maren

Ah! I never heard that story! Thanks!!! Never "heard the story" -- just had the sign silently pointed out to us by the promoter/van-driver on our band's first trip to London!

Flintstones contraceptive chewables will help the kids get in the habit.... It is MINT-flavored, right? It's BREATH control! No, it's BIRTH control! It's 2, 2, 2 mints in one!

And great (at machine-hard-and-fast picking) bass player: Klaus Fluoride.

(Bobby Goldsboro cover band, recorded on Shimmy Disc...) Reminds me -- a friend of mine played in a band called "Chunk" whose leader heard of a "new" band (~1990) in North Carolina sporting the same name -- friend's bandleader warned these college upstarts to change their name, which they did -- to SUPERCHUNK. They got a lot further than "Chunk" did.

Yes, happy birthday!

My dad gave us a Reader's Digest single-volume home repair book when we moved into a co-op apartment -- it's been very helpful (has an awful lot of info crammed in there). I bought a Black & Decker home repair volume for a friend of mine who bought a house recently -- looked pretty good too.

I've only "Viewed New Posts" once! -- too much pre-reading, and not organized by category! I just go to the Forum Main Page and click "last post" on the color-flagged categories. When I've read that "last post", I hit "go to" that category and glance at what's color-coded new there. Work my way through the categories. I'd rather take my cues from the little envelopes and circles than have to read the "new posts" list. Similar to the fact that I only ever have "analog" (face & hands) clocks and watches, NEVER digital.

If so, I guess there IS a Barry Manilow tune I like. "Syrup baked in" is tolerable in a tiny dose...

That kitty litter cake is going TOO FAR! I would have drawn the line (in the sand) after this: "Tell your kids to eat dirt!" Oreo Sand & Dirt Cups: Prepare 1 pkg. each (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding and Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding separately, with 2 cups each cold milk, as directed on packages. Let stand 5 min. Gently stir 1/2 cup of Cool Whip Whipped Topping into each bowl of pudding. Finely crush 20 Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, then sprinkle 1 Tbsp. into bottom of 8 (6-oz.) dessert cups. Top each with 1/4 cup vanilla pudding, 1 Tbsp. cookie crumbs and 1/4 cup chocolate pudding. Sprinkle evenly with remaining cookie crumbs. Refrigerate at least 1 hr. or until ready to serve. Insert 2 gummy worms into each dessert cup just before serving. Makes 8 Oreo Sand and Dirt Cups.

Well, "Oprah" always seemed to me very close phonetically to "Ofra" (as in Israeli singer Ofra Hazan) and "Aphra" (as in 17th century English writer Aphra Behn) -- so I googled my way to a website called http://www.20000-names.com/female_hebrew_names_02.htm where I found this AND this! and on the "male_hebrew_names" page, this:

Gee, this seems to be a trend...

One more tribute... a belated Veteran's Day one:

Adding to my above post with some family stories: My Dad enlisted in the Army on his 17th birthday in May 1945. Served in the U.S. When he was 15 and 16 he was in a youth volunteer corps that monitored black-out compliance. That part I found out from a little box of papers after he died. Seems one night while investigating a light that shouldn't have been on, he found a man who had just hanged himself, extricated the guy and revived him with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. There were newspaper clippings about his heroism and grateful letters from the man's wife and mother -- my dad never spoke of this, but my mother told me it was a pivotal moment that led him to eventually become a doctor. My mother (4 years older) enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps, which provided her training, and she worked stateside through WWII treating injured servicemen/women. My nephew is joining the Marines when he graduates from high school this coming May. He's a beautiful kid (and it scares the hell out of me).

This strikes me as incredibly sweet, creative and positive! At first glance I thought, "of course, a musician wants to help people hear! I wonder if someone in his family or band went deaf?" There was a surprising time lag before I remembered, "oh, right, Ray Charles happens to be blind..." Guess he's putting his money toward what for him would constitute a REAL disability!

I second that emotion.

Rooster beat me to the recommendations! But you can also find interesting stuff by looking up individuals on the web -- lots of baseball sites have incorporated Negro League statistics. I was a 5-year-old Milwaukee Braves fan in 1957, and I remember Bill Bruton well, but I only recently learned he was scouted for the Braves by Judy Johnson, and soon thereafter became his son-in-law! And Quincy Troupe, the author, is the son of Quincy Trouppe, the catcher and switch-hitter: http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlib...uppe_Quincy.stm, and follow the links... I read ONLY THE BALL WAS WHITE in around 1978. I remember it being a LOT better than a more recent book with some big factual errors (not worth struggling to remembering its name -- but if you come across any book that calls the barnstorming "House of David" a Jewish team, like that one did, it's wrong).

I love Art Carney. I love every physical thing Ed Norton does -- all the "warming up" and pushing up his sleeves before he writes with a pen or plays the piano -- thinking of Ed starting every tune with "Way down upon the Swanee River" while tutoring Ralph for a "Name That Tune"-style game show. I also remember really being moved by him in "The Late Show" -- 1977 movie with Lily Tomlin where he plays an aging LA private eye -- haven't seen it since then -- maybe I'll try to rent it tonight.

Happy birthday, Weizen!!! Light 'em up... and hoist 'em!!! (No, not a political recommendation!!!) (from my original neck of the woods -- "Made with Chippewa water from the Big Eddy Springs")

From Joel and the Hello Kitties???!!!

Happy birthday -- you share it with two good friends of mine and a character in E.M. Forster's "Howard's End" (for whatever that's worth) -- but make this one all yours!

Ditto!

AB, "Cat Sha-nnon" made me laugh out loud!!!

Happy Birthday!