ePistle

Friday, August 16, 2024

hUgo's ePistle

Famous First Words: Born on a mountain top in Tennessee... Davy Crocket ...in honor of Fess Parker's birthday

Today is the 140th birthday of Hugo Grensback, founder and editor of Amazing Stories magazine. It was a science fiction literary magazine that was a starting point for many young writers. The primary reason aliens haven't visited our solar system is the reviews. Only one star. / I don't think the stories in Amazing Stories helped. Who'd wanna go there? More about Hugo

..........Leave blue green footprints that glow in the dark.........The Byrds …..Mr Spaceman

The most persistent threat to freedom, to the rights of Americans, is fear. George Meany

It is a fine (77°F) Friday morning. The sun is shining, the sky is cloudless, and a breeze (5 mph) moves the willow in graceful sweeps and the mulberry leaf by leaf. Several birds have come and told their morning story and moved on leaving the quiet white-noise humming of my computer. Puck is munching treats, although he had done little to deserve them, before his morning nap beneath my feet. Veronica has not been to my room since the drain overran the hall floor. It's dry now, but she is very opposed to wet feet. I am drinking my morning decaf and munching a chocolate croissant – the kind from Dillons, not the ones from the actual French bakery. They are delicious nonetheless. Jeff has taken up vaping and so today the house smells of fruit, or maybe, it's a smoky floral. I light a cone of green incense; likely, the scent cannot be erased but perhaps it can be replaced. And with the last bit of chocolate melting in my mouth, I say, welcome to the weekend, enjoy.

Hope your weekend is full of wonder and amazement, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Better to have tampons in the bathroom than classified documents. --Submitted by ff of ks

My neighbor told me she saw an alien on the way to work this morning. I asked how she knew it was on its way to work? / No, our sun, Sol, didn't go to college. He already had 10,000 degrees.

..........Swamp monster with a hard-on for connectivity.........Arctic Monkey …..Science Fiction

Trivia Questions: Happy National Roller Coaster Day!

^ Who invented the roller coaster?
^^ Where was the first roller coaster installed?
^^^ When did the full circuit roller coaster first appear?
^^^^ How many roller coasters existed in 1900?
^^^^^ How many roller coasters are operating today?

Big Hello: Dumêlang – Northern Sotho (South Africa) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The town of Dull in Scotland has twinned with the town of Boring, Oregon since 2012. In 2013 the town of Bland, Australia joined them in what has become known as the “Trinity of Tedium”.

Image of the Week:

Writer's Joke of the Week: I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say. --Flannery O'Connor

An alien with three eyes is called an aliiien. / An astrophysicist, a dentist, and an electrician walked into a bar. It was Queen and this was their first gig.

..........Tell me do I look like a desperate man.........Glenn Frey …..Love In the 21^st Century

Moonbeam: Let my epitaph be, “Here lies Joseph, who failed in everything he undertook”. --Franz Joseph II

Blasphemy of the Week: I don't know how posting the 10 Commandments in schools is supposed to help students when posting them in churches doesn't seem to help Evangelicals. --Submitted by SDS

Retro Puzzle of the Week: Rearrange the letters of NITROGEN to get a familiar word everyone knows, that didn't exist 10 years ago. What is it? NPR Sunday Puzzle 8/26/07

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Sometimes God will put a Goliath in your life, for you to find the David within you...And then you find that the David inside you is spying on women taking baths and plotting to kill their husbands. --Submitted by sb of ar

Second Cousin Once Removed of Next-Funniest-Thing-I-Read-of-the-Week: 99 little bugs in the code, 99 little bugs, take one down, patch it around, 117 little bugs in the code--Submitted by Laughing Librarian

It is rumored that Chuck Norris was abducted by aliens and they were never seen again. / Arnie Astronaut gave fantastic parties. Well, he had quite a launch pad.

..........I still dream of you...........Ash …..Girl From Mars

^ In 1884 Marcus Thompson developed and designed the roller coaster based on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway – a coal mine line in Pennsylvania.

Almanac: It is Friday, August 16, 2024. The moon will be full (Sturgeon) on Monday (8/19) and is in Capricorn. It is Men's Grooming Day, National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence, National Energy Multiplier Day, National Rollercoaster Day, and Surveillance Day. Hawaii celebrates Admission Day (1959) today and the Yukon celebrates Klondike Gold Day (1896). This weekend is the Blueberry Festival in Montrose, MI.

Among those born on this day were Amos Alonzo Stagg (1862), Hugo Gernsback (1884), George Meany (1894), Georgette Heyer (1902), Franz Josef II (1906), Menachem Begin (1913), Fess Parker (1925), Robert Culp (1930), Eydie Gorme (1932), Julie Newmar (1935), Lesley Ann Warren (1946), Kathie Lee Gifford (1953), Madonna (1958), and Timothy Hutton (1960).

On August eighteenth gold was discovered in the Klondike (1896), the roller coaster was patented (1898), Adlai Stevenson was nominated for the Democratic presidential candidate (1956), Elvis was found dead at Graceland (1977), Madonna wed Sean Penn (1985), and the Great Astrological Harmonic Convergence signaled the dawn of a new age (1987).

Night Sky, 8/16: Kappa Cygnids Meteor Shower. Tonight and tomorrow night. Best visibility 1-3 am Kappa Cygnids - Meteor Section (popastro.com)

Fraternal Picture of the Week: The young Robin Hood and even younger Legolas

Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My flabbers be gasted daily. Submitted by INRITH

This Week: Saturday, August 17 – Black Cat Appreciation Day & National Honey Bee Day & National Nonprofit Day

Sunday, August 18 – Bad Poetry Day & Birth Control Pills Day & National Fajita Day

Night Sky, 8/18: Whenever bright Vega shines nearest your zenith, as it does right after dark now, you know that the Sagittarius Teapot is at its highest down in the south. Two hours later when Deneb passes the zenith, it's the turn of little Delphinus and boat-shaped Capricornus down below it to stand at their highest due south. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Monday, August 19 – Aviation Day & International Orangutan Day & World Humanitarian Day

Tuesday, August 20 – National Radio Day & World Mosquito Day

Wednesday, August 21 – National Spumoni Day & Senior Citizens Day

Night Sky, 8/21: Mars and Jupiter (magnitudes +0.8 and –2.2, respectively, in Taurus) pair up closely this week. Watch for them to rise in the east-northeast around 1 am daylight-saving time. Mars-like Aldebaran watches on from less than a fist at arm's length to their right. Above Aldebaran glitter the delicate Pleiades. By the first sign of dawn they're all high in the east, with Orion below them.

Thursday, August 22 – Be An Angel Day & National Tooth Fairy Day

Scientists are unsure whether only white people are abducted by aliens. It's assumed they are easier to see in the dark. Or whether black and brown people are abducted and we simply never listen to them. / Astronauts have an entirely different meaning for the phrase “space bar”.

..........Gonna shine like a sunbeam..........Beastie Boys …..Intergalactic

^^ Thompson built a gravity Switchback Railway that opened at Coney Island in 1884. Passengers climbed to the top of a platform and rode a bench-like car down the 600 ft track and up to the top of another tower where the vehicle was switched to a return track and the passengers took the return trip.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you get cremated after you die you can be put into an hourglass and still participate in family game nights. --Submitted by mk of pa

Moonbeam: I think to myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense...But it's unquestionably good escapist literature, and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu. --Georgette Heyer

Tangled Web of the Week: In For A Better Tomorrow, Kurt Vonnegut wrote of a starship named the Hugo Gernsback. Kilgore Trout is a fictional science fiction writer created by Kurt Vonnegut. He appears in Breakfast of Champions, God Bless You, Mr. Rosenberg, & Slaughterhouse 5. Philip Jose Farmer wrote Kilgore Trout's novel Venus on the Halfshell.** However, Farmer did not admit this to the public until years after publication so people accused Vonnegut of writing it. Vonnegut was a major editor for Gernsback's short story anthologies. **One of my top 10 favorite science fiction novels

Uuuhhhhhh...hhhhhh of the Week: Mark Hamill teaches Rocky and Bullwinkle his secrets to being the best superhero so they can save the city from evil stress balls. ...Concerning the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Season 2. streaming on Amazon

Video of the Week: Steampunk Parade – strange vehicles Bing Videos (2:00)

Every piece of progressive social legislation passed by Congress in the 20^th century bears a union label. --George Meany

Trump's solution for space alien invasions is a roof over Earth. / I saw this rocket ship with a green coating over all the windows. It looked like it was wearing sunglasses. It claimed its mission was to find “dark matter”.

..........Bound for a star with fiery oceans..........Rolling Stones …...2000 Light Year From Home

^^^ In 1885, Phillip Hinkle introduced the first complete-circuit coaster with a lift hill, the Gravity Pleasure Road, which became the most popular attraction at Coney Island. Not to be outdone, in 1886 Thompson patented his design for a roller coaster that included dark tunnels with painted scenery.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If he writes her a few sonnets, he loves her. If he writes her 300 sonnets, he loves sonnets. --An English Professor

Weird Word of the Week: Shemozzle: a state of confusion and chaos. It might simply be a muddle, or it could be a ruckus, row, quarrel or loud commotion. Shemozzle (worldwidewords.org)

Dragon of the Week: Gargoyle in Turin, Italy

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Clean bathtub rings. Sprinkle Cascade on a wet sponge and scrub. Cascade®: Wacky Uses

The alien leader told the interviewer they had come to destroy the Earth. Hannity told him they were too late / Astronaut Alice was so fat she wore an asteroid belt.

...........We've rocked the Milky Way so far...........Deep Purple …..Space Truckin'

^^^^ In the early 1900s, there were as many as 2000 roller coasters.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: When a light bulb has an idea, does a little human brain appear above it?

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Fan Expo Chicago (16-18, Rosemont, IL) MARK HAMILL LIVE ~~This is, in fact, the gotcha tag line; but now that I've seen their site tag I think it's the only thing that wouldn't fit. FAN EXPO Chicago I A three day weekend offering big family-friendly events, bigger workshops, and huge world-renowned celebrities. (fanexpohq.com)

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Southwest Dental Conference (16-17, Dallas, TX) ...empowering innovation and productivity... Home - Southwest Dental Conference (swdentalconf.org)

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Nitrogen → Ringtone

Those aliens that you can't get rid, they're Klingons. / I've dated a couple of rocket scientists. They were all a bit spacey.

..........Everything you think, do, and say is in the pill you took today..........Zager and Evans …..In The Year 2525

^^^^^ According to the Roller Coaster Census Report there are 5,376 coasters in operation worldwide.

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: Global warming is caused by alien visitors who are just trying to break the ice.

Fun Fact of the Week: Inspired by an answer on Jeopardy, I looked up the speed of a lamb's tail shake. I discovered that some science nerds or techs needed to describe something that happens really, really fast. So they named 10 nanoseconds a Shake. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second.

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: School Resumes August 12. Resistance is Futile. You Will Be Educated.

Today's Peace of History, August 16, 1953: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the constitutional monarch of Iran, dismissed the elected prime minister, Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq, without the approval of the parliament. In appointing Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi in his place, the Shah was following the coup plan, code-named TPAJAX, developed by the CIA under the direction of Kermit Roosevelt (grandson of President Theodore), and Great Britain’s intelligence service, MI6.

Funniest Thing belying final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Pick your battles. Nope. That's too many battles. Put some battles back. --Submitted by sb of ar

The Mars rover sent back pictures of a bird that was obviously unwell. It was, in fact, an ill eagle alien. / Rockets make excellent comedians. They have great delivery systems.

..........And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear.........Richard O'Brien …..Science Fiction – Double Feature

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, August 16, 2024, hUgo's ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Winning isn't worthwhile unless one has something finer and nobler behind it. --Amos Alonzo Stagg

Cost of War:

As of 08/15/24 State Department Costs: $243,395,277,997.
As of 08/08/24 State Department Costs: $242,838,690,675.
As of 08/15/24 Homeland Security: $1,176,084,550,462.
As of 08/08/24 Homeland Security: $1,175,479,986,906.
As of 08/15/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,238,931,816,735.
As of 08/08/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,237,377,198,440.
As of 08/15/24 Military Costs: $3,100,355,707,836.
As of 08/08/24 Military Costs: $3,099,175,336,321.
As of 08/15/24 Veterans Care: $3,816,682,203,314.
As of 08/08/24 Veterans Care: $3,804,897,367,206.
As of 08/15/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,575,450,979,631.
As of 08/08/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,528,309.356.738.

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

Labor never quits. We never give up the fight – no matter how tough the odds, no matter how long it takes. --George Meany

Famous Last Words: It's the devil's instrument. --Robert Johnson, Bluser, who died August 16 1938. It said it about his guitare

..........It's lonely out in space on such a timeless flight.........Elton John …..Rocket Man

Too many aliens are called extraterrestrials. / The rocket had to go to a therapist. It had too many issues to work through.

May Peace expand your space
And Joy fill it all up
prairie mama
christine

Last Laugh:

Friday, August 9, 2024

ePistle eRRor

Famous First Words: Oh, sh*t, NO! --Christine: It is Wednesday afternoon (8/7 – also I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon) and I just realized that I (with decades of computer experience of one kind or another) managed to delete the entire aug9 ePistle by saving the “last laugh” picture on top of select all (a mistake lower on the scale than rookie). So these are the first words to bless this ePistle.

Me: What a great day. My computer hasn't crashed once. My Computer: Now that I have her confidence, I'll crash when she tries to save her work. / I hear witches use hexberts to fix their computers.

..........A doll that other fellows cannot steal.........Mills Brothers …..Paper Doll

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. --Henry David Thoreau

It is a cool (62°F) Friday morning, The sky is covered in thin white clouds and decaying jet trails. A 7 mph breeze moves the mulberry just enough to compliment the bright sunflower waving to the rising sun. Puck and Veronica have been out and Puck now sleeps on this bed. He's making little pouty noises as if trying to purr his contentment. Veronica has disappeared up the stairs. I have traveled out to the pharmacy to purchase medihoney which is a special honey from New Zealand that is supposed to help my incision heal a little faster. The world out there is full of people rushing about – I assume to work. But I'm home now and my wound is honeyed and bound and I listen to the bird song as I type. Chirp, chirp chirp, chiiiirrrrp. In here I nibble at a chocolate chip muffin and admire the majesty of the willow dancing for nature's enjoyment. A cone of red incense sends white smoke curling around my monitor in an unsuccessful attempt to recreate the clouds outside. It fills the room with the scent of cedarwood. Wow, a rich, full morning and it's not even 9 am yet.

Hope your weekend has no error messages, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I really love New York. I got a hotel room so small the bedbugs were hunch backed. No, seriously... --B Kliban

Me: Computer error. My Computer: Human error. / It was after three attempts to decipher the CAPTONA that Rachael Rosen began to suspect she might be an automaton.

..........Light the path below, above.........Mills Brothers …..Glow Worm

Trivia Questions: It is Kool-Aid Weekend!

^ Who invented Kool-Aid?
^^ What product(s) evolved into Kool-Aid?
^^^ When did the “Kool-Air” man burst onto the scene?
^^^^ How many of the original flavors can you name?
^^^^^ Who owns Kool-Aid now?

Big Hello: Bures – Northern Sámi (Norway, Sweden, & Finland) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Will Walz only work three quarters time? --Submitted by dr of oh ~~Opps! I've been told it is pronounced walls.

Image of the Week: This week I have seen people fly.

Writer's Jokes of the Week: Your first name + your last name = your struggling writer name. Gentlemen, Regarding the recent rejection slip you sent me. I think there might have been a misunderstanding. What I really wanted was for you to publish my story and send me fifty thousand dollars. --Snoopy

Error 54552 User error – Replace user / A bug is just an undocumented feature.

..........When the summer sun decides to settle low.........Mills Brothers …..Across The Alley From The Alamo

Moonbeam: Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. --Izaak Walton

Blasphemy of the Week: When Christians become convinced that we are the only authority on truth...we are worshiping ourselves. --Submitted by MMS

Puzzle of the Week: From Adam Aaronson, of Deerfield, IL.: Think of a classic movie title in which the initials of all the words up to the last one, in order, spell the number of letters in that last word. The number of words in the title is for you to discover. What film is it?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My brother, Fletcher, has been placed in hospice. Here is just one of the stories: My mom asked me if a waxed paper bag could be recycled. My dad sat up in bed and said "Throw it out." My dad will rise from his deathbed to make sure we don't contaminate the recycling. ~~He is a wonderful brother, a fun husband, a great father, and, apparently, an environmental activist.

Any user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it's not that good. / Autocorrect can go straight to he'll.

..........When there's joy in living you just never grow old.........Mills Brothers …..Be My Life's Companion

^ Edwin Perkins invented Kool-Aid in Hastings, NE in the 1920s. Perkins ran a mail order business for all sorts of products.

Almanac: It is Friday, August 9, 2024. The moon will enter its first quarter on Monday (8/12) and is in Libra. It is Nagasaki Memorial Day. 40,000 people died in Nagasaki on this day and another 60,000 were injured. To date, the United States is the only nation that has used nuclear weapons against civilians.

Among those born on this day were Izaak Walton (1593), Jean Piaget (1896), William A. Fowler (1911), Harry Mills (Mills Brothers, 1913), Bob Cousy (1928), Sam Elliot (1944), Melanie Griffith (1957), and Whitney Houston (1963).

On August ninth Walden was published (1854), Betty Boop debuted (1930), South African women demonstrated against Pass Laws (1956), Robert Zimmerman legally changed his name to Bob Dylan (1962), and Richard Nixon resigned (1974).

Night Sky, 8/9: Look west-southwest in late dusk to spot Spica just 4° or 5° upper left of the crescent Moon. Very high above or upper right of them is Arcturus, brighter and pale yellow-orangish. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Smoke, Minors, and Marshmallows

This Week: Saturday, August 10 – Agent Orange Awareness Day & National Bowling Day & World Lion Day

Sunday, August 11 – Global Kinetic Sand Day & National Hip Hop Day & Popsicle Day

Night Sky, 8/11: Perseids meteor shower peaks tonight. Better after the moon sets around midnight. Could yield 100 meteors per hour. Perseid meteor shower 2024 — When, where and how to see it | Space

Monday, August 12 – Middle Child Day & World Elephant Day

Tuesday, August 13 – International Left Handers Day

Wednesday, August 14 – National Lizard Day & National Navajo Code Talkers Day

Night Sky, 8/14: Saturn (magnitude +0.8, near the Aquarius-Pisces border) rises in the east around the end of twilight. Watch for it to the lower right of the Great Square of Pegasus, which is balancing on one corner. The Square's top-right edge points diagonally down nearly to Saturn, two fists at arm's length away.

Thursday, August 15 – Best Friends Day & National Relaxation Day

Most issues can be fixed by replacing or simply removing the failed component located between the keyboard and the chair. / Error: An error occurred while displaying the previous error.

..........Linger in the shade of a kind old tree.........Mills Brothers …..Up A Lazy River

^^ Originally Perkins sold flavor concentrates known as Fruit Smack. However, it had to be shipped in bottles subject to breaking and higher shipping costs, Taking jello as an example, he figured out how to dehydrate Fruit Smack and produced Kool-Ade. But in 1934 the Ade turned to Aid – because ade implied fruit juice and Kool-Aid has no fruit or fruit juice or fruit pulp. It is fruitless.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: There are more airplanes in the ocean than submarines in the air.

Moonbeam: Do your best when no one is looking. If you do that, then you can be successful at anything you put your mind to. --Bob Cousy

Video of the Week: Dizzy Dishes: very first betty boop cartoon - Google Search (6:18)

Interesting Fact of the Week: Thoreau had a “job” at his father's pencil factory. He designed pencils. I personally feel like the design of the pencil hasn't changed much since the 1560s.

But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. --Henry David Thoreau

He screamed, “Damn this operating system!” and then jumped. Now I know why they call it windows. / Go to the Preferences File, click on the pull-down menu, find the option that says “Nothing Works Right” and uncheck it.

..........drifting to and fro.........Mills Brothers …..Chinatown, My Chinatown

^^^ While a generic anthropomorphic pitcher was used as far back as the 1950s, Pitcher Man burst through his first wall in 1975. He has his own comic book.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: 3 of the 4 voices in my head want to sleep...the other wants to know if penguins have knees. --Submitted by INRITH

Weird Word of the Week: Recessionista – a fashionista who is decisively on trend in these straitened times and dresses exclusively in black (it's grim), vintage (It's all we can afford), and long skirts (going short during bad economic times is as frowned on in hemlines as it is in hedge funds). Recessionista (worldwidewords.org)

Dragon of the Week: This is the model of a dragon by Niki de Saint-Phalle. The sculpture is in a Tarot garden in Tuscany. It represents the Strength card. The model is (or was) on exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins in KC. --Submitted by ml of ks The Tarot Garden | Official Website (ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it)

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Clean a vase. Place one teaspoon of Cascade in a dirty glass vase, fill with water, and let sit overnight. The next morning, simply rinse clean. Cascade®: Wacky Uses

Error: Keyboard not found. Press F1 to continue. DEL to enter Setup. / User Error: It was an internal PEBCAK issue that you understand.

...........What do I care how much it may storm.........Mills Brothers …..I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm

^^^^ Original flavors: Grape, Orange, Cherry, Root Beer, Lemon-Lime, and Raspberry. There have been many, many flavors since. Kool-Aid/List of products and flavors | USA Store Fanon Wikia | Fandom

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks. --Calvin & Hobbes

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Monsterama 2024 (9-11, Atlanta, GA) ...When Monsterama Ruled The Earth... Monsterama Con August 9-11, 2024 Atlanta, GA

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting (4-9, Long Beach, CA) ...supporting ecologists throughout their careers. Ecological Society of America (ESA) 2024 Annual Meeting | Department of Energy

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: The Wizard Of Oz

Me: I need a more user-friendly computer. My Computer: I need a smarter human. / Windows XP: Task failed successfully.

..........those circles of blue and white.........Mills Brothers …..Smoke Rings

^^^^^ General Foods purchased Kool-Aid in 1953. In 1989 Kraft merged with General Foods. Kraft merged with HJ Heinz in 2015. (So, maybe, Mitt Romney owns Kool-Aid.)

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: The best man for the job may be a woman.

Quote of the Week: In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. --Gov Bob Walz

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. --Mark Twain

Today's Peace of History, August 9, 1987: Hundreds were arrested in an all-day blockade of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Golden, Colorado. Protests at Rocky Flats had been going on for some years.

Oscar never empties the Trash file and the blue Monster never deletes the cookies. / My computer says I need to upgrade my brain to be compatible with its new software.

..........You sit all alone like me.........Mills Brothers …..Yellow Bird

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, August 9, 2024, ePistle eRror. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create people who are capable of doing new things. --Jean Piaget

Cost of War:

As of 08/08/24 State Department Costs: $242,838,690,675.
As of 08/01/24 State Department Costs: $242,282,845,667.
As of 08/08/24 Homeland Security: $1,175,479,986,906.
As of 08/01/24 Homeland Security: $1,174,875,222,740.
As of 08/08/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,237,377,198,440.
As of 08/01/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,235,824,654,552.
As of 08/08/24 Military Costs: $3,099,175,336,321.
As of 08/01/24 Military Costs: $3,097,996,550,721.
As of 08/08/24 Veterans Care: $3,804,897,367,206.
As of 08/01/24 Veterans Care: $3,793,128,785,792.
As of 08/08/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,528,309.356.738.
As of 08/01/24 Total Cost of Wars: 9,559,769,740,710.

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

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. --Henry David Thoreau

Famous Last Words: Always a hoot. --Jerry Garcia who died on August 9, 1995.

..........Low or highbrow, they all cry now.........Mills Brothers …..Tiger Rag

Me: Can't you do anything right. My Computer: Can't you do anything right? / My computer has a fast modem, a Pentium, increased RAM, a huge hard drive, and broadband net connections. The problem – slow finger.

May Peace renew your soul
And Joy refresh your heart
prairie mama
christine

Last Laugh:

Friday, August 2, 2024

HOG wild ePistle

Famous First Words: Political activity authorized; prohibitions... The Hatch Act ₴7323

For those of you who can't make it to the Sturgis Bike Rally this year, here's a celebration of it. The bike started up fine, but I'm just gonna rev the engine a few times to make sure. Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence.

..........I don't want a tickle.........Arlo Guthrie …..The Motorcycle Song

It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. --James Baldwin

It is a clear, warm (76°F) Friday morning. The sky is a deep blue without clouds. A breeze (6 mph) makes the willow branches dance as if they were in Olympic competition and even the mulberry cannot help but move. I am sitting at my computer eating homemade from scratch biscuits with homemade from scratch sausage gravy, mmm, mmm. All this already makes it a great morning. There are also birds flitting about in the trees, sometimes singing...sometimes silent. Puck is asleep in the recliner which he has claimed since my hip surgery freed me from its constant use. (I still nap on it in the afternoon.) The whole house smells of fresh baking and gives a sense of comfort to anyone in smelling distance. Ah, a sparrow has landed on the utility and looked right into the window...and now is gone again. A morning of peace and glory.

Hope the weekend shines for you, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I don't mind genetically modified foods. I've just had a lovely leg of salmon. --Submitted by INRITH

I'm looking to buy a harley that makes me look cool, young, attractive and thin, and I want it to lower my cholesterol. Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul.

..........Gee it must be great, riding with him.........Shangri-Las …..Leader of the Pack

Trivia Questions: Happy Twins Days!

^ What percentage of births are twins?
^^ What kinds of twins are there?
^^^ Are twins more likely to be left-handed?
^^^^ Which US state has the most twins?
^^^^^ Do identical twins have identical fingerprints?

Big Hello: CaЛam – Nogai (southwestern Russia) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Today's Special: 5 minutes in the walk-in freezer with any purchase. --Submitted by INRITH

Image of the Week: The first mascot for the modern games was Smokey, the Scottish Terrier in 1932. The Olympics did not have “official” mascots until 1972. I eventually saw two spectators at the Olympics wearing the mascot hats.

Library Joke of the Week: Thermometers are speedometers for atoms. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian

Harley Davidson: The most efficient way to convert gasoline into noise without the side effects of horsepower. What's the cheapest thing on a BMW Motorcycle? The rider.

..........Won't you lay your big spike down.........Neil Young …..Motorcycle Mama

Moonbeam: Knowledge once gained casts a light beyond its own immediate boundaries. --John Tyndall

Blasphemy of the Week: There are three branches of government. Your church is not one of them.

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Mark Scott, of Seattle. Take the name of a famous actor of the past. Say it out loud, and phonetically you'll describe what a famous general's horse did. Who is the actor and who is the general? NPR Sunday Puzzle 7/28/24

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Look, I don't know how we got here, but in the year 2024 the two most wholesome people on the television are Snoop Dogg and Flavor Flav. --Linda Hopkins

My greatest fear is that when I die my partner will sell my bike parts for what I told her they cost. My rear view mirror says: Warning: Objects seen here are disappearing rapidly.

..........Go out yonder, peace in the valley.........The Band with Garth Hudson …..The Shape I'm In

^ 3% (3 in 100) births are multiples. 31.2 per 1000 are twins. 78.9 per 100,000 births are triplets or more. (These numbers don't add up, but they are the ones I was given by the national center for health statistics

Almanac: It is Friday, August 2, 2024. The moon will be new on Sunday (8/4) and is in Cancer. It is National Coloring Book Day and Take A Penny/Leave A Penny Day. Because it is the First Friday it is also Braham Pie Day aka Homemade Pie Day, International Beer Day, National Water Balloon Day, and Tomboy (i.e. Pink) Tools Day. The first weekend gives us Satchmo Days (mostly in New Orleans) and this weekend, in particular, is Twin Days.

Among those born on this day were Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754), John Tyndall (1820), Arthur Bliss (1891), Myrna Loy (1905), Mary Hamman (1907), Carroll O'Connor (1922), James Baldwin (1924), Lamar Hunt and Peter O'Toole (1932), Garth Hudson (1942), and Sue Rodriguez (1950),

On August second the Declaration of Independence was formally signed (1776), the San Francisco cable cars made their first trial run (1873), the first Lincoln head penny was minted (1909), the Hatch Act was passed (1939), the Beatles played their very first gig as the Cavern house band (Liverpool, 1961), Billy Martin was named manager of NY Yankee for the first time (1975), and Voyager 2 discovered 3 more moons around Neptune (1989).

Night Sky, 8/2: Week by week, Venus is getting just a little less low in the sunset. Using optical aid, can you pick it up and then detect Regulus and Mercury to its left? http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: If you notice the boys (and mom too) have rainbow hair. They colored it especially for attending the Pride Parade and Picnic.

This Week: Saturday, August 3 – Home Fermentation Day & Clown Day & National Sunflower Day

Sunday, August 4 – American Family Day & Coast Guard Day & National White Wine Day

Night Sky, 8/4: Bright Vega passes closest to overhead around 10 or 11 pm, depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone. It passes right through your Zenith if you're at latitude 39° north (DC, Cincinnati, KC, Lake Tahoe).

Monday, August 5 – National Oyster Day & National Electric Traffic Light Day & National Underwear Day

Tuesday, August 6 – Hiroshima Day

Wednesday, August 7 – Lighthouse Day & Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day

Thursday, August 8 – Dalek Day & International Cat Day & National Pickleball Day & Odie Day

Night Sky, 8/8: Eta Eridanids Meteor Shower 7/31-8/19, Peaks tonight. Fast moving (65km/s but only a few perhaps 6 per hour. Eta Eridanids Meteor Shower (Information, Facts, When, Where, Map) - Universe Guide

A laughing motorcycle is called a Yamahahaha. Life may begin at 30 but it doesn't get really interesting until about 150.

..........We could be relaxing in my sleeping bag.........The Band with Garth Hudson …..Rag Mama Rag

^^ Identical twins are born of a single egg splitting after fertilization. Fraternal twins are conceived with two eggs and two sperm. Mirror-image twins occur when one twin is left-handed and the other is right-handed (They also have birthmarks on opposite sides of their bodies).

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Raisins: Grape Jerky --Submitted by SH

Moonbeam: I truly believe that if you love something you can't help but be successful at it. --Lamar Hunt

Follow Up of the Week: You may or may not remember that June 28^th was Paul Bunyan Day. Tribal Family has informed me of a story about Paul Bunyan and Nanaboozhoo, the greatest Objibwa who ever lived. Here it is, not long, lots of fun, and very worthwhile. Nanabozho - Wikipedia

Video of the Week: Louis Armstrong: La vie en rose (3:24) Louis Armstrong - La vie en rose (youtube.com)

The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. --James Baldwin

I work hard so my motorcycle can have a better life. My Harley doesn't leak. It just marks its spot like a dog.

..........That's when that little love of mine dips her doughnut in my tea.........The Band with Garth Hudson …..Up On Cripple Creek

^^^ About 1 in 5 sets of twins are left-handed. This is roughly double the rate of the general population.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's possible that a slough could have been chasing after you for the past 6 years and you don't even know it. --Submitted by INRITH

Weird Word of the Week: Quinion – A group of 5 sheets of paper, laid on top of each other, and folded for publication...5 sheets, 10 folds, 20 pages. Quinion (worldwidewords.org)

Dragon of the Week: Park Bench in Bruges, Belgium

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Whiten white polyester. Mix one cup Cascade and one gallon warm water in a plastic bucket. Soak the clothes in the mixture overnight, then run them through the washing machine. Cascade removes the gray due to detergent residue build-up on white polyester. Cascade®: Wacky Uses

The only difference between a Harley Hog and a Hoover vacuum cleaner is the position of the dirt bag. You'll know when your BMW bike is out of oil. It will stop leaking.

...........two bits a shot.........the Band with Garth Hudson …..Life Is A Carnival

^^^^ New Jersey has the highest percentage of twin births (4.31%) but California has the most twin births. New Mexico has the lowest twin birth rate at 2.4%.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Every Olympic event should include one average person competing for reference. --Submitted by ar of ks

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: PulpFest 2024 (1-4, Pittsburgh, PA) Out Of The Ashes PulpFest – Join us Aug. 1 – 4, in Pittsburgh, PA!

Actual Science Conference of the Week: International Conference on Low Temperature Physics and Superconductivity (ICLTPS) ...Ultra Low-Temperature Techniques (2, San Francisco, CA) International Conference on Low Temperature Physics and Superconductivity (conferenceineurope.net)

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Cary Grant → Ulysses S Grant

I've heard Santa rides a Holly Davidson. A Harley Davidson is an American cultural icon, everything else is just a motorcycle; a better motorcycle, but still just a motorcycle.

..........They ain't gonna catch me, no.........The Allman Brothers Band …..Midnight Rider

^^^^^ Fingerprints are made as babies move around and touch the amniotic sac, hence creating unique ridges and lines form unique fingerprints. It is not linked to the DNA. Identical twins also have unique belly buttons.

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: Some far-right commentators have long argued that Democratic Party elites were plotting to replace President Biden. How Biden’s Stumbles Collided With a Right-Wing Conspiracy Theory - The New York Times (nytimes.com) ~~Apparently they did this without knowing the meaning of “plotting” since they did it in the media, in person, in groups, individually, in the open, publically, etc.

Quote of the Week: Here's the thing: every office I've run for I was the first to win. First person of color. First woman. First woman of color. Every time. --Kamala Harris

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's hard to free fools from the chains they revere. --Voltaire

Today's Peace of History August 2, 1939: Albert Einstein urged all scientists to refuse military work. "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

Any bike will last you a lifetime if you ride it fast enough. I blew both the tires on my Harley, now it's a ground hog.

..........Take me from this road to some other town.........The Byrds …..Ballad of Easy Rider

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, August 2, 2024, HOG wIld ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Health Hint of the Week: The leading cause of dry skin is towels.

Moonbeam: Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. --James Baldwin

Cost of War:

As of 08/01/24 State Department Costs: $242,282,845,667.
As of 07/25/24 State Department Costs: $241,721,963,445.
As of 08/01/24 Homeland Security: $1,174, 875,222,740.
As of 07/25/24 Homeland Security: $1,174,267,015,918.,
As of 08/01/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,235,824,654,552.
As of 07/25/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,234,258,109,362.
As of 08/01/24 Military Costs: $3,097,996,550,721.
As of 07/25/24 Military Costs: $3,096,807,130,702.
As of 08/01/24 Veterans Care: $3,793,128,785,792.
As of 07/25/24 Veterans Care: $3,781,25,021,826.
As of 08/01/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,544,112,926,749.
As of 07/25/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,528,309.356.738.

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

Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. --James Baldwin

Famous Last Words: Afford us keener pleasure. --Arthur Goodenough An August Cricket

..........That fool was the terror of highway 101.........The Cheers …..Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots

If I was riding you, you'd be loud too. Just one more bike, I promise. I once had a dog that chased people on motorcycles. I had to take the keys away from her.

May Peace be your method
And Joy be your goal
prairie mama
christine

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