Tuesday, November 30, 2010

November 30, 2010

  • 70 years since Lucielle Ball married Dezi Arnez (1940)
  • 15 years since the official end to Operation Desert Storm (1995)
  • Billy Idol turns 55 (born 1955)
  • 110 years since the death of Oscar Wilde (died 1900)
  • Today is Cities for Life Day which celebrated by cities and countries that are opposed to the death penalty. The date is marked by the abolition of the death penalty by Joseph of Habsberg-Lorraine in 1786 for his grand Dutchy of Tuscany. Cities that participate mark the occassion typically by illuminating symbolic statues or building.

Available on DVD: November 30, 2010

New Movies
Knight & Day
Vampires Suck

Sunday, November 28, 2010

November 28, 2010

  • College Football/BCS: Today the BCS rankings will reveal which Big 10 team is the division champion and will go to the Rose Bowl since there is a three way tie (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State)
  • College Football/BCS: Similarly today's rankings will reveal which team in the Big 12 South will go on to play Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship next week for the opportunity to play in the Fiesta Bowl (3 way tie between: Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M)
  • American Actor Ed Harris turns 60 today (born November 28, 1950)
  • 35 years ago East Timor declared it's independence from Portugal
  • Other countries celebrating their Independence today include Albania (independence from the Ottoman Empire, 1912) and Mauritania (independence from France, 1960)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

November 27, 2010

  • 5 years ago the first partial human face transplant is performed in France by Dr. Bernard Devauchelle (2005). [note: earlier this year (March 20, 2010) the first full face transplant was performed by 30 spanish doctors, a second similar surgery happened later this year in July]
  • If Bruce Lee were still alive, today he'd be 70 (born Nov 27, 2010). He died at the age of 32 (July 20, 1973)
  • 915 years ago Pope Urban II declares the start of the First Crusade at the Counsel of Clermont (1095 AD)

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving Coversation Starters

I'm sure there will be plenty of blog post about Thanksgiving memories or pictures of golden baked turkeys today.

But maybe more than blog topics you might even need some Thanksgiving conversation starters? Here's some ideas for blog post, or conversations.

• Family - Why our you and your siblings different. Here's some ideas from a unique news story from NPR this week: Siblings Share Genes, But Rarely Personalities.

• Sports - Some big college football rivalry games over the long weekend, including a struggling Texas vs a strong Texas A&M; Nebraska vs. Colorado (to Big 12 teams leaving the conference in opposite directions); Florida vs. Florida State; Mississippi vs. Mississippi State; Virginia vs. Virginia Tech; South Carlonia vs. Clemson; Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State.

• Food - Discuss your favorite "trendy cook" and which cookbook you'd adopt as your kitchen bible (Ina Garten: The Barefoot Contessa, Rachel Ray: EVOO-loving Quick & Easy Chef, Ree Drummond: The Pioneer Woman, Bobby Flay: Mr. Throwdown, or someone else)

• Politics - South Korea/North Korea: Is it time to be agressive or is this the last thing that the world's economy and political stamina can handle?

• Movies & Comics - Want to discuss the new preview for Green Lantern but don't know where to start, the m0vie blog presents a nice 101 course in all things Green Lantern.

• Shopping/Trends - Black Friday seem different this year - maybe earlier, maybe more spread out, maybe a little extra 3 am-ish? LA Times has a good article on the subject: Black Friday becoming a week of discounts and extended hours

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

New Film Release - Wednesday Before Thanksgiving - November 24, 2010

Wide
Burlesque
Faster
Love and Other Drugs
Tangled

Limited
The Nutcracker in 3D

**Out on Friday November 26, 2010: The King's Speech

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Available on DVD: November 23, 2010

New Movies
Countdown to Zero
Eat Pray Love

The Expendables

Special Edition
Beauty and the Beast (2 Disk Diamond Edition)

November 23, 2010

  • 30 years since the Italian Earthquakes that killed 5000 people (1980)
  • Miley Cyrus turns 18 (born 1992)
  • Previous performances continue to get new life, The Doors release a "new" CD: The Doors - Live In Vancouver 1970 (2CD)

Monday, November 22, 2010

November 22, 2010


  • Anniversary of the founding of Denver, Colorado (1858)

  • 66 years ago the Humane Society was founded (1954)

  • 47 years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas (1963)

  • 15 years ago Toy Story is released, and is the first feature length film using entirely computer generated imagery (1995)

  • 5 years ago Angela Markel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany

  • Shawn Fanning, Napster developer turns 30 (1980)
  • 30 years since the death of silver screen actress Mae West (1980), she was 87 at the time of her death.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Holiday Travel & the News

Holiday travel offers it on joys and inconviniences, mostly inconviences. Here's some recent news stories that could offer plenty of blog-conversation:

Saturday, November 20, 2010

November 20, 2010

  • 25 years ago Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released (1985)
  • Vice President Joe Biden turns 68 (born 1942)
  • Today, a very unique football game at Wrigley Field where Northwest and Illinois will be playing using only one end zone for offensive plays (here's the ESPN.com link for more info) expect this to be a famous game discussed today, in the future, and in trivial pursuit games for many years to come.

Friday, November 19, 2010

World Toilet Day: November 19, 2010

World Toilet Day (Nov 19, 2010). Yes, World Toilet Day. Here's the link to the event information and the purpose of event as sponsored by World Toilet Organization.

UNICEF reports that 1.8 million people, mostly children die of diarrhoea each year.

It's not too late to submit your video (or vote on a video) in the Support a Movement video competion (deadline Dec 2, 2010) for the $500 prize for a poop video.

Random toilet fact 1: The first public toilets were believed to be popularized The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park London where people were charged a penny to use the toilets and attendents were dressed in white.

Random toilet fact 2: The first US patent for a toilet was granted in 1857.

This Weekends New Films - November 19, 2010

Wide Release
Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows - Part I (Warner Bros)
The Next Three Days (Lionsgate)

Limited Release
Heartless (Sci-Fi Horror, IFC)
White Material (Foreign, IFC)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Questions of The Day: The General Motors IPO

*Blog about today's question, and let me know either by placing a comment on this post or e-mailing me and I will place a link to your related blog post on this post**

Today (November 18, 2010) GM's stock has it's big inital public offering (IPO) coming out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.

The new GM will be selling 412 million shares at $33 a piece.

Many see this as the beginning of GM's comeback, as well as an opportunity for tax payers to recooperate from losses from the bailout (the government will retain a a one-third ownership in the company if all 412 million shares sell, which they plan on selling off as the stock price presumably rises).

So today's questions that might inspire an "Idea 2 Blog":

1. Smart Pants Question: GM has reformed their company in the past 9 months making huge adjustments to compensation packages, union agreements, and debt, but are these changes enough to make consumers trust this new company?

2. Memory Road Question: What was your first car you owned, was it General Motors family (GMC, Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac)? Whether it was or not, how much did the brand of the car influence your perception of this car?

3. Green Question: Many would suggest much of GM's near term success is in the Chevrolet Volt which launches later this month, what's your thoughts on this hyped plug-in hybrid?

November 18, 2010

  • 70 years ago New York Cities "Mad Bomber" places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building (1940). The Mad Bomber (George Metesky) would continue to terrorize New York City for the next 16 years.
  • George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept Nobel prize money with the famous quote " "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize." (1926).
  • Today the post-Bankruptcy General Motors IPO goes public at $33 a share.
  • Owen Wilson turns 42 (born 1968).

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

November 17, 2010

  • 10 Year Anniversary of the release of the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the top grossing film of 2010 (US Gross $260,044,825) (2000)
  • 210 Years since the United States Congress held it first session in Washington DC (1800)
  • 40 years since Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse (1970).
  • 100 years since the first American airplane fatality. Pioneer pilot Ralph Johnstone dies in Denver, Colorado crash. (1910)

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

November 16, 2010

  • 20 year anniversary of the film release of Home Alone. Home Alone was the top domestic grossing film of 1990 ($260,044,825) (1990)
  • 20 years ago, Bill Clinton Visits Vietnam, becoming the First US President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War (1990)
  • International Day of Tolerance as declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESECO) in 1995.

Available on DVD: November 16, 2010

New Films
Best Worst Movie
Cats & Dogs the Revenge of Kitty Galore
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Kid's Are All Right

The Last Airbender

New Special Edition
Avatar (Three Disk Extended Collector's Edition)

Monday, November 15, 2010

November 15, 2010

  • 65 years ago (1945) Venezuela joins the United Nations
  • 20 years ago (1990) Racehorse Alydar dies
  • The beginning of Winter Lent (or the Nativity Fast) for Eastern Orthodox which last 40 Days from November 15 until December 15
  • Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1 released today (2010)

Sunday, November 14, 2010

November 14, 2010

  • 20 years ago, November 14 2010 a treaty confirmed Oder-Neisse Line as the border between Poland and Germany
  • 40 years ago (1970) Southern Airways Flight 932 crashes near Huntington, West Virginia killing 75 people including members of the Marshall Univeresity football team.
  • World Diabetes Day, November 14 (as introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Association). The Day was chosen because it is the birthdayday of Fredrick Banting (1922) who with Charles Best conceived the idea that led to insulin
  • TLC premiers the 8 episode TV show Sarah Palin's Alaska tonight

Saturday, November 13, 2010

November 13, 2010

  • 300 Years since the birth of French Dramatist Charles Simon Favart
  • 100 Years since the birth of American journalist, screenwriter, novelist William Bradford Huie
  • The Christian feast of Saint Homobonus, patron saint of Business People, Tailors, and Shoemakers
  • World Kindness Day (Introdcued in 1998 by the World Kindness Organization as part of the World Kidness Movement

Friday, November 12, 2010

This Weekends New Films - November 12, 2010

Wide Release
Morning Glory (Paramont)
Skyline (Universal)
Unstoppable (Fox)

Limited Release
Cool It (Documentary by Road Side Attractions)
Tiny Furniture (Comedy by IFC)