My daily banana

 

 

Photo of the Day:

 

The Giant Rhubarb

 (Gunnera manicata)

 

Mammutblatt or Giant Rhubarb (Gunnera manicata)
It grows up to eight feet high and very bushy.
We'll see next week how fast it grows.

A close up from the other side, the lighting is much better.

The blossom is changing, I wonder if the plant goes into seed?

 

Event of the Day:

 

21st May 1819

 

1st bicycles (swift walkers) in US introduced in NYC

 

Karl Draus invented the first bicycle in 1817 the draisine nicknamed the Dandy Horse. It was similar to the kiddies laufräder (walking bicycles) today, made of wood, it had no pedals, the rider straddled the contraption and walked or ran until he had enough speed to pick his feet up and glide. The first one was used in New York City in 1819. It was not liked by the city officials, they banned it from the public places and sidewalks

A Dandy Horse from 1820

A kiddies Laufrad from today.
 Not much difference to the original Swift-Walker,
one is made of wood the other metal, one is ridden by a dandy the other a child.

 

 

 

 

Birthday of the Day:

 

21st May 1948

 

Leo Sayer

 

Back in the seventies he was a refreshing sight between the glam-rock and hard-rock artists, he appeared as a clown, a sad clown. His first recording was, The Show Must Go On

Leo Sayer singing live in 1974 (found on YouTube)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6gEkfwozhE

Died on this Day:

 

21st May

 

Nobody!

 

Let life carry on:-)

 

Mr Nobody

 

 

Cycle of the Day:

 

Today it happened, I was back on my bicycle. It was about time and it felt good. I did a longer round, twenty-eight kilometres. The weather was brilliant, sun, twenty-three degrees celsius and a mild wind. At last, I hope it stays that way a little bit longer.

 

 

The rape is wilting and making way for the seed pods.

Out in the Koog, an example of another very well kept farmers house. It'll be owned by some Hamburger or Berliner, like most of the well kept old houses in North Friesland. They have the money. In one way a bit sad, the houses are only used as weekend and holiday homes and the locals can't afford to buy what used to be a cheap house. On the other hand, our heritage is being preserved. Very nice on this house, the painting on the barn door.

Sorry, a bad photo, it's slanting. I was still on my bicycle when I took it..
 Still you can see the painting, it's a protest against wind energy.

 

 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/503471213

My daily Banana

 

 

 

 

Event of the Day:

20.05.2014

The Second Battle of Lincoln

 

The second battle of Lincoln was fought between the soldiers of King Henry III and Prince Louis of France (the proclaimed King of England) The battle around the Lincoln castle lasted six hours and the English soldiers led by the Earl of Pembroke William Marshal won over the French soldiers led by the Comte du Perche. After the fighting was over the soldiers ransacked Lincoln in revenge for their loyalty  to the French monarch, the ransacking is remembered as The Lincoln Fair. 

 

Another important Event of the Day

20.05.1873

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patented the first blue jeans with copper rivets.

 

The jeans had seven rivets, one more than today. The extra rivet was between the legs where the seam of the two legs and the fly come together. It didn't stay there very long, the cowboys complained about getting their scrotum burnt when they crouched in front of the campfire. Copper is a very good conductor of heat!:-)



Birthday of the Day:

20.05.1944

Joe Cocker

Sheffield, England

He appeared at the Woodstock Festival, United States in 1969  and sang his interpretation of the Beatles song With a Little Help From My Friends. It was brilliant, George sent him a telegram with the famous words, It's a gas. 

 

The pitiful thing is, he still sings that song on stage. I like the guy, it's about time he said goodbye and went into pension, I'd rather remember how great he could dance and sing than see an old man without much voice trying to relive his youth.

 

Joe 1969 singing With a Little Help From My Friends:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y2RHMGqbWk

The Beatles singing With a Little Help From My Friends:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkyqRP8S93Y

Another Birthday of the Day:

20.05.1946

Cher

 

the better half of Sonny and Cher. They were married and partners back in the sixties. Their one mega hit was I Got YouBabe. They split up and Sonny Bono went into politics and at one time was the mayor of Palm Springs 1988 to 1992, after that he became a congressman for California, until his death in 1998.

 

Cher carried on as a recording artist and silicon addict, she retired from singing in 2011 and came back in 2013 with a new album.

Cher is also an excellent actress and won an Academy Award in1988 as Best Actress for her role in Moonstruck. 

Sonny and Cher from 1965 singing I've Got You Babe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BERd61bDY7k

 

 

Died on this Day:

20.05.2013

Robin Gibb

 

Hail to Robin,

Hail to the BeeGees

 

Robin was sixty-two and died of cancer.

Robin singing Juliet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JojZ6nZb6_A

 

The Non-Ride of the Day:

Call me lazy. Today I could have taken my bike out, but I didn't. It's always easy to find an excuse not to participate in sport, I don't have one. All I'm thinking is, tomorrow!

 

Bye for now, more again tomorrow. Have a nice one :-)

My Daily Banana

Photo of the Day:

 

Meldorf Market Square with the Dom in the background

 

 

 

Word of the Day:

Quadrophonic

Sounds split into four channels and amplified through four different loudspeakers

 

Name of the Day:

Jimmy

Nickname for the name James meaning supplant, replace

 

Event of the Day:

19th May 1962

John F Kennedy

 

New York Madison Square Gardens salutes the United States President John F Kennedy on his 45th birthday. The birthday was on the 29th May, but who cares. I don't expect that anyone will remember the salute, but everyone will remember Marilyn Monroe's performance of Happy Birthday Mr. President 

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe sings Happy Birthday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqolSvoWNck

Birthday of the Day:

19th May 1945

Pete Townshend

in Chiswick, London, England

Songwriter and wild guitarist, famed for his propeller and jump act while playing.

Pete Townshend with his propeller arm







He plays and writes the songs for the mega group The Who. They had their zenit in the sixties with songs such as I'm a Boy, My Generation or See Me, Feel Me (from the L.P. Tommy)

For me their best L.P. was Quadrophenia, it has a very realistic story behind it:
Jimmy, a lad growing up in London of the sixties. Being fed up with normal everyday life, getting up early, going to work, he grabs his scooter (he's a Mod) and runs down to Brighton. There he gets involved in the Mods and Rocker riots, meets and idolizes the over Mod "The Ace Face" (in the film Quadrophenia played by Sting). He thinks, "that guy will never cush to society" and one day Jimmy stumbles over him in a hotel working as a bellboy, "Yes Sir, no Sir, pleased to help you Madam". What a shock for Jimmy, his world, his ideals fall apart.
He jumps on his scooter, rides down to Beachy Head and drives over the cliff. That's the end of the L.P., the film and Jimmy.

My Generation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-geX7D4hgM

Died this Day:

19th May 1994

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

She outlived her first husband President John F Kennedy by thirty-one years and her second husband Aristotle Onasiss by nineteen years.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis



Non Cycle ride of the Day:

Made a trip with Heike to her birthplace cum hometown, Meldorf. It's called a Dorf (village) but it's a very nice town. First we went to the graveyard to pay homage to her parents. That was a drama, Heike couldn't remember where their grave was. Not funny, there are hundreds of gravestones and they all look alike. We took at least an hour of searching, Heike in one way and me in the other. I found it at last and we could say our greetings.
After that I needed a rest so we strolled into town to the town market square. Here we had a cup of cappuccino and a short leg rest before Heike showed me around. Like I said a nice town, with a Dom (a large church, something between an abbey and a cathedral). I took tones of pictures of which I will post a few.

Heike drove all the way

The old man needs a rest after the nerve wracking drive



It's so cold in Meldorf, the water pumps need to be insulated
That's the dome in the background



Can you see the black spots? They have a purpose, can you see which?



The Challenge:

I'm not losing weight, I'm gaining. Shit, this week I weigh 97.6 kg. That's 'cause I haven't done any sport this last two weeks. It's about time my small ailments buggered off.
How about you guys?

I'll be back tomorrow. Have a nice day!

My daily Banana

Another lazy day, sitting on the balcony, soaking in the sun, listening to a Steppenwolf medley and being nerved by the lawn mowers and grass trimmers down in the back gardens. Man the noise is atrocious, how many decibels are they allowed to produce?
That's the trouble with sunny Saturday afternoons, but at least I live in a rented flat and I don't have to do the mowing; not like some I wouldn't mention who, who get the itch to mow the lawn at seven-fifty in the morning.

The Event of the Day:

on the 18th May 1830 Edwin Budding an inventor was presented with the right to manufacture and sell his invention: Lawn Mowers.
At last the man of the house has an adequate tool with which he can enjoy his Saturday afternoon leisure.

Lawn Mower 1830
It didn't look much different from the toiling with the hand mowers from today

The difference today: you can take a phone call while mowing the lawn

Todays Birthday:

Albert Hammond was born this day in 1944. He is a singer, songwriter and music producer.
His high time was the Seventies with songs such as: I'm a Train or Down by the River. At the time I thought, "just another half-ways good lyricist". Well I was wrong! If you listen to and analyse the lyrics to Down by the River you'll think otherwise.
The song is about a pair that go down to the river to picnic and swim, they noticed fish in the water swimming on their backs. Next day they, the pair, felt sick and realized they had swum in a polluted river.

Here's the video to Down by the River copied from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgOwNukqwlU

At the time when Albert Hammond wrote and sang the song nobody, including me, thought of the environmental issue. I raise my hat to Albert!

One of the vinyl LP's I bought back in the Seventies, I've still got it.
I never throw an L.P. away, that would be like throwing my past away.

Who died on this day in history?

Elijah Craig died in 1808. The poor guy left us with a terribly tasting inheritance: Bourbon Whiskey
Never, and I mean NEVER trust a whisky that is spelt with an "E"

The bottle looks good,
the colour of the liquid looks fine,
but there's an "E" in the name
so forget it! Bah!!

I learned a word today:

Onomatopoeia

another word for Gordon.

It is the description of noises, in word, such as woof ( a dog bark) or vroom ( a fast engine) or ding dong a very old onomatopoeia describing the ringing of bells.

My Non-Cycle ride:

We had another lovely walk around Niebüll, it was sunny and warm, at last.
Aldi is building an extension so Lidl is chock-a-block. Ain't no way Heike's goin' to get me in there, shopping. Otherwise Niebüll showed itself from the sunny side (fitting with the weather) I took some more pictures that I want to show you, give you an impression of the town in which we live. If they don't interest you, tell me I can always find other boring subjects.

To begin with another car picture. The car is over thirty years old, I had the same car in red, I bought it brand new in March 1978 for DM 7200,- That would be 3600 € in todays currency (don't ask me how many dollars that would be, not many, not enough for a new car today)

A Renault 4

The Wehlen Strasse; it's being resurfaced

The weekly market

The main drag looking north

Another bustling side road.

My Daily Banana

Hi, not much of a banana today. I'm still hurting and the last thing I want to do is open my computer and do research on the happenings of today.
Yesterday was a real big bind. Got up at five in the morning, my dental appointment was at seven-fifteen. Easy you say, but if your tooth and head are about to burst it wasn't at all that way. I managed to get there shortly after seven and my ever loving dentist got to work, (he must have been watching Steve Martin in "My Little Shop of Horrors". Do you remember that? Steve played the dentist, he was a nasty, dirty, hate filled Harley rider who loved nothing other than hurting others.) Well that's what it felt like!

Steve Martin as the dentist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHsDKqKE_kc

After the treatment I was no use to the world anymore, all I wanted was a bed and a lot of pity. Both were withheld, I had to function. My work colleague, Sarah was getting married and I had offered to play the part of the photographer, only outside the registry office. It worked out and I shot at least one brilliant photo.

My Photo of the Day:

Sarah and Muni

Birthday of the day:

17th May 1936

Dennis Hopper

The producer and co-star in Easy Rider. That was a great film, I say was because last time I watched the film I thought "What was so great about that? Two dropouts who financed an American roundtrip by smuggling drugs".
There are only two things about the film that interest me today, the music and the machines, oh yes, and Jack Nicholson; he played his part very well.

Steppenwolf The Pusher:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW44IfV0jK0

Died on this day:

17th May 2012

Donna Summer

Oooh, love to love you, baby!

Wasn't she good? I loved her disco sound, it got me up on the dance floor, something that never happens now-a-days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6iTciIqLxM

Resumé:

Like I said, not much of a banana today, but at least I got Sarah's photo into my blog. I wish her a long life and a happy marriage.

My Daily Banana

 

 

Photo of the day:

 

 

 

Award of the day:

The Golden Raspberry

 

 

The award is given one day before the Academy Award, in nine categories:

Worst Actor

Worst Actress

Worst Supporting Actor

Worst Supporting Actress

Worst Screen Combo (Couple or team members)

Worst Screenplay

Worst Director

Worst Picture

Worst Prequel, Rip-Off or Sequel

There are also yearly special categories such as in 1997:

Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property; awarded to the film Con Air

 

Name of the day:

Pierce

An English name meaning Rock

 

Today is the United States National

 Love a Tree Day

Remember what trees give us Oxygen; and what’s oxygen? Life!. I love trees!!

 

 

 

Event of the day:

16th May 1974

Helmut Schmidt becomes chancellor of West Germany

And a good chancellor he was, he didn’t give in to the terrorists of the Rote Armee Fraction. In 1977 they kidnapped Hans Schleier and held him ransom in return for their terrorist companions Baader, Meinhoff, Raaspe held in West German prisons. When Helmut Schmidt refused an exchange Schleier was murdered, the prisoned terrorists then committed suicide. How does the saying go? Good Riddance to bad rubbish!

 

Birthday of the day:

16th May 1953

Pierce Brosman

In Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland

the fifth actor to play the part of James Bonds from 1995 to 2002

 

 

The Bond films were:

GoldenEye

Tomorrow Never Dies

The World Is Not Enough

Die Another Day

He acted in many other high carat films, such as:

Mars Attacks!,

The Thomas Crown Affair

He won the Golden Raspberry Award for his part in the film “Mama Mia!” in which he tries and I mean TRIES to sing.

 

Died on this day:

16th May 1990

Beverley Hills, California, United States

Born 8th December 1925

In Harlem, New York, United States

Sammy Davis Jr.

 

 

Entertainer and singer. Called himself a one eyed Negro Jew. He was part of the infamous Rat-Pack with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin with whom he toured, drank, acted in films such as Ocean’s 11. One song that comes to mind when thinking of Sammy is “Candy Man” which he recorded in 1972.

Here’s a Youtube video of “Candy man”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRf1Ad_Txsg

 

Non Cycle ride of the day:

 

I had to go to the dentist this morning. Ow, my head hurts. I've had tooth ache for the past two days.

Don't talk to me!!

Don't touch me!!

Don't even look at me!

I hurt!!!

 

Here's a couple of photos I shot on the way to the dentist in Flensburg.

 

 

 





 

It's quite a bustling town, but not at seven in the morning.

 

 

Bye, see you all tomorrow. Have a good day