122309: Water Cooler News
Water Cooler News – December 23/09
It’s the Wednesday edition of the Water Cooler News!
Before I get started here today, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This will be the final edition of the Water Cooler News for 2009 as I start vacation today. The Water Cooler News will return on Monday, January 4, 2010.
In this edition of the Water Cooler News you will find some fun facts and a list of birthdays for today. You will also find some off-beat news…
- What A Long, Strange, Unpaid Trip It’s Been
- Woman Busted for Yanking Off Santa’s Beard
- Stabbing Victim Gets His Coffee
Off-Beat News
“What A Long, Strange, Unpaid Trip It’s Been”
Police in Memphis recently arrested a man after he refused to pay a cabbie who drove him from Miami all the way to Tennessee. Perez rang up a three thousand dollar fare during the 20 hour, 16 hundred mile trip, which included stops for rest and food. The man duped the cabbie into going along by claiming a woman he was visiting would pay when they arrived. The woman, however, refused to pay the bill because she has no idea who the Miami man is!
“Woman Busted for Yanking Off Santa’s Beard”
A 19-year-old woman in Indianapolis guaranteed herself a spot on Santa’s naughty list this year. Police arrested the unidentified teen for pulling the beard off of a man playing jolly Saint Nick. The woman took a photo with the man outside Conseco Fieldhouse before an Indiana Pacers game and then ripped off his beard. Police followed the woman into the arena and found — surprise, surprise! — she had a bottle of vodka tucked under a shirt. She was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery and was also charged with public intoxication and possession of alcohol by a minor, as were two other people with her.
“Stabbing Victim Gets His Coffee”
Some people will go to great pains to get their coffee. A 52-year-old man in Warren, Michigan with a five-inch knife sticking out of his chest walked into a restaurant and ordered a cup of coffee after he called 9-1-1 to report he’d been stabbed. The man told the dispatcher he was stabbed during an attempted robbery half a mile away, then walked to the restaurant where he called 9-1-1 from a pay phone and asked for an ambulance. During the call, he said – quote – “I’m gonna sit down inside ’cause they got a chair and it’s cold out here.” He then hung up and walked inside, where he ordered his coffee. The man is now recovering in hospital.
Historical Notes
Today is…
Transistor Invented – 1947
First Non-Stop Flight Around The World Without Refueling – 1987
Notable Birthdays…
Frederick Forrest 73/actor, Apocalypse Now
Jorma Kaukonen 69/guitarist, Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna
Ron Bushy 68/drummer, Iron Butterfly
Harry Shearer 66/actor-writer, Lots of voices on TV’s The Simpsons
Adrian Belew 60/guitarist-singer, King Crimson and solo
Dave Murray 53/guitarist, Iron Maiden
Eddie Vedder, 45, singer (Pearl Jam)
Born on this date…also known as the late…
Tim Hardin–1940-1980/singer-songwriter, If I Were a Carpenter
Eugene Record–1940-2005/singer, The Chi-Lites
James Gregory–1911-2002/actor, Inspector Luger on TV’s Barney Miller
Music History
1978 – Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” was released.
1977 – The Bee Gees had the number one single with “How Deep Is Your Love” from the film Saturday Night Fever.
1969 – Willie Nelson’s home in Ridgetop, Tennessee burnt while he was in Nashville at a Christmas party. When he saw the flames, Willie rushed in to rescue his guitar, “Trigger” and a bag of marijuana stashed inside the case.
1969 – Elton John and Bernie Taupin began writing songs together.
1967 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Foxy Lady” was released.
1964 – The number one single was “I Feel Fine” by The Beatles. It was their 30th single on the Billboard Hot 100 for the year 1964. That’s a record.
1964 – The Beach Boys made their first appearance on TV’s Shindig!, singing “Little Saint Nick,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “Johnny B. Goode” and “Monster Mash.”
1959 – Frankie Avalon was at number one with “Why.” That’s the last number one of the 1950s and the shortest title for any chart-topping single.
1942 – The number one song was “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby. It would top the charts again in 1945 and 1977.
General History
1823 – The poem, A Visit From St. Nicholas, by Clement C. Moore was published in the Troy Sentinel of upstate New York.
1888 – Vincent Van Gogh sliced off half his ear with a rusty razor. Vince had been having a series of disastrous affairs and the last, with a prostitute named Rachel, drove Vince to his desperate act. He took his “gift” to the local brothel, handed it to Rachel and said, “Keep this object carefully.”
1893 – Composer Engelbert Humperdink’s opera, Hansel und Gretel, premiered in Weimar, Germany.
1907 – The U.S. Army asked for bids for its first airplane. The requirements: room for two passengers, ability to attain a speed of over 40 miles per hour and stay airborne for an hour.
1928 – The National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent, coast-to-coast radio network.
1947 – The transistor was invented by John Bardeen, Walter Brattan and William Shockley.
1951 – A National Football League championship game was televised nationally for the first time. The Los Angeles Rams beat the Cleveland Browns, 24-17. The DuMont Network had paid $75,000 for the rights to the game.
1981 – Mark Flexter, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, became the world’s first vertical Tobacco Spitting Champion. He won the title by spitting a wad of tobacco six feet, four inches high onto a wall behind him while laying on his back.
2000 – Comedian-pianist Victor Borge died at age 91.
Yours in Water Cooler News!
Dr. Rus
