• In 1928, when comedian Henry Morgan was thirteen years old, he and a few friends went to Palisades Park on the first day the amusement park opened for the season. While they were there, a man offered them a free ride on the roller coaster. Afterward, young Henry, who admits that he was a nosy kid, asked the man why he had let them ride free on the roller coaster. “Oh, it’s the beginning of the season,” the man explained. “We wanted to see if it’s still safe.”
• Groucho Marx was dragged to see a medium by his wife. He was reluctant to go because he didn’t believe the medium could communicate with the dead, but he perked up when he heard that the medium would answer any question asked of her. Groucho’s question was, “What’s the capital of North Dakota?” The medium didn’t know the answer, and two of her muscular male confederates threw Groucho out of the séance.
• Marie Dressler was a silent movie comedian who worked with Charlie Chaplin. During World War I, she was so famous that some American G.I.s stationed in France named a cow after her. When the cow was killed during the war, newspaper headlines stated, “‘MARIE DRESSLER’ KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY,” and the real Marie Dressler had a hard time convincing other people that she hadn’t died.
• During World War I, French silent film comedian Max Linder fought against the Germans. At the First Battle of the Aisne, Mr. Linder was machine-gunned. The Germans thought he was dead, and they sent a message of condolence to Mr. Linder’s film company. Fortunately, Mr. Linder survived.
• When comedy writer Barney Dean was in a hospital dying of cancer, Bob Hope visited him. Mr. Hope wondered whether Mr. Dean knew that he was going to die, just as Al “Jolie” Jolsen had died a few weeks earlier. When Mr. Hope walked into Mr. Dean’s hospital room, Mr. Dean asked, “Got any messages for Jolie?”
• Monty Python member Graham Chapman was always late for everything. After Mr. Chapman died, fellow Python member Michael Palin joked at the funeral, “I’d like to think he’s with us now—well, at least he will be in 20 minutes.”
• Henny Youngman’s most famous one-liner was, “Take my wife—please!” At his funeral, Rabbi Noach Valley of the Actors’ Temple in New York prayed, “Dear God, take Henny Youngman—please.”
Education
• As a comedian with cerebral palsy, which affects her control of her muscles, Geri Jewell has been in some interesting situations. When she showed up to take her driving test, the examiner refused to allow her to take it on the grounds that she was drunk! And when she went on a field trip to a psychiatric hospital with her college psychology class, one of the attendants thought she belonged there. When she tried to leave with the rest of the class, the attendant told her, “Come on now, honey. You can’t go with those people. This is your home here.” Ms. Jewell had to yell for help so her professor could tell the attendant that she was a student—the attendant was shocked and muttered, “I guess they’re letting everybody into college nowadays.”
• When his two sons were attending UCLA, comedian Joe E. Brown was invited to join his sons’ fraternity—provided that he become an undergraduate. Mr. Brown paid the tuition and even attended a physics class, where he challenged the professor’s statements and even asserted that Albert Einstein had called him for advice. (This was a somewhat true statement, but of course Mr. Einstein hadn’t called Mr. Brown for advice about physics.) After the class was over, the professor told Mr. Brown, “Stay away from my class, and I’ll give you an A, but if you ever show your face in here again, I’ll flunk you.”
What short story by O. Henry, first published in 1905, tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money?
By what collective name are Melchior (also Melichior), Caspar (also Gaspar, Jaspar, Jaspas, and Gathaspa), and Balthazar (also Balthasar, Balthassar, and Bithisarea) best known?
The biblical Magi (singular: magus), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, were – in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition – distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition.
Melchior (also Melichior), a Persian scholar;
Caspar (also Gaspar, Jaspar, Jaspas, Gathaspa, and other variations);
Balthazar (also Balthasar, Balthassar, and Bithisarea), a Babylonian scholar.
Encyclopædia Britannica states: "according to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India." These names apparently derive from a Greek manuscript probably composed in Alexandria around 500, and which has been translated into Latin with the title Excerpta Latina Barbari.
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
A trio so famous Harry Simeone wrote a song about them the Magi are also
known as the Three Wise Men or the Three Kings.
Alan J answered:
The Three Wise Men.
Mac Mac said:
Magi also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings,
Billy in Cypress wrote:
The Magi or Three Wise Men
zorch replied:
The Three Wise Men or the Three Kings.
Jacqueline responded:
The Three Wise Men I'm guessing
mj wrote:
We can look for them again this year
Since the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will recreate their star on
21 Dec. Those were the Magi (Three Wise Men).
Cal in Vermont replied:
The Three Wise Men who, bearing gifts, came from afar to lay them at the feet of Baby Jesus.
Dave responded:
Three Wise Men, Three Kings, or Magi. Tradition has it that the Magi followed the Star of Bethlehem to the stable, or manger where Jesus was born bearing gifts. The Magi are often depicted in nativity scenes. These Magi seem to have been invented to sell the idea that the birth the messiah was prophesized.
Roy, Still Bright Blue, Still in Gohmertstan, TX wrote:
'Tis the season, so my first guess is those are the Three Wise Guys, who brought gag gifts that Joe & Mary Christ could give to their little baby, Jesus.
Ed K said:
The original Three Stooges.
Daniel in The City answered:
The Magi
John I from Hawai`i says,
Three Wise Men
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
They are various names for the Biblical Magi
Michelle in AZ replied:
Three wise men
Dave in Tucson wrote:
They are known as the three wise men.
DJ Useo said:
I recognized them right away. Not bad for having learned that so long ago in Sunday School.
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame answered:
They are known as the Magi, the Three Wise Men or the Three Kings.
Joe replied:
The Three Wise Men. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I'm going to bed, I've had a hard day.
Randall took the day off.
Jon L took the day off.
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
Deborah, the Master Gardener took the day off.
Rosemary in Columbus took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
Kevin K. in Washington DC took the day off.
Stephen F took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
Kenn B took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghead (aka 'hoghed') ( Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. ~Frank Zappa ) took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
MarilynofTC took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Info: “The Silicon — a trio from Minsk, Belarus, that plays surf music & instrumental rock music under influence of the 1960's. Band exists since November 2008. The Silicon have released their album "Tiki Tohua" ( October 2015).
If you're interested in cool sounding post Soviet surf-rock (with balls definitely. ;)”
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $7 for for 11-track album
Buzzfeed has a story this AM about the FINCEN and even showed the building where their offices are located (attached photo). Ah ha ha! That's the building we call the Toilet Bowl! Actually, there's a very good Chinese restaurant there on the ground floor.
CBS fills the night with LIVE'College Football', then pads the left coast with local crap.
NBC opens the night on the East Coast with the FRESH'Global Citizen Prize', followed by an old 'SNL' (from 12/16/17) with Kevin Hart hosting, music by Foo Fighters.
NBC opens the night early on the left coast with the FRESH'Global Citizen Prize', followed by a LIVE'SNL', with Kristen Wiig hosting, music by Dua Lipa, then an old 'SNL' (from 12/16/17) with Kevin Hart hosting, music by Foo Fighers.
'SNL' is FRESH with Kristen Wiig hosting, music by Dua Lipa.
ABC fills the night with LIVE'College Football', then pads the left coast with local crap.
The CW offers some old 'Friends', and some old '2½ Men'.
Faux fills the night with LIVE'College Basketball'.
MY recycles an old 'Weather Gone Viral', followed by an old 'Storm Of Suspicion'.
AMC offers the movie 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation', followed by the movie 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation', again.
BBC -
[6:00AM] THE POLAR BEAR FAMILY AND ME - SPRING
[7:00AM] THE POLAR BEAR FAMILY AND ME - SUMMER
[8:00AM] THE POLAR BEAR FAMILY AND ME - AUTUMN
[9:00AM] WILD ALASKA - WINTER
[10:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - FROZEN SEAS
[11:00AM] PLANET EARTH: DYNASTIES - EMPEROR PENGUINS (EXTENDED VERSION)
[12:00PM] SEVEN WORLDS, ONE PLANET - ANTARCTICA: EXTENDED
[1:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - THE LAST FRONTIER
[2:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - THE EPIC JOURNEY
[3:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
[4:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SPRING
[5:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SUMMER
[6:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - AUTUMN
[7:00PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - WINTER
[8:00PM] BABY CHIMP RESCUE - A NEW BEGINNING EXTENDED
[9:15PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
[10:15PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SPRING
[11:15PM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - SUMMER
[12:15AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - AUTUMN
[1:15AM] BABY CHIMP RESCUE - A NEW BEGINNING EXTENDED
[2:30AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - WINTER
[3:30AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - THE LAST FRONTIER
[4:30AM] PLANET EARTH: FROZEN PLANET - THE EPIC JOURNEY
[5:30AM] HIDDEN HABITATS - SVALBARD (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has the movie 'Fifty Shades Darker', follwoed by the movie 'Fifty Shades Freed'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Grown Ups', followed by the movie 'Grown Ups 2'.
FX has the movie 'Trolls', followed by the movie 'Sing'.
History has 'History's Greatest Mysteries', followed by a FRESH'History's Greatest Mysteries'.
IFC -
[6:00am - 10:30am] Saved By The Bell
[11:00am - 12:30pm] Community
[1:00pm] Ghostbusters
[3:15pm] Tommy Boy
[5:30pm] Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
[8:00pm] Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
[10:30pm] Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
[1:00am] Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
[3:30am] Snow Day
[5:30am] Saved By The Bell (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am - 10:30am] the andy griffith show
[11:00am - 3:30pm] hogan's heroes
[4:00pm] a fistful of dollars
[6:30pm] pale rider
[9:15pm] the outlaw josey wales
[12:30am] unforgiven
[3:30am] high plains drifter (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban', followed by the movie 'Letters To Santa Claus'.
For those looking to create an unauthorized derivative of a Dr. Suess book a federal appeals court is likely one of the places you'll go. The 9th Circuit on Friday reversed a finding that a Star Trek-Dr. Seuss mash-up was a fair use of Theodor S. Geisel's work.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises sued ComicMix back in 2016 over Oh, the Places You'll Boldly Go!, its Star Trek-centric version of Geisel's popular book Oh, the Places You'll Go! In March 2019, U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino deemed it a transformative, "highly creative" work and found it to be a fair use.
Suess appealed and on Friday the 9th Circuit reversed Sammartino's summary judgment with regard to the copyright infringement claim. The panel found that not one of the four fair use factors weighed in ComicMix's favor.
The 9th Circuit finds that Boldly isn't a parody and isn't transformative, much like a predecessor case involving an O.J. Simpson murder trial take on The Cat in the Hat.
"Boldly’s claim to transformative use rests on the fact that it has 'extensive new content,'" writes McKeown. "But the addition of new expression to an existing work is not a get-out-of-jail-free card that renders the use of the original transformative. ... Although ComicMix’s work need not boldly go where no one has gone before, its repackaging, copying, and lack of critique of Seuss, coupled with its commercial use of Go!, do not result in a transformative use."
The implosion of one of President Donald Trump's former Atlantic City casinos is being delayed by a few weeks.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small said Thursday that the demolition company handling the job told the city the former Trump Plaza casino cannot be brought down as scheduled on Jan. 29.
A more likely date is sometime in February, although a firm date has not yet been set, the mayor said.
The city is using the demolition as an opportunity to raise funds for the Boys And Girls Club of Atlantic City. Small said he hopes to exceed $1 million from the auction.
The highest bidder will win the right to press the button that implodes the building.
Joshua Hawkins said the request seemed “pretty weird,” but the dark-haired man who made it was offering cash and a lot of it.
The man said his name was Nate, and he wanted Hawkins, a local artist, to paint an enormous Soviet-style mural of Cookie Monster — the voracious, pastry-loving “Sesame Street” creature — and three Russian words on a commercial building in Peoria, Illinois.
When the job was done over Thanksgiving weekend, the man paid in full, and Hawkins, 33, proudly displayed the mural on his Facebook page.
Less than a week after the mural went up, Hawkins said he received a call from the real Nate Comte, who said he had never commissioned the Cookie Monster mural.
He also made his feelings about the mural very clear: He swiftly used white paint to cover the wall.
Van Morrison has crafted yet another anti-lockdown tune, this time teaming with Eric Clapton.
"Stand and Deliver," which dropped Friday, was written by Morrison and performed by Clapton. Proceeds from the blues track will go to Morrison’s Save Live Music campaign benefitting those working in the music industry in the UK and Ireland.
“Eric’s recording is fantastic and will clearly resonate with the many who share our frustrations,” Morrison told Variety. “It is heart-breaking to see so many talented musicians lack any meaningful support from the government, but we want to reassure them that we are working hard every day to lobby for the return of live music, and to save our industry.”
Morrison previously released a trio of anti-lockdown songs in September and October in support of the campaign: “Born To Be Free,” “As I Walked Out” and “No More Lockdown.”
In "Stand and Deliver," Morrison and Clapton urge listeners to push back against the narrative they've been hearing, with lyrics such as: "Stand and deliver // You let them put the fear on you // Stand and deliver // But not a word you heard was true // But if there's nothing you can say // There may be nothing you can do // Do you want to be a free man // Or do you want to be a slave?"
Donald Trump (R-Corrupt)’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (R-Crooked) allegedly created a shell company that secretly paid the president’s family members and spent more than $600 million, a report says.
The payments to the Trump family and top advisors through the company helped shield financial details from the public, according to Business Insider.
Use of the company, incorporated as American Made Media Consultants Corporation and American Made Media Consultants LLC, reportedly allowed the president and his family to bypass federally required financial disclosures.
Campaign finance records show the Trump campaign and its committee at the Republican National Committee, spent $617 million from their $1.26bn coffers through the company, according to Insider.
Mr Kushner allegedly helped establish the company in 2018 and Mr Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump was installed as president, vice president Mike Pence’s nephew John Pence as vice president, and Trump campaign CFO Sean Dollman as treasurer and secretary.
A man who sued his parents for getting rid of his pornography collection has won a lawsuit in western Michigan and can seek compensation.
U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney ruled in favor of David Werking, who said his parents had no right to throw out his collection. He lived at their Grand Haven home for 10 months after a divorce before moving to Muncie, Indiana.
Werking said boxes of films and magazines worth an estimated $29,000 were missing.
“There is no question that the destroyed property was David’s property,” Maloney said Monday. “Defendants repeatedly admitted that they destroyed the property.”
“Defendants do not cite to any statute or caselaw to support their assertion that landlords can destroy property that they dislike,” the judge said.
Strong currents have taken hold of a massive Antarctic iceberg that is on a collision course towards South Georgia Island, causing it to shift direction and lose a major chunk of mass, a scientist tracking its journey said on Friday.
As the iceberg, dubbed A68a, approached the western shelf edge of the south Atlantic island this week, it encountered strong currents, causing it to pivot nearly 180 degrees, according to Geraint Tarling, a biological oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey.
"You can almost imagine it as a handbrake turn for the iceberg because the currents were so strong," Tarling said.
That's when the berg appeared to clip the shelf edge, and caused a large piece to break apart. That new piece is an iceberg in its own right and already has a name - A68d.
Researchers feared that, as the berg closed in on the wildlife-rich island, it could grind into the seabed, disrupting underwater ecosystems. They were also worried that the berg might block penguins making their way into the sea for food.
It's summer at the south pole of Mars, and the angels and devils are coming out to play. You can see them both in a stunning new image of the recently thawed pole, taken by the European Space Agency (ESA).
The devils, it should be said, are made of dust. Just like on Earth, Martian dust devils form when a pocket of warm air suddenly rises through a column of cool air, creating a spinning updraft. (Unlike on Earth, these dusty cyclones can tower 6 miles, or 10 kilometers, high). You can see the scratchy-scratchy tracks of one such cyclone in the dark region to the far left of this image.
And as for the angel? For an explanation, we'll have to turn to the heavens. Take a close look at the "halo" around the angel's head, and you'll notice the steep, sloping walls of an impact crater. According to a statement from the ESA, this ethereal feature is the product of a meteorite collision that dug deep into the Red Planet's crust, building a crater and revealing the layers of ancient sediment below.
Those old layers take on a dark-red hue and are visible in this image all through the angel's body as well as the heart-shaped structure below its right wing. What this reddish stuff is made of, scientists aren't sure. These strange, dark deposits are found all over Mars and are thought to be the result of ancient volcanic activity, long buried below the Martian crust, according to the ESA. Erosion, asteroid impacts and scathing winds have slowly brought these mysterious red scars to the surface.
This image was captured by the ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2004. These mysterious structures near the Martian south pole are visible now only because of the season; normally, the whole area would be covered in a 250-mile-wide (400 km) ice cap. Be thankful you don't have to shovel your car out of that.
Sheriff’s officials say they’ve busted an illegal winery that was operating at a municipal sewage plant in a small north Alabama town.
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement it received an anonymous tip about an alcohol operation at a municipal building in the town of Rainsville on Thursday. Investigators then uncovered what’s described as a large illegal winery inside the Rainsville Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Photos released by investigators show glass containers, buckets, a fermenting rack and other equipment often used by people who make wine at home.
The agency says officers seized a lot of illegal alcohol, and arrests are expected. The town of about 5,100 people is 100 miles northeast of Birmingham.
It’s legal to make limited amounts of wine at home in Alabama, but it’s illegal to have more than 15 gallons of homemade wine or beer at a time. Police photos show multiple fermenting vessels filled with what appears to be more than 100 gallons of white and red liquid.
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wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
