Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Nutcracker elevated Tchaikovsky's position to that of a master composer of classical ballet. In the Nutcracker he used the celesta, a newly-invented instrument that gained popularity thanks to Tchaikovsky.
Tchaikovsky was one of the leading composers of 19th-century romantic music.
Many many years ago when I was twenty three, I got married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red. My father fell in love with her, and soon the two were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law And changed my very life. My daughter was my mother, For she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matters worse, Although it brought me joy, I soon became the father Of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became A brother-in-law to dad. And so became my uncle, Though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle, Then that also made him brother To the widow's grown-up daughter Who, of course, was my step-mother.
Father's wife then had a son, Who kept them on the run. And he became my grandson, For he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother And it makes me blue. Because, although she is my wife, She is my grandma too.
If my wife is my grandmother, Then I am her grandchild. And every time I think of it, It simply drives me wild.
For now I have become The strangest case you ever saw. As the husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa.
===============
SOMEONE ELSE
People were saddened this week to learn of the death of one of our organization's most valuable members--someone else.
Someone's passing created a vacancy that will be very difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years. For every one of those years, Someone did far more than the normal person's share of the work.
Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results.
Whenever there was job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone's list: "LET SOMEONE ELSE DO IT!!" everybody would say.
It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the greatest contributors to this organization. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference. Someone Else was an extraordinary person--almost superhuman. But one person can only do so much.
Were the truth know, everyone expected too much from Someone Else.
Now--Someone Else is gone. We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who's going to follow it??
Who's going to do the things Someone Else did? Because we cannot depend on Someone Else anymore. (Thanks Bill Reynolds for sending to 'T & H')
===============
Notice: If you see a UNC student or a liberal reading 'Thought & Humor', please explain to them which is thought & which is humor. They always get it backwards.......
A UNC grad is driving home from work when his cell phone rings. "Hi, honey", says his wife,
"I was just listening to the traffic report on the radio. There's some lunatic driving the wrong way on the freeway, so be careful!" The UNC grad replies, "I will, but let me tell you, there's more than one of them -- there's hundreds!"
==================
Depressed, Troubled, Worried??? Big Problems??? Want to talk with a LIVE trained counselor??? Want to get REAL help??? (FREE - English/Spanish)
1-800-633-3446
(Not amalgamated with 'Thought & Humor')
==================
"But you, Brothers, are not in darkness so that this DAY should surprise you like a thief." I Thessalonians 5:4
==================
"How to Be Sure You're a REAL Christian" http://www.actsweb.org/htbs1.htm or 1-888-NEED-HIM (24/7 - free call)
==================
The first shoes designed just for sports were Keds, available July 14, 1916, introducing a shoe category that later came to be known as sneakers. In 1917, similar shoes from Converse Rubber Company also became available.
By today's standards, the first sneakers were very primitive. They ad rubber soles, canvas sides, and long laces to hold the whole thing together. But they were a vast improvement over all-leather shoes, and they made a big difference in several sports, especially basketball and tennis.
Modern sporting shoes now come in hundreds of varieties, and they are vastly more evolved, with complex, high-tech materials. Today's sports shoes are designed using sophisticated computer software, and are extensively tested.
==================
One of the reasons for the success of the internet is its open, peer-to-peer nature. All computers on the internet are equal, and in the past it hasn't mattered whether your computer is a 386 in Nguru on the end of a satellite phone or a big monster in a New York rack. If that ever changes, I think we will lose part of the essential, vital character of the internet. Doug Winter
==================
I tell you, women drivers are a hazard to traffic. Driving to work this morning on the freeway, I looked over to my left and there was a woman in a Mustang doing 65 miles per hour with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner!
I looked away for a couple seconds and when I looked back she was halfway over in my lane. It scared me so badly I dropped my electric shaver in my coffee, and it spilled all over my cell phone!