It’s a sad Tuesday now that Grania’s gone, but I know she’d want me to soldier on. And so I will, but in her honor today (and perhaps in the future) I’ll use the bullet-point format for events, births, and deaths that she used. (The points are taken directly from Wikipedia.) Normally I would prepare these posts the night before and, now being five time zones ahead of Chicago, ask Grania to insert the Hili dialogue—which Malgorzata sends me during her morning in Poland—for posting at 6:30 a.m. Chicago time. That will no longer happen—another sign of Grania’s departure, and of her importance to this site.
It’s Tuesday, June 18, 2019, and International Picnic Day. In Britain, it’s Waterloo Day, celebrating the British victory over Napoleon in 1815.
Today’s animated Google Doodle (below) click on screenshot) celebrates FALAFEL, which I love. But it’s very unusual for a Doodle to celebrate a foodstuff—and for no apparent reason. As C|Net reports:
This isn’t the first time Google has put food in the Doodle spotlight. In 2017, Google cooked up a slideshow to honor the rice noodle, and last year, Google celebrated the Fourth of July with an interactive map highlighting food from across the country.
Chickpea-based falafel, which can be prepared in many ways, is high in protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber, making it popular among vegetarians and vegans looking for an alternative to meat-based foods. Chickpeas are also low in fat and contain no cholesterol.
You can also make them as big as you like. In 2012, 10 chefs in Amman, Jordan, worked to create largest falafel ball ever — a 164-pound mammoth.
The very cute Doodle:
And now on to Grania’s format for events on June 18. Note the event in 1858, which precipitated the publication of On the Origin of Species.
- 1178 – Five Canterbury monks see what is possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the Moon’s distance from the Earth (on the order of meters) are a result of this collision.
- 1812 – The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison.
- 1858 – Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin’s own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
- 1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
- 1940 – The “Finest Hour” speech is delivered by Winston Churchill.
- 1983 – Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
A note: Here’s the famous bit of Churchill’s famous speech (the entire 30-minute speech is here). What a writer and rhetorician he was!
Those born on this day include:
- 1886 – George Mallory, English lieutenant and mountaineer (d. 1924)
- 1913 – Robert Mondavi, American winemaker and philanthropist (d. 2008)
- 1942 – Roger Ebert, American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Paul McCartney, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1948 – Sherry Turkle, American academic, psychologist, and sociologist
- 1952 – Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Lisa Randall, American physicist and academic
Those who expired on June 18 include:
- 1902 – Samuel Butler, English novelist, satirist, and critic (b. 1835)
- 1936 – Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1868)
- 1959 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (b. 1879)
- 1982 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1912)
- 1989 – I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili, who knows her scripture, quoted Matthew 6:26:
Hili: The birds of the air: they do not sow or reap but they are delicious.A: Luckily, they can fly.Hili: And that’s a problem.
Hili: Ptaki niebieskie nie sieją nie orzą, ale smakują wybornie.
Ja: Na szczęście potrafią fruwać.
Hili: I to jest pewien problem.
And all of today’s tweets came from Grania: these are from the last batch she sent me, and I’ll put up the final six tomorrow. I won’t comment on them.
https://twitter.com/41Strange/status/1137766357645156352
https://twitter.com/AddictedViral/status/1136060865097228288
https://twitter.com/DoggoDating/status/1136230009348251648
https://twitter.com/davidaslindsay/status/1134147921975418882
One comment: I saw two Hawaiin green turtles haul themselves out of the water yesterday to bask on the beach on Oahu’s North shore. I’ll post about that later. Here’s a rare leucistic one.
https://twitter.com/41Strange/status/1134126084495069185
https://twitter.com/41Strange/status/1134597416122896385
It doesn’t look to me like that dog is napping. Tolerating perhaps.
I will never think about Waterloo the same way after reading Stephen Clarke’s How the French Won Waterloo – or Think They Did. It’s an amusing look at how the French have spun Waterloo.
I feel a bit like that sad looking toad.
The face on the fish looks just like a sad emoji.
It is a sad day today. Grania is very missed, and will always be missed.
But I am so happy to see you post today Jerry and soldier onwards. My day just doesn’t launch without WEIT.
+1
Churchill’s speech but possibly not Churchill’s voice. The original was made to the House of Commons, but no recordings were allowed in the House. The broadcast version was thus a reading out of the speech, maybe by Churchill or maybe by an actor.
Richard Burton could do a good Churchill.
I’ve read Churchill later recorded speeches at the BBC.
I seem to recall that he recorded this in ’48 or ’49. I looked it up last year, I think, because I was surprised on listening to it that he seemed so laconic. Of course, the lack of noise from the House should have been a dead giveaway.
There is no evidence that the speeches we have from Churchill were done by an actor. His speeches were not recorded directly when he gave them, but he read them again to be broadcast by the BBC.
The original claim was made by David Irving — yes, the Holocaust denier — based solely on statements made by the actor, and those statements had many inconsistencies, including dates that were impossible to reconcile with actual history. The only other “evidence” is a 78 rpm record the actor’s son supposedly discovered, which was not of this famous speech and which was marked with a date two years later than the speech that was on that record.
I don’t know why this myth persists. Perhaps it’s part of the overall campaign to discredit Churchill over the years.
There is some evidence — read the link I gave.
You can definitely hear Churchills lisp in the speech. So either a very good actor, or much more likely Churchill recorded this for play on the BBC.
For those who’ve only seen photos of Grania & who are curious to hear her voice, HERE’S a video from eight years ago when she was “chair” of a four woman panel. She’s there right at the beginning opening proceedings.
DETAILS:
DATE: Saturday 4th June, 2011 @ Alex Hotel, Dublin.
Topic: Women Atheist Activists.
Panel: Paula Kirby UK, Tanya Smith AU, Bobbie Kirkhart USA & Anne Marie Waters IRL/UK.
I’ve avoided embedding out of respect for JAC & G’s family/friends who may not wish to see her face so soon.
Thanks for that. It is always good to hear and see finally, a person we have known for several years but unseen and heard on line. Something for the memory of Grania.
Thanks, Michael.
sigh
I hadn’t heard of the the five monks discovery of the Bruno crater on the moon. Checking with Wikipedia, there’s reason to doubt that idea:
“The expected odds of formation of a lunar crater of that size in the last 3000 years are on the order of 0.1%. The impact creating the 22-km-wide crater would have kicked up 10 million tons of debris, triggering a week-long, blizzard-like meteor storm on Earth – yet no accounts of such a noteworthy storm of unprecedented intensity are found in any known historical records, including the European, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese and Korean astronomical archives…
Based on photos from a lunar orbiter, the crater’s age has been estimated at 4 million years.”
What we’d call a “follow the sun” operation. Oh, the joys of having to simultaneously keep the Geology department of the oil company happy in London and the Well Engineering department in Perth. That’s Perth, WA, not Perth, Perthshire.
Love the “side-eye” on the “under-dog”.
In this odd little world of ours, there are many things which are beautiful. Freshly made falafel is one of them!