What! June 22, 2017
By Lisa Baker • 06-22-17
June 24th is Eat Cereal Day…which reminds me…Lucky Charms now has a gluten-free version. For those families that can eat whatever they want, who cares! But for the people (me) that have a gluten-free person living/eating in their household…yippee!!! Burger King has just introduced the Lucky Charms Shake…vanilla soft serve ice cream shake covered in Lucky Charms with marshmallows and whipped cream. Forget your Unicorn Frappuccino. This is magically delicious.
Texas: where Coke really means Dr. Pepper.
Thousands of rats have descended on villages on an island in southern Myanmar (between Bangladesh and Thailand,) giving residents reason to believe that there is impending disaster since scientists have shown that mice and rats are sensitive to electromagnetic waves similar to what often occurs before a major earthquake.
Remember the AMC Gremlin that was produced from 1970-1978? How about the 1985 Yugo? It sold for $3990.
Walt Disney World has decided to honor the 2-year-old boy, Lane Thomas Graves, who was killed by an alligator while playing at one of its resorts, by constructing a lighthouse sculpture. The lighthouse is a symbol used by the Lane Thomas Foundation, which was set up by his family following his death and is dedicated to supporting families of children needing life-saving organ transplants. Lane’s parents did not sue the park after his death.
Remember, David Vetter, also known as the boy in a bubble. He spent 12-years behind a wall of sterile plastic at Texas Children’s Hospital before dying in 1984. Baby boy, Sebastian Romero, was born 4-months ago without a functioning immune system. Doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital took all that they learned from the Bubble Boy, grafted bone marrow and filled his small body with infection-fighting white blood cells. Sebastian just left TCH just 3-weeks after his procedure.
Texas loves Whataburger. Ask anyone. I think it’s the mustard. In addition to great taste, teens love to steal the table tents. Whataburger even provides them to graduating seniors with the class year on them. We have one at our house. Well, the ‘thing’ right now is Whataburger birthdays, engagements, shower & wedding cakes and groom’s cakes. One of the cakes that I saw was made like the large 44-oz. BIG cup laying on its’ side. One couple used the sacks for wedding favors and printed labels that said, ‘What-A-Night’ and had their initials and the wedding date printed on the sack. But the cutest thing was a baby announcement…the couple had placed a sack, cup, a stack of ketchup, three table tents that showed the date of birth and their newborn baby rolled up with gold hamburger paper and a blue “special” circle sticker. The baby was then placed right in the middle of an orange and white striped placemat on an orange tray. It was CUTE!
Now you can buy Whataburger ketchup at H-E-B. But wait, what would I use to dip into the ketchup? On June 24th, a packaged version of the Whatafries (think potato chips shaped like fries) are coming to all H-E-B stores. Cut from REAL potatoes and ready to eat straight from the bag. Hmmm. I’m confused. Wouldn’t it be easier to just go to Whataburger, order your fries and not worry if they’re real or not?
For player’s weekend in August, Major League Baseball will relax uniform policies and allow players to put nicknames on the backs of their jerseys, as long as it isn’t inappropriate or offensive. What would go on your jersey?
Inmates have filed a lawsuit seeking emergency relief from “cruel and unusual punishment” of indoor heat (no air conditioning) in prison. They describe not being able to read because of sweat in their eyes, soaking wet clothes, sleepless nights and much more. TDCJ has provided ice water, fans, cool showers and more but inmates say it’s not enough. Officials for the country club…I mean the prison, say that most prisons in Texas do not have air-conditioning in the housing units. hmmm.
I’m on the Lonestar diet…BBQ, Mexican, Whataburger, Repeat.
Have you counted your blessings lately? What if God started, one by one, taking away all the persons and things that you have failed to be thankful for? Who or What would be left? Would we have our limbs and our loved ones? We all have the tendency to give strong negative thought to only the things that go wrong in our lives, but we forget to say thank you for all the things that are perfect. Let’s face it, almost everything is perfect. Today is a good day, while you sit at that red light, to start the count.
You know you’re a Texan when Whataburger is pronounced Waterburger. Yes.
Hurricane season is under way and it’s looking like the gulf coast is paying attention. We hope that Cindy didn’t get your copy of The Source Weekly wet.
Two cases of tuberculosis have been confirmed at a high school in Fort Bend county, so the county health department plans to test more than 600 students and staff members to see if anyone else has contracted the bacterium which can be effectively treated but can be deadly if not.
A fourteen-old middle school boy who was accidentally shot by his twin brother while they were hunting a snake, has died. No charges were filed. What a huge load for a kid to carry through his life.
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: Mastermind musician Brian Wilson is 75-years-old. It was announced on his birthday that on September 22nd, he will release Payback, an 18-track featuring music from nine of his solo records and two previously unreleased tunes, along with photos. Wilson continues his super successful Pet Sounds anniversary tour. We saw it in Boston and it was great!
Actor Richard Thomas is 66. John-Boy Walton. His parents were dancers with the New York City Ballet and owned the New York School of Ballet. Comedian Tim Allen is 64. Tim the Toolman. Actress Ally Sheedy is 55. The Brat Pack. TV anchor Hannah Storm is 55. Actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are 31. Actor Malcolm McDowell is 74. A Clockwork Orange. American crime-novelist Patricia Cornwell is 61. Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Actor Michael J. Fox is 56. Actor Johnny Depp is 54. Rock musician Frank Beard is 68. ZZ Top. Pro Football Hall of Fame Joe Montana is 61.
TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz is 57. American songwriter and session musician Spooner Oldham is 74. President Donald Trump is 71. Singer Boy George is 56. Comedian-actor Jim Belushi is 63. Actress Helen Hunt is 54. Actor-rapper Ice Cube is 48. Actor Neil Patrick Harris is 44. Singer Barry Manilow is 74. Actress Joan Van Ark is 74. She has not grown old gracefully. Boxing Hall of Fame Roberto Duran is 66. Widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Actress Laurie Metcalf is 62. She won her first Tony this month for “A Doll’s House, Part 2.” Actress Nicole Kidman is 50.
American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer Lionel Richie is 68. He was a member of The Commodores, co-wrote We Are The World with Michael Jackson, is a five-time Grammy Award winner and is one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time.
In 1924, the “Happy Birthday” song was written. Some records show it to be the most often sung song in the world.
Sean “Diddy” Combs aka Puff Daddy, is the top earner on Forbes’ list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities (June to June). His earnings for the past 12 months totaled $130-million. Yikes. (#2) was Beyonce with $105-million. (#3) Harry Potter author JK Rowling with $95-million. (#4) Rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor Drake with $94-million. (#5) Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo with $93-million. (#6) Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer, The Weeknd with $92-million. (#7) American radio and television personality Howard Stern with $90-million. (#8) British rock band Coldplay with $88-million. (#9) American author and philanthropist James Patterson with $87-million and (#10) American professional basketball player LeBron James with $86-million.
Former NBA player/star, Dennis Rodman, returned to North Korea recently. Rodman’s visit coincided with the surprise release of Otto F. Warmbier, an American college student who had been sentenced to a 15-year prison term for trying to steal a propaganda poster from a hotel lobby, and was then held prisoner in North Korea for more than a year. He was returned home in a coma last week and has since died. This should serve as another reminder of the barbaric nature of North Korea and its dictatorship.
You know you’re a Texan when you say Puh-Con instead of Pee-Can.
Puerto Ricans voted ‘yes’ to becoming the 51st state. It is complicated, since they are a territory, not a state…they are US citizens, but don’t pay federal taxes and can’t vote in presidential elections. They are now $70-billion in debt and filed for bankruptcy last month. Hmmm.
The mother of Ethan Couch, the Texas teen who used an “affluenza” defense after he killed four people in a 2013 drunken-driving crash, may have violated her bond by drinking alcohol. She tends a bar at Honky Tonk Woman in Ft. Worth where she is allowed to possess alcohol but not consume it. Nothing like setting a good example for your children.
The number of people dying on US roads due to distracted driving is still rising. New technology is being developed that could help detect if a person has used their phone while driving. It’s called the ‘Textalyzer’ and would allow police to plug into a driver’s phone immediately and quickly see the last 90 seconds of phone activity – no personal data other than activity. As it stands now, it takes months, probable cause and a warrant. Some critics say it’s an invasion of privacy. Pooh. I say, get it into police cars tomorrow.
And God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the world. Then He made the earth round…and He laughed and laughed and laughed.
On Saturday, I had a date with my son to see “Freaky Friday” the musical, which btw, was really, good. Then we left the theatre and walked the block to push the bayou bubbling button, then on to the Downtown Aquarium and rode the Sharky Shark train like we did when he was little. Thank you, Gage, for allowing me this bit of nostalgia. Then we went cruising the eclectic Montrose area looking for a restaurant and happened to see the crews installing the new painted rainbow ‘Pride Houston’ crosswalks at the four corners of Westheimer and Taft. What a great day!
Some people feel the rain – others just get wet. Roger Miller
– Lisa
