HOT TOPICS
Last week Mrs P had a couple of days off. Naturally, being the fully organised/totally-in-control domestic goddess she is, my beloved made a list of things that needed to be done.
Upon said list went such things as “sort coffee mugs” and “defrost freezer”, the sort of things that don’t necessarily get done every week but are reserved for special occasions – like a couple of days off work. Apparently. I mean “sleep in” and “do nothing” didn’t even get a look in.
I have to say I was somewhat bemused as the list grew.
I mean, I’d have thought the coffee mugs could be sorted any time. Perhaps at Christmas when the littlies send us new ones saying “World’s Best Nana” or “Grandad” so you can get shot of the ones from last year that said the same thing.
As for defrosting the freezer, well I’ve never quite understood the thinking behind that. By all accounts, you turn it off, remove the ice then turn it back on again to, er, make more ice. Go figure.
Anyway, on to the list also went “sort internet” and “change bank account”.
At this point, I thought I’d be helpful and suggest to Mrs P some grading of items based on their priority.
If I’m being honest, I wanted her to get the “sort internet” thing, well, sorted as quickly as possible because I’m watching a series on Netflix and it’s getting good.
Quiz
1
What director links the films Trainspotting, The Beach, and Slumdog Millionaire?
2 Wiener schnitzel is named after
the capital city of what country? 3 The football club Villarreal was founded and remains based in what country?
4 Douglas Haig commanded the British Expeditionary Force in Europe during what war?
5 What was the title of the Spice Girls' debut album, released in 1996?
History
1377 King Edward III dies after ruling England for 50 years; his grandson Richard II succeeds him.
1788 The US Constitution goes into effect as New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify it.
1834 Cyrus Hall McCormick receives a patent for his reaping machine. 1864 In the battle of Te Ranga, near Tauranga, British forces are able to attack before the pā is finished to exact revenge for the humiliating defeat battle at Gate Pā, 5km away. More than 100 Māori, including the hero of Gate Pā, Rāwiri Puhirake, and 13 British troops are killed.
1887 Britain celebrates golden jubilee of Queen Victoria.
1954 The American Cancer Society presents a study to the American Medical Association meeting in San Francisco which finds that men who regularly smoke cigarettes die at a considerably higher rate than nonsmokers.
1964 In NZ, 7000 hysterical fans greet the Beatles when they touch down in Wellington.
1964 Civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are slain in Philadelphia, Mississippi; their bodies are found buried in an earth dam six weeks later. (Forty-one years later on this date, in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, is found guilty of manslaughter and is sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he dies in 2018.)
1977 Menachem Begin of the Likud bloc becomes Israel’s sixth prime minister.
1989 A sharply divided Supreme Court rules burning the US flag as a form of protest is protected by the First Amendment.
2021 Kiwi weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is the first openly transgender athlete to be selected for the Olympic Games.
Birthdays
● Rock singermusician Ray Davies (The Kinks) is 78
● Actor Juliette Lewis is 49
● Rock musician Mike Einziger (Incubus) is 46
● Actor Chris Pratt is 43
● Rock singer Brandon Flowers is 41
● Britain’s Prince William is 40
Quiz Answers
1. Danny Boyle 2. Austria 3. Spain 4. World War I 5. Spice.
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