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Nostalgia from The Educated Retirement show of 2/25/22

February 28, 2022

Today is February 25th:

  1. National Clam Chowder Day
    1. Each year on Feb.25th people across the nation have a bowl and spoon ready to be filled with clam chowder as they prepare to participate in National Clam Chowder Day.
    2. A clam chowder is a soup or stew containing clams or fish. The most popular clam chowders are New England and Manhattan.  New England clam chowder is thick, creamy and a white chowder.  Manhattan is tomatoey and clear.  Both usually contain fresh or canned clams, potatoes, onions, and celery. There are shrimp chowders, corn chowders and even chicken chowders.
  2. Quiet Day…Feb.25
    1. This is also called Don’t Utter a Word Day. Lower the noise level and stay quiet today. Noise levels can make it hard to focus on our daily tasks. When we lower the volume and ask the room to be quiet for the day, it brings a peace that can lower stress levels and increase production.
    2. A good movie to watch on Quiet Day is “A Quiet Place” If they hear you, they hunt you.  A family must live in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound!  And of course, there is “A Quiet Place, Part II”.
  3. Carnival Day…Feb 26
    1. Each year, millions of people flock to carnivals and festivals and put down big bucks to be entertained by clowns, fun food, games and much more.
    2. Here is a list of some of the weirdest festivals:
      1. “Underwater Music Festival” in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This is the most unique celebration of a coral reef in the world. (July).  Songs such as “Yellow Submarine” and “The Little Mermaid” are broadcasted underwater through speakers suspended by boats floating above the reef, where the scuba divers dress the part along with “playing their musical instruments” to the tunes.
      2. “Cow Chip Throw” is held in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, and, yes, it is real cow dung!  This was a slightly stinky tradition turned into a huge festival held every August.  While there are arts and crafts, games, music and a beer garden there is also the main event…a Cow Chip Throw.  The current record in the state is 248 feet and no, you can’t wear gloves.
  • Roadkill Cook-off in Pocahontas County, West Virginia there is a weekend festival of the strangest kind. It honors the making gourmet meals created from animals commonly found on the side of the road like, ground hog, opossum, crow, squirrel and snake.  Over 20,000 people come to sample the roadkill meals and winners can take home up to $1,200.
  1. The Dance Mile In Portland, Maine people get together once a year and dance…for an entire mile! Every July thousands of participants get their boogie shoes on and follow a mobile DJ and dance.  People dress up with wigs and costumes and even roller skates. 
  2. Bugfest in Raleigh, North Carolina there is an annual festival that draws crowds of over 35,000 people to enjoy exhibits, crafts and games and the ‘Café Insecta’ which offers “bug” dishes with real bugs.
  3. Lebowski Fest In Louisville, Kentucky this festival celebrates the Coen Bros.’ film classic “The Big Lebowski” where ‘The Dude’ lookalikes have a film screening, unlimited bowling, a costume contest and of course, White Russians.

 

Honorable Mentions:

  1. Jackson Pollock…

Jan.28, 1912-1956

 

 

Pollock was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement.

  1. He was widely noticed for his “drip technique” of pouring or splashing liquid household paint (often in a dancing style) onto the entire canvas, some praised his creations while others didn’t.
  2. v. In 2000 actor Ed Harris portrayed the artist in the film “Pollock”. Harris was also the director, and it starred Amy Madigan and Val Kilmer (who played artist Willem de Kooning ).

 

  1. Elijah Wood…Jan.28, 1981
  2. Elijah is an American actor and producer and is best known as Frodo Baggins in the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy. He made his film debut in a small part in “Back to the Future, II” and has starred in over 66 films including “The Faculty”, “Avalon”, “Sin City” as well as the voice of a penguin in animated “Happy Feet”. He has also co-produced “Mandy” and “Color Out of Space” (both starring Nick Cage).

 

Things to do:

Most People Don’t Know About This Underrated Zoo Hiding In Southern California

Looking for a unique adventure in Southern California that you can bet the whole family will love? Then plan a day trip to this local zoo in SoCal that is unlike most any zoo you’ve ever visited. Here’s a closer look at what you can expect at this hidden gem that will bring a smile to everyone’s face.

Tucked inside the town of Big Bear in Southern California, you'll find a unique zoo that is unlike any other zoo you've ever visited in SoCal.

Big Bear Alpine Zoo is located at 43285 Goldmine Dr., Big Bear Lake, CA 92315.

Unlike other zoos where animals are often on display for entertainment purposes, this zoo in Southern California focuses on housing birds and animals who have been harmed, wounded, or injured, and are in need of rehabilitation before they are able to return to the wild and take care of themselves on their own.

With a 90% success rate of rehabilitating each and every animal who needs care, this is one zoo that you can feel good about visiting and supporting.

Behavioral Enrichment- throughout the day

Included with daily admission

 

Big Bear Alpine Zoo’s Enrichment Philosophy

 

The natural behaviors of our animals will direct our behavioral enrichment and will assist our keepers in the determination of enrichment activities based solely on the behaviors they wish to elicit.

 

Enrichment can be defined as: as a dynamic process for enhancing animal environments within the context of the animals’ behavioral biology and natural history. Environmental changes are made with the goal of increasing the animal’s behavioral choices and drawing out their species-appropriate behaviors, thus enhancing animal welfare.

 

Types of enrichment:

 

  1. Enrichment is provided in a variety of ways, such as:

 

  1. Exhibit design: provides a variety of substrates, levels, and complexities.

 

  1. Training: interaction with the keeper and proper training allows an animal to choose to participate. This is also useful in gaining the animal’s trust and allows the keeper close, visual observations of that animal.

 

  1. Olfactory: a keeper can introduce natural predator or prey scents, in addition to novel smells or pheromone scents.

 

  1. Auditory: taped sounds or vocalizations can simulate things that an animal may hear in the wild.

 

  1. Food related: this is the most widely used form of enrichment. Keepers can present food in a variety of ways such as in a simple puzzle feeder, hidden throughout the enclosure, scattered about the enclosure, or buried in a substrate. To get the food, the animal must use natural foraging behaviors and/or mentally solve the puzzle.

 

  1. Novel objects: various items placed in an animal’s enclosure allow the animal to mimic behaviors exhibited in the wild or could challenge them. These items could include burlap bags, sheets, boomer balls, chew toys, or a hammock. Often, novel objects will be combined with food related enrichment. For example, burlap bags may be filled with hay and treats and tied closed. The animal would then have to get into the bag and sort through the hay to get to the treats.

 

  1. Research: Participation in a research projects offers mental stimulation. (i.e., foraging skills research with giant pandas, cognitive research with orangutans)

 

 

On This Day in History:

  1. Invasion of the Body Snatchers released Feb.5, 1956…film directed by Don Siegel, starred Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, King Donovan and Carolyn Jones, small part by director Sam Peckinpah
    1. Trivia
      1. *During its original release paper-mache pods were on display in theatre lobbies as well as life size black and white cutouts of Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter running frantically away from a crowd of pod people.
      2. *This film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress
  • *The tunnel scene where the hero hides briefly from the townspeople was filmed at Bronson Cave at Griffith Park
  1. *Kevin McCarthy was a good friend of Montogmery Clift but was jealous as Clift was making big budget extravaganza “Raintree County” and Kevin working on a ‘B’ budgeted movie in a small studio. Little did they know that eventually “Raintree County” would be pretty much forgotten where as “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” would be considered as a classic.
  2. *Only $15,000 of the budget was spent on special effects.
  1. *Anne Bancroft, Donna Reed, Kim Hunter and Vera Miles were all considered for the part of Becky Driscoll
    1. *Gig Young, Dick Powell, Joseph Cotton were all considered for the role of Dr. Miles Bennell.
  2. Creature of the Black Lagoon released Feb. 12,1954, director Jack Arnold (The Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula, It Came From Outer Space), starred Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning
    1. Trivia
      1. *The film was originally produced in 3 D
      2. *Jack Arnold also directed most of The Brady Bunch episodes.
  • *The physical appearance of the Creature was modeled after a likeness of the Oscar statuette.
  1. *Two actors played the Creature, one under water Ricou Browning, and one on land, Ben Chapman.
  2. *What did the Creature and Citizen Kane have in common? The idea for this film started at a dinner party for the film “Citizen Kane” with Orson Welles, when the cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa told producer Wiliam Alland and Welles a Mexican folk tale that inspired the movie’s story.
  3. Music was an uncredited Henry Mancini.
  1. Work begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Jan.26, 1887, with the diggings of the Tower’s foundation. The tower (one of the world’s most recognizable structures at 986 feet) was finished by the work of 150 men on March 31, 1889. Every seven years it is repainted, the colors progressively lighter at the top.  It was once the world’s largest billboard with the auto company Citroen advertising in 100 foot vertical letters in lights along side of the tower.
  2. USS challenger explodes on Jan.28, 1986
    1. The Space Shuttle Challanger disaster occurred when the Space Shuttle broke apart in 73 seconds into the flight killing all seven crew members. It disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The crew was scheduled to deploy a communications satellite and study Halley’s Comet while they were in orbit.
    2. Disney’s Sleeping Beauty released Jan.29, 1959
    3. The actress that played the Princess Aurora was Mary Costa. At 91 she is the last surviving original voice actress of the first three Disney Princesses created in Disney’s lifetime.  Included on the list of many awards over the years she also received the National Medal of Arts in 2021.  As an opera singer Mary performed over 45 roles on stage all over the world including the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She sang with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra on their television shows. She also sang with Sammy Davis Jr. performing a blues selection with him backed up by Charlie Parker.
    4. Walt Disney assigned artist Eyvind Earle as the production designer of the film. Included in his designing Earle painted panoramic backgrounds some of them 15 feet long. Every frame of the film was a work of art.
  3. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb…premieres…Jan. 29, 1964, director Stanely Kubrick, starred Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, film nominated for four Oscars

 

  1. B. King donated his record collection on Jan. 21, 1982. It is said the collection included up to 20,000 vinyl records. It was donated to the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture.  The collection included 7,000 blues discs King aired as a radio disc jockey at Memphis’ WDIA in the 50’s as “Riley King”.
  2. Killers from Space released Jan.23, 1954
    1. This film was directed by W. Lee Wilder (brother of Billy Wilder) and starred Peter Graves (brother of James Arness-Marshall Dillon of Gunsmoke). Production of the film took place in Bronson Canyon in Los Angeles, as a cavern hideout for the aliens.
    2. The effect for the aliens in the film was done by Harry Thomas. Harry was an American makeup artist that worked in mainly ‘B’ pictures but also did work for the film “The Ten Commandments” and televisions’ “Adventures of Superman” with George Reeves.  He was told to make large eyes for the aliens in ‘Killers From Space’.  Since glass eyes cost too much ($900 each) he had the idea after looking in his refrigerator for a drink.  The idea was to use the top portion of plastic egg trays by cutting them with a heated screwdriver then cut little holes for the pupils and sealed the sides with cotton.  It is said that his “egg eyes” made those aliens the most silly-looking aliens in film and truly unforgettable.
  3. Radar Men from the Moon released Jan. 9, 1952.
    1. This film starred George Wallace playing Commando Cody. Wallace was originally discovered as a singing bartender in Hollywood. He started out in musicals on Broadway.  Radar Men also starred Clayton Moore who later became television’s “The Lone Ranger”.
    2. This Republic Pictures’ 12 chapter movie serial and is the first Commando Cody serial. The serial recycles the flying sequences from the King of the Rocket Men and the later Zombies of the Stratosphere used some of the Cody flying suit and spaceship footage.
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Jay Kaplan
This is the place to share. Share news, updates and opinions. The reverse is the most misunderstood item in the lending and financial home ownership arena; we need more exchange of ideas. This area is for questions and, I hope; answers. Please keep the dialogue going in the name of education, and that goes both ways. Please see that I have added two categories from The Educated Retirement show for Nostalgia and Wisdom
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