Introduction of C

If you join us, please show us a photo, poem or article beginning with C, and mention this meme in your post or in the sidebar. We like to welcome you in our bloggingcompany.

In July 2015 I left my Country, the Netherlands, to fly to Australia. I flew with Cathay Pacific, which is a Chinese airlines Company. It took me 12 hours to fly to Hong Kong, where I had to wait for 18 hours. The flight from Hong Kong to Cairns in Australia lasted 8 hours. The flight was very comfortable.

When I arrived in Cairns it was still dark at 5 o 'clock, but my daughter was waiting for me. We were happy to meet again and went to the unit she had booked for us. The two granddaughters were still asleep. I got my first cup of coffee, which is very important for a Dutch person to  feel at home.

In the meantime the granddaughters woke up and they showed me the surroundings. The three year old asked me if I had a toothbrush and started to brush her teeth.

 

 

The appartment my daughter had booked for a couple of days.

We stayed another day in Cairns before driving to Cooktown, which is a long drive of 360 kms.

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B is for BLESSINGS

In the last few days, most of the western world has been shaken by the deaths of three famous men - a British actor/singer/songwriter, a British actor, and the husband and manager of a Canadian singer.  Each of these men had been afflicted by a wicked disease - cancer - and died far too young.  On behalf of all the ABC Wednesday cast and crew, I'd like to bestow blessings on these men and their families as they deal with the grief of losing their loved ones.

David Bowie

 (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016)

Who didn't know this man's work?  His impact on the music industry was colossal, selling 140 million records worldwide and receiving nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, and in the US five platinum and seven gold certifications.  He left a legacy of work and in the end brought his art even to his deathbed.  (See "Lazarus" here)

Alan Rickman

(21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016)

What was he most famous for?  It's so hard to say as he played a variety of roles on stage and screen.  Some might say his best roles were as Hans Gruber in Die Hard while others might say it was Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.  Maybe his best role was as the voice of the Blue Caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass (to be released in May of this year).  Regardless, he will be remembered as one of the best actors of all time.

René Angélil

(16 January 1942 – 14 January 2016)

Best known as Celine Dion's husband and manager, he started out as a singer of pop rock songs in the 1960s with his group "Les Baronets".  He then got into managing other artists and first heard Celine sing when she was only 12 years old.  Angélil and his wife became cultural icons who, apparently, behind closed doors, were kind and down-to-earth people. 

Each of these men was famous in his own right, but we must remember they were human beings who worked hard at their jobs and maybe messed up occasionally in their private lives - just like the rest of us.  Let us honour them at their passing and remember them for the pleasure they gave us through their talents.  Blessings to each of them and to their families who knew them best. 

I saw this on Facebook, posted by Tony DiTertizzi, so on a lighter note, I'd like to leave you with this thought.  Imagine them in Heaven with René directing David while Alan looks on. 



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A is for applesauce

Did you know "applesauce" (or "apple sauce") is a mild curse? From Slang Of The 1920'S:

Applesauce- an expletive same as horsefeathers, As in "Ah applesauce!"
Horsefeathers - an expletive ; same usage as applesauce
Well, THAT's not helpful.

Will Rogers wrote in The Illiterate Digest (1924), "I tell you Folks, all Politics is Apple Sauce."

One of the definitions in Urban Dictionary (the clean meaning) is "An early 90s slang word for 'ridiculous' or 'nonsense'." Well, no, it's from much earlier, but at least this narrative provides something more than a circular definition.

Shot in the Dark Mysteries has posted 1920s Slang Terms and Definitions:
Applesauce: A mild curse, like “darn” (also, "Horsefeathers!")

The term had gotten new life from the US Supreme Court, of all places. From the Washington Post:

Justice Antonin Scalia clearly gets a kick out of writing his pointed, colorful dissents for the Supreme Court, and his minority opinion in [2015's] King v. Burwell decision is no exception.

With characteristic vigor, the panel’s most conservative justice lashed out at his colleagues for concluding that the Affordable Care Act allows people on state insurance exchanges established by the federal government to receive subsidies. The opinion offers several new candidates for a master list of Scalia’s best turns-of-phrase, which should be published as a book as far as we are concerned. One example: the majority’s reasoning? “Pure applesauce,” he wrote.

A recent clue on the game show JEOPARDY! in the category Compound Words was this: "Nonsense, or a pippin stewed to a pulp, sweetened & spiced." No one got this $2000 clue.

Incidentally, my father-in-law makes very good apple sauce!
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Z-Zodiac

Mrs. Nesbitts’ ABC-Wednesday

Round ~ 17Z

Hello and good morning, -afternoon, -evening, dear people who all participate is this wonderful photomeme, which is a joy to me, week after week, after week. I’m always curious to what you come up with!

This week’s challenging letter is Z and it is simultaneous the last letter of the alphabet and the first letter of 2016. How extraordinary!

Therefore, the word I've chosen today is ZODIAC because our sign is the start of who we are as a person. Moreover, i believe that not only the sign we get at our time of birth is important, i think that the  sign under which we first started our being has influence to.

I am born a Sagittarius and most of the known characteristics do apply to me indeed. Some strong points are Independence, Enthusiasm, Creative, Caring, Generous... Some weak points are Not emotional, Impulsive, Licentious, Hypocrite, Demanding...
From the strong points i don't recognize 'creative' that much. From the weak points i don't recognize myself in not emotional, licentious & hypocrite, on the contrary!

The characteristics of the sign under which i started at the very first point in my time, Pisces, are different but not that much. Some strong points are Dedicated, Fantastical, Accepting, Merciful, Loyal. Some weak points are Undecided, Ornery, Lazy, Escapist, Self-pity.

Truth to be told...  in some of them I totally recognise myself and in others i totally don't.  I think that everyone recognises this. Anyway zodiac is, to me at least, still a world of which I do know far too little.

I am who and what I am... I know my 'faults' and I aim to learn to do better where I go wrong.  So on the borders of the old and the new year... I smile at the points, the strong and the weak, and go on living the best way i can.

Curious to your signs and thoughts about what it means to you.... i greet you all sincerely and wish you a wonderful, happy, healthy, blessed in all possible ways... 2016


Have a nice ABC-day / ABC-week
♫ M e l o d y ♫
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