Lowell George was a member of the Mothers of Invention when he went to Frank Zappa with his song “Willin’.” One legend has it that Zappa immediately fired him from the band to form his own (it may also have to do with the mention of drugs in the song). George got together a group of musicians and formed Little Feet and with the help of Zappa, got a record contract. “Willin’” was on their first album.
Actor Christopher George, most popularly known for the TV series The Rat Patrol, lied about his age when at 17 years old he enlisted in the US Marine Corps. George attributed his enlistment to being inspired by another actor, John Wayne. Said George, “You know, he caused the enlistment of hundreds of kids in the Marines and I was one of them.”
The Rats of Tobruk was the name given to the Australian soldiers of the garrison who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II. The siege started on 10 April 1941 and was finally relieved at the end of November.
The name is said to have been derived from German propaganda. Lord Haw-Haw, in one of his broadcasts, derisively referred to the Australians in the garrison as “poor desert rats of Tobruk”. Radio Berlin also described the Australians as “caught like rats in a trap”. The Australian troops readily took on the name and wore it with pride.
Tobruk is about 100 miles from Derna. Both cities are in Libya. The line in the Marine Corps Hymn, “to the shores of Tripoli:”
From the halls of Montezuma
to the shores of Tripoli
refers to the Battle of Derna (1805) and the First Barbary War.
The American flag was raised for the first time over the Old World by Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon and his Marines.
Montezuma is the hero of the 1695 opera The Indian Queen by Henry Purcell.
The movie Notes on a Scandal featured Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, both of whom were nominated for Oscars for playing Queen Elizabeth I. In addition, Anne-Marie Duff, who had a small role, played Queen Elizabeth I in televisions, The Virgin Queen.
King Oscar II of Sweden was a distinguished writer. In 1858 a collection of his lyrical and narrative poems, Memorials of the Swedish Fleet, published anonymously, obtained the second prize of the Swedish Academy.
In her memoir, Dame Judi Dench recalled once, as a young actress, performing a matinee for children while she was very ill, and repeatedly having to go backstage to barf - but she got through the performance.
Ninja’d! ETA: The performance was not in Sweden.
<off game>
I miss my military days, and the military humor. In searching for US Marine Corps history in Sweden for my next play in this game, I found this parody of the song, Greased Lightning, from Grease, done by Swedish Marines in Afghanistan.
Okay, here’s my play. No Marine Corps, not this time. 
Former NFL running back Ricky Williams is helping kids learn and play football, such as kids from China. These kids had never played American football ever before. Other kids from Mexico, Sweden and Finland are learning the game and they gathered in Uppsala, Sweden last May to play football.
Russia defeated Scotland earlier today to advance to tomorrow’s semifinal in the Women’s World Curling Championship. Scotland had made it to the first round of playoffs by defeating China. Canada and Switzerland are the other two teams still in the playoffs. The final will be determined on Sunday.
Update:
The two ferries that make the run to Port aux Basques have been stuck in the ice for the past three days, but some progress is being made by Coast Guard ice-breakers:
MV Blue Puttees trapped in ice since Wednesday with 40 passengers aboard
The Niagara Falls Curling Club was founded in 1891, although curling in Niagara Falls, Canada was reported as early as 1887.
The highest maximum daily rainfall in an Australian capital city occurred in Brisbane on 21 January 1887 when 465 millimetres (18.3 in) of rain fell.
Brisbane, California, is a small city just south of San Francisco along highway 101. Brisbane is just north of South San Francisco. Brisbane is called “The City of Stars” because of a holiday tradition established over 65 years ago. At the start of the Christmas/Hanukkah season, many residents and business owners place large, illuminated stars, some as big as 10 feet or more in diameter, on the downhill sides of homes and offices throughout Brisbane. Many of the stars are kept up all year.
Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane was Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825.
He was a keen astronomer throughout his career. He had an observatory built at his ancestral home in 1808. In 1822 he established an observatory at Parramatta west of Sydney. In 1828 he won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He published The Brisbane Catalogue of 7,385 stars of the Southern Hemisphere in 1835.
American swimmer Michael Phelps has won more Olympic medals than anyone else in history. Phelps currently has 22 medals, 18 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze. Phelps first medaled in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and he last medaled in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina has won more Olympic medals in individual events than anyone else in history. Latynina currently has 14 medals, 6 gold, 5 silver, and 3 bronze. Latynina first medaled in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and she last medaled in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen has won more Olympic medals in the Winter Games than anyone else in history. Bjørndalen currently has 13 medals, 8 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze. Bjørndalen first medaled in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, and he last medaled in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics, a Canadian cross-country skier, Sara Renner, was in competition in the bunched up front-runners when another skier accidentally stepped on one of her poles and broke it. A Norwegian coach, Bjørnar Håkensmoen, ran out and gave Renner another pole. Renner was able to finish the race, coming in eighth.
Grateful Canadians sent Håkensmoen 7,400 cans of maple syrup, setting him up for pancakes and maple syrup for life.
The episode was made into a commercial for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Sorry - that should have been coming in second! too early in the morning.
The 2006 Winter Olympic games were held in Turin, Italy. Turin beat out Sion, Switzerland in the bidding process for those games. The selection of Turin over Sion came as a surprise, since Sion was the overwhelming favorite in part because the IOC is based in Switzerland. Media speculation was that the choice of Turin was due to the IOC’s desire to retaliate against Switzerland for the whistleblower role played by IOC member Marc Hodler in the revelation of the 2002 corruption scandal.
President Jimmy Carter issued a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic games, being held in Moscow, to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A total of 62 eligible countries failed to participate, but some of those countries withdrew due to financial hardships, only claiming to join the boycott to avoid embarrassment, ending up with only 80 countries participating in the Moscow games A substitute event, titled the Liberty Bell Classic (often referred to as Olympic Boycott Games) was held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia by 29 of the boycotting countries.