What I Heard This Week 11-17-2022
The eating/drinking season is upon us, whether you like it or not. And you know we LIKE it. My first holiday eating party is this weekend. Consumer Report says that the best time to weigh yourself is in the morning after your body has digested what you ate or drank the day before. Use your scale in the mornings, after you stop by the potty, but before you eat or drink anything. Studies also show that people that weigh themselves every day tend to adopt more healthy habits. It also forces you to be aware of the connection between your eating and your weight. Use a scale and graph paper so you can identify patterns. Be sure to place your scale on a level surface (no wobbling – no carpet) and distribute weight evenly on both feet. Now that we have this out of the way, let’s exchange holiday recipes. 😊
Boston is the #1 town where you have the best chance and are most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse attack. Perhaps Boston’s history of fighting for freedom gives them an edge, but the article gave consideration to their uneven cobblestone streets, unreliable public transportation, confusing roads and biomedical research industry, so they could save people. There were other cities named in the top ten. Salt Lake City, Columbus, Baltimore, Virginia Beach, Seattle, San Diego, Kansas City, Denver, and Indianapolis. New York City, Tampa, and L.A. were among the places least likely to survive. But no mention of Lake Jackson. We have very confusing street names – This Way, That Way. His Way. Zombies wouldn’t know where to turn. Plus, if zombies drove from the mall to the post office, Lake Road would jolt out any brains they had left. 😊
I don’t normally like to brag about expensive trips, but I just returned from the gas station.
Did you know that in Lake Jackson, you can (by yourself, or with a company or organization), Adopt-A-Spot, a park, a right-of-way, or even the grounds of a building, then just take an active role in the maintenance and improvement of this area. It can be for just a three-month period or a whole year. Mulch, weeding, trash, whatever the area needs. Visit tinyurl.com/KeepLakeJacksonBeautiful. I’m not an official adopter on the list, but I pick-up trash in the front of my office and those offices around me almost daily, along with the parking areas on our section of Parking Way, because people think that they can throw beer cans, wine bottles, and excessive amounts of trash EVERYWHERE. Which means, they are leaving restaurants and other establishments with cans and bottles in their hands… Hmmm.
To leave the world a little better than you found it. That’s the best a man can ever do. Paul Auster.
A Frank Lloyd Wright house in Wisconsin, The Keland House, sold after only a month on the market. The house was built in 1954 for Karen Johnson Boyd and her husband William, the family behind the manufacturing company SC Johnson (cleaning supplies, Windex, Glade and Ziploc). It was the first time ever in 68 years that it had been listed. It sold for $1.025 million, $300,000 over the asking price. The pictures show a pretty fabulous house with almost everything original. Wright also designed the administration building for the SC Johnson headquarters. The structure opened in 1939 in Racine, Wisconsin, and is best known for tree-shaped columns that hold up the ceiling in the Great Workroom.
Am I working from home or living at work?
Jay Leno owns about 180 vintage and exotic cars and about 160 motorcycles. Since leaving The Tonight Show he’s had a successful show series, Jay Leno’s Garage, which has run for seven seasons. The most recent episode featured President Joe Biden. Well evidently, he was working on one of his steam cars and was sprayed with gas, then a spark erupted into flames, and he is now in a burn center with third degree burns to his face and hands.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Estelle Parsons is 95. Best Supporting Actress for her role as Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde. Comedian Dick Smothers is 84. Smothers Brothers. Singer Norman Greenbaum is 80. Known for his 1969 song Spirit in the Sky. Model and Actor Veronica Hamel is 79. Hill Street Blues. Musician Joe Walsh is 75. Actor Bo Derek is 66. Pianist Jim Brickman is 61. Actor, playwright, director, Laurence Luckinbill is 88. Former Beatles drummer Pete Best is 81. Country singer Dierks Bentley is 47.
Actor Jamie Lee Curtis is 64. Actor Mariel Hemingway is 61. Singer Bruce Hornsby is 68. Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts is 62. Singer-actor Miley Cyrus is 30. Actor Stanley Livingston of My Three Sons is 72. Actor Kathryn Crosby is 89. Singer Amy Grant is 62. Actor Billy Burke of Twilight films is 56. Impressionist Rich Little is 84. Singer Tina Turner is 83. Singer Jean Terrell of The Supremes is 78. Bassist John McVie of Fleetwood Mac is 77. Actor Christina Applegate is 51. She recently received her Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony, with her first public appearance (cane in hand) since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021. She was also diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in 2008 and underwent a double mastectomy. Christina Applegate grew up on TV. She was 3 months old for her first role on Days of Our Lives, alongside her actress mom.
Actor Michael Callan, best known for originating the role of Riff in West Side Story on Broadway, and for film roles, Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou, died at 86. He was quite beautiful.
The Days of our Lives star, John Aniston, father of Jennifer Aniston, died at 89. Actually, he appeared as Victor Kiriakis in 2,888 episodes of Days of our Lives during his career, along with roles in many other popular series including Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, The West Wing and That Girl.
Kevin Conroy, the voice of animated Batman, died at 66. He said, “Batman… He’s a complicated guy, and that voice can’t be just a quirky voice that you as an actor put on. It’s a state of mind that you have to get into because that voice comes from such a deep well of pain. If you don’t really do it genuinely, it sounds artificial. It sounds like you’re just putting on a funny voice. You really need to invest it with a lot of emotion and a lot of back stories.”
Leo Gallagher, the watermelon-smashing prop comic known as Gallagher, died at 76. He became a hit with his stand-up comedy special called An Uncensored Evening, which was actually directed by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees. Remember the hand-made sledgehammer called the Sledge-O-Matic where he would smash food onstage, where it would spray into the audience? He says he had 200 shows a year for 35 years and he used about nine watermelons a show, so that’s 63,000 watermelons. That was a mess that I never understood. According to Wikipedia, in the 1980s, researchers at Loma Linda University used Gallagher’s comedy to study laughter’s effect on the body. Taking blood samples from ten medical students while they watched Gallagher in action, the researchers observed the subjects’ white blood cells increasing. The scientists said that laughing appeared to have boosted their immune systems.
Noble Lordes and Faire Ladyes. Let us spark your imagination. Join Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, Knight of the Garter, for a most joyous Elizabethan Madrigal Feast 2022, in celebration of Christmas, in honor of her most gracious Majesty the Queen, at Warwick Castle. An evening of 16th century Renaissance entertainment, along with sumptuous dinner and dessert. bcfas.org/emf or 979-265-7661 or in person. You better hurry. It’s such a great way to start the holiday season.
Superfans. The Cleveland property that served as the childhood home of Ralphie Parker and his family in the 1983 holiday classic, A Christmas Story, is for sale. Also included is the Bumpus house (fictional home to Ralphie’s hillbilly neighbors where the 785 smelly hound dogs lived, famous for stealing the Christmas turkey) where you can now spend the night, a museum and gift shop, and detached garage which is home to a 1939 Ford LaFrance firetruck just like the one in the movie. Everything considered, there are five buildings on seven parcels of land on 1.3 acres. I heard on the radio that there are also 3 parking lots. If you’re interested, just look for the leg lamp in the window. No price given, but 75,000 people per year now visit the museum, so it’s profitable. forsale@achristmasstoryhouse.com.
I bought a chicken from one website, and an egg from another… I’ll let you know.
If you are older than nine, you remember at least one of the Kia Soul Hamster commercials. There were so many, and every single one was cute. Many of the commercials had the clever little rodents bopping their tiny heads to the music, while cruising the streets, dancing, or playing in a band while their friends were still full steam ahead going nowhere on giant hamster wheels. It’s the sort of thing that just brings a huge smile to my face when I watch them. In fact, if you need a grin just Google Kia Soul Hamster commercials and just spend 3 minutes. I promise a smile. Try New Kia Turbo Arrives hamster commercial. OK now, where was I? Oh yes. It’s coming back to me. Scientists have discovered that rats really do have the human skill to move to a musical beat. Ten rats were fitted with wireless accelerometers (a device that measures vibration or acceleration of motion of a structure) so they could measure rat head movement, along with 20 human volunteers. The study focused mainly on responses to K. 448 by Mozart, but four other musical pieces were played for the rodent volunteers. Lady Gaga – Born This Way, Queen – Another One Bites the Dust, Michael Jackson – Beat It, and Maroon 5 – Sugar. The results showed both the rat and human participants had optimal beat synchronicity when the music was in the 120–140 beats per minute range – close to Mozart’s composition’s original 132bpm tempo. Researchers found both rats and humans jerked their heads to the beat in a similar rhythm. So, I see it as if the hamsters had knowledge of this first and made truckloads of money from it. The rats are to this day, still in cages, with little boxes on their heads. Hmmm. I know there’s another story here.
If you’re in my car, don’t disrespect me by trying to sing lead. It’s my car. You’re automatically a backup singer. Facebook
Google has agreed to pay nearly $392 million in a settlement with 40 states over allegations that the company secretly tracked people through their devices, even when location tracking had been turned off then offered the data to advertisers. What?!? Google said that the practices outlined in the lawsuit are old and have since been revamped. Oh, good. That makes it better. ☹
My life is a series of obstacles preventing me from reading a book.
When it rains downtown, we have a river in front of the office. It’s terrible. I’m sitting here with socks on, and my feet on a towel because my shoes are just soaked. Customers have been graciously making the trek inside all day and it’s so much fun to hear what they have to say when they bust through the front door, soaking wet. “They need to do something about that water.” Yes, we know. Take it up with the city. We have been hearing that for over twenty years. Some customers park and re-park, trying to find just the right spot for their cars so they can position themselves without having to step into the Parking Way River. That spot does not exist. Thank-you, customers! We love you. Please sell something.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
