Brain Bender (Six Sentence Story) and Mash Up (Good Fences)

"What are you two poring over?" Stacy asked, peeking over her father's and brother's shoulders, "another piece of music from an ambitious student trying to write the latest hit?"

They were sitting side by side on the piano bench, and Jonathan turned to look at his daughter and say, "Sorry, I didn't even hear you come in."

"This piece of music must be fascinating, then," she continued.

"It is, Dad will have to tell you about it, I've got to get to my evening class," Alec got up and noted, "but don't let him bend your brain on it too much, we've been at it all afternoon and I'm about done in."

"It's a musical puzzle or riddle of some kind from my head professor at college, and I have to solve it to figure out what he was getting at," Jonathan explained as Alec left and Stacy took his place on the piano bench.

"Riddle, or a message in musical code?" she asked as she riffled through the pages, to which he responded, "I hadn't thought about a musical code!"

Linking up with Zoe's Uncharted Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Bend.

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Good Fences

Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.

There are four fences in a mash up here!

Today is:

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Thoughtful Thursday 

Blue Hill Fair -- Blue Hill, ME, US (beautiful "down to earth" country fair; through Labor Day)

Day of Solidarity and Freedom -- Poland (Anniversary of the 1980 August Agreement)

Eat Outside Day -- as long as you won't pass out from the heat

Eleusinia Games -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate; 3 days of games with grain as prizes)

Festal Day -- Order of the Eastern Star

Invent A New Sandwich Day -- spread around the internet like good mayo; go ahead, have fun with this

Independence Day -- Kyrgyzstan(1991); Malaysia (Hari Kebangsaan/Freedom Day, 1957); Trinidad & Tobago(1962)

International Day of Blogs and Bloggers 

International Overdose Awareness Day -- prevention and remembrance 

Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials -- Stamford, England (within the beautiful parklands of Burghley House, Stamford in Lincolnshire; through Sunday)

Limba Noastra -- Moldova (Day of Our Language)

Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival and Fair -- Morgan City, LA, US (celebrating the importance of the shrimping and petroleum industries in Louisiana, it includes one of the most unique children's villages among such events and a Blessing of the Fleet; through Labor Day)

Love Litigating Lawyers Day -- yes, G-d tells us to love everybody, even litigation attorneys but He never said doing it would be easy; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

National Trail Mix Day

St. Raymond Nonnatus' Day (Patron of babies, childbirth, children, expectant mothers, falsely accused people, infants, midwives, newborn babies, obstetricians, and pregnant women; Baltoa, Dominican Republic; against fever)

The Masters -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (The international horse show jumping competitions; through Saturday)

Umhlanga -- Swaziland (Reed Dance Public Holiday and final day, culmination of the Reed Dance Celebration begun last week and sponsored by the Royal Family)

Birthdays Today:

Jeff Hardy, 1977

Chris Tucker, 1972

Debbie Gibson, 1970

Glenn Tilbrook, 1957

Edwin Corley Moses, 1955

Richard Gere, 1949

Itzhak Perlman, 1945

Van Morrison, 1945

Jack Thompson, 1940

Marva Collins, 1936

Frank Robinson, 1935

James Coburn, 1928

Buddy Hackett, 1924

G.D. Spradlin, 1920

Alan Jay Lerner, 1918

William Saroyan, 1908

William Shawn, 1907

Arthur Godfrey, 1903

Maria Montessori, 1870

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Alice"(TV), 1976

"The Great Gildersleeve"(Radio), 1941

"The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper"(Play), 1928

Today in History:

Traditional date upon which Ayonwentah (Haiwatha) and Deganawidah (The Great Peacemaker) assist the Iroquois tribes in establishing the Confederation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy, or League of Five Nations), 1142

Lewis and Clark begin their expedition, 1803

A nuts and bolts machine is patented by Micah Rugg, 1842

The first professional football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 1895

Edison patents the Kinetograph, 1897

Mrs. Adolph Landenburg, a horse rider, debuts the split skirt, 1902

Debut of Foghorn Leghorn, 1946

Solidarity Labor Union forms in Poland, 1980

Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris, 1997

Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police, 2006

In Sudan, the People's Liberation Army announces it will demobilize its child soldiers by the end of the year, 2010

Left Behind (Wordless Wednesday) and Making Me Crazy (Words for Wednesday)

Doc, when you were operating, i think you forgot something:

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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This month, River is hosting Words for Wednesday, in which two groups of 6 words are provided, and you are challenged to write a story for each set, or one story incorporating them all.  The list of prompt words and my story follows:

This week's words are:

1. companionship

2. extenuating

3. complaisant (do not confuse with complacent)

4. nuns

5. competition

6. computer

and/or: 

1. bedevilment

2. concoction

3. splat

4. eaves

5. clutching

6. institute

"Those NUNS will be the end of me yet," he whispered through gritted teeth.

"Well, they aren't much COMPANIONSHIP, I agree, but they do seem very COMPLAISANT and cooperative," his co-worker answered mildly.

"They act that way, but to my mind they are CLUTCHING at every opportunity to be the BEDEVILMENT of our purposes for having them here at the INSTITUTE.  Just today, their Abbess or Mother or whatever they call her was telling me that the way the water runs off the EAVES of the building they use for a chapel was causing trouble when they go to prayer!"

"The COMPUTER model of our work suggests they shouldn't be here too much longer, and if we win the COMPETITION, it will be all worth it."

"Well, that CONCOCTION they invented that we brought them here to make for us better come through, or the SPLAT you hear will be me doing something drastic, and I will claim EXTENUATING circumstances."

Today is:

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Willing to Lend a Hand Wednesday 

Chatter Champion Announced -- Fairy Calendar

Columbia County Fair -- Chatham, NY, US (be a kid again at the 176th annual fair; through US Labor Day)

Constitution Day -- Kazakhstan

Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead (Nine Major Gods) -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of Charisteria -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day to give thanks)

Frankenstein Day -- in honor of Mary Shelley 

Huey P. Long Day -- Louisiana, US

International Day of the Disappeared -- Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Detained-Disappeared

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances -- UN

International Whale Shark Day -- WiseOceans has more information 

La Tomatina -- Buñol, Valencia, Spain (annual citywide food fight festival in which around 30,000 people take to the streets to pelt each other with tomatoes)

National Holistic Pet Day -- celebrating the growing interest in natural/holistic medicine for animals

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

Nugget Best in the West Rib Cook-Off -- Sparks, NV, US (with rib cookers from across the country competing, this is a rib eater's delight, and even includes a rib-eating contest and free nightly concerts; through Labor Day)

Popular Consultation Day -- East Timor

Santa Rosa de Lima -- Peru

St. Fiacre's Day (Patron of box makers, cab drivers, costermongers, florists, gardeners, hosiers, pewterers, taxi drivers, tile makers; against barrenness, fistula, haemorrhoids, piles, sterility, syphilis, venereal disease)

Talk Intelligently Day -- holiday thought up by someone tired of non-intelligent conversations (maybe with co-workers?)

Victory Day -- North Cyprus; Turkey

     Turkey's Hellespont Swim -- one of the world's busiest shipping lanes is closed so that over 300 participants can swim the Hellespont from Europe to Asia, a Victory Day commemoration of winning the Turkish War of Independence in 1922 against the Greeks

Anniversary Today:

Roman Polanski marries Emmanuelle Seigner, 1989

Birthdays Today:

Cameron Diaz, 1972

Michael Michele, 1966

Michael Chiklis, 1963

David Paymer, 1954

Timothy Bottoms, 1951

Lewis Black, 1948

Peggy Lipton, 1947

Frank "Tug" McGraw, 1944

Jean-Claude Killy, 1943

Elizabeth Ashley, 1939

Warren Buffett, 1930

Kitty Wells, 1919

Ted Williams, 1918

Fred MacMurray, 1908

Roy Wilkins, 1901

Shirley Booth, 1898

Huey P. Long, 1893

Claire Straith, M.D., 1891

Ernest Rutherford, 1871

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 1797

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Anna Lucasta"(Play), 1944

Twelve Years a Slave(Film), 2013

Today in History:

European leaders, in an attempt to end war "for all time", outlaw the crossbow, 1146

One of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty, begins between the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders, 1363

Capture of the entire Dutch fleet by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, 1799

Founding of Melbourne, Australian, 1835

Founding of Houston, Texas, 1836

Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in south Louisiana, the longest bridge over water (continuous, not aggregate) that is not also a viaduct, opens, 1956

The Hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union goes into operation, 1963

Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1967

Guion Bluford becomes the first African American astronaut in space, 1983

NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces, 1995

A commercial expedition to raise part of the sunken British luxury liner Titanic ended in failure, 1996

Harley-Davidson celebrates its 100th anniversary in Milwaukee with a parade of 10,000 motorcycles, 2003

India and Pakistan agree to release hundreds of fishermen and other civilians in each other's jails as part of their ongoing attempts to negotiate peace between their nations, 2005

Sumatra's Sinaburg volcano continues to erupt, two people are killed and 21,000 are evacuated from the vicinity, 2010

In Chile, 33 miners trapped half a mile beneath the surface make contact with their families for the first time in three weeks since the incidentally, 2010

Kittens and Evacuation Orders and rEcess, a Random Tuesday Post

And now, a bit of random news from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

Dumpling, the kitten we got from Dr. Bea, has been accepted by the shelter as part of their program, as long as i am willing to foster her.  She is sucking up canned food and occasionally licks the bottle, but won't actually suck on it.  She also tries to nurse on my shirt:

It's hard to get a picture at this angle, and you can see the ringworm medicine on her ears.

This week of house sitting and cat sitting has been made much more complicated by the addition of a kitten and the rain.

Speaking of rain, several people here in our area are already gathering supplies to go help in Texas, and the "Cajun Navy" is out rescuing people.  They have actually set themselves up with squad commanders in certain areas, and if you want to volunteer you take your boat and go to the commander of the area where you are assigned.  This way they are making sure every area is being searched, no one place is oversaturated with rescuers while another languishes waiting for help.

The people fussing about lack of evacuation orders need to remember that this situation was similar to the situation in Louisiana last year.  No one ever could have seen this coming or guessed exactly where the rain would end up, how it would impact one place so badly.  It's so easy to yell and cast blame in retrospect.  When looking forward, there's no foolproof way to predict, so please cut some slack to those in charge.  They made the best decisions they could with the information they had.

Which reminds me that there was talk of ordering an evacuation of NOLA because of this.  The pumps down there are not all working or all working at capacity.  If this storm had ended up sending more rain that direction, NOLA would have had trouble.

Therein lies the problem.  They were watching to see if they needed to evacuate people.  Often, by the time you actually realize how much damage is being done, it's too late to call for an evacuation.  Call for it too soon and end up with no need for it, then next time no one will heed it.  Call for it when you are certain you need it, and you may not be able to get everyone out fast enough.

These leaders walk a fine line, and i don't cast blame on any unless they willingly ignore obvious indicators.  That didn't happen here last year, and it didn't happen in Texas.

If you want to donate to a charity that will use the money only in the storm impacted areas, and that will stay around for the long term rebuilding, Convoy of Hope is a good choice.  They have an excellent Charity Navigator rating, too.    

There's not a lot going on here besides the usual, kids learning the hard way you don't put the bacon grease into the jar until it is cool (do you know how hard it is to clean that much bacon grease off of the floor?  you don't want to know), cats getting into anything they can possibly get into, and all of us wanting the rain to go move up to drought stricken areas and leave us alone for a while.

And rEcess is this Friday night.  Time for me to cook red beans.

Today is:

According to Hoyle Day -- death anniversary of Edmond Hoyle

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Touch a Heart Tuesday 

Birthday of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Chop Suey Day

Day of Loose Talk -- Fairy Calendar

Esala Perahera (Festival of Buddha's Tooth) -- Sri Lanka (two week festival honoring a relic held in one temple that is supposed to have a tooth of Buddha brought to Sri Lanka in the 3rd Century; one of Sri Lanka's most elaborate festivals)

Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, convulsive children, cutters, epileptics, farmers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; over 70 cities and countries around the world; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, spasms)

     Head Day -- Iceland (a weather omen day; whatever today's weather, it will stay the same for at least 3 weeks)

Individual Rights Day -- on the birth anniversary of John Locke, the first philosopher to argue that a human being has basic rights based on his status as a sovereign human being, and that people are not slaves of their government, but their human rights should be protected by government

International Day Against Nuclear Testing -- UN

Judgment Day -- according to "The Terminator"

Lemon Juice Day

More Herbs, Less Salt Day

National Sarcoidosis Awareness Day -- US (by presidential proclamation in 1991)

Runic Half-Month Rad begins (Motion)

Slovak National Uprising Anniversary -- Slovakia

St. Medericus' Day (also called Saint-Merri or St. Merry, acclaimed as the Patron of the Right Bank of the Seine River in Paris)

Tvimanuor -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (the name means "Double Month", and the origin is uncertain; perhaps because winter is coming and it's time to double up on the preparations)

Birthdays Today:

Lea Michele, 1986

Rebecca De Mornay, 1962

Mark Morris, 1956

Michael Jackson, 1958

`Richard Gere, 1949

Robin Leach, 1941

William Friedkin, 1939

Elliot Gould, 1938

John McCain, 1936

Richard Attenborough, 1923

Charlie "Bird" Parker, 1920

Isabel Sanford, 1917

Ingrid Bergman, 1915

Preston Sturges, 1898

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., 1809

John Locke, 1632

Today in History

Era of Diocletian (Martyrs), the last major time of persecution for the early Christian churches, begins with Gen. Gaius Aurelius V Diocletianus Jovius becoming emperor of Rome, 284

Japan mints its first copper coins, 708

The last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa, is executed by order of Francisco Pizarro, 1533

The first Indian "reservation" is formed by the New Jersey Legislature, 1758

Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction, 1831

The United Kingdom legislates the abolition of slavery in its empire, 1833

Treaty of Nanking signing ends the First Opium War, 1842

The first motorcycle is patented in Germany by Gottlieb Daimler, 1885

The chef of a visiting Chinese Ambassador invents "chop suey" in NYC, 1896

The Goodyear tire company is founded, 1898

The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers, 1907

Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California, 1911

The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, 1949

Speedy Gonzales makes his debut, 1953

The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, 1966

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party, 1991

Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast, 2005

Sumatra's Sinabung volcano erupts for the first time in 400 years, killing one and causing Indonesia to evacuate thousands of people, 2010

London holds the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, 2012

Austrian researchers announce they successfully grew 'cerebral organoids' or mini-brains, containing several distinct regions of the brain; the mini-brains will help scientists understand how brains develop, and what causes schizophrenia and autism, 2013

Awww Monday: Buff and Lace

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

This is Buff:

Buff belongs to #2 Son and Daughter-in-Law Becky.

This is Buff's sister, Lace:

Lace belongs to a friend of #2 Son.

When they visit, they love to play:

Today is:

Araw ng mga Bayahi -- Philippines (National Heroes' Day)

August / Summer Bank Holiday -- UK

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Motorist Consideration Monday 

Birthday of Nephthys -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Crackers Over the Keyboard Day -- internet generated: are we supposed to go crackers over our keyboard, or tempt fate by eating crackers over our keyboard?

Festival for Luna -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Festival for Sol -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Liberation Day -- Hong Kong (from Japan in 1945; no longer an official holiday, but still acknowledged by many)

Mariamoba -- Georgia (Assumption of the Virgin, celebrated based on the Julian Calendar followed by many Orthodox Churches)

National Bow Tie Day -- US, as per Bow Tie Aficionado (may i suggest bow tie pasta for dinner?)

National Cheese Sacrifice Day (Now you know why you purchased the cheese for the sacrifice! To let it age properly before the actual sacrifice. Still doesn't answer why we sacrifice it, anyway, or to whom.)

National Cherry Turnover Day

National Old-Time Country, Folk, and Bluegrass Music Festival -- LeMars, IA, US (largest and oldest festival devoted to rural music, arts, and crafts; through Sept. 3)

Ould Lammas Fair -- Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, Ireland (claims to be Ireland's oldest festival; through tomorrow)

Qi Xi -- China (Double Seventh or Chinese Valentine's Day, the 7th day of the 7th moon, the day all the magpies in the world form a bridge so the cowherd and the weaver can meet across the Milky Way, which separates them.)

Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day -- Wellcat Holidays suggests this to pep yourself up as you wait for things to come up on the screen

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day -- taking time out to remember the pets that are gone but not forgotten

Radio Commercials Day -- the first paid radio commercial was broadcast over WEAF of New York on this day in 1921

St. Augustine of Hippo's Day (Patron of brewers, printers, theologians; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines; Carpineto Romano, Italy; Ida, Philippines; Isleta Indian Pueblo; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Ponte Nizza, Italy; Saint Augustine, Florida; Superior, Wisconsin; Tucson, Arizona; Valletta, Malta; against sore eyes)

St. Hermes of Rome's Day (Patron of Acquapendente, Italy; Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italy)

Subway Day -- this date in 1965, 17-year-old Fred DeLuca opened what became the first Subway Sandwich Shop

Birthdays Today

LeAnn Rimes, 1982

Jack Black, 1969

Jason Priestley, 1969

Shania Twain, 1965

Emma Samms, 1960

Scott Hamilton, 1958

Daniel Stern, 1957

Rick Rossovich, 1957

David Soul, 1946

Lou Piniella, 1943

Paul Martin, 1938

Donald O'Connor, 1925

Ben Gazzara, 1930

Roger Tory Peterson, 1908

Charles Boyer, 1899

Leo Tolstoy, 1828

Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774

Johann von Goethe, 1749

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Lohengrin"(Opera), 1850

Today in History

The Third Crusade begins with the seige of Acre, 1189

6,000 Jews are killed in Mainz, accused of being the cause of the plague, 1349

St. Augustine, FL, founded, making it the oldest continuously occupied European city and port in the US, 1565

Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay, 1609

William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn, 1789

The first steam locomotive in the US, the "Tom Thumb", runs from Baltimore to Ellicotts Mill, 1830

The first issue of Scientific American magazine is published, 1845

The United States takes possession of the, at this point unoccupied, Midway Atoll, 1867

Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola", 1898

James E. Casey begins the United Parcel Service in Seattle, WA, 1907

WEAF in NYC airs the very first radio commercial, for Queensboro Realty, at a cost of $100 for ten minutes, 1922

Toyota Motors becomes an independent company, 1937

Nippon Television broadcasts Japan's first tv show and ad, 1953

Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes, 1961

Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech; Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie are murdered in their Manhattan flat, prompting the events that would lead to the passing of the Miranda Rights, 1963

The National Centers for Disease Control announce a high incidence of pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men; these will soon be recognized as symptoms of an immune disorder, which will be called AIDS, 1981

Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province, 1990

Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce, 1996

An electric blackout leaves 500,000 + without power and shuts down 60% of London's Underground, 2003

Hurricane Katrina begins to make landfall on the Gulf of Mexico, 2005

Lakhdar Brahimi, UN Special Envoy to Syria, says international law states that any action in response to Syria's use of chemical weapons must be decided by the UN Security Council, 2013