June 11, 2012

I learned that you're not supposed to hang up sweaters, but I don't have enough shelf space to do otherwise & my dresser is FULL already, so even though I'd like to, there's not much of anything I can do about it. Dinner was amazing ... even Kyle liked it! I made chicken with red, orange, & yellow peppers, soy sauce, rice, Mrs Dash, onion, & garlic. It smelled great in the house & it tasted SO good! Milligan Water meeting tonight.

Albert, the 1st monkey astronaut launched into space. Sadly, he suffocates in flight. (1948)

Ballpoint pen day. Scratch giant circles on a paper to start the celebration.

Band:

As featured live on stage during the Steve Jobs Keynote Speech at the Apple WWDC 2008, and listed in the iTunes 'Top 10 Music Applications' for 2008.
MooCowMusic:Band is a collection of virtual instruments that lets you go beyond just listening to other people's music on your iPhone or iPod Touch, to creating music yourself from scratch.
Each instrument has been designed to take advantage of the unique touchscreen of the Phone, with complex chords of up to five notes playable in real-time.
The instruments provide visual feedback, so that piano keys and bass guitar strings animate when pressed.
All the instruments can be recorded, overdubbed multiple times, and mixed together into a final track, which can be saved for later playback.

Band also features the innovative "Twelve Bar Blues" instrument, that enables anyone to play amazing blues backing and guitar solos.
We believe you should never buy something unseen, so all our applications have comprehensive video demos on our website (http://moocowmusic.com)
From the company that brought you the critically acclaimed Top 10 iPhone applications: Pianist, Guitarist, Bassist and Organist.

Designate 'Money Mondays.' Use Mondays as a reminder to review your weekly financial situation.

If you want to win with money in a marriage, there's 1 phrase you can never, never say to your spouse again: "Whatever you want to do, honey." Marriage is a partnership, & couples can't win with money unless they're attacking the budget as a team!

It's happening more & more often these days that men are included on baby shower guest lists - & some lucky guys even get showers thrown for them. Before planning a shower, check with the expectant parents to see which kind of celebration they'd prefer.

Last episode of The Sopranos airs (2007):

(And I didn't miss it!)

Almost 12 million people tune in for the series finale of HBO’s critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning Mob-family drama The Sopranos on this day in 2007.

The mastermind behind The Sopranos was David Chase, a longtime writer, producer and director for TV series such as The Rockford Files, I’ll Fly Away and Northern Exposure. Chase drew inspiration for his latest series from his Italian-American childhood growing up in New Jersey (home!), when he was fascinated by William Wellman’s great 1931 gangster film The Public Enemy, starring Jimmy Cagney. The Sopranos was an immediate hit with critics when it premiered in January 1999. At its center was the New Jersey Mafia boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), whose attacks of anxiety early in the series send him into the office of a therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). It soon becomes clear that Tony has a stressful life managing his family--including his vindictive mother (Nancy Marchand) and uncle (Dominic Chianese), his materialistic but good-hearted wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and his two teenage children, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and Anthony Jr., or A.J. (Robert Iler)--as well as his crew of lieutenants, notably Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico), Silvio Dante (Steve Van Zandt) and Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).

The Sopranos brought to television a complex, compassionate vision of Mafia life similar to those previously portrayed on the big screen by directors like Francis Ford Coppola (the three Godfather movies) and Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets, Goodfellas). Both The Godfather and Goodfellas were touchstones for Chase (and his characters) throughout the series, as was The Public Enemy, which Tony memorably watches after his mother’s death in the show’s third season.

According to Alessandra Stanley, writing in the New York Times during the final season of The Sopranos: “The series lowered the bar on permissible violence, sex and profanity at the same time that it elevated viewers’ taste, cultivating an appetite for complexity, wit and cinematic stylishness on a serial drama in which psychological themes flickered and built and faded and reappeared. The best episodes had equal amounts of high and low appeal, an alchemy of artistry and gutter-level blood and gore, all of it leavened with humor.” As Stanley recounts, critics and pop-culture observers were often hyperbolic in their praise for the show, calling it Dickensian or Shakespearian; the author Norman Mailer, for one, called The Sopranos the closest thing to the Great American Novel in today’s culture. Fans loved it as well: The show’s audience reached a peak of some 18 million viewers during its fourth season. The show’s breakout success, along with that of the comedy series Sex and the City (which debuted six months before The Sopranos), established HBO’s reputation as the home of some of TV’s most popular original programming.

In the final season of The Sopranos, Tony survives a near-fatal shooting and begins to contemplate his own aging and mortality. Meanwhile, it appears that a full-scale war is brewing between the crime families of New York and New Jersey, as the hated Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) takes control of New York after former boss Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola) dies in prison. When Phil goes after Tony and his crew, they react in turn, and the bodies stack up. In the closing scene of the open-ended finale, Tony meets Carmela, Meadow and A.J. in a diner for dinner. As soon as the screen went black, fans immediately began debating what actually happened, and mourning the end of a show that many had considered the best in the history of television.

Morganatic:

Of or relating to a marriage between a royal or noble & a person of inferior rank whose children cannot succeed to royalty or nobility.

The king's son by his 2nd wife, the child of a morganatic marriage, will never rule.

Although the deprivations imposed on the lower-ranking spouse by a morganatic marriage may seem like a royal pain in the neck, the word "morganatic" actually comes from a word for a marriage benefit. The New Latin term morganatica means "morning gift" & refers to a figt that a new husband traditionally gave to his bride on the morning after the marriage. So why was the New Latin phrase matrimonium ad morganaticam, which means literally "marriage with morning gift," the term for a morganatic marriage? Because it was just that - the wife got the morning gift, but that's all she was entitled to of her husband's possessions.

This unusual South African native grows outdoors all year in southern Florida, California, & Hawaii. In colder climates, it's strictly a houseplant, but only mature plants are capable of setting the striking orange-&-blue flower spikes. This may take as log as 6 years. What is it? Extra points for giving its scientific name, too.

Bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae). It must have its cool period of rest in autumn & winter, when nighttime temperatures should hover around 55°. Also, to encourage flowering, it needs sun all day & a rich, well-drained soil that is kept evenly moist all through the spring & summer, its period of active growth. During this time, fertilize regularly with any all-purpose fertilizer recommended for flowering plants, following package directions.

Waterproof mascara:

At weddings & other family gatherings, you can cry if you want to & not worry about smudges.

What are the only two landlocked countries in the world that are surrounded by countries that are also landlocked?

Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan. Liechtenstein is bordered by landlocked Switzerland and Austria; and Uzbekistan is bordered by landlocked Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan.

What is the first name of Mr. Peanut, the monocled mascot of Planters Peanuts?

Which feature on the Statue of Liberty is the biggest, 2nd biggest, & 3rd biggest?

A. Waistline

B. Tablet

C. Right Arm

You have a large Christmas cactus. You'd like to subdivide it, to share it with your friends. No problem, right?

You're the only one who thinks you're fat.