CHINESE NEW YEAR

The Chinese calendar and Zodiac are based on the 12 animals Budda enountered in his life journey.
Seek you sign, celebrate life and a year of good fortune!!


OX -1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 - Bright, patient and inspiring to others, you can be happy by yourself, yet make an outstanding parent. Marry a Snake or a Rooster. The Sheep will bring you trouble.


Rat -1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 - You are ambitious yet honest, prone to spend freely. Seldom make lasting friendships. Most compatible with Dragons and Monkeys. Least compatible with the horses.



Tiger - 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 - Tiger people are aggressive, courageous, candid and sensitive. Look to the Horse and the Dog for your happiness. But beware of the Monkey.



Rabbit - 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 - Luckiest of all signs, you are also talented and articulate. Affectionate, yet shy, you seek peace throughout your life. So marry a Sheep or a Boar. Your opposite is the Rooster



Dragon - 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 - You are eccentric and your life is complex. You have a very passionate nature and abundant health. Marry a Monkey or Rat late in life. Avoid the Dog.



Snake - 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 - You are wise and intense with a tendency towards physical beauty, vain and high tempered. The Boar is your enemy. The Rooster and Ox are your best signs.


Horse - 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 - Popular and attractive to the opposite sex, you are often ostentatious and impatient. You need people. Marry a Tiger or a Dog early, but never a Rat.



Sheep - 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 - Elegant and creative, you are timid and prefer anonymity. You are most compatible with the Boars and the Rabbits, but never the Ox.



Monkey - 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 -You are very intelligent and are able to influence people. An enthusiastic achiever, you are easily discouraged and confused. Avoid the Tigers. Seek a Dragon or Rat.



Rooster - 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 - A pioneer in spirit, you are devoted to work and quest after knowledge. You are selfish and eccentric. Rabbits are trouble for you. Snakes and Ox are fine.



Dog - 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 - Loyal and honest, you work well with others. You are generous yet stubborn, and often selfish. Look to the Horse or Tiger. And watch out for Dragons.



Pig - 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019 - Nobel and chivalrous. Your friends will be life long, yet you are prone to marital strife. You should avoid other Boars. Marry a Rabbit or a Sheep.




Winnie, the Dog, wishes you a Happy New Year!

HUMOR DATED

Actor, Comedian. Well-known under the name "Charlie Weaver" for his appearances on "The Jack Paar Show" and "The Jonathan Winters Show," and remembered as the corner square on the game show "The Hollywood Squares." He was the grandfather of actress Roseanna Arquette.

Parr said Mondays were unexplainable for lower ratings, but not so when Arquette appeared.
His career spanned radio, movies, theatre and TV. At one time he had 13 daily radio shows from studios all over Chicago. His tight schedule forced him to find a creative way around downtown - a motor boat on the Chicago River.

Cliff says he developed the “Letters from Mamma” routine because “…I’m lazy and I don’t like to memorize things. So I write myself letters to read.”

One of my garage-sale finds is his 1959 book, “Charley Weaver’s Letters from Mamma”. Classic humor, funny, corny, timeless and never vulgar. Some jokes are old, maybe carved in stone, and sometimes the audience or reader beat him to the punch line; but no one ever tired of his homespun humor.

Mamma’s letters had a multitude of greetings and the latest happenings in Mount Idy and with father…..
“Dear Mickey” (Mamma always used to say, are you a man or a mouse)
“Dear Peyton” (Mamma always wanted me to have my own place)
“Dear Harry James” (Mamma said I should toot my own horn)
“Dear Rocket” (Mamma always wanted me to leave my pad and take off)
“Dear Ace” (Mamma always said I was a card.)
"Dear Gorgonzola" (Mamma always wanted me to be the big cheese.)

“Things are fine in Mount Idy.
Elsie Krack arrived back in town yesterday. You remember, son, she left town two weeks ago by rail. Leonard Box and Byron Ogg were carrying the rail."

"Ludlow Bean, the groom [at his wedding to Birdie Rodd], got pretty banged up at the wedding. Somebody hit him with some rice. It was still in the fifty-pound bag."

"The entire population of Mount Idy--308 souls in all--was rushed to the Mount Idy Emergency Hospital on Memorial Day, due to a slight oversight on the part of Ludlow Bean. At noon, the old Civil War cannon in the town square was fired, and everybody in town rushed out to the park and dove into our new swimming pool. Ludlow Bean was the only one who didn't go to the hospital. He was also the one who forgot to fill the pool."

"We all saw Elsie Krack the other day, which made us all very happy, because when you see Elsie at this time of the year it means six weeks of good weather."

"[Leonard Box and his wife] were such a lovely couple. She was so bowlegged and he was so knock-kneed that when they walked down the street they spelled OX."

"I was going to send you that $5 I owe you but I see I have already sealed the envelope."

"We had a fire in the bathroom. Luckily, it didn't spread to the house."

"We're all proud of Ludlow [Bean]. When he first came to Mount Idy, he started out in a small way. He started as an organ grinder, with one small monkey. He worked hard and saved. Two years later he expanded--now he has a pipe organ and a gorilla. He doesn't have any trouble with people putting money in the cup now."

“Well son, I must close now and go help your father.
He was coming up the stairs with five gallons of elderberry wine and slipped and fell clear down into the basement. Fortunately, he didn’t spill a drop - he kept his mouth closed.

Father found an old Civil War cannon ball and took a hammer to it in the back yard to see if it was still good - it was.

Father is now standing out in the yard and a bolt of lightening knocked him flat on his back. He is standing there again to see if lightening ever strikes twice in the same place. He’s on his back again - that should answer the question.

He just went down to the barn to feed the pigs with Grandpa Ogg. There’s a big fist fight going on down there. Grandpa doesn’t want to be fed to the pigs.

He just shook hands with Grandpa Ogg, and I’ve got to go take him a robe.”


Winnie

Makers Meet Their Maker

I must admit this little piece of OGR history is the result of my reading the Chicago Tribune’s article Makers Meet Their Makers and how the Egg McMuffin, Pringles, Nachos and more became a part of our lives. So off to some inventors who died in ‘08.

Herb Patterson, 89, invented the Egg McMuffin as his career began in Chicago’s McDonald’s advertising department. So fond of eggs Benedict that in ‘72, in his own Santa Barbara, CA franchisee, he created his hand-held version with a toasted English muffin, grilled Canadian bacon, cheese and an egg cooked in a ring mold.
200,000 million Egg Muffins are sold each year.
Ignore the saturated fat, cholesterol and calories and up that count!

Kurt Eberling, 77 invented Spaghetti-O’s after developing the recipe for Campbell’s Soup. How to get spaghetti and meatballs in a can? Well after dinner one night, he noticed a swirl of spaghetti in the sink in a circle shape. It sparked the “O” shaped pasta product in ‘65 and the famous “Uh-no, SpaghettiO’s” jingle.
Admit it, we all grew up on this stuff and many of us are still growin.

Carmen Rocha, 77, popularized Nachos. She didn’t invent it but BOY DID SHE MAKE it popular. It was a family childhood recipe of tortilla chips topped with cheese, japeleno peppers then baked, that her family enjoyed during Sunday afternoon televised football games. This waitress began making and serving it at the famed Los Angeles El Cholco Mexican Restaurant. Before long, not only the locals but the world was asking for those Rocha’s nachos. So at this year's Super Bowl Half Time, a high-five to Carmen as we gnash on.

Betty James, 90, named the Slinky. Her husband Richard, saw a spring fall off the table and thus "sprang" the idea for a toy. He found a foreign steel manufacturer to make the spring with the right tension and put Betty in charge of naming it. Like the old hat pin and racing form routine, she opened a dictionary to a random page and chose “Slinky”. For us kids, it meant hours of enjoyment and inventiveness counting the number of stairs it could slink.

Frederic Baur, 89, the Pringles can. A chemist by day who sought a way to uniformly package chips for Proctor & Gamble. A vertical can fit the bill for the uniform shape, look and taste of the Pringles Chip and the can were born. In ‘08 when he died he wanted his ashes buried in a “Pringles” can. His son, Larry said: “My siblings and I briefly debated what flavor to use…But I said, ‘Look we need to use the original’.”

Murray Jarvik, 84, nicotine patch. In the ‘50’s, a psychopharmacologist (yeah, look it up) studying d-lysergic acid that led to the hallucinogenic drug, LSD and with his team decades later researched the effects of nicotine absorption with the skin. In 1990, they patented the patch after it proved a successful way to help smokers quit by reducing nicotine cravings. Does Jarvik sound familiar? His nephew, Dr. Robert Jarvik developed the 1st artificial heart transplanted into humans.

So if you have broken a New Year's resolution and dined on Nachos, McMuffins, Spaghetti-O’s or puffed on that cigarette, be grateful for the patch, the “Jarvik” or the Slinky to take the edge off.

2009!

“In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want. “ An Irish Toast

Funny (and maybe true) New Year Wishes for the Baby Boomers:
May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest not rise.

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your gastro-enterologist, your urologist, your proctologist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist and your plumber.

May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them. May someone love you enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues.

May New Year's Eve find you seated around the table, together with your family and cherished friends and beloved pets at your side. May you find the food better, the environment quieter, the cost much cheaper, and the pleasure much more fulfilling than anything else you might ordinarily do that night.

May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you have finished dinner. May the commercials on TV not be louder than the program you are watching. May your check book and your budget balance - and include generous amounts for charity.

May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your spouse, your child, your parent, your siblings; but not to your secretary, your nurse, your masseuse, your hairdresser or your tennis instructor.

H ours of happy times with friends and family
A bundant time for relaxation
P rosperity
P lenty of love when you need it the most
Y outhful excitement at lifes simple pleasures

N ights of restful slumber (you know - "don't worry, be happy")
E verything you need
W ishing you love and light

Y ears and years of good health
E njoyment and mirth
A ngels to watch over you
R embrances of a happy years!
Winnie

New Years Traditions & a Soupy Sales Blooper

Whether clinking champagne glasses with friends and family, watching the ball drop in Times



Square or setting off firecrackers at midnight; the world transitions the old and welcomes the new with different customs or superstitions.
In some towns in Italy, watch out for falling objects. People shove their old sofas, chairs and even refrigerators out of windows on New Year's Eve so they can buy new ones.
Or, take the current year’s coins, place them face up on the window sill on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck.
On New Year’s Day, Italians serve lentils, raisins, and oranges, symbols of riches, good luck, and the promise of love. (Bring on the Pepto!!)
In Denmark young people pound on their friends' front doors and throw shards of pottery, collected from the past year, against the sides of houses. (And we thought we had it loud!)
In Greece, singing children go door-to-door, carrying fruit, a paper ship or star and a green rod cut from a cornel-tree. They tap the family members on the back with the rod for luck. It's customary to throw a pomegranate wrapped in silver foil on the threshold, to spread the seeds of good luck for an abundant year. (Caution, slippery when wet.)
In Iceland , a pantry window is left open and the frost is gathered and saved in a pot marked with a cross, for prosperity to the home. Icelanders believe that elves move into the house on New Year‘s Eve, and could be coerced into giving treasure to those who intercepted them at crossroads.
In Armenia on New Year‘s Eve, goodies are lowered down the chimney on a rope. (No mention if a roaring fire is part of this ritual!)
In Poland pickled herring is eaten to insure luck and prosperity. (Burp!)
In Ecuador, people make straw stuffed dummies and burn them in effigies at midnight, symbolically getting rid of the past. (Checked the smoke detector batteries lately!)
(The ultimate beach party!) In Rio de Janeiro, on New Year’s Eve, more than a million people gather on the beaches to honor the "Mother of the Sea," who brings good fortune.
Even the color of underwear Brazilians wear on New Year’s Day has meaning.
Pink brings love, yellow, prosperity; and white, peace and happiness. (Hanes & Fruit of the Loom stocks soar!)
British say,
Take out,
Then take in,
Bad luck will begin,
Take in, then take out
On New Year’s Day, don’t sweep or you will sweep your good luck away, or take anything out of the house-even trash. (Housewife Holiday!)
To insure abundance, bring in new things and if you carry something out, be sure to bring something else in first, preferably a coin concealed outside the previous night.
In Southern U.S. and the Caribbean its tradition that certain foods are eaten, such as Hoppin' John, a dish of field peas or crowder peas (black-eyed peas) and rice, chopped onion and sliced bacon, or substitute ham hock or fatback for the conventional bacon; optional green peppers or vinegar and spices. Eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a year filled with luck, and it's eaten by everyone.
The peas, or beans with little black “eyes,” signify coins. Fill your plate with them and your cup will run over, as in the 23rd Psalm. Serving Collard greens symbolizing green money and wealth, and cornbread for gold. On the day after New Year's Day, leftover "Hoppin' John" is called "Skippin' Jenny," demonstrates frugality, and brings an even better chance of prosperity in the New Year.
In Vienna, Austria, pigs are let loose in restaurants and everyone tries to touch them for luck as they run by. In homes, a marzipan pig, with a gold piece in its mouth, is suspended from a ribbon and touched instead. (Ms. Piggy must be a citizen of Austria!)
In Spanish-speaking countries, at midnight, people put 13 grapes into their wine or champagne glass. The grapes represent the 12 months of the old year and 1 for the new year. At midnight, after a toast, people eat the grapes as quickly as possible, making a wish on each one.
For Japanese it’s a customary money tree. Pine and cypress branches are decorated with old coins, paper pomegranates and flowers.
Or, old coins strung on colored threads in the shape of dragon and put at the foot of children's beds. It is called "cash to pass the year", to be saved and not spent.
Today, a money gifts are given in red envelopes.

Now the brain teaser -- how many of you remember this Soupy Sales telecast that got him in trouble....On New Year's Day 1965, miffed at having to work on the holiday, Soupy Sales ended his live broadcast by encouraging his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents' bedrooms and remove those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" from their pants and pocketbooks.
"Put them in an envelope and mail them to me," Soupy instructed the children. "And I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!" He was then hit with a pie.

Several days later, a chagrined Soupy announced that money was unexpectedly being received in the mail. He explained that he had been joking and announced that unreturnable contributions would be donated to charity.
As parents' complaints increased, WNEW's management felt compelled to suspend Sales for two weeks. Young viewers picketed Channel 5. The uproar surrounding Sales' suspension increased his popularity.
Sales describes the incident in his 2001 autobiography Soupy Sez! My Life and Zany Times.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!















































On New Year's Day 1965, miffed at having to work on the holiday, Soupy Sales ended his live broadcast by encouraging his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents' bedrooms and remove those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" from their pants and pocketbooks.
"Put them in an envelope and mail them to me," Soupy instructed the children. "And I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!" He was then hit with a pie.

Several days later, a chagrined Soupy announced that money was unexpectedly being received in the mail. He explained that he had been joking and announced that unreturnable contributions would be donated to charity.
As parents' complaints increased, WNEW's management felt compelled to suspend Sales for two weeks. Young viewers picketed Channel 5. The uproar surrounding Sales' suspension increased his popularity.
Sales describes the incident in his 2001 autobiography Soupy Sez! My Life and Zany Times.

Legends & Santa's HoHoHo's

The Legend of the Snowflake

Long ago, a gleaming star led the way
To a child born in a manger.
Today it is believed that snowflakes
Are little pieces of that special star
That leads us to the light of the world,
Jesus
The Nativity Scene
Legend has it that Saint Francis of Assisi constructed the first nativity scene. His depiction included live animals. Francis knew that all the earth can be "holy land."
Robin's Red Breast
Legend has it that a little brown bird shared Bethlehem's stable. One night as the holy family lay sleeping, she noticed their fire was going out. So she flew down and fanned the fire with her wings throughout the night. In the morning, she was rewarded with a red breast as a symbol of her love for the newborn king.
la Bafana and Babouska
As Legend has it on Jan. 6, presents are delivered by a kind ugly witch called Befana riding a broomstick as she searches for Baby Jesus. The three kings asked her to follow them, but she was to busy cleaning house to leave. She missed the Star, lost her way and has been flying around ever since, leaving presents for good children and coal for the bad ones. In Poland a similar legend is told as the gifts are brought to the children by Babouska.
Spider
Legend has it that a poor woman had no decorations for her Christmas tree. She went to bed wondering how she would explain the unadorned tree to her children on Christmas Day. Angels prompted the house spiders to cover the tree with webs and on Christmas morning the branches covered with spider webs turned to silver by the rising sun.
The Legend of the Christmas Candle
The legend of the Christmas Candle foretells good luck, good health, and happiness during the year if burned on Christmas Day. Once lighted, it must be allowed to burn until it flickers out. Today people hold to the tradition of placing a Christmas candle in each front window of their houses as a welcoming symbol of friendship.
The Donkey
Legend has it the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday followed Him to Calvary. Appalled by the sight of Jesus on the cross, the donkey turned away but could not leave. It is said that the shadow of the cross fell upon the donkey’s shoulders and back. A cross marking found on many donkeys today remains a testimony of the love and devotion of a humble, little donkey.
The Rooster
Legend has it, the rooster has only crowed once at midnight to announce the birth of the Baby Jesus. For this reason, Spanish and Latin American countries call their midnight mass on Christmas Eve, the Mass of the Rooster, or Misa Del Gallo.
The Christmas Cat
Legend has it a small tabby cat crawls out from beneath a pile of straw in the stable. Mary says "I'm sorry Cat, I think no creature in this barn is going to get rest tonight." So it curls up and began purring, softly at first, then steadily louder and soon the barn was filled with the cat’s calming purr. Mary , was so pleased she reached down and gently traced her first initial, the letter M, on the cat's forehead, in thanks. So today all Tabbies are marked with the letter “M” as a symbol of Mary’s love.
The Legend of the Christmas Rose The Christmas or Snow Winter rose blooms at Christmas in winter in the mountains of Central Europe. Legend has it a little shepherdess named Madelon tending her sheep saw the wise men and shepherds bringing gifts for the Maji. Having nothing to give, she began to cry. An Angel brushed away the snow and showed her a white flower tipped in pink - the Christmas Rose. To this day, parts of central and northern Europe break off a cherry tree branch at the beginning of Advent and keep it in water so flowers burst into bloom at Christmas time.

Haven’t we all experienced that conversation “lull” at the office Christmas Party or the family get-together. Well, don’t panic, just dazzle them and feel free to quote some of this useless trivia. Then duck cause what’s flying towards you probably won’t be Santa and the reindeer.

Did you know: Santa’s sled would weigh 333,333 tons loaded with one toy for every child on earth.
Did you know: it would require 214,206 reindeer and Rudolph to pull a 333,333 ton sleigh.
Did you know: that if Santa ate every snack left for him both the weight of the sled and number of reindeers would double?

DO NOT Add a sign to the back of his sleigh - WIDE LOAD DO NOT FOLLOW
Remember he has an automatic coal dispenser at the ready.

So Merry Christmas to all OGR's including listeners in

North Pole, Alaska
Santa Claus, Indiana
Santa Claus, Georgia
Rudolph, Wisconsin
Noel,Missouri
Merryville, Louisiana
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, West Virginia
Bethlehem, Georgia
Jolly, Texas