Skip navigation

Monthly Archives: August 2012

What was the name of the heroine of Gone with the Wind before author Margaret Mitchell changed it to Scarlett at her editor’s behest?

2012-08-08-FlatRockTap-Trivia

 

ANSWER: (Pansy)

WORD of the Day

Tintinnabulation

Definition:

the ringing or sounding of bells

About the word:

This word’s Latin source,tintinnabulum, means “bell” and evokes the sound of one.

The word was popularized in the mid 1800s by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Bells”: “Keeping time, time, time, / In a sort of Runic rhyme, / To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells / from the bells, bells, bells, bells, / Bells, bells, bells….”

Read more at http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-unusually-long-words-vol-1/tintinnabulation.html#4cCYtttZBlmfHH0m.99

Bozo Criminal of the Day

It Would Have Been So Much Simpler To Have Sexted Him

Bozo criminal for today comes from Marion County, Florida, where cops pulled over a 35-year-old woman for speeding. Or at least they attempted to pull her over. When she saw the police, she sped up and attempted to flee before running a stop sign and crashing into a tree. She wasn’t injured in the accident and when the officer noticed she was topless, it was then that she offered up the Bozo Excuse of the Week. She said she had removed her top and was en route to surprise her boyfriend. She couldn’t explain why she had to remove her top before she got to his house. She’s been charged with fleeing and eluding law enforcement.

STRANGE NEWS

 South Koreans face heat wave by dining on dog meat

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Some South Koreans are easing the “Dog Days of Summer” by embracing a tradition of eating dog meat to help survive a heat wave gripping the country.

Animal rights activists, meanwhile, packed themselves into wire cages to protest the eating of dogs.

Tuesday is the day South Koreans traditionally eat dog meat and other foods that they believe will help ease the heat by increasing their stamina.

The Yonhap news agency says Seoul is currently undergoing the longest period of time with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) since 1994.

Dog meat restaurants in Seoul say they served more customers than usual on Tuesday.

August 3, 2012

Costa Rican minister fired over racy online video
By REUTERS

Karina Bolanos speaks to the media after a meeting at the presidential house in San Jose in this 2011 file photo. (REUTERS)

SAN JOSE – Costa Rica said on Tuesday it had dismissed a junior-level minister after she appeared in a video posted online wearing only her underwear and delivering flirtatious messages.

Deputy Minister for Youth Karina Bolanos lost her job after a video showed her lying in bed, pointing at her breasts and inviting a man she refers to as “little one” to join her.

Bolanos told cable TV network CNN en Espanol the video was made years ago and was put onto the Internet by a computer engineer who stole it and was trying to extort her. Uploaded onto YouTube over the weekend, the clip quickly went viral.

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Culture and Youth said in a statement on Tuesday the video and related legal issues made her position untenable.

The incident is an embarrassment to President Laura Chinchilla, whose Cabinet has suffered a string of resignations since she took power two years ago.

Local media said she declined to comment on the Bolanos scandal on Tuesday.

“I will not address the issue. Any more questions?”, newspaper La Nacion reported her saying after a public event

 

 

Lego Olympic Village

Olympic Park replica made of LEGO | Orange UK.

A man has spent 300 painstaking hours building a replica of the London 2012 Olympic Park – entirely from LEGO.

Warren Elsmore who claims his official job title to be a ‘freelance LEGO artist’ crafted the miniature version of the Olympic venue using 250,000 bricks.

This LEGO world features all the standout venues and structures: from Anish Kapoor’s Orbit, to the swooping roof of the Aquatics Centre and, of course, the grand Olympic Stadium.

Elsmore, who lives in Edinburgh and creates unique, one-off LEGO models for individuals and corporate companies said: “My colleague and I built the Olympic model over a three week period. For this display, I planned very little in advance and most of the model was free built – simply by looking at pictures of the site and building what I see.

“Every brick we use is a standard LEGO element, with no painting, gluing or non-LEGO parts.”

Merry Widow

Hollywood routinely influences fashion, of course, but rarely names it directly.One exception involves the strapless corset that actress and pin-up girl Lana Turner wore in a 1952 musical that won an Academy Award for Costume Design.The film was The Merry Widow, and the garment has been called that ever since.

Read more at http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-odd-words-for-underwear/merry-widow.html#UF11M8aX4qgkMk8o.99

BOZO Criminal of the Day

Hey, What Are These Keys For?

Thanks to Bozo News Hawk Paula Keiser for sending in today’s report from Wichita, Kansas. It seems a homeowner returned home and surprised two bozo burglars who were inside stealing electronic items. The bozos quickly fled on foot, which would probably have been a good idea except for the fact that they had arrived in a vehicle. Yep, they ran away, leaving their getaway car behind. And to further complicate matters, one of the bozos returned a short time later and drove the car back to her apartment. Unfortunately for her, the cops followed her home and found the stolen items inside the apartment. Busted!
AP Strange But True

WILD THING KICKS IN

CINCINNATI (AP) — Actor Charlie Sheen loves his baseball. Specifically the Cincinnati Reds. He claims to be a lifelong fan. One of his best-known big screen roles was as relief pitcher Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn in the 1989 hit “Major League.” Now he’s stepping up with his wallet. Sheen has pledged to donate $50,000 to the team’s Community Fund, matching the amount broadcaster Marty Brennaman raised for charity in return for having his head shaved on the field. Sheen and father Martin Sheen, a Dayton native, were at the Reds game against Pittsburgh on Friday and saw Brennaman get his head shaved. Brennaman had promised to shave his hair if the Reds won 10 consecutive games and said he would do it publicly if fans donated at least $20,000 to the Reds fund. That drive generated $50,000, and Charlie Sheen announced Sunday he planned to match that amount.

GATOR BITE

EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. (AP) – Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. A Florida airboat captain whose hand was bitten off by a 9-foot alligator faces charges of feeding the animal. The Fort Myers News-Press (HYPERLINK http://newspr.es/pvbbgphttp://newspr.es/PVBBGP ) reports Wallace Weatherholt is accused of unlawful feeding of an alligator. He’s free on $1,000 bond, with his next court date set for Aug. 22. Weatherholt was attacked on June 12th as he was giving an Indiana family a tour of the Everglades. The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water’s surface when the alligator attacked. Wildlife officers tracked and euthanized the gator. Weatherholt’s hand was found but could not be reattached.

ROYAL OLYMPIC FAN

LONDON (AP) — It was Sunday in the park for Kate. The Duchess of Cambridge took a stroll around Olympic Park during a private tour without her husband, Prince William, or brother-in-law Prince Harry. The occasion brought the Olympic crowd to a standstill, as visitors rushed to snap a photo as her highness passed. Kate dressed the part, wearing Team GB wear — a dark blue sweat shirt, blue leggings and red sneakers.

OLYMPIC BAUBLE

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — While U.S. Olympic officials are catching heat for American uniforms made in China, a small piece of the team’s uniform was made in the USA; specifically Rhode Island. Cranston-based jewelry maker Alex and Ani produced the commemorative charms for the 2012 London Games. The company makes beaded bangles, bracelets, and other inexpensive jewelry and is one of the fastest growing companies in the state. In 2009 Alex and Ani has grown from a single store in Newport with 15 employees to nearly 400 workers. It recently opened new stores in Colorado and New Jersey. The Olympic charm has proven to be a hit. Silver medalist swimmer Elizabeth Beisel tweets that she was “more than excited for the Alex and Ani charm” she received.

SAVING CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Call it educational evangelism. Catholic schools across the country are becoming more savvy about getting kids into the classroom. Take Our Lady of Lourdes School in East Los Angeles. After 97 years, it was slated to close after enrollment dwindled to just 35 students. But the school has a renewed lease on life after its new principal knocked on doors, offered X Box video game consoles to kids who brought in a friend, and recruited families who lost their bid in a charter school lottery. This fall, Our Lady of Lourdes will greet more than 130 pupils.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Songs for today?

Thriller – Single Version – Michael Jackson

Mama Said – The Shirelles

Steppin’ Out With My Baby – Live Version – Tony Bennett

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini – Brian Hyland

In the Year 2525 – Zager and Evans

Don’s Big Dago – Live – Lenny Bruce

 

WORD of the Day

Scalawag

Definition:

a mischievous and often morally corrupt person

Examples:

“The captain of Company L refused to recognize us; said we were deserters, and traitors, and scalawags; and when he drew rations for Company L from the commissary, he wouldn’t give us any.” – Jack London, The Road, 1907

“When times are good, the public generally prefers a scalawag. Clinton was the perfect president for the ’90s boom years. Warren Harding would have been a great fit with the boom of the ’20s. He drank. He played cards. He snuck out of the White House to go to girlie shows.” – Bill Bonner, The Market Oracle, December 20, 2011

About the Word:

Also spelled scallywag, this term may originally have referred to an animal of very little value. After the Civil War, scalawag came to describe a white Southerner acting in support of reconstruction governments, often in pursuit of private gain; it was used to insult Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind.

The origin of scalawag is unknown, but one theory suggests there’s a link to the Scottish scoloc, a first-born son given to the Church to educate.

Read more at http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-charming-words-for-nasty-people/scalawag.html#odKKp3LmXdMjfitg.99

BOZO CRIMINAL of the Day

That’s What Happens When There’s No Laundromat Nearby

Bozo criminal for today comes from the International File in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where our unidentified bozo needed some new clothes. So, he did what any bozo would do, he looked around until he saw a clothes line with some nice, freshly washed clothes on it. But instead of simply grabbing the clothes off the line and running away, our bozo took off his own clothes and put on the new ones, right there on the spot. Unfortunately for him, he was spotted by the homeowner who yelled at him to stop. Not only did our bozo stop, he took off the new clothes he had put on and got dressed again in his old dirty ones. However, he forgot one crucial piece of evidence. He had already placed his wallet and ID in the new clothes. And he forgot to remove them when he put his old clothes back on. He’s busted!
STRANGE NEWS

AP Strange But True

Moved: 8/3/2012 06:55

MUSIC GUY EJECTED

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The manager of the minor league Daytona Cubs in Florida thought he was being tossed out of the game when he heard the home plate umpire bellow, “you’re out.”

It turns out the ump was talking to the guy who plays the music over the public address system. That’s who was being ejected.

Apparently, umpires don’t like it when the music guy plays “Three Blind Mice” — especially at a time when the manager of the home team is on the field arguing that they didn’t see a play correctly.

According to the local paper (the Daytona Beach News-Journal), the public address system at the stadium was shut down for the rest of the game. So, fans took it upon themselves to announce the names of players as they approached the plate.

HERO CHIHUAHUA

NEWNAN, Ga. (AP) — What kind of dog was it that sniffed out two girls who were lost for a couple of hours in a Georgia forest?

A bloodhound? Maybe a German Shepherd or a Lab?

No. It was a chihuahua that saved the day.

As police and firefighters began the search for the missing 5-year-old and 8-year-old girls, neighbor Carvin Young grabbed his 3-year-old Chihuahua, Bell, and joined the search.

He tells CBS Atlanta that Bell picked up the girls’ scent and began running until she reached them.

Bell must have known who she was looking for. The girls’ mother says they play with Bell nearly every day.

They were a little scared when they were found, but otherwise fine.

NBC-ARCHERY

LONDON (AP) — Of all of the Olympic sports that NBC is showing on its cable networks, the one that is drawing the best ratings is archery.

NBC says it was the most popular sport on the cable networks during the first few days, averaging 1.5 million viewers. It’s doing better than basketball.

A network official says it could be due partly to the popularity of “The Hunger Games” getting young people interested in bows and arrows.

American archer Brady Ellison is also a big draw.

Archery could be this year’s equivalent of curling — a sport that found some new fans in recent years when it was televised from the Winter Olympics.

CRUISERS CRUSHED

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man who’d been arrested for marijuana possession and resisting arrest is now in even bigger trouble.

Police say Roger Pion (PEE’-ahn) took out his anger on seven sheriff’s department vehicles — driving over them with a farm tractor in the department’s parking lot before driving away on the tractor.

They missed his monster tractor show — deputies were working inside their building at the time, and didn’t know what was happening in the parking lot until a neighbor called 911.

By that time, all of their cars were crushed — so they weren’t able to pursue the tractor.

Pion is now in custody, facing several new charges.

SNAKES IN HIS GRASS

WEST MILFORD, N.J. (AP) — Summer vacation has been anything but routine for a New York City social studies teacher who lives in northern New Jersey.

James Geist has spotted pythons twice within days in his West Milford yard.

Geist was reading on his deck when he thought he saw a branch move on July 23. He soon realized it was a snake.

Police arrived with two snake handlers who told Geist the branch was a 15-foot albino python.

Geist tells The Record newspaper the snake was huge, thick and docile.

Four days later, Geist saw another snake. This time it was a 10-foot python.

Animal control believes the tropical snakes were released by someone who had moved from the neighborhood.

ATTEMPTED CARJACKING

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A man who authorities say tried to carjack a car at a traffic light in Shreveport, La., picked the wrong car.

The unmarked car was a state police unit, occupied by a Louisiana State trooper and two members of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.

Police say Joshua Carter approached the car Wednesday afternoon, began pulling on the handle and demanded that it be opened.

When he realized the vehicle was occupied by officers, they say, he fled.

A state police spokesman says officers chased and caught him a short time later. He’s now being held on a charge of attempted carjacking.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

 

Welsh Rabbit

A dish that a vegetarian could safely order: melted cheese poured over toast or crackers.

The name may have originated among the English as a dig against their neighbors, the Welsh. Rabbit was a much more expensive dish than cheese and toast, but if you were Welsh, that’s probably what you made do with.

Since there is no rabbit at all in this dish, folk etymology created the variantWelsh rarebit, which upgrades it from a poor man’s dish to a purported delicacy.

Photo: adactio from Flickr

Read more at http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-surprising-food-words/welsh-rabbit.html#k3GfLfPCZr0sx70j.99

 

And It Wasn’t Even Valentine’s Day

Bozo criminal for today comes from the seldom seen four-legged file. Sherwood, Arkansas cops were called to a report of a bull running loose in a neighborhood. When they arrived, they saw a man slapping and trying to guide the bull. As the patrol car drew nearer, the animal reared up and pinned the man against the vehicle. It was then that things took a rather nasty turn. The confused bull, according to the deputy’s report, “tried to mate” with the man and the car. Fortunately the bull quickly became distracted by a passing truck and took off after it. Eventually the bull was caught and returned home. The patrol car suffered minor damage. The man probably suffered emotional damage. No word on whether assault charges will be filed against the bull.

 

AP Strange But True

Moved: 8/2/2012 07:41

OLYMPICS-MCDONALD’S

LONDON (AP) — When you’re competing in the Olympics, you want to try to maintain a healthy diet.

So, most athletes try hard to avoid the temptation of the free McDonald’s food inside the athletes village.

American swimmers Ricky Berens and Conor Dwyer couldn’t help themselves, though, after winning gold in the men’s 4-by-200 relay.

Dwyer says, “It was pretty bad. A couple quarter pounders, McFlurries, fries.” Berens tweeted a picture of their feast, which included Big Macs.

He says, “We eat so healthy all the time, so I felt pretty gross after that.” Dwyer said he still felt bad the next morning.

AVOIDING SPOILERS

NEW YORK (AP) — It used to be a lot easier.

If you wanted to watch the tape-delayed coverage of an Olympic event in prime time, even though it took place hours earlier, you just turned off the news for a few hours.

But that was in the days before social media, email, and text messages. These days, you might just have to lock yourself in a closet — without an Internet connection.

One Atlanta woman who wanted to wait until she got home to watch her favorite sport — fencing — had to avoid Facebook yesterday. And it’s too bad, because it was full of happy birthday messages for her. But Mandy Hauck didn’t want to risk finding out who won, and ruining the excitement of watching it as if it were live.

She also deleted her iPhone apps for CNN and ESPN. But she couldn’t stay away from social media completely. Her job in marketing requires her to spend her day on Twitter.

CYCLIST’S SIDEBURNS

LONDON (AP) — It isn’t hard for Bradley Wiggins to spot his fans.

The British Tour de France champ known for his scraggly sideburns, has inspired men, women, boys and girls to don sideburns of their own. They are taping fake hair to their cheeks in hopes of creating a winning karma for him.

They turned out by the thousands to cheer him on as he captured the gold medal yesterday in the Olympic time trial. It’s his fourth Olympic gold.

Those who didn’t want to bother with making their own fake sideburns could just pick up a newspaper. Two rival tabloids, the Sun and the Daily Mirror, each turned their front pages into cut-outs of Wiggins’ facial hair.

The Sun even offered sideburns that were colored gold for the occasion.

YANKEES-SOTOMAYOR

NEW YORK (AP) — When she’s at the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor normally sits next to fellow justice Stephen Breyer.

But she switched benches yesterday, and sat next to “Bald Vinny” Milano.

For one day, she wasn’t just a Supreme Court justice — she was a Bleacher Creature, joining the group of die-hard New York Yankees fans who sit in the right-field stands and carry out a ritual in the first inning of every game. They conduct a “Roll Call” of the Yankees’ starting lineup, chanting the name of each player until that player acknowledges the cheers with a wave or salute.

The Yankees say Sotomayor moved to better seats once the Roll Call was over.

Sotomayor has been known to play an even bigger role in baseball. In 1995, as a federal judge, she issued an injunction that led to the end of a seven and a half-month strike by players.

BELARUS-TEDDY BEAR INVASION

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — It’s probably the first time in history that teddy bears have defeated generals.

In the former Soviet state of Belarus, two generals have been sacked — after a Swedish light plane intruded the country’s airspace and dropped hundreds of teddy bears carrying slogans supporting human rights and media freedom.

Officials in the authoritarian state weren’t laughing.

They actually denied the incident happened until last week, when President Alexander Lukashenko called a government meeting to scold authorities for allowing what he called a “provocation.”

NO MICRO-BREWERS

MILWAUKIE, Ore. (AP) — Milwaukie won’t be getting a baseball team.

You may think they already have one — the Brewers — but you’d be thinking of the Milwaukee in Wisconsin.

This one is in Oregon, and it’s spelled with an I-E at the end, not an E-E.

Officials in the Portland suburb were hoping to bring a Class-A team to town. The city was ready to spend $25 million to build a 4,000-seat stadium. It would have joined three other Oregon cities with Class-A teams.

And they could have had some fun with the team name. Maybe the Micro-Brewers?

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Questions

  1. Which book published in 1086, was called the most famous document of the middle ages?
  2. What sort of animal is a fennec?
  3. What was the 1st and 2nd video every played on MTV? Name the Song and Artist.
  4. What do the rings on the Olympic Games flag represent?
  5. When was the first time the Olympic Games moved to Asia and where was it held?

 

Answers

  1. The Doomsday Book
  2. Desert Fox
  3. You Better Run by Pat Benatar the second video played on Mtv.
  4. Five continents of the world
  5. 1964 Tokyo, Japan

Questions

  1. Eric Arthur Blaire was the real name of which author?
  2. In The Bible Who Turned Into a Pillar of Salt?
  3. Name the date, time, and year that MTV went on the air?
  4. In which city and year were the first Modern Olympics held?
  5. What object did the archers hit during the competition before the target board was introduced?

 

Answers

  1. George Orwell
  2. Lot’s Wife
  3. 8/1/1981 12:01 AM
  4. Athens 1896
  5. A Bird

Questions

  1. Name the original MTV Veejays?
  2. What is the meaning of the motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ of the Olympic Games?
  3. Penis comes from the Latin word meaning what?
  4. What’s the proper name of a Texas Wedge golf club?
  5. What was invented by James Dewer in 1872?

 

Answers

  1. Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, J.J. Jackson and Alan Hunter
  2. Faster, Higher, Stronger
  3. Tail
  4. Putter
  5. Vacuum or thermos flask

Questions

  1. Where Might You Find Rods and Cones?
  2. What comes after the year of the snake according to the Chinese calendar?
  3. The original Olympiad was first held when and where??
  4. What Is The Family Name Of The Sisters In The Novel Little Woman?
  5. What is a Dolly Varden?

 

Answers

  1. In The Eye Light Sensitive Cells
  2. Horse
  3. 776 B.C. Olympia, Greece
  4. March Sisters
  5. Large Hat