June 20^th is National Ugliest Dog Day and I wanted to find out more about the “holiday”.  I found an article on National Today website that details all sorts of interesting facts about the day.

From their site:

Ugliest Dog Day on June 20 celebrates the pups out there with a face only a mother could love. But when it comes to man’s best friend, is there really any dog that can’t be deemed adorable? We honor the facially challenged ones on June 20, Ugliest Dog Day. What started as a fun contest has grown into an annual celebration of the not-so-handsome dogs amongst us. So grab your favorite pup and give him an extra snuggle today and as you go about your day, say hi to every pup, pretty and not so pretty.

History of Ugliest Dog Day

No matter how they look, the antics of furry animals will always be undeniably cute. There are some really unphotogenic pets out there, but hey, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is why World’s Ugliest Dog Day is celebrated on June 20 every year. We love to love dogs every day, but dogs with facial deformities or less attractive features are in the spotlight today. Whether they lack fur or adorable faces, those puppy eyes will always get us!

The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest is an annual contest held in Petaluma, California, as part of the Sonoma-Marin Fair, to decide which of the dogs entered in the contest is the ugliest. The winner receives a trophy and the title of ‘The World’s Ugliest Dog,’ and the dog’s owner receives $1,000 in prize money. Since 2017, the prize money has increased to $1,600, along with a free trip to New York City.

Throughout the years, many dogs have participated to claim the esteemed title of ‘The World’s Ugliest Dog,’ with one breed, in particular, winning the most titles; the Chinese Crested. Since the inception of the contest in the 1970s, the most unsightly dog has been from this breed at least 22 times. With a hairless body and bulging eyes, the breed is still beloved and described by the American Kennel Club as an “ultra-affectionate companion dog.”

With social media full of content featuring cute fluffy animals with shares and likes stacked up, Ugliest Dog Days recognizes the not-so-cute lot and makes owners beam with pride for their unattractive pets.

Fun Facts About Dogs

Perpetual Toddler

Your dog is as smart as a 2-year-old

No Deodorant Necessary

Dogs only have sweat glands in their paws

What’d You Say?

Puppies are born deaf; they start hearing around three weeks

Screaming Color

Contrary to popular belief, dogs are not colorblind

Sweet Dreams

According to a poll, about 45% of Americans sleep with their dogs

Why We Love Ugliest Dog Day

It celebrates what’s inside, not outside

Dogs are loving, loyal creatures. They don’t care how their humans look, so why should we care about their perhaps less than perfect features?

It brings awareness to homeless pets

Unfortunately, dogs that may be considered not so cute often have a harder time being adopted. Remember your local pet shelter on Ugliest Dog Day with a donation of money or pet supplies.

It’s a chance to brag about your fabulous dog

Cute and cuddly or unappealing and smelly, dog owners aren’t bothered and truly believe their dog is the best ever. Show-off your dog and give Fido some extra loving today with a special day devoted just to the two of you.

SOURCE: NATIONALTODAY.COM

I went searching for “bad” Father’s Day gifts and found this article about that very thing on the sheknows website.  (This article is from 2018 and I excluded her suggestions on what to get instead–those can be found at her site.)

Not all dads are the beer-loving, tie-wearing, golf-playing football fans so many Father’s Day cards make them out to be. Of course, every dad is unique, and Father’s Day is a time to honor the dads in our lives — in all their special, weird glory. But if you’re afraid your gift this year just won’t measure up, don’t worry. It can’t possibly be as bad as the gifts ahead.

We got eight real dads to spill the beans about the worst Father’s Day gifts they’ve ever received (just don’t tell their kids, OK?). Ahead are their hilarious examples of what not to do when Father’s Day Shopping — plus some fun alternatives.

Sure, we can all get a laugh from an “I love farts” mug or a Bigfoot air freshener once in a while, but let’s try to rise above the stereotypes and get a little more creative this year, shall we?

A Fart Mug

“Between all my children, I probably received over 100 cliché coffee mugs as Father’s Day presents, which I eventually regifted, threw away or sold at garage sales.” — Dan

No matter how tempting it may seem, don’t go inside the crappy gag gift shop at the mall (or on the internet, as the case may be) to get a Father’s Day present. Just don’t do it. 

A Bad & Weirdly Political Drawing

“One of my daughters was pumped to give me a picture she drew (in crayon) of a bald eagle in front of an American flag. My wife had it professionally framed. To this day, it still sits hidden on the floor behind my nightstand because I can’t bring myself to throw it away, but I definitely don’t want to hang it up.” — Tim

OK, kids’ drawings are cute. But that doesn’t mean you should pick the weirdest one, frame it and expect Dad to hang it on the wall for years to come (we’re talking to you, moms). 

A Holiday Arrest

“My son got ‘arrested’ on Father’s Day in sixth grade; we were playing catch when the cops pulled up. He was the kid who liked to play with matches, and a few weeks earlier, he’d started a pretty good grass fire in the woods near our house. When some other kids got caught in trouble doing other dumb stuff, they ratted him out.” — Harry

Please Not Another Tie

“My kids always got me the stereotypical dad gift: a tie. I now have a massive tie collection including several Looney Tunes prints.” — Sanford 

Even if your dad wears ties every day, don’t get him a tie. Or a hat. Or socks for that matter. You can do better.

A Chore-Related Gift

“What I do not want for Father’s Day would be… lawn care equipment.” — Derek

No matter how “handy” dad may or may not be, don’t give him something associated with chores. If he needs tools, rest assured he’ll get them himself.

Swag From the Wrong School

“Toward the end of school last year, [my sons] had a little event in the gym at school where kids could shop for Father’s Day gifts… My older son hands me a tumbler that has the University of Cincinnati logo on it. I attended the rival school in Cincinnati, Xavier University. His quote was, ‘I know how much you hate Cincinnati, so thought you would like this.’ I believe the cup is at the back of the cabinet and has never seen the light of day.” — Bill

This may seem obvious, but don’t get him something representing his rival.

Anything Naked

“After my wife and I got back from a trip to Europe, she gave me an apron from Florence with the body of ‘The David’ statue printed on it and then made me wear it at our family barbeque. It was pretty awkward wearing that in front of my kids. I managed to ‘lose’ it shortly afterwards.” — Bob

A Gift For Yourself

“My daughter gave me a tongue scraper!? She was very into the whole Ayurvedic tongue-scraping, oil pulling, lemon water routine and wanted everyone to do it.” — Pablo

Don’t get Dad something you like just because you like it.

SOURCE: SHEKNOWS.COM

Krystal Rogers-Nelson

True or false? The first modern Father’s Day was rooted in tragedy.

Which state was the first to celebrate Father’s Day?

Sonora Dodd got the idea to start a Father’s Day holiday and wanted it to coincide with her father’s birthday—June 5^th—but that didn’t happen.  What Sunday of the month do we celebrate Father’s Day?

Originally what flower was traditionally given to fathers on Father’s Day?

What holiday sought to supersede Mother’s and Father’s Days?

In what year was Father’s Day officially recognized (by the federal government)?

Father’s Day in Europe (for Catholics) has its roots tied to which saint?

In 1949, in France, a company called Flaminaire created new interest in Father’s Day with their product.  What was it?

Americans spend approximately how many billions of dollars on barbeque accessories, coffee mugs and screwdriver sets for Father’s Day?

Is the figure in question 8 more or less than they spend on Mother’s Day?

Father’s Day is a big day for the greeting card companies—putting it among the top 4 popular reasons for buying or sending a card.  What percentage of Father’s Day cards are humorous?

ANSWERS:

TRUE

The first modern Father’s Day was rooted in tragedy.

On July 5, 1908—the same year that Mother’s Day is credited as beginning—a small church in West Virginia held the first public event meant to specifically honor the fathers of their community. The day was held in remembrance of the 362 men who were killed the previous December in a mining explosion at the Fairmont Coal Company. Though this specific day did not transform into an annual tradition in the town, it did set a precedent of reserving a day for dads everywhere.

Washington

Washington was the first state to celebrate Father’s Day.

In 1909, Spokane resident Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at her local church when she had the idea to try and establish a similar day to honor the hard-working fathers of the community. Dodd was the daughter of a widower and Civil War veteran named William Jackson Smart, who raised six children on his own after his wife died during childbirth.

She contacted local church groups, government officials, YMCAs, businesses, and other official entities, hoping to gather the community to recognize fathers around the state of Washington. The campaign Dodd embarked upon would eventually culminate in the first statewide Father’s Day celebration in 1910.

Father’s Day takes place on the third Sunday in June.

While Father’s Day always takes place on the third Sunday of June now, that date was actually a compromise after the original turned out to be unrealistic. Dodd’s goal was for the holiday to be observed on June 5 to land on her father’s birthday, but when the mayor of Spokane and local churches asked for more time to prepare for all the festivities involved, it was moved to the third Sunday in June, where it remains today. Officially, the first Father’s Day celebration took place on June 19, 1910.

Roses

Roses were originally a big part of the Father’s Day celebration.

The first Father’s Day included a church service where daughters would hand red roses to their fathers during the mass. The roses were also pinned onto the clothing of children to further honor their fathers—red roses for a still-living father and a white rose for the deceased. Dodd also brought roses and gifts to any father in the community who was unable to make it to the service. This gave birth to the now-nearly-forgotten tradition of roses as the customary flower of Father’s Day.

Parent’s Day

In the 1920s and ’30s, there was a movement to get rid of Mother’s Day and the burgeoning Father’s Day celebrations and instead join the two holidays as a unified Parents’ Day. Robert Spere (also known as Robert Spero), a philanthropist and children’s radio entertainer, saw the holidays as a “division of respect and affection” for parents, especially during a time when Father’s Day hadn’t officially been recognized nationwide.

“We should all have love for dad and mother every day, but Parents’ Day on the second Sunday in May is a reminder that both parents should be loved and respected together,” Spere told The New York Times in 1931. The movement died out in the ’40s, but if it had gone through, we’d all be celebrating Parents’ Day every year with the slogan, “A kiss for mother, a hug for dad.”

1972

It took until 1966 for President Lyndon Johnson to make a nationwide proclamation endorsing Father’s Day across the country. In his proclamation, Johnson wrote that on June 19, 1966, “I invite State and local governments to cooperate in the observance of that day; and I urge all our people to give public and private expression to the love and gratitude which they bear for their fathers.”

Nowhere in Johnson’s proclamation did it say anything about what would happen on Father’s Day the next year, though, and the corresponding Joint Resolution specified “the third Sunday in June of 1966.” It wasn’t until President Richard Nixon signed Public Law 92-278 that Father’s Day was permanently recognized by the federal government.

Saint Joseph.

For Catholics in Europe, the idea of Father’s Day stretches back to feasts established in the Middle Ages to honor Saint Joseph on March 19. The celebration was prevalent in countries like Spain, France, and Italy, and as it focused on Joseph—the foster father of Jesus—it eventually turned into a day to honor the institution of fatherhood in general. Though many European countries have adopted a more secular observance of Father’s Day, some still uphold the tradition of linking it to Saint Joseph’s Day.

Lighters

The traditional feasts and celebrations around Saint Joseph began to fade in 20th-century Europe, especially in the years after World War II, so to reignite consumer interest in spending money on dear ol’ dad, a French lighter company called Flaminaire created a new Father’s Day in 1949 to help sell their products. With the help of an expansive ad campaign, the company drummed up brand awareness in the guise of a holiday, and Father’s Day (called Fête des Pères) has been observed in France ever since.

Americans are expected to spend more than $20 billion on Father’s Day gifts.

All those barbecue accessories, coffee mugs, and screwdriver sets add up: Americans are expected to spend about $20 billion on gifts in 2022 for Father’s Day, with clothing and “special outing” gear making up the bulk of the gifts. 

Less.

Though Father’s Day is big business in the commercial marketplace, it still exists in the shadow of mom. In 2022, the National Retail Federation (NRF) found that Americans spent $31.7 billion on Mother’s Day gifts like flowers, apparel, dinner, and spa days—a $3.6 billion increase from 2021’s spending.

25%

Father’s Day means big business for the greeting card industry. The holiday is the fourth most popular day for exchanging cards, with approximately 72 million flying off shelves annually. Hallmark—which has been producing Father’s Day cards since the early 1920s—boasts more than 800 different designs for dad, with humor cards accounting for 25 percent of the cards sold. The NRF estimates that cards account for 58 percent of all Father’s Day gifts—whether the person honors dad only with a card or includes it with a larger gift. 

SOURCE: MENTAL FLOSS

Tomorrow, June 11, (1982) is the anniversary of the release of E.T. in the United States.  I went searching for some interesting fun facts about the movie and below is what I found on the GeekTyrant.com website.

From GeekTyrant:

Steven Spielberg shot most of the film from the eye-level of a child to further connect with Elliot and E.T. With the exception of Elliot’s mom, no adults’ faces are shown until the last half of the film.

Most of the full-body puppetry was performed by a 2′ 10 tall stuntman, but the scenes in the kitchen were done using a 10-year old boy who was born without legs but was an expert on walking on his hands.

The filmmakers had requested that M&M’s be used to lure E.T., instead of Reese’s Pieces. The Mars company had denied their request and so Reese’s Pieces were used instead. As a direct result, Reese’s Pieces sales skyrocketed. Because of this, more and more companies began requesting that their products be used in movies. Thus, product placement was born.

ET’s face was modeled after poet Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and a pug dog.

The end of the film was one of the most significant musical experiences for composer John Williams. After several attempts were made to match the score to the film, Steven Spielberg took the film off the screen and encouraged Williams to conduct the orchestra the way he would at a concert. He did, and Spielberg slightly re-edited the film to match the music, which is unusual since normally the music would be edited to match the film. The result was Williams winning the 1982 Academy Award for Best Original Score.

According to the film’s novelization, E.T. is over ten million years old. Steven Spielberg also stated in an interview that E.T. was a plant-like creature, and neither male or female.

E.T.’s voice was provided by Pat Welsh, an elderly woman who lived in Marin County, California. Welsh smoked two packets of cigarettes a day, which gave her voice a quality that sound effects creator Ben Burtt liked. She spent nine-and-a-half hours recording her part, and was paid $380 by Burtt for her services. Burtt also recorded 16 other people and various animals to create E.T.’s “voice”. These included Spielberg; Debra Winger; Burtt’s sleeping wife, who had a cold; a burp from his USC film professor; as well as raccoons, sea otters and horses.

Steven Spielberg’s original concept was for a much darker movie in which a family was terrorized in their house by aliens. When Spielberg decided to go with a more benevolent alien, the family-in-jeopardy concept was recycled as Poltergeist (1982).

Steven Spielberg worked simultaneously on both this film and Poltergeist (1982) in 1982 (which was directed by Tobe Hooper but produced by Spielberg), and both were made to complement each other. “E.T.” represented suburban dreams, and “Poltergeist” represented suburban nightmares.

Corey Feldman was originally scheduled for a role in E.T., but over the course of a script re-write, his part was eliminated. Steven Spielberg felt bad about the decision and promised Feldman a part in his next planned production which turned out to be Gremlins (1984).

ET’s communicator actually worked, and was constructed by Henry Feinberg, an expert in science and technology interpretation for the public.

Harrison Ford was initially intended to have a cameo role in the film as Elliot’s school headmaster, but the scene was cut.

Steven Spielberg shot the film in chronological order to invoke a real response from the actors (mainly the children) when E.T. departed at the end. All emotional responses from that last scene are real.

Steven Spielberg and Melissa Mathison came up with the concept of a sequel called “Nocturnal Fears”, where Elliott and his friends are kidnapped by aliens and E.T. would help them out. E.T.’s name would be Zreck, and his species was at war with the other aliens.

At the auditions, Henry Thomas thought about the day his dog died to express sadness. Director Steven Spielberg cried, and hired him on the spot.

SOURCE: GeekTryant

Fact: McDonald’s once made bubblegum-flavored broccoli

This crazy McDonald’s fact will have your taste buds crawling. Unsurprisingly, the attempt to get kids to eat healthier didn’t go over well with the child testers, who were “confused by the taste.”

Fact: Some fungi create zombies, then control their minds

The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. Once it has been in an insect’s body for nine days, it has complete control over the host’s movements. According to National Geographic, it forces the ant to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and wait for death.

Fact: The first oranges weren’t orange

The original oranges from Southeast Asia were a tangerine-pomelo hybrid, and they were actually green. In fact, oranges in warmer regions, such as Vietnam and Thailand, still stay green through maturity.

Fact: There’s only one letter that doesn’t appear in any U.S. state name

Can you guess the answer to this random fun fact? You’ll find a Z (Arizona), a J (New Jersey), and even two X’s (New Mexico and Texas)—but not a single Q.

Fact: A cow-bison hybrid is called a beefalo

You can even buy its meat in at least 21 states.

Fact: Johnny Appleseed’s fruits weren’t for eating

Yes, there was a real John Chapman who planted thousands of apple trees on U.S. soil. But the apples on those trees were much more bitter than the ones you’d find in the supermarket today. “Johnny Appleseed” didn’t expect his fruits to be eaten whole but rather made into hard apple cider.

Fact: Scotland has 421 words for snow

Yes, 421! Some examples: sneesl (to start raining or snowing); feefle (to swirl); and flinkdrinkin (a light snow).

Fact: Samsung tests phone durability with a butt-shaped robot

People stash their phones in their back pockets all the time, which is why Samsung created a robot shaped like a butt to “sit” on their phones to make sure they can take the pressure. Believe it or not, the robot even wears jeans.

Fact: The Windy City nickname has nothing to do with Chicago’s weather

If you live in Chicago, you might already know this random fact, but we’re betting most other people don’t. Chicago’s nickname was coined by 19th-century journalists who were referring to the fact that its residents were “windbags” and “full of hot air.”

Fact: Peanuts aren’t technically nuts

They’re legumes. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” That means walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios aren’t nuts either. They’re seeds.

Fact: Armadillo shells are bulletproof

In fact, one Texas man was hospitalized when a bullet he shot at an armadillo ricocheted off the animal and hit him in the jaw. That’s a totally true animal tidbit. These animal “facts,” however, are wrong.

Fact: Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetter

The chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water so it’s easier to spread and better soaks into objects, which is why it’s known as “wet water.”

Fact: The longest English word is 189,819 letters long

We won’t spell it out here, but the full name for the protein nicknamed titin would take three and a half hours to say out loud. While this is, by far, the longest word in English, the longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary has 45 letters, and the longest made-up word has just 28.

Fact: “Running amok” is a medically recognized mental condition

Considered a culturally bound syndrome, a person “running amok” in Malaysia starts with a period of brooding and then commits a sudden, frenzied mass attack.

Fact: Some octopus species lay 56,000 eggs at a time

On average, a giant Pacific octopus will lay 56,000 eggs at the end of a pregnancy, over the course of about a month, NPR reports. At first, these new babies float through the surrounding water unattached to one another or their mother. But then the mother gathers each egg—which is about the size of a grain of rice—and weaves them into braids, allowing her to keep an eye on everyone at the same time.

Fact: Cats have fewer toes on their back paws

Like most four-legged mammals, cats have five toes on the front, but their back paws only have four toes. Scientists think the four-toed back paws might help them run faster.

Fact: Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masks

When there was a cotton shortage during World War I, Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat cotton substitute that the army tried to use as a filter in gas masks. The war ended before scientists perfected the material, so the company redeveloped it to be smoother and softer, then marketed Kleenex as facial tissue instead.

Fact: Blue whales eat half a million calories in one mouthful

Just try to wrap your brain around the second part of this animal fact: Those 457,000 calories are more than 240 times the energy the whale uses to scoop those krill into its mouth.

Fact: That tiny pocket in jeans was designed to store pocket watches

The original jeans had only four pockets: that tiny pocket, plus two more on the front and just one in the back.

Fact: Turkeys can blush

When turkeys are scared or excited—like when the males see a female they’re interested in—the pale skin on their head and neck turns bright red, blue, or white. The flap of skin over their beaks, called a snood, also reddens.

Fact: Most Disney characters wear gloves to keep animation simple

Walt Disney might have been the first to put gloves on his characters, as seen in 1929’s The Opry House, starring Mickey Mouse. In addition to being easier to animate, there’s another reason for the gloves: “We didn’t want him to have mouse hands because he was supposed to be more human,” Disney told his biographer in 1957.

Fact: The man with the world’s deepest voice can make sounds humans can’t hear

The man, Tim Storms, can’t even hear the note, which is eight octaves below the lowest G on a piano—but elephants can.

Fact: The current American flag was designed by a high school student

It started as a school project for Bob Heft’s junior-year history class in 1958, and it only earned a B-minus. His design had 50 stars, even though Alaska and Hawaii weren’t states yet; Heft figured the two would earn statehood soon and showed the government his design. After President Dwight D. Eisenhower called to say the design was approved, Heft’s teacher changed his grade to an A.

Fact: Cows don’t have upper front teeth

They do have molars on top, in the back of their mouths, but where you’d expect upper incisors, cows, sheep, and goats have a thick layer of tissue called a dental pad. They use that with their bottom teeth to pull out grass.

Fact: Thanks to 3D printing, NASA can basically email tools to astronauts

Getting new equipment to the Space Station used to take months or years, but the new technology means the tools are ready within hours.

SOURCE: Reader’s Digest: Elizabeth Yuko

Today, June 1, is the birthday of Norma Jean Mortenson aka Marilyn Monroe.  She was born in 1926 and died in 1962. The song, Candle in the Wind, by Elton John was a tribute to her.  When I researched the song, I found an interesting article on Songfacts detailing many things I didn’t know about the song that I loved so much including the fact that the song wasn’t so much a tribute to only Monroe, but more a statement on how fame impacts people. Elton John rededicated the song a few times since he wrote it.

From Songfacts:

This song is a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, a famous actress and sex symbol who died of a drug overdose in 1962. The “candle in the wind” represents her short, but eventful life.

The song makes various references to the press coverage of Monroe. The famous opening line, “Goodbye Norma Jeane,” refers to her birth name: Norma Jeane Mortenson, and how she gave up both her name and her privacy for the sake of celebrity.

The lyrics were written by Elton’s writing partner, Bernie Taupin, who got the idea for the title from a quote he read about Janis Joplin. According to Taupin, the song is more of a take on fame and celebrity than an ode to Marilyn Monroe. Said Taupin: “I think the biggest misconception about ‘Candle In The Wind’ is that I was this rabid Marilyn Monroe fanatic, which really couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s not that I didn’t have a respect for her. It’s just that the song could just as easily have been about James Dean or Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain. I mean, it could have been about Sylvia Plath or Virginia Woolf. I mean, basically, anybody, any writer, actor, actress, or musician who died young and sort of became this iconic picture of Dorian Gray, that thing where they simply stopped aging. It’s a beauty frozen in time.

In a way, I’m fascinated with that concept. So it’s really about how fame affects the man or woman in the street, that whole adulation thing and the fanaticism of fandom. It’s pretty freaky how people really believe these people are somehow different from us. It’s a theme that’s figured prominently in a lot of our songs, and I think it’ll probably continue to do so.”

When Elton got the lyrics, he had no trouble writing the music. He understood the stress caused by constant media attention, and felt Monroe must have been in terrible pain her whole life.

From Songfacts:

On April 7, 1990 Elton dedicated this to Ryan White, one of the first high-profile AIDS patients, when he performed it at Farm Aid 4. White, who got the disease from a blood transfusion, died the next night at age 18.

He rededicated it again in 1997 to Princess Diana, calling it Goodbye England’s Rose.

From Songfacts: Elton’s lyricist, Bernie Taupin, rewrote the lyrics to this song after Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car accident on August 31, 1997. The 36-year-old princess had divorced Prince Charles, but remained a beloved celebrity, revered for her humanitarian efforts and grace. Diana was friends with Elton John and also a big fan – she identified with the sentiment in “Candle In The Wind,” especially the lyrics, “They made you change your name, never knowing who to cling to when the rain set in” and “even when you died, the press still hounded you.”

With the song rewritten, most notably with the first line changed from “Goodbye Norma Jeane” to “Goodbye England’s Rose,” Elton played it at Princess Diana’s funeral on September 6. The global TV audience for the funeral was estimated at 2.5 billion, and Elton’s heartfelt performance provoked an outpouring of support for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The new version of the song, which was produced by Sir George Martin of Beatles fame, was released as a single as “Candle In The Wind ’97,” this time dedicated to Princess Diana and with proceeds going to the fund.

(snip)

After performing the song at Diana’s funeral, Elton never again sang it with those lyrics. When the song fell off the charts, most radio stations also retired it, going back to the original version of “Candle In The Wind.”

SOURCE: SONGFACTS

Goodbye, Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh, the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the nude

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Goodbye, Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
Goodbye, Norma Jeane
From the young man in the twenty second row
Who sees you as something more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would’ve liked to know you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

This song, by Billy Joel, was one of my favorites back then.  The lyrics and explanation of the origins of the song are from the GENIUS website. It reminds me that the world has always been in turmoil.

From GENIUS:

This monster hit of a song was created in 1989, when Joel turned 40. The idea spawned from a conversation he had with a friend of Sean Lennon. The friend just turned 21 and was complaining about how crazy it was to be living in his era, therefore undermining any other time before his. This encouraged Joel to write a song that would prove that any time is filled with extremes.

Starting from 1949 (the year in which he was born), he chronicled the major events that occurred during that time in a rapid fire delivery of names, places, and cultural works.

These are his words on the subject:

I started doing that as a mental exercise. I had turned forty. It was 1989, and I said, “Okay, what’s happened in my life? I wrote down the year 1949… It was kind of a mind game. [It’s] one of the few times I’ve written the lyrics first, which should be obvious to why I usually prefer to write the music first, because the melody is horrendous. It’s like a mosquito droning. It’s one of the worst melodies I’ve ever written. I kind of like the lyric though.

Passage taken from the book, In Their Own Words by Bill DeMain (Chapter 14) where he interviewed Joel about his thoughts on the song.

The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a radio mainstay.

We Didn’t Start the Fire

Harry Truman, Doris Day
Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific
Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon
Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea
Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb
Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I,
And The Catcher In The Rye
Eisenhower, Vaccine
England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace
Santayana goodbye

[Chorus]
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov
Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella
Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron
Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, “Rock Around the Clock”
Einstein, James Dean
Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan
Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place
Trouble in the Suez

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak
Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Zhou En-lai
Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle
California baseball
Starkweather Homicide
Children of Thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur
Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro
Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee
Payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho
Belgians in the Congo

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichmann
Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin
Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia
British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn
Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X
British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away
What else do I have to say?

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh
Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock
Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine
Terror on the airline
Ayatollahs in Iran
Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride
Heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets
AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores
China’s under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars
I can’t take it anymore

SOURCE: GENIUS

Reader’s Digest bills this article, written by Elizabeth Yuko as 125 random interesting facts to share with your friends. Because of it’s length, I decided to break into 5 monthly parts.

From the article:

Fact: The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been around for more than 5,000 years

It was found in 2002, approximately 12 miles south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and is now housed in the city’s museum. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the wheel’s age, which is somewhere between 5,100 and 5,350 years old.

Fact: Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust

Here’s an interesting science fact for you: According to researchers at Imperial College London, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour—and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors. If the idea of skin dust isn’t sitting well with you, you should know that a report from the American Chemical Society found that a skin oil called squalene naturally helps reduce indoor ozone levels by up to 15 percent.

Fact: Sudan has more pyramids than any country in the world

Not only does Sudan have more pyramids than Egypt, but the numbers aren’t even close. While 138 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, Sudan boasts around 255.

Fact: The bumblebee bat is the world’s smallest mammal

Weighing in at 0.05 to 0.07 ounces, with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat—also known as Kitti’s hog-nosed bat—is the smallest mammal in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. To see this tiny bat for yourself, you’d have to visit one of a select few limestone caves on the Khwae Noi River in Kanchanaburi Province of southwest Thailand.

Fact: The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long

If a child’s entire circulatory system—we’re talking veins, arteries, and capillaries—were laid out flat, it would stretch for more than 60,000 miles, according to the Franklin Institute. By the time we reach adulthood, our bodies have become home to approximately 100,000 miles of blood vessels.

Fact: There are parts of Africa in all four hemispheres

For people whose education was largely focused on the Western world, it may be surprising to find out exactly how huge the continent of Africa is. For instance, it spans all four hemispheres and covers nearly 12 million square miles.

Fact: The cornea is one of only two parts of the human body without blood vessels

The cornea is the clear part of the eye that covers the pupil and other parts of the eye. Cartilage and the cornea are the only types tissue in the human body that do not contain blood vessels, according to scientists at the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology’s Schepens Eye Research Institute.

Fact: The world’s first animated feature film was made in Argentina

Even if you know a lot of Disney trivia, you might assume that the honor of first animated feature film belongs to Walt Disney’s 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But 20 years earlier, a full-length animated feature film was made in Argentina. It was a political satire called El Apóstol made up of 58,000 drawings and had a running time of 70 minutes, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Fact: German chocolate cake was invented in Texas

The “German” part of German chocolate cake comes from an American man—not a European country. Specifically, it’s named after Sam German, who in 1852 created the formula for a mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company, which was subsequently named Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. Fast-forward to June 13, 1957. The Dallas Morning Star published the recipe for the cake, invented and submitted by a reader identified as Mrs. George Clay, according to What’s Cooking America.

Fact: Marla Gibbs continued to work as a flight attendant for two years after being cast on a hit TV show

Prior to taking her place on the stoop of 227, Marla Gibbs played the housekeeper Florence on The Jeffersons (a spin-off of All in the Family). In a 2015 interview, Gibbs told the Washington Post that despite it appearing as though she had gotten her big break, she kept her job as a flight attendant for American Airlines for two more years—just to be safe.

Fact: The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands

The Philippines is an archipelago, which means it’s made up of a group of islands—7,641 islands, to be exact. That figure does not include the thousands of sandbars and other landforms that emerge during low tide.

Fact: A one-way trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway involves crossing 3,901 bridges

Not only is the Trans-Siberian Railway the longest railroad in Russia, but it’s also the longest one in the world. The journey takes seven days, during which time passengers pass through eight different time zones and cross 3,901 bridges.

Fact: The Golden Girls was supposed to have a different theme song

That’s right: Instead of Andrew Gold’s iconic “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the show’s producers wanted to use Bette Midler’s song “Friends,” according to Jim Colucci, author of the book Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai. But the rights to the Divine Miss M’s song were too expensive, and the rest is sitcom history.

Fact: There’s enough gold inside Earth to coat the planet

Turns out, there’s quite a bit of gold on—or, really, in—our planet: 99 percent of the precious metal can be found in the Earth’s core, Discover Magazine reports. How much is there? Enough to coat the entire surface of the Earth in 1.5 feet of gold.

Fact: Cleveland was once the country’s fifth-largest city

Data from the 1920 U.S. census indicates that Cleveland, Ohio, was one of the most heavily populated cities in the country, behind only Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City.

Fact: Human beings can use only a small fraction of Earth’s water

In school, we were taught that most (specifically, 71 percent) of the planet’s surface is covered in water. While that’s true, humans can use only 0.007 percent of that water, according to National Geographic. That’s because only about 2.5 percent of Earth’s water is fresh water, and only 1 percent of that is accessible. The rest makes up glaciers and snowfields.

Fact: Wally Amos is responsible for making more than just cookies famous

You may be familiar with Wally “Famous” Amos, thanks to his packaged chocolate chip cookies. But before he worked his magic on the sweet treats, he was in the business of making people famous, Biography reports. He discovered and signed folk duo Simon & Garfunkel and was a talent rep for acts like Diana Ross, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye.

Fact: The brand name Spam is a combination of “spice” and “ham”

This is one of those interesting facts you probably thought you knew but actually didn’t. Contrary to American mythology, Spam is not an acronym for “Scientifically Processed Animal Matter” or “Shoulder of Pork and Ham,” Eater reports.

Fact: It takes a drop of water 90 days to travel the entire Mississippi River

Spanning 2,340 miles, the Mississippi River is the third-largest watershed in the world. That’s one long stretch of water. So long, in fact, that it takes one drop of water approximately 90 days to travel its entire length.

Fact: People once ate arsenic to improve their skin

You’ve probably heard about how a lot of the Victorians’ favorite cosmetics were riddled with arsenic, but it gets worse. There were also products on the market in the late 19th century, like Dr. James P. Campbell’s Safe Arsenic Complexion Wafers, that were meant to be eaten. They claimed to get rid of freckles, blackheads, and other “facial disfigurements.” Admit it: That’s one of the most interesting facts you’ve learned in a while.

Fact: The first person processed at Ellis Island was a 15-year-old girl from Ireland

On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first passenger to disembark at Ellis Island on its opening day. She had traveled to the United States with her two younger brothers aboard the SS Nevada after departing from Queenstown, Ireland (now known as Cobh).

Fact: Japan has one vending machine for every 40 people

Japan is thought to have one of the highest densities of vending machines in the world, with one for every 40 people in the country. While most sell various types of beverages, others feature ice cream, noodles, and disposable cameras.

Fact: Lemons float, but limes sink

Because limes are denser than lemons, they drop to the bottom of a glass, while lemons float at the top. Out of all these random fun facts, this one’s been in front of our faces (or rather, in our glasses) this whole time!

Fact: Professional athletes used to perform in vaudeville during the off-season

Before today’s big-league salaries, professional baseball and football players often had to take on jobs during the off-season, The Atlantic reports. Some of them took advantage of their name recognition and hit the vaudeville circuits, doing everything from comedy routines to reciting poems. Babe Ruth even sang—if you could call it that. Frankly, many of the athletes had no business being on stage, but it’s not like it was against the rules.

Fact: The first time the word “period” was used on TV in reference to menstruation was 1985

It came via a line in a Tampax commercial: “Feeling cleaner is more comfortable. It can actually change the way you feel about your period.” And the actor who made pop culture history was Courtney Cox of Friends fame.

SOURCE: Reader’s Digest: Elizabeth Yuko

Spot the 10 differences.

Find 15 differences–answers are upside down at the bottom if you ge stuck!

Spot 10 differences.

Word Scramble

Find the misspelled word.

ENJOY!

Today is one of my favorite actress’s birthday—Katharine Hepburn.  She was born May 12, 1907 and passed away on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96.  I’ve enjoyed (and have on dvds) many of her films: Desk Set, The Philadelphia Story, and The Lion in Winter to name just a few.  I found an article on Mental Floss listing 11 things we may not have known about this wonderful actress.

From Mental Floss:

1. Katharine Hepburn was a tomboy from an early age.

Aside from her acting career, Katharine Houghton Hepburn—who was born on May 12, 1907—was also famous for her commitment to wearing pants at a time when the rest of Hollywood’s female stars virtually never strayed from skirts and dresses. In 1986, the Council of Fashion Designers of America even honored Hepburn with a lifetime achievement award.

Hepburn, whose mother was a suffragette and early advocate of birth control, was raised to be confident, independent, and individualistic, and her aversion to forced femininity began at a young age. For one memorable summer during her childhood in Connecticut, she sported a short haircut and started going by “Jimmy.” “I thought being a girl was really the bunk,” Hepburn later explained in an interview. “But there’s no bunk about Jimmy.”

Though she stuck with her birth name after that, she never warmed to the idea of long, flowy clothing. “I realized long ago that skirts are hopeless,” Hepburn said in 1993. “Anytime I hear a man say he prefers a woman in a skirt, I say: ‘Try one. Try a skirt.’”

2. Hepburn found her brother dead when she was 13 years old.

While Hepburn’s upbringing was privileged in some ways, it wasn’t without tragedy. In 1921, when she was 13 years old, she found her 15-year-old brother Tom hanging from the rafters, having strangled himself to death. Her family maintained that it was the result of a magic trick gone awry, since Tom had tried a mock-hanging stunt at least once before, but it cast a dark shadow over the rest of Hepburn’s childhood and added to an already-established legacy of suicide in the family: Two uncles, a great-uncle, and her grandfather all took their own lives.

3. She bought out her contract for The Lake rather than finish the run.

Hepburn made her Broadway debut in 1930’s Art and Mrs. Bottle and graced the stage again in 1932’s The Warrior’s Husband. Her third play, 1933’s The Lake, garnered abysmal reviews, including Dorothy Parker’s alleged observation that Hepburn “ran the gamut of emotion from A to B.” Not long into the run, 26-year-old Hepburn was so miserable—and treated so poorly by director Jed Harris—that she bought out her contract and simply walked away.

4. The Lake was the original source of one of her most memorable lines.

One line from the ill-fated play, however, followed Hepburn out that stage door and right into another one. In 1937’s Stage Door, Hepburn portrayed an aspiring actress competing with other boarding house tenants for parts in a play, and director Gregory La Cava gave her the line “The calla lilies are in bloom again,” which he had borrowed from The Lake. Delivered several times throughout the film in Hepburn’s trademark Mid-Atlantic drawl, the line became one of her most iconic, and it’s been referenced in various programs over the years, including an episode of I Love Lucy and the 1988 comedy Big Top Pee-Wee.

5. She once dumped a cup of water on co-star Ginger Rogers.

On the set of Stage Door, Ginger Rogers was flaunting a new mink coat when Hepburn appeared and poured her cup of water on it, explaining that if the coat was, in fact, real mink, it wouldn’t shrink. The media speculated that the behavior was brought on by jealousy, since Hepburn’s then-beau Howard Hughes had reportedly shown interest in Fred Astaire’s legendary dancing partner. But Rogers herself wouldn’t play into the rumors. “Don’t ask me, I haven’t the foggiest notion why [she did it],” Rogers later said in an interview.

6. For a while, Hepburn was considered “box office poison.”

Hepburn followed her film debut in 1932’s A Bill of Divorcement with an Oscar-winning performance in 1933’s Morning Glory and another acclaimed appearance in Little Women that same year. But she also had enough commercial flops—including Spitfire (1934), Mary of Scotland (1936), and the now-beloved screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938)—in the mid-to-late 1930s that she landed on a 1938 list of actors labeled “box office poison” by the Independent Theater Owners’ Association of New York.

Hepburn was unabashed. “Look, they say I’m a has-been,” she told the Daily News with a chuckle, “Yet Bringing Up Baby already has clicked to the tune of $2 million gross, while Stage Door has grossed better than $2,500,000. If I weren’t laughing so hard, I might cry, but why should I?”

7. The Philadelphia Story was a turning point in her career.

As it turns out, Hepburn was right not to dwell on the poisonous criticism. In 1938, she accepted a starring role—which playwright Philip Barry had actually written for her—in the Broadway comedy The Philadelphia Story, and Howard Hughes bought her the rights so that she could reprise her role in a film adaptation. The MGM-produced 1940 film, which co-starred Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, was a box office smash, and it planted Hepburn right back on her path to greatness.

8. She had a decades-long affair with Spencer Tracy.

Hepburn wed Philadelphia businessman Ludlow Ogden Smith soon after graduating from Bryn Mawr in 1928, but they divorced after six years. Much more significant was her affair with fellow actor Spencer Tracy, with whom she lived for 27 years (though Tracy, who was Catholic, never actually divorced his wife). Over the course of their relationship, Hepburn and Tracy starred in nine films together, including 1942’s Woman of the Year, 1949’s Adam’s Rib, and 1952’s Pat and Mike. They wrapped production on their last one, 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, just a few weeks before Tracy died of a heart attack at age 67.

9. Whisky was Hepburn’s drink of choice.

Though Hepburn didn’t drink much during her years with Tracy (who was an alcoholic), she was known to regularly indulge in a glass of whisky in later life, which she said helped with the head tremor she had inherited from her grandfather. “I discovered that whisky helps stop the shaking,” she said in the 1993 documentary All About Me. “Problem is, if you’re not careful, it stops the rest of you, too.”

But based on what she told fellow cast member Brian Blessed while filming 1971’s The Trojan Women, it seems like she also just really loved whisky, all favorable side effects aside. “When I smell whisky, I go absolutely out of my mind. Whisky is beauuuuuutiful. I smell whisky in a glass and I want it,” she said, according to Blessed’s autobiography. “I’d drink whisky morning, noon, and night until it killed me.”

10. Her brownie recipe broke up a marriage.

Hepburn may have balked at certain societal restrictions on women, but that didn’t mean she had anything against spending time in the kitchen. She was especially particular about brownies, which, in her opinion, should be moist. After The New York Times published her signature recipe online in 2015, a woman named Sydne Newberry revealed in the comments section that Hepburn’s deliciously fudgy dessert had inadvertently ended her marriage. As Newberry told The Cut, she had brought the brownies on a trip to visit her husband while he was stationed at an Air Force base in Germany in the 1980s. While there, she shared the dessert with his friend and his friend’s wife, “a gorgeous Italian woman who was very proud of her cooking and was a real food snob.”

Her new baking buddy loved the brownies, and the two kept up correspondence over the next few years while the woman tried to get the recipe right. After repeated failures, she implied that Newberry had intentionally omitted something. Then, while visiting Newberry in the states, the woman began an affair with Newberry’s husband, who eventually left his wife for her, apparently undeterred by her lack of success on the brownie front. “If you want to steal somebody’s husband,” Newberry told NPR, “You should screw up a brownie recipe.”

11. Hepburn held the record for most Academy Award nominations … until Meryl Streep came along.

With her Best Actress nomination for On Golden Pond in 1981, Hepburn set a new record for most nominations ever earned by an actor: 12. The record went unchallenged until 2002, when Meryl Streep clinched her 13th for a supporting role in Adaptation (since then, Streep’s nomination count has risen to a staggering 21). When it comes to actual wins, however, Hepburn comes out on top: Streep has three, while Hepburn has four.

SOURCE: MENTAL FLOSS

(I have Hepburn’s brownie recipe in a post on the 14^th.)