Monday, October 1, 2012
Five things you need to know today, Monday, October 1
1. We have endured the weekend wash-out. Today, expect sun, a high of 67 degrees and a good wind off Buzzards Bay. 2. Word of the day: flirtationship. ‘Nuff said. First spotted in print Aug. 2. 3. This day in 1908, Henry Ford’s company produced the first Model T. The run would continue until 1927. That volume of a single model produced held the record until 1972, surpassed by the Volkswagen bug. Despite what some teachers and text books told us, Ford did not invent the automobile. Gottlieb Daimler did in Germany, his first autos sold in 1892. Ford evolved manufacturing techniques begun by American gun manufacturer Remington to apply the practice of exchangeable parts to an assembly line. Got an iPhone? 4. If you have an objection to …
Friday, September 28, 2012
Five things you need to know today, Friday, September 28.
It may be a dreary day, with an 80 percent chance of rain, a high of 64 degrees, a breeze from Buzzards Bay. Showers are more likely overnight, with a low of 56 degrees. Word of the day: mommy porn - pornographic literature for young mothers, a la 50 Shades of Grey trilogy. As the Red Sox fold their worst season in more than four decades, it’s good to remember Sept. 28, 1941 and 1960. This day in 1941 the Sox played the season finale, a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics. Ted Williams had eight at-bats, hitting in six of them. That lifted his batting average to .406 for the year. No one has bettered .400 since. This day in 1960, a 42 year old Splendid Splinter stepped to the plate for the last time. The game, with the …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Five things you need to know today, Wednesday, September 26, 2012.
If you love Portland, Oregon, you’ll love today’s weather. OK, the details - mostly cloudy, a chance of rain midday, a high of 76 degrees, rain likely at night, a low of 58 degrees. A completely local note - breezy off the sound. Word of the day: racebending - hiring actors whose race is different from the characters they portray. Tonight in 1960 Richard Nixon and John Kennedy did something no presidential candidates had. They debated live on TV. Here’s the legend, for any of you younger than, well, let’s just say younger. Nixon refused make-up and looked haggard. Kennedy looked telegenic. People who watched the debate said Kennedy won. People who listened to the debate on radio said Nixon won. Here’s a fact. Nixon refused televised …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Five things you need to know today, Tuesday, September 25
1. The National Weather Service predicts sunny skies and a high temperature of 69 degrees during the day, a low of 60 degrees tonight. A light wind will come off the Elizabeth Islands. 2. Word of the day: ground. Yeah, just ground. In a police log entry this weekend, police charged a man with assault and battery with a deadly weapon, to wit: the ground. It means he allegedly forced someone down. But, it’s an unusual enough event to think about this so common word and its many diverse and related meanings. From Old English, grund, it means the surface of the earth. As English has evolved, add to that bottom floor, the foundation for an argument, the preparation coat of a painting, the leftovers from coffee and a lack of electrical …
Friday, September 21, 2012
Five things you need to know today, Friday September 12, 2012.
1. The National Weather Service says expect a foggy morning, a partly sunny day with a high of 68 degrees, followed by more fog and a chance of showers, an overnight low of 58 degrees. What is this, Nantucket? 2. Word for the day - food baby. Freshly spotted in the September 15, 2012 Globe and Mail, this one has a chance of, unfortunately, lasting awhile. It means a distended stomach caused by overeating. Unfortunate, because we can spot the phenomenon to which word refers every day, in every village. 3. This day in 1938 the impossible happened, or that’s what they said just before it happened. A category 3 hurricane tore apart much of New England. Before the National Weather Service existed, a ship observed the beginning of the storm …
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Five things you need to know today September 20, 2012.
1. Weatherly, expect a day like Monday - sun, a high of 65 degrees, a wind from P’town. The wind may gust to 24 mph, but nothing like Tuesday. Tonight, with a low of 58 degrees, a breeze will blow so lightly we won’t know where it came from. 2. Word of the day : cash mob - people who act to support a struggling retail business. Tweet, mob, meet people, save a local business. 3. This day in 1881, Chester Arthur took the oath of office as the president of the United States. Wait a moment. Inauguration in September? Yes, back then, the country inaugurated presidents in March. September? It was an unusual year. Republican rutherford B. Hayes finished his first and only term, yielding to his friend James Garfield. An office-seeker felt denied…
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Five Things you need to know today, Wednesday, September 19
1. The bluster of yesterday will likely (90 percent) turn to bluster with rain today. A strong wind from Buzzards Bay will have gusts up to 34 mph. Expect a cloudy night with a low temperature of 53 degrees. 2. Word of the Day - victim: a living being sacrificed to a deity, one that is acted on by a force or agent, one that is tricked. The word has a confused etymology, generally from Latin through Old German, associated with holy, as in a sacrificial animal. American English has been fascinated with the word. It appears in many movie titles, beginning in 1917. The 1971 book Blaming the Victim gave a new nuance as making the victim responsible for acts against them. That led to the phrase “playing the victim,” the fabrication of …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Five things you need to know today, Tuesday, September 18.
1. Hope you had a chance to enjoy yesterday’s weather. Today, we have a 50 percent chance of showers after 11am, with a high of 72 degrees and a wind off the Sound at about 15 mph. The chance of rain increases to 80 percent tonight, the wind increases, too, with gusts as high as 48 mph. A higher low of recent nights at 65 degrees. 2.Word of the day: semiotics, the study of signs. Not billboards, not addresses, not “Route 6 Boston Next Right.” Please forgive me for advancing one of my intellectual passions. Semiotics considers the signs by which we communicate - verbal and non-verbal in immediate discourse, written language, the language of cinema, of professional wrestling - you name it (make a sign) semiotics studies it. One semiotic …
Monday, September 17, 2012
Five Things you need to know today, Monday, September 17.
1. The National Weather Service says to expect sunny skies with a high of 70 degrees and a light wind crossing Cape Cod Bay from Plymouth. It’s flannel sheet time, with an overnight low of 49. 2. Word of the Day: thrillax. Tourists have trended to a preference for experience over shopping. Now we have a word for it. It means combining thrills with relaxation, physical fitness on vacation, stimulate and relax. 3. Massachusetts opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Not every delegate attended the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention and of the 41 present in Philadelphia this day in 1787, three voted against the document. The proposed replacement for the Articles of Confederation created a strong federal government, but did …
Monday, September 10, 2012
Five things you need to know today, Monday, September 10.
1. After a chance of showers this morning, we can expect a sunny day with a high temperature of 69 degrees F. A stiff wind will come over Cape Cod Bay. Get the comforter out for a low of 53 overnight. 2. Word for the day: omnishambles. A mess in every way. (See next item.) 3. This day in 1897, London cabbie George Smith drove his cab into a building. He pled guilty as the first person in the world charged with drunk driving. 4. Here’s the secret ingredient in the sauce the guys who grill the chickens at the Marstons Mills Village Day spray on the chickens while they’re slowly grilling. Actually, only one guy makes the sauce and does the spraying. I know. I hung out with them during the process behind the library. They told me, “It dies …
