Monday OYSTERS

                               Al's Most Recent

Quote of the day:

“Sometimes there are just not enough rocks.”

                        Forrest Gump

Here is an example of pure entrepreneurship.

Rodrigo Borgia was born in Spain in 1431 the son of very wealthy parents. During his lifetime the family increased their wealth several time over. Rodrigo changed his name to Cesare and eventually decided that he wanted to be the Pope. Cesare bribed the College of Cardinals into naming him Pope and in August of 1492 he became Pope Alexander VI. In order to regain the money he spent gaining the office, he poisoned enough of the Cardinals and sold their offices to the highest bidders to get his money back. What a fertile (if not evil) mind. He had two live-in mistresses and sired several children one of which was the infamous Lucretia Borgia. The strange part was that he was ugly as hell. Some say money can't buy happiness, maybe not...but neither can poverty.

I looked up a celebrity's house. It is in The Plains, Virginia which is about 45 miles west of Washington, DC. In this tiny village there very few streets but here are some of them and whom they were named after.

Jackson....Thomas J. “Stonewall”, Confederate General

Pickett...George, Confederate General

Stuart...J. E. B., Confederate General

Ewell...Richard, Confederate General

Bragg...Braxton, Confederate General

Mosby...John, Confederate General

Lee...Robert E., Confederate General

Forrest...Nathan, Confederate General

Ashby...Turner, Confederate Colonel

Do y'all realize what this means? If those uneducated morons down in Atlanta that see and complain about the figures on Stone Mountain were to see these street signs and understand who they are (unlikely since they are uneducated morons) they would throw even more juvenile tantrums demanding that the streets be renamed or the town put to the torch. It is an imbecile that keeps continues looking at something that offends and then complains about it. There is nothing more disgusting that an uneducated imbecile...or just an imbecile.

The celebrity is Robert Duvall.

Living History:

It is the relative isolation of some of the coastal island off South Carolina that preserved the Gullah language and traditions. Gullah is a Creole culture that dates back to Elizabethan times and was brought over to America in the slave trade. It was well into the 1950’s that some of these islands could only be reached by water. The Gullah language is exciting to hear because of the accents, rhythm and tempo. However, to the non-Gullah you can understand but very little. They have their own bible written phonetically so they can read and understand it. There are islands in the Chesapeake Bay, Tangier Island for instance, that was settled by the English and their isolation helped preserve the Old English language there to this day.

       This Date in History   December 28

1900 On this day, 6 foot tall, 175 pound Miss Carrie Nations walked into a bar in Wichita, Kansas and started giving everyone there a large ration of crap about drinking. While she is at it, she whipped out a hatchet and begins breaking up the place. This was not the last one she started hacking up meaning she spent several nights in the joint. What brought her to this point was early in life she married an Ohio doctor that had a serious drinking problem. She admitted that she knew of his problem before she married him but thought she could “change him”. It didn’t work, he died in an asylum. After this Carrie married a Methodist minister but never forgot the husband that died an alcoholic in spite of her nagging. As we all know, Carrie’s biggest mistake was thinking she could change a man into what she wanted him to be. With Carrie stalking the bars in and around Kansas, the consumption of alcohol fell slightly. After Carrie died in 1911 it was business as usual in the land of the Jayhawks.

This reminds me of an experience I had. I was sitting at one of my favorite watering holes and a young lady came in and sat down beside me with sadness around her so thick I could cut it with a knife. I asked her why she was so sad. She said her husband had just been sent to jail for two years for dealing drugs. I asked her how long she had been married and she said a year and a half. I asked her if she knew her husband was a dealer when she married him. She said “Yes I did, but thought I could change him.” You must accept people as they are or not at all.

1832 On this date, Vice President John C. Calhoun resigned to take a vacant United States Senate seat in his home state of South Carolina. This Yale graduate was the first sitting Vice President to resign but it would not be the last. I will let y'all figure out what other Vice-President(s) have resigned. Calhoun did not get along at all with President Andrew Jackson who kept Calhoun under wraps to decrease his political clout.

John C. Calhoun was born near Abbeville, South Carolina in 1782. He served in the state legislature before being elected as Senator. Calhoun was a protector of the agrarian based South against the industrial based North. He also was a hard-core believer in the slave/plantation institution. He called it a “positive good” rather than a “necessary evil”. Calhoun spent the majority of his life in high public office including Secretary of War, Vice-President under two different Presidents, US Senator, US Representative. During his time in office the most powerful politicians were Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. Calhoun died in 1850 in Washington, D.C. and is buried in the graveyard of St. Peters church (been there) in Charleston, South Carolina.

Born today:

1856 US President Woodrow Wilson

He said “Do not murder someone that is in the process of committing suicide.” Sound wisdom, Woody.

1905 US comedian “Charlie Weaver” who’s real name was Cliff Arquette.

 When he was on the TV show “Hollywood Squares” the emcee Peter Marshal asked him “If you are going on a parachute jump, how high should you be?” Charlie answered “Three days of straight drinking ought to do it.” I think so too.

1946 Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee

He gave this response to the question about the team losing 6 straight games to the Yankees the last week of the season. He said “Our pain ain’t as bad as you might think. Dead people don’t feel pain.” No Comment.

1929 US Computer expert Linus Thorvalds

In 1968 this jackass said “Microsoft is not evil, it is just not a very good operation system” Hey Linus, have you ever heard of Bill Gates and John Allen? I didn’t think so. Come to think of it, I have never heard of you.

       Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow.