Thursday 2.12 -All My Loving

“The Definition of Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results”…..Einstein

Good judgment comes from experience… Experience comes from poor judgment.

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We have been exceptionally lucky with the weather. My brother-in-law arrived from Liverpool yesterday and it would seem he has been very lucky to get on a plane. Our TV has been showing pictures of planes grounded all round the UK. Their plane was delayed but it is always better to delay and be safe. Looking at the forecast it would appear that Monday might herald the change we await.

Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday
14° C \| 4° C	12° C \| 4° C	11° C \| 5° C	14° C \| 12° C	26° C \| 12° C

El Gordo – the Spanish Christmas lottery

The Spanish are lottery crazy all year round but it’s at Christmas they their enthusiasm really does go overboard! It was estimated last year that 98% of all Spanish adults participated in El Gordo, which meant that the total amount of the prize pool was an incredible €2.25 billion, which equates to 70% of the sales of tickets. The probability of picking up some sort of prize is about 15%, which makes it quite a worthwhile gamble. This year’s El Gordo takes place on 22nd December and has 2,320.5 million Euros in prize money.

See Spanish Lottery
http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/lottery.htm

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Events December 2

1804 – Napoleon was crowned emperor of France at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.I wonder whether people realised how great he would become.

1823 – U.S. President James Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere. Is’t it now the other way round?

1862 – Circus entrepreneur Charles Ringling was born.He certainly had the name for it.

1901 – Gillette patented the first disposable razor.They’ve been round for a while then?

1917 – During World War I, hostilities were suspended on the eastern front.Good

1927 – The Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model A automobile. It was the successor to the Model T.

1961 – Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared in a nationally broadcast speech that he was a Marxist-Leninist and that he was going to lead Cuba to communism. He was certainly a man of his word.

1969 – The Boeing 747 jumbo jet got its first public preview as 191 people flew from Seattle, WA, to New York City, NY. Most of the passengers were reporters and photographers.Wow

1980 – The Central Committee of Poland’s Communist Party announced major Politburo changes. The changes were apparently aimed at coping with labor unrest.

1982 – Doctors at the University of Utah implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Barney Clark. He lived 112 days with the device. The operation was the first of its kind. I would regard this man as a hero

1988 – Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan. Seems like this was only yesterday

1989 – V.P. Singh was sworn in as prime minister of India. Seems like this was only yesterday

1990 – Chancellor Hekmut Kohl’s coalition won the first free all-German elections since 1932.

1990 – The Midwest section of the U.S. prepared for a massive earthquake predicted by Iben Browning. Nothing happened.Thank goodness.

1992 – Germany’s lower house of parliament voted in favor of the Maastricht Treaty on European unity. This can be read as Mass Tricked

1993 – The space shuttle Endeavor blasted off on a mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope.

1994 – In Pensacola, FL, Paul Hill was given two life sentences for murdering a doctor and security guard outside an abortion clinic in July 1994. It certainly illustrates how high feelings run on abortion laws

1998 – Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates donated $100 million to help immunize children in developing countries. This was a good gesture…

1999 – The British government transferred political power over the province of Northern Ireland to a the Northern Ireland Executive. Good

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Music Stuff December 2nd
1963, The Beatles recorded an appearance on the UK TV comedy program The Morecambe and Wise Show. The Beatles played ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and also participate in comedy sketches with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. The program was broadcast on April 18, 1964. This was an iconic show in the UK and it was a great coup to get on the show.
1967, The Monkees album, ‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd’ went to number one on the US album chart. There’s always been dodgy pop material

1969, Cindy Birdsong of the Supremes was kidnapped at knifepoint by a maintenance man who worked in the building she lived in. She later escaped unharmed by jumping out of his car on the San Diego freeway. The kidnapper was arrested in Las Vegas four days later.I hope he got his just desserts

1978, Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’, the singers fifth UK chart topper. A plagiarism lawsuit by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor confirmed that the song had been derived from his composition ‘Taj Mahal’. Stewart agreed to donate all his royalties from the song to United Nations Children’s Fund. Now that’s a classy way to settle the problem.

1979, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand’s ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’ was at No.1 on the US singles chart. A radio station engineer had spliced together Neil’s version with Barbra’s version and got such good response, the station added it to their play list. When Neil Diamond was told about it, he decided to re-record the song with Streisand herself, and within weeks of its release, the single went to No.1 in the US and No.5 in the UK. What a brilliant story and piece of pop trivia.

1983, MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video for the first time. This was a wonderful video and I love it.

1999, it was reported that Stevie Wonder was to undergo an operation to regain his sight. The breakthrough by top eye specialists involved inserting a microchip in the retina. I remember wanting him to have a successful operation.

2001, Daniel Bedingfield scored his first UK No.1 single with ‘Gotta Get Thru This’, the single went back to No.1 in January 2002. The track was recorded in Bedingfield’s bedroom with his PC and a microphone, using music software. Good luck to him I say.

2002, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was arrested and charged with assault after he Kung-Fu kicked a police officer. The incident happened at the Bayerischer hotel in Munich, the singer lost his two front teeth in the brawl and an Oasis minder was knocked out cold. What you reap…..

2006, David Mount the drummer with Mud died in London. They had the 1974 UK No.1 single ‘Tiger Feet’ (best-selling single of 1974). This was a great song

Birthday Boys and Girls December 2nd