Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 258

Biggest yawn of the week – Providing 3 new presidential candidates on the Republican side: Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and Mike Huckabee. Then again, additional candidates increases the odds of someone saying something stupid.

Several weeks ago I posted the graphic below showing our energy usage for the past year. Some of the reasons include LED lights in high-use areas, natural gas water heater and stove, programmable thermostat, and reasonable temperature settings.

I asked my wife what song the handbell choir is playing for the final Sunday before the summer break, and a hit from years ago. Here’s Morning is Broken. Enjoy. Do you recall the artist who made it a hit?

Meals: The Musical returns next week, thus I will announce the theme in the next Monday Morning Entertainment.

No Saturday morning post this weekend, thus neither Cartoons or Explore features. Not that I don’t have a post ready, but I’m falling more and more behind, so I don’t want to make matters worse.

To lead you into the week’s headlines from The Onion, enjoy either a review of the latest Avengers film or links to the latest Republican presidential candidates” Carly Fiorina (R-CA), Ben Carson (R-MD), and Mike Huckabee (R-AR).

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On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Head of National Potato Council declares US in midst of potato renaissance
Sports drink company putting first advertisement on the moon
Hotels now charging customers for looking at items in minibar
Tiger Woods & Lindsey Vonn blame breakup on hectic sex lives
Man frantically returns to website that just crashed his browser
Fetus going to pretend he didn’t hear loud argument coming from other side of uterine wall

Interesting Reads
Unnecessary health care
Pew Research Projecting Religions to 2050
(Video) Left brain and right brain
The fossil record: What it shows
Interpreting chickens communicating 
(Slideshow) 166 years of riots & protests in the US

Your Weekend Celebrations
(Fri) No Socks Day, Free Trade Day, Animal Disaster Preparedness Day, Victory in Europe Day, Child Care Provider Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, Red Cross/Red Crescent Day, Ovarian Cancer Day, Giving Sharks a Voice Day, Coconut Cream Pie Day, Have a Coke Day, Iris Day, Empanada Day, Time of Remembrance & Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives During the Second World War

(Sat) Birth-Mother’s Day, Moscato Day, Hurray for Buttons Day, Train Day, Butterscotch Brownie Day, Cornelia De Lange Syndrome Awareness Day, Windmill Day, Peter Pan Day, Root Canal Appreciation Day, Stay Up All Night Day, World Belly Dance Day, Archery Day, Lost Sock Memorial Day, Fair Trade Day, American Indian Day, Migratory Bird Day, Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day, Babysitters Day, Miniature Golf Day, World Belly Dance Day (For those, like Bulldog, needing an erotic belly dance)

(Sun) Mother’s Day, Shrimp Day, Lipid Day, Lupus Day, Mothers at the Wall Day, Clean Up Your Room Day

To send you into the weekend, here are the Stray Cats (including a young Brian Setzer) with Rock this Town. Do you remember this video? (If you can’t see it, try this.)Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On a Commercial Monday

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Hello February! Although I featured information about the new month in the previous post, this is my first published post of the new month.

We stayed busy this weekend with an evening of ballroom, hosting a friend for a simple meal before out church wine tasting event, and a Super Bowl party. It’s now your turn to tell us about your weekend!

The last act of Life: The Musical is this week. You’ve been wondering what follows death, and the answer is simple – Memories … so Act 17 will feature songs with memory, memories, remember, remembering, remembered, or remembrance in the title. Show time is Wednesday, 9:30 pm (Eastern US).

Celebrations for your week

• (Week) Just Say No to PowerPoint Week, Solo Diners Eat-Out Week, African Heritage & Health Week, Burn Awareness Week, Boy Scout Week, Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week, Coaching Week, Women’s Heart Week, School Counseling Week, Publicity for Profit Week, Hoof Care Week
• (Mon) Groundhog Day, Bottle Cap Day, Groundhog Job Shadowing Day, Candelmas, California Kiwi Fruit Day, Crepe Day, Hedgehog Day, Heavenly Hash Day, Sled Dog Day, Play Your Ukulele Day, Wetlands Day
• (Tues) Four Chaplains Memorial Day, Elmo’s Birthday, Carrot Cake Day, African-American Coaches Day
• (Wed) Liberace Day, Quacker Day, USA Day, Cancer Day, Popcorn Day, Create a Vacuum Day, Gumby Day, Homemade Soup Day, Thank a Mail Delivery Person Day, Digital Learning Day
• (Thurs) Nutella Day, Move Hollywood & Broadway to Lebanon PA Day, Weatherperson Day, Western Monarch Day, Peter Pan Day, Wiffle Ball Day, Chocolate Fondue Day, Shower with a Friend Day (celebrate wisely)

The commercials during the Super Bowl get much attention. I don’t know my favorite this year because I’m at a party as this post goes live or I’ll be home very soon, which also means I prepared this in advance. However, this commercial (currently in the US, but probably not in the Super Bowl) cracks me up. Have a good week.

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 219

On Politics
When are public figures going to learn that references to the Holocaust, Hitler, or 9-11 seldom are effective. Here’s the latest: “Democrats bragging about the number of mandatory sign ups for Obamacare is like Germans bragging about the number of mandatory sign ups for ‘train rides’ for Jews in the 40s.” (Stacey Campfield State Senator, (R-Tennessee). And then in a follow-up phone interview, he stood by his comments and wasn’t concerned about criticisms – but has since apologized. I yield to these words of a great American orator.

Las Vegas hosts the most conventions in the US (over 22,000 in 2013). Interestingly, neither of the major political parties have ever chosen the glamour and lights of the desert to host their convention – but 2016 could be different because Las Vegas is on the Republican shortlist of six finalists.

This past Tuesday was Primary Day in Ohio. I proudly proclaim that I am not longer a registered Republican. Because I wouldn’t declare as a Democrat, this means I received an “issues-only” ballot.

The US is divided into 435 Congressional districts, with each district electing a representative every two years. I can’t recall the source (but it is reputable), but only 7 districts have toss-up elections this fall. Surely this has nothing to do with gridlock in Washington.

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion

• Tree outside window upset man changed channel
• Poll: 56% of voters say country better than it was 4 eons ago
• Picasso’s “Guernica” triples in value after being autographed by the 1994 New York Rangers
• Donald Sterling just glad tape recorder batteries died
• National jeweler recalls 2 million cursed wedding rings

Onion Extras
Pros and cons of homeschooling
Pros and cons of gun control
Reasons for and against capital punishment

Interesting Reads
Alan Shepherd’s first space flight
A conservative economist about the tax reform vacuum
Bonds infographic
Interesting collection of black & white nature images from National Geographic
About journalist Lara Logan
How eyes sense motion

On Potpourri
Earlier this week I posted images of some of Cincinnati’s companies. I took them while walking the streets during the Opening Day festivities. I forgot one major company … and I even walked into their building that day. E.W. Scripps Company is a major media company operating newspapers and television stations throughout the country. You may be familiar with Scripps as the sponsors of the National Spelling Bee. Plus, in 2007, Scripps split separated into two company with Scripps Network Interactive (based in Nashville) … and many of you know their cable television stations as Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Home & Garden Television (HGTV), and Cooking Channel.

Time has worked against me this week, so no Saturday Morning Cartoon Classic post this weekend.

Here are your weekend celebrations

• (Fri) Tear the Tags Off the Mattress Day, Moscato Day, Lost Sock Memorial Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, Hooray for Buttons Day, Fintastic Friday (Give Sharks a Voice), Peter Pan Day, Butterscotch Brownies Day
• (Sat) Birthmother’s Day, Belly Dance Day, Train Day, Chinese Language Day, Clean Your Room Day, Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Awareness Day, Trust Your Intuition Day, Fair Trade Day, Mother Ocean Day, Babysitters Day, Miniature Golf Day, Lupus Day, Windmill Day, Astronomy Day, Shrimp Day, Stay Up All Night Day, Military-Amaetur Crossband Communications Day
• (Sun) Mother’s Day, Eat What You Want Day, Hostess Cupcake Day, Mocha Torte Day, Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Awareness Day, Root Canal Appreciation Day

To send you into the weekend, here’s a 1973 hit by Deely Stan Steely Dan. Enjoy, Reelin’ in the Years. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On Super Monday

A new week is upon us, so how was your weekend? It’s time to tell others about it.

Ours was simple with an evening one the ballroom floor, a Saturday afternoon basketball game party with friends, rented The Heat (Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy) (… thanks Deb), and attended a Super Bowl party in the neighborhood (our last one as members of this street).

A new month has started, thus I imagine you are itching to know what month-long celebrations can you plan. February celebrates adopt rescue rabbits, baking for family fun, from Africa to Virginia, expect success, hoof care, jobs in golf (contact Bulldog), library lovers, spunky old broads, bird feeding, caring for your indoor air, responsible pet owners, Haiku writing, hot breakfasts, potato lovers, hot breakfast, avocados & bananas, beans, snack foods, cherries, exotic vegetables & star fruit, fabulous Florida strawberries, grapefruits, mend a broken heart, time management, pet dental care, laugh-friendly, women inventors, therapeutic recreation, sleep safety, embroidery, creative romance, pull your sofa off the wall,  spay/neuter awareness, relationship wellness, planting the seeds of greatness, and condoms.

Celebrations for your calendar

• (Week) Dump Your Significant Jerk Week,  Friendship Week, Solo Diners Eat-Out Week, Just Say No to PowerPoint Week
• (Mon) Carrot Cake Day, Elmo’s Birthday (from Sesame Street). The Day the Music Died
• (Tues) Create a Vacuum Day, Liberace Day, USO Day, Cancer Day, Gumby’s Birthday
• (Wed) Thank a Mail-Delivery-Person Day, Nutella Day, Weatherperson’s Day, Digital Learning Day, Move Hollywood & Broadway to Lebanon, PA Day, Peter Pan Day
• (Thurs) Canadian Maple Syrup Day, Frozen Yogurt Day, Pay a Compliment Day, Waitangi Day in New Zealand

Given a certain Monday celebration, here are two videos to start your week. First, Don McLean’s American Pie; followed by a musical interlude that will start you week with a smile. Have a good week.