Quote of the day :
The future hasn’t happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I’m in.
~ Annie Lennox
Picture of the day :
Found another Snowman picture. Happy Christmas!
Youtube video of the day :
The next one is so cute I have to share it. In the first one Sergei and Aleksandr find Baby Oleg meerpup on their doorstep. In the second one, "Compare the Meerkat – Christmas video message from Baby Oleg, Aleksandr & Sergei" Poor Sergei gets nappy duties! (There’s a currently a lock as the second one as it’s unlisted. Hopefully you’ll be able to see it).
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=75VpOGcotlU]
As an extra, as it’s Christmas Day, here’s Noddy Holder and Slade with ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’, from TOTPS 1983
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6OAUs0rcsA4]
Born on this day…
Born today :
- Scientist, Isaac Newton (b.1642)
The Lincolnshire born genius was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. Clever bloke, eh. - Nurse, teacher and humanitarian, Clarissa Barton (b.1821)
Founder of the American Red Cross - Singer, songwriter and humanitarian, Annie Lennox OBE
- Singer and songwriter, Alannah Myles
- Actor, Humphrey Bogart
- Actor, Dick Miller
- Actress, Sissy Spacek
- Actress, Georgia Moffett (Married name, Tennant)
Georgia, no relation to Steven Moffat (note spelling), is David Tennant’s (the 10th Dr Who) wife and played "The Doctor’s Daughter", Jenny in the 193rd episode of the same name. While her dad is Peter Davison (real name Peter Moffett), who played the 5th Dr Who.
So, if I’ve got this right in weird Dr Who terms… Her (real) dad Dr Who (5) eventually regenerated into Dr Who (10), (her real husband), that accidentally uses a ‘progenation machine’ to create her, his daughter (though technically a female clone of himself), who is his real wife. So if his wife is his daughter who is his clone, does this mean he married himself!? No wonder the Time Lords of Gallifrey had strict rules about crossing time-lines and alternative universes! I think I need a break! - TV and radio presenter, Kenny Everett
- Singer, songwriter and actor, Jimmy Buffett
- Author, Carlos Castaneda
- Screenwriter, Rod Serling
- Hotelier, Conrad Hilton
- Fashion model and photographer, Helena Christensen
- Businesswoman, Helena Rubinstein (b.1870)
Cosmetics empire made her one of the richest woman in the world - Mineralogist, William Gregor (b.1761)
First to discover the element titanium (Ti), in the Manaccan valley, Cornwall - Singer, songwriter and musician, shane macgowan
Also on this day in history
Happy Yule!
Some bloke was born in a stable
Give or take 6 months of the day at any rate, but today was convenient as it was close to the ‘pagan’ winter solstice for the church to claim as ‘theirs’ and get converts. The Romans and others used to do the same, building shrines and temples on top of an existing one, trying to scam the natives that ‘our god is just yours with a different name’. Then stomping the previous religion, faith and lifestyle out of existence.
Out of interest, have you ever though about the word ‘pagan’? Who are/were the pagans, what did it mean, what does it mean now? If you look on-line for a definition every site has a slightly different view, probably based of their own religious bias or interpretation. Here’s a few:
Oxford Dictionary Google’s is good enough for me, though preferably without the religious overtones :
‘a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions.’
And that it is ‘a member of a modern religious movement which seeks to incorporate beliefs or practices from outside the main world religions, especially nature worship.’
Merriam-Webster can’t seem to make their mind up:
‘A heathen; especially a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome)’
And/or ‘one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods : an irreligious or hedonistic person’
Given the sentence above, half the planet could be thought of as pagans!
The first recorded use of the term pagan is as recent as the 14th century and is a Middle English word from the Late Latin paganus, a country dweller and from pagus, country district. It also means civilian and via Ecclesiastic Latin gives us the word heathen, which is essentially ‘not one of us’. Enough said, really.
I just read a great quote from author Quentin Crisp whose birthday is also today and, by concidence, I mentioned yesterday.
When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, ‘Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don’t believe?’
800 : Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome.
1066 : William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy was crowned king of England, at Westminster Abbey, London.
In 1643 Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary founded and named Christmas Island.
(This Christmas Island is in the Indian Ocean, not to be confused with Kiritimati, also known as Christmas island, which is one of the Micronesian Line Islands in the Pacific Ocean).
Released on Christmas Day, 1941, Bing Crosby’s single "White Christmass" was aired over the radio for the first time and is now one of the most successful songs of all time.
1962 : The premiere of "To Kill a Mockingbird", starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, The film, based on Harper Lee’s novel became a classic and earned Gregory Peck an for Best Actor. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress as a ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’ movie.
1987 : The Christmas virus (worm) begins to effect IBM mainframe computers around the world, drawing a tree on the screen with asterisks and leaving a seasonal greeting, then looking for the next console to infect. It was the world’s first widely disruptive computer worm.
Trending at this moment:
It will come as no surprise that just behind ‘Merry Christmas’ Dr Who is taking all the spots with Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi
and #DoctorWho taking up tonnes of tweet time. I didn’t like Matt Smith at first, but you tend to feel like that every time they change the actor and like many older fans I’ve been watching since the 60’s, though I certainly don’t recall cowering behind sofas – real life has enough horrors to hide from, you watch TV to escape the monsters! All the same, I most certainly do not like Capaldi – at all. I don’t like his eyes and I don’t like the illogical fact that they replace an old man (Matt’s Dr Who being over 300 years old when he was dying) with another old man. Regardless of how fine and distinguished he may be as an actor he’s 55 years old in real life and, meaning no great disrespect, he looks more like 65 if he’s a day. The whole point of regeneration is rejuvenation – to become younger. He’s a bad choice for the part.
