Good Morning All & Happy Wednesday!
Well, HOW ABOUT THOSE GONZAGA BULLDOGS!!! Now it’s on to “The Final Four”! Here’s to my favorite Zag players, Drew Timme & Aaron Cook, and all of the rest of the Zags for a terrific basketball season. Let’s hope their “mojo” continues to a national championship. They are “poetry in motion” on the basketball court. GO GONZAGA!
Happy Birthday wishes go to friend, family member and cancer survivor extraordinaire, Pam; and to friend and former neighbor, Christina. Here’s to both of you on your special day of celebration! And let me be one of the first to wish friends and fellow Spokane residents Sally (a strong prayer warrior & lover of souls), David (husband, father, grandfather, pianist/composer, and tennis partner extraordinaire) and Jack (husband, father, terrific community champion & leader and Washington Trust Bank executive extraordinaire) a very Happy Birthday, they celebrate their birthdays on April Fool’s Day (April 1st). Here’s to all of you, too!
Happy Birthday also to actor Richard Chamberlain of “Dr. Kildare” T.V. fame and “Shogun” & “The Thornbirds” T.V. series fame, who is 87 today; to actress Shirley Jones of “Oklahoma” broadway show fame & “The Partridge Family” T.V. fame, who turns 87 today; to trumpet player/musician extraordinaire (one of my favorites!) Herb Alpert, of “Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass” fame, who is 86 today; to actress Rhea Perlman (wife of actor Danny DeVito), who turns 73 today; and the actor Ewan McGregor of “Star Wars” and “Blackhawk Down” movie fame, who is the big 50 today (don’t miss checking out his motorcycle touring adventure videos “Long Way Around”, “Long Way Down,” etc.. They are terrific!).
Here’s another excerpt from my dad’s oral interview as part of the Washington State World War II History Project…Here he talks further about his Marine Corps training prior to the assault on Iwo Jima:
Question: So that first day (of basic training), did they do the shave and shots and all of that—?
Answer: No, not the first day. That came down the second and third day they got through all of that were you got—got shaved. And there was only one cut, there was not choice, of course. And then we went through quartermaster area and they—that was interesting because the said what size shoe do you wear? Well, I wasn’t positive. I couldn’t remember what and he looked down he says, “oh, you look like a 8 1/2 Double E to me.” That’s what I—they issued to me. you know I wore those for most of the time I was in the Marine Corps. That’s the size I always got. I used to get shin splints, even when we were out training up at Camp Pendleton, and then of course, in combat. Once in a while I’d get a shin splint. Well, when I get—now I’m going over three years period. So when I get out, go into a real shoe store in Portland, Oregon, cause I want to buy some civilian clothes, the guy says “what kind of shoes are you wearing?” And I said, “well, this is what they gave me,” you know. So I must have been pretty much of a rube, but, you know, to me he says, “you know, you really wear a 10 1/2 A or double A, depend on the shoemaker, you know.” You know, and I bought those shoes and my feet and everything felt better than it ever had in my life. I was no longer getting these shin splints, you know.”
I found another 1964 “Outer Limits” collectible card the other day! This one (#18) features the “Invasion Of The Sea Beast” and has a scary looking picture of what looks an awful lot like a dinosaur creature…here is how it’s described:
“A frantic telegraph message from a lonely island in the Pacific alerts the world to the danger of The Sea Beasts. JPeopele all over the world are stunned by the cable…”GIANT LIZARDS COMING OUT OF THE SEA…SEND HELP.” And then about half an hour later, a second an final message is received. “MUST FLEE LIZARDS…SEND ARMY AND PLANES.” A nearby U.S. carrier, in the Pacific, dispatches a plane to investigate…” (to be continued on the next card…#19). Are you on the edge of your seat??? There are 50 cards in this set…
Here’s the word definition for the day:
“Obnubilate (Ob-NOO-ba-late): A late 16th century Latin word meaning “darken, dim or cover with (or as if with a cloud); to obscure.” Do you get the feeling that some of our current political leaders “obnubilate” the truth to serve their agenda?
Here’s the trivia fact for the day:
Q: Who is the green “Granny Smith” apple named after…an Australian folklore…the orchard owner’s grandma…the woman who discovered them…or a famous horse?
A: In 1838, Maria Ann Smith and her husband boarded a ship to Australia, accepting the government’s job offer for much-needed farmers. Decades into her career as an orchardist, Smith found a seedling on her property that she believed had grown from French crabapple trees. She cultivated the new apple tree, sharing cuttings with fellow farmers. Granny Smith herself died in 1870, before the varietal gained popularity, but in 1891, “Smith’s seedling” won Best Cooking-Apple at a New Zealand horticultural show. The green apple was introduced to Great Britain in 1935 and to the U.S. in 1972.
Now you know!
Here is are the thoughts for the day…it comes to you courtesy of good friend and attorney extraordinaire, Jim in Seattle:
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
and last, but certainly not least…
“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” (ha…ha…ha!)
Here’s to a great Wednesday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)