Imagine feeling someone tap you on the shoulders. Your family member has just wakened you up. It’s dinner time. You fell asleep studying for the exam that you’re scheduled to take tomorrow. This is the first exam, of a difficult subject you no longer remember, for the year and you’re still in the 7th Grade… In the year you started the first report card period for that grade.
Everything that you remember, up to the point of reading this, was just a dream. After you wake up, nobody takes what you say about your dream seriously. After all, it was just a dream. What would you do?
Meanwhile, enjoy your weekend.
1st
Rats of the Cong to ya’, 5th/77th!
So close!
Congrats FA.
Have a great weekend y’all!
To the point above, I wouldn’t change a thing other than try to be nicer to people, more charity and time with family.
Oh, and not invest in GE.
I wholeheartedly agree with your GE comment. That place was a clown show when I worked there both times. Apparently, it’s even worse now. Jack Welch can burn in hell.
INCOMING INCOMING INCOMING FIRST AGAIN TIME ON TARGET KING OF BATTLE 3 PETE on the Coveted TAH FRIDAY WEEKEND OPEN THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pizza and Hot wings, Yuenglings and Top Shelf Whiskey all around for my most loyal Dickweeded Minions. Mimosas for the Ladies! My Treat
One more Friday to go and then the following Friday I see a new CHAMP-ION….*possibly* .
I won’t try to pee on your WOTF. I wasn’t even paying attention today.
Sheesh, Look at me. (DUH)
This bites … I missed being first because I was researching a future trivia column!
Congrats to my man 5th/77th FA! Working toward that record-setting five-peat, and I hope you get it!
Since I can’t be first (I’ll settle for third or wherever I am), here’s this week’s trivia!
DID YOU KNOW…?
In what unique way does the town of Riverside, Iowa, attract tourists?
By Commissioner Wretched
A couple of months ago here, I told you all that I don’t watch much television. And I don’t. Many of my friends talk about “bingeing” on full runs of old favorite shows – something that I can never seem to scrape up the time to do.
Until now, that is.
I recently came into possession of the DVD set of the entire 1975 “Ellery Queen” series, starring Jim Hutton and David Wayne. The show lasted 23 episodes, and the challenge – if you have never seen it – was to solve the mystery yourself. Just before the last scene, where the killer was unmasked, Hutton – as Ellery Queen, mystery writer – would “break the fourth wall” and address you, the viewer.
He’d ask if you caught all the clues, and if you had already figured it out.
I watched the show back when it was first run, in 1975, and out of all 23 episodes, I was able to guess “whodunit” just once. I recently did my first “binge” watching, and had a great time! And no, my guesses still weren’t right.
The reason I mention this is to remind you that you have to see all the trivia to catch the clues … not unlike what I bring each week in this space.
At least you don’t have to solve a “whodunit” to get the fun. So let’s get to this week’s trivia!
Did you know …
… it is illegal in Pennsylvania to hunt on your own land without a license? However, it is perfectly legal to fish on your own land without a license. (Isn’t fishing just hunting for fish, though?)
… the record for the most people on a single motorcycle is 47? The record was set in Brazil in 1995. (Funny thing is, they were all going in different directions.)
… each year, about 30,000 Americans are injured by their exercise equipment? (Yet another very good reason to avoid exercising, if you ask me.)
… it is illegal in Turkey for a man over the age of 80 to become a pilot? (The law doesn’t say he can’t become a co-pilot, however.)
… the Wizard of Oz has a full name? In the classic novel, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), we learn that the wizard’s full name is: Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs. He called himself Oz for the first two initials and left off the rest, since they spelled out the word “pinhead.” (Now that makes sense to me, for some reason.)
… the town of Riverside, Iowa, has a unique way to attract tourists? The town has declared itself the “Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk.” Kirk, of course, is the lead character in the 1960s television series “Star Trek.” The role was played by William Shatner (born 1931), who has visited Riverside and lent his approval to the town being named Kirk’s birthplace. According to the sign at the edge of town, Kirk will be born on March 22, 2228. (Every town has to have something to be proud of, even if it won’t happen for another 200 years!)
… the office of the Coroner in Los Angeles has a gift shop? Called “Skeletons in the Closet,” the shop sells unique, quirky items like a beach towel with the outline of a murder victim on it. (Every home should have one.)
… the popular story “Beauty and the Beast” was originally written for a very dark purpose? The story was created in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (1695-1755) and was written so that girls would accept arranged marriages. The story, in which the Beast was actually a hideous combination of an elephant and a fish, was meant to get girls to go along with “an alliance that required effacing their own desires and submitting to the will of a monster.” (Take that, Walt Disney!)
… it’s illegal to own one guinea pig in Switzerland? Not that the cute little rodents are banned – quite the contrary. It’s against the law to own only one. In an effort to provide animals with social rights, the Swiss government has said that if you own guinea pigs, you have to have at least two. Guinea pigs are social animals and can fall into a deeply depressed mental state if they’re going solo in your cage. That makes owning just one an act of animal cruelty. For a while, the government offered a guinea pig rental service until you could buy a permanent pal for your pet. (Guinea pig rental. Now I’ve heard everything.)
… the most widely printed book in history is a catalog? Sure, you might think it’s the Bible, or the Qur’an, or even the collected Harry Potter series. But the IKEA catalog – which prints 200 million copies every year – surpasses them all. The annual catalog runs about 350 pages and has 72 different editions, including a Saudi Arabian edition featuring only male models.
… people in the Victorian era didn’t say “cheese” when they had their photograph taken? They said “prunes.” The idea was to keep a more serious expression on their faces for the photo. (And believe me, saying “Prunes” would do that, too.)
… the most successful pirate in history was a woman? Ching Shih (1775-1844), widow of the feared Chinese pirate Zheng Yi (1765-1807), succeeded her husband and turned out to be even a better pirate than he was. By the time of her death, Ching commanded more than 1800 ships and 80,000 men. (There are only three letters in the pirate alphabet – “arr,” “aye,” and “oh!”)
… Sears used to sell houses? The giant retailer once offered kit houses – homes that you could build yourself – with the materials shipped by train. The kit houses even came with a 75-page instruction book. (Stack a bunch of them on top of each other and you’d get the Sears Tower.)
Now … you know!
I remember watching the original Ellery Queen TV series and liked it, but wasn’t a big fan of the novels. As a protagonist, Queen was a wealthy sophisticate who solved crime as a hobby. Bruce Wayne without the Batman cape. Some of this was apparently a legacy of the British school of crime fiction which included Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.
Meanwhile, other American mystery writers of the 1930s, including Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, were developing protagonists with a more gritty edge. Chandler’s character of Philip Marlowe, and Sam Spade who was Hammett’s, were pretty much thugs dealing with other thugs.
As a literary wag at the time commented, “Chandler and Hammett took the body out of the Vicar’s rose garden, and put it in the gutter where it belonged.”
Chandler was also a very good literary stylist, and his prose has aged well to this day.
Every nite, before rack time, I say to Alexa. Alexa tune in mystery play internet radio and I get the Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Richard Diamond, Johnny Dollar, Dragnet, Pat Novak for hire, Candy Matson, Suspense, X-minus 1, the third Man, The Lineup, Broadway is my beat, Box 13, Escape, The man called X and others. I also say, Alexa tune in 20th century radio and get other radio shows. Hanks old time radio is the third station.
FirstITH!
I woke up from a nightmare when the Judge dropped all of the trumped up charges and granted me my divorce from the final ex mrs. The girl of my dreams HAD turned out to be my worst nightmare.
Got to step out for awhile boys and girls. Conducting a Memorial Service and the scattering of ashes for a long time Brother who passed away Wednesday. Robert served as a Pharmacist and his daughter (my God Daughter) is currently serving as a Coastie. We will send him off in style. The Bar is open…drinks on The King of Battle. Thanks in advance for the well deserved best wishes on my FIRST!
Congrats on the streak FA and kudos on the
memorial service for the Pharmacist.
My grandfather was a Ships Pharmacist in WWI.
They didn’t have the miracle drugs of today
but did the best they could with what they had
and kept the troops healthy.
Present!
That’s a really interesting question. 7th grade was a very difficult time in my life. It was at that time I realized that the teachers were assigning a bunch of busy shit work and I wouldn’t have cared all that much about a big test.
7th grade was the worst 3 years of my life!!
7th grade in Junior high 59 had me listening to 4 Black guys chiming off during the breaks and lunch time in the schoolyard. Scales were NBC and FLAME. I remember them doing the Shirelles hit at the time-I met him on a Sunday (58) but they sang it as I met Her on a Sunday. Boss song.
7th Grade?
I must have been a weirdo cuz I had one
thing and one thing only on my mind.
And it wasn’t music!
From the obvious news department, the steaming pi…, errr, esteemed disbarred lawyer who put the DUH in FloriDUH is still dead, deceased, inert, beneath the sod. Well, most of him is beneath it, there may be some of him that’s spread thinly across the terrain.
Unfortunately, the NTSB, in pure government fashion, has not yet released a final report in the 1 year, 7 months, and 7 days since they released the preliminary crash report of 1/30/18.
“He’s dead, Jim.” The most memorable quote from Doc “Bones” of the original Star Trek series. One thing you can say for the human lawn dart, he went boldly into those woods where no pilot had ventured before. (Anyway, so far as we know at present)
In my opinion, as a former pilot, the cause of his crash was a failure to maintain altitude, but Bernasty has that mastered now. Obviously his primary flight instrument, his I-pad, failed to tell him to either increase airspeed or pull-up.
Don’t forget, he had loose cables regarding his elevator trim and he was arguing online with people about how he could fix it his self. Of course, he came off as entirely arrogant and the smartest guy in the room.
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. ”
Attitude=Altitude.
Or, more precisely, his attitude caused a loss of altitude, in the end.
Reports had him going as fast as 362 mph.
How much fucking faster do you want him to go???
Make large sports bets
Invest heavily in Apple
Invest heavily in Disney
Buy Star Wars figures and lock them up for 30 years
Invest heavily in LEGO
Health and safety check Dave Hardin. I feel dumb for not remembering exactly which town he lives in. I hope you still has electricity and internet access so he can be bustin da phonies.
Hi Folks, Happy Weekend!
Remember Justin Paisley, that fake ass wanna-be Marine Gunnery Sergeant who trained dogs (badly)?
Well, looks like there are finally warrants out for his arrest and a REAL Marine dog trainer has stepped up and offered to retrain all the dogs that Paisley f’d up.
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/09/05/justin-paisley-lyndon-villone-dog-trainer/
Here’s hoping that Justin Paisley gets everything he deserves!
“Everything he deserves,” up the ass like Saint Peter the Peter Pumper, currently one of the libturd presidential candidates…..
I can’t look at that guy without thinking that he takes it up the ass AND brags about it….
I mean, if it’s what he wants, more power to him, but dear God in Heaven does he have to slam it down everybody’s throats all day every day ???
Where the heck is everyone?
I’m hours late to the ball and still in the top 20?
Currently in our AO it is 101 with 23% relative humidity, making the heat index 100. Very rare for East Texas to have humidity that low.
For those keeping track, the Walther PPK/S is due back from it’s 5th trip home to Mama next Monday. We’ll know next week…
Mrs. GB is recovering from her foot surgery well, and now just has to do some at-home physical therapy to regain flexation.
Was going to take one of the grands out shooting this morning, but his mother said he’d not finished enough of his schoolwork yet to go (they homeschool) so possibly tomorrow afternoon we’ll get to pop some caps. While we had a chance we went over firearm safety, familiarization with the firearm, its controls, proper stance and grip and sight picture, and some dry-firing. We’ll review until ht thinks he always knew this stuff — and does it naturally every time.
Got some skills practice in myself with the SR22P.
Time well spent, GB. And good for Mom sticking to her *cough* guns- play after the work is done.
Our Favorite First Daughter-in-Law is an excellent mother and wife. I do not cross her.
And it will help motivate the grandkid to finish schoolwork and not procrastinate. Win-win.
My middle Daughter does the same thing with my Grandsons and their newest toy gun…..
I asked how they like it and she informed me that the attitude adjustment period is underway until further notice……
Good for her and your Grandson’s Mother too !!!
Be smart out there TOW, looks like your part of the world is trying to burn down again. Will be keeping you and the crews in prayers here.
My engine went out with the other shift on it, but it’s on its way back with a regen problem. Which means we’re on the reserve rig, which can’t go out of county, which is fine by me! Our biggest problem in my IA lately has been dodging flash floods and dealing with the fact that California drivers don’t know what to do on a wet road. Africa hot, South Pacific humid, and bigass thunderstorms. It’s supposed to cool off and dry out next week, thank God. We had a firefighter fatality a few weeks back, heatstroke on a PT hike. It was bad, and avoidable, and that’s all I can say about it.
Apart from that, it’s been a nice quiet season around here so far, at least for fires. A couple of veg fires, a structure here and there, plus some border fires. The handful of campaign fires around the state haven’t been all that big. We’ll see what happens in the fall when the Foehn winds pick up.
There ya go. Yeah, I saw about that fatality, and meant to comment on it, but you know, some shiny bunny crossed my path(or one of my firefighters breaking something).. No big fires around here this year either, though we’ve had a string of room n contents jobs, and a few dramatic wrecks (we got a few of those non-driving individuals from Cali that moved out here)
Just opened up Navy times and the entire senior Seal Team 7 leadership were fired Friday morning due to loss of confidense. I didn’t want to copy and paste the article because of the last time I didn’t do it right so I just mentioned it now and most likely someone will print some of the story.
Thirty something and Honorary First once again.
((((OVER))))
Saw a convoy of a couple dozen power company
trucks crossing into New Brunswick friday.
Probably heading south to Nova Scotia for the
anticipated hurricane damage.
Looks like they nailed the forecast.
Safe journey! Those guys earn every penny.
Army & Michigan tied at 14 at end of regulation. Black Knights missed a 50 yard FG w/ 2 seconds left. On to OT.
Michigan wins in double OT 24-21. Wolverines were favored to win by 22 points.
The tree’s are changing, the propane truck just left my yard, next week will heating oil (red dye#5) and three cords of dry wood. Does anybody wanna buy my fillings?
If I had it to do over, from 7th grade on, and kept my current knowledge. I would be getting more action than I would know what to with.
As my age increases i seem to become more interesting to the ladies, and get more offers, even though Im still on my starter wife, and going on 27 years of fidelity.