Tommy Contest Page 5
of the River Region
April 30, 2019 Published by PTK Corp.
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BUGS BUNNY by Kathy Wolfe
“Eh, what’s up, doc?” asks the long-eared animated bunny. Tidbits invites you to discover “what’s up” with this famous cartoon character on April 30, which has been declared Bugs Bunny Day. • Bugs Bunny is an anthropomorphic rabbit, meaning he was created with human traits and personality. In other words, he walks upright on two legs and talks. Introduced in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions, (which would go on to become Warner Brothers Cartoons), Bugs underwent several changes in appearance, first appearing as a short white rabbit known as Happy Rabbit. • Even though Happy Rabbit’s appearance was quite different from Bugs as we know him today, Happy’s personality was quite similar. Happy’s first appearance was in the cartoon short “Porky’s Hare Hunt,” which debuted in April of 1938. Porky Pig was the hunter tracking the rabbit who always managed to elude him. Happy’s favorite expression was “Jiggers, fellers,” and the voice actor Mel Blanc gave him a silly laugh, similar to what Blanc would later use for Woody Woodpecker. • A March, 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon short, “Elmer’s Candid Camera,” introduced Elmer Fudd opposite Happy Rabbit. • By July of 1940, the rabbit had a new look and a new name. The first official Bugs Bunny cartoon, “A Wild Hare,” was the first film in which Mel Blanc used a new voice for Bugs, one described as “a mixture of Brooklyn and Bronx accents.” It was also the first time that Bugs used his famous catchphrase, “What’s up, Doc?” The film’s writer/ (Continued next page)
Vol 8 Issue 18 shannon@riverregiontidbits.com
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1. Is the book of Gethsemane in the Old or New Testament or neither? 2. What’s the only book of the Bible (KJV) that mentions Christ’s tomb being sealed? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John 3. From Matthew 28:2, who rolled back the stone from the door of Jesus’ tomb, and sat upon it? Simon, An angel, Villagers, Disciples 4. When Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” came upon the risen Jesus, who did He ask them to inform? Priests, Disciples, No one, Villagers 5. From John 20, which disciple doubted Jesus had risen unless he could see the wounds? Peter, Andrew, Thomas, Thaddeus 6. How long did Jesus remain after His resurrection before He ascended into heaven? Instantaneously, 1 hour, 7 days, 40 days Comments? More Trivia? Visit www.TriviaGuy.com (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
director Tex Avery said it was a common saying in his Texas hometown, and he thought nothing of adding it to the script. When it became popular, it was added to Bugs’ films from there on out. “A Wild Hare” was such a success that it received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. • Another Academy Award nomination came along in 1941 for “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt,” in which Mel Blanc voiced all the characters. • Bugs starred in Merrie Melodies cartoons under the direction of Leon Schlesinger until 1944, when Schlesinger retired and sold his studio to Warner Brothers. The cartoons then became known as “Looney Tunes,” with “Buckaroo Bugs” marking the studio’s debut. • Bugs Bunny was extremely popular during World War II. Bugs, Porky Pig, and Elmer appeared in a 1942 U.S. two-minute film entitled “Any Bonds Today,” selling war bonds. At the end of 1943’s “Super-Rabbit,” Bugs Bunny appeared in a U.S. Marine dress blue uniform, singing “The Marines’ Hymn,” which resulted in the Marines making the character an honorary Marine Master Sergeant. Bugs was also the official mascot of Kingman, Arizona’s Army Airfield from 1943 to 1946, as well as the mascot for the U.S. Air Force’s 380th Bombardment Group. All of these accolades contributed to Warner Brothers becoming the most profitable cartoon studio in the nation. • Dell Comics featured Bugs in their “Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies” comic books beginning in 1941, and continued using him for 153 issues until 1954. From 1952 to 1983, Bugs was published in 245 issues of his own comic book, and another 81 issues of “Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny” from 1970 to 1983. • The Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicated the Bugs Bunny comic strip in 1942, and the strip ran for 51 years. • Bugs appeared in Warner Brothers Cartoon shorts until his last, “False Hare,” in 1964. He had starred in more than 167 shorts. • In 1960, “The Bugs Bunny Show” made its debut on ABC prime-time television. Many of the Looney Tunes cartoons were used for the program, which moved from evenings to Saturday mornings, where it remained for 40 years. • There was no new Bugs Bunny material until 1976, when “Bugs’ and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals” was released. • In 1988, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” hit the theaters, a film that combined live action with animated characters. It was the only film in which both Disney and Warner Brothers cartoon characters appeared together. Although the film was produced by Disney, Warner Brothers demanded screen time for Bugs and Daffy Duck equal to that of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Because of that, both sets of characters always appeared in the same frame. The movie was the most expensive film of the 1980s, with a production budget of $70 million. More than 82,000 frames of animation were drawn by the 326 animators who worked full-time on the project. Nominated for six Academy Awards, the film took home three Oscars. • Mel Blanc, known as “The Man of a Thousand (Continued next page)
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Voices,” began voicing Bugs Bunny in 1938, and continued until his death in 1989. • Blanc was also the voice of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Road Runner, the Tasmanian Devil, and several other Looney Tunes characters. The only major Warner character he did not voice was Elmer Fudd. Blanc went on to work for HannaBarbera, and was the voice behind The Flintstones’ Barney Rubble and The Jetsons’ Mr. Spacely, and the original voice of Universal Pictures’ Woody Woodpecker. • Mel Blanc died on the 29th birthday of a young man named Jeff Bergman, who was a voice actor at Warner Brothers who had been mentored by Blanc. Bergman became the voice of Bugs Bunny after Blanc’s death. By then, Bergman had been the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy for four years, a role he continued until 2013. • Warner Brothers used other voice actors for Bugs, including Billy West who voiced Bugs and Elmer Fudd in the 1996 live-action/animated movie “Space Jam.” Starring basketball great Michael Jordan, the film centered around a basketball match between Jordan’s team of Looney Tunes characters and a group of aliens who wanted to force the cartoon characters to perform in an alien amusement park. Bugs and the gang practiced in a gymnasium known as Leon Schlesinger Gym, a tribute to the man who had produced the first Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons. “Space Jam” introduced a brandnew Looney Tunes character, Bugs’ love interest Lola Bunny. • Bugs Bunny has been in more films than any other cartoon character, and is the 9th most-portrayed film personality in the world. Bugs received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7007 Hollywood Blvd. in 1985, joining several other fictional characters including Tinkerbell, Kermit the Frog, Mickey Mouse, Big Bird, and Winnie the Pooh.
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Tidbits® of the River Region
REMARKABLE PEOPLE:
ROGER BANNISTER May 6 marks the 65th anniversary of Roger Bannister’s amazing achievement of running the first four-minute mile. Join us as Tidbits recounts the story of this remarkable man’s life. • Long before his four-minute mile feat, Roger Bannister loved running. However, his running started out as the result of fear – running from bullies and running when air-raid sirens went off during World War II’s Battle of Britain. “I imagined bombs and machine guns raining on me if I didn’t go my fastest,” he later wrote in his memoir. • In 1946, at age 17, Bannister entered Oxford University. Competing on the track team, he discovered spiked shoes and ran his first competitive mile in 4:53. By 1951, he had won the British championships in the event. The following year he was his country’s leading hope for a gold medal at the Helsinki Olympics. When a last-minute extra race was added between the qualifying heat and the finals of the 1500-meter race, Bannister’s strength was drained, leading to a fourth-place finish and loss of the Olympic slot. In 1953, he was once again the British champion as well as the European champ. • Bannister was a medical student at London’s St. Mary’s Hospital in 1954, while he was training for that year’s season. It was his goal to break the mile race world record of 4 minutes, 1.3 seconds, set in 1945 by Swede Gunder Hagg. • On May 6, Bannister stepped to the starting line in Oxford, England. He had already worked the morning shift at St. Mary’s Hospital before boarding the train to Oxford. It was his first meet in eight months, although he had been vigorously training for six. The day was windy and rainy, with a crosswind blowing across the track. About 1,200 had gathered to watch the meet despite the dampness of the day. (Continued next page)
Outstanding Warrants:
Stanley, Ashley DOB: 11/05/1989 White/Female 4’11” 134 lbs Hair: Brown Eyes: Green
Failure to Appear Possession Controlled Substance
by Samantha Weaver * It was one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema, Alfred Hitchcock -- also known as the “Master of Suspense” who made the following sage observation: “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.” * In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, it is illegal to keep indoor furniture outdoors. * Those who study such things say that cockroaches can run as fast as 3 mph. * You probably don’t realize it -- and you certainly don’t notice it but experts claim that the Atlantic Ocean is getting about 1 centimeter bigger every year, and the Pacific Ocean is shrinking by the same amount. It’s due to continental drift, they say. * Linguists say that American English has roughly 20 swear words (depending, of course, on how one defines swearing). In contrast, residents of ancient Rome had a lexicon of about 800 so-called “dirty” words to draw upon. * The tuatara is a lizard that can be found in New Zealand. Its claim to fame? It has a third eye, located on the top of its head. * If you counted up all the McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy’s and Taco Bell locations in the United States and added them together, you still wouldn’t reach the number of pharmacy locations across the country. *** Thought for the Day: “I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.” -- W. C. Fields (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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• Just before the race began, the wind miraculously died down. Bannister’s time at the half-mile mark was 1:58. Another runner took the lead, but with 300 yards to go, Bannister passed him, crossing the finish line with a time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. • Bannister’s record only lasted 46 days, and was broken by Australian John Landy, who, on June 21, set the record at 3:58 at a race in Finland. On August 7, a race took place in front of 35,000 spectators and became known as the “Mile of the Century.” Both Bannister and Landy broke four minutes, with Bannister taking the race with 3:58.8 and Landy with 3:59.6. • Bannister won the British and Empire championships that year, but at the end of the year, at the height of his career, retired from competition to focus on his medical career, graduating from Oxford as a research and clinical neurologist. • In addition to his medical duties, he became director of London’s National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, chairman of the British Sports Council, and the head of Pembroke College at Oxford. Bannister did not consider the 4-minute mile his great achievement, but rather his neurological research of the nervous system, publishing more than 80 papers. • The current world record for the mile is 3:43.13, set in 1999. Considering the weight of Bannister’s leather shoes and spikes compared to the thin running shoes of today, his record is indeed remarkable. • That week in 1954 was memorable for Bannister in another important way. He met his future wife the day before the race, and they married the following year. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1975. He passed away in 2018 at age 88.
By Chris Richcreek
1. Name the last World Series before 2017 featuring two teams that each won 100 or more games during the regular season. 2. Which Yankees player hit the most home runs in his first three full years (at least 100 games per year) in the majors: Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig or Mickey Mantle? 3. In 2017, South Florida’s Quinton Flowers became the sixth player in Football Bowl Subdivision history to record 60-plus passing touchdowns and 40-plus rushing TDs during his career. Name two of the other five. 4. Name the top three coaches in terms of wins in Miami Heat history. 5. In 2019, Nikita Kucherov became the fastest Tampa Bay Lightning player to reach 100 points in a season (62 games). Who had been the fastest? 6. Who was the only Olympian to win five medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics? 7. Sergio Garcia set a Ryder Cup record in 2018 for most career points (25.5). Who had held the mark? (c) 2019 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Tameka Smith Please call 334-452-9296 within 7 days of this issue to claim your prize!
Tommy Count ______
This week’s winner receives
2 Dozen Glazed Doughnuts from
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Register to win by sending an email to entertommycontest@gmail.com or USPS to PTK Corp., PO Box 264, Wetumpka, AL 36092 with the following information: 1) Your name (first and last), and, 2) the number of times you find Tommy in the ads in the paper. From the correct entries a winner will be selected. You must be 18 years of age to qualify. The gift certificates will range in value from $25 to $100 each week. Entries must be received by midnight each Friday evening. Last Week’s Ads where 1. Baptist Health, p.4 2. ARC Reality, p.6
Tommy was hiding:
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TidbitsÂŽ of the River Region
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BED BUGS
BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:
1) Neither; 2) Matthew (27:65-66); 3) An angel; 4) Disciples; 5) Thomas (called Didymus); 6) 40 days (Acts 1:3)
1. It was 1970 (Baltimore versus Cincinnati). 2. DiMaggio had 107 home runs; Gehrig, 83; Mantle, 71. 3. Dan LeFevour, Tim Tebow, Colin Kaepernick, Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott. 4. Erik Spoelstra, Pat Riley and Kevin Loughery. 5. Vinny Lecavalier, in 78 games in 2006-07. 6. Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen. 7. Nick Faldo, with 25 points.
Who knew there was a special week set aside for those pesky insects known as bed bugs? April 21 – 27 has been set aside to heighten awareness, so Tidbits says, “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite” with these fascinating facts. • The size of a bed bug, known as “cimex lectularious,” ranges between 1 mm and 7 mm. They are flat, round, reddish-brown creatures that feed exclusively on blood, usually dining at night. • It’s a common misconception that bed bug infestation is due to a lack of personal hygiene. The bugs find their way into dark locations, such as mattress seams, cracks in the wall, behind electrical switch plates, in picture frames, and behind wallpaper. • Bed bugs can’t fly or jump and can only move by crawling, and can crawl more than 100 feet (30 m) in a single night. They find their way into homes through clothing, luggage, furniture, or bedding, and a clean home has just as much of a chance to have bed bugs as a dirty one. Even the top luxury hotels can have bed bugs. Homeless shelters, dormitories, movie theaters, and hotels are more susceptible, not because of cleanliness, but because of the larger amount of humans. The insects are attracted to a host mainly by carbon dioxide, followed by warmth, so more people mean more of both those factors. The bed bug population is three times higher in urban areas over rural locations. One extermination expert estimates that 5% of all hotel rooms have bed bugs • The optimal temperature for bed bugs is between 70 and 80 degrees F (21 to 26 C). • Bed bugs are especially attracted to a sleeping person’s face, neck, and arms. The bug feeds for about 5 to 10 minutes, then moves to a dark, secluded place for 5 to 10 days, during which time, they digest the blood, mate, or lay eggs. The female can lay 1 to 5 eggs a day, about 200 to 500 during her lifetime. Depending on temperature, a bed bug can survive more than 100 days without nourishment. • The bite of a bed bug is relatively painless, and you might not even realize you’ve been bitten at the time. This is because the bug’s saliva contains an anesthetic substance that increases blood flow at the site of the bite. Folks can wake up the following morning to a skin rash, blisters, itchiness, fatigue, or fever, depending on the body’s reaction to the bite. Although it’s highly annoying, bed bugs are not known to transmit any infectious diseases. • To avoid bringing these pests into your home, while traveling, put your suitcase on a raised rack to hinder the bugs from crawling in. Putting the suitcase in the tub is another option. Hotel guests shouldn’t leave clothes on the floor. • Vacuuming your home mattress once a month is recommended by exterminators. • The best way to get rid of bed bugs is through heat. The insects can’t survive at temperatures above 122 degrees F (50 C), so the use of a steamer, which can reach well above 230 degrees F (110 C) can kill all life stages in a mattress.
* On May 5, 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military leader who once ruled an empire that stretched across Europe, dies as a British prisoner on the remote island of Saint Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean. His body was returned to Paris in 1840. * On May 4, 1886, a peaceful labor protest in Haymarket Square in Chicago turns into a riot, leaving more than 100 wounded and eight police officers dead. Seven of the eight fatalities and the most of injuries were caused by shots fired by fellow officers. * On May 2, 1933, the modern legend of Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster is born when a newspaper reports a couple’s sighting of “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface” of the lake. The “monster” became a media phenomenon, and a circus offered a huge reward for the beast’s capture. * On April 30, 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered, ending Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich. * On May 3, 1951, the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees begin hearings into the dismissal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur by President Harry Truman. The American public liked MacArthur’s tough stance on communism, and he returned home to a hero’s welcome. * On April 29, 1968, the musical “Hair” premieres on Broadway. The show featured a much-talked-about scene in which the cast appeared nude on the dimly lit stage. “Hair” quickly became not just a smash hit, but a cultural phenomenon. * On May 1, 1991, Oakland Athletics outfielder Rickey Henderson steals his 939th base to break Lou Brock’s career record. Henderson would steal a 1,406 bases in his major league career, almost 500 more than the next closest player. (c) 2019 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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TidbitsÂŽ of the River Region