Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 253

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Interesting how much Governor Mike Pence (R-IN) danced around answering questions about recent religious freedom legislation in his state, then changed his dance. Answering questions with direct truth must be against a politician’s credo … and the Republicans don’t have a corner on that market.

In this speech announcing his candidacy for the 2016, Republican presidential nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) stated, “It is the time for truth” – and in that spirit, here’s a fact-check of his speech.

The Naked Cowboy is one of New York City’s multitude of personalities. Did you know he is from Cincinnati and a University of Cincinnati graduate? Here he is.

We booked a future vacation with Vacations To Go. A tip-of-the-cap to them for discovering a mistake at their end AND correcting it beyond our satisfaction.

Monday is Opening Day in Cincinnati, which means baseball season starts. If the weather is nice, I hope to spend a few hours in the city among the many dressed in red. As of now, the weather is iffy.

My time for reading your wonderful blogs continues to be small. Yuk!

Thursday was our 38th anniversary, thus a tribute to 38 is about ready. Because I know the throngs outside the aFa Theater for the Performing Arts were getting restless, I chose to debut the musical on our anniversary instead of next week. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful dinner at this local restaurant.

Opening Night for Meals: The Musical provided quiet the variety of songs, so we are off and running. To my surprise, you provided more songs that I didn’t know. 🙂 I believe Act 2 will be easier than Act 1, but you will have to wait for the theme.

My selection of Frank Zappa opening Meals: The Musical surprised some. Here’s an interesting explanation of the musicality behind St. Alfonzo’s Pancake House.

Last week’s Explore took us to the Iguazu Falls along the Argentina-Brazil border. It turns out the a visitor here posted about her visit, which brings a personal touch to this wonder. Thanks, Madhu!

Prepare yourself for a journey on the Explore series this weekend.

To lead you into The Onion, here’s their take on paying college athletes.

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This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Siblings quietly relieved oldest brother setting bar so low
Cost-cutting measures force company to start hiring more female employees
Man who baked banana bread spends entire party anxiously watching it go uneaten
Senior citizen keeps mind active by contemplating death
Man thinks going to Vegas for things other than gambling somehow less sad

Interesting Reads
Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech that mentions my birthplace
The grand piano in Gaza
Studying the DNA of a nation
From National Geographic: Why Do Many Reasonable People Doubt Science?
Urine-based recharging of phones
A Nazi hangout in Argentina?
Technology improving sex

Your Weekend Celebrations

• (Fri) Chocolate Mousse Day, Walk to Work Day, Hot Cross Buns Day, World Party Day, Workplace Napping Day, Sow the Seeds of Greatness Day, Don’t Go to Work Unless It’s Fun Day, Tweed Day, Pony Express Day, Find a Rainbow Day
• (Sat) Walk Around Things Day, Vitamin C Day, Hug a Newsperson Day, Chicken Cordon Bleu Day, Tangible Karma Day, Rat Day, Birding Day, Victims of Violence Day, Tell a Lie Day, Square Root Day, Kids Kick Butts Day (anti-tobacco), Pillow Fight Day, Every Day is a Tag Day, Chocolate Milk Powder Day, Mine Awareness Day
• (Sun) Lava Lamp Day, Bell Bottoms Day, Deep Dish Pizza Day, Plum Pudding Day, Go for Broke Day, Caramel Day, Read a Roadmap Day, Raisin & Spice Day, Dandelion Day, Stories Day, Check Your Batteries Day, Baked Ham & Pineapple Day, Accelerate ACL Awareness Among Young Women Day

Here’s a 2-fer to send you into the weekend. First is a leftover from Act 1, while the second has a fitting title for the 2-fer. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

(Double Vision, Foreigner)

On an Announcement for Monday

Welcome back from the weekend.  How was yours?

Our weekend involved ballroom time and hosting our dinner group – thus the latter involved getting ready. All in all, our afternoons were actually low-key. Also, we recently started watching House of Cards  on Netflix. Do you watch it?

The Explore post about the Gobi Desert was well received. Glad you enjoyed it. The Explore series aims at people, places, and things, so if you have any ideas, please tell!

Here’s a surprise. After thinking about it, Life: The Musical is going to have an epilogue. Besides, as I look ahead, this week is as good of time as any! Previous acts focused on words in the song title, but this time, it’s about the lyrics. There are many songs about life, and you may have a song that is special to you. Some are linked to situations or occasions, while others tug at us through their lyrics without a reason. In other words, this is a chance to post a song about life that is important to you. Curtain time is Wednesday, 9:30 PM (Eastern US).

Celebrations for your week

• (Week) Dump Your Significant Jerk Week, Risk Awareness Week, Congenital Heart Defect Week, Homes for Birds Week, Celebration of Love Week, Children of Alcoholics Week, Jell-O week, Freelance Writers Appreciation Week, Random Acts of Kindness Week, Flirting Week, Friendship Week, Love a Mensch Week, Green Week, Love Makes the World Go Round – but, Laughter Keeps Us from Getting Dizzy Week
• (Mon) Read in the Bathtub Day, Bagels & Lox Day, Hershey Day, Stop Bullying Day, GI Joe Day, Clean Out Your Computer Day
• (Tues) Extraterrestrial Culture Day, Extraterrestrial Visitor Day, Umbrella Day, Cream Cheese Brownies Day
• (Wed) Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day, Get Out Your Guitar Day, Make a Friend’s Day, Promise Day, Be Electrific Day, Shut-in Visitation Day, Satisfied Staying Single Day, White Shirt Day/White T-Shirt Day, Inventors Day, La-Z Boy Chair Day, Peppermint Patty Day
• (Thurs) Darwin Day, NAACP Day, Oglethorpe Day, Paul Bunyan Day, Safety Pup Day, Pancake Day, Lost Penny Day, Plum Pudding Day

This week’s Monday Morning Entertainment uses Wednesday’s Get-Out-Your-Guitar Day.  You’ll have to click the video, then click again to watch on YouTube because the owners blocked embedding. Have a good rest of the week.

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 216

On Politics
The Senate Conservative Fund (SCF) has endorsed the primary challenger to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). To counter SCF, Sen. McConnell (who has a nasty side to him), vows to attack all their endorsed primary candidates: “I think we are going to crush them everywhere. I don’t think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country.”

Cheers to Congress for not being in session.

I’m looking forward to voting in the May 6th Ohio Primary. The ballot is short and not many people will vote, but I will officially make my statement at a new precinct.

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Determined restaurant patrons tough it out on chilly patio
Parent surprised cruel teen daughter hasn’t pushed classmate to breaking point yet
Biologists confirm God evolved from chimpanzee deity
Area man mystified by layout of adjacent town’s grocery
Last living California Raisin dies of prostate cancer

Interesting Reads
Misery among MDs (Thanks Mouse for this, and thanks Carrie for approving)
Science and the word theory
Dog sex
Ten biggest earthquakes
Interactive map of U-2 boats in WW II

Bonus Reads: The week marked the Titanic’s 102nd anniversary, so here’s a collection of related articles.
Fascination with the Titanic (Smithsonian)
The Departure (Titanic-Titanic)
A news story before the movie (Newsday)
Queenstown: The last stop (Real Clear History)
A letter: a first-hand account (Telegraph)

On Potpourri
Earlier this week I saw a review of the book Why Science Does Not Disprove God. Although I am Christian, I absolutely agree – plus add this – science cannot prove God either.

As many we watching this week’s Blood Moon, snow clouds blocked Cincinnati’s view. Here’s an article from National Geographic about lunar myths from around the world.

Upon seeing a recipe with marshmallow earlier this week on a blog, I couldn’t resist asking if they used natural or synthetic marshmallows in the recipe. The blogger kindly responded synthetic – but all its ingredients are natural.

The grocery store headline from The Onion (above) reminds me how the growth (in size/space) of grocery stores over time. Cincinnati-based Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery retailer, recently published these stats regarding their average store size
1930s: 2,000 sq ft
1960s: 12,500 sq. ft
1980s: 42,000 sq. ft.
2000: 53,000 sq. ft.
2013: 61,000 sq. ft (their largest store in our area is 123,000 sq. ft)

This week marked the 35th anniversary of The Beast, a classic and the world longest wooden roller coast found at Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati. After watching the report below, anyone wanting to take a ride can click here.

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In my musical events hear (such as Life: The Musical), I enjoy listening to the songs readers submit … thus encourage others to do so. Many thanks to all!

The Easter weekend means the handbell choir playing. Three songs this year, but here’s good recording of cheerful tones of Enduring Joy.

Given a major holiday weekend, the Saturday Morning Classic Cartoon series resumes next weekend.

Here are your weekend celebrations

• (Fri) Golf Day, Pet Owner’s Independence Day, Amateur Radio Ray, Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, Animal Crackers Day
• (Sat) Auctioneers Day, Amaretto Day (Yes!), Husband Appreciation Day, Garlic Day, Hanging Out Day, Record Store Day
• (Sun) Spring Astronomy Day, Look a Like Day, Plum Pudding Day, Food Day, Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day, Lima Bean Respect Day, Go Fly a Kite Day

To send you into the weekend, here’s a flashback to when I was in elementary school – the year is 1964, and the hit is Glad All Over by the Dave Clark Five. Enjoy, have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

On a Sliding Monday

Another weekend down in 2014, but many remain for the year.  I hope your weekend went well, so what did you do?

We had an evening of ballroom, did errands related to the move, watched the Olympics, shoveled snow, played handbells on Sunday, and joined our dinner group for a fun evening around the theme of Board Games. We played a few games, drank good wine, and ate well … and all in the presence of good company. See for yourself!

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Opening Night for Life: The Musical is scheduled for Thursday WEDNESDAY with curtain time at 9:30 pm (Eastern, US). Act 1 features songs with any of the following in the title: life, living, alive, lived, or live (that rhymes with give, not five). Get yourself ready, plus it’s Invite-a-Friend Night! Tell them to identify who sent them.

Celebrations for your calendar

• (Week) Love Makes the World Go Round but Laughter Keeps Us from Getting Dizzy Week, Have a Heart for a Chained Day Week, Jello Week, Wildlife Week, Love a Mench Week, Poison Prevention Week, Celebration of Love Week, Random Acts of Kindness Week, Flirting Week
• (Mon) Clean Out Your Computer Day,  Plimsoll Day, Make a Friend Day, Umbrella Day
• (Tues) Get Out Your Guitar Day, Extraterrestrial Culture Day, Be Electrific Day, National Shut-in Visitation Day, Satisfied Staying Single Day, World Day of the Sick, Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day, White T-Shirt Day, Inventor’s Day, Promise Day
• (Wed) Darwin Day, Safety Pup Day, Pancake Day, Lost Penny Day, Plum Pudding Day
• (Thurs) Get a Different Name Day, Madly in Love with Me Day, Radio Day,

Let’s use the Olympics to start your week with a smile. Have a good week, and hope you participate in Thursday’s opening act and promotion. (Thanks to Lame Adventures for this one.) Cheers!