Tommy Contest Page 5
of the River Region
May 14, 2019 Published by PTK Corp.
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TIDBITS® MINDS ITS MANNERS WITH
ETIQUETTE by Kathy Wolfe
It’s National Etiquette Week, and Tidbits is advising you on the right, wrong, and wacky rules about manners and rude behavior. • Etiquette was essential clear back to Biblical times, with proverbs advising a person to “Eat as it becometh a man, and devour not, lest thou be hated.” Ancient leaders advised against licking one’s fingers and belching after a good meal, drinking wine in one gulp, and being free of offensive body odor. • Greed was considered the base of all evil that was to be guarded against while cultivating kindness and generosity. • Medieval knights were held to very strict rules of conduct, including “gallantry and courtesy to women” and respect for and defense of the weak. • As early as 1528, a book of manners was in existence, with advice on gentility, wittiness, and discretion. Those who wished to climb the social ladder were counselled to have impeccable manners. One of the 16th century’s most popular essays instructed people not to eat with mouths open or sneak sideways glances at others, and to engage in self-restraint and bodily control, both described as “civilizing processes.” • In the 1730s, Britain’s Lord Chesterfield first used the word “etiquette” in a series of 400 letters written to his son on the “art of becoming a man of the world and a gentleman.” These letters instructed the boy on good (Continued next page)
Vol 8 Issue 20 shannon@riverregiontidbits.com
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Tidbits® of the River Region (Front page continued)
1. Is the book of Judges in the Old or New Testament or neither? 2. From 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is ...”? Independence, Freedom, Patriotism, Liberty 3. Which scripture contains, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”? Ruth 4:10, Job 7:2, Psalm 23:4, Amos 1:1 4. Though lame on both feet, what descendant of Saul continually ate at King David’s table? Mareshah, Methusael, Micah, Mephibosheth 5. Under what type of tree would the children of Israel come to Deborah for judging? Palm, Sycamore, Fig, Cypress 6. From Matthew 8, who was the first woman that Jesus healed? Paul’s sister, Naomi, Peter’s mother-in-law, Deborah Visit Wilson Casey’s Trivia Fan Site at www.patreon.com/ triviaguy. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
breeding and social graces as a method of social advancement. • France’s King Louis XIV instituted a very elaborate form of etiquette for all who would visit the Chateau de Versailles. Because the King’s court might receive as many as 10,000 visitors a day, a sophisticated form of order was needed, and all guests were handed instruction cards outlining proper etiquette while in Versailles. Those who wanted to speak to the King were prohibited from knocking on his door, rather people had to gently scratch on his door with their left pinky finger. At the royal dinner table, it was bad manners to talk about the food that was being served, even if it was exceptional. No talking in a loud voice was allowed, nor were diners allowed to make any sounds while eating. Louis introduced napkins to the table; prior to that, guests wiped their hands on the tablecloth. It was incorrect etiquette to talk to someone to whom a person had not been introduced. Introductions could only be made by the host or hostess, and the other person first had to be asked if he or she approved of the introduction. • In Louis’ court, only the King and Queen had the right to sit in chair that had arms. Ladies and gentlemen were not allowed to cross their legs in the presence of royalty. • Victorian times brought an extremely complicated systems of rules, including the proper use of cutlery, the art of writing letters, and regulations for proper interaction between differing social classes. • Many of what the British deemed proper went by the wayside with colonists in the New World, a fact that disturbed the Brits. When English author Charles Dickens visited Washington, D.C., he pronounced it the “headquarters of tobacco-tinctured saliva” shooting forth from the mouths of “not always good marksmen.” • We’ve all heard of the “no elbows on the table” rule, but manners experts say it is perfectly acceptable to put your elbows on the table when no utensils are being used but not when people are actually eating. • It’s certainly rude to show up late to a dinner party, and you should know that proper decorum allows the hostess to proceed with dinner if you are later than 20 minutes. • When it’s time to be seated at the table, dinner guests should approach their chair from the left side and should exit on the right as the polite way to avoid a collision. If the need to use the restroom arises during dinner, according to manners gurus, it’s inappropriate to mention it to the group. A simple “excuse me” is the acceptable method to accomplish this. • Once seated at the table, and one of your fellow diners asks you to pass the salt, you should always pass both the salt and pepper. They’re a pair that should be kept together in the event that the person asking wants both of them. It’s also a cardinal rule to always pass to the right. • There’s appropriate protocol for wine glasses, (Continued next page)
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too. White wine glasses are to be held by the stem, while red wine glasses are held by the bowl. And if the group is offering a toast to you, you should not drink to yourself! • All of us probably remember our mothers admonishing us, “Don’t point!” The rule of thumb is you can point at something, but never at someone. If you are pointing out an individual across the room, it is permissible to gesture with an open hand. • It’s an automatic reflex to cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. But did you know that it’s bad manners to cough into your right hand? Etiquette experts say that the right hand is your “social hand,” used for shaking hands and other social activities. The left hand should be used for coughing, sneezing, scratching, etc. It’s inappropriate to sneeze into your hand then offer to shake hands with a person. • Did you know there is a special set of rules for cigar smokers? “Zino Davidoff’s Guide to Cigar Etiquette” was published in 1967, outlining appropriate behavior, such as only smoking the cigar halfway, and letting it burn out on its own, as well as never relighting a cigar that is more than two-thirds smoked. Mr. Davidoff says it’s impolite to smoke cigars while walking. It’s considered an insult to give another smoker a light from your cigar without first knocking the ash from yours. It’s also in poor taste to chain smoke cigars. • If you’re visiting the country of Japan, it’s perfectly fine to slurp your noodles. It shows the hostess that you are enjoying them! However, be sure to remove your shoes when entering a Japanese home. • Folks in China find it acceptable to burp after a meal. It’s a sign they are pleased with the meal.
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Tidbits® of the River Region
REMARKABLE PEOPLE:
ETIQUETTE EXPERTS Over the years, these ladies have stood out as experts in etiquette, and continue to be the standard for proper behavior. • Emily Post was raised in privilege as the daughter of a wealthy architect. Educated by governesses and New York City’s prestigious Miss Graham’s finishing school, Emily was introduced to society at an elegant ball in a Fifth Avenue mansion. She was wed to a prominent banker, whose infidelity created a huge scandal, leading to their divorce when Emily was 33. • Since her ex-husband had lost his fortune in a stock market crash, Emily turned to writing to support herself and two sons. After a few romantic short stories, she had published five novels by age 38. She switched to a sourcebook on etiquette, which almost immediately became a best seller in 1922. In the years to come, ten editions of the book were published, and her book of etiquette has never been out of print. At one time, Emily’s etiquette book was the second most-stolen book from libraries. The first was the Bible. • Emily based her many books on her root belief that manners included “good form in speech, knowledge of proper social graces, and charm.” In Emily’s words, manners are “a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.” Her pet peeves were pretentious people, dirty silverware, and hostesses who served themselves first. • Another etiquette expert, Letitia Baldridge, not only acted as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s Social Secretary, she wrote a regular newspaper column on appropriate behavior and ran her own PR firm. Letitia had met Jackie at Miss Porter’s School, a prep (Continued next page)
Outstanding Warrants:
Willis, Reginald DOB: 12/30/1999 Black/Male 5’10” 136 lbs Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
Wanted for: Identity Theft
by Samantha Weaver * It was industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who was born into a poor Scottish family and emigrated to the United States as a teen, who made the following sage observation: “There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.” * You might be surprised to learn that the United States Department of Commerce has designated approximately 30 houses across the country as authentic haunted houses. * Despite the fact that 95 percent of the world uses the metric system of measurement, we in the United States still stubbornly cling to the archaic units of measurement derived from the old British Imperial system. This hodgepodge ranges from the mile (originally the distance a Roman soldier could march in 1,000 double steps) to the foot (originally the length of Emperor Charlemagne’s foot, later “standardized” to the length of 35 barleycorns laid end to end) to a yard (the distance between King Henry I’s nose to his extended fingertips) to an inch (the length from the tip to the first joint of a man’s thumb). * You probably didn’t realize there’s a word for it, but a pregnant goldfish is called a twit. * A man named Robert Boyd entered a lingerie shop and attempted to hold up the store using a Japanese sword. A fan of video games, Boyd claimed in his defense that at the time of the holdup, he believed he was an elf. * In Switzerland, it is considered to be bad luck to tell anyone your baby’s name before it is born. *** Thought for the Day: “A man may truly live in his dreams, his noblest dreams, but only, only if he is worthy of those dreams.” -- Harlan Ellison (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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school in Farmington, Connecticut, and the pair went on to attend Vassar College together. • Baldridge was responsible for updating Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette, as well as penning 20 books of her own on the subject. • Amy Vanderbilt published her book of etiquette in 1952. A distant cousin of the famous railroad magnate Vanderbilt family, Amy had worked in advertising and public relations, while doing five years of research for her book of manners. She also hosted a 1950s television program, “It’s in Good Taste,” and a radio show “The Right Thing to Do.” Her book offered the standard of conduct for everything from how to write thank-you notes, including which stationery to use, to hosting a party to planning a wedding. Her book is still in print after many revisions. • Judith Martin is a modern-day etiquette authority, better known as Miss Manners. The daughter of Polish immigrants, Judith began writing an advice column at age 40, answering etiquette questions and contributing mini-essays on proper behavior. More than 200 newspapers publish her column three times a week. In her column, she always refers to herself in the third person, such as “Miss Manners believes…” She has written 18 books on the subject, including Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Miss Manners on Painfully Proper Weddings, and Miss Manners: A Citizen’s Guide to Civility. • Miss Manners advises that “if you behave in a way that offends the people you’re trying to deal with, they will stop dealing with you.” She cites “blatant greed” as the most serious etiquette problem in America.
By Chris Richcreek
1. In 2017, Washington’s Max Scherzer became the 10th pitcher with at least three Cy Young Awards. Name two of the four pitchers to win more than three. 2. The Seattle Mariners played their first major-league season in 1977. In what year did they record their first winning season? 3. Name the last time before 2017-18 that the Army football team had back-to-back undefeated seasons at home. 4. Tim Duncan retired in 2016 as one of three players to be named college basketball player of the year, NBA Rookie of the Year and MVP of both the AllStar Game and the NBA Finals. Name one of the other two. 5. Which of these franchises was the first to win a Stanley Cup -- the Boston Bruins or the Chicago Blackhawks? 6. Name the last country before Russia in 2018 to host the men’s World Cup soccer event and score at least eight goals in the first two games. 7. Who was the first woman to earn the chess title of grandmaster in tournament play? (c) 2019 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Marie Lockhart Please call 334-452-9296 within 7 days of this issue to claim your prize!
Tommy Count ______
This week’s winner receives a
$25 Dollar Gift Certificate from
Farmers Market Cafe 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 Tommy was hiding: 1. Diversified Alarm Services, p.1 2. Garden Center, p.7
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TidbitsÂŽ of the River Region
Credit Cards Now Accepted
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MINIATURE GOLF
BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:
1) Old; 2) Liberty; 3) Psalm 23:4; 4) Mephibosheth; 5) Palm; 6) Peter’s mother-in-law
1. Roger Clemens (seven Cy Youngs), Randy Johnson (five), Steve Carlton (four) and Greg Maddux (four). 2. It was 1991, when the Mariners were 83-79. 3. It was 1984-85. 4. Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. 5. The Bruins won a Stanley Cup in 1929, five seasons before the Blackhawks did it. 6. Italy, in 1934. 7. Susan Polgar, in 1991.
May 11 has been designated Miniature Golf Day, time to step onto the green and learn about this amusing pastime. • The world’s oldest miniature golf course is still in existence and operating today in St. Andrews, Scotland. While the game of golf had been played by men at St. Andrews for some 600 years, the social proprieties of the day declared it improper for ladies to take a full swing at a golf ball and to “take the club back past their shoulder.” As a result, a miniature course was established for ladies in 1867, The Ladies’ Putting Club of St. Andrews. Don’t look for windmills and Eiffel Towers on this course. Today’s course is a putting green of 18 holes covering two acres of “humps and bumps, valleys, and pockets.” • America’s first miniature golf course came along in 1916, when steamship baron James Barber designed his own personal course on his Pinehurst, North Carolina estate. Dubbed Thistle Dhu, Barber included fountains and gardens along geometrically designed walkways. The community of Pinehurst has continued his legacy with the construction of an 18-hole putting course of the same name. It’s not your usual noveltytype course, instead using a traditional style of rolling greens, hills, ponds, and trees. • In 1926, two ingenious New Yorkers came up with the idea of building mini golf courses on the roofs of the city’s skyscrapers. Drake Delanoy and John Ledbetter copied the artificial surface idea of Thomas Fairborn, and ended up with a lawsuit for patent infringement. After meeting an agreement with Fairborn, there were 150 rooftop courses by 1930. • In 1927, Tennessee hotel owner John Garnet Carter patented his version of mini golf that he called “Tom Thumb Golf.” Trying to draw traffic to his hotel, Carter built the course on Lookout Mountain, a course designed by his wife Frieda with a fairyland theme. The course was covered with cottonseed hulls mixed with oil, rolled onto a foundation of sand, a technique that had been patented by American businessman Thomas Fairborn a few years earlier. The Lookout Mountain course was the site of the first documented mini golf competitions. More than 200 golfers from 30 states gathered there in 1930. Carter’s course was so successful that by 1930, he had sold more than 3,000 Tom Thumb franchises through his company, the Fairyland Manufacturing Corporation. About 25% of the mini golf courses in America were Tom Thumb designs, and by the end of the decade, an estimated 4 million people were playing the game. • The idea of quirky novelty props came along during the Great Depression. Because regulation mini golf courses were too pricey for most folks, courses were built using whatever everyday items could be scavenged. Tires, rain gutters, barrels, and pipes were incorporated along the paths, and soon the unusual items became the norm. Over the years, windmills, volcanoes, waterfalls, moving ramps, and other obstacles were added. • Due to limited winter daylight hours in Scandinavia, glow-in-the-dark courses are popular. A 40-foot (12.2-m) volcano is the highlight of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina’s course, where the Master’s Tournament is played every year. Thirty-five peacocks meander the green at the Gilbertsville, Kentucky course. The Cheyenne, Wyoming course includes miniatures of several of the state’s famous landmarks, including Devil’s Tower and Old Faithful.
* On May 19, 1588, the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon on a mission to secure control of the English Channel and transport a Spanish invasion army to Britain from the Netherlands. The Invincible Armada consisted of 130 ships and carried 2,500 guns and 30,000 men. * On May 18, 1593, an arrest warrant is issued for Christopher Marlowe after fellow writer Thomas Kyd accuses him of heresy. Kyd had been arrested because of heretical documents found in his room, but he claimed they belonged to Marlowe, his former roommate. * On May 16, 1849, the New York City Board of Health finally establishes a hospital to deal with a cholera epidemic that would kill more than 5,000 people. The city was ripe for an epidemic because of poor health conditions and its attraction for immigrants from around the world. * On May 17, 1885, the Apache chief Geronimo again breaks out of an Arizona reservation, fleeing with 42 men and 92 women and children, and sparking panic among Arizona settlers. Geronimo surrendered in September 1886. * On May 15, 1941, the turbojet-propelled Gloster-Whittle E 28/39 aircraft flies over Cranwell, England, in the first test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion. It reached a top speed of 370 mph at 25,000 feet. * On May 14, 1973, Skylab, America’s first space station, is launched into orbit around the Earth. Eleven days later, U.S. astronauts rendezvoused with Skylab, repairing a jammed solar panel and conducting scientific experiments during their 28-day stay. * On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II is shot and wounded at St. Peter’s Square in Rome by Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca. He claimed that he had planned to go to England to kill the king but couldn’t because there was only a queen and “Turks don’t shoot women.” (c) 2019 Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Make a Twig Basket for Spring Plants It’s spring! Here’s a fun family craft that gets you outside, with your eye on nature’s beauty for collecting and crafting a simple twig basket. Head out into a park -- or your own block or backyard -- with your kids on a windy day or after a rainstorm, and collect the sticks and twigs you find here and there on the ground. You might think of this activity as nature’s game of “pick-up sticks.” When you get home with your preschoolers and school-age kids, sort through the collection, and turn the straightest sticks that are a quarter-inch or so wide into a lovely, earthy basket that will hold an indoor plant or succulent in a 4-inch pot. The attractive natural container also might be handy to hold fresh fruit on your kitchen counter or table. Here’s the stuff you need for a twig basket: -- 33 sticks, 7 inches long, about 1/4 inch thick (to cut sticks into equal lengths, score with scissors, then snap off excess. Trim any pointy ends with pruning shears) -- 1 18-inch-long thin, pliable stick for the handle -- Twine -- Nontoxic wood glue or a low-temp glue gun Here’s the fun: 1) Construct the base Arrange four sticks into a square on a newspaper-covered table or counter, with a 1-inch overlap at each corner. Dab nontoxic wood glue or glue from a glue gun at each corner. Tie each corner with a 4-foot piece of twine. Knot it in the middle and let the long ends dangle. To make the bottom of the basket, glue three twigs in a row 1 inch apart to the square base. Secure each twig to the base with a 1-foot twine piece. Trim excess. 2) Make the sides Dab glue on the twine at each corner. Lay four sticks in a square, log-cabin style, then tie corners as before. Continue layering and tying until you’ve used all of the 7-inch sticks. 3) Make the handle Bend the 18-inch stick to make a handle. Secure at opposite corners with glue and twine. Tie excess twine into a small bow. Set your favorite growing plant inside. *** Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday. com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.” (c) 2019 Donna Erickson Distributed by King Features Synd.
Tidbits® of the River Region
1. Who released “Train in Vain”? 2. What American new wave band wrote and released “Give Me Back My Man” in 1980? 3. Name the group that started with musicians from America (one a G.I. stationed in Germany), Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Jamaica and Britain. 4. Who released “Can the Can” in 1973? 5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “Lay a whisper on my pillow, Leave the winter on the ground, I wake up lonely, there’s an air of silence.” Answers 1. The Clash, in 1979 on their “London Calling” album. It wasn’t mentioned on the track listing for the album’s first edition because the song was added at the last minute and the album cover was already being printed. 2. The B-52s. The extended remix of the song on their “Party Mix!” album clocked in at 7 minutes 40 seconds. 3. Heatwave, known for “Boogie Nights.” The group started in 1975 and is still playing in 2019, although it’s gone through multiple changes in members. 4. Suzi Quatro. 5. “It Must Have Been Love,” by Roxette in 1987. The song climbed to No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart and was slightly rewritten for the soundtrack to the 1990 film “Pretty Woman,” starring Julia Roberts. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.