April 27, 2012 · 10:12 PM

On April 27…

1667 – Blind poet John Milton sold the copyright to Paradise Lost for 10 pounds.

 

1759 – Author Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (Vindication of the Rights of Women) was born in London.

 

1791 – Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor of the electromagnetic telegraph, was born in Charlestown, MA.

 

1822 – Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States, was born in Point Pleasant, OH.

 

1865 – The steamship Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River, en route from New Orleans to Cairo, IL.  Around 1,700 passengers, including several discharged Union soldiers, died.  The cause of the explosion never was determined, and the disaster remains the worst of its kind in the U.S.

 

1994 – South Africa held its first multiracial parliamentary elections.

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April 27, 2012 · 9:15 PM

Cartoon of the Day

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April 27, 2012 · 9:11 PM

Pictures of the Day

Recently, photographs of an all-white, or albino killer whale taken in the far Northern Pacific, near the Aleutian Islands, have surfaced.  Nicknamed “Iceberg,” researchers believe it may be the same whale spotted in 2000 and 2008, but they’re still not certain if it’s a single anomalous creature, or just one of many such animals that simply haven’t been seen before the advent of modern photography and more adventurous scientists.  Regardless, it’s a fascinating mystery.  Check out this story, which includes video of the whale.

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April 27, 2012 · 8:42 PM

Quote of the Day

“It is my opinion that if you go to space in a big way – and people know that requires innovation, discovery and achievements that are writ large in the daily newspapers – it will influence the culture in such a way that even if you are not personally engaged in space exploration, you will still want to innovate.  Big, grand visions have the power to trigger a wave of innovation.  If you go into space in a big way, it creates a seductive dream for the educational pipeline.  You won’t need programs to convince people that science is an interesting thing to do, they will be compelled to want to do it simply by reading the day’s headlines.”

– Astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson, on the future of space exploration.

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April 27, 2012 · 8:33 PM

Women’s Worlds

Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish-born poet and playwright whose works often focus on gender-based oppression and violence.  In 2009, she was appointed Britain’s Poet Laureate, becoming the first woman and first openly gay or lesbian person to hold that position in its 300-year history.  Even then, however, her male colleagues referred to her as a “poetess,” which I think is akin to a man calling his beloved spouse “wifey.”  Duffy’s writings include Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award and the Forward Poetry Prize; The Other Country (1990); Selling Manhattan (1987), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; and her first collection, Standing Female Nude (1985), for which she received a Scottish Arts Council Award.

Dramatic characters and narratives, voiced with a sharp edge of wit and social critique, characterize Duffy’s early work, while her recent collections have wrestled more directly with dark and tangled themes of love.  But, perhaps her most intriguing compilation of poems is the “The World’s Wife,” published in 2000, which examines some of history’s most famous events and myths strictly from the viewpoint of the women or female characters who dutifully stood off to the side.  In many cases, she creates a female version of the male.  The figures include Mrs. Faust, Mrs. Quasimodo and Mrs. Tiresias.  A self-contained Penelope doesn’t wait for Odysseus; frustrated Mrs. Sisyphus is married to a workaholic; and Pygmalion’s statue, tired of being pestered by her groping suitor, “changed tack/ grew warm, like candle wax/ kissed back” – and after sex gets dumped.  She provides twisted updates to Viagra, sheep cloning and Monica Lewinky.  This material has been mined by feminist writers before.  But, as women gain more economic and political power – even in such unlikely places such as Brazil and Egypt – it’s always refreshing to contemplate how historical events might have appeared if their creators had been filled with estrogen and not testosterone.

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April 26, 2012 · 11:16 PM

April 26, 2012 – 238 days Until Baktun 12

Survivalist Tip:  Amidst your supply of beverages, add some wine to it.  This may seem counter to the survivalist mentality, but studies in recent years show that wine is actually very healthy.  Of course, anything in excess is bad for you, including (as difficult as it is to believe) chocolate.  Red wine in particular has been proven healthful since it contains procyanidins, which protect against heart disease.  It’s also rich in an antioxidant called polyphenol, which helps prevent damage to blood vessels; that in turn, reduces bad cholesterol and prevents blood clots. 

Here are some estimated benefits to wine consumption: 

  • It has been associated with better lung functioning, especially white wine.
  • It promotes longevity.  Research has shown wine drinkers have a 34% lower mortality rate than consumers of beer or liquor.  This may be because beer and liquor drinkers are more likely to smoke, which is definitely antithetical to survivalist dogma.
  • It reduces risk of Type 2 diabetes.  Moderate wine drinkers have 30% less risk than non-drinkers of developing Type 2 diabetes.  This is because they’re not as fat.  Fat people will have a tough time surviving the apocalypse.
  • It lowers the risk of stroke.  Moderate wine consumers have a 50% less chance of having blood clot-related strokes.
  • It reduces the risk of cataracts.  Moderate wine drinkers are 32% less likely to develop cataracts.  Dealing with cataracts is the last thing you need as you scavenge the countryside for food and water.
  • It cuts the risk of colon cancer.  Moderate wine consumption has shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer by 45%.  Your colon is essential to digestive functioning.  You’ll have a difficult time if you’re always throwing up.
  • It slows brain decline.  Moderate wine drinkers show a considerably slower rate of brain function decline than non-wine drinkers.  In the “New Universe,” the Mayan deities will look down upon people who don’t have all their wits about them.

Keep in mind the above point are just estimates.  But, there’s no need to refrain from wine consumption, even in the aftermath of the upheaval.  Besides, not only does wine go great with chocolate, empty wine bottle make good water storage containers and defense weapons.

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April 26, 2012 · 10:43 PM

Today’s Notable Birthdays

If your birthday is today, “Happy Birthday!”

 

Comedienne – actress Carol Burnett is 79.

 

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Duane Eddy (Forty Miles of Bad Road, Because They’re Young, Theme from Peter Gunn) is 74.

 

Singer Bobby Rydell (Wild One, We Got Love, Swingin’ School, Kissin’ Time, Volare) is 70.

 

Olympic Hall of Famer Donna De Varona (400-meter individual swimming medley [1964]; International Women’s Sports Hall of Famer; founder of Women’s Sports Foundation) is 65.

 

Boyd Matson, TV host: National Geographic Explorer, is 65.

 

Actor Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects, Smoke, Reckless) is 54.

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April 26, 2012 · 9:52 PM

On April 26…

1785 – Artist and ornithologist John James Audubon was born in Santo Domingo, now Haiti.

 

1803 – Between 2,000 and 3,000 meteorite stones, some weighing up to 20 pounds, rained down on L’Aigle in northeastern France.  The meteorites poured down along an 8-mile-long strip in this town, 100 miles west of Paris.  No one was hurt, but it was the first time scientists could verify that stones could come from outer space. 

1865 – John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, was killed after Union troops tracked him to a Virginia farm. 

1888 – Author – playwright Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, I Married an Angel, San Francisco, Saratoga, The Women) was born in Sissons, CA.

 

1900 – Seismologist Charles Francis Richter, inventor of the Richter scale for measuring the magnitude of earthquakes, was born in Hamilton, OH.

 

1921 – Weather broadcasts were heard for the first time on radio when WEW in St. Louis, MO, aired weather news.

1983 – For the first time, the Dow Jones industrial average moved over the 1200 mark, just two months after smashing the 1100 barrier.

1986 – In Pripyat, Ukraine, the Chernobyl atomic power station exploded in the worst nuclear accident in world history.  At least 31 people are known to have died immediately from the blast, but estimates put the final death toll in the thousands.  About 70,000 more were exposed to the radioactive material, as some 150,000 others had to be permanently relocated.

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April 26, 2012 · 7:44 PM

Cartoon of the Day

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April 26, 2012 · 7:42 PM

Quote of the Day

“Is this the best we could do?”

– Former Republican candidate Jon Huntsman, on the question that crossed his mind as he stood on the debate stage in Iowa last August with his fellow Republican presidential hopefuls.

No wonder he dropped out of the race – he has too much common sense!

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