What! Aug. 03, 2017
By Lisa Baker • 08-03-17
Hey. Someone left some very pretty, red tomato cages in my backyard office garden area. Whoever you may be…thank you and I appreciate your random act of kindness. I must pay it forward.
BestHerbs Coffee in Grand Prairie, voluntarily recalled all its New of Kopi Jantan Tradisional Natural Herbs Coffee because it contains a substance similar to Viagra. Some people were buying the coffee to use as a male enhancement. Hmmm. Cuppa tea?
A federal appeals court has ruled that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) must now review sizes of seats on commercial planes. So, I say…are the seats shrinking…because some of these planes have been in the air with the same size seats for the past 25-30 years…or are our behinds just getting bigger?
A collection bag used by Neil Armstrong during the first manned mission to the moon in 1969, containing traces of moon dust, sold for $1.8-million recently at an auction, after a lengthy court battle. The artifact from the Apollo 11 mission had been misidentified and sold at an online government auction in 2015 and NASA fought to get it back, but it was recently found to legally belong to the Chicago woman who bought it in 2015 for $995. NASA still says that the artifact belongs to the American people. Oops.
Remember skate key hanging on a piece of yarn around your neck?
An Alaskan Princess cruise was diverted because a Utah man on board killed his wife. The man told an acquaintance who walked into the blood splattered cabin that he did it because she wouldn’t quit laughing at him. Personal note to self… laughter is not always good medicine. Princess Cruises announced that passengers received $150 onboard credit “because of the effect on their vacations.”
A married, senior pastor at a Woodlands church, was arrested and charged with prostitution after he paid an undercover sheriff’s deputy $80 for sexual activities. Yikes.
Jeff Bagwell was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He mentioned his dad. A lot. He mentioned little-known clubhouse attendants. Then he thanked his dad again and again. Bagwell said, “You showed me respect, how to have respect and to walk through this life as a man. That’s something that I’m very proud of…you are just a wonderful father and I’m so happy that you’re here for this day for me. I know it means a lot to you. And we’re in this together, my friend.” Tears. His dad, Robert, is 89.
Katy ISD, home to nearly 73,000 students, has blocked off six “family nights” for the 2017-2018 school year calendar, where teachers will be dissuaded from assigning homework and students will be encouraged to eat, read, play and bond with their families…this is an imaginative idea if people will seize the moment and do it. I say, don’t wait for a school calendar to suggest a family night. What’s wrong with tonight?
Sam Shepard, the rugged good-looking actor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of plays, screenplays, stories and memoirs, has died at the age of 73 from complications of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was one talented guy.
Pay attention because this one gets complicated. In Montgomery, Alabama, inmates escaped from a jail by using peanut butter to change the number above a cell to the number that identified the door leading to outside the jail, then they tricked a new inexperienced jail employee into letting an inmate into his cell (which actually led to the outside.) They apparently saved peanut butter from food served at the jail. If only they would use all that smart for the good of mankind and themselves.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: Singer Yusuf Islam is 69. He is the former Cat Stevens. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau is 69. Comedian Jon Lovitz is 60. Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez is 48. Humorist Dave Barry is 70. Love him. Actress Betty Buckley is 70. Actress Jan Smithers is 68. WKRP in Cincinnati. Actor Tom Cruise is 55. Actress Yeardley Smith is 53. Lisa Simpson. Martha Stewart is 76. Actress Geraldine Chaplin is 73. Author J.K. Rowling is 52. Playwright Tom Stoppard is 80. He says, “A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.”
Longtime cannabis activist and talk show host Montel Williams is 61. He debuted his line of cannabis-based elixirs last week. Williams’ multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 1999 pushed him to become an outspoken advocate for medical cannabis.
The world’s oldest-known zoo hippo, Bertha, died at the age of 65. The female hippo had lived at the Manila Zoo in the Philippines since it opened in 1959.
J.J. Watt debuted his new clothing line. It is sold locally at Nordstrom and online at MizzenandMain.com.
On a normal day, I seem to think I can do two things at once. It’s obviously not very efficient or I would be further along at the end of each week. Currently, I have toothpaste down the front of many of my clothes because I think I can cook, clean and change the oil in the car, all while I brush my teeth. There again, not very efficient. But, I do think I’m capable of listening to a book on tape all while driving a car, because I’ve done it for thirty plus years, without incident. They were called books on cassette way back then. I have had several favorite authors including Sue Grafton with the alphabet series about female private investigator, Kinsey Millhone. Grafton said that, “while going through a bitter divorce and custody battle that lasted six long years, she imagined ways to kill or maim her ex-husband. Her fantasies were so vivid that she decided to write them down.” Hmmm.
Recently, I started listening to the Mitford series by Jan Karon. I LOVE THEM. They’re on the opposite end of the spectrum with this main character, an Episcopal priest named Timothy Kavanaugh, living in a fictional town in North Carolina. It’s just the sweetest read that doesn’t preach, is free of sex, violence and profane content. There are 20 books in all, including two children’s books AND I just found out that the first movie in the series, “At Home in Mitford,” will preview August 20th, on the Hallmark channel. The only bad part is Cameron Mathison and Andie MacDowell don’t really fit my vision (at all) of the main two characters, which always happens when you read a book first. I envision someone more mature like Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. But, they didn’t ask me. But now that I’m thinking about it, why can’t Sam Elliott just star in everything.
“I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon.” Tom Stoppard
The International Olympic Committee has announced that the 2024 and 2028 Olympics will be held in Paris and Los Angeles BUT we don’t know which city gets which year, yet.
Little Shop of Horrors coming to Brazosport Center Stages, September 15-24. I’m telling you early because I don’t want to hear you whine when it sells out and you don’t get a ticket. So, mark it on your calendar now so you can say that you bought tickets and saw one of the most popular shows in the world. Audrey II will be looking for you.
“If you’ve never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent.” Bette Davis
Stay dry this week.
– Lisa
