Monday, March 16, 2015

Ridley's Believe It Or Not March 16 History Book Smugglers Day (Lithuania)

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—March 16, 2015 Trust your weekend is proving to be a good one. In the lead after leaving the Koyuk checkpoint on the Yukon only 171 miles from Nome with a 3 minute   lead over Aaron Burmeister is Dallas Seavey with Aliy Zirkle in third place over five hours back.. In a great testament to gender equality in this race, Jessie Royer has climbed to 4th place over six hours back. DeeDee Jonrove, the youthful 61 year old who has raced the Iditarod 33 times has dropped back to 36th  and Cindy Abbott has climbed up to 70st. The Barington twins Anna and Kristy are running 32nd and 33rd. Even this photo looks freezing; a setting sun means temperatures are on their way to 20 degrees below zero.
                                             


As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances, factoids of interest and a relevant quote from Jerry Lewis on the anniversary of his death, enjoying some marinated artichoke hearts, blessed  with a positive attitude even though you know you will have to wade through tons of spam in your inbox, and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details.
       1. Book Smugglers Day (Lithuania)—commemorating the efforts of Lithuanian patriots when the country was under Russian rule to smuggle books written in Latin to prevent the spread of Cyrillic text text as part of the Russification efforts; given Putin’s desires on the Baltic Republics this is a holiday that may be a rallying cry for those living in the shadow of the Putin bear.
       2. Freedom of Information Day—celebrating not the Freedom of Information Act which has been and continues to be the bane of nontransparent governments like this administration but rather the birthday on this day in 1751 of the one of our more influential founding fathers and fourth president, James Madison.
       3. 1983 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 1983, as part of a 7 week run Billie Jean by the one and only Michael Jackson. Here is a link to his performing the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y  
        4. National Artichoke Heart Day—great ending to an artichoke!
        5. MDA Is Trumped by Laughter Day—celebrating the birthday on this day in 1926 of the comedian and actor Jerry Lewis who for 44 years hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon which raised millions to fight this dreaded disease.                                                                                                      
On this day in
     a. 1926 Robert Goddard launched the first liquid fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts.
     b. 1942 in a moment that would have appalled Robert Goddard, the first German V-2 rocket that later would terrorize London was launched but typifying the problems with rocketry, exploded after blasting off.
     c. 1958 the Ford Motor Company produced its 50 millionth car, a Thunderbird. Not sure the color but expect, contrary to its Model T heritage, it was not black.   
     d. 1968 General Motors produced its 100 millionth car, an Oldsmobile Toronado; the brand is now no longer sold.
     e. 2014 the voters in Crimea vote to secede from Ukraine although the referendum violated international law and probably was influenced by the presence of Russian tanks and troops.
Reflections on the secret to longevity: “It will keep you alive for another ten years if you get yourself a laugh once a day: either provoke it, or look around in the wildest laboratory in the world, the public.” Jerry Lewis Jerry, at the age of 89 and although with aging pains and complaints, is a living testimony at 89 to the wisdom of that statement.
Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 155 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times
© March 16, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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