brooke shields

jpr: The face that launched a thousand shows.

Ernest Borgnine

Date of Birth
24 January 1917, Hamden, Connecticut, USA

Birth Name
Ermes Effron Borgnine

Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)

His parents were Charles who had emigrated from Ottiglio (AL), Italy and Anna who had emigrated from Carpi (MO), Italy. As an only child, Ernest enjoyed most sports, especially boxing, but took no real interest in acting. At 18, after graduating from high school in New Haven, and undecided about his future career, he joined the navy, where he stayed for ten years until leaving in 1945. After a few factory jobs, his mother suggested that his forceful personality could make him suitable for a career in acting, and Borgnine promptly enrolled at the Randall School of Drama in Hartford.

Spouse
Tova Borgnine (24 February 1973 - present)
Donna Rancourt (30 June 1965 - 1 January 1972) (divorced) 3 children
Ethel Merman (27 June 1964 - 28 July 1964) (divorced)
Katy Jurado (31 December 1959 - 3 June 1963) (divorced)
Rhoda Kemins (2 September 1949 - 29 August 1958) (divorced) 1 child

shortest river

The world's shortest river, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the Roe River. It is only 200 feet (61 meters) long and flows between Giant Springs and the Missouri River near Great Falls, Montana. There has been debate, though, about which river is really the shortest. The D River in Oregon has been measured as being only 120 ft (37 m) long. It connects Devil's Lake directly to the Pacific Ocean near Lincoln City. Because the D River flows into the ocean though, it's length changes according to the tide so has been measured at several different lengths.

Hope Solo

Personal information
Full name Hope Amelia Solo
Date of birth July 30, 1981 (age 29)
Place of birth Richland, Washington, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Goalkeeper

Burl Ives

Date of Birth
14 June 1909, Hunt City, Illinois, USA

Date of Death
14 April 1995, Anacortes, Washington, USA (mouth cancer)

Birth Name
Burle Icle Ivanhoe Ives

Height
6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography
Burl Ives was one of six children born to a Scottish-Irish farming family. He first sang in public for a soldiers' reunion when he was age 4. In high school, he learned the banjo and played fullback, intending to become a football coach when he enrolled at Eastern Illinois State Teacher's College in 1927. He dropped out in 1930 and wandered, hitching rides, doing odd jobs, street singing.



Spouse
Dorothy Koster Paul (16 April 1971 - 14 April 1995) (his death) 3 children
Helen Peck Ehrich (6 December 1945 - 17 February 1971) (divorced) 1 child

from the The Song of Hiawatha

.....
Should you ask where Nawadaha
Found these songs so wild and wayward,
Found these legends and traditions,
I should answer, I should tell you,
"In the bird's-nests of the forest,
In the lodges of the beaver,
In the hoof-prints of the bison,
In the eyry of the eagle!
"All the wild-fowl sang them to him,
In the moorlands and the fen-lands,
In the melancholy marshes;
Chetowaik, the plover, sang them,
Mahng, the loon, the wild-goose, Wawa,
The blue heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,
And the grouse, the Mushkodasa!"
....
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

jpr:Had to in the summer!

Casey at the Bat by E L Thayer

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -
We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out.

"Phin"