Happy Friday! Don’t forget to tip your server without leaving snide notes!
Questions, I has them: What was your least favorite subject in school? Do you still hate it? Do you have any phobias? What are you allergic to? Are there any public figures that you might as well be allergic to? What present day fashion can you NOT get on board with?
Row, row, row your boat gently down the Twitter stream…
@scalzi “If only I could spread cookie on my cookie!” was the thought that led to an instance of infinite recursion which ended the galaxy.
— William Dass (@WBDass) January 31, 2013
If AR-15 is the weapon of choice for moms with crying babies then is a rocket launcher for lonely people that have cats?
— John Conner (@MotorCityLib) January 31, 2013
I quote @elonjames when I say, Lindsey Graham’s voice sounds like a ‘whites only’ drinking fountain. #p2 #TFY #ABLC
— Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) January 31, 2013
More Americans being shot full of “Freedom Holes” yet again today. Thanks #NRA!
— Lalo Alcaraz (@laloalcaraz) January 31, 2013
If we don’t have gun laws because criminals will get weapons anyway, why do we have drug laws? #GunsKillPeople
— Alex Rubin (@MisterRubin) February 1, 2013
America. Where they’re more likely to come for your birth control than your guns.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) February 1, 2013
Chicken stove top stuffing and a liter of scotch covers all four food groups, right? If not, I can smoke a cigar for extra nutrition.
— John Cole (@Johngcole) February 1, 2013
I do appreciate that John McCain is engaged in a nearly never-ending campaign to remind us why we’re glad he is isn’t president.
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) February 1, 2013
Unfortunately we learned more about warmongers John McCain, Jim Inhofe & Ted Cruz in today’s hearings than we did about Chuck Hagel
— Howie Klein (@downwithtyranny) February 1, 2013
On This Day
In 1709, Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, was rescued after being shipwrecked on a deserted island off the coast of Chile.
In 1790, the Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time in New York City.
In 1861, Texas voted to secede from the Union.
In 1865, Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
In 1958, Egypt and Syria merged to form the United Arab Republic, which lasted almost 3 years (it dissolved in 1961).
In 1960, four black college students began a sit-in protest at a lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., where they’d been refused service.
In 1978, Polish film director Roman Polanski skipped bail and fled the United States to avoid prosecution for having sex with a 13 year old girl.
In 1982, “Late Night with David Letterman” premiered on NBC.
In 1996, the Communications Decency Act was passed by Congress. It regulated, among other things, decency on the Internet. Parts were blocked and later struck down.
In 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107 disintegrated during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard. It was 17 years and a few days after the Challenger accident.
In 2004, Janet Jackson’s infamous Super Bowl halftime wardrobe malfunction occurred. The Bush era FCC counted every single e-mail received, unread, as a complaint, even though many were in support of Jackson.
Born on This Day
1710 – Konrad Ernst Ackermann, German actor (d. 1771)
1801 – Thomas Cole, English-born American landscape painter of the Hudson River School (d. 1848)
1859 – Victor Herbert, Irish composer (d. 1924)
1894 – John Ford, American director and producer (d. 1973)
1901 – Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960)
1902 – Langston Hughes African-American poet and author (d. 1967)
1904 – S. J. Perelman, American humorist (d. 1979)
1906 – Helen Chandler, American stage and screen actress (d. 1965)
1906 – Hildegarde, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
1908 – George Pal, Hungarian-born director and producer (d. 1980)
1928 – Stuart Whitman, American actor
1931 – Boris Yeltsin, 1st President of the Russian Federation (d. 2007)
1934 – Bob Shane, American singer (The Kingston Trio)
1937 – Don Everly, American musician (Everly Brothers)
1937 – Garrett Morris, American comedian
1937 – Ray Sawyer, American singer (Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show)
1938 – Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor (d. 2012)
1938 – Jimmy Carl Black, drummer (Mothers of Invention) (d. 2008)
1939 – Joe Sample, American pianist (The Crusaders)
1942 – Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer (Monty Python)
1947 – Jessica Savitch, American journalist (d. 1983)
1948 – Rick James, American musician and composer (d. 2004)
1950 – Mike Campbell, American guitarist and producer (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
1951 – Sonny Landreth, American guitarist and songwriter
1954 – Chuck Dukowski, American musician (Black Flag)
1954 – Bill Mumy, American actor and musician
1956 – Exene Cervenka, American musician (X) (and ex-Mrs. Viggo Mortensen, but I suppose that is irrelevant) 😉
1965 – Sherilyn Fenn, American actress
1965 – Brandon Lee, American actor (d. 1993)
1969 – Andrew Breitbart, very angry American blogger and conservative political commentator (d. 2012)
1969 – Patrick Wilson, American musician (Weezer)
1975 – Big Boi, American musician (Outkast)
Died on This Day
1850 – Edward Baker Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1846)
1851 – Mary Shelley, English author (b. 1797)
1878 – George Cruikshank, British caricaturist and illustrator (b. 1792)
1905 – Oswald Achenbach, German painter (b. 1827)
1922 – William Desmond Taylor, American actor and director whose still unsolved murder was a huge Hollywood scandal back in the day. (b. 1872)
1944 – Piet Mondriaan, Dutch painter (b. 1872)
1959 – Madame Sul-Te-Wan, American actress (b. 1873)
1966 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (b. 1885)
1966 – Buster Keaton, American actor (b. 1895)
1989 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1918) This painting is of de Kooning by Argentinean painter Raquel Partnoy.
1991 – Carol Dempster, American actress (b. 1901)
1997 – Herb Caen, American columnist (b. 1916)
2002 – Hildegard Knef, German actress, singer, and writer (b. 1925)
2003 – Mongo Santamaria, Cuban percussionist and band leader (b. 1922)
2004 – May O’Donnell, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1909)
2012 – Don Cornelius, American TV host (b. 1936)
This Month is
American Heart Month
Bake for Family Fun Month
Black History Month
Canned Food Month
Celebration of Chocolate Month
Great American Pies Month
LGBT History Month (UK)
Library Lovers Month
National Bird Feeding Month
National Cherry Month
National Fiber Focus Month
National Grapefruit Month
National Hot Breakfast Month
National Macadamia Nut Month
National Snack Food Month
Potato Lover’s Month
Sweet Potato Month
This Week is
Shape Up With Pickles Time (don’t ask me!)
Today is
National Freedom Day
National Baked Alaska Day
National Dark Chocolate Day
National Serpent Day
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