NHL Quiz: 1) How many of the top ten in career goals can you
name? [Hint: 5 are still active.] 2) This year Mark Messier
became the 4th to play in his 24th season. Who are the other 3?
Answers below.
Origins of the Feast
[The following was posted last year.]
December 1621 was the earliest American harvest festival,
celebrated by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Mass.
February 22, 1631…the first public Thanksgiving, a ‘fast’ day,
was celebrated by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Way to pick a
day with great weather, guys. When they broke the fast they ate
ice.
November 26, 1789…President George Washington, at the
request of Congress, had Thanksgiving Day celebrated for the
first time as a national holiday, but it was really a day of
thanksgiving for the Constitution. Anti-Federalists then
protested that Washington’s proclamation violated states’ rights.
Jerks.
October 3, 1863…President Lincoln proclaims Thanksgiving
Day a national holiday to be observed on the last Thursday in
November. Then in 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt moved
Thanksgiving one week back to stimulate Christmas shopping.
Finally, in 1941 Congress adopted a resolution confirming the
fourth Thursday, not the last, as Thanksgiving Day. [Notice how
perhaps our 3 greatest presidents were the most intimately
involved in the establishment of this holiday.]
But back to 1620, while the Pilgrims were some of the bravest
folks in the history of mankind, they also had trouble finding
food. Their situation in those years was grim, particularly
because they didn’t land in Miami, choosing Massachusetts
instead, thus having to deal with the New England winter (this
was pre-global warming, remember). The Pilgrims’ leader,
Governor William Bradford, remarked:
“If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which
they had passed and was now as a main bar and gulf to separate
them from all the civil parts of the world…What could now
sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace? May not and
ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: ‘Our fathers
were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were
ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord,
and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity,’ etc. ‘Let
them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good: and His
mercies endure forever.’”
Half the company died the first winter, but when the Mayflower
set sail in April not one of the survivors returned in her. Around
mid-October 1621, after the gathering of the fall harvest and a
big wild turkey shoot the Pilgrims had their first feast, with
Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag and 90 of his subjects,
“whom for three days we entertained and feasted.” The Indians
contributed several deer, but the Pilgrims, with 35 new arrivals
on the ship ‘Fortune,’ were soon starving again.
As historian Henry Commager notes in “The Growth of the
American Republic,” despite the constant battle with famine,
“they never lost heart or considered giving up and going home.
These simple folks were exalted to the stature of statesmen and
prophets in their narrow sphere, because they ardently believed,
and so greatly dared, and firmly endured. They set forth in acts
as in words the stout-hearted idealism in action that Americans
admire; that is why Plymouth Rock has become a symbol. For,
as Governor Bradford concluded his annals of the lean years:
‘Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced
by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to
all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand;
so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea, in some sort,
to our whole nation.’
—
Stuffing
–Bowl Championship Series Poll
1. Miami…10-0
2. Ohio State…13-0
3. Oklahoma…10-1
4. Georgia…10-1
5. Iowa…11-1
6. USC…9-2
7. Notre Dame…10-1
8. Washington State…9-2
Florida State QB Adrian McPherson was kicked off the team for
allegedly being involved in a check forgery. Dumb…very dumb.
Apologies to the good citizens of Idaho for not knowing Boise
State’s nickname is the Broncos.
–Trout vs. Deer Hunting
In the current issue of Wyoming Wildlife, Bruce Cochran has a
piece on “Why trout fishing is better than deer hunting.” Here
are just a few of his thoughts.
*You don’t have to climb a tree to catch a trout.
*When you serve trout to your kids, you don’t have to say,
‘Taste it. You’ll like it.’
*You don’t have to smear coon pee on your clothes to catch a
trout.
*You don’t have to pay someone a small fortune to process your
trout.
*You don’t have to dress like a clown to go trout fishing (though
you have the option to).
*No one ever accidentally shot his buddy with a fly rod.
–Earl Warrick, one of the creators of Silly Putty, died the other
day at age 91. At least that’s what a New York Times obituary
said. But I have previously reported to you that it was really
James Wright, an engineer with General Electric, who is
responsible. [Warrick was at Dow.] We’ll go with Wright. It
was during World War II that the War Board sought a substitute
for rubber, which was in very short supply. Both Warrick and
Wright came up with substances that were elastic in nature, but
which had no obvious applications. Yet Don Wulffson wrote a
book, “Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions,”
and there is no mention whatsoever of Warrick.
–The NHL is in serious financial condition. Revenues are up to
$2 billion, but payroll is 73% of that level. The average player’s
pay is now $1.6 million, up from $368,000 ten seasons ago.
Commissioner Gary Bettman is working on a salary cap idea, but
the players are vehemently against it. So enjoy the next two
years, because by September 2004 the NHL will be faced with a
very serious strike. Separately, along the same lines it was
reported in the local paper the other day that the New Jersey
Devils are about $50 million in the hole and having trouble
meeting payroll. One of the reasons is that Dennis Kozlowski of
Tyco fame is a partner.
–Granted, Lisa Marie Presley is not the brightest bulb on the
planet, but, on the other hand, Nicholas Cage is one of the truly
awful people around. Ergo, we side with Lisa Marie in her now
pending divorce with Cage.
–An Oxford University student was killed the other day, after
being fired out of a “trebuchet.” Trebuwha?!. Don’t worry, I’ll
explain.
The kid was a member of the Oxford Sports Stunt Club, which
under a different name was responsible for the world’s first
bungee jump back in 1979. One member was also involved in a
stunt for a James Bond flick as well.
Anyway, back in the Middle Ages, the most useful pre-cannon
device was the trebuchet, which worked like a spring or seesaw.
The short end of the device was weighted by a large object; a
spring on the long end held the projectile. It was capable of
hurling objects up to 400 yards. [Source: “The Encyclopedia of
the Middle Ages,” Norman Cantor, editor]
So this guy in Britain developed a model of a trebuchet a few
years back and around 50 people have been successfully slung
into orbit, until this one poor schlep hit the edge of the tennis
court-sized net and fell 30 feet to the ground. Doh! [Source:
Times of London]
–Attention buyers of California grapes. Three British women
have found black widow spiders in their packages recently. No
one has been hurt, yet, but the bite from a black widow is 15
times more powerful than that of a rattlesnake. Officials blame
the fact that many California vineyards are using fewer
pesticides.
–Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Part II
I omitted two names from my 11/26 list of those who should be
considered; Three Dog Night and Todd Rundgren. My apologies
to both, especially since in the case of Rundgren, “Hello It’s Me”
is my #2 favorite next to Tommy James’s “Crystal Blue
Persuasion.”
As expected, Harry K. addressed my comments on inductee
Frank Zappa.
“Zappa deserves to be in the Hall of Fame if for no other reason
than the vast number of musicians who learned their chops
playing in one of the many configurations of the Mothers of
Invention. Steve Vai, George Duke, Ainsley Dunbar, Flo and
Eddie (ex-Turtles), Don Preton, Van Dyke Parks, Sugarcane
Harris, Shuggie Otis, Jean Luc Ponty, Adrian Belew, Hilton
Valentine (The Animals), Henry Vestine (Canned Heat), Tom
Waits, John and Yoko, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, and on and on.
Zappa’s floating musical salon is unequalled in the world of
music, and is enough to include him in the Hall of Fame…just
his LP ‘Hot Rats’ alone should be enough for enshrinement.”
OK. Point taken and I stand corrected. But you can see how
subjective (not necessarily in Zappa’s case) the selections are
compared to other Halls. Some very deserving rockers, like the
Dave Clark Five, are being omitted, and gosh darnit, I’m not
going to take it anymore!!!!!!
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/1/73: #1 “Top Of The World”
(Carpenters) #2 “Photograph” (Ringo Starr) #3 “Goodbye
Yellow Brick Road” (Elton John)
NHL Quiz Answers: 1) Top Ten in career goals, totals entering
2002-2003 season. #’s 6-10 are all active.
1. Wayne Gretzky…894
2. Gordie Howe…801
3. Marcel Dionne…731
4. Phil Esposito…717
5. Mike Gartner…708
6. Brett Hull…679
7. Mark Messier and Steve Yzerman…658
9.Mario Lemieux…654
10. Luc Robitaille…620
2) Years played: Mark Messier joined Tim Horton and Alex
Delvecchio at 24 seasons. Gordie Howe is tops, having played in
26.
*This just in…New York Mets outfielder Roger Cedeno was
arrested for DUI in Florida Wednesday morning. As Johnny
Mac noted, he was freakin’ “fielding under the influence all last
season.”
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
