The distribution of Rhodes Scholarships is unequal in the English-speaking world. USA gets no more than ten each year, but many former colonies get at least two. Because Newfoundland gets two per year, I have two Rodes scholars among my close personal friends. Which sounds more impressive than it really is.
Among the well-known or accomplished individuals who have been Rhodes Scholars are:
- Bill Clinton (former President of the U.S. and Governor of Arkansas)
- Kris Kristofferson (singer, songwriter, and actor)
- Wesley Clark (retired U.S. Army general)
- Malcolm Turnbull (former Prime Minister of Australia)
- Walter Isaacson (former managing editor of Time Magazine and CEO of CNN)
- Cory Booker (U.S. Senator from New Jersey and presidential candidate)
- Eric Garcetti (Mayor of Los Angeles)
- Pete Buttigieg (former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana and presidential candidate)
- Rachel Maddow (MSNBC political commentator)
- Russ Feingold (former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin)
- Ronan Farrow (investigative journalist)
- Bobby Jindal (former Governor of Louisiana and presidential candidate)
- George Stephanopolis (former communications secretary for President Clinton, and ABC News correspondent)
- Pat Haden (former NFL quarterback and sports announcer)
Like Buttigieg, most people pronounce Newfoundland incorrectly. You can know the correct pronunciation by following a simple rhyme: understand Newfoundland. The “land” part is pronounced like “land,” not “lund”.
Pete Buttigieg, Democrat of Indiana, spoke at the Parma, Ohio library in late 2019. Asked about his political viability, he joked, “I think I have the gay small-town mayor retired Navy Episcopalian Maltese American lane all locked up.” He has since been nominated to head the U.S. Department of Transportation in the Biden Administration.
The Drew Carey Show’s opening credits of its first season consisted of a caricature of
Drew Carey — consisting of his face and a yellow tie — singing “Moon Over Parma,” with an abridgment and some minor lyrical changes.
Here it is: Moon Over Parma - The Drew Carey Show (Season 1) - YouTube
Drew Carey had an advertising gig with A&W Canada, usually appearing with the A&W mascot, the Great Root Bear. He lost the gig by violating the “no endorsement of other fast food” clause of his contract, when McDonald’s was featured on an episode of the Drew Carey Show.
For decades, A&W Root Beer was only sold at A&W’s chain of restaurants. In 1971, the restaurant company launched a subsidiary to bottle the root beer and market it in grocery stores. A&W sold off the bottling subsidiary to Cadbury Beverages in 1993; the brand is now distributed by Keurig Dr Pepper.
Cadbury was the name of the butler in the Richie Rich comics.
Curiously, one of the great-grandsons of John Cadbury, who founded the Cadbury chocolate line, was named Richard Cadbury Butler. He did a term in one of His Majesty’s prisons for smuggling cocaine into Britain in the 1920s.
Not in play, but a question
Wouldn’t he have been elected to five different offices? Wasn’t he first elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention by Virginia? or did he get some sort of ex officio appointment because well, General Washington?
Benjamin Franklin Butler was a major general of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Early in the Civil War he joined the Union Army, where he was noted for his lack of military skill, and his controversial command of New Orleans, which brought him wide dislike in the South and the nickname of “Beast Butler”. However, as a General he helped create the legal idea of effectively freeing fugitive slaves by designating them as contraband of war in service of military objectives, which led to a political groundswell in the North which included general emancipation
Butler was also known as “Spoons” Butler, for ordering the seizure of a 38 piece flatware set from a woman crossing from Confederate held area to Union held area.
The Bohemian earspoon is a type of polearm. It uses a long, broad, socketed spear head, with two lugs sticking out at the base of the head.
It was developed in the 14th century, and was used for both hunting and military purposes, though the origin of its unusual name is unclear.
A Bohemian earspoon:
Well, it’s simple, really. The two lugs are the ‘ears’, and the longer pointy-bit is meant for opening up someone’s belly and scooping out their guts as with a spoon.
In play: Bohemian Rhapsody, now acknowledged as a rock classic, never won an MTV award in its own right. It wasn’t until it was included in Wayne’s World that it received a Moonman for Best Video from a Film.
-“BB”-
In 1977 Bohemian Rhapsody received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices. But it lost out to Chicago’s If You Leave Me Now, and — of all songs and can you believe this? You gotta be shitting me! — Starland Vocal Band’s Afternoon Delight, respectively.
Port Chicago, a town near Oakland CA, was almost completely destroyed in a 1944 explosion of munitions, that killed over 300 people. In 1968, what remained of the town was cleared to make a naval buffer zone.
Port Chicago CA was about 5-7 miles ENE of the current city of Martinez in the SFBA of CA. It was on Suisun Bay which is east of San Pablo Bay which, in turn, is north of San Francisco Bay (Google Maps < map). It was originally called Bay Point.
At 10:18pm on 17 July 1944 the Port Chicago Naval Magazine located there had a deadly munitions explosion that killed 320 sailors and civilians and injured 390 others while munitions being loaded onto two merchant ships, the SS Quinault Victory and SS E.A. Bryan, exploded. The blasts were felt as far away as Nevada and the resulting damage extended as far as San Francisco. Smoke and fire extended nearly two miles into the air. The pilot of a plane flying at 9,000 feet in the area claimed that metal chunks from the explosion flew past him.
Today at that site there’s a railyard (Google Maps < map).
Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Carte. Dubbed “The King of Cocaine,” Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in history, having amassed an estimated net worth of US$30 billion by the time of his death—equivalent to $59 billion as of 2019—while his drug cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States in the 1980s and 1990s.
Rumpole of the Bailey was always proud of his victory in the Penge Bungalow matter, which he handled alone and without a leader.
Baileys Irish Cream (officially, there is no apostrophe in the name) is a liqueur made with Irish whiskey, cream and cocoa. It has a shelf life of 24 months and does not need to be refrigerated.
Actor James Stewart played George Bailey and Donna Reed played Mary Hatch in the 1946 film, It’s a Wonderful Life. Stewart was born and raised in the town named Indiana, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Indiana is about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh and sits between Pittsburgh and Punxsutawney.
The full name of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, is Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.
The first movie in which James Stewart had a role was the 1934 short comedy film Art Trouble, which starred Harry Gribbon and Shemp Howard. Stewart did not receive a credit for his part in the movie. In 1935, he made his feature film debut in The Murder Man, a movie in which Spencer Tracy also had his movie debut. Stewart’s last film performance was voicing the character of Sheriff Wylie Burp in the 1991 animated movie An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.