What I Heard This Week! April 25, 2019
This is long but well worth reading. Last week I told you about the grandmother that carried her granddaughter for nine months as a surrogate mother (incubator) for her son and son-in-law. Families now come in all sizes and shapes. In a nest on the Upper Mississippi River Refuge, there are three eagles – two dads and one mom – raising three, fluffy-feathered eaglets. The dads are Valor I and Valor II, and the mom is Starr. They all take part in nest maintenance, incubation and are now raising their young. Let’s see if I can get the story right. Several years ago, Valor I and a female named Hope were shacking up. Valor I was not the best mate or dad. So immature, wanting to spend time with his pals doing dumb young eagle stuff. He only had two jobs…to bring in food and sit on the nest. He chose not to do either of these things very well. Very irresponsible. Wouldn’t sit on the nest for more than 10 minutes at a time – wouldn’t bring back food so Starr had to leave the nest unattended to go find her own food. Well, Hope was fed up until Valor II fluttered in one day. He was an instant hit. By 2016 the trio were cooperatively nesting. Even Valor I had stepped up to the plate and was contributing more than just a slug’s pace – likely motivated by his new male counterpart, the strong, independent, good-looking Valor II. Then a horrible thing happened. Two new adult male eagles attacked the nest. It was all captured on video as the attack lasted more than an hour and when it was over, Hope was gone. Two days later, two more eagles attacked the nest a second time. Valor I and Valor II defended the chicks and no injuries were observed, but daily attacks occurred for weeks as the dads continued to raise and protect the chicks without a mom. Recently the two males got on Match.com and found a new female partner named Starr who laid three eggs this spring and the three of them are happily raising their chicks together. I love happy endings with an unpredictable start.
George Clooney has called for the boycott of nine luxury hotels, including the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air, owned by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, after the country enacted laws that would make homosexual activity punishable by death by stoning.
Do you have an American flag in your garage that you need to properly dispose of? 1.) You can fold it, place on a hot fire, then bury the ashes. 2.) You can cut it up (do not tear because this is disrespectful) until it is no longer an official US flag but be careful not to cut into the blue star field – it needs to remain whole, then dispose of it as you see fit. The blue star field represents the unity of the U.S. states, and cutting into that section is considered a symbolic attempt to disrupt that unity. 3.) You can fold, then bury the flag (but put it in a box first because touching the soil is considered disrespectful.) 4.) Fold, then give the flag to a qualified organization like American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, or Scouts BSA who will properly dispose of your flag. 5.) There are companies that specialize in recycling old flags. Depending on the company, they may ask for a donation for the service. OR you can dispose of it at the Freeport City Hall lobby or Baywood Foods in specially shaped triangular drop-boxes and the Concerned Citizens of Freeport will dispose of the flag for you in a proper and respectful way. This sounds like the best solution. Thank you, concerned citizens for helping us be more respectful.
For those of you that are gluten-free or cook for someone that is gluten-free, I have great news. Papa John’s now has a gluten-free pizza. Woohoo. And it tastes good, according to my oldest child.
Mary Kay Letourneau, 57, and her husband Vili Fualaau, 35, are divorcing after 14 years of marriage. If you remember, the two of them first came to our attention when he was 12 and she was his sixth-grade teacher. Letourneau served six years in prison in connection with the relationship after pleading guilty to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child. They wed in 2005 and are parents to daughters Audrey (21) and Georgia (20). In addition, she has four children from her previous marriage. Sigh.0
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Italian actress sex symbol Claudia Cardinale is 81. Pink Panther. Writer producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is 72. Designing Women and Evening Shade. Actress screenwriter activist author and comedian Emma Thompson is 60. Isn’t she the best? Little Prince Louis is 1. Country singer Loretta Lynn is 87. Actress Julie Christie is 79. Doctor Zhivago. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is 74. Deep Purple. Actor Brad Garrett is 59. Everybody Loves Raymond.
Country singer Chris Stapleton is 41. Singer Bobby Vinton is 84. Blue Velvet. Actress Ellen Barkin is 65. Actor Peter Billingsley is 48. Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Actress Olivia Hussey is 68. Romeo and Juliet. Actress Jennifer Garner is 47. Singer Victoria Beckham is 45. Spice Girls. Actress Hayley Mills is 73. Pollyanna and The Parent Trap. Actor James Woods is 72. Actress Cindy Pickett is 72. The mom in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Actor Rick Moranis is 66. Honey, I shrunk the Kids.
Actor John James is 63. Jeff Colby on Dynasty and The Colbys. Actor Tom Hughes is 34. Prince Albert in Victoria. Actress Vanessa Kirby is 31. Princess Margaret in The Crown. Actress Emma Watson is 29. Harry Potter. I’m on the 5th book in the series right now and the movies just don’t do it justice. The books are so special. I don’t care what your age is. It just pulls you in and holds you tight. I went to visit my 85-year-old aunt this weekend in Waco and we were talking about books and when I explained what I was reading, she said, “I just loved Harry Potter. I read the whole series.”
Art Paul, the magazine designer who created Playboy’s famous tuxedoed bunny head logo, died at 93.
Donald Featherstone, the creator of the tacky pink plastic lawn flamingo has died at 79. He was a trained sculptor with a classical art background and created the flamingo in 1957 for a plastics company that he worked for, modeling it after a bird he saw in National Geographic. Millions and millions of the pink plastic birds have been sold but the debate continues…is it lawn junk or lawn art? When my sister was married, I bought her a BIG pink flamingo for her yard. I think tacky ‘art.’
Patrick Macnee, who played a stylish secret agent, John Steed, on the 60’s TV series “The Avengers,” died at 93. His character was partnered with Diana Rigg, who played agent Emma Peel.
Tania Mallet, model, cover girl and actress who starred in the 1964 (3rd) James Bond movie, Goldfinger, died at 77. When I was a kid in Waco, we went to the Circle Drive-in as a family. I remember the gravel drive, plus the smell of corned dogs, popcorn, giant dill pickles and hot dogs. My parents brought their webbed green lawn chairs and quilts so we could sit outside. There was an ice-chest full of bologna sandwiches, Fritos and sweet iced tea. The first film was always a (G) family movie, then my sisters and I were required to go to sleep in the back of the station wagon before the second feature, often rated PG for Parental Guidance. Intermission consisted of a visit to the playground, Roadrunner, Tweety & Sylvester cartoons, constant reminders to replace the speaker on post before you drive away, and of course, a trip to the snack bar for refreshments including scads of golden, pure, creamery butter on your popcorn, all while there was a countdown of minutes left until the second feature. When someone walked in front of the projection machine, you could see them on the big screen. My, how I regress. Back to Goldfinger. I can remember pretending to go to sleep, then very quietly raising up and was shocked to see a woman that was almost naked and spray-painted gold. Such an awesome time of life.
Drive-In’s: They also had dusk-to-dawn shows where there were 6 full-length features, all different. Bet they made massive amounts of money at the snack bar on those evenings. Now we call it binge-watching in front of the TV or computer with GrubHub, or Waitr delivering straight to your front door.
In Norway last month, electric cars outsold fossil fuel-powered ones with 58.4% of new cars being battery powered. Wow. Norway has provided big incentives to boost sales and it worked. Their Parliament has voted to require that all new cars sold be electric by 2025. They are doing their part.
Volunteer for a cause, not for applause. – unknown
The Rolling Stones postponed their N. American tour due to Mick Jagger needing to have surgery for a failing heart valve. He is now doing well, expected to make a full recovery and the tour will reschedule.
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport that no one knows about. According to Wikipedia: “Pickleball is a paddle sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, similar to a Wiffle Ball, over a net. The sport shares features of other racquet sports, the dimensions and layout of a badminton court, and a net and rules somewhat like tennis, with several modifications. Pickleball was invented in the mid-1960’s as a children’s backyard pastime.” I watched a YouTube video and it looks like ping pong-tennis with a slightly bigger ping-pong paddle. The sound that the ball makes when it hits the paddle is pretty sweet and according to the Walmart site, it’s fairly affordable to get started because your equipment consists of just a paddle and a ball. Basic. A Franklin Aluminum Pickleball Paddle was listed for $11.79. Pickleball is also considered a low-impact sport that’s easier on the joints. Now for the good part. The LJ Parks and Rec Dept. is offering open play sessions every week day. You can even rent your equipment. Jasmine Park tennis courts in LJ also have Pickleball lines. Hmmm.
Prince’s unfinished autobiography containing rare photos and handwritten lyrics will be released 10/29/19 and entitled, ‘The Beautiful Ones’ referring to a song that appeared on the Purple Rain album.
On Easter, after my kids left for UH, I decided that I needed a new kind of bird seed, so I rushed over to Tractor Supply. Dang, I forgot it was Easter so as I headed back home I noticed Walmart was open so I figured that I could get Weed & Feed while I was there. At the check-out counter, I thanked the girl for working on Easter, then asked her if there were any benefits to working on a holiday. She smiled and said there really wasn’t, except for the fact that she gets paid by the hour. Cora, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you so much for working on Sunday so the birds could have bird seed with fruit in it and my weeds will now soon die. Your attitude was great. Who can you say thank-you to, today?
Congratulations to Schelli Martin, JSL’s Sustainer of the Year.
Speaking of Walmart, their new commercials for grocery pick-up service are the best as they feature an abundance of famous rides from movies and TV shows. In case you didn’t catch all of them, they include: the Batmobile, ECTO-1 from the original Ghostbusters, K.I.T.T. the talking car from Knight Rider, Lightning McQueen from Cars, Mutt Cutts van from Dumb and Dumber, the Griswold’s 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon from Vacation, Mystery Machine van from Scooby Doo, the tour jeep from Jurassic Park, Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage, Fred Flintstone’s Flintmobile, Bumblebee Classic VW from Transformers, the DeLorean from Back to the Future and last but not least, Sam Walton’s signature red-and-white 1979 Ford F-150 pickup.
Earth Day was April 22. What’s the one small thing that you are going to do to help so everyday can be Earth Day! I make myself a ‘pour-over’ coffee each morning. Instead of pouring the water that I don’t use down the slink, I’m taking it outside and watering plants. Yes, sometimes it’s just a teeny-tiny bit but I’m still going to do it every day.
Have a great week and thanks for taking the time to read this. Lisa
