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Our Daily Thread 1-31-13

Good Morning.

What’s on your mind today?

Quote of the Day

“I try to decorate my imagination as much as I can.”

Franz  Schubert

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QoD

What imaginary person did you pretend to be as a child? Or what make-believe/pretend game did you like to play?

73 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 1-31-13”

  1. It’s the last day of January, which means it’s time for the annual Big Quiz! Good luck, and remember, no phoning a Google friend! Answers to follow in the late afternoon. (Feel free to volunteer a prize for the winner!)

    Looking back at 2012
    1. Which Hollywood star’s public appearance prompted this joke on Twitter: “He is now backstage arguing with a vending machine.”
    2. Of whom did the Daily Mail write: “Eschewing the bikini favored by some who have gone before her – most memorably Ursula Andress and Halle Berry – she decided on a salmon dress.”
    3. In March, which country overtook Great Britain to become the world’s sixth largest economy?
    4. Dallas returned to TV screens in 2012, after more than 20 years. In which year was the very first episode broadcast?
    5. What was the collective term for the common people of ancient Rome?

    History and Politics
    1. Which language was spoken by the members of the RAF squadron that scored the most ‘kills’ during the Battle of Britain?
    2. Volgograd was the site of which battle, one of the deadliest in history?
    3. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they banned all sports, with one exception. Which sport was it?
    4. Which country was one of Europe’s largest states from the 14th century to 1795, then disappeared from the map until 1918?
    5. Sir Isaac Newton invented a simple household device which is still used by animal lovers today. What was it?
    6. Who defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium?
    7. Which two of his six wives did Henry VIII have beheaded?
    8. Which neutral country was invaded by an Anglo-Soviet force in 1941?

    Places
    1. Minsk is the capital of which country?
    2. This place, visited this year for the first time since 1960, is more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is high. What is it called?
    3. Between which two bodies of water does the Caucasus lie?
    4. Which European river flows through four capital cities? What are the cities?
    5. In which country would you find the ancient city of Timbuktu?
    6. What is the only English place name to appear in the title of a Shakespeare play?

    Olympics
    1. Which are the five sports in modern pentathlon?
    2. At the 1932 Olympics in LA, which law was bent for French athletes at mealtimes?
    3. Which team sport, a classic at village fetes (celebrations), was discontinued after the 1920 Olympics?
    4. Who came in second in the men’s 100 meters at last year’s Olympics?
    5. Which two countries were suspended from the 1948 Olympics in London? And which country was invited but chose not to send any athletes?

    Obituaries
    1. Which lyricist, who died last September, wrote the line: “Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?”
    2. “Once you get rid of the integrity, the rest is a piece of cake.” Which fictional character, played by an actor who died last year, uttered that line?
    3. Which American comedienne quipped: “Housework won’t kill you, but why take a chance?”
    4. Nicknamed “Mr. Ugly”, this actor specialized in playing sadistic bullies, yet won his only Oscar in 1956 for his sensitive portrayal of a loveless butcher. Who was he?
    5. What petty criminal famously pleaded in 1989: “Can’t we all get along?”

    Film
    1. Which American actor, who made his name in the 1970’s playing good old boys from the South, holds the record for most years as the top box-office star (five years in a row)?
    2. The film My Week with Marilyn was about the making of which 1957 film?
    3. Which film studio was founded by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks?
    4. Which 1944 film noir begins with the line: “I killed him for money – and for a woman. I didn’t get the money. And I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?”
    5. In the late 1930’s, actor Buddy Ebsen had to give up a plum role because he was allergic to the aluminum in his make-up. What was the part?

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  2. I’m going back to bed.

    I’ve been up most of the night. My wife went into the bathroom at 2 AM and discovered a puddle. I went up to the attic to discover a pretty bad leak around one of the windows. I’m gonna have to get somebody over to look at it.

    😦

    At least it stopped raining now. It was pretty heavy last night.

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  4. One last thing……..

    Alabama fans will not like it. Manny Teo jokes were funny, but you won’t be laughing now that you know he wasn’t the only victim of a cruel hoax. You were too.

    So does the NCAA strip them of the last 2 titles, or just the one?
    😯

    Say it with me now……

    CHEATERS!!!!

    http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/29/si-alabama-players-may-have-used-banned-substance-before-12-national-title/

    “The college connection comes early on in the story when one of the S.W.A.T.S reps, Christopher Key, makes a pitch in a hotel room to a group of Alabama players right before the 2012 BCS championship game against LSU. The story specifically mentions defensive end Quinton Dial and linebacker Alex Watkins.

    And then Key passed out his remedy for the frequencies: stickers, which he calls chips, bearing holograms of a pyramid. Key told the players that on game day they should place the chips on three acupuncture points — one on the inside of each wrist before they tape their arms (the chips also come embedded in bracelets), and one over the heart. “It’s going to help your heart have so much more energy,” he said. “Come the fourth quarter, you guys will not be gassed at all.”

    Key also introduces the players to the antler spray and “negatively charged” water, among other products. The Tide’s coaching staff was apparently unaware this meeting took place. Key is also said to have given a treatment to an LSU player before the 2010 Senior Bowl.”

    I demand that you surrender the title to Notre Dame immediately.

    😯 🙂

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  5. That is such a loaded question for me. I was such a lonely only that most of all of my play time was spent in my imagination. I was always someone else. If anyone had a shot at developing some multiple personalities it was me. I think my imaginary self was named Jewel–what a hideous name looking back but my mother had a friend named Jewel and it sounded so exotic when compared to Kim Black. (that used to be abbreviated on computer forms as Bla(h) Kim with a series of numbers

    I had an elaborate system of how many times I climbed the tailgate of my father’s truck, walked across the bed and the cab to walk or slide down the windshield, then across the hood and jump down on the ground being where I was in my fantasy world. I just realized as I was typing this that there were very likely some foggy mornings that my father didn’t think my precious little footprints were quite as endearing. (Who am I kidding–I have NEVER had a little footprint!)

    Do you remember those plastic tape thingies that were different colors but you could squeeze out the letters to your name in white? Somehow there was an extra one of those floating around and Daddy taped it to the dashboard of his truck–from then on it was Kim’s truck. When BG came along, she had little baby girl calling cards (they were quite the thing to have on the birthday circuit). I taped one of them to the dashboard of his much newer truck. Then truck then became Chloe’s truck. They rode a lot of miles together and at a lot of Chik-Fil-A. He complained a lot about the cost of “just some d@*&#% ol’ fried chicken but it didn’t stop him from taking her there whenever they were out and about. He much preferred it when she wanted to go eat Chinese food and he would have been even happier if she had demanded he buy her a rib eye steak and go home and grill it for her.

    Yesterday I had a long talk with the team leader I work for. He is happy with all that I have accomplished since I started working for him. I have been a little frustrated in the lack of what I have accomplished but if he is happy I am willing to accept that. Getting a couple of the agents on board with wht we are doing is frustrating. If someone asked you for a document TWO WEEKS ago so that they could complete a task that had been assigned to them and you stonewalled EVERY day for that two weeks, why to YOU get mad and offended when the “boss” finally steps in and says “you have been asked for this every day, if you can’t do this perhaps we are not the right place for you to be” and then why do you attack the person who was needing the document THAT YOU HAD and wouldn’t send!!!!!
    This guy can’t sell real estate because he calls on numerous sick people in the hospital, he has had a friend die just about every other week since I started working there, and it seems he attends about two funerals a week—I kid you not! I think he gets up, checks the obits, and plans his day! He isn’t even originally FROM here! Surely he can’t know that many people!

    On that note, I do have a funeral to attend tomorrow. A lady who had quite an influence on me as a young teen. She is probably one of the reasons I turned out as semi-normal as I did. Her daughter (my age) died back in September. She died Monday. While there is a son-in-law and three grandchildren left, there is also her brother left who “isn’t quite right”. I worry who will look after him.

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  6. I was the Lone Ranger. But I nver took it seriously.
    Tychicus’ quiz later. I knew none of the first group about celebrities, except that I think it was China that overtook Britian.
    I suspect I could do better on the rest.
    i.e. I think it was Polish that the pilots spoke.
    Stalingrand was the great battle. If the Germans had just pulled back from that meatgrinder, the war would have lasted another year.
    etc.

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  7. The storm rolled through Hendersonville too. But we didn’t lose power this time.
    Schools are on a two hour delay this morning. We’re under a flood watch. Not too bad here.

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  9. Wall now Barney, um , Ah mean, AJ (and a name you should be proud of –AJ McCarron? Anyone?) I read down in the comments to your link and lo and behold someone did mention deer urine. Southern men have been spraying this stuff on themselves for years so that they could shoot a bigger buck. Trust me, it ain’t hepped.
    I will let you fuss about a little ol’ deer pee or antler dust when Notre Dame comes clean about the “alleged” rapes that have been attributed to the football team. I know, I know, every girl wants to bag a Big Man On Campus and when it all goes bad she jest hollars rape.

    Can you REALLy take this stuff seriously when the rest of us laugh and are appalled by the killing of rhinos to get the dust from their horns to increase, ahem, sexual prowess?

    Down cheer in da South we like to refer to these buffoons as snake oil salesman. If the deer dust and squirral pee did anything to enhance performance it was all psychological.

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  10. Oh and my own personal Alabama Football Expert is already on top of things. Mr. P just strolled through with a cup of coffee and asked what I was doing. I told him I was responding to the above link. He said he already knew about it and that there is probably going to be a lawsuit, the Alabama coaches and staff told these idiots to stay away from the players five years ago.

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  11. I see in the paper that Patty Andrews died. She was 94. I’m sure none of you remember the Andrews Sisters. They were big in the 40’s. The article says they performed with Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes, Carmen Miranda, Danny Kaye, Al Jolson, Jimmy Durante and Red Foley. The paper didn’t say, but I have a CD with Ernest Tubb and the Andrews Sisters. “Bitin’ My Fingernails” it is. Their big one was “Rum and Coca Cola”. Tame by today’s standards, it stretched the 40’s limit.

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  12. Re make/believe game: My sister and I took “playing house” into the make-believe realm. Each of us had three or four dolls we took to bed with us, and each of us had one “main” doll. (Interestingly, we had gotten them for Christmas the same year–only she got mine and I got hers, and we both wanted to trade.) Anyway, we had an ongoing story line. Her doll, Kim, and my doll, Rebecca, would be going somewhere together. They might both go to my house, or to her house, or to the park. (We usually didn’t actually have the dolls in hand as we told “their” stories. We just used “their” voices to say things like “Ask your mom if you can come to my house.” “Mom, can I go to Kim’s house? . . . She said I can!”)

    Occasionally they’d mention one of their sisters (the other dolls) but it was mostly focused on those two and their “adventures.” And either of us could make up story elements, or change story elements. It was all done through dialogue: “Let’s go to the park. . . . Hey, what’s the poster on that pole? Look, it’s a lost puppy. Let’s see if we can find the puppy!” So then the other one could say, “Hey, there’s the puppy! Let’s go get it!” or she might say, “No, that poster isn’t a lost puppy–see, it’s a lion! The circus is in town! Do you want to go?”

    We’d whisper the whole story while both of us stayed awake (unless our parents insisted we be quiet and “go to sleep,” the second of which I could never manage to obey). One of us would eventually say, “Good night,” and the other would repeat it. Then one of us would whisper again, and we’d get going again. Finally one of us would whisper, “Good night. I mean it this time,” and that would be it for the night.

    And the next night we’d have to remember where we’d left off the story: “Rebecca had just seen the poster. . . .” “No, Kim thought she saw a puppy, but it was a kitten. . . .” “Oh yeah, they’re looking for the puppy. . . . (change to little girl voice) . . . Hey Kim, is that the puppy over there, under that bush?”

    Now she has five children and I’m a writer, so I guess we both had practice.

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  13. Good morning.

    6 arrows: Late last night you asked me a question. The answer is February 6. I’ll be 42. When are their birthdays?

    QoD: I grew up on about a 100 acres in the Texas Hill Country. We had cows, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits, a couple of horses and lots of peafowl. I played in the barn a lot, picking out the peanuts from the peanut hay (gross!) and rationing them for snacks when I got hungry. I’d try to get lost on the property (never succeeded) and would try to start a rescue fire by rubbing two sticks together (this never worked either). I spent many hours breaking open rocks, panning the river for gold, and imagining I was an orphan who lived off the land. Sometimes I had a friend to share this imaginary play, but most of the time I was alone. I could play outside this way for the entire day.

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  14. Let’s just say almost every book I read had an additional character only I knew. For a girl without a sister, I sure populated a lot of books as one!

    And today I need to completely plot one and write the opening chapter. It’s 6:15 here. Let’s see how long it takes.

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  16. Annms: 5th Arrow’s birthday is the day after yours. He was born 12 days after his due date, so if he’d been a little quicker (rather, if I’d gone into labor sooner — it started at 1:00 a.m. and he was born at 5:20 a.m., my fastest labor) then he would have been born on your birthday!

    My husband’s birthday is the 13th. My MIL says he was her quickest labor, too (he’s the 3rd child of 8). Must be something with February birthdays that shorten labors. 😉

    Also, my husband was born on his uncle’s birthday. And my sister’s is on the 4th; two nieces surround that date with birthdays the 3rd and 5th. First Arrow says he knows someone with a birthday on each of the first 14 or 15 days of February. Popular month to be born, I guess!

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  17. I was Batdog as a child. Batman, Robin, Batgirl etc, were all taken, so I got to be the dog! I think I had more fun than anyone else! That was my city imagination. On my grandpa’s farm, I was an intrepid explorer, conquering the haystacks and building homes in the pile of dead trees and the huge black poplars.

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  19. AJ, thanks so much for the Ave Maria video; lovely arrangement!

    QoD: I grew up on a farm, and in the summer my sisters and I would play house in the barn. We’d each have six stanchions that were our rooms. I’m trying to remember what they were: I think kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, bathroom, and it seems like I had a game room or something. We had husbands who went to work (mine was a billboard designer, and our last name — can’t remember what it was — was at the bottom of the sign). We had children, but did not use dolls or any props, just our imaginations.

    Tychicus’ quiz: Yikes! Way too early in the morning for that! You forget I’m not a coffee drinker. 😉

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  20. Kare, I think I’ll point out those temperatures you’re having to my husband. He’s not been tolerating the heat well in recent years and has said (not very seriously, but sometimes I still wonder) that he would like to live in Canada! Brrr. 🙂

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  21. Good Morning….
    Chas…I do know who Patty Andrews was..and the Andrews Sisters….and all of the singers you mentioned. 🙂
    My parents loved music of the 30’s 40’s 50’s….that music played in our home all of the time…on the phonograph….listening to music of that era warms my soul…very good memories and I say…”they just don’t make ’em like they used to”!! No one can sing like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Doris Day, Jo Stafford, Kay Starr,Ella Fitzgerald,…those days are gone…thankfully those moments were captured on “tape” and I continue to listen to their music!

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  22. There’s a “Sinatra” station on my car radio that I like to listen to sometimes — they play those swing-era (and through the ’60s) type songs, sometimes they’re old songs by new artists, but I am familiar with “rum and coca cola” (don’t know if it’s the original they play or not, but it could be; they play a lot of the originals). My mom used to talk abut the Andrews Sisters.

    Wow, that’s quite a quiz! A quick glance let me know I would do quite poorly without Google. 😉

    There’s a conference call today on the westminster dog show story I’m working on (it’s due a week from today). Yesterday I was on the phone interviewing one of several show dog owners, asking some serious questions but also some frivolous ones like what’s your dog’s favorite toy, what was the worst trouble he’s gotten into. Simultaneously, the cop reporter who sits next to me is talking to some confessed murder who called from jail about where he’d buried his wife’s body.

    We laughed about how really weird that all was.

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  24. Nancy! THANKS! There is a song I want to find and I could see the album cover from my mother’s records but I couldn’t remember the name of the woman on the album Jo Stafford. NOW I can find the song!

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  25. 🙂

    What? Hey I’m just reportin’ the news. Don’t shoot the messenger.

    😆

    You SEC fans are easy to wind up. No wonder, since Alabama, LSU, and Auburn are all involved in this. And just a quick note. Deer urine? Yikes! I’m not sure what that would do for ya’, other than make you stink. But the deer antler spary is just flat out cheating. Sorry SEC fans, it’s banned by the NCAA.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57566713/deer-antler-spray-what-is-igf-1/

    “Deer-antler spray and pills contain a hormone called IGF-1 that is thought to help muscle recovery. The company said the hormone is harvested from deer in New Zealand.”

    “Just what exactly is IGF-1?

    Dr. Spyros Mezitis, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, explained to CBSNews.com that IGF-1 is an insulin-like growth factor, a hormone that naturally occurs in the body and circulates in the blood. A person’s endocrine system contains a pituitary gland that produces a chemical called growth hormone that helps children grow into adults by making their bones stronger and helping their bodies mature. The brain’s growth hormone then stimulates the liver to produce IGF-1, which then binds to receptors in muscle cells, signalling them to multiply and grow.”

    “IGF-1 is “just like giving someone human growth hormone,” Don Catlin, the former head of UCLA’s Olympic Analytical Lab, told The New York Times. “It goes to the same kinds of receptors and turns them on.”

    However, as SI reports, the spray may not even be effective in humans.”

    Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But these guys took it thinking it would do exactly what it’s banned for allegedly doing.

    We can end this now. Just send that pretty little trophy over to ND and all will be forgiven. By me at least.

    😆

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  28. You’ve all probably read books that are so gripping you can’t put them down. Have you ever read books that are so powerful, it’s hard to pick them up?

    I’m reading a book I have checked out of the library right now called Bad Animals: A Father’s Accidental Education in Autism. It’s written by Joel Yanofsky, a book reviewer for The Montreal Gazette. It’s basically “a year in the life” of the author’s autistic son in his fifth grade year of school, and an account chronicling the author’s struggle to understand his son’s world, the world of autism, the boy himself, and even the author himself.

    Time goes by quickly when I sit down to read the book, but I can only read a chapter at a time, sometimes less, before I have to put it down, it gets so intense at times. Then the book sits and stares at me from the living room table, sometimes for days, before I can pick it up again.

    Does that happen to anyone else, where a book is compelling, and at the same time, hard to continue with?

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  29. AJ, stating the other side of the story is not being “easy to wind up”. You are starting to argue like a liberal. 🙂

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  30. I am at the library since we are again having computer issues.

    I don’t remember being an imaginary character during childhood. I think it was just a challenge enough to be myself! Our son had a few imaginary friends—Dim, Dum and Spatchlet. One of them was a dinosaur figure that was broken—just a small little plastic dinosaur that the character was based on. He was quite young then so I did not know the details of how those friends got their names other than he could pronounce them.

    Busy appointment days begin tomorrow. My brother had an interview earlier this week and another one today. Thanks for your prayers.

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  31. I used to pretend my cat was a dog. A Lassie dog. That took LOTS of imagination. 🙂

    Just interviewed someone who grew up on a ranch in Idaho where they had border collies — but she said back then they were called scotch shepherds. I’d never heard that particular term for the breed before. (She said her dad got them from Scotland.)

    Reporting the news can be dangerous to your health, AJ.

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  32. I am sure AJ is a nice guy, but I could tell he was working himself up to banning me from wanderer’s views. As a Christmas present, I banned myself for the month of January. After all, Christmas is a stressful time for many people, especially those who believe their imaginary friend Jesus is going to return again.

    I have not looked at every day’s comments. Perhaps she and Sail (or whatever his name was) and the other people who were trying to convert me have rich and rewarding lives besides their addiction to converting people to imaginary people born of a virgin who rose from the dead, but I have my doubts. At the very least they don’t seem to be around very much unless some person who questions their fantastic beliefs. Actually, although Christianity is still the #1 religious belief in the world (God knows why, so to speak) secular, atheist, freethinking, humanists are now up to #4. Next week I will go in for my PSA test. My Chinese urologist may say, “My goodness, your test is as black as Satan’s Heart. You will be painfully dead before 2013 is over. Don’t you want to start praying?”

    So there’s still hope that I can meet the King of Darkness and say, “Hi Buddy. Good to meet you at last.”

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  33. I was speaking of Ree [she]. Let’s see if she pops up when I call her name. What’s the expression? Like a bad penny? I am sure Ree is a very good person, even if she married a Jain.

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  36. My sister and I would play train when my mother moved all the chairs out of the kitchen to mop the floor. We’d pack up a doll or two and bring on our luggage, and imagine we were traveling all over the place.

    We also played elaborate dress-up games and games of house.

    I had a ceramic collie dog that I would tell my sister was a real dog that had been magically transformed … and she used to believe me! 😉

    We also played lots of Barbies. I think we had every accoutrement known for a short time, and so our Barbies went camping, got tans, went to pool parties, and also just played house (with all sorts of cool cooking equipment.) My aunt was a great seamstress, and she made us all sorts of great Barbie clothing. We especially loved when they came out with a baby Barbie, and we could have our Barbies marry our various Kens (and my brother’s big, burly GI Joe), and then have kids. 🙂

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  37. The “got tans” line could be confusing, unless you understand that there were certain Barbies that came out for awhile that you could set in the sun and they would actually tan! They even came with little decals, so that you could put them in various places, and those spots would NOT tan, so the decal would be a design on the Barbie’s body. 🙂 Weird, huh?

    We sure love our Barbies. I had a Ken that came with various beards and sideburns to put on and remove.

    We also had a poor, disabled Barbie. She was really pretty, but her arms had broken off. My dad, who could fix anything … although it rarely looked the same — drilled a thick wire through her shoulders and looped the wired on the ends. This held her arms on, but they were very loose, and, of course, there was the big thick loop on the outside of each shoulder. So, we imagined she’d been in a horrible accident and the doctors had done the best they could. 😉

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  39. I just like to tease them.

    🙂

    I envy you SEC fans. It’s been over 20 for ND. I tease because I’m jealous.

    😦

    But you all have to admit, putting deer pee and ground up antlers into your body has a certain comedic value to observers. There is a LOT of material to be had here.

    🙂

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  40. Hi Random.

    Merry Belated Christmas, and Happy New Year!

    I was thinking about you today when I posted the cat story on the news thread. Since you live on an island? I think. What kind of effect do you see from cats, wild or pets? It sounds like they can be real terrors. Ever have one after your chickens?

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  41. Tammy,

    Remember the Barbie size GI Joe dolls? I had a ton. Jeeps, all the accessories, you name it. Outside I would have a blast. Inside I took over my younger sisters Barbie penthouse. Barbie and the girls were prisoners and needed rescuing, ken was always a victim or prisoner. I was seriously disappointed when Joe and his team went to 4 inch plastic frauds.

    My daughter has a disabled doll. She lost a leg. We are not allowed to throw her away.

    🙂

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  42. AJ, You use the deer pee ON you body to cover your own scent so that the deer can’t smell you and will come closing so you can shoot him! Duh, you Yankees don’t know nothin’

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  43. Yes, AJ. The Barbies all fought over my brother’s real “he-man” GI Joe. No 4″ dolls for us! We liked the Barbie sized dude. 🙂

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  44. Oh Tammy, you reminded me of the countless hours my sisters, my cousins, friends and I played “Barbies”…now mind you we had the “original” Barbies….they did not get tans…Peggy had the blonde ponytailed Barbie, I had the redhead bubble cut Barbie( she came dressed in a black and white striped swimsuit) and Penny had the brunette. Daddy made wooden blocks for us and we would design a “Barbie” house (remember…this is before all the paraphanalia was created for Barbie….the only “accessories she had back then was a silver microphone on a stand that came with the shiny black evening gown and a Barbie case to hold her and all her clothes! ) What wonderful memories 🙂

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  45. Tammy, and all, my mother would not allow me to have a Barbie. It had something to do with Barbie’s figure being so unrealistic. Anyway, I had a Tammy doll that was more in proportion and did not set up a young girl for unrealistic expectations. Did anyone else have a Tammy doll?

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  46. If my mother had known about a Tammy doll, I’m sure that I would have had it, just because of the name. 🙂

    Honestly, I never got a body image problem from my Barbies … not that I can remember anyhow. I knew they were fake. After all, my sister and I did dress the Kens … blush. Television and other girls are much bigger influence in that department, IMO.

    My sister and I used our Barbies so imaginatively and had so much fun with them. We created entire worlds, stories, and back stories. For all the positive that kind of creativity entailed, the small negative of being incorrectly proportioned seems a small price to pay. I let my daughter have tons of them (way too many!) 🙂

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  47. Lots of dolls I could give my girls, Barbie is not one of them. Whatever dolls they get, I want them to have clothes that do not come off.

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  49. I said before, it wasn’t Barbie’s long legs, small waste, large bosom and big hair that made her obscene. It was that Barbie had everything. The material girl. I don’t know about Ken.

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  51. What kind of effect do you see from cats, wild or pets? It sounds like they can be real terrors. Ever have one after your chickens? As we have coyotes and raccoons, a lot of people keep their cats locked up. Coyotes find house cats easier prey than bunnies.

    Our chickens are locked up behind fence, mesh, and electric fence. On Thanksgiving, we went to the mommies’ house. On the way, my wife said, “Don’t talk about religion!” When we got there, Grandpa Joe (a Methodist minister in Colorado who when young marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.) said, “Random, what’s this I hear about you being an atheist?”

    I said, “Not only am I an atheist, I am head of the only atheist group on the island.”

    He said, “Well, I’m a agnostic myself.” (I think a Methodist minister who is an agnostic is odd, but I guess God is used to all types.)

    I said, “You better go tell my wife you started this discussion, or I am in big trouble.”

    We had a nice Thanksgiving. By the way, has Jesus told the Christians yet that there is no problem with homosexuals getting married? The Mormons get periodic updates on what is allowed. I think the Pope does also. What’s with the Protestants? As Washington state is now Sodom and Gomorrah (you all knew that, right?), the mommies are now legally married. Granddaughter was the bridesmaid. I expect the rain of fire to pour down any day now. I can’t tell my “daughter out of law” joke anymore.

    Anyway, when we got home in a very good mood, I went down to check on the chickens. They put themselves on the roost, but need to be locked up. I counted the chickens. There were supposed to be three grey and two black ones. (Our hens are very integrated.) One black one was missing. I got a lantern. Searched the chicken yard. Found pieces of chicken. With all our precautions, a hawk had gotten in through the mesh and helped itself to hen for Thanksgiving dinner. What kind of God would let a hen get eaten on Thanksgiving? Put kind of a damper on our Thanksgiving. Well, probably an earthquake if not a rain of fire is coming. Or as Bob Dylan said once, “A hard rain is going to fall.”

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  52. We had too many Barbies and Kens to let them keep their names. In fact, NO ONE was named “Barbie” or “Ken.” They all had names we made up and gave them … which, mind you, could change on the next playtime.

    Plus, we had multiple girl dolls, boy dolls, a few teenage dolls, and a couple of baby Barbies. So, our dolls got married, and stayed married. We never paid any attention to how they were *supposed* to be related. Skipper was usually either someone’s daughter or little sister. 🙂

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  54. When did they get married?

    But, of course, our Barbies (as I mentioned) preferred the rugged (if oddly jointed) GI Joe doll. 🙂

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  55. I’m not sure our baby Barbies were really Barbies. My sister got the first one, and it was really from her Sunshine Family.

    http://collectdolls.about.com/od/dollprofiles/p/sunshinefamily.htm

    I was so jealous of the baby (we hardly every used the mom or dad from that set), that mom found us both another similar baby for the next Christmas. So, then my sister had TWINS to play with (they looked a little different, so she called them boy & girl twins), and I had a girl baby.

    Later, the Sunshine baby was used to be Baby Jesus held by an angel at the top of our Christmas tree. 😉

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  58. Tammy, we played trains when Mom mopped the floor, too. I loved that!

    We weren’t allowed to have Barbies. Not because of her proportions, but because she isn’t a baby doll (to be mothered) but a “sexy” doll to be glamorized. The scary thing to me is that now Barbie is considered a doll for preschoolers. I am not a Barbie fan anyway, but when she was at least a doll for 10-year-olds who were already looking forward to adulthood, that was one thing, but definitely not for toddlers!

    I did play with Barbies at least once as a child, or fake Barbies maybe, since I went to the house of someone who had them. But I didn’t find her nearly as interesting as the dolls who were “daughters.”

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  63. Dolls, football and deer hunting- what a combination.

    I see no one has taken Tychicus’ quiz. Too long, really. And too trivial, in a lot of ways. I know less than half of the non-pop culture questions, and fewer of the pop culture!

    Re: GI Joe- In our neighborhood, we laughed at those boys who thought playing with dolls was for “sissies” yet still played with their “action figure” GI Joe. Sorry, a doll is a doll whether it’s made with girls in ind or boys. My older sister was a tom-boy, so there were no dolls of any knid around, except a couple of her old baby dolls.

    As for the QoD: I pretended to be a famous singer, and would stand in front of the mirror with a fake microphone, mouthing the words to the songs on the radio.

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  64. I had a red-haired Barbie, too, but quickly grew tired of her. I got a yellow hula hoop around the same time (maybe they were both Christmas gifts)?

    The hula hoop won my affections. I don’t know what ever happened to the Barbie.

    Like

  65. Looking back at 2012
    1. Which Hollywood star’s public appearance prompted this joke on Twitter: “He is now backstage arguing with a vending machine.”
    nope
    2. Of whom did the Daily Mail write: “Eschewing the bikini favored by some who have gone before her – most memorably Ursula Andress and Halle Berry – she decided on a salmon dress.”
    nope
    3. In March, which country overtook Great Britain to become the world’s sixth largest economy?
    South Korea
    4. Dallas returned to TV screens in 2012, after more than 20 years. In which year was the very first episode broadcast?
    1977
    5. What was the collective term for the common people of ancient Rome?
    paegoly

    History and Politics
    1. Which language was spoken by the members of the RAF squadron that scored the most ‘kills’ during the Battle of Britain?
    English
    2. Volgograd was the site of which battle, one of the deadliest in history?

    3. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they banned all sports, with one exception. Which sport was it?
    soccer
    4. Which country was one of Europe’s largest states from the 14th century to 1795, then disappeared from the map until 1918?
    Germany
    5. Sir Isaac Newton invented a simple household device which is still used by animal lovers today. What was it?
    vaccum
    6. Who defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium?
    nope
    7. Which two of his six wives did Henry VIII have beheaded?
    nope
    8. Which neutral country was invaded by an Anglo-Soviet force in 1941?
    Switzerland

    Places
    1. Minsk is the capital of which country?
    Poland
    2. This place, visited this year for the first time since 1960, is more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is high. What is it called?
    Marianas Trench
    3. Between which two bodies of water does the Caucasus lie?

    4. Which European river flows through four capital cities? What are the cities?
    Elbe; Berlin,
    5. In which country would you find the ancient city of Timbuktu?

    6. What is the only English place name to appear in the title of a Shakespeare play?

    Olympics
    1. Which are the five sports in modern pentathlon?
    javelin, 1500, 100, pole vault, shotput
    2. At the 1932 Olympics in LA, which law was bent for French athletes at mealtimes?
    alcohol consumption
    3. Which team sport, a classic at village fetes (celebrations), was discontinued after the 1920 Olympics?
    nope
    4. Who came in second in the men’s 100 meters at last year’s Olympics?
    nope
    5. Which two countries were suspended from the 1948 Olympics in London? And which country was invited but chose not to send any athletes?
    Germany, Italy; Japan

    Obituaries
    1. Which lyricist, who died last September, wrote the line: “Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?”

    2. “Once you get rid of the integrity, the rest is a piece of cake.” Which fictional character, played by an actor who died last year, uttered that line?

    3. Which American comedienne quipped: “Housework won’t kill you, but why take a chance?”

    4. Nicknamed “Mr. Ugly”, this actor specialized in playing sadistic bullies, yet won his only Oscar in 1956 for his sensitive portrayal of a loveless butcher. Who was he?

    5. What petty criminal famously pleaded in 1989: “Can’t we all get along?”
    nope

    Film
    1. Which American actor, who made his name in the 1970’s playing good old boys from the South, holds the record for most years as the top box-office star (five years in a row)?
    Dukes
    2. The film My Week with Marilyn was about the making of which 1957 film?

    3. Which film studio was founded by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks?

    4. Which 1944 film noir begins with the line: “I killed him for money – and for a woman. I didn’t get the money. And I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?”

    5. In the late 1930’s, actor Buddy Ebsen had to give up a plum role because he was allergic to the aluminum in his make-up. What was the part?
    The Tin Man!

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  68. I’ve announced on previous occasions when I’m about to embark on an internet fast for a time. The next one is going to be a big one — a whole month — albeit the shortest month. 😉 I call it my “February Fast”, starting Friday the First; kind of has a ring to it, doesn’t it? 😉 (Alliteration for you literary types.) 🙂

    If you’ve been reading my posts, you know a number of the stresses our family has been under lately. There are some things we can’t change, but other things we can, and so I’ve decided to really focus on family all throughout the day. My computer time will only be at night, after the children are in bed.

    So in a sense, it’s not a true internet fast, because I’ll still be reading, but I’m going to fast from commenting because I think it will be good for me to just “listen” for a while without “talking”. And I will certainly be praying for each of you as needs arise.

    Love to you all.

    Like

  71. I think I might just print that off and have the children answer it. I suspect quite a few of the blanks would get filled in.

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  73. Yes, Mumsee, you did win…by default! You get an ‘A’ for effort. Here are the answers:

    .Looking back at 2012
    1. Which Hollywood star’s public appearance prompted this joke on Twitter: “He is now backstage arguing with a vending machine.” Clint Eastwood
    2. Of whom did the Daily Mail write: “Eschewing the bikini favored by some who have gone before her – most memorably Ursula Andress and Halle Berry – she decided on a salmon dress.” The Queen (referring to her appearance with James Bond at the Olympic opening ceremony).
    3. In March, which country overtook Great Britain to become the world’s sixth largest economy? Brazil
    4. Dallas returned to TV screens in 2012, after more than 20 years. In which year was the very first episode broadcast? 1978
    5. What was the collective term for the common people of ancient Rome? ‘Plebs’

    History and Politics
    1. Which language was spoken by the members of the RAF squadron that scored the most ‘kills’ during the Battle of Britain? Polish
    2. Volgograd was the site of which battle, one of the deadliest in history? The Battle of Stalingrad
    3. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they banned all sports, with one exception. Which sport was it? Cricket
    4. Which country was one of Europe’s largest states from the 14th century to 1795, then disappeared from the map until 1918? Poland
    5. Sir Isaac Newton invented a simple household device which is still used by animal lovers today. What was it? The cat flap
    6. Who defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium? Octavian
    7. Which two of his six wives did Henry VIII have beheaded? Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard
    8. Which neutral country was invaded by an Anglo-Soviet force in 1941? Iran

    Places
    1. Minsk is the capital of which country? Belarus
    2. This place, visited this year for the first time since 1960, is more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is high. What is it called? The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean
    3. Between which two bodies of water does the Caucasus lie? The Black Sea and the Caspian Sea
    4. Which European river flows through four capital cities? What are the cities? The Danube: Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade
    5. In which country would you find the ancient city of Timbuktu? Mali
    6. What is the only English place name to appear in the title of a Shakespeare play? Windsor (Merry Wives of)

    Olympics
    1. Which are the five sports in modern pentathlon? Fencing, swimming, show jumping, pistol-shooting, running.
    2. At the 1932 Olympics in LA, which law was bent for French athletes at mealtimes? Prohibition – they were allowed to drink wine at meals.
    3. Which team sport, a classic at village fetes (celebrations), was discontinued after the 1920 Olympics? Tug-of-war
    4. Who came in second in the men’s 100 meters at last year’s Olympics? Yohan Blake of Jamaica
    5. Which two countries were suspended from the 1948 Olympics in London? And which country was invited but chose not to send any athletes? Germany & Japan; the Soviet Union

    Obituaries
    1. Which lyricist, who died last September, wrote the line: “Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?” Hal David
    2. “Once you get rid of the integrity, the rest is a piece of cake.” Which fictional character, played by an actor who died last year, uttered that line? J.R. Ewing
    3. Which American comedienne quipped: “Housework won’t kill you, but why take a chance?” Phyllis Diller
    4. Nicknamed “Mr. Ugly”, this actor specialized in playing sadistic bullies, yet won his only Oscar in 1956 for his sensitive portrayal of a loveless butcher. Who was he? Ernest Borgnine
    5. What petty criminal famously pleaded in 1989: “Can’t we all get along?” Rodney King

    Film
    1. Which American actor, who made his name in the 1970’s playing good old boys from the South, holds the record for most years as the top box-office star (five years in a row)? Burt Reynolds
    2. The film My Week with Marilyn was about the making of which 1957 film? The Prince and the Showgirl
    3. Which film studio was founded by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks? United Artists
    4. Which 1944 film noir begins with the line: “I killed him for money – and for a woman. I didn’t get the money. And I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?” Double Indemnity
    5. In the late 1930’s, actor Buddy Ebsen had to give up a plum role because he was allergic to the aluminum in his make-up. What was the part? The Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz

    Like

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