These new displays of aurora lights are courtesy of the recent solar storm. It may have knocked out some telecommunications. But, the trade off is great!
Darfield, New Zealand
Lake Charles, near Québec City, Canada
Lake Superior, Michigan
Crater Lake, Oregon
Southern New Zealand
Lake Superior, Michigan
Hutchinson, Minnesota
Sky above northern Michigan
Oreti River, southern New Zealand
Filed under News
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Nelson Mandela, 1993 Nobel Peace prize-winner; former South African President, is 94.
John Glenn Jr., former astronaut and U.S. Senator from Ohio: 1975-1999, is 91.
Olympic figure skater – sportscaster Richard Button, 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist [1948, 1952]; first to land a double axel [1948 Olympics], is 83.
Olympic figure skater Tenley Albright, silver medal [1952], gold [1956]: first American woman to win event, is 77.
Actor James Brolin (Bruderlin; Hotel, Marcus Welby, M.D., Angel Falls, Westworld, Von Ryan’s Express, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Fantastic Voyage, The Boston Strangler, The Amityville Horror) is 72.
Joe Torre (baseball player: Milwaukee Braves, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, NY Mets; manager: St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers; broadcaster) is 72.
Singer Martha Reeves (Martha and the Vandellas) is 71.
Singer –musician Ricky Skaggs (Wheel Hoss, I Don’t Care, Crying My Heart Out over You) is 58.
Actress – singer – writer – producer Audrey Landers (Dallas, Somerset, California Casanova) is 56.
Actress Elizabeth McGovern (Ordinary People, Racing with the Moon, The Bedroom Window) is 51.
Actor Lee Arenberg (Cradle Will Rock, Robocop 3, Waterworld, Bob Roberts, The Apocalypse, Cross My Heart) is 50.
Filed under Birthdays
64 – According to legend, Rome’s Emperor Nero decided to target Christians by starting a series of fires.
The Torches of Nero, by Henryk Siemiradzki.
1811 – Author William Makepeace Thackeray (Vanity Fair, Pendennis) was born in Calcutta, India.
1913 – Actor – comedian Red Skelton (The Red Skelton Show) was born in Vincennes, Indiana.
1936 – The Spanish Civil War began as a revolt by right-wing Spanish military officials in Morocco spread to mainland Spain.
1940 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a third term in office at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago.
1976 – Nadia Comaneci, a 14-year-old Romanian girl, became the first gymnast to score a perfect ‘10’ in Olympic competition at the Summer Games in Montréal. Nadia went on to collect seven perfect scores; winning three gold medals, a silver and a bronze.
1986 – Close-up videotape images of the Titanic wreckage were released to the public.
Filed under History
“Oh come on, because we thought that Sarah Palin was the better candidate.”
– Sen. John McCain, when asked by Politico why he didn’t choose Mitt Romney as a running mate in 2008.
In a separate announcement, McCain’s office is now accepting gift ideas for his retirement party.
Filed under News
A cloud-to-ground lightning strike severs the sky near Los Lunas, New México. Tim Samaras and his crew chased the slow-moving storm cell until they ran out of road, and now can only watch as it moves on. Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic.
Filed under News
After my second day on the new job – my first full day of work – I’m tired beyond belief. My head is starting to hurt from looking at the tiny screen on the laptop they gave me because they ran out of desk tops. My hands are numbing from working on said laptop. And, I’m happy about it.
It’s such a strange feeling though – going back to work like this. It’s a contract job that I hope will metamorphose into a permanent position. But, in the current business environment, hardly anyone is full-time, permanent with benefits and stock options. Those were the glory days of – oh – circa 2000.
Still, I’m satisfied thus far. I’m doing the type of work I’ve always wanted to do – full-time technical writing and editing. I sit in a large cubicle all by myself. My supervisor is on another floor, handed me a platter full of documentation to scrutinize yesterday and has pretty much left me alone since. She’s already learned that I can be brutally honest; something I emphasized in my interview. But, she seems to appreciate that. The other associates have been friendly; periodically introducing themselves. There’s a huge break room, and I park my truck in a garage. It takes me 15 minutes to get to the office.
So yes, I’m starting to like it there. But, I won’t push my luck, or let myself get too comfortable. I’ve always been the cautious type anyway. Whenever I’ve taken things for granted, I’ve gotten sideswiped. I guess you could say I don’t trust happiness too much.
In the meantime, I’ll deal once more with crawling out of bed at 5:30 A.M.; wearing business casual attire; trying to stay awake all day; and seeing the joy in my dog’s mocha brown eyes when I return to the house. Now, if I could keep my own eyes from reacting to these damn pollens, I’ll be happy enough have an orgasm!
Filed under Essays
If I’d known acting was this simple, I would have moved to Hollywood 20-plus years ago, instead of going to work for a bank!
Filed under Curiosities
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Phyllis Diller (comedienne: The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show, actress: Boy Did I Get the Wrong Number) is 95.
Actress Diahann Carroll (Claudine, Julia, Dynasty, The Five Heartbeats) is 77.
Actor Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money, JFK, Klute, Backdraft, M*A*S*H, The Dirty Dozen, Outbreak) is 77.
Bass guitarist Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler (Black Sabbath) is 63.
Actress P.J. Soles (Pamela Jayne; Carrie, Rock ’n’ Roll High School, Private Benjamin, Stripes, The Power Within) is 62.
Lucie Arnaz (actress: They’re Playing Our Song, Here’s Lucy; producer: Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie [1992-93]) is 61.
Actor David Hasselhoff (Bay Watch, Knight Rider, The Young and the Restless) is 60.
Actor Robin Shou (Mortal Kombat, Beverly Hills Ninja, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation) is 52.
Actor – singer Paul Hipp (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Lethal Weapon 3, The Chippendales Murder) is 49.
Filed under Birthdays
1862 – The U.S. government authorized national cemeteries to bury those who died in battle, other war veterans, U.S. Presidents and government leaders.
1867 – The Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston, MA, becoming the first dental school in America.
1889 – Author Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason) was born in Malden, MA.
1901 – Dr. Willis Carrier installed a commercial air conditioning system at a Brooklyn, NY printing plant. The system was the first to provide man-made control over temperature, humidity, ventilation and air quality. It was originally installed to help maintain quality at the printing plant and for the first two decades of the 20th Century, Carrier’s invention was used primarily to cool machines, not people.
1955 – Disneyland opened the gates to “The Happiest Place on Earth” in Anaheim, California.
1981 – Two skywalks suspended from the ceiling over the atrium lobby at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, MO, collapsed, killing 114 people. Five years later, two design engineers were convicted of gross negligence.
1996 – TWA (Trans World Airlines) flight 800, carrying 230 people, including four cockpit crew members and 14 flight attendants, exploded, falling into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island, New York. The Boeing 747 had lifted off from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport at 8:19 p.m. bound for Paris, France. After a 16-month probe, the FBI announced it had found no evidence of a criminal act or a missile; concluding the crash was caused by electrical arcing in the plane’s center fuel tank igniting fuel vapors.
1998 – After a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in West Sepik, Papua New Guinea, three tsunami waves reaching heights of 45 feet, struck; followed by two smaller waves. The waves killed more than 2,000 people and left some 10,000 left homeless.
Filed under History
