October 10, 2011
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Links here are good only for the week of October 10. After that... is
anybody's guess.
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Everything's the same... and everything's different. Thanks to those of
you who told us what's good and what's boring in our newsletter. We're
still tinkering. And we're still asking for your input.
How are we doing? What should we add; what should we eliminate?
Click reply and tell us. We're having a lot of fun here. We don't want to
share the wealth; we want to share the fun.
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For the record, there are 21 days until Halloween... and 71 until
Christmas. Don't wait till the last minute... or the last day.
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Last week's Trivia Teaser:
1. Our lead section this week is titled "First Monday in October."
Typically, and by tradition, what happens on the first Monday in
October?
A: Rosh Hashanna begins
B: Apple introduces a new product
C: the first primary elections take place
D: the Supreme Court convenes
E: The Detroit Lions go 4-0
Most people got this one. It's showtime for the Supremes (SCOTUS).
2. Our Eye Remember section borrowed and twisted a phrase: "A kiss is
once again a kiss." What is the title of the song from which we borrowed
and twisted?
Aw, this was simple; you must remember this: "As Time Goes By."
3. Also we noted in Eye Remember, the lead Kisser got married over the
weekend. What is his name (first and last)?
Last week, Gene Simmons. (BTW: This week, Sir Paul.)
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Three more coming up, below.
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BBHQ Shorts:
Quick Takes on Items in the News:
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10/4: "If it helps bring down our deficit"
10/3: Nancy Pelosi: "Am I missing something"
Glance at the BBHQ Shorts
here.
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PBS aired another Ken Burns documentary last week. This one was on
prohibition. It is an excellent series. The last line, by journalist Pete
Hamill, made a strong impression on us.
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This Week with the Chicowitz
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This week, Hershel shows you all you need to know about Barack Obama:
This week's essay is aimed at those of you who have not yet made up your
mind about the character, credibility, and competence of Barack Obama.
Are his critics right? Is he a shallow, deceitful political ideologue? Or
is he an above-board, honest and idealistic leader telling it straight to
the American people and protecting their interests? This essay provides
all you need to know... using the president's words.
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You can read the entire essay here.
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Here are three questions from the BBHQ Trivia Cloud:
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There are no prizes here... it's all just for fun.
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Members can play all of our trivia games in
The BBHQ Trivia Library.
The next
BBHQ Trivia Contest
cranks up on Monday, November 7, at 6 p.m., eastern.
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Rebuilding the BBHQ Essay Collection
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You may have noticed that many of the essays listed on our web site
follow the bridge to nowhere. They lead to a dead end. We have hundreds
of original essays written by our Boomer-in-Charge, Hershel Chicowitz. We
are busy adding multi-media content to these essays and cleaning them up
to make use of current Internet capabilities. It's going to take a while.
As we progress, we'll feature some of ones we have upgraded.
Midlife Crisis:
We have four essays addressing midlife crisis. Most of them are just for fun.
The boomer generation is now old enough to be able to relate.
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All of the sudden, I looked at her eyes, lost in fascination and
bewilderment, and I realized that I wasn't telling her "what I did for
summer vacation"; I wasn't describing some ordinary personal episode of
my life. I was telling her about... history. She exclaimed, "Oh
wow! I had heard about some of that, but I was only three years old at the
time."
This polite, mature, seemingly adult contemporary, every bit as
tall as I was, was telling me that she was still in diapers while I was
attending college. Can this be true? Is anyone walking around a
college campus really that young? Grinding salt into the wound, she
said, "I think my parents were around then, but I guess they're not old
enough to remember much about it."
Ouch - that was the final blow.
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Click here
to read this story.
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If you are not already a member, please consider joining us. Membership
at BBHQ provides you with access to lyrics to 750 boomer-era songs, a BBHQ
Time Capsule Report, access to hundreds of boomer stories... and lots
more. Come on... it's 9 bucks a year.
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Brush Up Your Webster - featuring Madam Red Dot
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Today, I'd like to offer a word to you; to most of you, it will be a new word:
paraprosdokian. (Oh yes, it surely was new to me, too.)
A paraprosdokian (para-pros-dokian) is a figure of speech in which the
latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way
that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first
part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes
producing an anticlimax. For this reason, it is extremely popular among
comedians and satirists.
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One of my favorites is this:
"You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing... after
they have tried everything else." -- Winston Churchill
I admit that you probably would not use that word in everyday
conversation. But stick it in a spare pocket, and pull it out sometime
when you cannot find the right word to impress your boss.
So... brush up your Webster!
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The BBHQ Joke of the Week
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This week, we'd like to share a few paraprosdokians with you.
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"She looks as though she's been poured into her clothes, and forgot to say
'when'." - P. G. Wodehouse
"If I could say a few words, I'd be a better public speaker." - Homer
Simpson
Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening,' and then proceed to
tell you why it isn't.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk, I have a work station.
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Have a great week. We'll share the fun again next Monday.
- the Boomer Crew at BBHQ
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