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|Friday 7.31.15
|Today's Trivia: He was born into a show business family.
His father was a producer on many hit films for Paramount Pictures in the
1940s and 1950s. His mother had been a singer and actress who worked with
Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in Chicago. As a youngster, this guy learned
clarinet, then switched to guitar in his early teens. He developed an
interest in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music. In the late 1960s, he
struggled with a variety of marginal bands until 1971, when he was invited
to join Fleetwood Mac, then an erstwhile English blues band that had lost
two of its three frontline members, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, within
a few months. Along with fellow newcomer Christine McVie, this guy helped
steer the band in a more melodic direction. In December of 1974, citing
exhaustion, he departed the band, Who is he?
The Minnesota Twins shredded Seattle starter J.A. Happ for five runs in the first and crushed the Mariners 9-5 last night. Seattle's fourth consecutive loss, coupled with Houston's 3-0 victory over the L.A. Angels, leaves the dead-in-the-water Mariners at 46-and-57 11 games under .500 and a season-worst 12 games behind the Astros in the AL West. Ms and Twins again tonight.
Meanwhile, prior to last night's game the New York Yankees acquired utility player Dustin Ackley from the Mariners for a pair of minor leaguers. New York sent right-hander Jose Ramirez and outfielder Ramon Flores to the Mariners in the deal completed a day before the non-waiver trade deadline. Ackley is hitting .215 with six home runs and 19 RBIs in 85 games for the Mariners this season. The second overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft, Ackley is a .243 career hitter in 584 big league games, all with the Mariners since 2011. He has appeared at second base, first base, and all three outfield spots. The Mariners recalled first baseman Jesus Montero from Tacoma.
Seattle Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor was the only player who did not report to the team's facility yesterday, before the Hawks kick off training camp with a practice today. On Wednesday, reports surfaced that the 27-year-old Chancellor was considering holding out from training camp as a sign of displeasure with the four-year deal worth just over $28 million he signed in 2013. With his no-show on Thursday, Chancellor appears ready to incur up to a $30,000 fine for every day of camp missed.
Drawn out to nearly the last moment before a deadline that was not just for show, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks discovered a compromise in contract talks. Those worries about Wilson hitting free agency or Seattle having to use a franchise tag are now tabled for another five seasons. Wilson is locked up in Seattle for the prime of his career after signing an $87.6 million, four-year extension on today that includes a $31 million signing bonus. It's one of the richest contracts in football history, slotting Wilson slightly behind Aaron Rodgers and just ahead of Ben Roethlisberger in the hierarchy of quarterback contracts on per-year average. It'll likely get passed when Andrew Luck signs his next deal, but for now it pays Wilson at an elite level for helping lead the franchise to consecutive Super Bowl appearances.
Birthdays: The singer Lobo is 72; frontman of Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Gary Lewis is 69; former R.E.M drummer – now a farmer -- Bill Berry is 57; NBA team owner – he owns the Dallas Mavericks -- Mark Cuban is 57; actor Wesley Snipes is 53; author J.K. Rowling is 50; actor Dean Cain is 49; Coldplay drummer Will Champion is 37; and Manny on Modern Family, actor Rico Rodriguez is 17.
Today is National Mutt Day, honoring all dogs that are not just one breed. Today is Patent Day, marking the opening of the US Patent Office on this date in 1790. The first patent was granted to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont, inventor of a method for making potash. Today is Jump for Jelly Beans Day.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1930, the radio mystery program The Shadow aired for the first time. In 1961, at Fenway Park in Boston, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occured when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain. In 1969, Moscow police reported that thieves had stolen telephone parts from thousands of phone booths to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. In 1976, Blue Öyster Cult's song (Don't Fear) The Reaper was released. In 1989, the Game Boy handheld video game device was released in the US. In 1996, Ottawa-born Alanis Morissette kicked off her first Canadian tour before 15,000 fans at GM Place in Vancouver. In 1997, Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago announced that 'the Teddy Bear Lady,' a $15-thousand-a-year secretary who passed out teddy bears to children in the hospital, had left $18-million for research into children's diseases. Gladys Holm, who never married and had no heirs, apparently had invested wisely in the stock market. In 2006, Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother Raúl Castro. In 2012, Michael Phelps broke the record set in 1964 for the greatest number of medals won at the Olympics.
Dwayne Johnson says he was disappointed when he heard about a tape of Hulk Hogan using racial slurs. Johnson is also a former pro wrestler. He told a TV critics' meeting yesterday that the remarks didn't match his personal history with Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea. Dwayne said, ""I've known Terry for a lot of years, and my dad helped train him in Florida in the '70s when he was breaking into the business. I come from a very long line of professional wrestlers. I had not known the man to be racist." He acknowledged: "We've all talked trash, you know, especially in private. He said what he said, and he's paying the price." The 61-year-old Hogan has suffered backlash despite apologizing in a statement for using what he called "offensive language." World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. severed ties with him this week.
Facebook says it will begin test flights later this year for a solar-powered drone with a wingspan as big as a Boeing 737, in the next stage of its campaign to deliver Internet connectivity to remote parts of the world. Engineers at the giant social network say they've built a drone with a 140-foot wingspan that weighs less than 1,000 pounds. Designed to fly at high altitudes for up to three months, it will use lasers to send Internet signals to stations on the ground. Though Facebook is better known for online software that lets people share news with friends, watch viral videos, and view commercial advertising, engineers in a unit called the Connectivity Lab are working on a different set of problems. For one thing, they're designing a laser communications system they hope will be accurate enough to hit a target the size of a dime at a distance of 11 miles.
Trivia Answer: Bob Welch who was born on this date in 1946. The Welch-era Fleetwood Mac albums sold moderately well, though Bare Trees included the first recorded version of Welch's song Sentimental Lady. Mick Fleetwood has credited Welch with keeping Fleetwood Mac afloat during some lean years. However, Welch was not included when Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. On June 7th of 2012, Welch committed suicide in his Nashville home. He was found by his wife with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest; a suicide note had been left behind. According to his wife, Welch had spinal surgery three months earlier and doctors had told him he would not get better, and he did not want her to have to care for an invalid.
|Thursday 7.30.15
|Today's Trivia: He's a film historian, director, writer,
actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New
Hollywood" directors, which included people like Brian DePalma,
George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola.
His most critically acclaimed film is The Last Picture Show from 1971. Who
is he?
The sweep by Arizona again showed the feebleness of Mariners' roster, seven years into "the plan" by Jack Zduriencik. At 46-and-56, the season is nearly done, as should be -- according to a growing chorus -- the GM's tenure. No seven-year tenure should be judged on a single outcome. Then again, when a game like yesterday's happens, there's nothing wrong with metaphoring the heck out of it. A player that general manager Jack Zduriencik traded away to Arizona June 3rd, catcher Welington Castillo, hammered Felix Hernandez for two home runs and reached base all five times in an 8-2 triumph that made for a three-game sweep. What was most galling for Mariners fans was that on the day Felix passed Jamie Moyer for most games pitched (324) in club history, the grim outcome illuminated how little progress the franchise has made since he first became a major leaguer in 2005. None of those games includes a single start in the playoffs. Only three of those seasons included a winning record. And it looks highly likely there will be no playoffs or winning record this year. After an MRI exam, Robinson Cano sat out yesterday and according to Lloyd McLendon, will be out "a couple of days" with a grade-one strain of an abdominal muscle. The Ms are off on a seven-game road trip with four in Minnesota starting at 5:10 tonight.
Birthdays: Remember Sid and Marty Kroft? Puppeteer Sid Kroft is 86; former baseball commissioner Bud Selig is 81; guitarist Buddy Guy is 79; film director Peter Bogdanovich is 76; singer-songwriter Paul Anka is 74; actor-politician-and now actor again, Arnold Schwarzenegger is 68; Sylvester Stallone's younger brother, singer-songwriter Frank P. Stallone is 65; Michael Steadman on Thirtysomething, actor Ken Olin is 61; Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women, actress Delta Burke is 59; she became a national figure when she accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, attorney Anita Hill is 59; musician Kate Bush is 57; Phoebe on Friends, actress Lisa Kudrow is 52; director Christopher Nolan is 45; actress Hilary Swank is 41; and, born in Richland, soccer player Hope Solo is 34.
Today is National Cheesecake Day. Today is Paperback Day, marking the start of the paperback book revolution with publication of Penguin #1, Ariel, A Life of Shelley by Andre Maurois in London this date in 1935. Books had been published with soft covers in Leipzig, Germany, as early as 1841, but never really caught on. It's Father-in-Law Day, a day dedicated to your spouse's dad. Important note: If you gave your Father-In-Law recognition on Father's Day, it's okay to give him a little recognition and a show of appreciation today, too.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation creating a health-care program for the elderly called Medicare. It became effective the following year. In 1975, Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 in the afternoon. He was never seen or heard from again, and wwas declared legally dead on this date in 1982. In 1987, NBC's LA Law received 20 Emmy nominations, just shy of the Hill Street Blues record 21 received in 1982. In 2000, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were married. In 2002, WNBA player Lisa Leslie became the first woman to dunk in a pro basketball game, jamming on a breakaway in the first half of the Los Angeles Sparks' 82-73 loss to Miami. In 2003, : Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who discovered Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich, died in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 80. Also in 2003 – In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line.
Now Kam Chancellor is demanding more money. The Seahawks' safety has informed the club that he is strongly considering a holdout, even though the 27-year-old, three-time Pro Bowler still has three years remaining on a contract that he signed prior to the start of the 2013 season. Teammate Michael Bennett has also threatened a holdout with two years remaining on his deal. The Seahawks open camp tomorrow at the Virginia Mason Athletic Complex in Renton.
You don't think you're hooked on Facebook but all those sneaky workday News Feed peeks add up. According to new numbers from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, they really, really do. This week it was revealed by the company that the average user spends 46 minutes per day on Facebook.
A new survey shows the population of people in the United States who don't have an Internet connection is down to 15 percent. That's the equivalent of about 47 million people.
If you want to get rich, they say start investing and start as early as you possibly can. If you're just out of college, it's suggested you put away $3.57 a day the price of a typical fast food value meal an and you'll be a millionaire by the time you're 65. Put away more as you make more and you'll get to millionaire status faster.
Trivia Answer: Peter Bogdanovich who is 76 today. The then 32-year old Bogdanovich was hailed by a critics as a wunderkind when his best received film, The Last Picture Show, was released in 1971. The film gained eight Academy Awards nominations, including Best Director, and won two statues: Cloris Leachman and Ben Johnson in the supporting acting categories. Bogdanovich also co-wrote the screenplay with Larry McMurtry. The screenplay won a BAFTA award in 1971 for Best Screenplay. Bogdanovich, who had cast the 21-year-old model Cybill Shepherd in a major role in the film, fell in love with her, an affair that eventually led to his divorce from Polly Platt, his long-time artistic collaborator and the mother of his two daughters. Bogdanovich followed up The Last Picture Show with the popular hit comedy What's Up, Doc? (1972) starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal, a screwball comedy indebted to Hawks' Bringing Up Baby (1938) and His Girl Friday (1940). Despite his reliance on homage to bygone cinema, Bogdanovich had solidified his status as one of a new breed of A-list directors that included Academy Award winners Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin, with whom he formed The Directors Company. The Directors Company was a generous production deal with Paramount Pictures that essentially gave the directors carte blanche, if they kept within budget limitations. It was through this entity that Bogdanovich's Paper Moon (1973) was produced. Paper Moon, a Depression-era comedy starring Ryan O'Neal that won his 10-year-old daughter Tatum O'Neal an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress, proved to be the high-water mark of Bogdanovich's career. Forced to share the profits with his fellow directors, Bogdanovich became dissatisfied with the arrangement. The Directors Company subsequently produced only two more pictures, Coppola's The Conversation (1974), which was nominated for Best Picture in 1974 alongside The Godfather, Part II (1974), and Bogdanovich's Daisy Miller, a film that had a lackluster critical reception.
|Wednesday 7.29.15
|Today's Trivia: This gentleman started his career early,
hosting a Canadian radio show at the age of nine. In 1965, ABC News tapped
him to anchor its flagship evening news program. At 26, he was, and
remains, the youngest-ever US network news anchor. His inexperience,
however, marred his first short stint in the anchor chair, and he became a
foreign correspondent in 1968, honing his reporting skills in the Middle
East. He returned as one of World News Tonight's three anchors in 1978,
and was promoted to the role of sole anchor in 1983. He formed part of the
Big Three news anchors who dominated American evening news in the 1980s
and 1990s. Who was he?
Well, we started the month of July with temps in the 90s. It looks as if that's the way we're going to end the month, as well.
In losing 8-4 to Arizona last night at Safeco, the Mariners did something that they have done only twice previously in July -- lose back-to-back games. That might be a good thing, had it not been for the fact that the Mariners have won back-to-back games only once in July. At least it only took nine innings this time. While Mariners Nelson Cruz and Mike Zunino each contributed a mammoth home run, it was the bases-loaded double from Arizona's Chris Owings in the sixth that made the most noise. The two runs turned a close game into a blowout while handing Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma his worst line of the season. A beautiful day, an afternoon game, and King Felix on the mound today. It lines up to be a pretty good day at Safeco today. The series and homestand finale is scheduled for this afternoon.
Did I mention that the Seattle Seahawks training camp is about to start? Players report tomorrow and practices start at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton on Friday.
Birthdays: Former US Senator and Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole is 79; keyboardist and sole remaining founding member of REO Speedwagon, Neal Doughty is 69; he's a filmmaker, primarily known for documentaries, Ken Burns is 62; from Rush, singer Geddy Lee is 62; Mrs. Bruce Springsteen, E Street band member Patti Scialfa is 62; Rodney Allen Rippy, he of the old school Jack in the Box commercials, is 47; and half of Gnarls Barkley, musician Danger Mouse is 38.
Today is National Lasagna Day. Today is Rain Day in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. Legend is that it always rains in Waynesburg on July 29th. It all began in 1878 when a farmer casually told a drug store clerk that it always seemed to rain on July 29th in the town. They started to keep an annual tabulation of rainfall on that day. How often does it rain in Waynesburg on this date? Unofficially, it has rained 113 out of the last 137 years. Today's forecast? Sunny and 92.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1965, The Beatles second film Help! debuted at The Pavilion Theatre in London. In 1966, Bob Dylan crashed his motorcycle in Woodstock, New York. The incident immediately passed into myth, with many wondering if Dylan was hurt at all or simply used the accident to disappear from public life. Middletown Hospital admitted him with a concussion and broken neck vertebrae. Dylan continued to suffer from paralysis and mild amnesia for the next month. In 1974, Mama Cass Elliot died of a heart attack in London at age 32. A coroner mistakenly said she died of choking on a ham sandwich. In 1976, in New York, New York, David Berkowitz (aka the Son of Sam) killed one person and seriously wounded another in the first of a series of attacks. In 1981, a worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watched the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London. In 1991, Metallica released the single Enter Sandman. In 1998, matchbox 20 kicked off their very first headlining tour in New Orleans.
Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC championship game has been upheld by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The league announced that decision yesterday, with Goodell saying that the New England quarterback told an assistant to destroy Brady's cellphone on or just before March 6th. Brady met with independent investigator Ted Wells on that day. Goodell said, "He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone. During the four months that the cellphone was in use, Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved from that device." Moments after announcing Goodell's decision, the league filed action in US District Court in New York against the union, saying the NFL commissioner has the right under the labor agreement to hand out such discipline "for conduct that he determines is detrimental to the integrity of, or public confidence in, the game of professional football."
On TV tonight, America's Got Talent. It's a two-hour special that celebrates the 10th anniversary of AGT, with highlights from the past decade that include popular performances, interviews with former winners, and former judge Piers Morgan. That's tonight on NBC.
Then there's the man in England has been found guilty of drunk driving, after being stopped by police as he cruised home from a night out to celebrate passing his driving test.
Oops. Rest in peace Sherman Hemsley. Facebook and Twitter broke the news Monday that the star of The Jeffersons had died. Well, he did ... in 2012.
Trivia Answer: Peter Jennings who was born on this date in 1938. Having always been fascinated with the United States, Jennings became a naturalized United States citizen in 2003. He passed away on August 7th of 2005. His death, which closely followed the retirements of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, marked the end of the Big Three era. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 from complications of lung cancer. A high-school dropout, he transformed himself into one of American television's most prominent journalists.
|Tuesday 7.28.15
|Today's Trivia: He's a former child actor. He appeared in
TV commercials for Jack in the Box in the early 1970s, as well as in
numerous roles in television and movies. In the Jack in the Bax
advertisements, he was seen trying to wrap his mouth around the
super-sized Jumbo Jack. The tag line "It's too big to eat!"
(pronounced "It's too big-a-eat!") became a catch-phrase.
Another spot showed him giggling while singing the song Take Life a Little
Easier. Who are we talking about?
The Mariners overcame a 3-0 hole to tie it in the ninth, but another fail by a worn-out bullpen in the 10th gave Arizona a 4-3 triumph last night in the season's game 100. The Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb, born and raised in Seattle and a graduate of the University of Washington, returned to his hometown and delivered the fatal blow with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning. The Ms and Diamondbacks go again tonight in what could be the final start for Hisashi Iwakuma in a Seattle uniform. The veteran and pending free agent has been rumored as trade bait and could be dealt before Friday's deadline. Game two is tonight at 7:10.
We're just days away from the start of the Seattle Seahawks' training camp -- players report on Thursday and practices start at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton on Friday.
Birthdays: Former basketball player-turned-politician, Bill Bradley is 72; the creator of the Garfield comic strip, Jim Davis is 70; known for the song Sunshine, singer Jonathan Edwards is 69; Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, born in Portland, by the way, actress Sally Struthers is 68; TV producer Dick Ebersol is 68; Georgette on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, actress Georgia Engel is 67; Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke is 66; and baseball pitching great Vida Blue is 66. Happy birthday to the city of Miami, Florida -- incorporated on this date in 1896. The population in 1896? 260.
Northwest true-crime writer Ann Rule, who wrote more than 30 books, including a profile of her former co-worker, serial killer Ted Bundy, has died. Rule died at Highline Medical Center at 10:30 Sunday night. Rule's daughter, Leslie Rule, said on Facebook that her mother had many health issues, including congestive heart failure. Ann Rule's first book, The Stranger Beside Me, profiled Bundy, whom she got to know while sharing the late shift at a Seattle suicide hotline. She has said she had a contract to write about an unknown serial killer before her co-worker was charged with the crimes. Rule, who went to work briefly at the Seattle Police Department when she was 21, began writing for magazines like True Detective in 1969. A biography on her author website says she has published more than 1,400 articles, mostly on criminal cases. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in creative writing, with minors in psychology, criminology and penology. She was the mother of five children and the grandmother of five. Ann Rule was 83.
Today is National Milk Chocolate Day. An important note: Don't be dyslexic about this special day. Today is a day for Milk Chocolate, not Chocolate Milk. Today is National Shampoo Outdoors Day.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1945, a US Army B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26. In 1951, Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland was released. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000. In 1973, Summer Jam at Watkins Glen was held and 600,000 people attended the rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway. In 1973, Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett were married. In 1982, San Francisco became the first city in the US to ban handguns. In 1995, Jimi Hendrix' father James Al Hendrix won back the rights to his son's name, likeness, image, and music after a number of companies had profited from them over the years. In 1996, the remains of a prehistoric man were discovered near Kennewick. The remains became known as Kennewick Man. In 2000, Kathie Lee Gifford made her final appearance as co-host of Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.
There's a new Dr. Suess book. Dr. Seuss' What Pet Should I Get? is available beginning today. Written over 50 years ago and rediscovered in 2013, What Pet Should I Get? follows the brother-sister team that we first met in One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish as they visit a pet store and struggle to choose an animal to take home.
Puddle of Mudd singer Wes Scantlin faces charges of drunken driving and fleeing police after a chase in Minnesota that reached speeds of about 100 mph. Scantlin appeared yesterday in Renville County court on charges of felony fleeing police in a motor vehicle; refusing to submit to a chemical test; and DWI. He was released after posting bail. The 43-year-old was caught early Sunday by a sheriff's sergeant. A preliminary breath test measured his blood-alcohol content at 0.31 percent, nearly four times the legal limit for driving.
The rise in drone popularity has opened up a new industry anti-drone defense systems. New technologies are being developed in order to keep drones away from places they shouldn't be or doing things they shouldn't do.
Trivia Answer: Rodney Allen Rippy who turns 47 tomorrow. Rippy subsequently had guest-roles in many popular television shows, including The Six Million Dollar Man, Marcus Welby MD, Police Story, and The Odd Couple. He also appeared frequently on talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Dinah's Place with Dinah Shore. Rodney made his big screen debut (uncredited and filmed before the Jack in the Box spots) in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles in 1974. He portrayed a young Sheriff Bart aboard his parents' buckboard wagon after a brutal Sioux nation attack. Rippy graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1995. The Washington Post reported on April 26th of 2013 that Rippy was a candidate for mayor of Compton, California. He decided to bow out of the race, however, after finishing 10th out of 12 candidates in the election's primary.
|Monday 7.27.15
|Today's Trivia: He's a cartoonist, best known as the
creator of the comic strip Garfield. He has also worked on other strips:
Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, US Acres (aka Orson's Farm) and a strip about Mr.
Potato Head. He has written (or in some cases co-written) all of the Emmy
Award-winning or nominated Garfield TV specials and was one of the
producers behind the Garfield & Friends TV show which aired on CBS
from 1988 to 1995. He continues to work on the Garfield strip to this day.
Who is he?
We pause in a dour, disquieting Mariners season to celebrate something splendid -- Franklin Gutierrez, baseball hero. His 10th-inning, walk-off homer against Toronto yesterday produced what amounts to, in a 46-and-53 season, a big win, as well as a series victory. The high-leverage drama also provided a crisp slap upside the heads of Blue Jays fans who came down to outnumber the United Staters in at Safeco Field. Not only that, the homer followed a pinch-hit grand slam Tuesday by Gutierrez that rescued an 11-9 triumph in Detroit. Oh, and the Mariners pulled off in the fourth inning a triple play of a kind not seen in the majors since 1955. The Blue Jays had runners on first and third with no outs when the bewilderment began. Taijuan Walker induced Ryan Goins into grounding to first right at Mark Trumbo, who stepped on the bag for the first out, then fired to Brad Miller covering second to get Kevin Pillar. But instead of tagging the runner, Miller ran slowly and directly at Ezequiel Carrera, who came too far off third. He broke for the plate, but Mike Zunino took Miller's throw and chased Carrera back to third, where Carrera found teammate Pillar. By rule, the base belonged to Carrera, meaning Pillar was out. Zunino tagged both runners, then Carrera came off the bag awkwardly and fell, Zunino holding the tag. Out No. 3. The slow-developing awkwardness was so unusual that Miller admitted he hadn't realized it was a triple play -- 11th in club history and the 3rd in the MLB this year -- until he checked a text message in the clubhouse after the game. The other remarkable aspect of the game was a 3-for-4 day for catcher Mike Zunino, who would have gone 4-for-4 with a homer if not for a leaping, over-the-wall catch in left in the sixth inning. Zunino is on a six-game hitting streak in which he is 9 for 20. It's unlikely that cynically hard-core Mariners fans are going to change minds about the fate of this season. But for a day, the feeling could not have been much better. The Ms now welcome in the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game series at the Safe. Game one is tonight at 7:10.
Three pitchers who became dominant after trades and a rock-solid catcher-turned-second baseman entered the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio basked in the moment, with at least 40,000 fans cheering them one more time. The former Mariner, the towering left-hander known as The Big Unit, gave special thanks to his parents. His father died in 1992. His mother, Carol, was watching from the front row.
Birthdays: TV producer Norman Lear is 93; Luther Van Dam on Coach, actor Jerry Van Dyke is 84; Ode to Billie Joe singer Bobbie Gentry is 71; figure skater Peggy Fleming is 67; Sgt. Lucy Bates on Hill Street Blues, actress Betty Thomas is 67; singer Maureen McGovern is 66; comedian Bill Engvall is 58; singer Pete Yorn is 41; and baseball's Alex Rodriguez is 40.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, died yesterday at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth, Georgia., according to ET. She had been in a medically induced coma since she was found unconscious in a bathtub at her Roswell, Georgia, home on Janusry 31st. Bobbi Kristina Brown was 22.
Today is Form A Company Quartet Day, a day to find co-workers who like to sing. Tonight is Over the Moon Night, the night each year when legend says cows get really jumpy. Today is Walk on Stilts Day, a chance to enjoy a challenge of childhood, no matter your age. Today is Take Your Houseplants for A Walk Day.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1940, Bugs Bunny made his official debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon A Wild Hare. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation requiring cigarette packages and ads to display a health warning from the US Surgeon General. In 1974, a House Committee voted to impeach President Richard Nixon. Also in 1974, Eric Clapton's first solo single entered the British music charts, I Shot the Sheriff. In 1976, Tina Turner filed for a divorce from Ike. In 1981, six-year-old Adam Walsh, son of John Walsh was kidnapped in Hollywood, Florida and is found murdered two weeks later. Also in 1981: Stevie Nicks' first solo album, Bella Donna, was released. In 1994, when Cindy Hartman's phone rang in the middle of the night in Conway, Arkansas, she discovered an armed burglar ransacking her home. She fell to her knees and asked if she could pray for him. The burglar broke down, joined her in prayer, and apologized. He brought her belongings back into the house, borrowed a shirt to wipe away his fingerprints, and left his gun behind when he drove away. In 2003, comedian Bob Hope died in Toluca Lake, California, at the age of 100. Also in 2003: It was reported by the BBC that there was no monster in Loch Ness. The investigation used 600 separate sonar beams and satellite navigation technology to trawl the loch. Reports of sightings of the Loch Ness Monster began in the 6th century.
Ant-Man crept past new opener Pixels to claim the top spot at the box office over the weekend by an ant-sized margin. The Disney and Marvel superhero pic brought in $24.8 million, Pixels, meanwhile, just barely missed first place with a $24 million debut. Holdovers Minions and Trainwreck took the third and fourth spots. Meanwhile, the R-rated boxing drama Southpaw surpassed expectations and landed a place in the top five with its $16.5 million opening.
Swedish police say they briefly held Snoop Dogg on suspicion of drug use after he performed a concert near Stockholm. A national police spokesman says a police patrol in a city north of the capital, stopped a car in which Snoop Dog was a passenger on Saturday evening after the concert. Police questioned him at a local police station and tested him for suspected drug use. He said yesterday the rapper was later released and was free to leave the country. He said test results would not be available for some time. He declined to give more details.
In the first national telephone poll since Donald Trump earned rebukes from Republican leaders over his comments about Senator John McCain's military service, the real estate mogul has increased his support among GOP voters and now stands atop the race for the party's nomination. The new CNN/ORC Poll finds Trump at 18% support among Republicans, with former Florida governor Jeb Bush just behind at 15%, within the poll's margin of error. They are joined at the top of the pack by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with 10% support among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who are registered to vote. Trump's backing has climbed 6 points since a late-June poll, while support for Bush and Walker has not changed significantly.
Tom Cruise says he would be open to reprising his 1980s role as US Navy pilot Maverick in a possible sequel to the action drama Top Gun. The 1986 blockbuster turned Cruise into a major box office draw. Last month, film producer and Skydance media company Chief Executive David Ellison was quoted in media reports as saying work on a Top Gun 2 screenplay was underway. Cruise told Reuters, ""It would be fun. I would like to get back into those jets. "It would have to be practical. I don't want any CGI jets. I want to shoot it like how we shot the first one."
Trivia Answer: Jim Davis who turns 70 tomorrow. Davis attended the same college as David Letterman, Ball State University. Ironically, considering his fame as a cartoonist who draws a cat, Davis's first wife was allergic to cats, although they owned a dog named Molly. They have a son, James Alexander Davis. On July 16, 2000, Davis married his current wife, Jill. They have three children: James, Ashley and Christopher. Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for an advertising agency, and in 1969, he began assisting Tom Ryan's comic strip, Tumbleweeds. He then created a comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, that ran for five years in The Pendleton Times, an Indiana newspaper. When Davis attempted to sell it to a national comic strip syndicate, an editor told him, "Your art is good, your gags are great, but bugs -- nobody can relate to bugs!" On June 19, 1978, Garfield started syndication in 41 newspapers. Things were going well until the Chicago Sun-Times canceled the strip, prompting an outcry from readers. Garfield was reinstated and the strip quickly became the fastest selling comic strip in the world. Today it is syndicated in 2,580 newspapers and is read by approximately 263 million readers each day.
|Friday 7.24.15
|Today's Trivia: His signature sketch is the Sledge-O-Matic,
a large wooden mallet that he uses to smash a variety of objects, most
famously, watermelons. Who is he?
Mike Zunino thought he was going to get the day off, but didn't. He entered the game in the 10th inning. In the 12th, after twice failing to get down bunts, turned on an up-in-the-zone change and smacked an RBI double, lifting the Mariners to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers, and a split of a four-game series. Not that it will do them much good, but the Mariners sliced a game off the Angels' lead in the AL West. The Mariners trail by 10.5 following LA's 3-0 loss to Minnesota. Kyle Seager ripped his 15th home run in the first and finished 2-for-6, one of three with multi-hit games for Seattle. Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 and Mark Trumbo 2-for-5. The Mariners had multiple opportunities to take the lead, but flailed with runners in scoring position in the seventh, ninth and 11th innings. Logan Morrison twice failed to produce with RISP in those innings.Seattle finished 1-for-12. The Mariners went 3-and-4 on the road tri. The Mariners have played 12 extra-inning games, most in the American League. The Ms begin a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Safeco.
Birthdays: Especially known for her performances on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Ruth Buzzi is 79; the watermelon comedian, Gallagher is 69; actor Robert Hays is 68; Kramer on Seinfeld, actor Michael Richards is 66; Wonder Woman, actress Lynda Carter is 64; basketball's Karl Malone is 52; baseball's Barry Bonds is 51; J-Lo, actress and singer Jennifer Lopez is 46; and the daughter of the late Steve Irwin, TV personality Bindi Irwin is 17.
The Great Texas Mosquito Festival is underway in Clute, Texas. It continues through tomorrow. It includes the Mr. and Mrs. Mosquito Legs Contest, the Mosquito Calling Contest, and the Skeeter Beaters Baby Crawling Contest. Today is Cousins Day, a day to honor your Aunt and Uncle's kids. Instant Coffee was introduced on this date in 1938. Today is National Drive-Through Day, marking the founding of America's first drive-through hamburger chain, Jack-in-the-Box, in 1951. Today is Sweet Polly Purebread Day, honoring Underdog's girlfriend. You remember Underdog, the super canine who talked in rhyme, the secret identity of Shoeshine Boy. The TV cartoon character was voiced by Wally Cox.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1965, Bob Dylan released Like A Rolling Stone. In 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts, including the first men to set foot on the moon, splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean. In 1978, Billy Martin was fired for the first of three times as the manager of the New York Yankees baseball team. Also in 1978, the movie Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees, opened in New York City. In 1979, evangelist Little Richard Penniman warned at a San Francisco revival about the dangers of rock 'n' roll. In 1983, George Brett batting for the Kansas City Royals against the New York Yankees, has a game-winning home run nullified in the Pine Tar Incident. In 1993, 82-year-old Dick McDonald married 81-year-old Grace Sims in Pacific Palisades, California. It was their second marriage -- to each other. They had been divorced for 61 years. In 2005, Lance Armstrong won his seventh straight Tour de France victory.
All-day breakfast at McDonald's is an apparent success. According to an internal company memo obtained by the Wall Street Journal, McDonald's operators are being advised to prepare for a nationwide extension of the all-day breakfast as early as October.
If you liked Jurassic World, you'll be happy to hear tht a sequel planned. It's scheduled to hit theaters on June 22nd of 2018. Jurassic World has made a little over $1.5 billion worldwide and is now the third top-grossing film of all time.
New in theaters this weekend, the R-rated Southpaw (R), the PG-13 rated Pixels, and the PG-13 rated Paper Towns.
Trivia Answer: Lee Anthony Gallagher, known professionally simply as Gallagher. He's 69 today. In addition to the Sledge-O-Matic, Gallagher's act features a variety of props, including a large trampoline designed to look like a couch. After college, Gallagher began working as comic/musician Jim Stafford's road manager. Stafford and Gallagher traveled to California in 1969, during which time Gallagher decided to perform himself. He began honing his own comedy act while frequenting both The Comedy Store and the Ice House. He was repeatedly denied appearances on The Tonight Show in the 1970s and 1980s, as Johnny Carson disliked prop comedy. However, he was liked by some of the program's staff, and Gallagher eventually performed several times on the show when guest hosts were filling in for Carson. Gallagher was one of the most popular and recognizable American comedians during the 1980s. He performed 14 comedy specials for Showtime. These shows have been re-run numerous times, notably on Comedy Central. Running for Governor (as an independent) in the 2003 California recall election, Gallagher finished 16th out of 135 candidates with 5,466 votes.
|Thursday 7.23.15
|Today's Trivia: He's a former Major League Baseball player
and current ESPN analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an
All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played for the Oakland
Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Chicago Cubs. He is one of 13
players in Major League history to hit two grand slams during a single
game, and the only player to achieve the feat at his home stadium. Oh, and
he's married to a soccer star. Who is he?
Any momentum the Mariners thought they got from their come-from-behind 11-9 win over Detroit Tuesday evaporated in a hurry last night when the Tigers splurged for eight runs in the third against Mike Montgomery en route to a 9-4 romp at Comerica Park. The Mariners, certain to be sellers by the July 31st trading deadline, have not won back-to-back games since June 30th and July 1st. Detroit third baseman Nick Castellanos blasted a 2-0, one-out pitch off Montgomery in the third for a grand slam that staked the Tigers to a 5-0 lead. The salami provided Detroit with an advantage the Mariners could not overcome despite Nelson Cruz's individual heroics. Cruz's two-run blast in the fourth was his 23rd of the season and hiked his RBI total to 56. Cruz also had solo homer in the sixth -- his 24th and 57th RBI -- and a double. He is batting .305. Montgomery lasted only 2.2 innings, allowing eight runs, six earned, with two strikeouts and five walks, four of them in the third inning. The six earned runs marked a season high for Montgomery, whose ERA jumped from 2.51 to 3.25. The Mariners are 2-4 on their current road trip through New York and Detroit. Hisashi Iwakuma gets the start today in a day game to wrap up the series.
Birthdays: Singer David Essex is 68; Katherine Howser on Doogie Howser, MD, actress Belinda Montgomery is 65; actor Woody Harrelson is 54; guitarist Slash, born Saul Hudson, is 50; The Glove, former NBA guard who spent 13 years with the Super Sonics, Gary Payton is 47; singer Alison Krauss is 44; baseball's Nomar Garciaparra is 42; former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is 42; and Harry Potter, actor Daniel Radcliffe is 26.
Today is Hot Enough for Ya Day. Today it's okay to ask it if you can't think of anything else to say. It's National Hot Dog Day. It's only fitting that this dog gets its day. What's in a hot dog? Don't' ask, and we won't tell. Sometimes, its best if you don't know. Today is National Vanilla Ice Cream Day. Today is Gorgeous Grandma Day, a time to empower women to age with style. And the World Lumberjack Championships begin today in Hayward, Wisconsin.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1903, the Ford Motor Company sold its first car. In 1904, the ice cream cone was invented by Charles E. Menches during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. In 1955, Chess Records released Maybellene, the first single by a guitarist named Chuck Berry. The song went to number one and the rest is rock n roll history. In 1963, Neil Young participated in his first recording session in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1977, Foreigner released Cold As Ice. In 1979, after he became the leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini banned rock and roll music, in fact he banned all non-religious music. In 1982, the Coca-Cola company introduced Diet Coke. In 1984, Miss America Vanessa Williams relinquished her crown to first runnerup Suzette Charles. Pageant officials had asked Vanessa to give up the title after nude photos of her were published. In 1985, Commodore unveiled the personal computer Amiga 1000. In 1986, Britain's Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson in Westminster Abbey. The marriage folded in 1992. In 1986, The Bangles released their number one single Walk Like an Egyptian. In 2000, Lance Armstrong won his second Tour de France.
A grandmother in Albuquerque got angry when a thief stole her late husband's pickup truck so she went looking for it. When she found it she boxed it in with her vehicle and called the police.
Donald Trump earns roughly $250,000 per speech. He also gets $110,000 a year from a Screen Actors Guild pension. That from the New York Times which did some digging into Trump's financial disclosure form that was filed with the Federal Election Commission last week and released yesterday.
Trivia Answer: Nomar Garciaparra who is 42 today. His first name is actually Anthony, Nomar is his middle name. It's his father's name spelled backwards. On November 22nd of 2003, Garciaparra married Olympian and World Cup Champion soccer star Mia Hamm. The couple has 8-year-old twin girls, Grace Isabella and Ava Caroline. They also have a 3-year-old son, Garrett Anthony.
|Wednesday 7.22.15
|Today's Trivia: He was born in Linden, Texas. In 1970, he
moved to Los Angeles to record an album with his early band, Shiloh.
Shiloh's album was produced by fellow Texan Kenny Rogers. Shortly
thereafter, he met one of his future bandmembers. The two became members
of Linda Ronstadt's backup band. Touring with her was the catalyst for
forming their own group in the first place. In fact, two months later they
became their own act. All four original members of this band are featured
on the 1970 Ronstadt album Silk Purse. Later, Linda also covered one of
their songs. Who is the gentleman born in Linden, Texas, and what band did
he co-found?
His career given up for done after a long series of injuries and ailments, Franklin Gutierrez had a magnificent comeback last night at Comerica Park -- a pinch-hit grand slam, only the second in Mariner history, to beat the Tigers 11-9 in the Mariners' wildest game of the season. The Mariners led 4-0, fell behind 8-6 and then Gutierrez in the eighth whipsawed it again. Pinch-hitting for Chris Taylor, Gutierrez, in his 38th plate appearance after three months in the minors, turned on a 95 mph fastball, ending a four-hour game that had 26 hits and used 13 pitchers. Game three of the series is this afternoon at 4:08.
By the way, for the second year in a row, the MLB players union chose Kyle Seager as the Mariners' nominee for the 11th annual Heart and Hustle Award, which honors active players who demonstrate a passion for the game and best embody the values, spirit and tradition of the game. It's the only MLB award voted on by former players. The winner is being announced November 10th.
Birthdays: Politician Bob Dole is 92; actor Orson Bean is 87; game show host Alex Trebek is 75: singer and actor Bobby Sherman is 72; actor Danny Glover is 69; actor and comedian Albert Brooks is 68; from The Eagles, singer and songwriter Don Henley is 68; actor Willem Dafoe is 60; singer Keith Sweat is 54; actor and comedian David Spade is 51; and singer/actress Selena Gomez is 23;
Tom Moore, the Archie cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of a freckled-face, red-haired character, has died in Texas. Moore drew Archie Andrews and his friends on and off from 1953 until he retired in the late 1980s. Moore began drawing cartoons while in the Navy during the Korean War. He died early Monday morning while in hospice care in his hometown of El Paso. He was 86.
Today is Rat Catchers Day, marking the legend of this date in 1376 when the Pied Piper piped all the rats out of Hamelin, Germany. Then, when the village refused to pay, he piped all the children out, too. Today is Spooner's Day, marking the birth of William Spooner on this date in 1844. The Rev. Spooner's tongue slipped frequently, producing spoonerisms, like "blushing crow' for crushing blow, "swell foop" for fell swoop, and "queer old dean" for dear old queen. Today is Hammock Day, appropriately celebrated right in the middle of the Dog Days of summer (July 3rd though August 11th). There's no better place to slow down and relax, than on a hammock.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1933, Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes. In 1934, outside Chicago's Biograph Theater, Public Enemy No. 1 John Dillinger was mortally wounded by FBI agents. In 1962, Fruit Loops & Toucan Sam debuted. In 1967, Jimi Hendrix called it quits as the support act for The Monkees. Also In 1967, The Doors made their debut on American Bandstand and performed Light My Fire. In 1979, the Sony Walkman went on sale to the public. In 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested in Milwaukee after police discovered human remains in his apartment.
Miley Cyrus is twerking back to the MTV Video Music Awards as the show's host. The 25-year-old singer-actress revealed on her social media accounts that she's helming the August 30th ceremony. Cyrus announced the gig by posting a photo of herself in an alien costume with sandwich boards that read "MTV won't let me perform" and "so I'm hosting this year's VMAs." A scantily clad Cyrus shocked audiences with a rump-shaking performance alongside Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Cyrus won the video of the year trophy at last year's show and invited a young homeless man named Jesse Helt on stage to accept the trophy on her behalf. The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards are live on MTV from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Two nuns have stepped up their campaign against Katy Perry's bid to buy their convent by alleging the sale would violate their religious vows. Katy was in negotiations with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to buy the former home of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Feliz, but two former residents, Sisters Rita Callahan and Catherine Rose Holzman, objected. They claimed it was their right to sell the eight-acre estate and they had already struck a deal with restaurateur Dana Hollister, who has moved in. New legal documents obtained by the New York Times show an email the two Sisters wrote to the Archdiocese, which reads, "In selling to Katy Perry, we feel we are being forced to violate our canonical vows to the Catholic Church." They also claim the Archdiocese is bullying them into accepting Perry's sale when they would prefer the property to go to Hollister. A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles County is slated to decide who is the rightful seller of the convent at a hearing on July 30th.
Chicago blogger Jill Cataldo knew that her readers wouldn't believe what she had seen, even if she presented them with a photo. At her local Walgreens store, there was a full display of Halloween treats, including candy corn and Snickers pumpkins. Halloween. On July 21st. To prove she wasn't making it up she asked her husband to grab a newspaper so she could photograph the date next to the Halloween candy display.
Trivia Answer: Don Henley who turns 68 today. The band is The Eagles. Linda Ronstadt covered Desperado -- an Eagles song written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley. It was Glenn Frey that he met when he first moved to Los Angeles.
|Tuesday 7.21.15
|Today's Trivia: This actor and comedian started as a
stand-up comedian in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. In
fact, he's credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance. After
rising to fame in a sitcom from 1978 to 1982, he went on to establish a
career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. He was known for
his improvisational skills. Who is he?
The Seattle Mariners have the worst record in the American League. In a season full of disappointment, Mark Lowe served up the latest deflating blow last night, an eighth-inning, two-run homer for the Tigers' second baseman Ian Kinsler -- his second blast of the game -- that sent the Mariners to a 5-4 loss at Comerica Park in the series opener. The defeat dropped the Mariners, a hip choice to make the playoffs before the season, to 42-and-51. For the second day in a row, and the third time in the past four games, a Seattle reliever allowed a deciding homer late. Oft-criticized reliever Fernando Rodney wasn't used yesterday after he allowed the go-ahead homer Sunday to the Yankees Mark Teixeira. Lowe was the goat instead. Facing Kinsler with two outs, he jumped ahead 1-2, then piped a 96-mile-per-hour fastball that Kinsler crushed well beyond the left-field wall for his fifth homer. It was Lowe's first run allowed since June 14th. On the upside, Robinson Cano continued his recent hot streak, hitting an opposite-field solo homer in the fifth inning. Cano finished 2-for-4. The Mariners trail the fourth-place Oakland Athletics by a half-game in the American League West . They are 1-3 on their seven-game road trip. Every loss has been by one run .The Mariners continue their four-game series with Detroit this afternoon at 4:08.
Birthdays: Former Attorney General Janet Reno 77; the man that submitted the Starr Report to Congress with the intention of having President Bill Clinton impeached, lawyer Ken Starr is 69; the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam is 67; Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau is 67; the guy that put Puttin' on the Ritz on the Top 40, Taco is 60, comedian Jon Lovitz is 58; the frontman for Tonic, singer Emerson Hart is 46; and baseball's C.C. Sabathia 35.
Today is National Junk Food Day, an opportunity to guiltlessly eat your favorite junk food.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1873, at Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pulled off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West. In 1925, in the Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100. In 1979, Robert Palmer's Bad Case Of Loving You was released. In 1983, the world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location was recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −128.6 °F. In 1987, Guns 'n Roses released their debut album Appetite For Destruction. In 2007, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the fastest-selling novel ever, was published. It sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release.
Demi Moore was enjoying an overseas trip with her daughters when she heard the news that a 21-year-old man had drowned in the pool at her home in Beverly Hills, California. Edenilson Steven Valle's body was discovered at the bottom of Moore's pool early Sunday morning, following a party that had reportedly been thrown there on Saturday night by her caretaker. Police do not suspect foul play in the drowning and are awaiting the results of a toxicology report.
On TV tonight, Knock Knock Live. In this new reality show, people are surprised in their homes with a chance to win prizes (like money or a new car), meet celebrities, or have a dream come true. Ryan Seacrest hosts from the studio, while American Idol alum Kellie Pickler and others travel the country knocking on people's front doors. It's tonight on Fox.
A Boston bus driver gave passengers a cool treat on a hot day when he made a stop at a child's lemonade stand. John Lohan asked permission to stop and all six passengers agreed. Lohan treated each to one 50-cent cup of lemonade.
Trivia Answer: Robin Williams who was born on this date in 1951. After his film debut in the musical comedy Popeye in 1980, he starred or co-starred in widely acclaimed films, including the comedy-drama The World According to Garp in 1982, the war comedy Good Morning, Vietnam in 1987, the dramas Dead Poets Society in 1989 and Awakenings in 1990, the comedy-drama The Fisher King in 1991, animated musical fantasy Aladdin in 1992, the drama Good Will Hunting in 1997, and psychological thriller One Hour Photo in 2002, as well as financial successes such as the fantasy adventure film Hook in 1991, the comedy Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993, the fantasy adventure Jumanji in 1995, the comedy The Birdcage in 1996, and the fantasy adventure-comedy Night at the Museum in 2006. In 1998, Williams won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. He also received two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Grammy Awards throughout his career. On August 11th of last year, Williams committed suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California. It was revealed shortly after his death that he'd been suffering from severe depression, Parkinson's disease, and diffuse Lewy body dementia.
|Monday 7.20.15
|Today's Trivia: In 1983, she became the first woman of
African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal caused
her to relinquish her title early. In fact, it was on this date in 1984
that officials of the Miss America pageant asked her to quit. Who is she?
In a series dominated by home runs, Mark Teixeira hit the last one, a solo shot in the eighth inning off Fernando Rodney that lifted the New York Yankees to a 2-1 victory and a series win yesterday against the Mariners. The Ms have lost an American League-high 14 times in their opponents' final at-bat. Teixeira now has hit 36 career home runs against Seattle. While Teiixeira's bomb was the winning blow, the Mariners for the umpteenth time couldn't cash in when presented scoring opportunities. They had a runner on second in the second inning and failed to score. In the fifth, they had runners on first and second with one out; with two outs, runners at the corners; and couldn't get one across the plate. Seattle went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. For the year, the Mariners are batting .206 with RISP. The Mariners begin a four-game series at Comerica Park in Detroit this afternoon at 4:08.
Birthdays: Emma Peel on The Avengers, actress Diana Rigg is 77; she of Bette Davis Eyes fame, singer Kim Carnes is 70; Moody Blues bassist John Lodge is 70; No. 15 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists, Carlos Santana is 68; singer Chris Cornell is 51; Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is 49; basketball's Ray Allen is 40; and Gisele Bündchen -- Mrs. Tom Brady -- is 35.
Today is Moon Day, marking man's first landing on the moon on this date in 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their lunar module Eagle. Today is Special Olympics Day, the anniversary of the first Special Olympics, held in Chicago at Soldier Field in 1968. Today is Cleat Dancing Day, a day to see how much fun it is, if any, to tap dance while wearing baseball cleats. Today is Lollipop Day -- our chance to celebrate and enjoy the creation of Lollipops. Today is Ugly Truck Day -- beyond a doubt, a guy thing. Every guy can appreciate the importance of this day. Not to be left out, a fair number of the ladies appreciate their ugly trucks, too.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1974, a Dallas narcotics suspect surrendered after police had served a warrant at his "incredibly filthy" apartment two days earlier while he wasn't home. Officers made his bed, washed his dishes, vacuumed, tossed out all the beer cans and trash, and left fresh flowers on his coffee table with a note saying they'd taken his drugs. In 1975, Steve Van Zandt (also known as Little Steven) performed for the first time in concert as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 1994, O.J. Simpson offered a $500,000 reward for the capture of his wife's "real" killer. In 2003, a prison guard in Betim, Brazil. went to a bar close to his jail and bumped into three inmates who had sneaked out for a drink. The owner said they were regulars who often popped in. The men said they weren't running away, they were only having a beer. The prisoners were returned to jail and an investigation was launched into security.
Ant-Man landed with a solid $58 million at the weekend box office, while Trainwreck's Amy Schumer put her own raunchy spin on romantic comedies to the tune of a $30.2 million debut. Going into the weekend, some analysts expected Ant-Man to top $60 million, but its opening is similar to The Incredible Hulk, which earned an initial $55 million on its way to a $134 million haul. In its second weekend, Minions captured runner-up status, pulling in $50.2 million. Trainwreck bested initial projections which had it debuting to roughly $20 million. The story of a commitment-phobic woman who falls for a sports doctor got a boost from strong reviews and a long and winding promotional tour that saw Schumer doing everything from posing provocatively with C3PO to sexting Katie Couric's husband. Inside Out pushed past $300 million domestically, joining Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo as the third Pixar film to reach that mark. Inside Out racked up $11.6 million for a fourth place finish, bringing its North American gross to $306.4 million. In other milestone news, Jurassic World became just the fourth film in history to top $600 million domestically. The dinosaur thriller added $11.4 million to take fifth place at the box office and propel its North American total to $611.1 million.
An Australian teacher who won $20,000 on a TV game show is buying new shoes for the students at her school. All 200 students are receiving a pair of sturdy shoes to get them through the winter.
Another Lakefair is in the books. Capped it all off with the fireworks last night. Sad when you think that now that Lakefair is behind us, half the summer is gone.
Trivia Answer: Vanessa Williams who rebounded quite nicely by launching a career as an entertainer, and earning Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award nominations. Today she's a model, singer, songwriter and actress. Williams won Miss New York in 1983, and went to the Miss America national pageant in Atlantic City. She was crowned Miss America 1984 on September 17, 1983, becoming the first African American to win the title. Williams' reign as Miss America was not without its challenges and controversies. For the first time in pageant history, a reigning Miss America was the target of death threats and hate mail. Ten months into her reign as Miss America, she received an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her taken by a photographer prior to her pageant days had surfaced. Williams believed the photographs were private and had been destroyed; she claims she never signed a release permitting the photos to be used. The genesis of the photos dated back to 1982, when she worked as an assistant and makeup artist for a New York photographer Tom Chiapel. According to Williams, Chiapel advised her that he wanted to try a "new concept of silhouettes with two models." He photographed Williams and another woman in several nude poses, including simulated lesbian sex. Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy, was initially offered the photos, but turned them down. Later Hefner would explain why in People Weekly, "Vanessa Williams is a beautiful woman. There was never any question of our interest in the photos. But they clearly weren't authorized and because they would be the source of considerable embarrassment to her, we decided not to publish them. We were also mindful that she was the first black Miss America." Days later, Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse, announced that his magazine would publish the photos in their September 1984 issue, and paid Chiapel for the rights to them without Williams' consent. According to the PBS documentary Miss America, Williams' issue of Penthouse would ultimately bring Guccione a $14 million windfall. After days of media frenzy and sponsors threatening to pull out of the upcoming 1985 pageant, Williams felt pressured by Miss America Pageant officials to resign, and did so in a press conference on July 23rd of 1984. The title subsequently went to the first runner-up, Suzette Charles, who was also an African American. Although she resigned from fulfilling the duties of a current Miss America, Williams was allowed to keep the bejeweled crown and scholarship money and is officially recognized by the Miss America Organization as Miss America 1984; Charles is recognized as Miss America 1984b.
|Friday 7.17.15
|Today's Trivia: He's an actor, singer, producer, and
businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the
popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as LA County Lifeguard Mitch
Buchannon in the series Baywatch. Who is he?
With a half-season to go, the Mariners are the worst team in 46 years hitting with runners in scoring position. With any kind of bad luck at all, they can become the worst in MLB history. Following the Mariners' 10-3 loss Sunday to the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field, Lloyd McClendon characterized the game as "the worst we've played all year," adding, "I can't imagine a better time for the All-Star break." McClendon could have also chipped in another obvious thought -- that the club's fan base needed a break from the Mariners as much as the team needed one from baseball. The beleaguered souls who unwisely invested their emotional dollars in the Mariners witnessed something damn close to historic in a first half that thudded to a 41-48 close, representing a 7.5-game deficit in the AL West. The Mariners lost 14 series in the first half, posting a 2-12 record in the final games. Had they won a just a handful of series-enders, those preseason playoff predictions that now look so dumb would still look good. The Mariners also lost 27 times in the first half in games decided by two or fewer runs. Had they won only a third of them, they would be in playoff contention instead of a half-game out of last place in the wild card standings. The Mariners certainly had their chances, The Mariners begin second-half play tonight against New York at Yankee Stadium. After three in the Bronx, the Mariners play four at Comerica Park in Detroit before returning to Safeco Field July 24th to start a three-game series against Toronto. The Mariners do not have another day off until August 6th, meaning 20 games in the next 20 days. Game time tonight is 4:05.
Throughout the NFL offseason, Russell Wilson and agent Mark Rodgers maintained they had no deadline in contract extension negotiations with the Seattle Seahawks, but a report yesterday claimed the two sides will likely cease talks at the beginning of training camp later this month. According to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, when camp begins on July 30th, the extension negotiations will be postponed until after the conclusion of the 2015 season. Wilson and Rodgers have maintained that they are prepared for Wilson to play out the 2015 season with his scheduled $1.54 million base salary — even taking out a large insurance policy to guard against the possibility of a career-ending injury — with an eye toward franchise player tags that could pay him around $55 million combined in 2016 and 2017 and eventually lead to unrestricted free agency.
Birthdays: Actress and singer Diahann Carroll is 80; actor Donald Sutherland is 80; guitarist from The Spencer Davis Group, the man himself, Spencer Davis is 76; the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles' second wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles is 68; Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler is 66; The Hoff, actor David Hasselhoff is 63; German Chancellor Angela Merkel is 61; and motorcyle racer & off-road truck racer, and husband of Pink, Carey Hart is 40.
Today is Disneyland Day. America's first theme park, The Happiest Place on Earth, opened on this date in 1955 at Anaheim, California. In the famous theme park's first year of operation, some four million people visited Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland. On its opening day, Disneyland held a gala TV broadcast featuring Walt Disney, Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter, and Ronald Reagan. Today is Wrong Way Corrigan Day, marking that embarrassing day in 1938, when Doug Corrigan left Brooklyn on a flight to Los Angeles and landed 28 hours later in Dublin, Ireland. The inexperienced pilot claimed he had a compass but mistakenly followed the wrong end of the needle. Today is Wear Crazy Socks to Work Day.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1941, Yankee Joe DiMaggio went 0-3 in Cleveland, ending his record 56-game hitting streak. In 1968, The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine had its premiere at the London Pavilion. In 1976, Heart's Magic Man was released. In 1982, 52-year-old Don Bennett of Seattle became the first one-legged mountain climber to hop to the top of 14,408-foot Mount Rainier on crutches. Before losing a leg in a boating accident, he had climbed the mountain 12 years earlier with two legs. In 1986, Run DMC released their single Walk This Way. In 1995, Forbes magazine listed Microsoft CEO Bill Gates as the world's richest person. Net worth: $12.9 billion. In 1997, Woolworth closed its last 400 stores. The five and dime chain lasted 117 years. In 1999, a suspected drug trafficker was arrested in Astoria, Oregon, when the cocaine he had stashed down his pants was burning his crotch so bad he had to ask police to remove it. Police were questioning the suspect while he sat in his car.
The final season of AMC's advertising drama Mad Men, Netflix's political thriller House of Cards, and Amazon's new transgender comedy Transparent garnered 11 nominations each yesterday for the 67th Emmy Awards. In a highly competitive year with no shortage of new shows and diverse faces on the small screen, cable channel HBO extended its long reign atop all networks, with 126 nominations. Its Game of Thrones scored an astonishing 24 nods but faces another tough year to win a top award. Mad Men, which chronicled the advertising world and shifts in American society during the 1960s, ended its eight-year run this year and is likely to be a favorite to win its fifth award for outstanding drama series, the top Emmy. Fox's new popular hip-hop series Empire did not earn a best drama nomination, one of the biggest snubs of the 2015 Emmys. Yesterday's nominations confirmed the narrowing chasm between the stalwart network broadcasters and the digital newcomers. ABC took 42 nods, NBC and CBS 41 each and Fox 35, just one ahead of Netflix. The Emmys will be presented in Los Angeles on September 20th and broadcast on Fox.
In the 1980s, Commodore was the company that brought computers into the homes of millions. Now it's coming back -- as an Android smartphone.
Trivia Answer: David Hasselhoff who is 61 today. Hasselhoff produced Baywatch for a number of seasons in the 1990s up until 2001, when the series ended with Baywatch Hawaii. Hasselhoff also crossed over to a music career during the end of the 1980s and the early 1990s. He was noted for his performance at the Berlin Wall at New Year's Eve 1989; he enjoyed a short-lived success as a singer primarily in German-speaking Europe. Currently, Hoff lives in Southern California with his two daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley, his five dogs, a cockatoo named Peaches and two bearded dragons Ikki and Nikki. His new UK TV series entitled Hoff The Record premiered last month. He also has a major role in the TV movie Sharknado 3 which premieres globally next Wednesday. Hasselhoff is also also set to star in a new musical, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, coming up in the fall at the Blackpool Opera House in the United Kingdom.
|Thursday 7.16.15
|Today's Trivia: This drummer was born in Alexandria,
Virginia, the youngest of four children. His father was a CIA officer. He
started drum lessons at age twelve and by thirteen he was playing drums
for school dances. Later he moved to England then later yet went to
college in California. Returning to England, he worked as road manager for
the progressive rock band Curved Air's 1974 reunion tour, and then assumed
drumming duties for the band during 1975 and 1976. His oldest brother
founded IRS Records. His other brother is deceased but was a pioneering
booking agent. Who is he?
The Seattle Mariners were expected to be playoff contenders at the start of the season. They open the second half seven games under .500. Short of a huge turnaround after the All-Star break, the Mariners will join the ranks of past Seattle teams that flopped when expected to be in the postseason picture. Seattle is among the most disappointing teams in the American League following the first half of the season. Instead of being on pace to end the second-longest playoff drought in baseball, the Mariners are 41-and-48 and don't have a win streak longer than four games. Despite the addition of Nelson Cruz, Seattle is the worst hitting team in the AL. Robinson Cano is having an off-year. He's hitting .251 with just six homers and 30 RBIs. He's struck out 64 times this season -- last year he fanned 68 times. Any optimism for the second half is centered on the starting pitching rotation. Felix Hernandez is again one of the top pitchers in the AL with 11 wins. Young righty Taijuan Walker overcame problems in the first month to become more dominant in May and June. Lefty Mike Montgomery has been a pleasant surprise coming up from the minors. And Hisashi Iwakuma is coming off eight shutout innings in his second start since returning from the disabled list. Seattle opens the second half with a 13-game stretch -- seven on the road against the Yankees and Detroit, before returning home for six against Toronto and Arizona. Ms are back in action tomorrow in New York City.
Birthdays: Football coach and broadcaster Jimmy Johnson is 72; actor and singer Ruben Blades is 67; Police drummer Stewart Copeland is 63; the Lord of the Dance, dancer Michael Flatley is 57; actress Phoebe Cates is 52; actor and comedian Will Ferrell is 48; football great Barry Sanders is 47; actress Rain Pryor is 46; actor Corey Feldman is 44; and from the band Live, founding member Ed Kowalczyk is 44.
Today is Orville Redenbacher Day, marking the popcorn king's birth in Brazil, Indiana, on July 16th of 1907. He died in 1995 at the age of 88. Today is Fresh Spinach Day. Today is Atomic Bomb Day, marking the first test of an experimental nuclear bomb in the New Mexico desert near Alamogordo. The mushroom cloud rose to 41,000 feet. All plant and animal life within one mile of ground zero ceased to exist.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1935, Oklahoma City became the first city in the US to install parking meters. In 1951, J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye was first published. In 1966, The Lovin' Spoonful released their number one single Summer in the City. In 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy and began the first manned mission to land on the moon. In 1973, Grand Funk's We're An American Band was released. In 1976, The Allman Brothers Band announced they were splitting shortly after singer Gregg Allman testified against a drug-dealing roadie. Also In 1976, Loggins & Messina announced they were going their separate ways. In 1981, Harry Chapin was killed when his car and a tractor-trailer collided on New York's Long Island Expressway. In 1981, after 23 years with the name Datsun, executives changed the name of their cars to Nissan. In 1985, the MLB All-Star Game, televised on NBC-TV, was the first program broadcast in stereo by a television network. In 2003, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde blocked traffic with fellow PETA protesters in front of a Paris Kentucky Fried Chicken. They also covered the restaurant's windows in red blood. Hynde was taken into police custody and released about an hour later.
Former President George H.W. Bush fell yesterday at his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, breaking a vertebrae in his neck. His spokesman pointed out, however, "it was not life threatening." Bush was taken to a hospital in nearby Portland where he is reported to be in stable condition. The former president was never disoriented. The spokesman said, "We are not expecting a long stay," though he added Bush would be treated with a neck brace. Bush last month just turned 91.
When a flash of light beamed from the arid New Mexico desert 70 years ago today -- early on July 16th of 1945, residents of the historic Hispanic village of Tularosa felt windows shake and heard dishes fall. Some in the largely Catholic town fell to their knees and prayed. The end of the world is here, they thought. What villagers didn't know was that just before 5:30 that morning., scientists from the then-secret city of Los Alamos successfully exploded the first atomic bomb at the nearby Trinity Site. Left in its place was a crater that stretched a half-mile wide and several feet deep. Today marks 70 years since Trinity Test took place as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret World War II nuclear development program. It comes as Tularosa residents say they were permanently affected by the test and want acknowledgement and compensation from the US government. Tina Cordova is a co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders. She said the aftermath caused rare forms of cancer for many of the 30,000 residents in the area. She said residents weren't told about the site's dangers and often picnicked there and took artifacts. Last year, President Barack Obama signed federal legislation to create the Manhattan Project National Historical Park to preserve the sites that helped with the bomb's creation.
Can you imagine living your life without your smartphone? If not, you're in good company. Forty-six percent of American smartphone users responding to a recent Gallup survey said they agree with the statement: "I can't imagine my life without my smartphone." Fifty-one percent of women agreed, compared with 41 percent of men. Younger respondents were more likely than older ones to feel attached to their phones. Women 18 to 29 had the strongest attachment with 58 percent saying they can't imagine life without their phone. Forty-five percent of men 18 to 29.
Trivia Answer: Stewart Copeland who turns 63 today. He's best known as the drummer for the band The Police. In 1977, he along with singer/bassist Sting and guitarist Henry Padovani -- soon replaced by Andy Summers -- founded The Police. Stewart's older brother was Miles Copeland III, founder of IRS Records and manager of The Police. His deceased older brother was Ian Copeland, the pioneering booking agent who represented The Police and many others including The B-52's, The Cure, Simple Minds, The English Beat, and The Go-Go's. His father, Miles Copeland, once worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), according to files released by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2008.
|Wednesday 7.15.15
|Today's Trivia: He's a Navy veteran, an actor,
former radio and television talk show host, former wrestler, and a former
governor. Who is he?
The Mariners' impact on the 86th MLB All-Star Game Tuesday in Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park was light: Felix Hernandez pitched a 1-2-3 third inning, and Nelson Cruz struck out and flied out in his only two at-bats. Manager Lloyd McClendon, a member of the American League coaching staff tipped his hat nicely during pre-game introductions. Another person with a Northwest connection probably had the most notable face time: Ciara, girlfriend of Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, sang the national anthem. The American League beat the National League 6-3, assuring the league of home-field advantage in the World Series. Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was named MVP, becoming the first player to win back-to-back MVPs. He led off the game with a homer. Bo Jackson did it last in 1989. The Ms are back in action on Friday when they meet the Yankees in New York City.
Birthdays: Actor Jan-Michael Vincent is 71; singer Linda Ronstadt is 69; Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle is 67; from The Ramones, drummer Marky Ramone is 63; guitarist Joe Satriani is 59; known for his roles on Eight Is Enough and Charles in Charger, actor Willie Aames is 55; model Kim Alexis is 55; actor and director Forest Whitaker is 54; actress Lolita Davidovich is 54; she was married to Sylvester Stallone, actress Brigitte Nielsen is 52; from Mythbusters' Adam Savage is 48; and from Beverly Hills 90210, actor Brian Austin Green is 42.
Today is Be a Dork Day, it's Respect Canada Day. Today is Tapioca Pudding Day. Tapioca Pudding is a cooling, enjoyable dessert, for a hot summer day. The most popular flavors are vanilla and chocolate. Tapioca, by the way, is the starch from a cassava root. This starch forms the soft, tiny balls in the pudding. It gives tapioca pudding its unique texture.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1916, in Seattle, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporated Pacific Aero Products -- later renamed Boeing. In 1974, Elton John re-signed with the record label MCA. Elton received eight-million dollars for delivering his next five albums to them, which included Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy. In 1983, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the best-selling game console of its time, was released in Japan. In 1986, Columbia Records dropped Johnny Cash after a 28-year partnership. In 1988, the film blockbuster, Die Hard, premiered. In 2003, AOL Time Warner disbanded Netscape. The Mozilla Foundation was established on the same day. In 2006, Twitter was launched.
Winning comes with a price, and it's a hefty one for Seahawks fans who want to experience the atmosphere at CenturyLink Field on Sundays. For the second consecutive year, tickets selling on the secondary market for Seahawks regular-season home games are the most expensive in the NFL, according to Forbes. Forbes looked at ticket prices from TiqIQ, and found the average ticket price to a regular season home game at CenturyLink is $435.10. That's a nine percent increase from last year, when tickets were selling for an average of $398.51 on the secondary market. With the Hawks implementing dynamic pricing for single-game tickets for the first time this season, prices across the board were bound to increase. Highly anticipated games such as Seattle's home opener against the Chicago Bears in Week 3 are currently selling for an average of $505.39 per ticket. When the Pittsburgh Steelers come to the Northwest in Week 12, tickets are going for around $582.45. The cheapest ticket on TiqIQ for a Seahawks home game is currently $119, which will get you a chance to see the Cleveland Browns in Week 15.
The last of Boston's winter nightmare has finally melted away. Mayor Martin Walsh announced yesterday that Boston's once-massive pile of filthy snow has officially dwindled to nothing. The pile accumulated into a 75-foot tower of snow after a record-breaking winter that dumped more than 110 inches on the city. The mound made Bostonians shiver into the summer, but not because of the temperature: It was laden more than 80 tons of garbage, transforming it into a repulsive trash heap as the snow melted. Officials say two snowstorms struck after residents put their trash out, and it got swept up by plows. The persistent pile prompted Walsh to hold a contest for who could guess when it would melt. He'll announce the winners today.
Robin Thicke regrets the timing of his Blurred Lines copyright trial, saying his testimony was "careless" because he was reeling from his marriage split. Thicke and his collaborator Pharrell Williams were ordered to hand over $7 million to the family of the late Marvin Gaye after a jury ruled the two stars had stolen elements from the soul legend's 1977 hit Got To Give It Up for their own 2013 chart-topper. Thicke and Williams are currently appealing the verdict and the singer insists the Gaye family's legal team will face a very different defendant if he gets the chance to testify again.During the three-week trial in February and March, Thicke attempted to distance himself from the song's creation, claiming he was often high and drunk as Williams was developing Blurred Lines, and merely attempted to take credit for the song after it became a huge hit. Now he tells The New York Times, "I didn't give my all to the trial. It simply wasn't as important to me as what was going on in my personal life. I was lost at the time. I had lost my way." Thicke's divorce from actress Paula Patton was finalized in the weeks after the trial. He also tells the Times he opted to take a break from showbusiness a year ago after a regrettable night at the BET Awards where he serenaded his then-estranged wife with one of the songs dedicated to her on his last album, Paula. He recalls, "What I thought was romantic was just embarrassing, so I shut everything down. I took some time off to be with my son and to be with my family and close friends. And the more time I took off, the more everything became clear."
On TV tonight, The 2015 ESPYs. Joel McHale hosts the awards show celebrating the best moments of the year in sports. Presenters include LeBron James, Danica Patrick, Britney Spears, Vince Vaughn, former soccer player Julie Foudy, Ed Helms, Chris Long of the St. Louis Rams, Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks, Kiefer Sutherland and JJ Watt of the Houston Texans. Caitlyn Jenner is slated to receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. It's tonight at 8 on ABC.
Some Vermont residents are upset after a highway crew didn't take the time to clean up a dead skunk before putting yellow lines on a road.
For a couple of weeks, Amazon has been promoting today's Prime Day sale, which was supposed to rival Black Friday in size and savings. To participate, people need an Amazon Prime membership. It has been pointed out that If you don't have one, you can get a free 30-day trial. If you don't like it, you just need to cancel it before the free membership ends and you'll have nothing to pay.
Trivia Answer: James George Janos -- better known as Jesse Ventura -- who turns 64 today. He was in the Navy UDT -- Underwater Demolition Teams. The UDTs pioneered combat swimming, closed-circuit diving, underwater demolitions, and midget submarine operations. They were the precursor to the present-day Navy SEALs. As a professional wrestler, he is best known for his nickname, Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, and tenure in the World Wrestling Federation as a combatant and color commentator. In 2004, he was inducted into the company's Hall of Fame. In the Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998, running as a member of the Reform Party, he was elected the 38th Governor of Minnesota and served from January 4th of 1999 through January 6th of 2003 without seeking a second term.
|Tuesday 7.14.15
|Today's Trivia: It was on this date in 2003 that the United
States Government admitted to the existence of Area 51. What and where is
Area 51?
Houston's Dallas Keuchel yesterday received the starting nod for the American League in tonight's Major League All-Star game at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. Seattle's Felix Hernandez gets relegated to a backup role. Keuchel is tied for first in victories with Hernandez and ranks second in ERA. Hernandez is making his sixth All-Star appearance. He started last year's game at Target Field in Minneapolis. While he has allowed two or fewer runs 13 times in the first half, he had two big clunkers, an 8-2 loss to the New York Yankees June 1st, when he allowed seven earned runs, and a 10-0 setback at Houston June 12th when he allowed eight earned runs in and managed one out. Nelson Cruz, who leads Seattle with a .308 batting average, 21 home runs, and 53 runs batted in, is batting cleanup for the American League tonight. The 86th All Star Game is being played in Cincinnati. Play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck and Harold Reynolds will be on Fox at four.
The Toddfather has a new title. Todd Frazier -- Little League World Series star, Frank Sinatra aficionado -- is baseball's new King of Swing. The Jersey boy who never seems to get rattled waited until his very last swing - three times, no less - to win the All-Star Home Run Derby in his home ballpark last night. The Reds third baseman became only the second player to win the long-ball competition on his home field. He also becomes just the second player to win after placing second the year before. The other? Ken Griffey, Jr.
Birthdays: Actor Harry Dean Stanton is 89; former football player Rosie Grier is 83; the former husband of Mariah Carey, record executive Tommy Mottola is 67; Sue Sylvester on Glee, actress Jane Lynch is 55; Jack on Lost, actor Matthew Fox is 49; the lead singer for the group Bastille, Dan Smith is 29; the lead singer for the group Imagine Dragons, Dan Reynolds is 28; and Irish mixed martial artist Conor McGregor is 27;
Today is Bastille Day. Bastille Day commemorates modern France and French democracy. Bastille Day is a French holiday. But, you can celebrate it, too. Today is Pandemonium Day is a day of sheer bedlam, and utter chaos. If ever there was a wild and whacky, unorganized day, today it that day. Everyone has a day like this once in while. Its a day when all sort of unexpected things occur. Its a time when everything is happening at the same time, and at a very fast pace. Celebrate and embrace Pandemonium Day. Don't let today, or any other day shake you up. If Pandemonium prevails, just go with the flow in a calm, cool manner. Sanity will return soon enough ... we hope. Today is National Nude Day, a way to keep cool on a hot , sticky summer day. So, take it off ... take it all off. National Nude Day is a serious event. There are a sizable number of nudist groups around the world. Nudists believe that the body is a beautiful thing, and meant to be displayed. Nudist colonies, nude beaches, and other venues exist to cater to the preferences of individuals who seek to walk around au natural.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1853, the first major US world's fair, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City, opened. In 1881, Billy the Kid was shot and killed by Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner. In 1946, Dr. Benjamin Spock's Common Sense Book of Baby & Child Care was first published. In 1967, The Who began their first full-scale US tour as the opening act for Herman's Hermits. In 1969, the United States' $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills are officially withdrawn from circulation. In 2003, in an effort to discredit US Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who had written an article critical of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Washington Post columnist Robert Novak revealed that Wilson's wife Valerie Plame was a CIA operative. In 2008, the iTunes Store reached 10 million apps downloaded. A year later, on this date in 2009, the iTunes Store had reached 1.5 billion apps downloaded.
The coroner in Las Vegas says there's no evidence blues legend BB King was poisoned before he died of natural causes in May. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said yesterday that an autopsy sought by two of the musical icon's 11 adult children shows the cause of death was Alzheimer's disease with other physical conditions. Daughters Karen Williams and Patty King alleged through their attorney that King's business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, hastened their father's death. Brent Bryson -- a lawyer for King's estate -- called the claims defamatory and libelous. The coroner's ruling closes the official investigations of King's death. He died May 14th in hospice care at home in Las Vegas at the age of 89.
Earlier this morning -- at 4:49 -- NASA's New Horizons probe zoomed past Pluto, the first time the dwarf-planet has ever been visited by spacecraft.
Trivia Answer: Area 51 is a name used in official CIA documents (at least since 1967) for a military base that is located in the southern portion of Nevada, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake -- which isn't really a lake but rather a dry salt flat -- is a large secretive military airfield. The base does not appear on public US government maps; the USGS topographic map for the area only shows the long-disused Groom Mine. A civil aviation chart published by the Nevada Department of Transportation shows a large restricted area. The official aeronautical navigation charts for the area show Groom Lake but omit the airport facilities. The intense secrecy surrounding the base, the very existence of which the US government barely acknowledges, has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to unidentified flying object folklore. UFOers are sure it is used to hide aliens from us. The state of Nevada recently designated a barren 98-mile stretch of Route 375, which runs near Area 51, as the Extraterrestrial Highway. The base's primary stated purpose is to support development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. Skeptics don't doubt that something secret is going on in Area 51. And what is going on may be more sinister than building secret aircraft or developing new weapons. "Sixty Minutes" did a segment where Leslie Stahl suggested that Area 51 might be an illegal dumping ground for toxic substances. If so, Area 51 might turn out to be hazardous to your health in more ways than one. Several former workers at Area 51 and widows of former workers have filed lawsuits against the government for injuries or death resulting from illegal hazardous waste practices. So far the government has been protected from such suits because of "national security." The area is still off-limits both to civilians and normal military air traffic.
|Monday 7.13.15
|Today's Trivia: Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the day
in 1969 that four denominations of bills were officially withdrawn from
circulation here in the United States. The $100,000 bill was discontinued
in 1940. What are the four that were withdrawn in 1969?
The yo-yo month that is for the Mariners continued yesterday as they limped into the All Star break with a 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon called it "the worst game of the year" and vowed to make changes. Win. Lose. Repeat. So it goes for the 2015 Seattle Mariners. In their final game before the All-Star break, they were a special brand of awful. The sloppy loss to the Angels was so filled with miscues that McClendon issued a post-game challenge to his players. Get better. Or face consequences. The Mariners committed three errors, didn't mount any offense until they trailed by 10 runs and Taijuan Walker wasn't sharp -- giving up seven runs in five innings -- in what's been a wildly up-and-down year. The Mariners (41-48) had a chance to enter the break on an uptick after an impressive 5-0 win Saturday night. Instead, they finished another homestand with a losing record and dropped to 20-and-27 at Safeco Field. They continued an inconsistent July and settled for a series split. The Mariners are 6-and-6 this month, with no streaks of any kind: W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L. Asked to specify what must improve, McClendon said "a lot of things." If the Mariners are to re-enter the playoff discussion, they need more from an AL-worst offense, which went 1-for-6 Sunday with runners in scoring position. Performances like yesterday give pause to wonder if they'll be 10 games out by the July 31st trade deadline. After four days off, the Mariners begin again Friday with a three-game series in New York against the Yankees, then to Detroit for a four-game set against the Tigers. Lloyd said yesterday, "We just played the worst game of the year. I can't imagine a better time for a break."
And in Phoenix, the Seattle Storm fell to the Mercury yesterday, 70-60, dropping their 5th straight.
Birthdays: Patrick Stewart is 75; Indiana Jones, actor Harrison Ford is 73; frontman for the Byrds, Roger McGuinn is 73; cube creator Erno Rubik is 71; the Cheech of Cheech and Chong, Cheech Marin is 69; Frenchy in Grease, actress Didi Conn is 64; and director Cameron Crowe is 58.
Today is Bottled Beer Day. On this date in 1568, the Dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London perfected a way to bottle beer. Today is Embrace Your Geekness Day, In this age of social media, mobile technology, and gaming consoles, it's impossible to avoid being just a little bit geeky. Don't fight it; jump head first into Embrance Your Geekness Day and show the world how intelligent, technically savvy, and clever you really are. Today is National French Fries Day. Today is Gruntled Workers Day, a day to appreciate workers who are happy in their jobs.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1978, Lee Iacocca was fired as president of Ford Motor Co. by chairman Henry Ford II. In 1982, the MLB All-Star Game was played outside the United States for the first time. They played in Montreal, Canada. In 1990, the movie Ghost premiered in the US It starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg. In 1991, Timothy Badyana set a Guinness World Record by running 10 kilometers in 45 minutes 37 seconds in Dayton, Ohio. He ran backwards. In 1993, to keep witnesses from describing his clothing, a 19-year-old man stripped naked to rob a Los Angeles bank and ran out with two shopping bags filled with cash. Nearby sheriff's deputies, noticing a naked man running down the street with two bags full of money, arrested him immediately.
Minions ruled the weekend box office, racking up a massive $115.2 million for the second biggest animated film opening in history. The Despicable Me spinoff just missed the record set by Shrek the Third. The Minions easily beat Jurassic World which finished second in its fifth weekend. Disney's Inside Out came in third in its fourth weekend. Terminator: Genisys finished fourth, and The Gallows rounded out the top five.
The brackets are set, and baseball is ready to crown a new Home Run Derby winner under a new format for the event held the day before the All-Star game. It's coming up at 5 this afternoon. This year, the players go head to head in an elimination-style tournament and it's timed so they can't just take a bazillion pitches until they find one they like.
An anonymous donor has offered a $1 million reward for credible information leading to the pair of Judy Garland's sequined, ruby red slippers stolen from a museum in her Minnesota hometown. The late actress wore the slippers in The Wizard of Oz. Three other pairs still exist, including one on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.The executive director of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, says the donor is from Arizona and is a huge fan of Garland and the 1939 movie. The reward offer requires the exact location of the slippers and the perpetrator's name.The 10-year anniversary of the theft is in August. The slippers were insured for $1 million.
Apparently you don't want to go to a movie in Boston. People in Boston lead the nation in admitting that their phone makes noise in movie theaters.
David Letterman took a dig at Donald Trump during his surprise appearance at Martin Short and Steve Martin's comedy tour stop in San Antonio, Texas over the weekend. He pulled out an envelope containing his famous "Top 10 list which, according to him, came with every suit he oowned, and read interesting facts about the business mogul.
Trivia Answer: The $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills. Circulation of high-denomination bills was halted by executive order of President Richard Nixon, in an effort to combat organized crime. Although they are still technically legal tender in the United States, high-denomination bills were last printed in 1945 and officially discontinued on July 14, 1969, by the Federal Reserve System. The $5,000 and $10,000 effectively disappeared well before then: there are only about 200 $5,000 and 300 $10,000 bills known, of all series since 1861. Of the $10,000 bills, 100 were preserved for many years by Benny Binion, the owner of Binion's Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they were displayed in a glass case. The case is no longer there, and the bills were sold to collectors. For the most part, these bills were used by banks and the Federal Government for large financial transactions. However, the introduction of the electronic money system has made large-scale cash transactions obsolete; when combined with concerns about counterfeiting and the use of cash in unlawful activities such as the illegal drug trade, it is unlikely that the US government will re-issue large denomination currency. According to the US Department of Treasury website, "The present denominations of our currency in production are $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. Neither the Department of the Treasury nor the Federal Reserve System has any plans to change the denominations in use today."
|Friday 7.10.15
|Today's Trivia: This actor is best known for his roles in
the 1960s sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his
later roles in the movies Pet Sematary, The Cotton Club, and My Cousin
Vinny. Who was he?
The Mariners pounded out a season-high 19 hits and needed just eight innings to do it, while riding a strong start from Felix Hernandez to end the red-hot Angels' five-game winning streak, 7-2, last night. The tone was set early as the Ms first batter Logan Morrison sent one into the seats in right-centerfield. And the hits kept coming. Felix Hernandez didn't have his A game -- he gave up five hits and walked two -- but he pitched his way out of trouble and didn't allow a run for the fifth time this season. The Ms and Angels square off again tonight. Mike Montgomery is back on the mound for the first pitch at 7:10.
Birthdays: He was Portrayed by Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull, boxer Jake LaMotta is 94; from The Staple Singers, singer Mavis Staples is 76; Moby Grape guitarist Jerry Miller -- he was born in Tacoma -- is 72; Detective Ron Harris on Barney Miller, actor Ron Glass is 70; he's played the Washington Center here in Olympia and I believe he will again, singer Arlo Guthrie is 68; singer-songwriter Greg Kihn is 66; from The Pet Shop Boys, singer Neil Tennant is 61; Elijah Blue Allman -- Greg Allman and Cher's son -- is 39; and singer Jessica Simpson is 35.
Charles J. McCann, the first president of The Evergreen State College, has died. Appointed by the college's Board of Trustees in 1968 following the legislature's passage of the bill authorizing the college, McCann served as president until stepping down to join the faculty there in 1977, when he was replaced by former Washington governor Daniel J. Evans. The college's main plaza is named in McCann's honor. He died of natural causes. Charles McCann was 89.
Former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler died yesterday from complications resulting from Stage 4 colon cancer. After playing college football at Alabama under legendary coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant, Stabler was drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 1968 NFL draft. He was 69.
Then this morning comes word that actor Omar Sharif died of a heart attack in Cairo. Sharif was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Zhivago in the hit 1966 film and for his work in Lawrence of Arabia. Omar Sharif was 83.
Today is Don't Step On A Bee Day, pretty much a good idea any day. Today is Disney Animation Appreciation Day, a time to remember all your favorite Disney movies, like possibly The Fox and The Hound, released on this date in 1981. Four years in the making, this Disney production required 360,000 drawings. And, it's Teddy Bear Picnic Day. It's suggested you spend the lunch hour on a blanket under a shade tree with your Teddy Bear.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1913, the highest temperature ever recorded in the US was recorded. It was 134 degrees in Death Valley, California. In 1964, the album A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles was released. In 1965, The Rolling Stones had their first number one single with (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. In 1975, Cher filed for divorce from Gregg Allman, a mere ten days after they were married. A year to the day later, she gave birth to Allman's child, Elijah. In 1984, Huey Lewis & The News sang the national anthem at the All-Star baseball game in San Francisco. In that game, Dwight 'Doc' Gooden of the New York Mets, became the youngest player to appear in an All-Star Game as a pitcher. He was 19 years, 7 months, and 24 days old. In 1985, Coca-Cola resumed selling the old formula of Coke, it was renamed Coca-Cola Classic. It was also announced that they would continue to sell New Coke. In 1989, The Monkees received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1991, Millie Bush, America's First Dog, became a millionaire as royalties from her book about a dog's life in the White House reached $1.1-million. Millie gave the money to First Lady Barbara Bush's family literacy foundation. Millie died in May, 1997. In 1998, the US military delivered the remains of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Blassie to his family in St. Louis. He had been placed in Arlington Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown in 1984. His identity had been confirmed with DNA tests.
A 108-year-old Mariners fan from Woodinville isn't letting her age slow down her enthusiasm for her hometown team. Evelyn Jones turns 108 tomorrow. On her birthday, she is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Safeco Field as the Ms face the Los Angeles Angels. In so doing, she will become the oldest person ever to throw out a first pitch at a Major League Baseball game. The previous record holder was 105-year-old Agnes McKee, who threw out a pitch before a San Diego Padres game on July 20th of last year.
That haze and the spectacular sunsets this week are due in part to large wildfires raging across Canada, blazes fueled by the same hot, dry conditions that we've had. Haze from smoke drifting south from the wildfires lingered over parts of eastern Colorado, prompting a health warning for Denver and the heavily populated region north and south of the city. Joanne Todd of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency said smoke from the wildfires in British Columbia has crossed into Washington state, but is sitting high in the atmosphere and has little impact on the health of residents.
Are you ready for some football? Two months from today, the NFL season begins with the Steelers at the Patriots.
New in theaters this weekend: The R-rate The Gallows, the PG-13 rated Self/Less, and the PG-rated Minions.
A court has fined a man in Germany after he admitted to giving his girlfriend a sedative so that he could keep playing video games with a friend. After ten hours at work, the girlfriend had been planning on a quiet evening. After drinking some drugged tea the woman slept until midday the following day.
Trivia Answer: Fred Gwynne who was born on this date in 1926. He was cast in Car 54, Where Are You? as Patrolman Francis Muldoon. During the two-season run of the program he met longtime friend and later co-star, Al Lewis (Grampa on The Munsters). Gwynne was 6 feet 5 inches tall, an attribute that contributed to his being cast as Herman Munster, the goofy parody of Frankenstein's monster. For his role he had to wear 40 or 50 lbs of padding, makeup, and 4-inch asphalt spreader boots. His face was painted a bright violet because it captured the most light on the black-and-white film. Gwynne retained fond recollections of Herman, saying in later life, "I might as well tell you the truth. I love old Herman Munster. Much as I try not to, I can't stop liking that fellow." In his last film, Gwynne played Judge Chamberlain Haller in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny. Gwynne died of pancreatic cancer in 1993 at the age of 66.
|Thursday 7.9.15
|Today's Trivia: This was an arcade game released by
Nintendo on this date in 1981. It's an early example of the platform game
genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a
series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game,
Mario (originally named Jumpman) must rescue a damsel in distress named
Pauline (originally named Lady), from a giant ape. What is the game?
The Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers combined for 14 home runs in their three-game series this week. But yesterday, the Ms couldn't come up with a hit when it really mattered -- a microcosm of Seattle's 2015 season. The Mariners lost 5-4 to the Tigers. One of the biggest reasons was Seattle's continuing woes with runners in scoring position, with the M's going 0-for-14 yesterday. With the win, the Tigers took the series in which both teams combined to tie a record for the most home runs in a three-game series in Safeco Field history. Things get no easier for the Ms as the red hot Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are in the Northwest for a 4-game weekend series leading up to the All Star break. Felix is starting game one coming up tonight at 7:10.
Birthdays: Actor James Hampton is 79; best known for playing Shaft, actor Richard Roundtree is 73; author Dean Koontz is 70; OJ Simpson is 68; TV personality-turned-musician John Tesh is 63; actor Jimmy Smits is 60; Tom Hanks is 59; from Simple Minds, singer Jim Kerr is 56; Courtney Love is 51; singer-songwriter Jack White is 40; from The Wonder Years, actor Fred Savage is 39; and Seattle's Amanda Knox, she of Italian prison fame, is 28.
Today is National Sugar Cookie Day. Today is Goat Mother's Day, a day for all goats to honor their mothers. Today is Diet Coke Day. The soft drink was introduced on this date in 1982.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1956, Dick Clark debuted on Philadelphia TV with an afternoon show called Bandstand. He was told about the show that same morning. In 1958, Johnny Cash signed with Columbia Records. In 1985, runningback Herschel Walker of the New Jersey Generals was named Most Valuable Player in the US Football League. In 1996, for the first time, Deep Purple played Smoke on the Water in the Swiss city that inspired it. The band wrote the song after surviving a nightclub fire in Montreux. In 1997, Mike Tyson was banned from the boxing ring and fined $3 million for biting the ear of opponent Evander Holyfield. In 2002, it was announced that Eddie Van Halen and his wife Valerie Bertinelli were separating after 21 years of marriage. In 2002, to the boos of disappointed fans, the MLB All-Star game in Milwaukee finished in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings when both teams ran out of pitchers.
The hacker group Anonymous posted a tweet Tuesday evening foreshadowing an issue on Wall Street. The tweet read, "Wonder if tomorrow is going to be bad for Wall Street.... we can only hope." It now looks awfully eerie after the New York Stock Exchange experienced technical difficulties that led to a halt in trading yesterday. The official statement posted on the NYSE Twitter feed claims the issue was "an internal technical issue and is not the result of a cyber breach." Trading resumed shortly after 3 yesterday afternoon, after about a three-hour break, in New York.
A US District judge in Virginia has upheld a federal panel's decision to cancel the Washington Redskins' federal trademark registrations, saying the team's controversial logo may disparage Native Americans. The judge wrote, "The federal trademark program is government speech and is therefore exempt from First Amendment scrutiny. Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has repeatedly resisted changing his team's nickname. The team will remain under trademark protection as it appeals the ruling, and can use the name even if it loses in federal court. But loss of federal trademark protection would, in the words of the team's lawyers, "remove legal benefits" from the team.
Keith Olbermann is leaving ESPN for the second time.The outspoken broadcaster is leaving the sports network later this month. The network confirmed the news yesterday. In s statement, ESPN said, "We wish Keith nothing but the best and trust that his skill and ability will lead him to another promising endeavor." The network called Olbermann's sign-off a business decision to move in another direction, not the result of a dispute.That's noteworthy because Olbermann has been called a "perpetual bridge-burner" in the past. He famously worked at ESPN in the 1990s, anchoring SportsCenter, then moved to MSNBC, Fox Sports, back to MSNBC, and then back to ESPN. Contrary to some of the predictions that were made when he returned in 2013, Olbermann stayed for the length of his contract, which is said to expire on July 31st.
The celebrity rumor mill is churning over suggestions that the marriage of Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves is in trouble. Hollywood Life is reporting that if McConaughey and Alves divorce, the amount at stake is $125 million dollars.
How bad did Boston get it this past winter? According to the New York Times, there's still a 12-foot-high pile of ice and debris left over from the city's record snowfall, the remnants of a 75-foot-high pile.
Trivia Answer: Donkey Kong. The giant ape was named Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong is one of the most important titles from the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games, and is one of the most popular arcade games of all time. Regardless of initial doubts by Nintendo's American staff, Donkey Kong succeeded commercially and critically in North America and Japan. The success of Donkey Kong helped to position the company for video game market dominance from its release in 1981 until the late 1990s.
|Wednesday 7.8.15
|Today's Trivia: This actor is the subject of a trivia game
based on the idea that, due to his prolific screen career, any Hollywood
actor can be linked to another in a handful of steps based on their
associations with this actor. Can you name the game and the actor?
Robinson Cano waited nearly six years for another game-winning hit. Good timing, too. The Seattle Mariners need every victory they can get trying to overcome an underperforming first-half of the season. Cano lined an RBI single into the right-field corner with one out in the 11th inning, giving the Mariners a 7-6 win over the Detroit Tigers last night. Cano lined a pitch that one-hopped off the wall and allowed Austin Jackson to jog home from second. Surprisingly it was the first walk-off hit for Cano since August of 2009 when he was a New York Yankee. Speaking of Jackson, earlier in the game he smacked the first grand slam of his career. The series wraps up this afternoon.
Birthdays: Singer and actor Steve Lawrence is 80; actress Anjelica Huston is 64; actor Kevin Bacon is 57; Depeche Mode keyboardist Andy Fletcher is 54; singer Joan Osborne is 53; singer Beck is 45; and Will Smith's son Jaden Smith is 17.
Today or tomorrow (depending on your source) is Don't Put All Your Eggs in one Omelet Day. Celebrate as and when you see fit. It's Be a Kid Again Day. Perhaps related, it's Video Games Day which is always on July 8th not to be confused with National Video Games Day which is on September 12th . Video Games Day celebrates popular video games that stormed onto the market, and changed the way we all play games and provided all too many hours of playing time.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1889, the first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published. In 1932, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22. In 1947, reports were broadcast that a UFO crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico. In 1948, the United States Air Force accepted its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force. In 1969, the US Patent Office issued a patent for the game Twister. In 1995, TLC's Waterfalls went to number one, where it remained for the next seven weeks. In 2011, Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched in the final mission of the US Space Shuttle program.
Not a good morning for high tech stuff. First, United Airlines grounded flights across the country for part of the morning after experiencing computer problems. An airline spokeswoman said that a router problem reduced network connectivity for several software applications. About 7:15 this morning, the spokeswoman said they fxed the router issue, which enabled them to restore normal functions. The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ground-stop order after nearly two hours, allowing United planes to fly again. United did not immediately say how many flights were affected.
Then, trading was halted on the New York Stock Exchange in the late morning because of a technical issue. The halt occurred at about 8:30 this morning . The exchange said in a statement that it was experiencing a technical issue that it was working to resolve as quickly as possible.
Harry Shearer and his many voices are returning to The Simpsons after a contentious and public contract dispute. Dueling tweets in May between Shearer and Simpsons executive producer Al Jean suggested Shearer might be leaving the Fox cartoon series, where he has voiced numerous key characters since it debuted in 1989. But Fox announced yesterday that he will be alongside fellow cast members Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, and Hank Azaria for the series' 27th and 28th seasons. Shearer voices characters including Simpsons neighbor Ned Flanders, billionaire Mr. Burns and his kowtowing aide, Smithers.
The PGA of America is moving its Grand Slam of Golf from Donald Trump's course in Los Angeles, the first significant fallout for golf from the Republican presidential candidate's comments on Mexican immigrants. Trump and the PGA of America met earlier this week. Both groups said they mutually agreed not to hold the Grand Slam of Golf at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles in October. Trump said because of the backlash over his comments he does not want the PGA of America to deal with any consequences.
FBI agents and Indiana State Police raided the home of Subway restaurant spokesman Jared Fogle yesterday, removing electronics from the property and searching the house with a police dog, two months after the then-executive director of Fogle's foundation was arrested on child pornography charges.FBI agent Wendy Osborne said the agency was conducting an investigation in Zionsville, an affluent Indianapolis suburb, but wouldn't say whether it involved Fogle or describe the nature of the investigation. Subway said in a statement that it is "very concerned" about the raid, which it believes "is related to a prior investigation" of a former employee of the Jared Foundation, an organization founded by Fogle to raise awareness about childhood obesity. Subway did not immediately say whether that employee was former foundation executive director Russell Taylor. The company had removed references to Fogle from its website by late afternoon and issued another statement, saying the two "have mutually agreed to suspend their relationship due to the current investigation."
Billy Joel set a record for most performances by a single artist at Madison Square Garden last week with his 65th show, besting Elton John.
A driving instructor in China lost his job after he was caught driving home drunk after a banquet thrown by his students.
Trivia Answer: Kevin Bacon who turns 57 today. The game is The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Although it has since been proven that there are better centers in the Hollywood universe -- such as Sean Connery, Rod Steiger, Gene Hackman or Michael Caine -- Bacon's name remains the focus because he was the first one selected by the game's creators, and because the name Kevin Bacon rhymes with the last word of the phrase six degrees of separation. A person's number of degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon is known as one's Bacon Number. Ronald Reagan's Bacon Number is 2. Reagan was in The Young Doctors (1961) with Eddie Albert while Eddie Albert was in The Big Picture (1989) with Kevin Bacon. Elvis Presley's Bacon Number is 2. Elvis Presley was in Change of Habit (1969) with Edward Asner. Edward Asner was in JFK (1991) with Kevin Bacon. Though he was initially dismayed by the game, the concept stuck, and Bacon eventually embraced it. He even formed the charitable initiative SixDegrees.org, a social networking site intended to link people to charities and each other.
|Tuesday 7.7.15
|Today's Trivia: She's an actress, producer, writer, singer,
and voice artist. She began her career in various Robert Altman films in
the 1970s, including Brewster McCloud in 1970, Thieves Like Us in 1974,
Nashville in 1975, and 3 Women in 1977, which won her the Cannes Film
Festival Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.
She had a supporting role in Annie Hall in 1977 before starring in lead
roles in Popeye in 1980 and The Shining in 1980. Who is she?
The Detroit Tigers erupted for 19 hits – the most against Seattle in a nine-inning game this season – and scored nine times in the sixth and seventh innings en route to a 12-5 rout over the Mariners last night to start a seven-game homestand with a howling flop. Hisashi Iwakuma returned from the DL to serve up four solo homers but Kuma had a 5-4 lead when he walked off the mound in the sixth. Then the bullpen. By the time the bottom of the seventh began, Seattle was down 12-5. Taijuan Walker goes against Detroit tonight in game two. First pitch at 7:10.
For the sixth time, Felix Hernandez is representing the Mariners in the All-Star Game after his selection to the America League squad yesterday. Fernandez joins Nelson Cruz as Seattle's only 2015 All-Stars. Cruz, with 21 home runs, was voted as the AL's top designated hitter in fan balloting released Sunday night. Felix's six All-Star selections are one more in Mariner history by a pitcher than Hall of Famer Randy Johnson's five between 1989-98.
Birthdays: Designer Pierre Cardin is 94; from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, bandleader Doc Severinsen is 88; Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr is 75; actress Shelley Duvall is 66; singer-songwriter-actress Vonda Shepard is 52; and figure skater Michelle Kwan is 35.
Jerry Weintraub, the legendary movie producer behind such hits as The Karate Kid and Ocean's Eleven, died yesterday down in Santa Barbara. Jerry Weintraub was 77.
Amanda Peterson, best known for playing Patrick Dempsey's love interest in the 1987 flick Can't Buy Me Love, has died. A cause of death has not been confirmed, but Peterson's father tells TMZ that "she had some illness and a sleep apnea problem that may have contributed." Amanda Peterson was 43.
Today is Chocolate Day. There are a number of dates throughout the year promoting variations of local, national, or international Chocolate Day – our research leads us to believe that this is the true, definitive, purist Chocolate Day. Chocolate Day is the perfect opportunity to eat your favorite chocolates in ample portions. Chocolate is America's favorite flavor. It's the flavor of choice in candies, ice cream, cakes, breakfast cereal, toppings, and a whole host of desserts. Unequaled in popularity, it certainly deserves a day in its honor. Today is also National Strawberry Sundae Day.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1863, the United States began its first military draft; exemptions cost $300. In 1947, the Roswell incident occured. It involved the (supposed) crash of an alien spaceship near Roswell, New Mexico. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1985, Boris Becker became the youngest player ever to win Wimbledon. He was 17. In 1994, Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in Seattle under the name Cadabra.
When longtime Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl reached an agreement to sell the team for $550 million in April of 2014, most assumed Seattle was out of the running for the NBA franchise. But according to a report yesterday, that's not necessarily the case. Bucks president Peter Feigin told Wisconsin lawmakers that any delay in approval for public funding for a new arena in Milwaukee could result in the NBA buying back the team and relocating it to "Las Vegas or Seattle." At an informational meeting of the Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, he said, "The window is closing. We can't wait months, even weeks to start the public process." The Bucks' home floor, the BMO Harris Bradley Center (formerly the Bradley Center), was deemed unfit for the NBA in 2013, and Kohl's sale of the club to a group of hedge fund managers includes a provision that required construction of a new arena to start in 2015. The team's lease with it's current home expires in 2017, and Feigin says, the clock is ticking.
On the heels of that terrifying wreck at Daytona over the weekend, another racing crash yesterday but this time with bicycles. Stage 3 of the Tour de France was temporarily delayed yesterday after a 20-bike crash occurred. The leader at the time was caught up in the crash and was later diagnosed with two broken vertebrae in his lower back. Cyclists were moving at 26 miles per hour when the 20-bike crash occurred.
One person was killed and four others were injured after ice caves in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest partially collapsed yesterday. It was the second day in a row the ice caves collapsed. No one was hurt during Sunday's incident. Authorities say the caves are dangerous, especially when temperatures rise.
Team USA's 5-2 win over Japan on Sunday in the Women's World Cup final was also a major win for Fox, which broke a ratings record for the most-watched soccer telecast on a single network in US television history. The ratings mark a 77 percent increase since the last Women's World Cup in 2011, which aired on ESPN. An estimated 20.3 million viewers tuned in for the championship match.
FBI agents and Indiana State Police raided the home of Subway restaurant spokesman Jared Fogle today, removing electronics from the property and searching the house with a police dog, two months after the then-executive director of Fogle's foundation was arrested on child pornography charges. FBI agent Wendy Osborne said the agency was conducting an investigation in Zionsville, an affluent Indianapolis suburb, but wouldn't say whether it involved Fogle or describe the nature of the investigation.
In a previously sealed document from a 2005 deposition, comedian Bill Cosby admitted to acquiring Quaaludes, which he said he intended to give to younger women he wanted to have sex with. The admission came under oath, as part of a lawsuit filed by a former Temple University employee against Cosby, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than three dozen women. The Associated Press went to court in a successful petition for the release of the documents, which were publicly released yesterday afternoon.
7-Eleven is testing a delivery service. The company announced the news yesterday, saying the new service is a partnership with Postmates, which also teamed up with Chipotle recently to offer delivery in some cities.
Oreo is getting a skinnier look. This coming Monday, Oreo Thins hit the market. Oreo Thins feature fewer calories than regular Oreos. The company explains the Oreo Thins is an adult cookie. When asked to explain what that mens' a spokesperson said that if regular Oreos were pancakes, Oreo Thins would be crepes.
Trivia Answer: Shelley Alexis Duvall who is 66 today. Later, Duvall appeared in Time Bandits in 1981, Frankenweenie in 1984, and The Portrait of a Lady in 1996. She is also an Emmy-nominated producer responsible for Faerie Tale Theatre and other child-friendly programming. Duvall's most recent performance was in Manna from Heaven in 2002. She had lived in Los Angeles but sometime after the 1994 earthquake, she moved to a farm in Blanco, Texas. It's said the locals there have found her ways friendly but eccentric.
|Monday 7.6.15
|Today's Trivia: He is an actor and television host, best
known for playing the oldest son on Eight Is Enough from 1977 to 1981. He
sang the theme song for the show as well. In the late 1980s, he and his
wife moved to the Pacific Northwest and he began appearing on KING
television. Who is he?
A big thank you to first responders and fire personnel for all of their work over the weekend. Emergency folks were dashing to and fro all weekend and and with no break in the weather coming up, will probably continue to do so.
The United States won a record third Women's World Cup with a 5-2 victory over Japan in Vancouver, BC last night. The Americans became the first country with three women's titles and got a measure of revenge for their loss in the 2011 final against Japan. Midfielder Carli Lloyd had the first hat-trick in a women's final. Lauren Holiday and Tobin Heath had the other goals for the US, which also won the World Cup in 1991 and 1999. Team USA scored 4 goals in first 16 minutes and never looked back.
Playing to avoid last place in the American League West, the Mariners held on for a taut 2-1 win yesterday over the Athletics at O.co Coliseum. The victory salvaged a 2-2 split against Oakland in a series featuring the two bottom-feeding teams in the division. Seth Smith, the Mariners' most consistent hitter, had a two-out, two-run single that gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead and chased emergency starter Chris Bassitt in the sixth. The rally started with two outs when Robinson Cano was hit on the ankle, then Nelson Cruz doubled to put runners on second and third. After throwing shutouts his past two starts and earning a spot in the rotation, pitcher Mike Montgomery took a slight step back but still picked up his third consecutive win.Montgomery allowed one run on six hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. He served up a solo homer to Sam Fuld in the third, ending his scoreless streak at 20 innings, but kept the Mariners in the game. The Mariners start a seven-game homestand tonight -- a homestand that takes them them to the All-Star break. They begin with a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Game one is tonight at 7:10. Hisashi Iwakuma goes tonight making his first big-league start since April 20th after spending the past few months on the disabled list with a strained right lat muscle.
Manager Lloyd McClendon will miss the Mariners' three-game series against his old club, the Detroit Tigers, to attend his sister's funeral in Indiana. McClendon's sister, Angela Price, died from health complications Wednesday. She was 44 and the youngest of 12 children in McClendon's family.
Meanwhile, the All Star selections were announced last night and ... Seattle Mariner Nelson Cruz is the American League designated hitter. Cruz is starting for the second straight year. In the closest vote at any position, Cruz's 10.6 million votes edged former Mariner -- now a Kansas City Royal -- Kendrya Morales' 10.32 million. The All Star Game is coming up Tuesday the 14th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. Pitchers and reserves are being revealed this afternoon at 4 on ESPN.
Birthdays: Former first lady Nancy Reagan is 94; actress and singer Della Reese is 84; the 14th Dalai Lama is 80; actor Ned Beatty is 85; Dick Grayson/Robin on the Batman television series, actor Burt Ward is 70; former President George W. Bush is 69; actor Sylvester Stallone is 69; actress Shelley Hack is 68; actor Grant Goodeve is 63; Agnes DiPesto on Moonlighting, actress Allyce Beasley is 61; rapper 50 Cent is 37; and actor, comedian Kevin Hart is 36.
Today is Buy Yourself a Toy You Always Wanted As a Child Day. Give it to a less fortunate child. Today is International Kissing Day -- not to be confused with National Kissing Day which is on June 19th. Did you know -- okay, you may not want to know -- but kissing can transmit 80 million microbes of bacteria. Today is National Fried Chicken Day. Today is Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day. If your webmaster feels really loved, he or she might fix all the typos on your site. One of the world's largest rodeos, the Calgary Stampede is under way in Alberta through Sunday. The annual festival of San Fermin, which includes the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, officially begins at midday today.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1933, Major-League Baseball played its first All-Star Game. It was at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The American League won 4-2. Babe Ruth hit a home run. In 1964, The Beatles first film A Hard Days Night had its royal premier at the London Pavilion. In 1965, The Jefferson Airplane was formed in San Francisco. In 1978, Eddie Mahoney changed his name to Eddie Money. In 1985, Martina Navratilova won her 4th consecutive Wimbledon singles title. In 1989, a study released in Washington, DC, showed that one-third of American adults had dangerously high cholesterol levels. In 1994, the movie Forrest Gump opened in theaters throughout the US. In 1996, Steffi Graf won her seventh Wimbledon title. In 2002, Serena Williams beat her older sister Venus to win her first Wimbledon title and second straight Grand Slam tournament
Inside Out delivered the firepower at the five-day holiday weekend box office as it finished in first -- ahead of Jurassic World and new entries Terminator: Genisys and Magic Mike XXL. In a tight race, Disney-Pixar's animated comedy pulled in an estimated $45.3 million. Jurassic World remained a solid draw three weeks after its record-setting opening. The dino thriller finished second. Terminator: Genisys followed in third. Magic Mike XXL wound up in fourth. Ted 2 rounded out the top five.
Greece voted by a big margin against Europe's latest bailout offer, raising the prospect of an economic disaster for the country and putting its future in the euro at risk.
It was 60 years ago today. On this date in 1955 America's first seat belt law was signed, in Illinois.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are married. People magazine reports the stars tied the knot over the weekend.
Trivia Answer: Grant Goodeve who turns 63 today. His character on Eight is Enough was David. After a February 1977 screen test, he signed up as a cast member of Eight Is Enough, taking over a role played in the show's pilot episode by Mark Hamill. When Eight Is Enough ended in 1981, Goodeve appeared in guest roles in series such as The Love Boat, T.J. Hooker, Dynasty, and Fantasy Island, among others. Goodeve moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1989. Soon after moving here, he began appearing in the recurring role of Rick Pedersen, the ill-fated bush pilot in Northern Exposure. He also began contributing to KING-TV's Evening Magazine and started hosting the station's travel show Northwest Backroads in 1998. Grant has hosted this show 16 years. He used to live here in Washington state. He has temporarily moved to Georgia to pursue acting again.
|Friday 7.3.15
|Today's Trivia: This Major League Baseball executive works
for the New York Yankees. He has been their General Manager and Senior
Vice President since 1998. Who is he?
There is now a county-wide outdoor burn ban in effect in Mason County. The Fire Marshal's Office and the Mason County Fire Chiefs' Association determined that current weather conditions have created substantial fire dangers and that there is a need to enact restriction on outdoor burning to all lands regulated by Mason County. This burn ban applies to all outdoor burning, including land clearing, yard debris and recreational fires. The use of gas and propane self-contained stoves and barbeques will continue to be allowed under the ban.
After scoring 12 runs in two games in San Diego, the Mariners apparently exhausted themselves. Or Oakland starter Scott Kazmir is back to being a stud. The A's lefty smothered the Mariners, allowing only two hits --- both for Franklin Gutierrez -- in an easy 4-0 win last night. Ms and As match up again tonight at 6:05.
The Ms continued overhauling their lineup yesterday, designating utilityman Willie Bloomquist for assignment and recalling shortstop Chris Taylor from Triple-A Tacoma. Bloomquist -- a Port Orchard native -- broke the news of his release himself on Twitter, writing "Just want to thank all of you Mariner fans for a lifetime of memories in a mariner uniform. Can't thank you enough for 7 1/2 memorable yrs!"
Birthdays: Attorney and activist Gloria Allred is 74; columnist and author Dave Barry is 68; actress Betty Buckley is 68; Bailey Quarters on WKRP in Cincinnati, actress Jan Smithers is 66; talk show host Montel Williams is 58; actor Tom Cruise is 53; Greg on Dharma and Greg and Daniel Nyland on Chicago Hope, actor Thomas Gibson is 53; the voice of Lisa Simpson on The Simpsons, actress Yeardley Smith is 51; and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is 44.
Dog Days begin today. Traditionally, the hottest 40 days of the year, blamed by our ancient ancestors on Sirius, the Dog Star. The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3rd and ending August 11th, coinciding with the ancient sunrise rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. Not surprisingly, Air Conditioning Appreciation Days begin today and continue through August 15th. Today is Stay Out of the Sun Day. Today is Compliment Your Mirror Day.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1962, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1965, singing cowboy Roy Rogers mourned the death of his horse Trigger. The animal was stuffed and put in the Roy Rogers Museum. In 1967, The Doors released the song Light My Fire in the US. In 1970, some 200,000 heard Jimi Hendrix play The Star Spangled Banner as the 3-day Atlanta Pop Festival opened in Byron, Georgia. Two days later Governor Lester Maddox said he would seek legislation to ban rock festivals in Georgia. In 1971, Jm Morrison died of a heart attack in his Paris hotel room. He was in the bath at the time. Fans wouldn't learn of his passing until six days after it happened, by which time he had been quietly buried. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan re-lit the Statue of Liberty's torch in New York Harbor. A $66 million restoration of the statue was completed 100 years after its dedication. In 1989, actor Jim Backus died at age 76. He was the voice of Mr. Magoo and played the millionaire Thurston Howell on Gilligan's Island. In 1992, three performing dolphins escaped from their pen in Key Largo, Florida and showed up several days later in a golf course lagoon in Key Biscayne. They performed for golfers voluntarily at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 4:00 p.m., apparently hoping to be fed.
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll came up just short against the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick. Again. This time the stakes were lower, however, after Carroll was named runner up to Belichick as the league's top head coach this week, according to NFL.com's Elliot Harrison. Belichick retained Harrison's top spot from last year, with Baltimore's John Harbaugh, Green Bay's Mike McCarthy and New Orleans' Sean Payton rounding out the top five after Carroll.
More than 74 million Americans are barbecuing this July 4th. Over an estimated 150 million hot dogs are being consumed -- that's roughly one dog for every two people in the country. There's a 25 percent chance those hot dogs originated in Iowa, since they raise 17.6 million hogs and pigs each year.
Ironically, the majority of the nation's flags and patriotic paraphernalia are produced in China. Nearly $349 million are used each year to import the flags and other decorations.
Some additional Independence Day factoids:
Have a Happy 4th!
Trivia Answer: Brian Cashman who turns 48 today. He attended The Catholic University of America, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1989. He was a four-year starter at second base and the leadoff hitter for his college baseball team. He set a school record for most hits in a season, which has since been broken. Cashman started with the New York Yankees organization as an intern in 1986. In February of 1998, he was named Senior Vice-President and General Manager. During Cashman's tenure as Assistant GM and VP/General Manager, the Yankees have won seven American League pennants and four World Series championships. Despite the team's success, in 2005 Cashman considered leaving the Yankees due to conflicts with owner George Steinbrenner and organizational disputes between team officials in New York City and Tampa. The Washington Nationals were rumored to be interested in hiring Cashman, which would have brought him back to the city where he attended school. Instead, Cashman agreed to a new contract with the Yankees following the conclusion of the 2005 season which gave him more authority in personnel decisions. During 2013, Cashman was involved with a tweet that Alex Rodriguez composed on Twitter. The tweet Rodriguez composed was regarding that he was cleared to play by his doctors after his hip surgery. Cashman was not pleased about the tweet claiming that the doctors did not give such authority to clear Rodriguez to play after seeking a second opinion with them. In October of 2014, the Yankees signed Cashman to another three-year deal through the 2017 season.
|Thursday 7.2.15
|Today's Trivia: He was a restaurant owner and
philanthropist. He's also known for appearing in more than 800 commercial
advertisements for his restaurant chain from 1989 to 2002 -- more than any
other person in television history. Who is he?
The Mariners might be a playoff team, instead of division dud, if they played punchless San Diego as many times as they face members of the AL West. Following a 5-0 blanking of the Padres Tuesday, Seattle followed yesterday with a 7-0 romp. Taijuan Walker won his fifth consecutive start and Robinson Cano had four hits and three RBIs as the Mariners recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since June 8th and 9th of 2014 at Tampa Bay. Walker didn't allow a base runner until the fourth when he plunked catcher Derek Norris, but had to wait until the sixth to get any run support. Cano provided it, hitting an opposite-field home run for the only run Walker would need. As it turned out, the Mariners got six more, including four in the ninth, highlighted by Nelson Cruz's 20th long ball of the year. In his best offensive day of the season, as well as his best as a Mariner, Cano went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored. It marked his first game for Seattle with three hits and four RBIs. Celebrating his 35th birthday, Cruz went 2-for-5 with his 20th home run. He is the first Mariner with 20 homers before the All-Star break since Raul Ibanez in 2013. The Mariners had as many home runs in the two-game series (4) as the Padres had hits. The Mariners begin a four-game series at Oakland tonight in what amounts to a weekend battle to avoid last place in the AL West.
Japan defeated England 2-1 last night in the FIFA Women's World Cup semi-final.. That sets up the final with Team USA facing Japan Sunday in Vancouver, BC. It's a rematch of the 2011 final. Japan won that one on penalty kicks. But first, Saturday, Germany and England match up for third place up in Edmonton.
Birthdays: Sam on Quincy, actor Robert Ito is 84; Flo on Alice, actress Polly Holliday is 78; race car driver Richard Petty is 78; actor-writer-director Larry David is 68; actress Cheryl Ladd is 64; model and actress who had a long-term relationship with Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall is 59; actor Jimmy McNichol is 54; baseball's Jose Canseco is 51; singer Michelle Branch is 32; and actress Lindsay Lohan is 29.
Today is I Forgot Day, by definition, not a day to remember. So, just what are you forgetting? Can you even remember? Interesting to note that I Forgot Day is closely related to I'm Sorry Day. Today is World UFO Day, a day dedicated to the existence of Unidentified Flying Objects. The first World UFO Day was celebrated in 2001. Today is Be Nice to People You Don't Like Day. Today is National Baked Bananas Day. Today is National Try to Find Your Slinky Day.
Calendar notes: On this date in 1897, Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtained a patent for radio in London. In 1932, James Gamble died in Cincinnati. As a partner in Procter & Gamble, he developed Ivory, the first floating soap. In 1937, Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan were last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight. In 1947, (This is why today is World UFO Day) an object crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. The US Army Air Force insisted it was a weather balloon, but eyewitness accounts led to speculation that it might have been an alien spacecraft. In 1962, the first Wal-Mart store opened for business in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law outlawing segregation in schools, at the workplace, and other facilities that served the general public. In 1969, consumer crusader Ralph Nader warned that loud rock music threatened to create a generation of hearing-impaired people. In 1981, Foreigner released their album 4. In 1992, Mick Jagger became a grandfather when his daughter, Jade, gave birth to a baby girl. In 1992, the one-millionth Chevrolet Corvette rolled off the assembly line. In 2004, legendary film and stage actor Marlon Brando died in Los Angeles at the age of 80.
TV Land has dumped The Dukes of Hazzard. The network is confirming that reruns of the 1980s action comedy, with its Confederate flag imagery, have been pulled from the schedule. This marks the latest effort to banish the racially charged Stars and Bars from pop culture after various states began debating whether to remove the flag. Warner Bros., which produced the series, last week halted production of toy replicas of the General Lee, the 1969 Dodge Charger stock car that famously features a replica of the Confederate flag on its roof. Retailers including Walmart, eBay, and Amazon have stopped selling merchandise bearing reproductions of the flag.
About 57% of Americans say the Confederate flag symbolizes Southern pride more than racism, a CNN/ORC poll says, though opinions are sharply divided by race. Among blacks, 72% see the flag as a symbol of racism while just 25% of whites agree. In the South, the racial divide is even broader. While 75% of Southern whites describe the flag as a symbol of pride and 18% call it a symbol of racism, those figures are almost exactly reversed among Southern blacks, with just 11% seeing it as a sign of pride and 75% viewing it as a symbol of racism.
Seattle Seahawks All-Pro safety Earl Thomas is best known for his ability to come out of nowhere and make a play. Over the weekend, Thomas displayed the ability to surprise off the field when he blindsided high school sweetheart Nina Heisser, proposing to her at his football camp in his hometown of Orange, Texas. According to Thomas, this sneak-attack was a well kept secret. He said, "Nobody knew. I just felt it. I told my agent, get the ring out of the car, and I did it."
TV tonight, it's the season premiere of Food Fighters. The best amateur cooks in America put their signature dishes to the test against five professional chefs. And this season, kid chefs are also competing. It's tonight on NBC.
Trivia Answer: Dave Thomas who was born on this date in 1932. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. Thomas opened his first Wendy's in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. This original restaurant would remain operational until March 2, 2007, when it was closed due to lagging sales. Thomas named the restaurant after his eight-year-old daughter Melinda Lou, whose nickname was Wendy, stemming from the child's inability to say her own name at a young age. According to Bio TV, Dave claims himself that people nicknamed his daughter "Wenda. Not Wendy but Wenda. So one day, I looked at her and said, 'I'm going to call it Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers'." Thomas died in January of 2002 at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after a decade-long battle with liver cancer. He was buried in Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. At the time of his death, there were more than 6,000 Wendy's restaurants operating in North America.
|Wednesday 7.1.15
|Today's Trivia: He's a Canadian actor, comedian,
screenwriter and singer. He was an original cast member of the Not Ready
For Prime Time Players on Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues
Brothers and Ghostbusters, and has had a long career as a film actor and
screenwriter. In 1990, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor for Driving Miss Daisy. Who is he?
The US Women's National Soccer team defeated Germany 2-0 last night to advance to the final of the World Cup. Germany entered the match as the No. 1 ranked team. The US had shut out its previous two opponents, defeating Colombia 2-0 and China 1-0. The US team advances to play the winner of today's semifinal match featuring England and Japan. That match is at 4 this afternoon.
In a season mostly void of feel-good stories, pitcher Mike Montgomery continued to buck the trend by throwing a one-hitter last night in the Mariners' 5-0 win over the San Diego Padres. Montgomery didn't allow a hit until there was one out in the seventh inning. Montgomery maintained his second consecutive shutout, following the 25-year-old's complete-game win over the Kansas City Royals, 7-0. Montgomery is the first Mariner to toss back-to-back shutouts since Freddy Garcia did it in 2001. The Mariners cap their miniseries against the Padres with an afternoon game today. The Ms then travel to Oakland for a four-game set to close out their nine-game road trip.
Birthdays: Actress Olivia de Havilland is 99; Klnger on M*A*S*H, actor Jamie Farr is 81; David Prowse -- best known for playing the physical form of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy -- is 80; from Blondie, singer Debbie Harry is 70; from The B-52s, Fred Schneider is 64; best known for her song Shame, disco singer Evelyn Champagne King is 55; Olympic athlete Carl Lewis is 54; actress Pamela Anderson is 48; rapper and actress Missy Elliott is 44; Steven's daughter, actress Liv Tyler is 38; the Sony Walkman is 36; and Seattle Mariner Nelson Cruz is 35.
Today is Canada Day, a celebration of Canadian nationalism, heritage and pride. Canada became self-governing on July 1st of 1867. It's ZIP Code Day. On this date in 1963, ZIP Codes were introduced for United States mail. Today is National Postal Workers Day. It's International Joke Day, a very funny day. There's plenty of problems, trouble and unhappiness in the world. Don'tcha think the world would be a far better place if we'd all just chill out a little and laugh a whole lot more?
Calendar notes: On this date in 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was first opened to traffic. The bridge collapsed during a wind storm on November 7th of that year. In 1943, the Government began automatically withholding federal income tax from paychecks. In 1967, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band went to number one in the United States. In 1973, in New York City, Jesus Christ Superstar closed after 711 shows on Broadway. In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, a portable cassette tape player. In 1984, the PG-13 rating was introduced by the Motion Picture Association of America. In 1990, German re-unification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany. In 2007, smoking in England was banned in all public indoor spaces.
As regulars at a local farmer's market, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and their three young children looked like the perfect Hollywood family. The stars took turns working so they could nurture their careers and their kids -- devoted parents who appeared arm-in-arm at countless industry events. "It's work, but it's the best kind of work," Affleck famously said of his marriage to Garner. Now, it seems the work is done. After weeks of public speculation about their relationship, the couple announced yesterday they plan to end their 10-year marriage with a divorce.
Katy Perry is locked in a property battle over a former convent she wants to turn into her Los Angeles base. Perry has reportedly put in an offer for the former home of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but the nuns claim the person brokering the deal with the pop star doesn't have the right to sell. Sources tell the Los Angeles Times that Archbishop Jose Gomez wants to sell the estate to Perry, but the nuns who once lived there insist only they have the legal right to sell the property -- and they're interested in handing over the keys to restaurateur Dana Hollister. The Times reports Perry, who grew up in a strict religious family, is so eager to add the former convent to her property portfolio, she recently toured the estate with an architect and even sang the religious song "Oh, Happy Day" for the nuns. But one of the religious ladies, Sister Rita, was clearly not a fan of Perry's -- she told the Times, "I found her videos (online) and… if it's all right to say, I wasn't happy with any of it. We have given many years to this archdiocese and we have served them well. For the archdiocese to… put us under a bus and run over us, I'm sorry, it was just too much for me." The villa-style mansion, which offers breathtaking views of Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Mountains, is expected to sell for close to $15 million.
Welcome to july! It's National Blueberry Month, National Anti-Boredom Month, National Cell Phone Courtesy Month, National Hot Dog Month, and National Ice Cream Month. Today, in fact, is Creative Ice Cream Flavors day. Summer is in full swing. Its hot and sizzling. You need something to help cool off. What a perfect time for Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day. The day gives you the chance to create a new flavor of ice cream. Maybe, your new creation will be a hit, and become wildly popular.
Trivia Answer: Dan Aykroyd who turns 63 today. He was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and had intended to become a priest until the age of seventeen. As a youngster, he was briefly expelled from Catholic school when he dressed up a pig to look like the pope and took it to school for show and tell. He gained fame on Saturday Night Live, where he was a writer and cast member for its first four seasons, from 1975 to 1979. He was known for his impersonations of celebrities like Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Tom Snyder, and others. He was also known for his recurring roles, such as Beldar, father in the Coneheads family; and with Steve Martin as one of the Two Wild and Crazy Guys. Aykroyd originally wrote the role of Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters with John Belushi in mind, but rewrote the part for Bill Murray after Belushi died. Ghostbusters became a huge success for Aykroyd as a co-creator, co-writer, and one of the lead actors; the film's inspiration came from Aykroyd's fascination with parapsychology.