo could buffalo buffalo?

..........Mi alma no da razón.........Santana …..Corazon espinado

^^ About 4,000 coffee beans are required to produce one pound of roasted coffee.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I spilled my pumpkin spice latte on the ground and now a bunch of ants are making brunch plans and doing yoga. --Submitted by INRITH

Moonbeam: Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd. --Annie Besant

Video of the Week: The Muppets singing They've Got An Awful Of Coffee In Brazil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPMmWA_aWxw

Ollie's Very Own Picture of the Week: Ollie having so much fun it knocked his socks (or at least his shoe) off.

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: A war with France wasn't what anybody was hoping for from the Biden administration but look on the bright side if we win we get their bread. --Peter Sagal Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 9/24/21

There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus -- and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it -- that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all!! --Mario Savio (Free Speech Movement)

I just read that actor Maria Mercedes broke off her engagement to William Shatner. She realized she'd be known as Maria Shatner Mercedes./ How many actors does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, they really hate to share the spotlight.

..........bara ta't med ro..........Abba …..Honey, Honey

^^^ About 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year. The U.S. population consumes about 400 million cups of coffee each day, making it the world's largest coffee consumer.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's amazing how many parents went from, “I don't understand my kid's 6th grade math homework” to “I'm an infectious disease expert” in just six month. --Submitted by KI

Collective Noun of the Week: An ambush of tigers. An ambush of widows. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_collective_nouns_by_collective_term

Pun of the Week: Bono and the Edge walk into a bar and the barman says, Oh, God, not U2 again. --Submitted by INRITH

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Get short-term relief from nicotine withdrawal symptoms. As long as you're not on a low-sodium diet or have peptic ulcers, drink 2 Alka-Seltzer tablets dissolved in a glass of water at every meal. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/alkaseltzer.html

Name the Poet of the Week: ...And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves...

Puzzle of the Week: Think of two famous singers with the same five-letter first name. Take the last name of one of these singers. Switch the second and third letters. Then advance the resulting first and third letters each to the next letter in the alphabet. The result will be the last name of the other singer. What singers are these? NPS Puzzle Sunday 9/19/21

The best actor in the Bible was Samson. He brought down the house. / I just finished a 300 page novel about a French actor persecuted for his art. It's called Mime and Punishment.

...........Ní labhrann cuach go suairc are nóin..........The Chieftains & Sting …..Mo Ghile Mear

^^^^ Nearly 4 billion coffee trees are growing in Brazil.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Congratulations to drugs for winning the War On Drugs. --Submitted by ahb of ks

A Minor Update: Tonight is Late Night at the Phog – the official opening of the basketball season at KU. The field house is open, Men's and Women's teams are introduced, skits are performed, etc. Then practice begins in earnest the next day. Since Bruce wanted his ashes spread around Allen Field House, we went on Late Night when there were lots of people around and lots of noise and no one notices a scattering of old people scattering ashes on the flower beds. The “ceremony” before we went to the field house was to smoke a joint (not everyone did) and down a shot of aged single malt Scotch (not everyone drank). Often on Phog night in memory of Bryce, I have a shot of Glenfiddich 15 year old Scotch and remember Bruce. I'm on my third bottle since he's been gone. Gosh, I miss him. One of the things he did was teach me to enjoy really good Scotch.

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Archon 44 (1-3, Collinsville, IL I.e. greater St Louis) A Celebration of the Imagination... http://www.archonstl.org/

Poet of the Week: When I Am Old by Jenny Joseph https://barbados.org/poetry/wheniam.htm

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2-3, Online) ...free from all forms of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, ~~What exactly goes on at math conferences? https://www.siam.org/conferences/cm/conference/css21

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Billy Idol → Billy Joel

You know actors, if they made a mistake they just re-act. / The star of the play has become very ill. The police suspect lead poisoning.

..........Ek, do, teen, char, panch, cheh, saath.........M.I.A. …..O Saya

^^^^^ It takes about 5 cups of coffee to reach the 12 microgram level and be thrown out of the Olympics.

My Own Writing of the Week: We were talking about loose, flabby skin. Well, according to the fitness gurus on the web there are two ways to deal with the flab. The first is to lose weight more slowly. Which is a possibility for some future flab but only gaining weight would take care of the existing flab or existing lack of fat (which sounds better and is sort of right). That does seem like it's going the wrong direction. Even though I didn't start on this diet in order to lose weight, once I started I was pretty much into continuing and not trying to strike some contest between how fast I could lose and how much skin tone I could maintain. The second suggestion was exercise - not much weight but lots of repetitions. The object seems to be to exercise without actually developing muscle. To my mind the point of exercise has always been to tone muscle, not to tone skin. So I do repetitions until I get bored. Then my mind wanders and I begin to consider whether this is really likely to do any good at all and I stop. from The Downside of Losing Weight

Vintage Players One-Liner of the Week: At my funeral, take the bouquet off the coffin and throw it into the crowd to see who's next! ~~The Vintage Players are a Lawrence troop of senior citizens who, before the pandemic, performed at senior centers and sometimes for the public. And someday they will again...

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Al Franken explains why America should tax the rich and build back better: You know when a bridge collapses, a Mercedes falls just as fast as a Hyundai --Submitted by SDS

Today's Peace of History, October 1, 1964: The Free Speech Movement was launched at the University of California–Berkeley when mathematics grad student Jack Weinberg was arrested for setting up an information table for CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) in front of Sproul Hall, the administration building. Hundreds of students surrounded the police car holding Weinberg for 32 hours, keeping him from being taken away. Many made speeches from atop the car, and ultimately Weinberg’s release was negotiated.

They asked me to play the father in Sound of Music. But it was a Trapp. / After a year of living upstairs at the August Wilson theater and feasting on actors, Dracula decided to take up acting. He said it was in his blood.

..........Wee heeheehee weeoh aweem away.........The Tokens …..The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle October 1, 2021, Euphonious ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 2511 Morningside Dr. Lawrence, KS 66047

Moonbeam: Life, alas, is very drear. Up with the glass! Down with the beer! --Louis Untermeyer

Cost of War:

As of 9/30/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,923,414,724,218.

As of 9/23/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,921,048,021,966.

As of 9/30/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,085,456,299,533.

As of 9/23/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,084,244,173,532.
As of 9/30/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $159,395,968,675
As of 9/23/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $158,843,748,807.
As of 9/30/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,005,887,548,479.
As of 9/23/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,002,770,375,540.
As of 9/30/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,050,146,054,438.
As of 9/23/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,026,518,210,174.
As of 9/30/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,224,868,873,504.
As of 9/23/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,193,427,267,802.

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

Peace is a full time job. It's protecting civilians, overseeing elections, and disarming ex-combatants. Peace, like war, must be waged. --George Clooney

Famous Last Words: Shame, shame on a conquered king. --Henry III

..........더 볼 일 없어, 마지막 인사야..........BTS …..Mic Drop

How many actors does it take to change a light bulb? Depends on what the script says... / Anthony Newley is rewriting an old opera. It will take place in a small English fishing village. It's called the Moorage of Figaro.

May Peace set your tempo

And Joy carry your melody

prairie mama

christine

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