Good morning; it’s June 20, 2017, and the first FULL day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere (it began at 6:28 a.m EDT yesterday). It’s also National Vanilla Milkshake Day, celebrating a drink I don’t understand. And it’s World Refugee Day. And thanks to the many readers who told me about the article on genetics and cat dispersal published in Nature. I forgot to bring it home with me last night (and can’t read science in a computer screen), but will post on it tomorrow.
On this day in 1248, the University of Oxford got its official Royal Charter; it’s been going nearly 8 centuries! In 1837, Victoria became Queen of England, and in 1900 the Boxer Rebellion began. On June 20, 1972, Rose Mary Woods discovered the dubious 18.5-minute gap in the White House tapes recording a conversation between between Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon and H. R. Haldeman. Finally, on this day in 1975, the blockbuster film “Jaws” was released in the U.S.
Notables born on this day include Errol Flynn (1909), Chet Atkins (1924), Audie Murphy (1925), Eric Dolphy (1928), Brian Wilson (1942), Anne Murray (1945), Lionel Richie (1949), and Nicole Kidman (1967). In honor of Mr. Atkins, here he is playing a favorite, “Mr. Sandman,” in 1954:
Those who died on June 20 include Josef Breuer (1925), Bugsy Siegel (1947), and Bernard Baruch (1965). Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili faces a mystery:
Hili: Something is eating the leaves of the quince.A: Do you see what it is?Hili: No, it’s already gone away.
Hili: Coś zjada liście pigwy.
Ja: Widzisz co?
Hili: Nie, już sobie poszło.
Leon is again out in the garden at the site of his future home, and is hankering for dinner:
Leon: Have you managed to hunt something for supper or shall I show you how to do it?
And in Winnipeg, Gus has been doing a bit of hunting himself. His staff reports:
Gus had just been attempting to catch a fly. He missed.
Minor point of astronomical pedantry: the solstice occurs at 04:24 UT tomorrow, 21 June. That’s 00:24 EDT on 21 June, or 23:24 CDT on 20 June. Summer hasn’t begun yet, astronomically speaking. (Data taken from the web sites of Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office [http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/data/ais/pdf/ais104.pdf] and the U.S. Naval Observatory [http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/EarthSeasons.php].)
Thanks. The solstices are something I make it a point never to miss.
😉
Malt would add a lot, but although I like vanilla ice cream, a shake made with it seems a bit bland. Give me a chocolate malted shake any time, maybe with some banana bits mixed in.
Oh man, they’re so good. Malted or not, I will drink your milkshake. I’ll drink it up!
*Obligatory Daniel Day-Lewis gif not included*
Does make a difference if it is what is called here “French vanilla” – the white kind, not yellow, IOW.
(I mention the colours because some places apparently reverse them – calling “French vanilla” the yellow kind.)
What – like Horlicks?
exactly,lol
It just so happens that I have some vanilla ice cream and some malt powder, so I’m having a vanilla malted for breakfast.
I had a college girlfriend who criticized my liking for vanilla ice cream. She called it “just plain”. My reply was that vanilla was a subtle flavor that took a refined sense of taste to appreciate.
Oh, and Vanilla Plain is the second best track from the first Roxy Music album (1972).
Chet Atkins is in my top five favcrite guitarists of all times. So many great songs, from the rocking to the rolling to the beautiful (the latter category includes my favorite: So Soft, Your Goodbye).
‘…the dubious 18.5-minute gap in the White House tapes recording a conversation between between Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon and H. R. Haldeman.’
There was a great cartoon back then of Nixon saying “Let me make myself per______________tly clear.”
From what I understand of Freud and Breuer’s collaboration was that after Freud got what he wanted from Breuer, he really shafted him.
Is that wording you want to use when Freud is involved? 🙂