Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Lassie ~ Tuna Rice Casserole ~ National Zipper Day

  

Good 45º morning. 

 

 

Yesterday we topped at 96º.

 

 

Picture of the Day

 

 

 

Interesting about Lassie............

 

 

Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, Lassie Come-Home. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fictional female collie of the same name, featured in the British writer Elizabeth Gaskell's 1859 short story "The Half Brothers". In "The Half Brothers", Lassie is loved only by her young master and guides the adults back to where two boys are lost in a snowstorm.

 

Knight's novel was filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1943 as Lassie Come Home, with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six other MGM feature films through 1951. Pal's owner and trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, then acquired the Lassie name and trademark from MGM and appeared with Pal (as "Lassie") at rodeos, fairs, and similar events across America in the early 1950s. In 1954, the long-running Emmy-winning television series Lassie debuted and, over the next 19 years, a succession of Pal's descendants appeared on the series. The "Lassie" character has appeared in radio, television, film, toys, comic books, animated series, juvenile novels, and other media. Pal's descendants continue to play Lassie today.

 

An early depiction of Lassie is found in British writer Elizabeth Gaskell's 1859 short story "The Half-brothers". In the story, Lassie is described as a female collie with "intelligent, apprehensive eyes" who rescues two half-brothers who are lost and dying in the snow. When the younger brother can no longer carry on, elder brother Gregory, Lassie's master, ties a handkerchief around Lassie's neck and sends her home. Lassie arrives home, and leads the search party to the boys. When they arrive Gregory is dead, but his younger half-brother is saved. Thus, Gaskell apparently originated the character Lassie and, at the same time, defined the "Lassie saves the day" storyline that is the essence of subsequent Lassie tales.

 

According to writer Nigel Clarke in the "Shipwreck Guide to Dorset and South Devon", the original Lassie that inspired so many films and television episodes was a rough-haired crossbreed who saved the life of a sailor during World War I.

 

The fictional character of Lassie was created by English author Eric Knight in Lassie Come-Home, first published as a short story in The Saturday Evening Post in 1938 and later as a full-length novel in 1940. Set in the Depression-era England, the novel depicts the lengthy journey a rough collie makes to be reunited with her young Yorkshire master after her family is forced to sell her for money.

 

In 1943, the novel was adapted into a feature film, Lassie Come Home, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) that starred Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie was a hit and enjoyed favorable critical response. MGM followed this with several additional films, including a sequel entitled Son of Lassie (1945), starring Peter Lawford and June Lockhart, and Courage of Lassie with Elizabeth Taylor. A radio series, Lassie Radio Show, was also created, airing until 1949.

 

Between 1954-1973, the television series Lassie was broadcast, with Lassie initially residing on a farm with a young male master. In the eleventh season, it changed to U.S. Forest Service rangers as her companions, then the collie was on her own for a season before ending the series with Lassie residing at a ranch for orphaned children. The long-running series was the recipient of two Emmy Awards before it was canceled in 1973. Lassie won several PATSY Awards (an award for animal actors). A second series followed in the 1980s. In 1997, Canadian production company Cinar Inc. produced a new Lassie television series for the Animal Planet network in the U.S. and YTV in Canada. It ran until 1999.

 

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

Everyone loves tuna, so we're always looking for new ways to make it special. We sure found it with our Tuna Rice Casserole, a no-fuss dish of tender rice and crispy French-fried onions.

 

 

• 2 (10.75-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 (6-ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain parboiled white rice (see Note)
• 1 (2.8-ounce) can French-fried onions

 

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
    
2. In a 2-1/2-quart casserole dish, combine soup, milk, water, butter, and pepper; mix well. Stir in tuna, peas, and rice then cover.
    
3. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove cover and top with French-fried onions (see Note); bake 5 to 7 more minutes, or until onions are golden and casserole is bubbly.

 

***Long-grain parboiled white rice is also known as converted rice. Depending on the type of rice you use, cooking times may vary. Be sure your rice is tender before topping casserole with the French-fried onions.

 

Historically this date............

1945 – World War II – Fuehrerbunker: Adolf Hitler marries his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designates Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. Both Hitler and Braun will commit suicide the next day.

1945 – The Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United States troops.

1945 – The Italian commune of Fornovo di Taro is liberated from German forces by Brazilian forces.

1967 – After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before (citing religious reasons), Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title.

1986 – A fire at the Central library of the City of Los Angeles Public Library damages or destroys 400,000 books and other items.

1992 – Los Angeles riots: Riots in Los Angeles, California, following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King. Over the next three days 53 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed.

2004 – Oldsmobile builds its final car ending 107 years of production.

2011 – Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Kate Middleton.

 

And births this date include....

1917 – Celeste Holm, American actress (d.2012)

 

1951 – Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (d. 2001)

 

1954 – Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian

 

1958 – Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress

 

1958 – Eve Plumb, American actress

 

1970 – Andre Agassi, American tennis player

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Saturday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

National Zipper Day commemorates April 29, 1913, when the patent for the modern zipper was issued. The day celebrates something that we often do not think about and may automatically take for granted.

The first attempt at creating the zipper came from the inventor of the sewing machine. In 1851, Elias Howe received a patent for the “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.” However, Howe never marketed his invention and missed the recognition he may have received.

Forty-two years later, Whitcomb Judson began selling the “Clasp Locker.” Very similar to Elias Howe’s patent, this device served as a more complicated hook-and-eye shoe fastener. Judson started the Universal Fastener Company where he manufactured his new device and debuted it at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. There he met with very little success. Because Judson put his invention before the public for sale, he earned credit as its creator.

In 1906, the Universal Fastener Company also hired Gideon Sundback, a Swedish-American electrical engineer. He was highly skilled and known for his devotion to the company. On April 29, 1913, he was granted a patent for the modern zipper, known then as the “Separable Fastener.” He submitted modifications to his invention in 1917. Today we wear designs quite similar to the ones Sundback created in his patent. While he may have called them a separable fastener, we know them as zippers.

By 1923, B.F. Goodrich popularized the word zipper as it applied to use in the boots and pouches it made. The company even copyrighted the name for a time.

 

NATIONAL ZIPPER DAY HISTORY

The day commemorates the date in 1913 when the zipper was patented by Gideon Sundback on April 29, 1913.