June 14, 2012

Got everything done 3rd day in a row yesterday. Looks like I've got Mondays - Wednesday's smoothed out. Just working on the rest of the days now. Watched the premiere of Dallas last night & loved it! I really missed that show & was afraid they'd screw up the new one, but they didn't. The last thing I said before I went to bed Tuesday night was "Nothing can happen tomorrow that will mess up the recording of the premiere of Dallas." So what happened? Storms! I checked the recordings after it was all over & wouldn't you know it, they were hosed. Only partials of both the pilot & the 1st episode. LUCKILY they were showing an encore back to back with the 1st set, so I was able to record those. So today is my truck's 7th birthday! Poor thing got beat up a little in yesterday's hail storm, but I don't there there's any damage. I looked while it was still raining & I didn't see anything. For dinner tonight I'm thinking maybe beef enchiladas.

1st time you do a written budget, it's not going to work. You'll have things that you missed or forgot, & you have to sit down & adjust the budget. You have emergency budget committee meetings throughout the week until you get the budge to where it's working. The 1st month, you'll have 20 of those meetings. The 2nd month, you'll have 10. The 3rd month you'll have about 4, & by the 4th month you'll have the budget polighed up & working pretty well.

Arrange from lowest to highest.

A. Dodici

B. Diece

C. Undici

BCA. 10, 11, & 12 in Italian. Who's up for pizza?

Burlington, VT:

6 words: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory.

Comity:

Friendly civility : courtesy.

The meeting was as good a display of bipartisan comity as can be expected in an era of political division.

Our countrey ... soweth also in the fielde of our brestes many precious sedes, as ... honest behauor, affabilitie, comite," wrote English clergyman Thomas Becon in 1543. Becon's use is the earliest documented appearance of "comity" - a word derived from the Latin comitas, meaning "courteousness" (& Probably related to the Sanskrit word for "he smiles"). "Comity" is largely used in political & judicial contexts. Since 1862, "comity of nations" has referred to countries bound by a courteous relationship based on mutual recognition of executive, legislative, & judicial acts. And in legal contexts, "comity" refers to the recognition by courts of one jurisdiction of the laws & judicial decisions of another.

Dallas: Back in the big-hat 1970s and '80s, the large living and shady affairs of greedy oilman J.R. Ewing and his bickering family formed America's favorite prime-time soap opera, complete with cliffhanger season endings. The complex relations between the Ewing clan create a dramatic landscape in which family members could be sharing a pleasant round of cocktails one moment and plotting a new victim's financial ruin the next.

Danger, danger! This night-blooming scent-laden plant is very poisonous & produces the toxins atropine, hyocyamine, & scopolamine. Ingest enough of it, & you'll die. But it makes a lovely choice for summer container gardens. What is it?

Datura. The most common ornamental species are Datura meteloides, D. Saveolens, & D. metel. They are closely related to simsonweek (D. stramonium) & to the shrublike brugmansias, with which they are sometimes confused.

The plants are handsome & easy to care for, with wide green leaves & a steady output of the huge, white, purple, pink, or yellow flowers that give them the shared common name of angel's trumets.

As long as you don't eat daturas & don't let the sap enter your system - through cuts or your eyes, for example - there's little reason to worry about them. But it's probably unwise to grow daturas where small children or plant-eating pets might play.

Double-dip mint chocolate ice cream cones take the sting out of back-to-school shopping.

Garage can be a dangerous place for children. Children should never be in the garage unattended & all chemicals should be stored in a locked cabinet.

Man attended his high-school reunion with his wife. He looked around the room & noticed the other men with their bulging stomachs & expensive-looking suits. Proud of the fact that he weighed only 5 lbs more than when in high school, a result of trying to eke a living from a rocky hillside farm, the man said to his wife, "I'll bet I'm the only guy here who can still wear the suit he wore when he graduated."

His wife looked at the well-dressed crown, then said, "Good thing. You're probably the only one who has to."

Professor Herring just returned from a 6 month vacation in the Middle East. In 1 of the lectures she gave, she said the highlight of the trip was seeing many of the ancient artifacts 1st hand. She made mention of having seen several mummies & tapestries dating as far ack as 200 B.C. She claimed to have seen coins dated 46 B.C., & weapons made of metal from approximately 500 B.C. What's wrong with Professor Herring's claims?

Coins were never dated 'B.C.'

Queen Elizabeth makes Helen Mirren a Dame (2003):

On this day in 2003, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II publishes the list of those she has chosen to appoint as Officers of the Order of the British Empire as part of the traditional Queen’s Birthday Honours. Included on the list were (among others) the soccer star David Beckham, the musician Sting, the actor Roger Moore of James Bond fame and the actress Helen Mirren. An acclaimed veteran of the London stage, Mirren had earned numerous awards for her starring role in the British television series Prime Suspect and would go on to win an Academy Award for Best Actress several years later for her portrayal of none other than Elizabeth II, in Stephen Frears’ film The Queen (2006).

Born Ilynea Lydia Mironoff in 1945, Mirren began her acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the latter half of the 1960s. From her very first film appearance (playing the young muse to a middle-aged artist in 1969’s Age of Consent), Mirren displayed the overtly sensual screen persona that would become her trademark. Other early movies included O Lucky Man! (1973); the sexually explicit, critically derided Caligula (1979), which was co-produced by Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione Jr. and featured a full roster of preeminent British actors; Excalibur (1981) and the science-fiction film 2010 (1984). Mirren met her future husband, Taylor Hackford, when he directed her in 1985’s White Nights; after a relationship of 11 years, they married in 1997.

Mirren’s stage career flourished throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress for 1995’s A Month in the Country on Broadway. She also continued acting in films, earning notice for her performances in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) and The Madness of King George (1994). It was on television where Mirren made the biggest impact, however, playing the no-nonsense police detective Jane Tennison on Prime Suspect for a total of seven seasons from 1991 to 2006. She won numerous honors for the role, including Emmy and BAFTA awards.

Among the actresses of her generation, Mirren had become known for her comfort with nudity. To commemorate her 50th birthday, she posed naked on the cover of Britain’s Radio World. She continued to reveal herself on-screen as well, in the comedy Calendar Girls and the TV drama The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (both 2003). In some of her most acclaimed later film roles, however, Mirren played characters who were decidedly more inhibited, notably in 2001’s Gosford Park (for which she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress) and 2006’s The Queen. The latter film garnered Mirren the best reviews of her career, and won her the Oscar for Best Actress. She earned an Emmy Award that same year for her portrayal of another British queen in the HBO miniseries Elizabeth I.

The famously liberal Mirren had previously rejected a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) distinction in 1996, when the conservative Tory Party had been in power. After accepting her DBE (Dame of the British Empire) honor in 2003, Mirren told the press: “The whole concept of aristocracy I loathe. I gave myself a week to think about whether or not to accept the honour. I talked to people in my industry and they were unanimous, they said you’ve got to do it. It was surprising to me, slightly, because I thought of myself as the naughty one.”

Uncork the wine about a half hour before it's served so that it can aerate, or "breathe." You might want to open the wine just before your guests arrive so that you're able to taste it to ensure the quality. Champagne is often opened, with care, at the table &U served immediately. To open, tilt the champagne bottle away from you & others. Hold a small towel over the cork. Gently twist the bottle, not the cork. In general, white & pink wines are chilled & reds are served at room temperature. Between pourings, you might want to return the chilled wine to the fridge or keep it in an ice bucket nearby.

What Oscar-winning actress was dubbed “the sex queen of Stratford” for her sensual performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company?

Helen Mirren.

Which John Steinbeck novel was written 1st, 2nd, & 3rd?

A. The Grapes of Wrath

B. Of Mice & Men

C. East of Eden

Which of these are states in the Commonwealth of Australia?

Queensland, New South Wales, West Australia, Kingsland, Victoria, Tasmania.

Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, & Tasmania.

Who was the first African American athlete to carry the U.S. flag and light the Olympic flame at opening ceremonies of the Olympics?

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You got a miniature rose in a fancy pot as a birthday gift. The problem is, you already have 3 miniature roses in fancy pots & you don't want another one. If you plant it outside, will it survive?

"Your collection of rare record albums almost rivals your murdered aunt's world famous collection," said Shadow to Sam Sham. "Yes," replied Sam, "she had several 1-of-a-kinds. As her accountant I can certainly verify the value of such a collection." "We're not sure what the burglar was after when he murdered your aunt," said Shadow, "but we found 2 very rare records hidden under the floorboards. These would certainly be of interest to you." Sam leaned forward & indicated he would very much like to read them. Shadow then withdrew the 2 accounting records hidden by the deceased lady which showed the debits & credits of a substantial fortune. "My aunt was going senile so her entries wouldn't mean a thing," offered Sam. "I believe you were involved in your aunt's murder," accused Shadow. Why?