December in Maine 2009

The glittery things in the picture are flakes of frost falling off of tree

Path to the Penobscot River in Orono, ME is snow covered

For Sale By Owner: One big tree with attached swing

Sun fights to break through clouds over the Penobscot River

Snowman in Orono

Bank of Penobscot River in Orono the morning after a snowfall

Moon rises over the farm and fresh snow

Happy New Year

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Mister, or Mister Man (N.)

Definition: form of address, male to male. (See “Chum”)

When called “Mister” by a total stranger in a challenging situation, best be leery. It can be tricky. If you’re at the Thistle Inn in Boothbay Harbor, say, and someone says, “Hold up there, Mister; what did you say to my chum here?” - well, you’d probably better settle your bill and go someplace else.

(Definition from: “How To Talk Yankee”, by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the State of Maine is the only state in the United States to have ever declared war on another country? That’s right, it happened around 1837 when the border between New Brunswick and Quebec and Maine were in dispute following the War of 1812. Maine declared war on Canada because of a border incident that arose from the borders not being fixed/permanent. Both sides massed troops, but there never was a conflict that arose during the Aroostook War, as it is known, between 1837-1842 as the borders were fixed according to the Webster-Ashburn Treaty of 1842. Since then, no other state has ever declared war on a country, leaving Maine as the only one that has ever done this.

Monday Morning Chuckle

Merry Christmas!

*pic from crazy-frankenstein.com

Happy Festivus!

Do you have your Festivus Pole up yet?

I've got a lot of problems with you people!

Check out the Airing of Grievances blog to see what problems people have had with others this year.

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the oldest “Halfway To The Equator” marker is located just north of Perry, Maine? Put into place in 1896, the pink granite marker is along the 45th Parallel, a latitude that is halfway between the North Pole and the Equator.

Monday Morning Chuckle

An oldie, but a goodie, me thinks. **ding**

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Plegged (Adj.) two syllable pronunciation - pleg-ged

Definition: variation of ‘plagued’, ornery

Usage:

“I had to quit pulling weeds because of them pleg-ged minges.”

(Definition from: “How To Talk Yankee”, by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the holiday television special Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer made its TV debut on December 6, 1964? That’s over 45 years ago. Wow! Produced by Rankin/Bass, this classic has aired every year since then, making it the longest running holiday special and is only one of four holiday specials released in the 1960s still airing during the holiday season to this day. The other three are: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Frosty the Snowman.

My favorite December special is another Rankin/Bass production, The Year Without a Santa Claus. You know the one...with Heatmiser and Coldmiser.

I'm too much.

Monday Morning Chuckle

The holiday is upon us, and Sponge Bob and Patrick have something special for you. It's a dick in a box.

*by JT and The Lonely Island

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Can’t spin a thread (V. phrase)

Definition: unable to perform a task

Usage:

“I wanted to sell some cedar down at the mill, but the bar on my chain saw had too much slop in the groove. I paid good money for a new bar, and then the tractor frigged up - magneto. So, I got that squared away, and twitched out two loads. But now my truck won’t start, and the whole outfit just sets there. I can’t spin a thread.”

(Definition from: “How To Talk Yankee”, by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that one of the reasons that the Plague (aka “the Pestilence”, “Black Death”) spread so quickly throughout Europe in the mid-14th century, wiping out over one-third of the population was because of the Catholic church? At a time when they were trying to spread their ideology, the Catholic leaders encouraged their followers to kill cats, which they associated with the devil and witchcraft (interestingly, there is no devil in the Wicca religion, but the Catholic religion has never let facts get in the way of anything). With millions of felines killed over a couple of hundred years, there was a decline in the population of this natural predator of the rats and mice who carried the Oriental rat fleas that harbored the plague virus. Now that the rats and mice could run around unchecked, the plague spread fast and would eventually wipe out millions of people in Europe.

Monday Morning Chuckle

Dear Lip Synching Singer,

Yes, I understand that many live TV shows require their musical acts to lip sync, especially boring pop singers like you. Lip synching requires you, as the singer, to have the ability to actually move your lips to make it look like you're actually singing the song even though it's obviously a pre-recorded track that's playing. In this video, you're not very good at lip synching.

But your even fucking worse at holding the microphone correctly. It's upside-down you knucklehead.

Have a nice day.

--joe

Wednesday’s Word

Word: Deermeat (N.)

Definition: flesh of hooved browser

Usage:

Deermeat, not ‘venison’, is the perferred local term.

(Definition from: “How To Talk Yankee”, by Gerald Lewis & Tim Sample, copyright 1979, 1986 by The Thorndike Press; copyright 1989 by the First North Country Press)

Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the lightest (weight) of all of the elements is hydrogen? Hydrogen also makes up 75% of the mass in the universe, making it a very abundant item.