DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Int'l Strange Music Day

International Strange Music Day was created by Patrick Grant, a New York City musician. The premise is simple: to get people to play and listen to types of music they have never experienced before. The ‘strange’ part can mean either unfamiliar or bizarre – the choice is entirely yours. Patrick believes broadening people’s musical spectrum can also change the way we look at other aspects of life – his mantra is ‘listening without prejudice’. This growing movement has concerts, a record label and strong support from summer schools, where it is appreciated as a great way to stimulate young minds. Have you ever wanted to combine a tight Wonder Woman costume, a frozen turkey drumstick and an inflatable wildebeest into a percussion concert? International Strange Music Day gives you the perfect excuse. What you do with these items once the music stops, of course, is your business…

Image result for top ten things knitting has taught me

Word of the Day

dusky

Definition:

(adjective) Characterized by little or inadequate light; shadowy.

Synonyms:

twilight, twilit

Usage:

I met him on the road one dusky evening, and he insisted on seeing me safely home.

Aug 20 at 4:59 AM

thanks, Shelley

Idiom of the Day

Lady Luck

— The personification of fortune, whether good or bad. (Sometimes spelled in lowercase.)

History

Pete Rose Is Banned from Baseball (1989)

During his 24-year baseball career, Rose played in more games and got more hits than any player in history. Even so, the onetime Most Valuable Player could not avoid a lifetime ban from the sport after being accused of betting on baseball games—including those of his own team. In return for not having the charges formally proven, Rose accepted the banishment, which rendered him ineligible for induction into baseball's Hall of Fame.

Siaka Stevens (1905)

Almost immediately after being sworn in as prime minister of Sierra Leone in 1967, Stevens was overthrown in a coup. He was recalled from exile after another coup 13 months later. In 1971, he became the first president of Sierra Leone, and during his tenure he made Sierra Leone a single-party state. His administration was plagued by corruption and economic mismanagement, and despite economic and civil turmoil, he remained in office until his peaceful retirement in 1985.

St. Bartholomew's Day

St. Bartholomew is the patron saint of beekeepers and honey-makers, and for this reason it was traditional in England for the honey crop to be gathered on August 24. Since the main ingredient in mead—an ancient alcoholic drink that is still made in some parts of England today—is honey, the Blessing of the Mead is also observed on St. Bartholomew's Day.

Why Do Stars like Adele Keep Losing Their Voice?

"I don't even know how to start this," Adele wrote in an online letter to fans on 30 June. The previous night, she had played the second show of a sold-out, four-night residency at Wembley Stadium.

READ MORE:

Opera singer Sigrid Onegin (1889–1943) having her vocal cords examined.

Why do stars like Adele keep losing their voice?

1456 - The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.

1869 - A patent for the waffle iron was received by Cornelius Swarthout.

Image result for 1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the U.S. non-stop. The trip from Los Angeles, CA to Newark, NJ, took about 19 hours.

1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the U.S. non-stop. The trip from Los Angeles, CA to Newark, NJ, took about 19 hours.

Image result for 1959 - Three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. senator while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. representative.

1959 - Three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. senator while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. representative.

1963 - John Pennel pole-vaulted 17 feet and 3/4 inches becoming the first to break the 17-foot barrier.

1978 - Bruce Springsteen appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone."

1989 - The U.S. space probe, Voyager 2, sent back photographs of Neptune.

1995 - Microsoft's "Windows 95" went on sale.

Image result for 1998 - A donation of 24 beads was made, from three parties, to the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The beads are said to be those that were used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from the Indians.

1998 - A donation of 24 beads was made, from three parties, to the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The beads are said to be those that were used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from the Indians.

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, August 24

You are a natural psychologist, with a special interest in, and insight into, personal relationships. You enjoy bouncing your ideas off other people. You don’t always follow others’ advice, but you love to ask, if only to stimulate conversation. Your needs for communication and mental stimulation are strong, and you are at your best when you are one-on-one. Partnerships are important to you – you seem to need company. You are somewhat fearful of change, as security appeals most to you. You are highly intelligent, and although you tend to come up with the best ideas through conversation with others, your ideas are nevertheless your own – you simply seem to come alive through your interactions. There may be immature or premature themes in your earlier relationships – some with this birthday partner up early, possibly due to a fear of being alone, and others might attract immature partners. Still others simply attract youthful, playful people into their experience. Famous people born today: Marlee Matlin, Stephen Fry, Dave Chappelle, Steve Guttenberg, Rupert Grint, Jared Harris, Chad Michael Murray.

READERS INFO

1947: Margaret Truman sang soprano with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony conducted by Eugene Ormandy. She was the only child of President Harry Truman and his wife, Bess. Margaret Truman was multi-talented and her career included singing, a radio program, television appearances and a writing career.

Margaret made her singing debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on a nationwide radio broadcast in 1947. During her singing career, Margaret performed in four concert tours and sang at both Constitution Hall (where she appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra) and Carnegie Hall. In addition to singing, Truman made a national television appearance on the Toast of the Town (later known as The Ed Sullivan Show) and interviewed her parents on Edward R. Murrow's show Person to Person. She was a host on a radio program called Weekday and also appeared on a radio program called Authors in the News. Margaret was also a published author who wrote 32 books including an autobiography, a book entitled First Ladies, and several murder-mystery fiction books.

Margaret Truman married Clifton Daniel on April 21, 1956, and they had four children. She passed away on Jan. 29, 2008 at the age of 83.

Mountain Echoes Literary Festival 2017

Aug 24-27, 2017 | Thimphu, Bhutan

The Mountain Echoes Literary Festival is the Himalaya’s best kept secret. In the land of the thunder dragon, writers, biographers, historians, environmentalists, scholars, photographers, poets, artists, musicians and more come together to engage in cultural dialogue, share stories and create meaningful memories. With the mountains as a backdrop, this festival is blissful and breathtakingly beautiful.

further information: Programme

Trinity Valley Quilt Show 2017

Aug 24-26, 2017 | Arlington, TX

Arlington Convention Center|1200 Ballpark Way

Members of the Trinity Valley Quilters Guild are behind the brilliance of the Trinity Valley Quilt Show. Hundreds of beautiful, intricate quilts are on display during this event for thousands of attendees to appreciate and purchase. A main attraction of Fort Worth, the show produces some of the most sought-after quilts in the North Texas area.

further information: http://www.tvqg.org/quiltshow

Mystic Rising Festival 2017

Aug 24-27, 2017 | Ashland, OR

New Frontier Ranch|16799 OR-66

Mystic Rising Festival is a small, intimate gathering of like-minded spirits. This boutique festival transcends your average music and arts festival to capture a deep sense of community and love. Be surrounded by hot springs, music, campfires, workshops and inspiration.

further information: Mystic Rising Festival 2017

Pictures of the day

A view of the eastern section of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, connecting Yerba Buena Island (in San Francisco) to Oakland, in California. The original bridge (right) opened in 1936, but was replaced by a new $6.4 billion bridge in 2013 as it was becoming unsafe. The bridge's original western section, really a separate bridge connecting mainland San Francisco to the island, remains in use. This photograph was taken in September 2013, several days after the transfer of traffic but before demolition of the old bridge began.

Ecosystem

As if to compete with the brilliance of the night sky, a towering termite mound puts on its own light show above the subdued landscape of Western Brazil. The effect is produced by one of the mound’s residents: larvae of the Brazilian click beetle (Pyrearinus termitilluminans). While the termites construct the mound, click beetles burrow into the porous earthen structure and lay their eggs inside. Like fireflies, click beetle larvae produce their characteristic green glow via a chemical reaction within their tissues. Rather than using the light to attract a mate, however, the larvae use their glow to attract prey: winged termites they’ll catch and eat as the insects emerge from the mound during the first weeks of the rainy season.