Motley Moose – Archive

Monday, Monday… much more like the Mamas and Papas than the Bangles. No matter how much coffee I pound down, I cannot be manic on Mondays. Not that my Monday experience matches this one…

Now, tell me… What is your favorite day of the week? Do you have it embroidered on your underwear? What is your favorite song to dance to, the one you can’t sit still when you hear it? What is the first record or CD you bought with your own money for yourself? What is the last music you bought?

Now let us partake of the tawdriness that is Twitter:

Paul Ryan: “The sequester will happen if Democrats keep refusing our offer to shred the social safety net while the Kochs’ laugh maniacally”

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) January 27, 2013

When I see 9 yr olds in Somalia with machine guns and anti aircraft missiles, I ask myself: are our children in America being left behind?

— kara vallow (@teenagesleuth) January 27, 2013

@teresakopecMamet personifies the type: “I used to consider myself aDemocrat, but thanks to 9/11, I’m outraged by Chappaquiddick.”

— Riffle (@keeFS) January 27, 2013

Paul Ryan: “The sequester will happen, and Democrats will be to blame because the GOP is too crazy to be held responsible for its actions.”

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) January 27, 2013

Why won’t #60Minutes ask Obama REAL questions like “Why did you order your friends in Al Qaeda to kill our ambassador in Benghazi?”

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) January 28, 2013

“Mr. President, Secretary Clinton…whose memes are more viral?”

— Jesse Taylor (@jesseltaylor) January 28, 2013

The French sent us the Statue of Liberty, Fois Gras, Champagne and Bleu Cheese.We sent them Lance Armstrong.Was that a deal or what?

— RUTH BUZZI (@Ruth_A_Buzzi) January 28, 2013

Think of how much more miserable Jean Valjean would have been if he’d stolen a pack of rice cakes.

— Dave Shumka (@daveshumka) January 28, 2013

In 2008 Lance Armstrong was a national hero; now he’s just a cheater. It’s pretty obviously Obama’s fault.#60Minutes

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) January 28, 2013

You people are not only wicked, you’re derivative. At least when Adam and Eve sinned it was original.

— God (@TheTweetOfGod) January 28, 2013

Now, sit down and pay attention to your history lesson!

On This Day

In 1754, Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity in a letter to Horace Mann (at least it is the first known usage of the word). Note that back in those days, Horace was apparently a pretty common name.

In 1813, Pride and Prejudice was first published. Austen had sold the entire copyright to the publisher, so missed out on some considerable profits.

In 1915, the Coast Guard was created by an act of Congress.

In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court, becoming its first Jewish member. Some of his fellow justices treated him shabbily due to his faith.

In 1958, the Lego company patented the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today, and just as painful to step on.

In 1959, Vince Lombardi was named head coach of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.

In 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members.

In 2003, President George W. Bush lied in his State of the Union address that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had sought uranium from Africa. (The claim was later disputed by former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had been asked by the CIA to investigate, which of course opened up that can of worms leading to the conviction of Scooter Libby.)

Born on This Day

1225 – Saint Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)

1688 – Jan Maurits Quinkhard, Dutch painter (d. 1772)

1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and poet (d. 1749)

1853 – José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)

1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian painter (d. 1918)

1864 – Charles W. Nash, American automobile entrepreneur (d. 1948)

1873 – Colette, French writer (d. 1954)

1882 – Mary Boland, American comedienne/actress (d. 1965)

1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist (d. 1982)

1890 – Robert Stroud, American convict, the Birdman of Alcatraz (d. 1963)

1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German actor, producer and most notably, film director whose style was dubbed the “Lubitsch Touch.” (d. 1947)

1900 – Alice Neel, American artist (d. 1984)

1906 – Harry van Kruiningen, [Henri A Janssen], painter/graphic artist (d. 1996)

1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)

1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor (d. 2010)

1927 – Ronnie Scott, British tenor saxophonist and club owner (d. 1996)

1929 – Acker Bilk, English clarinetist

1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist (The Pretty Things)

1944 – Susan Howard, American actress

1945 – Robert Wyatt, English musician. (Soft Machine, Matching Mole) This TotP clip was after he was paralyzed in an accident. The producers did not want him in his wheelchair, claiming (get this) it was “not suitable for family viewing.” We’ve come a long way since then, but not far enough:

1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American politician, senior senator of New Hampshire

1948 – Charles Taylor, 22nd President of Liberia and convicted war criminal

1951 – Brian Bilbray, American idiot politician

1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author and homophobe

1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of France

1959 – Randi Rhodes, radio personality

1959 – Dave Sharp, Welsh guitarist (The Alarm)

1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer

1963 – Dan Spitz, American musician, guitarist (Anthrax)

1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer and songwriter (I could post that really manipulative commercial, but I won’t)

1968 – DJ Muggs, American DJ and producer (Cypress Hill)

1968 – Rakim (William Michael Griffin Jr.), American rapper (Eric B. & Rakim)

1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer (*NSYNC)

1980 – Nick Carter, American singer (Backstreet Boys) (what, is it National Boy Band Day???)

1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor hobbit

Died on This Day

814 – Charlemagne (b. 742)

1547 – King Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)

1939 – William Butler Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1865)

1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American author (b. 1891)

1999 – Markey Robinson, Irish painter (b. 1918)

2004 – Mel Pritchard, British Musician (Barclay James Harvest) (b. 1948)

2005 – Jim Capaldi, English drummer, singer and songwriter (Traffic) (b. 1944)

Today is

National Blueberry Pancake Day

National Kazoo Day

Clash Day

Rattle Snake Round-Up Day

Fun at Work Day

Pop Art Day

Data Privacy Day