Monday Musings...

And we're headed into the final week of the official "Summer".
Man, this month has flown by.

That was certainly some decent RAIN we had over the last 72 hours as well, was it not?
After seeing some of the flooding in and around the city, the word "deluge" came to mind, although we (down here) didn't really see THAT much rain. Nice and dry here.
Still, it is making garden things grow.
Our Hooiserland weather today will be a bit on the partly cloudy side, but with a lot more "seasonal" temps, reaching a high in the mid-to-upper 80s today. With all that humidity hanging about, it will feel like it's in the 90s. Lows tonight only dropping to around 70.
Now, with that over and done with, go grab your cup of morning pleasure as we see what's been going on everywhere else...

*** First up, my month-long tribute to the month of August continues with our 3-day catch-up gig:

AUGUST 23:

79 – Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

1765 – Beginning of Burmese–Siamese War.

1904 – The automobile tire chain is patented.

Check the oil, too?

1923 – Captain Lowell Smith and Lieutenant John P. Richter performed the first mid-air 

refueling on De Havilland DH-4B, setting an endurance flight record of 37 hours.

1942 – World War II: Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad.

1944 – World War II: Marseille is liberated by the Allies.

1954 – First flight of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

1977 – The Gossamer Condor wins the Kremer prize for human powered flight.

1991 – Tim Berners-Lee opens the WWW, World Wide Web to new users.

NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS:

1785 – Oliver Hazard Perry, American commander (d. 1819)

1912 – Gene Kelly, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1996)

1929 – Vera Miles, American actress

1934 – Sonny Jurgensen, American football player, sportscaster and Pro Football Hall of Fame 

inductee

1949 – Shelley Long, American actress and producer

1949 – Rick Springfield, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

1953 – Bobby G, English singer (Bucks Fizz) He's the OTHER one that made a lot more money

1963 – Kenny Wallace, American race car driver

And, it was FLAG DAY...(in the Ukraine)

AUGUST 24:

410 – The Visigoths under king Alaric I begin to pillage Rome.

1185 – Sack of Thessalonica by the Normans.

1456 – The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed.

1682 – William Penn receives the area that is now the state of Delaware, and adds it to his colony of Pennsylvania.

1814 – British troops invade Washington, D.C. and during the Burning of Washington, the White House, the Capitol and many other buildings are set ablaze.

1857 – The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.

1875 – Captain Matthew Webb became first person to swim the English Channel

1891 – Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.

1932 – Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop 

(from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey).

1981 – Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

1989 – Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose is banned from baseball for gambling by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. * Good story in Sunday's J-G written by MIKE SCHMIDT about this HERE:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140824/SPORTS2002/140829638/0/SEARCH

1992 – Hurricane Andrew makes landfall just south of Miami as a Category 5 hurricane.

NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS:

1901 – Preston Foster, American actor and singer (d. 1970)

1932 – W. Morgan Sheppard, English actor

1934 – Kenny Baker, English actor

1938 – Mason Williams, American guitarist and composer

1955 – Mike Huckabee, American minister and politician, 44th Governor of Arkansas

1957 – Stephen Fry, English actor, journalist, screenwriter, and producer

1960 – Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player, coach and Baseball Hall of Fame inductee

And, it's NOSTALGIA NIGHT...in URUGUAY.

AUGUST 25:

1609 – Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.

1912 – The Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party, is founded.

1916 – The United States National Park Service is created.

1944 – World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.

1950 – President Harry Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.

1981 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn

1989 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the second to last planet in the Solar System at the time.

2012 – Voyager 1 spacecraft enters interstellar space becoming the first man-made object to do so.

NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS:

Ivan...why so serious?

1530 – Ivan the Terrible, Russian ruler (d. 1584)

1916 – Van Johnson, American actor and singer (d. 2008)

1917 – Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2008)

1921 – Monty Hall, Canadian-American actor, singer, and game show host

1927 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player and golfer (d. 2003)

1930 – Sean Connery, Scottish actor and producer

1946 – Rollie Fingers, American baseball player

1949 – Gene Simmons, Israeli-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor, 

1954 – Elvis Costello, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1958 – Tim Burton, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1968 – Rachael Ray, American chef, author, and television host

1970 – Claudia Schiffer, German model and fashion designer

1987 – Blake Lively, American actress

And, it's SOLDIER'S DAY...in Brazil (guess not many show up there these days)

Now you know more than ANY local news-person.

*** Had a good birthday, even though Wifey has a bit of a sinus infection.
Dinner was Chinese food...and damn good (still have leftovers, too)

The cake was fantastic (and half-eaten already...lol)
Didn't bother with all those candles (just a few)...didn't want the FWFD to have to roll down here for a fire-related violation...plus it would have set off the detectors HERE.
*** Next up, the NEW Doctor Who was wonderfully brilliant, and the lead-up to the new season was befitting any fan of the series.

Many excellent episodes were aired prior to the premiere episode, which I found to be very enjoyable.
I think the BBC has struck gold once again...not bad to show for FIFTY plus years, is it?
*** And, just in case you thought for a moment that crime in Fort Wayne has taken a week off, we had an armed robbery back out (again) at Chapel Oaks Apts.
Here's the story link:
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Armed-Robbery-Attempted-at-Residence-272511641.html

Big surprise, isn't it?

This took place around 2030 hrs last night in the 1000 block of Buchanan St.
What did I say about problems in the BLACK community? More black-on-black crime. Good thing the suspects weren't found there (by police) and tried to assault an officer...
Coulda been another Ferguson, hmm? They're all good people,. remember that.
*** Speaking of which - There was an article (from the AP) about the impending funeral for Michael Brown out in Ferguson, MO, and if this doesn't "stir the pot" of race-baiting, I don't know what does. Here's the link to the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140825/NEWS03/308259968/0/SEARCH

They COULD try THIS.

Now to ME, being a "gentle, aspiring rapper" seems to be a contradiction of terms...but I could be wrong (probably not, though).
Time after time, we hear about rappers being shot or killed, lewd language, a misogynistic attitude towards women, and the love of violence and money.
Yeah, that sounds SO damn gentle to me, too.
Here's hoping this inflammatory story doesn't ignite another round of protests, rioting and such...the black community has ENOUGH problems when it comes to finding ways to destroy ITSELF...right?
*** Last back to the memory banks...today also marks the EIGHTH anniversary of this blog...and bless those 28 followers I still have.
Didn't think I had that much to say...LOL.

Another reason...for CAKE.

Well, there is a lot that NEEDS to be said, and fortunately, there are proper venues (like this) with which to accomplish such a Herculean task.
Granted, this is a small blog, with a small band of followers, but it's true to the basis for which it was created.
I see other blogs grow in the number of people following them, and that's fine. Good for them.
I didn't create this blog to be a national sensation...Lord knows that much....heh.
I just provide the facts, the truth, and how all of life's puzzle pieces can often come together to form the mosaics of humankind.
And in that, I think I did all right so far.

This is one of those niche` places to go, especially if you want to see and read what you might have been thinking.
Every day is a new beginning, someone once said, and to that end, this blog will continue until I can no longer write it.
Hopefully, by then, there will be others who are more than willing to take up the mantle and keep the faith, tell the truth, and get pissed off enough to speak plain and provide others with a voice.
Yeah, that sounds about right. Here's to another year under the belt.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.