Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Singer John Denver ~ Fried Cornmeal Mush ~ National Oyster Day

  

Good 59º clear sunny morning.

 

 

Yesterday we started at 62º and topped at 105º. We had some smoke in the skies. 

 

 

 

Picture of the Day..... crazy clouds! 😁

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting about John Denver........

 

                                            1973

 

Henry Johen Dutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the 1970s and one of the bestselling artists in that decade. AllMusic has called Denver "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".

 

Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he wrote himself. He had 33 albums and singles that were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S by the RIAA, with estimated sales of more than 33 million units. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, disdain for city life, enthusiasm for music, and relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, earning 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads"; "Poems, Prayers & Promises"; "Annie's Song"; "Rocky Mountain High"; "Calypso"; "Thank God I'm a Country Boy"; and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".

 

                      Doris Day and John 1975

Denver appeared in several films and television specials during the 1970s and 1980s, including the 1977 hit Oh, God!, in which he starred alongside George Burns. He continued to record into the 1990s, also focusing on environmental issues as well as lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress to protest censorship in music. Known for his love of Colorado, Denver lived in Aspen for much of his life. In 1974, Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007, and West Virginia did the same for "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in 2014.

 

An avid pilot, Denver was killed at age 53 in a single-fatality crash while piloting a recently purchased light plane in 1997.

Early life

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. was born on December 31, 1943, in Roswell, New Mexico, to Erma Louise (née Swope; 1922–2010) and Captain Henry John "Dutch" Deutschendorf Sr. (1920–1982),^[9] a United States Army Air Forces pilot stationed at Roswell Army Air Field. Captain Deutschendorf Sr. was a decorated pilot who set a number of air speed records in a Convair B-58 Hustler in 1961.

 

John Denver's first guitar.

In his 1994 autobiography Take Me Home, Denver described his father as a stern man who could not show his love for his children. With a military father, Denver's family moved often, and he found difficulty gaining friends and assimilating with children of his own age. The introverted Denver often felt misplaced and did not know where he truly belonged. While stationed at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, the Deutschendorfs purchased a home and lived there from 1951 to 1959. Denver lived in Tucson from ages six to 14.

 

During these years, Denver attended Mansfeld Junior High School and was a member of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus for two years. He was content in Tucson, but his father was transferred to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. The family later moved to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, where Denver graduated from Arlington Heights High School. Denver was distressed with life in Fort Worth, and in his third year of high school, he drove his father's car to California to visit family friends and begin his music career. His father flew to California in a friend's jet to retrieve him, and Denver reluctantly returned to complete his schooling.

 

Early career

At age 11, Denver received an acoustic guitar from his grandmother. He learned to play well enough to perform at local clubs by the time he was in college. Denver decided to change his name when Randy Sparks, founder of the New Christy Minstrels, suggested that 'Deutschendorf' would not fit comfortably on a marquee. Denver attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock and sang in a folk-music group, "The Alpine Trio", while studying architecture. He was also a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Denver dropped out of Texas Tech in 1963 and moved to Los Angeles, where he sang in folk clubs. In 1965, Denver joined The Chad Mitchell Trio, replacing founder Chad Mitchell. After more personnel changes, the trio later became known as "Denver, Boise, and Johnson" (John Denver, David Boise, and Michael Johnson).

 

In 1969, Denver abandoned band life to pursue a solo career and released his first album for RCA Records, Rhymes & Reasons. Two years earlier, he had made a self-produced demo recording of some of the songs he played at his concerts. It included a song Denver had written called "Babe, I Hate to Go", later renamed "Leaving on a Jet Plane". He made several copies and gave them out as presents for Christmas. Milt Okun, who produced records for The Chad Mitchell Trio and folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, had become Denver's producer as well. Okun brought the unreleased "Jet Plane" song to Peter, Paul and Mary. Their rendition hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Denver's song also made it to No. 2 in the UK in February 1970, having also made No. 1 on the US Cash Box chart in December 1969.

 

Denver's next album, Poems, Prayers & Promises (1971), was a breakthrough for him in the United States, thanks in part to the single "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which went to No. 2 on the Billboard charts despite the first pressings of the track being distorted. Its success was due in part to the efforts of his new manager, future Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub, who signed Denver in 1970. Weintraub insisted on a reissue of the track and began a radio airplay campaign that started in Denver, Colorado. Denver's career flourished thereafter, and he had a series of hits over the next four years. In 1972, Denver had his first Top Ten album with Rocky Mountain High, with its title track reaching the Top Ten in 1973. In 1974 and 1975, Denver had a string of four No. 1 songs ("Sunshine on My Shoulders", "Annie's Song", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "I'm Sorry") and three No. 1 albums (John Denver's Greatest Hits, Back Home Again, and Windsong).

 

Personal life

Denver's first marriage, in 1967, was to Annie Martell of St. Peter, Minnesota. She was the subject of his song "Annie's Song", which he composed in ten minutes as he sat on a Colorado ski lift. They lived in Edina, Minnesota, from 1968 to 1971. After the success of "Rocky Mountain High", inspired by a camping trip with Annie and some friends, Denver bought a residence in Aspen, Colorado. He lived in Aspen until his death. The Denvers adopted a boy, Zachary John, and a girl, Anna Kate, who, Denver said, were "meant to be" theirs. Denver once said, "I'll tell you the best thing about me. I'm some guy's dad; I'm some little gal's dad. When I die, Zachary John and Anna Kate's father, boy, that's enough for me to be remembered by. That's more than enough." Zachary was the subject of "A Baby Just Like You", a song that included the line "Merry Christmas, little Zachary" which he wrote for Frank Sinatra. Denver and Martell divorced in 1982. In a 1983 interview shown in the documentary John Denver: Country Boy (2013), Denver said that career demands drove them apart; Martell said they were too young and immature to deal with Denver's sudden success. To drive home the point that their assets were being split in the divorce, he cut their marital bed in half with a chainsaw.

 

Denver married Australian actress Cassandra Delaney in 1988 after a two-year courtship. Settling at Denver's home in Aspen, the couple had a daughter, Jesse Belle. Denver and Delaney separated in 1991 and divorced in 1993. Of his second marriage, Denver said that "before our short-lived marriage ended in divorce, she managed to make a fool of me from one end of the valley to the other".

 

                                      ^1995

In 1993, Denver pleaded guilty to a drunken driving charge and was placed on probation. In August 1994, while still on probation, he was again charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence after crashing his Porsche into a tree in Aspen. Though a July 1997 trial resulted in a hung jury on the second DUI charge, prosecutors later decided to reopen the case, which was closed only after Denver's accidental death in October 1997. In 1996, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) determined that Denver was medically disqualified from operating an aircraft due to his failure to abstain from alcohol; in October 1995, following Denver's drunk-driving conviction, the FAA had directed Denver to abstain from alcohol if he wished to continue flying airplanes.

 

Death

Denver died on the afternoon of October 12, 1997, when his light homebuilt aircraft, a Rutan Long-EZ with registration number N555JD, crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California, while making a series of touch-and-go landings at the nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport. He was the plane's only occupant. The official cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma resulting from the crash.

 

Denver was a pilot with over 2,700 hours of experience. He had pilot ratings for single-engine land and sea, multi-engine land, glider and instrument. Denver also held a type rating in his Learjet. He had recently purchased the Long-EZ aircraft, made by someone else from a kit, and had taken a half-hour checkout flight with the aircraft the day before his accident.

 

Denver was not legally permitted to fly at the time of the crash. In previous years, he had been arrested several times for drunk driving. In 1996, nearly a year before the accident, the FAA learned that Denver had failed to maintain sobriety by not refraining entirely from alcohol and revoked his medical certification. However, it was determined that the crash was not caused or influenced by alcohol use; an autopsy found no signs of alcohol or other drugs in Denver's body.

 

^{If you want to read a lot more, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver}

 

 

 

• From Mr. Food

 

YIELDS

8 slices

CHILL TIME

2 Hr

COOK TIME

20 Min

This old-fashioned recipe for Fried Cornmeal Mush is one that won't ever go out of style. Most Midwesterners will tell you it's one of their go-to breakfast staples, while some folks will say it makes a tasty side dish! However you eat it, there's no denying it's gooood.

 

• 2 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup bacon bits
• maple syrup for drizzling

 

 

1. Coat an 8- x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil over medium heat. Gradually stir in cornmeal, cold water, sugar, and salt; cook until thick. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour into loaf pan, cool, and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Invert onto board and cut into 1-inch slices.
4. In a skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat and fry cornmeal slices for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle with bacon bits and drizzle with maple syrup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historically this date

1884 – The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.

 

1914 – In Cleveland, Ohio, the first electric traffic light is installed.

1949 – In Ecuador, an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6,000.

 

1957 – American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.

1981 – Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.

And births this date include....

1911 – Robert Taylor, American actor (d. 1969)

 

1930 – Neil Armstrong, American astronaut (d.2012)

 

1935 – John Saxon, American actor (d.2020)

 

1946 – Loni Anderson, American actress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

xo Sue Mom Bobo

Get slurping on August 5th with National Oyster Day! Oysters are enjoyed as a seafood in many parts of the world.

Did you know there are over 100 different species of oysters?  Interestingly, oysters tend to take on the characteristics of the water in which they live. Because of this, they’re typically named after the body of water in which they’re grown.

While many people enjoy fresh oysters raw, the shellfish can be savored in multiple ways. As a side dish, oysters add immense flavor to Thanksgiving dressing. They also make flavorful stews, soups, and chowders. Other recipes will bake, grill or broil the oysters with or without the shell.

These mollusks provide valuable nutrients whether eaten cooked or raw. Since oysters supply a high amount of vitamins B12 and A, they may benefit heart, skin, and brain health. These vitamins also support lung and kidney function. Additionally, oysters benefit the environment since their valves are capable of cleansing an ecosystem of pollutants.

Here are some other exciting oyster facts:

• The Chesapeake Bay produces more oysters in the world than any other body of water. 
• The world loves oysters! We consume almost two billion pounds of oysters each year around the world.
• Illustrating how the body of water influences the flavor of the oysters, the east and west coast U.S. oysters taste very different from each other. On the east coast, oysters tend to be smaller, milder and saltier. However, west coast oysters take on a creamy texture and a sweet flavor.  
• Only one out of every 10,000 oysters will produce a pearl.

HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL OYSTER DAY

Make or order a dish that uses oyster as one of its main ingredients.