22 September 2013

pluviophile

[ploo-vee-oh-fahyl]

noun

– a person or thing who loves rain or thrives in rain.

Example

The song, ‘I’m only happy when it rains‘, by Garbage must have been written by a pluviophile.

Today’s aphorism

I’m only happy when it rains
I feel good when things are going wrong
I only listen to the sad, sad songs
I’m only happy when it rains

– from the song, ‘I’m only happy when it rains’, written by Garbage (Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, Butch Vig)

On this day

22 September 1913 – execution by hanging of Ernest Austin at Boggo Road Gaol. Austin was the last man to be legally executed in Queensland. He had been convicted of the rape and murder of 12 year old Ivy Mitchell at Cedar Creek Road near Samford. Austin is buried in South Brisbane Cemetry. It is said that his ghost haunts Boggo Road Gaol. Queensland abolished the death penalty in 1922, becoming the first Australian state to do so.

22 September 1957 – birth of Nick Cave in Warracknabeal, Victoria (Australia). Australian gothic/alternative musician. Frontman of ‘The Birthday Party’ and ‘Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’, also having a successful solo career. In 2006, he formed ‘Grinderman’, an alternative rock band which disbanded in 2011.

22 September 2890 – birth of Bilbo Baggins, Hobbit, born in the Shire. Star of the iconic novel, ‘The Hobbit‘, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Bilbo also features in Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings‘. Note, his birthday is in the year 2890 in the Third Age or in the year 1290 in Shire-Reckoning). There is some disparity between Shire-Reckoning and the Gregorian calendar. Some believe that 12 September is the comparative Gregorian date, others believe 14 September is the Gregorian date to celebrate Bilbo’s birthday, as explained in one of the appendices to Lord of the Rings.

22 September 2968 – birth of Frodo Baggins, Hobbit, born in the shire. Nephew of legendary hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, with whom he shares his birthday. Star of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings‘. His birthday is in the year 2968 in the Third Age, or in the year 1368 in Shire-Reckoning). As Bilbo celebrated his eleventy-first (111th) birthday, Frodo was celebrating his 33rd birthday, which is the age at which a hobbit legally comes of age.

21 September 2013

apogee

[ap-uh-jee]
noun

1. Astronomy . the point in the orbit of a heavenly body, especially the moon, or of a man-made satellite at which it is farthest from the earth. Compare perigee.
2. the highest or most distant point; climax. Example: ‘The British Empire reached its apogee in the early part of the Twentieth century, after which its power and influence declined’.

Origin:
1585–95; alteration (after French apogée ) of earlier apogaeum < Latin < Greek apógaion ( diástema ) off-earth (distance), neuter of apógaios (adj.), equivalent to apo- apo- + gáïos of the earth, derivative of gaîa, variant of gê the earth

Related forms
ap·o·ge·al, ap·o·ge·an, ap·o·ge·ic, adjective

Today’s aphorism

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.

– J. R. R. Tolkien

On this day

21 September – International Day of Peace.

21 September – World Alzheimer’s Day.

21 September 1866 – birth of Herbert George ‘H.G.’ Wells, British science fiction writer, author of The War of the Worlds, Time Machine, Island of Dr Moreau, The War of the Worlds. Died 13 August 1946.

21 September 1937 – J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ first published.

21 September 2012 – ‘The Hobbit Second Breakfast’ at 11am – to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Hobbit, people everywhere are invited to celebrate the Hobbit Second Breakfast at 11am by popping on the kettle and sitting down with family and friends for camaraderie, companionship and a love of good food.

20 September 2013

pluvial

[ploo-vee-uhl]

adjective
1. of or pertaining to rain, especially much rain; rainy.
2. Geology . occurring through the action of rain.
noun
3. Geology . a rainy period formerly regarded as coeval with a glacial age, but now recognized as episodic and, in the tropics, as characteristic of interglacial ages.
Origin:
1650–60; < Latin pluviālis, equivalent to pluvi ( a ) rain + -ālis -al1

Related forms
in·ter·plu·vi·al, adjective

Today’s aphorism

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

– Maya Angelou

On this day

20 September 2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush declares a ‘war on terror’.

20 September 2011 – the U.S. military ends its ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, allowing gay servicemen and women to serve openly.

19 September 2013

earworm

[eer-wurm]

Informal.

noun
1. a tune or part of a song that repeats in one’s mind.
verb (used with object)
2. to work (itself or its way) into a person’s mind: The Pepsi jingles have earwormed their way into my head.
Origin:
1980–85; loan translation of German Ohrwurm ‘catchy tune, earwig’

Today’s aphorism

If you expect nothing from anybody, you’re never disappointed.

– Sylvia Plath

On this day

19 September – International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

19 September 1952 – Charlie Chaplin exiled from the United States because of his anti-war and humanitarian beliefs which conflicted with McCarthy’s ‘reds under the bed’ policy.

19 September 1959 – USSR President Nikita Khrushchev banned from visiting Disneyland … ironically 31 years after Mickey Mouse debuted on screen. The reason given was that the Los Angeles Police Chief couldn’t provide adequate security.

19 September 1982 – birth of the emoticon. At 11.44am on this day, a computer scientist by the name of Scott Fahlman suggested on a bulletin board forum that the now iconic 🙂 be used to indicate a post was ‘not serious’. It has now come to also mean happy, as well as not serious for when people post comments, emails etc … or when they think a smiley will help ease a flame …

18 September 2013

theic

[thee-ik]

noun

– a person who drinks excessive amounts of tea.

Today’s aphorism

Never tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.

– unknown

On this day

18 September 1873 – ‘The panic of 1873′ – a severe economic crisis in Europe and the United States caused by a drop in demand for silver following Germany’s decision to abandon the silver standard after the Franco-Prussian Wars. ‘The Panic’ lasted until 1879. It was known as the ‘Great Depression’, until the financial crisis of the 1930s.

18 September 1965 – ‘Get Smart’ premieres on U.S. television.

18 September 1970 – death of Jimi Hendrix. American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was 27.

17 September 2013

stymie

[stahy-mee]

noun, verb, sty·mied, sty·mie·ing.

noun
1. Golf. (on a putting green) an instance of a ball’s lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt.
2. a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
verb (used with object)
3. to hinder, block, or thwart.
Also, stymy, stimy.

Origin:
1855–60; origin uncertain

Synonyms
3. stump, mystify, frustrate, confound.

Today’s aphorism

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you …
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

– Rudyard Kipling, ‘If’

On this day

17 September 1916 – Baron Manfred Von Richthofen (a.k.a The Red Baron), wins his first aerial combat in World War I.

17 September 1947 – the United State Department of Defense forms and is tasked with coordinating all defense related organisations in the U.S. The DoD is the largest employer in the world, with over 3.2 million employees, including active soldiers, sailors, airmen/women, and National Guard.

17 September 1951 – birth of Cassandra Peterson a.k.a Elvira, U.S. actress and host of late-night B-grade horror and sci-fi movies.

17 September 1961 – birth of Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director (Romeo and Juliet, Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge).

17 September 1966 – St George Dragons beat Balmain Tigers 23-4, to win the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) grand final for the 11th consecutive year. The longest premiership-winning streak in Australian sport.

17 September 1972 – M*A*S*H* premieres on NBC-TV.

17 September 1991 – first version of Linux released.

16 September 2013

overmorrow

Oh-vuh(ver)-mawr-oh

noun.

– The day after or following tomorrow.

[Obsolete.] –Bible (1551).

Today’s aphorism

The people that are there with you during your darkest nights, are the ones worth spending your brightest days with.

– Unknown

On this day

16 September – International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

16 September 1908 – General Motors is founded by William C. Durrant.

16 September 1920 – The bombing of Wall St, New York, which kills 38 and injures 143. The crime has never been solved, but is believed to have been committed by Italian anarchists known as Galleanists, (after their leader Luigi Galleani), who were protesting against capitalism. The bomb had been placed in a horse wagon.

16 September 1927 – birth of Peter Falk, U.S. actor (Colombo) … ‘therrre ya go‘… (died 23 June 2011.

16 September 1975 – Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia. PNG National Day.

16 September 1977 – death of Marc Bolan in a car accident. Singer/guitarist for T-Rex. (Born 30 September 1947 as Mark Feld).

16 – 18 September 1982 – Lebanese Christian militia (Phalange) massacres between 765 and 3,500 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut. An inquiry in 1983 held Israeli troops indirectly responsible as they had surrounded the camps, controlling access to them, and were aware a massacre was occurring without taking steps to stop it.

15 September 2013

manqué

[mahng-key; French mahn-key]
adjective
having failed, missed, or fallen short, especially because of circumstances or a defect of character; unsuccessful; unfulfilled or frustrated (usually used postpositively): a poet manqué who never produced a single book of verse.

Example:

And for the bombastic leader, we have the reformer manqué, blithely at work, planning and executing assassination, smiling all the while.

– Norman Pollack

Origin:
1770–80; < French, past participle of manquer to lack, be short of < Italian mancare, derivative of manco lacking, defective < Medieval Latin, Late Latin mancus ( Latin: feeble, literally, maimed, having a useless hand, probably derivative of manus hand)

Today’s aphorism

Everyone, at same time or another, sits down to a banquet of consequences.

– R.L. Stevenson

On this day

15 September – International Day of Democracy.

15 September 1254 – birth of Marco Polo, Italian explorer. Died 9 January 1324.

14 September 2013

succour

[suhk-er]

noun

1. help; relief; aid; assistance.
2. a person or thing that gives help, relief, aid, etc.
verb (used with object)
3. to help or relieve.
Also, especially British, suc·cour.

Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) Middle English sucuren < Old French suc ( c ) urre, socorre < Latin succurrere to go beneath, run to help, equivalent to suc- suc- + currere to run (see current); (noun) Middle English soc ( o ) ur, back formation from sucurs (taken as plural) < Old French < Medieval Latin succursus, equivalent to Latin succur ( rere ) + -sus, var of -tus suffix of v. action

Related forms
suc·cor·a·ble, adjective
suc·cor·er, noun
non·suc·cor, noun
un·suc·cor·a·ble, adjective
un·suc·cored, adjective

Can be confused: succor, sucker.

Synonyms
1, 3. support. 3. See help.

Today’s aphorism

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

― Friedrich Nietzsche

On this day

14 September 1752 – the British Empire commences using the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar. To balance the calendar, the 10 days from 3 September to 13 September are written off. This is because the Gregorian claimed the annual cycle was 365.2425 days. The Julian calendar was based on 365.25 days per year, hence the leap year every 4 years to make up the 0.25 days each year.

14 September 1812 – Fire of Moscow – French troops under the command of Napoleon defeat Russian troops in the Battle of Borodino and invade Moscow. Count Fyodor Rostopchin orders Russian citizens to destroy the Kremlin and other major buildings as they retreat. The fires burn for 4 days and destroy around 75% of Moscow.

14 September 1983 – birth of Amy Winehouse. English singer-songwriter. Died 23 July 2011.