Andy Kaufman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzl0O8rsgAM&NR=1

This is something totally unexpected. I ran across this video and I thought it was just marvelous! I'm one of those who grew up watching Andy Kaufman on Taxi and learning about his many talents in later years which is a sad state of affairs. It is a fact of life that we do not understand someone nor do they give us the chance to understand them as so plainly told in the biographical movie on Andy Kaufman's life 'Man on the Moon' starring Jim Carrey. I felt it was richly told and you felt Mr. Kaufman's pain when people did not see his full range of talent but only his character 'Latka Gravas' from Taxi.

Sadly, Andy Kaufman was taken from us in May, 1984 it was much too early. He said he was going to fake his own death and come back 20 years later. His friends held a welcome back party
for Andy Kauman in 2004. He didn't show up.


For more clips on Andy Kaufman click here
and to check on Mr. Kaufman's biography check Wikipedia

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

I have the honor to know a gifted and lovely author Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. Nnedi and I met a little over three years ago at a convention for young sci-fi writers in Naperville, IL. I was first impressed by this woman's beautiful statuesque, much like a Nigerian queen. And when she put her hand out to greet me she greeted me with a smile that would light up a room! It was my pleasure to be able to have Nnedi come and read to the children's group for two consecutive years and I'm happy to see that she also attended this past year and lead some Q&A panels. She has several books that have been mentioned for awards; the most popular being The Shadow Speaker with awards being:

An NAACP Image Award NomineeA Tiptree Honor BookA Winter 2007/2008 Booksense Pick Finalist for the Essence Literary AwardFinalist for the Andre Norton AwardFinalist for The Golden Duck Award

Nnedi's first book, Zahrah the Windseeker is the story of a young girl growing up trying to find herself and is just beautiful! Awards for for Zahrah are:

Shortlisted for the Parallax, Kindred, and Locus Awards. Currently up for the 2008 Teen Book Award

For more information on my good friend Nnedi, please visit her website The Wahala Zone

Cheers!

Visit my website which I think Zahrah would enjoy at bananastoyou.com. Thank you!

George Carlin

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs, dirty words and the demise of humanity, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday. He was 71.
Carlin died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.
Known for his edgy, provocative material developed over 50 years, the bald, bearded Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine called "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television." A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of the routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the 1978 case, Federal Communications Commission vs. Pacifica Foundation, the top U.S. court ruled that the words cited in Carlin's routine were indecent, and that the government's broadcast regulator could ban them from being aired at times when children might be listening.
The Grammy-winning Carlin remained an active presence on the comedy circuit. Carlin was scheduled to receive the John F. Kennedy Center's prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in November and his publicist said Carlin performed in Las Vegas this month.
His comedic sensibility revolved around a central theme: humanity is a cursed, doomed species.
"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview.
Carlin told Playboy in 2005 that he looked forward to an afterlife where he could watch the decline of civilization on a "heavenly CNN."
"The world is a big theater-in-the round as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to watch it spin itself into oblivion," he said. "Tune in and watch the human adventure."
After a brief, troubled stint in the U.S. Air Force, he started honing his comic act, developing such characters as Al Sleet, a "hippie-dippie weatherman."
Carlin told Playboy that his sensibilities developed in the 1950s, "when comedy stopped being safe ... (and) became about saying no to authority." He cited such influences as Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Dick Gregory and Bob Newhart.
He also dabbled in movies and television, recently voicing a hippie Volkswagen bus named Fillmore in the Pixar cartoon "Cars."

Please click on to Reuters.com for the full article, originally written by Dean Goodman

Coffee!

One of the things I absolutely must have is a morning cup of coffee. I prefer mine extra light with French Vanilla Cream-no sugar. Otherwise, cream & sugar. Depending on the size of the cup 1-2 cups a day or 3 of the small restaurant cups. I cannot stand Starbucks. Period. The end, sorry all you Starbucks lovers, but it tastes like burnt up coffee to me. There are people out there who love burnt coffee, my sister among them! She craves the stuff! Now me, I love Lite White Berry from Caribou Coffee. Large if I can get it! Which is always!

I was overjoyed when they came out with the news that coffee is actually good for us. And we were afraid of cancer. Don't you know that everything causes cancer? (If consumed in mass quantities-that what my husband says) So, here's to more Mocha Lattes and a long life!

Cheers!

Please visit my website at bananastoyou.com

Solistic Moon Illusion?

It may seem like a full moon Wednesday night, but it's actually just a moon illusion.This illusion, called a solstice moon, happens only on the two nights before the beginning of Summer and it makes the moon look much larger and more colorful than usual. The solstice moon is a mind trick that makes it seem like the moon is larger when it's near the horizon. The illusion is more noticeable when there is a full moon.According to NASA, the reason lies in lunar mechanics. When the sun is high, the moon is low. This week's high solstice sun makes for a low, horizon-hugging moon and therefore a stronger, longer-lasting moon illusion.Here's how it works: the human mind believes that things on the horizon are farther away than things overhead. So, if we think the moon is farther away than it actually is, it appears larger than it should. It's a matter of how we usually see the moon in relation to the foreground, NASA said.

The solstice moon is expected to rise over the Tri-State at 9:35 p.m.

This article has been borrowed from Kypost.com. To read more, click here

Tiger's Title

Tiger's back and so am I! Tiger Wood just played an amazing 19 holes sudden death against Rocco Mediate. The tournament took place at Torrey Pines Golf Course overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Diego. Tiger gave several interviews in which he mentioned how sweet this particular triumph had been for him because of several problems over the past year, including knee surgery of which his doctor told him to skip this particular tournament.

All credit has to go to Rocco Mediate who gave it his everything and was basically quoted as saying that "I think I threw everything at him, including the kitchen sink!"

That's OK, Rocco, we love you, you're a great sportsman and we look forward to seeing on the links in years to come!

Cheers!

Belmont Stakes

Dennis of Cork - Big Brown

Now I love horses, therefore I love to watch horseracing and today's Belmont Stakes is no exception. There is a horse that is said that just might challenge Big Brown for the Triple Crown. As much as we would love for the big colt to take the Triple Crown after a 30 year hiatus there may be a something brewing from namesake Denis Casey who is also from Ireland. The horse is name after Denis and is Denis of Cork. Denis of Cork came in third in the Kentucky Derby and is running well.

Denis Casey, who most recently was assigned as priest at St. Francis Hospital. Denis of Cork, the horse, has been running his way into the hearts of horse racing fans since he sprinted from dead last to third around the final turn and down the stretch of the Kentucky Derby. Now, Denis of Cork will be among the horses trying to end the Triple Crown bid of Big Brown at the Belmont Stakes. Denis of Cork, the person, will be at the track with a large group of Tulsans, cheering on his namesake.
He has loved the ponies for as long as he can remember. Now, he'll get one of the great thrills any horse fan could have: a horse named for him will run in one of the biggest races in the world. "It would be so great if he won," Casey said. "I know the odds aren't good, but 12-to-1 (the latest odds of Denis of Cork to win) isn't bad, either. I know Big Brown will be tough to beat but you never know. "So, I'll have a go with Denis of Cork. Anything is possible." Casey didn't get to see Denis of Cork's strong race in the Kentucky Derby. This will be the first time he's gone to one of his namesake's races since a prep race in Chicago , when it finished fifth in the Illinois Derby. Now, the Tulsa priest will be at one of the most anticipated horse races with a horse named for him picked third. "Look for me on television," he said. And the timing of the race, at around 5 p.m. on Saturday, will come just as many Tulsa-area Catholics are headed off to their weekly 5 p.m. Saturday mass. Could he and his horse hurt attendance in parishes all over the Diocese? "I'm not even going there," Casey said. Denis of Cork, the horse, is owned by Tulsans Suzanne and W.K. Warren Jr. Casey has been a longtime friend of the Warrens. About a year ago, during a celebration for his 50 years as a priest, the Warrens told Casey that they were naming a horse after him. "What a thrill," Casey said. "I've enjoyed the horse racing game for a long time. "You know, I've always taken, since I was a child, a little bit of pride that I only had one 'N' in my name. It kind of set my name apart from all of the other people named Dennis. So, now to have this horse, I am actually kind of proud that he has only one 'N' in his name '— just like me." His love of horse racing goes back to his youth in Ireland. "They would have these races from point-to-point," Casey said. "We would go to those because they were local. We didn't have the transportation to go to any of the big races." When he returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam in the early 1970s, ("I always remember the day I left for Vietnam because it was the day Joe Namath and the Jets beat the Colts in the Super Bowl," he said.) he became a horse owner with several other priests. "We actually went together and put down enough money to claim a horse for $1,500," Casey said. Now, the horse with his name is worth far more than $1,500. And, Denis of Cork could become a part of horse racing legend if he can beat Big Brown. "Like I said, anything is possible," Casey said with a smile.

For the full artilcle on Denis of Cork click here

But, we cannot take away from what Big Brown has accomplished. That lovely colt is on the verge of history and we wish him all the best. Whatever they do make it through life safely!

For the full article on Big Brown click here

Cheers!