Happy hump day, Herd! That was some SOTU last night, eh? I wish I had my old dual attention span back. I kept missing what the Prez was saying because I was watching Boehner twitching for a drink and grinding his teeth.
I was also afraid they'd break in any minute with Dorner news. Dorner has made me think of a question. Among many.
Have you ever been picked on by police? How good a consumer are you? Do you like or hate shopping? When you watch TV, can you say afterwards what that commercial you just saw was for? (I used to work at a research place and was amazed at how commercial messages just don't stick with me.) Are you more of a word person or a number person? How do/did you handle telemarketers? Do you prefer things planned in advance or spontaneous?
The Twitter Emitter
We have some tweets on the SOTU:
The the response:
On This Day
In 1542 , Henry VIII’s 5th wife, Catherine Howard, was executed for adultery.
In 1689, William and Mary were proclaimed co-rulers of England.
In 1920, the Negro National League was formed.
In 1920, the League of Nations recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland.
In 1935, Bruno Hauptmann was found guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby.
In 1945, Allied planes began bombing the German city of Dresden.
In 1960, black college students staged the first of the Nashville sit-ins at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, allied warplanes destroyed an underground shelter in Baghdad that had been identified as a military command center; Iraqi officials said 500 civilians were killed.
In 2008, Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens denied having taken performance-enhancing drugs in testimony before Congress.
Born on This Day
1599 – Pope Alexander VII (d. 1667)
1683 – Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (d. 1754)
1769 – Ivan Krylov, Russian fabulist (d. 1844)
1849 – Lord Randolph Churchill, British statesman (d. 1895)
1873 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (d. 1938)
1889 – Leontine Sagan, Austrian actress and theater director (d. 1974)
1891 – Grant Wood, American painter (d. 1942)
1911 – Jean Muir, American actress (d. 1996)
1912 - Margaretta Scott, English stage and screen actress (d. 2005)
1915 – Lyle Bettger, American actor (d. 2003)
1916 – John Reed, British actor and singer (d. 2010)
1921 – Aung Khin, Burmese painter (d. 1996)
1923 – Chuck Yeager, American fighter plane test pilot
1928 – Dorothy McGuire, American singer (The McGuire Sisters)
1930 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian artist
1933 – Kim Novak, American actress
1933 – Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer
1934 – George Segal, American actor
1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)
1941 – Sigmar Polke, German painter
1942 – Carol Lynley, American actress
1942 – Peter Tork, American musician and actor (The Monkees)
1944 – Rebop Kwaku Baah, Nigerian percussionist (d. 1983)
1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress
1944 – Jerry Springer, American television host
1945 – King Floyd, American musician (d. 2006)
1946 – Richard Blumenthal, American Senator
1949 – Judy Dyble, British singer/songwriter (Fairport Convention)
1950 – Peter Gabriel, English musician (Genesis), composer and humanitarian
1956 – Peter Hook, English bassist (Joy Division and New Order)
1961 – Henry Rollins, American musician, comedian, and actor (Black Flag)
1964 – Yamantaka Eye, Japanese musician (Boredoms)
1976 – Feist, Canadian singer-songwriter
Died on This Day
1539 – Isabella d'Este, Marquise of Mantua (b. 1474)
1592 – Jacopo Bassano, Italian painter
1600 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (b. 1538)
1662 – Elizabeth Stuart (b. 1596)
1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (b. 1844)
1906 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (b. 1866)
1952 – Josephine Tey, English author (b. 1896)
1958 – Dame Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1880)
1958 – Georges Rouault, French painter (b. 1871)
1968 – Mae Marsh, American actress (b. 1895)
1976 – Lily Pons, French-born soprano (b. 1904)
2002 – Waylon Jennings, American musician (b. 1937)
2010 – Dale Hawkins, American singer and songwriter (b. 1936)
Today is
National Tortellini Day
National “Eat Italian Food” Day
Get a Different Name Day (perhaps they should call this National Sockpuppet Day?)
World Radio Day