On Black and White for Monday

Greetings for cold Cincinnati. Then again, a blast of bitter cold is upon much of America. As Boston and much of New England continues to get hammered by the white stuff, Cincinnati could be about to receive the first significant snow of the season … and then the storm moves toward Boston. Yikes!

How was your weekend? The cold limited us a little, but hey, one night on the ballroom floor and another at a dinner-dance by the Cincinnati’s Italian-American Society. Otherwise, it was low-key for us, but we’re looking forward to watching the 40th anniversary show for Saturday Night Live.

Those commenting of this weekend’s Explore post received a surprise from me. Did anyone pass it on to others?

Posts may be a bit out of kilter this week, but time will tell. Sometime soon (either this week or next), I will start my winter blog break. Those who take blog breaks know their importance. For me (this time), I hope to still be around visiting and commenting, but I want time for writing and reorganizing some of the pages here.

Celebrations for Your Week

• (Week) Through with the Chew Week, Condom Week, Nestbox Week, Alzheimer’s & Dementia Staff Education Week, Justice for Animals Week, Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week, Date (the fruit) Week, Pancake Week
• (Mon) Do a Grouch a Favor Day, Nylon Day, Almond Day, 9-1-1 Day, U.S. President’s Day, Family Day
• (Tues) Who Shall I Be Day, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), Random Acts of Kindness Day, Champion Crab Races Day, Human Spirit Day, Cabbage Day, My Way Day
• (Wed) Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day, Battery Day, Crab Stuffed Flounder Day, Thumb Appreciations Day, Drink Wine Day (a rule of thumb for me)
• (Thurs) Chocolate Mint Day, Chinese New Year, The Great American Spit Out, Iwo Jima Landing Day, Friendship Day, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Day

To start your week, Cynthia shared this with me several weeks ago. Although it’s a viral hit, maybe some of the readers here haven’t see it. Enjoy … and have a great week.

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 231

On Politics
On November 19, 2010, I first asked for it on this weekly post (evidence 1)…. and earlier this week I learned it’s finally going to happen. (evidence 2) … the Palin Channel. Nothing like paying for any-time nincompoopery.

Cheers to Congress for going on their well-earned August recess for accomplishing very little. Throw them all out!

Cheers to the US Senate for quickly and unanimously (97-0) confirming a new secretary to lead the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department – Bob McDonald – yes, a Cincinnatian.

Not long ago I posted this link to a view about the policies of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R). Here’s a new link to a counterpoint.

Thursday (at 12:30 pm) I received a robo-call from my representative inviting me to a telephone town hall meeting that started at noon.

Some Ohio Republicans in the state legislature are trying to Ohio to repeal the state’s commitment to the new Common Core educational standards. That a way … follow the lead of education leader Louisiana!

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Assisted care facility hits jackpot with little styrofoam cups of sherbet
Scientists: Rich people, poor people may have common ancestor
Store job applications just asks prospective employees how much they plan to shoplift
Psychology comes to halt as weary researchers say the mind cannot possibly study itself
Executioner enters lethal injection room with bag from Home Depot

Interesting Reads
Columnist Peggy Nonnan about World War I
Top 10 battles of World War I
The Nixon Tapes: A book review
Uncorrupting New Orleans
Water resources and profits
Wine tasting thoughts

On Potpourri
Dollar Tree buys Family Dollar. These discount stores (and their competitors) have become big business over the past 10 years. Nonetheless, I thought this Wall Street Journal headline was a bit tacky: Battle for Poor Shoppers Fuels Dollar-Store Deal.

I see sizeable gaps in this scale. Locally-brewed beers in the USA has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. I recently discovered these designation standards based on annual production: Large Brewery (at least 6 million barrels) and Craft Brewery (less than 6 million barrels). However, Craft Breweries can subdivided into Regional Brewery (15,000-16,000 barrels), Micro Brewery (less than 15,000 barrels), and Nano Brewery (up to 100 barrels). FYI for beer lovers: Here’s an article for the Wall Street Journal.

Because people want to know, here’s an informative video about why dogs smell butts.

Cheers to another successful installment of Life: The Musical. At the time of writing this, 25 songs are in Act 8!

Your weekend celebrations

• (Weekend) Twins Days, Tree Climbing Days
  (Fri) Beer Day, Tomboy Tools Day, Spider Man Day, Girlfriend’s Day, Lughnasa, Braham Pie Day, Minority Donor Awareness Day, Rounds Resounding Day, Lung Cancer Day, Scout Scarf Day, Raspberry Cream Pie Day, India Pale Ale (IPA) Day
• (Sat) Mustard Day, Take a Penny/Leave a Penny Day, Hangover Day, Ice Cream Sandwich Day, Dinosaur Day
• (Sun) Doll Day, Kids Day, Sister’s Day, Watermelon Day, Friendship Day, Family Day, Day of Peace Day

Due to a full plate, no Saturday Morning Cartoon post this weekend. However, I can say this is a new month … so welcome to August.

To send you into the weekend, here’s something with flavor of the new month. Hot August Night was not a song, but an album by Neil Diamond. (Debra, where you there?) However, the opening tune from that night at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles become popular – so enjoy Crunchy Granola Suite. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On a Drug-Induced Monday

Courtesy of Mr. Redlegs Old-Style Baseball Hat and Mustache Giveaway

How was your weekend? Come on … tell us about something.

Whew! … We stayed busy. Time with out-of-town family kept us off the ballroom floor, but we hosted a dinner, shopped at a local alcohol warehouse, stopped at a local brewery, and I attended a baseball game with a friend while my wife painted with her family … so we stayed home much of Sunday. Cheers to my neighbor for relieving me of watering duties!

As I prepare this post, we have a tornado watch. The weather reporters have been making a big deal for the past two days about the passing of this front and the severe weather it could bring, but I think the severe weather will miss us … After all, I use a technique that isn’t very technologically advanced … LOTW …. that’s Look Out the Window. Nonetheless, it’s a bit odd outside at the moment, so I predict somebody will get it … but not us.

Life: The Musical returns this week as life moves to adulthood …. so song titles must include Man/Men or Woman/Women. Curtail time will be Wednesday, 9:30 pm (Eastern US).

Celebrations for your week

• (Week) Salad Week, Don’t Eat Meet Week, Fancy Rate & Mouse Week
• (Mon) Milk Chocolate Day, Hamburger Day, Gone-ta-Pott Day, Hepatitis Day, Buffalo Soldiers Day
• (Tues) Lasagna Day, Chicken Wing Day, Rain Day, Lipstick Day, Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day
• (Wed) Cheesecake Day (1), Father-in-Law Day, Support Public Education Day, Paperback Book Day, Friendship Day
• (Thurs) Cheesecake Day (2), Chili Dog Day, Uncommon Instruments Awareness Day, Ranger Day, Bratwurst Day, Raspberry Cake Day, Jump for Jelly Beans Day

Many thanks to Elyse for this interesting Monday Morning Entertainment. Enjoy and have a good week.