November 2, 2021
Google, who did not put a “doodle” on 9/11, found the time to do one yesterday for We:wa, a third gender member of the Zuni Pueblo, who was born male-bodied, but lived as a woman.
Today’s doodle “celebrates Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), an annual holiday rooted in Mexican culture and celebrated internationally, which honors the lives of loved ones who have passed and the cyclical nature of life.” And they failed to honor the 3,000 killed in terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
👉 Maybe you are looking for ways to raise some extra cash. The whatfor is up to you, but if you have some of these old toys, you may be setting on a jackpot.
If you’re still holding on to an original Game Boy you may be able to make a lot of money off it. But with aging pieces and old electronics, working Game Boys are hard to come by. There are many examples of systems being sold on eBay for $135 and up.
Any time anyone says anything about a Beanie Baby, I think about a couple in Ohio who had bought BBs for their retirement, but when the critters didn’t hold the value for which the couple was hoping, they donated hundreds to MIR Children’s Foundation to take to orphans in Russia (every once in a while I’d get an email saying, “It’s time to cull the herd” and boxes of the little guys would appear at 233). While almost no one ever got rich on Beanie Babies, some of the more rare ones are worth money. BBs can be worth anywhere from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars. A 1994 Valentino the Teddy Bear sold on today for $5,000 (plus shipping).
Hot Wheels cars are very popular, however, there were also a lot of these cars made, so most of them really aren’t worth a whole lot, even in the original packaging. If you’ve got the car pictured, though, you’re in luck – this was rare. This one sold on eBay last week for $425 (plus shipping).
👉 As of next Monday, November 8, air travel requirements to enter the US are changing. For fully vaccinated Americans, you must show a negative COVID-19 test result taken no more than three days before travel. The difference is that you’ll also need to show proof – your white CDC card. US citizens who are unvaccinated (or not fully vaccinated) and travel abroad will also need to show proof of a negative test, but it must be taken within one day of the return flight to the US. Foreign visitors will need to be fully vaccinated.
👉 It’s hard to improve on a good thing, but Reese’s keeps trying. Last year, Reese’s introduced Reese’s Big Cup with Pretzels, a larger peanut butter cup with extra room for broken bits of pretzels to be mixed inside. It must have gone well because, now, in a similar vein, Reese’s is launching Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with Potato Chips. Hershey writes in the product description, “This time, we mixed crispy rippled potato chips right in with our smooth peanut butter, then coated it in rich milk chocolate. We do this for you – so you don’t have to decide what kind of snack to have. Our treats have it all!”
👉 Over the next several issues QB will be showing t-shirts for seniors:
👉 Brian sent me a link to the stories behind some of Simon and Garfunkel’s best songs. There are some great songs in the list, so let’s take a listen.
First up, “The Sounds of Silence.” The song made such little impact that Simon and Garfunkel simply broke up (for the first time) and went their separate ways. A year later, the album’s producer, Tom Wilson, heard that the song was getting radio airplay among college kids and decided to remix the tune with some electric guitars, bass and a drum. The song shot to the top of the charts. It all came as a shock to Paul Simon, who’d moved to England, and Art Garfunkel, who’d returned to his studies at Columbia University. But suddenly, out of nowhere, Simon and Garfunkel were a chart-topping act. More tomorrow.
👉 QB 576 included “Hello Dolly!,” Louis Armstrong’s number one hit from May 9, 1964, which knocked The Beatles out of the top spot. Readers commented about “Sachmo,” so let’s take another look at one the most influential figures in jazz, and one of the first popular African-American entertainers to “cross over” to wide popularity with white audiences. His name, Louis, is pronounced Louie by most people, but on his 1964 record, he sings, “This is Lewis, Dolly.”
He rarely publicly politicized his race, to the dismay of fellow African Americans. He wore the Star of David in honor of the Morris Karnoffsky family, who took him in as a child and lent him money to buy his first cornet. In a short memoir Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La, the Year of 1907, he wrote not only about the racial prejudice he saw directed at the Jews, but he also wrote about what he regarded as the moral failings of his own people:
“The Negroes always wanted pity. They did that in place of going to work?.?.?.? They were in an alley or in the street corner shooting dice for nickels and dimes, etc. (mere pittances) trying to win the little money from their Soul Brothers who might be gambling off the money they should take home to feed their starving children or pay their small rents, or very important needs, etc.”
A fan of Major League Baseball, he founded a team in New Orleans that had been known as Raggedy 9. The original name of the team was inspired by the poor quality of their uniforms. Armstrong bought the team new uniforms made with fine cotton, renaming them Armstrong’s Secret 9. The players tried to keep their new uniforms in good condition, something that proved detrimental as they did not want to mar them by sliding in the dirt. A local newspaper asked, “Wonder if they were too well dressed?”
Well, enough talk. Let’s listen to some of his music.
“When the Saints Go Marching In” often referred to as simply “The Saints,” is a black spiritual. Though it originated as a Christian hymn, it is often played by jazz bands. Louis Armstrong and his orchestra recorded it on May 13, 1938.
“What a Wonderful World” was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single, which topped the pop charts in the United Kingdom. After appearing in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, the song was re-released as a single in 1988, and it rose to number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. His recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
👉 Today’s close, “The Bridge of Confession,” is by Max Lucado.
Once there were a couple of farmers who couldn’t get along with each other. A wide ravine separated their two farms, but as a sign of their mutual distaste for each other, each constructed a fence on his side of the chasm to keep the other out.
In time, however, the daughter of one met the son of the other, and the couple fell in love. Determined not to be kept apart by the folly of their fathers, they tore down the fences and used the wood to build a bridge across the ravine.
Confession does that. Confessed sin becomes the bridge over which we can walk back into the presence of God.
Those who keep secrets from God keep their distance from God. Those who are honest with God draw near to God.
-30-
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