Good 31º somewhat foggy icy morning.
Yesterday early evening I met Brian, Jen, Sami, Tucker, and Jean at Si Casa Flores. This is the restaurant Sami wanted to have her birthday dinner at.....
Tucker, Jean, Jen
Me, Sami, Brian
The restaurant personnel came and sang happy birthday to Sami!
At the table next to us was a lady also celebrating her birthday yesterday and she was 97!! We all sang and clapped and toasted her!
Picture of the Day ..... parenting in the wilderness...
Interesting about 007......
Thomas Sean Connery, named Thomas after his grandfather, was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland on 25 August 1930. His mother, Euphemia McBain "Effie" (née McLean), was a cleaning woman, and his father, Joseph Connery, was a factory worker and lorry driver. His paternal grandfather's parents emigrated to Scotland from Ireland in the mid-19th century. The remainder of his family was of Scottish descent, and his maternal great-grandparents were native Scottish Gaelic speakers from Fife (unusually, for a speaker of the language), and Uig on Skye.
His father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was a Protestant. He has a younger brother, Neil. Connery has said that he was called Sean, his middle name, long before becoming an actor, explaining that when he was young he had an Irish friend named Séamus and that those who knew them both had decided to call Connery by his middle name whenever both were present. He was generally referred to in his youth as "Tommy".
Although he was small in primary school, he grew rapidly around the age of 12, reaching his full adult height of 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) at 18. He was known during his teen years as "Big Tam", and has stated that he lost his virginity to an adult woman in an ATS uniform at the age of 14.
Afterward he returned to the co-op, then worked as, among other things, a lorry driver, a lifeguard at Portobello swimming baths, a labourer, an artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art, and after a suggestion by former Mr. Scotland, Archie Brennan, a coffin polisher. The modelling earned him 15 shillings an hour. Artist Richard Demarco, at the time a student who painted several early pictures of Connery, described him as "very straight, slightly shy, too, too beautiful for words, a virtual Adonis".
Connery began bodybuilding at the age of 18, and from 1951 trained heavily with Ellington, a former gym instructor in the British army. While his official website claims he was third in the 1950 Mr. Universe contest, most sources place him in the 1953 competition, either third in the Junior class or failing to place in the Tall Man classification. Connery stated that he was soon deterred from bodybuilding when he found that the Americans frequently beat him in competitions because of sheer muscle size and, unlike Connery, refused to participate in athletic activity that could make them lose muscle mass.
While in Edinburgh, Connery was targeted by the Valdor gang, one of the most ruthless in the city. He was first approached by them in a billiard hall where he prevented them from stealing his jacket, and was later followed by six gang members to a 15-foot-high balcony at the Palais. There, Connery launched an attack singlehandedly against the gang members, grabbing one by the throat and another by a biceps and cracked their heads together. From then on he was treated with great respect by the gang, and gained a reputation as a "hard man".
Connery first met Michael Caine at a party during the production of South Pacific in 1954, and the two later became close friends.
James Bond: Dr No and From Russia With Love
Connery's breakthrough came in the role of British secret agent James Bond in Dr. No (1962). He was reluctant to commit to a film series, but understood that if the film succeeded, his career would greatly benefit.
Connery's selection for the role of James Bond owed a lot to Dana Broccoli, wife of producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who is reputed to have been instrumental in persuading her husband that Sean Connery was the right man.[43] James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, originally doubted Connery's casting, saying, "He's not what I envisioned of James Bond looks", and "I'm looking for Commander Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man", adding that Connery (muscular, 6'2", and a Scot) was unrefined. Fleming's girlfriend Blanche Blackwelltold him that Connery had the requisite sexual charisma, and Fleming changed his mind after the successful Dr. No première. He was so impressed, he created a half-Scottish, half-Swiss heritage for Bond in the later novels.
Pecan Pie Muffins
Prep Time:5 minutes Cook Time:25 minutesTotal Time:30 minutes Servings: 12
All of the flavors of Pecan Pie in muffins that are so easy to make! The perfect way to enjoy pie for breakfast?
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or rice flour for gluten-free)
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- Melt the butter an sugar in a small sauce pan, let cool and mix in the eggs followed by the flour and then the pecans.
- Divide the batter between 12, greased, muffin holes in a muffin pan and bake in a preheated 350º oven until the muffins are lightly golden brown and a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes
Historically this date.........
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
1845 – Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
1931 – The United States adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem.
1991 – An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
2005 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling.
And births this date include....
1847 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian inventor (d. 1922)
1882 – Charles Ponzi, Italian criminal (d. 1949)
... ah ha! the ponzi scheme!
1911 – Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
1971 – Tyler Florence, American chef and author
All I know. Nuff said. Happy Sunday. Ciao.
xo Sue Mom Bobo
Written by Francis Scott Key, the “Star Spangled Banner” is the national anthem of the United States of America. National Anthem Day commemorates the day our nation adopted “The Star Spangled Banner” as our National Anthem.
The story behind “The Star Spangled Banner” is as moving as the anthem itself. While an attorney, Key was serving in the Georgetown Light Field Artillery during the War of 1812. In 1814 his negotiation skills as a lawyer were called upon to release Dr. William Beane who was a prisoner on the British naval ship, Tonnant. Early in September Key traveled to Baltimore in the company of Colonel John Skinner to begin negotiations.
Key and Skinner secured Beane’s release, but since the British navy had begun attacking Baltimore, the trio had to wait at sea to return to Georgetown.
Fort McHenry is built on a peninsula of the Patapsco River, and the city of Baltimore is just across the Northwest Branch. In 1814, the population of Baltimore was roughly 50,000 people, hardly the metropolis it is today. The country itself was still young, and often families of soldiers lived nearby and provided support to their soldiers.
The British navy abandoned Baltimore and turned their full attention on Fort McHenry on September 13. As the 190-pound shells began to shake the fort, mother nature brought a storm of her own. Thunder and rain pelted the shore along with the bombs and shells. Throughout the night, parents, wives, and children in their homes could hear and feel the bomb blasts across the way. There were reports of the explosions being felt as far away as Philadelphia. It was a long night of fear, worry and providing comfort to one another.
At sea, Key had a similar night. Being a religious man, one who believed the war could have been avoided, he watched the bombs bursting in air over the water and steadily pummeling Fort McHenry. It was undoubtedly a sight to behold.
For 25 hours the star-shaped fort manned by approximately 1,000 American soldiers endured over 1,500 cannon shots. The Fort answered with their own with almost no effect.
In the early morning of September 14th, after Major George Armistead’s troops stopped the British landing party in a blaze of gunfire, the major ordered the oversized American flag raised in all its glory over Fort McHenry. Sewn a few months before by Mary Pickersgill and her daughter, the enormous banner replaced the storm flag which had flown during battle.
As Key waited at sea for dawn to break and smoke to clear, imagine the inspiring sight in the silence of the morning to see his country’s flag fully unfurled against the breaking of the day and the fort standing firm. 
Key was so moved by the experience he immediately began penning the lyrics to a song which were later published by his brother-in-law as a poem titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry.”
HOW TO OBSERVE
Sing the Star Spangled Banner. Did you know there are three more verses to the original song? As a challenge, try learning them all. Use #NationalAnthemDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
Nearly 117 years passed after Key penned “Defence of Fort M’Henry” before it became the national anthem of the United States of America. “Hail Columbia” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” held honorary places as patriotic songs. But, the United States didn’t have an officially declared anthem until a congressional resolution, signed by President Herbert Hoover, until “The Star Spangled Banner” became the national anthem of the United States of America on March 3rd, 1931.
*Historical note: The spelling of “defence” in the original title of Key’s song is correct for the period.
