Life once again resembles a song lyric.
Cyndi Lauper had a hit song titled "Money Changes Everything." In case you've forgotten how it sounds you can watch it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aK-UjR3Oj4
I made mention of the passing of Mike Patterson when he died 20 days after he became paralyzed from the neck down while trying to save a 4 year old girl from drowning. At the time he was hurt I noted that he didn't have health insurance and someone was soliciting donations to defray his medical bills and secure the future of his 9 year old son.
Now that they've raised more than $100,000 the infighting has begun. According to Mr. Patterson's mother and sister he had consulted with an attorney about divorcing his wife. The wife was refused admittance to his hospital room and didn't get to see him before he died.
The wife is claiming the mother and sister are trying to take the money for themselves at the expense of the nine-year old.
The three people who volunteered to administer the trust collecting the donations will not benefit at all financially, but they've found themselves in the middle of a fight. They did the right thing. They've set up a separate trust for the nine-year old.
No good deed goes unpunished.
* * *
Ever stop for a minute and think how different our ability to consider the past is than it was for our ancestors? How we are able to record every single piece of information that comes our way now?
For centuries the written word, the spoken word held in memory, and the arts were the only way that people could know what those before had done during their time on our planet. Eventually photographs, movies, television and then computers came along, rapidly advancing our ability to know about the history of those who came before us.
In 1873, the mint in San Francisco produced some 700 silver dollars bearing their distinctive "S" mint mark. None are known to exist today, nor is there any record of anyone having ever had one after they were minted. Today the mint tracks every single coin they produce in minute detail. One silver dollar couldn't possibly disappear at the mint today, let alone 700 silver dollars (imagine the actual worth of $700 in 1873).
Yet people manage to find ways to scam, swindle, extort, embezzle and the like all the time. The overwhelming majority get caught eventually, but that fact that some are still doing it tells me it is highly likely some are evading detection.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Is "harped" a new word? HARP is a government program designed to help homeowners who are "underwater" or "upside down" on their home mortgage. Now some lenders are using the word harped in their ads. "If your home has already been harped..."
Did some Delta passenger really get a confirmation code that reads "GONER5"??
During the game between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers at Cleveland on Wednesday, some of the Indians fans started chanting "Detroit's bankrupt" when it was clear their team was going to lose.
I remember "sit-ins" from the 1960s and 70s, but a "breastfeed-in"?? Actually the mothers who did it in Knoxville referred to it as a "nurse-in" at a local Chick-Fil-A. When will people wake up and realize that in almost every state, the right of a woman to breast-feed in public is protected. Would you want to eat your meal in the restroom (often suggested as an alternate place for mothers to breast-feed)??
Can you think of a better use for 312 cans of Pepsi Max than taking a bath in it (I can)??
I was more surprised to find out that Jimmy Fallon's wife Nancy Juvoven Fallon is eight years older than he is, as opposed to learning that they used a surrogate mother to get their new baby.
Since Melissa Joan Hart became the latest celebrity spokesperson for Nutrisystem this past April, should we start a pool on which celebrity will be next after her?
Will the people behind the advertising campaign to pass an amendment to our Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v FEC publish a list of their donors?
Jay Leno apparently insisted that even though his last show will air in February, his entire staff will be paid through September when his contract would have ended. How awesome of him!
The more I read about how interest in the movie "Kick-Ass 2" is growing because of the negative comments about guns by Jim Carrey, the more I wonder if he has a piece of the film's gross and this was just a brilliant campaign by him to make more money.
I'd wondered if the name "Shilts" on the sign outside of the office of Denzel Washington's attorney character in the film "Philadelphia" was a tribute to writer Randy Shilts, who died of AIDS before the film was released (he wrote the acclaimed "And the Band Played On"). It was.
This Date in History:
Before I begin today's history stuff, let me fix an omission from yesterday. August 8th is the 35th anniversary of the day I left for basic training. Hard to believe. I will be talking about this in detail in tomorrow's blog entry. Now on to August 9th in history:
378 – Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople – A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens is defeated by the Visigoths. Valens is killed along with over half of his army.
1173 – Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete.
1329 – Quilon, the first Indian Christian Diocese, is erected by Pope John XXII; the French-born Jordanus is appointed the first Bishop.
1483 – Opening of the Sistine Chapel in Rome with the celebration of a Mass.
1810 – Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire.
1814 – Indian Wars: the Creek sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia.
1842 – The Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
1854 – Henry David Thoreau published Walden.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain – At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.
1877 – Indian Wars: Battle of Big Hole – A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army
1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
1902 – Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1907 – The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England.
1925 – A train robbery takes place in Kakori, near Lucknow, India
1930 – Betty Boop made her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.
1936 – Summer Olympic Games: Games of the XI Olympiad – Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympiad.
1942 – Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces, launching the Quit India Movement.
1942 – World War II: Battle of Savo Island – Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.
1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
1944 – Continuation War: The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ends to a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to defensive positions, and the front remains stable until the end of the war.
1945 – World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 39,000 people are killed outright.
1965 – Singapore is expelled from Malaysia and becomes the first and only country to date to gain independence unwillingly.
1965 – A fire at a Titan missile base near Searcy, Arkansas kills 53 construction workers.
1969 – Followers led by Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.
1971 – The Troubles: The British security forces in Northern Ireland launch Operation Demetrius. Hundreds of people are arrested and interned, thousands are displaced, and twenty are killed in the violence that followed.
1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.
1988 – Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in hockey history, upsetting many Canadians.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Ralph Houk
Ernest Angley (he's the televangelist moron who insists that he has documented medical evidence of AIDS victims who were healed through the power of prayer)
Robert Shaw
Bob Cousy
Rod Laver
Shirlee Busbee
Ken Norton
Sam Elliott
Barbara Delinsky
Jonathan Kellerman
Melanie Griffith
Amanda Bearse
Michael Kors
Brad Gilbert
Whitney Houston (she would have turned 50 today)
Hoda Kotb (she was a sorority girl?)
Vinny Del Negro
Deion Sanders
Gillian Anderson
Eric Bana
Divine Brown (wonder if Hugh Grant sent a card?)
Derek Fisher
Jessica Capshaw
Audrey Tautou
Tyson Gay
Movie quotes today come from 2004's "Troy" which starred Eric Bana as "Hector":
Paris: Father, this is Helen.
Priam: Helen? Helen of Sparta?
Paris: Helen of Troy.
#2
Glaucus: [the Appolonians are making their last stand] Soldiers of Troy! You men are warriors! To lead you has been my honor!
[to Paris]
Glaucus: My prince! The boatman waits for us! I say, we make him wait a little longer!
[Trojans attack as the Greeks break down the last barricade]
#3
Priam: Do you love her, my son?
Paris: Father, you are a great king, because you love your country so much. Every blade of grass, every grain of sand, every rock in the river... You love all of Troy. That is the way I love Helen.
#4 (the one that's oh so true...)
Odysseus: [to Achilles] War is young men dying and old men talking. You know this. Ignore the politics.
I made mention of the passing of Mike Patterson when he died 20 days after he became paralyzed from the neck down while trying to save a 4 year old girl from drowning. At the time he was hurt I noted that he didn't have health insurance and someone was soliciting donations to defray his medical bills and secure the future of his 9 year old son.
Now that they've raised more than $100,000 the infighting has begun. According to Mr. Patterson's mother and sister he had consulted with an attorney about divorcing his wife. The wife was refused admittance to his hospital room and didn't get to see him before he died.
The wife is claiming the mother and sister are trying to take the money for themselves at the expense of the nine-year old.
The three people who volunteered to administer the trust collecting the donations will not benefit at all financially, but they've found themselves in the middle of a fight. They did the right thing. They've set up a separate trust for the nine-year old.
No good deed goes unpunished.
* * *
Ever stop for a minute and think how different our ability to consider the past is than it was for our ancestors? How we are able to record every single piece of information that comes our way now?
For centuries the written word, the spoken word held in memory, and the arts were the only way that people could know what those before had done during their time on our planet. Eventually photographs, movies, television and then computers came along, rapidly advancing our ability to know about the history of those who came before us.
In 1873, the mint in San Francisco produced some 700 silver dollars bearing their distinctive "S" mint mark. None are known to exist today, nor is there any record of anyone having ever had one after they were minted. Today the mint tracks every single coin they produce in minute detail. One silver dollar couldn't possibly disappear at the mint today, let alone 700 silver dollars (imagine the actual worth of $700 in 1873).
Yet people manage to find ways to scam, swindle, extort, embezzle and the like all the time. The overwhelming majority get caught eventually, but that fact that some are still doing it tells me it is highly likely some are evading detection.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
Is "harped" a new word? HARP is a government program designed to help homeowners who are "underwater" or "upside down" on their home mortgage. Now some lenders are using the word harped in their ads. "If your home has already been harped..."
Did some Delta passenger really get a confirmation code that reads "GONER5"??
During the game between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers at Cleveland on Wednesday, some of the Indians fans started chanting "Detroit's bankrupt" when it was clear their team was going to lose.
I remember "sit-ins" from the 1960s and 70s, but a "breastfeed-in"?? Actually the mothers who did it in Knoxville referred to it as a "nurse-in" at a local Chick-Fil-A. When will people wake up and realize that in almost every state, the right of a woman to breast-feed in public is protected. Would you want to eat your meal in the restroom (often suggested as an alternate place for mothers to breast-feed)??
Can you think of a better use for 312 cans of Pepsi Max than taking a bath in it (I can)??
I was more surprised to find out that Jimmy Fallon's wife Nancy Juvoven Fallon is eight years older than he is, as opposed to learning that they used a surrogate mother to get their new baby.
Since Melissa Joan Hart became the latest celebrity spokesperson for Nutrisystem this past April, should we start a pool on which celebrity will be next after her?
Will the people behind the advertising campaign to pass an amendment to our Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v FEC publish a list of their donors?
Jay Leno apparently insisted that even though his last show will air in February, his entire staff will be paid through September when his contract would have ended. How awesome of him!
The more I read about how interest in the movie "Kick-Ass 2" is growing because of the negative comments about guns by Jim Carrey, the more I wonder if he has a piece of the film's gross and this was just a brilliant campaign by him to make more money.
I'd wondered if the name "Shilts" on the sign outside of the office of Denzel Washington's attorney character in the film "Philadelphia" was a tribute to writer Randy Shilts, who died of AIDS before the film was released (he wrote the acclaimed "And the Band Played On"). It was.
This Date in History:
Before I begin today's history stuff, let me fix an omission from yesterday. August 8th is the 35th anniversary of the day I left for basic training. Hard to believe. I will be talking about this in detail in tomorrow's blog entry. Now on to August 9th in history:
378 – Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople – A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens is defeated by the Visigoths. Valens is killed along with over half of his army.
1173 – Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete.
1329 – Quilon, the first Indian Christian Diocese, is erected by Pope John XXII; the French-born Jordanus is appointed the first Bishop.
1483 – Opening of the Sistine Chapel in Rome with the celebration of a Mass.
1810 – Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire.
1814 – Indian Wars: the Creek sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia.
1842 – The Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
1854 – Henry David Thoreau published Walden.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain – At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.
1877 – Indian Wars: Battle of Big Hole – A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army
1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
1902 – Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1907 – The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England.
1925 – A train robbery takes place in Kakori, near Lucknow, India
1930 – Betty Boop made her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.
1936 – Summer Olympic Games: Games of the XI Olympiad – Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympiad.
1942 – Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces, launching the Quit India Movement.
1942 – World War II: Battle of Savo Island – Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.
1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
1944 – Continuation War: The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ends to a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to defensive positions, and the front remains stable until the end of the war.
1945 – World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 39,000 people are killed outright.
1965 – Singapore is expelled from Malaysia and becomes the first and only country to date to gain independence unwillingly.
1965 – A fire at a Titan missile base near Searcy, Arkansas kills 53 construction workers.
1969 – Followers led by Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.
1971 – The Troubles: The British security forces in Northern Ireland launch Operation Demetrius. Hundreds of people are arrested and interned, thousands are displaced, and twenty are killed in the violence that followed.
1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.
1988 – Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in hockey history, upsetting many Canadians.
Famous Folk Born On This Date:
Ralph Houk
Ernest Angley (he's the televangelist moron who insists that he has documented medical evidence of AIDS victims who were healed through the power of prayer)
Robert Shaw
Bob Cousy
Rod Laver
Shirlee Busbee
Ken Norton
Sam Elliott
Barbara Delinsky
Jonathan Kellerman
Melanie Griffith
Amanda Bearse
Michael Kors
Brad Gilbert
Whitney Houston (she would have turned 50 today)
Hoda Kotb (she was a sorority girl?)
Vinny Del Negro
Deion Sanders
Gillian Anderson
Eric Bana
Divine Brown (wonder if Hugh Grant sent a card?)
Derek Fisher
Jessica Capshaw
Audrey Tautou
Tyson Gay
Movie quotes today come from 2004's "Troy" which starred Eric Bana as "Hector":
Paris: Father, this is Helen.
Priam: Helen? Helen of Sparta?
Paris: Helen of Troy.
#2
Glaucus: [the Appolonians are making their last stand] Soldiers of Troy! You men are warriors! To lead you has been my honor!
[to Paris]
Glaucus: My prince! The boatman waits for us! I say, we make him wait a little longer!
[Trojans attack as the Greeks break down the last barricade]
#3
Priam: Do you love her, my son?
Paris: Father, you are a great king, because you love your country so much. Every blade of grass, every grain of sand, every rock in the river... You love all of Troy. That is the way I love Helen.
#4 (the one that's oh so true...)
Odysseus: [to Achilles] War is young men dying and old men talking. You know this. Ignore the politics.
posted by me at 6:55 PM
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