#1500 - Well OK good afternoon since it's almost 2pm here !

#1501~It is going to be an absolutely gorgeous day here in south central Iowa! :D

#1502~On this day in history:

1992 The "Long Island Lolita" is arrested

Amy Fisher, the so-called "Long Island Lolita," is arrested for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco on the front porch of her Massapequa, New York, home. Fisher, only 17 at the time of the shooting, was having an affair with 38-year-old Joey Buttafuoco, Mary Jo's husband. The tawdry story soon became a tabloid and talk-show fixture, the source of three television movies, and countless jokes.

Mary Jo Buttafuoco survived the attack but was left with a bullet lodged in her head and a partially paralyzed face. Fisher, who pled guilty to the shooting, was convicted of assault and received a sentence of 5 to 15 years the following year. Mary Jo called her a "prostitute," yet seemed to think her husband was blameless in the affair. The courts, however, were less forgiving; Joey was convicted of statutory rape and received a six-month jail sentence in 1993.

While in prison, Fisher claimed that she had been raped by guards and filed a $220 million lawsuit. But the judge who received the complaint said that it read like a "cheap dime-store novel." Fisher also claimed that her defense attorney, with whom she was having an affair at the time, coerced her into pleading guilty. This line of appeal was not very successful but Mary Jo Buttafuoco, apparently having a change of heart, eventually got Fisher out of prison.

After taking anger-management courses in jail, Fisher wrote to apologize to Mary Jo, who later appeared at her parole hearing and forgave her. Fisher was released on parole in May 1999, after serving six years. The Buttafuocos moved to California where Joey attempted to become a movie star and talk-show host.

#1503~Also on this day in history:


1873 Levi Strauss patents copper-riveted jeans

Acting at the behest of a Reno, Nevada, tailor who had invented the idea, Levi Strauss secures the necessary patents for canvas pants with copper rivets to reinforce the stress points.

Born in Buttenheim, Bavaria, in 1829, the young Levi Strauss emigrated to the United States in 1847. Strauss initially went into business selling dry goods along the East Coast, but in 1852, his brother-in-law encouraged him to relocate to the booming city of San Francisco. He arrived in San Francisco in 1853 with a load of merchandise that he hoped to sell in the California mining camps. Unable to sell a large supply of canvas, Strauss hit on the idea of using the durable material to make work pants for miners. Strauss' canvas pants were an immediate success among hardworking miners who had long complained that conventional pants wore out too quickly.

In 1872, Strauss received a letter from Jacob Davis, a customer and tailor who worked in the mining town of Reno, Nevada. Davis reported that he had discovered canvas pants could be improved if the pocket seams and other weak points that tended to tear were strengthened by copper rivets. Davis' riveted pants had proven popular in Reno, but he needed a patent to protect his invention. Intrigued by the copper-riveted pants, Strauss and his partners agreed to undertake the necessary legal work for the patent and begin large-scale production of the pants. Davis' invention was patented on this day in 1873. In exchange for his idea, Strauss made the Reno tailor his production manager. Eventually, Strauss switched from using canvas to heavyweight blue denim, and the modern "blue jeans" were born.

Since then, Levi Strauss & Company has sold more than 200 million pairs of copper-riveted jeans. By the turn of the century, people outside of the mining and ranching communities had discovered that "Levi's" were both comfortable and durable. Eventually, the jeans lost most of their association with the West and came to be simply a standard element of the casual American wardrobe.

#1504~See, there had to be something else good come out of Louisville, besides me. :D

1856 Telegraph ticker patent

Edward Hughes of Louisville, Kentucky, received a patent on May 20, 1856, for his telegraph ticker, the first ticker to print successfully. Hughes had already sold his patent rights to the Commercial Company for $100,000 in November 1855.

#1505~And, just what you always wanted to know:

What People Fish For (freshwater)
Courtesy American Sportfishing Association

Bass 35%
Trout 18%
Catfish 11%
All species 9%
Bream 6%
Crappie 6%
Carp/muskie/panfish/pike/shad/steelhead/striper 5%
Walleye 5%
Perch 3%
Salmon 2%

#1506 - I'm having a Monty Python day :D

Why is it that nobody remembers the name of Johann Gambolputty de von
Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-
dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-
ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-
spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-
nurnburger-bratwustle-gernspurten-mitz-weimache-luber-hundsfut-
gumberaber-shonedanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm

#1507 - yup you guessed it MORE Python

"And it came to pass that Saint Victor was taken from this place
to another place. Where he was lain to rest himself amongst sheets
of muslin and velvet.
"And there stroked was he by maidens of the Orient.
"For sixteen days and nights stroked they him, yea verily and
caressed him.
"His hair, ruffled they. And their fingers rubbethed they in oil
of olives, and ranneth them across all parts of his body for as much
as to soothe him.
"And the soles of his feet licked they. And the upper parts of
his thigh did they anoint with the balm of forbidden trees.
"And with the teeth of their mouths, nibbled they the pointed
bits at the top of his ears. Yea verily, and did their tongues
thereof make themselves acquainted with his most secret places.
"For fifteen days and nights did Victor withstand these maidens,
until he cried out, saying:
"'This...is fantastic! Oh...this is *terrific!!*'
"And the Lord did here the cry of Victor. And verily came He down
and slew the maidens. And caused their cottonwool bugs to blow away,
and their Kleenex to be laid waste utterly.
"And Victor, in his anguish, cried out that the Lord was a rotten
bastard.
"So the Lord sent an angel to comfort Victor for the weekend.
"And entered they together the jaccuzzi."

Here endeth the lesson.

#1508~Leave It to Beaver character Eddie Haskell became a Los Angeles police officer in real life.

#1509~Dutch master Rembrandt painted 64 self-portraits.

#1510~If you drilled a hole straight through the Earth from Buenos Aires, you would reach China.

#1511~The name of the dog in RCA Victor's trademark was Nipper.

#1512~An infant eagle is called an eaglet.

1513 ~ yahooooo my cheque book balanced!

#1514~Bibi, that's definite cause for celebration! :)