What I Heard This Week! 07-18-2019
Warren Buffett started giving his fortune away in 2006. $34 BILLION so far. Last week, he disclosed a donation of $3.6 BILLION in Berkshire Hathaway stock to five foundations. Home Depot co-founder, Bernie Marcus, says he’s planning to donate almost his entire $4.5 billion fortune before he dies. Walmart heir Jim Walton gave away $1.2 billion of the retailer’s shares two weeks ago. Talk show host and comedian, Steve Harvey, has committed to covering the college costs for eight in-coming freshmen at his alma mater, Kent State University. The scholarships provide about $23,000 per student and the students must maintain a 2.5 grade point average for the scholarships to be renewed each semester.
Best-selling novelist David Baldacci (who has published 38 books) and his wife, have given $1 million to the historic home in Hartford where Mark Twain and his family once lived from 1874 to 1891. Baldacci says that he’s a huge fan of Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, and has read everything he ever wrote…the famed author not only made a huge impression on Baldacci through his writing, but how he conducted his life. The Mark Twain House & Museum says that the gift is expected to support new initiatives including writing programs and appearances by authors. What a nice story.
Serena Williams has been chosen to have her own Wheaties box. She says, “I have dreamt of this since I was a young woman and it’s an honor to join the ranks.”
Those of you that read this column know we have beer tastings at my house when my kids are home from college. We use my PawPaw’s little beer glasses and split interesting beers between the three of us. This week I picked up the 25th anniversary Grand Cru from Saint Arnold. Gage was with me at the grocery store and when he saw that it was over $9 a bottle, he told me to put it back. Nope, I put it back into the basket. You only live once. We tried it and let me tell you, it’s rich and dark, with an amazing smell.It’s a blend of three bourbon barrel aged beers: 50% Belgian-Style Quadrupel, 25% Russian Imperial Stout, and 25% English-Style Barleywine. On the Saint Arnold website, it says, “Our 25th Anniversary Grand Cru is a full bodied, complex, yet balanced barrel aged beer. The Quad presents character of plums and dried cherries, followed by bitter dark chocolate, lavender, and subtle roast bitterness from the Stout. The Barley wine provides a backbone of toffee/caramel sweetness balanced by a soft hop bitter finish. The bourbon is delicately laced throughout, uniting all the components of the blend.” Saint Arnold Brewery just gets better and better. I recommend it, especially when you get to share it with the people that you love most in the world.
Begin doing what you want to do now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake. Marie Ray
Melissa McCarthy is reportedly the new Ursula for Disney’s Live-Action Little Mermaid movie. Ariel will be 19-year-old Halle Bailey – one half of the sister pop-singing duo Chloe x Halle. Director will be Rob Marshall. Alan Menken will team with Lin-Manuel Miranda on the music. And rumored today,Harry Styles may be in the running as Prince Eric joining Awkwafina as Scuttle & Jacob Tremblay as Flounder.
Some of the best memories are made in flip flops…
When I think of Costco, I drift to thoughts of laundry detergent, cheese, toilet paper and olive oil, just to name a few of my long-standing purchases. What’s surprising is that Costco has emerged as an unlikely success story by offering some of the best deals in the clothing industry. North Face, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Eddie Bauer, Calvin Klein and more. Their prices are great, and Costco is now generating more than $7 billion a year in clothing sales. I just wish they had dressing rooms.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS:Actor singer Ed Ames is 92. He was Mingo in the TV series Daniel Boone. Actor James Hampton is 83. F. Troop. Author Dean Koontz is 74. He has published 105 novels and sold over 450 million copies of his work. He also wrote under pen names of David Axton, Deanna Dwyer, K.R. Dwyer, Leigh Nichols and Brian Coffey.Actor Burt Ward is 74. Robin in Batman. Actor Tom Hanks is 63. “The only way you can truly control how you are seen is by being honest all the time.” Good advice.
Football Hall of Fame O.J. Simpson is 72. TV personality John Tesh is 67. Actress Kelly McGillis is 62. Top Gun. Actress rock singer Courtney Love is 55. Actor Brian Dennehy is 81. Actor William Smithers is 92. Best known as arch-villain Jeremy Wendell who frequently crossed paths with J.R. Ewing on Dallas. Trekkies will also remember his role as Capt. Merrick in the original Star Trek. Actor Lawrence Pressman is 80. Doogie Howser M.D. Singer Mavis Staples is 80. Singer Glenn Shorrock is 75. Little River Band.
Pop singer David Hodo is 72. The Village People. Actor Leonard Whiting is 69. Best known as Romeo in the ’68 version of Romeo and Juliet opposite Olivia Hussey. Singer Steve Lawrence is 84. Wife, Eydie Gorme died in 2013. Lawrence was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease last month. Actor Jeffrey Tambor is 75. Rock musician Jaimoe Johanson is 75. Founding member of Allman Brothers Band.
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso is 84. Musician& conductor Doc Severinsen is 92. Rock star Ringo Starr is 79. Singer musician Warren Entner is 76. The Grass Roots. Actress Shelley Duvall is 70. The Shining, Popeye. Actor Ned Beatty is 82.Deliverance, Toy Story3. Rock guitarist Richie Sambora is 60. Bon Jovi. Actor Harrison Ford is 77. Singer Louise Mandrell is 65. Soul singer Leon Bridges is 30. Singer Gene Chandler is 79. Groovy Situation.Former President George W. Bush is 73.
Sixteen years ago, Reese Witherspoon was pregnant (with her now 15-year-old son) and was filming Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde. There’s good news for fans (me). Sorority girl turned attorney, Elle Woods, is back. Legally Blond 3 is due for release in 2020. My stepfather would be so happy. He loved Reese Witherspoon, calling me once to say I HAD to watch Sweet-Home Alabama.
“The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten.” Cesare Pavese
They’re awfully cute but right now they’re making an absolute mess underneath my bird feeders…the grass won’t grow, and I usually end up either replacing or improving/repairing a bird feeder every few weeks. This last weekend I had to superglue the plastic plate on the raccoon/squirrel-proof feeder that I had just put a new roof on…because they pulled the roof off. I’m talking about raccoons. There was a fascinating article about these masked creatures in Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine last month. Did you know that most animals use either sight, sound or smell to hunt, but raccoons rely on their sense of touch to locate food. Their front paws contain four times more sensory receptors than their back paws. This allows them to differentiate between objects in the dark. They heighten their sense of touch through dousing which looks like food washing, but they’re actually wetting their paws to stimulate the nerve endings. Did NOT know that. A mother raccoon raises her babies by herself, keeping the family unit together long after weaning. Calvin Coolidge had a raccoon that was planned for Thanksgiving dinner (yum) but decided to adopt her instead. Rebecca became part of the family,wore an engraved collar, took part in the annual Easter egg roll and even accompanied the president on walks on the White House grounds. Coolidge also had a bobcat, a goose, a donkey, two lion cubs, an antelope and a wallaby as pets. Ok. You don’t have to read the Texas Parks & Wildlife article. I’ve told you almost everything that I read. Think of the time I have saved you.
“Children have this amazing way of becoming exactly who we tell them they are. If we tell them they are strong, they become strong. If we tell them they are kind, they become kind. If we tell them they are capable, they become capable. Speak life into your kids, so they will have what it takes to tackle their own life one day”.Amy Weatherly
You know the Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes. If you like them, you’re in luck. Little Debbie launched a Christmas in July edition of the tree cakes at Walmart.
American lawyer, Jaime Alvarez (46), wanted the ultimate selfie souvenir from “the running of the bulls” in Spain, but now instead has the memory of the bull’s horn when it went deep into his neck and fractured part of his cheekbone. He said, “The joy and the excitement of being in the bullring quickly turned into a scare, into real fear for my life”. Really.
English singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and actor Ed Sherran, loves ketchup so much that he teamed with Heinz on National Ketchup Day (June 5) to release Tomato EdChup, which is the regular variety of ketchup with a limited-edition label.(The Heinz Ketchup logo is tattooed on his bicep.)
Now Blue Bell has copycat lickers. A man (age 36, name not important, but age should be a factor) found an ice cream container, peeled back the lid, took two licks, stuck his finger into the ice cream then returned the container to the store shelf. He then posted the video on Facebook so he could be famous. Isn’t that the reason that people post stuff like this? The difference here is that he eventually went back and paid for the tub of ice cream. Hmmm. He was still charged with criminal mischief and unlawful posting of criminal activity. The young girl that started these crazy-ice-cream-licking-videos was not charged with an adult crime and name has not been released because she is under 17. Too bad.
“We cannot waste time. We can only waste ourselves.” George M. Adams
Donald Trump’s most recent proposed tariff on Chinese imports could result in a Bible shortage because approximately 150 million bibles are printed in China each year. The Bible is the top-selling book in the US.
“The important thing is not how many years in your life but how much life in your years.” Edward Stieglitz
An appeals court in Washington state has ordered a man to pay $40,000 to a piano teacher for emotional distress. The man would park his diesel truck next to the piano teacher’s home and remotely race the engine to drown out the sound of her lessons, setting off the vehicle’s alarm when students arrived for their lessons. Shame, shame, shame.
The Busy Bee convenience store and gas station in downtown LJ decided (after making some well-deserved renovations) that they would eliminate The Source Weekly as one of our over 600 locations for picking up a copy of the paper. We tried to explain to them that customers will ‘stop and shop’ when they get a new copy each week, but they weren’t convinced. So, to those that miss your paper pick-up location, remember there are 650 papers waiting for you at H.E.B. each week. Stands at each entrance.
On the 4th of July weekend, Gage (almost 23), Anne-Elisabeth (almost 20), and I (age not disclosed) went to see Toy Story 4. It doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s a great movie. Woody and the gang enjoy a road trip with Bonnie and new toy, Forky, where they meet long-lost friend, Bo-Peep. FYI. It’s still showing.
Have a great week and thanks for reading this…Lisa
