Vote Early and Often - November 2, 2010

 

The Langer's #19: The most perfect sandwich on the planet

Tuesday:

Today is Election Day, and we encourage you to get out and vote for (or against) the candidate of your choice. After the polls close, you can tune into the results and see if you'll spend the next couple of years elated or bitterly disappointed. 

In a nice coincidence, this is also the 90th anniversary of Pittsburgh radio station KDKA making the world’s first commercial broadcast, which just happened to be the results of the 1920 Presidential election. (Spoiler alert: Warren G. Harding won.)

One activity we don't encourage today is going down to your local polling place and cheerleading for your favorite politicians or ballot initiatives. Leave those activities to those who are trained to do it, like one Johnny Campbell, who became the world's first cheerleader, as he led the crowd to cheer on the University of Minnesota football team.

One guy who never needed cheerleading or encouragement was Howard Hughes, the fabulously wealthy engineer and aviator who was dedicated to breaking new ground in aviation technology, never moreso than in 1947, when he piloted his H-4 Hercules (aka "The Spruce Goose") on its one and only flight over Long Beach harbor in California. The Hercules is still one of the largest planes ever built (with a wingspan of 320 feet) and currently resides in a museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Someone who could have used a cheerleader was Charles Van Doren, who caused a national sensation in the 1950s when he appeared on the game show Twenty One, winning a still-impressive $129,000 (more than $1 million today). The victory was tainted, though, for on this day in 1959, Van Doren admitted that he had been given his questions – and answers – in advance.

Wednesday:

All other events take a back seat to National Sandwich Day today. Is there anything better than a tasty sandwich? We think not. Why celebrate the sandwich today? Because it's the 292nd birthday of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, the alleged inventor of the meal in itself. Whether the legend is true or not, we're thankful for it, as there are few better meals.

The only thing that could possibly top the world's greatest meal is its most famous painting, the Mona Lisa. On this date in 1507, Leonardo da Vinci was hired by Francesco del Giocondo to paint a portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini. The resulting picture has been familiarly known as the "Mona Lisa" ever since. Beyond that, and the lady's smile, we don't know much about the enigmatic painting – though some folks certainly have their own ideas.

Suggested Sites...

• Polling Place Finder - find out where to vote.
• University of Minnesota Cheer Squad - leaping in the steps of Johnny Campbell.
• Evergeeen Aviation and Space Museum - home of the Spruce Goose.
• The Best Sandwiches in America - sorry, Esquire; Katz's is a distant second to Langer's. 
• 25 Secrets of Mona Lisa Revealed - we knew she was enigmatic, but mysterious?

Fernandomania at Fifty - November 1, 2010

 

 It would have gone so much faster if Michelangelo had
skipped the second coat and used
a roller. (That joke never gets old.)

A new month brings new commemorations, events, and fun facts, so let's get to them!

Monday:

We’ll begin with the arts, and three of the artiest events occurred on this day. First, in 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was exhibited to the public for the first time. It had taken Michelangelo four years to paint this mural of images from the Bible, and it remains a top tourist attraction in Rome to this day.

Not to be outdone by Michelangelo, William Shakespeare chose this day to premiere two of his most-enduring plays, the first, Othello, opened in 1604, and the second (also Shakespeare's last), The Tempest, followed in 1611. Both plays premiered in London's Whitehall Palace.

If you feel inclined to create your own artistic masterpiece, today is the perfect day to start, since it's not only National Author's Day, it's also the beginning of National Novel Writing Month. If you're unsure whether your novel is suitable for a general audience, you might consult the guidelines of the Motion Picture Association of America, whose movie rating system of G, M, R, X, went into effect on this day in 1968. (PG-13 and NC-17 were originally not part of the lineup; they were added in later years when further clarification was needed as to who could see which movies.)

An artist of a different type was Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who turns 50 today. Valenzuela was a 19-year-old rookie at the start of the 1981 season when he got the opening day assignment. Valenzuela responded with a five-hit shutout of the Houston Astros, and "Fernandomania" was born, as crowds flocked to ballparks to see the left-hander with the unorthodox delivery (he looked to the heavens while in his windup) and Mexican-Americans across the country adopted him as one of their own. He won his first eight starts, with four more shutouts, and by the end of the year had won 13 games and both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards – the only time such a feat has occurred.

Yesterday was, of course, Halloween, and tomorrow is All Souls' Day and the Day of the Dead, so that must mean that today is All Saints Day. Mentioning saints makes us think of heavenly foods, and few are more heavenly than peanut butter – a happy accident, since November is Peanut Butter Lover's Month. Even more coincidentally, today is World Vegan Day, the perfect day to indulge in a nice PBJ (provided there's no bacon, of course).

Suggested Sites...

• The Sistine Chapel - the Vatican's history of the building.
• How to Write a Novel - step-by-step instructions.
• Fernando Nation - documentary from the ESPN 30 for 30 series.
• Day of the Dead in Chiapas, Mexico - go hug a skeleton! 
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes - hot wings? No.