The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : New Years Eve

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : New Years Eve: In Today's New Years Eve Issue New Year New Year Facts Top 10 New Year's Resolutions Random Joke of the Day Finish with...

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : New Years Eve

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : New Years Eve: In Today's New Years Eve Issue New Year New Year Facts Top 10 New Year's Resolutions Random Joke of the Day Finish with...

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : New Years Eve

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : New Years Eve: In Today's New Years Eve Issue New Year New Year Facts Top 10 New Year's Resolutions Random Joke of the Day Finish with...

New Years Eve

In Today's New Years Eve Issue

New Year
New Year Facts
Top 10 New Year's Resolutions
Random Joke of the Day
Finish with a Song

It’s the end of the year

Lets bid it farewell

The chimes will ring

Their bye decibel

The past has gone

Let's welcome the future

A new stitch in time

An annual Suter

If the last twelve months

Have been a test

The I hope the next

Are all the best

So from this small blog

And this poor writer

Thank you for reading

And making life brighter

In the Gregorian calendar (today mostly in use), New Year’s Eve, the last day of the year, is on December 31.

New Year’s Eve is all about numbers. Indeed, we spend the entire day counting down the hours until 11 p.m., when we start counting the minutes, which we do until 11:59 p.m., when we start counting the seconds.

December 31, 2017 and January 1, 2018 – New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are on a Sunday and Monday.

The International Date Line, located at 180 degrees longitude and on the exact opposite side of the earth of the prime meridian, denotes the passage of a calendar date from the day before. The countries west of the line move into a new day first, and other countries (moving westward) follow.

Samoa and parts of Kiribati are the first places to welcome the New Year while American Samoa and Baker Island in the United States, are among the last.

Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner.

Common traditions include attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, making resolutions for the new year and watching fireworks displays.

The earliest recording of a new year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia, c. 2000 B.C.and was celebrated around the time of the vernal equinox, in mid-March.

A variety of other dates tied to the seasons were also used by various ancient cultures. The Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Persians began their new year with the fall equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice.

The early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the new year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March.

In 1582, the Gregorian calendar reform restored January 1 as New Year’s Day.

In present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar as their de facto calendar, New Year’s Day is probably the most celebrated public holiday, often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts in each time zone.

A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior.

“Auld Lang Syne” is traditionally sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve. It was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788. He may have based it on a folk song. The words auld lang syne mean “times gone by”.

Popping champagne corks at the stroke of midnight is a mainstay on New Year’s Eve, whether at swanky parties or home celebrations.

Each New Year’s Eve 1 million people gather in New York City’s Times Square to watch famous ball drop. Another 1 billion people from around the world will watch the famed ball drop on TV.

At midnight on December 31, Buddhist temples all over Japan ring their bells a total of 108 times to symbolize the 108 human sins in Buddhist belief, and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires regarding sense and feeling in every Japanese citizen. A major attraction is The Watched Night bell, in Tokyo.

Mexicans celebrate New Year’s Eve, by eating a grape with each of the twelve chimes of a clock’s bell during the midnight countdown, while making a wish with each one.

In some cities of Colombia, Cuba and Puerto Rico, there is a tradition of making a male doll that is stuffed with memories from the past year, all dressed with the clothes of the outgoing year and is called Mr. Old Year. At midnight, the doll is set on fire symbolizing erasing of the bad memories.

There is a music festival every New Year’s eve in the Antarctic called ‘Icestock’

In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year’s Day to bring good luck all year long.

Until 2006, the Space Shuttle never flew on New Year’s day or eve because its computers couldn’t handle a year rollover.

• Lose Weight and Get Fit
• Quit Smoking
• Learn Something New
• Eat Healthier and Diet
• Get Out of Debt and Save Money
• Spend More Time with Family
• Travel to New Places
• Be Less Stressed
• Volunteer
• Drink Less

The Parce lForce New Year Eves party has been moved to next door and starts anytime between 8am - 6pm

Finish With a Song

This is U2 with New Years Day

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : In Today's IssueDuvetBedding Facts? ( I know.....

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : In Today's Issue


Duvet
Bedding Facts? ( I know.....: In Today's Issue Duvet Bedding Facts? ( I know....how random ) That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Finish with Song...

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : In Today's IssueDuvetBedding Facts? ( I know.....

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : In Today's Issue


Duvet
Bedding Facts? ( I know.....: In Today

In Today's Issue

Duvet
Bedding Facts? ( I know....how random )
That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke
Finish with Song

My duvet is my closest

Friend

It covers me from end

To end

My cotton cocoon

Keeps me warm

From cold and rain

And mental storm

Feathers and down

Surround my frame

I forget myself

My id my name

Life passes by

As I hide in my cave

A cowards life

Not noble or brave

So I’ll stay here and hope

That they will be a cessation

From my withdrawal from life

My suspended animation

Hints and Tips about Bedding

Thread Count: As it turns out, the number we are trained to equate with quality is largely a marketing ploy and almost always misrepresented. When it comes to bedding, the quality of thread matters most, not the count. There are many types of cotton, but it’s the length of the fiber that dictates quality. Longer is better, so look for long strand cotton instead of a high thread count. 

Avoid sheets labeled “wrinkle free,” “easy care”, and “permanent press.” This means the fabric has been treated with formaldehyde resin, a toxic chemical that will not wash out. 

Replacing pillowcases is the easiest (and most cost effective way) to freshen up your bedding. Experts recommend replacing them every 6 months to a year. 

To avoid creases, take your bedding out of the dyer while they are warm and the slightest bit damp and put them directly on the bed. You’ll get the same effect as ironing. 

Washing your sheets is obvious, but it’s important to wash your pillows and duvets too. 

Wash your bedding on the delicate cycle with cool water – hot temperatures break down the fibres and will cause your sheets to break down more quickly.

Make your bed every morning – it will keep dust mites to a minimum. Plus it’s an easy way to accomplish a task moments after you’ve woken up! 

The most people eating breakfast in bed is 418 and was achieved by Sheraton Langfang Chaobai River Hotel (China), in Langfang, Hebei, China on 16 August 2015.

In addition to the 418 people taking part in the attempt, many children also sat on the beds with their parents but were not counted towards the final total.

 

Are there a lot of first-person singular objective pronouns,or is it just me?


FINISH WITH A SONG
This is - The Police - The Bed's Too Big Without You

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Seven Seas

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Seven Seas: In Today's Nearly New Year Issue Seven Sea The Sea That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Finish with a Song ...

Seven Seas

In Today's Nearly New Year Issue

Seven Sea
The Sea
That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke
Finish with a Song

How many oceans on this planet?

Seven seas we were told

But of course, that’s just our perception

There is but one, deep and cold

It’s salty tears envelope our world

Its blueness mirrors the sky above

Man has crossed it in boats of iron

Fisherman lost in its embrace of love

It creates our seasons, makes our rain

Whips the wind and erodes the earth

The sea is our thermostat

It will be there at our death as it was at our birth.

A pantry, a feeder, the birthplace of all

A toilet, a waste place, to flush crap away

We choke it; we poison it, we fill it with rubbish

Now plastic is found that cannot decay

Man-made garbage has covered the earth

It spills into oceans and spreads its death

From plant life to fish and crustation, all life

Nothing is safe we’ll take their last breath

So cry the seas, wash away all our sins

Blow on the sand and wave us goodbye

We’ve changed your make up your chemical balance

From acid rain to deaths dear alkali

THE SEA

About 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water, yet the oceans largely remain a mystery for scientists.

More is known about the moon's surface than the depths of the ocean. In fact, 12 people have stepped foot on the moon, but only three have been to the Mariana Trench — the deepest part of the ocean, at roughly 7 miles (11 kilometers) deep.

For every species of marine life we know of, at least another three are yet to be discovered

Our oceans teem with life ranging from the blue whale — the biggest animal on Earth — to tiny microbes.

But nobody knows exactly how many different species live in this environment. There is no data for around 20 per cent of the ocean's volume.

The Census of Marine Life, a 10-year international project to identify life in our oceans, found nearly 250,000 species. But scientists believe a least a million species of marine life could be out there, and that's not counting the tens or even hundreds of millions of kinds of microbes that make up the majority of marine life.

What we do know is that ocean life survives in the most extreme environments. Scientists have found life that can survive in temperatures that melt lead, where seawater freezes into ice, or there's no light or oxygen.

In fact, the dark ocean zone between 1000 and 5000 metres known as the abyssal zone has a far greater range of marine life than we once thought.

Water takes around 1000 years to travel all the way around the whole globe

The oceans not only have waves, tides and surface currents — they also have a constantly moving system of deep-ocean circulation driven by temperature and salinity.

Known as the global ocean conveyor belt or thermohaline current (thermo = temperature, haline = salinity), this deep ocean current gets one of its "starts" in the polar region near Norway.

As sea ice forms, the water left behind becomes saltier and denser and begins to sink, making room for warmer and less dense incoming surface water, which in turn eventually becomes cold and salty enough to sink.

The cold dense water flows along the ocean bottom all the way from the northern hemisphere to the Southern Ocean where it merges with more cold dense water from Antarctica and is swept into the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Eventually it mixes with warmer water and rises to the surface before finding its way back to the Atlantic. It can take 1000 years to complete this cycle.

Half of all the oxygen we breathe is produced in the ocean

Some of this oxygen is produced by sea weeds and sea grasses, but the vast majority of the oxygen is produced by phytoplankton, microscopic single celled organisms that have the ability to photosynthesise. These tiny creatures live in the surface layer of the ocean (and in lakes and rivers) and form the very base of the aquatic food chain.

During photosynthesis, phytoplankton remove carbon dioxide from sea water and release oxygen. The carbon becomes part of their bodies.

Oceans hold around 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere

Cold water can dissolve much more CO2 than warm water, so the cold polar regions are net absorbers of CO2. But as the cold water finds its way to warmer tropical areas, the oceans release CO2 back into the atmosphere. The equatorial Pacific is thought to be the biggest single natural source of CO2 in the atmosphere. Most of this carbon is exchanged with the atmosphere on a timescale of several hundred years.

Prior to the industrial revolution, the uptake and release of CO2 on land and ocean was in a dynamic equilibrium. Since then, the oceans are thought to have absorbed about half of the carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels, with the rest remaining in the atmosphere.

The great garbage patch is more like a plastic soup

The existence of the The Great Pacific Garbage 'patch' in the North Pacific Ocean was confirmed in 1997. It lies at the centre of a large rotating ocean current — or gyre. Since then, a soup of plastic pollution has been found at the centre of all the world's major gyres — in the South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic and in the Indian Ocean.

Plastic trash takes a very long time to bio-degrade in the oceans. The actions of sunlight and wave motion tend to break plastic objects into smaller and smaller pieces until they eventually become smaller than a grain of sand. That's why there is no obvious floating island of plastic debris, but rather a fine soup of plastic particles floating in the water column.

These fine particles are now thought to act like sponges, concentrating pollutants such as PCBs, DDT and PAHs. When the particles are ingested by filter feeding sea creatures, they enter the food chain and ultimately into fish destined for human consumption.

They also harbour unique colonies of microbes, but it is too early to say what impact this emerging 'plastisphere' will have on marine ecological environments.

Plastics only came into widespread use after 1945, but can already be found in every part of the marine environment from the surface to the seafloor.

The Atlantic Ocean is getting bigger and the Pacific Ocean is getting smaller

Twenty million years ago there was no Atlantic Ocean. But then, thanks to plate tectonics, the South American and North American continents were separated by a rift valley that eventually turned into the Atlantic Ocean. The complementary shapes of the South American and African continents have long been noticed, but it wasn't until the 1960s that the theory of plate tectonics became accepted as the explanation.

These days, the Atlantic Ocean is growing at a rate of five centimetres per year, as new sea floor is created by volcanic activity along its mid-ocean ridge.

On the other hand, the much older Pacific Ocean is currently estimated to be shrinking by two to three centimetres each year. Again, this comes down to plate tectonics because the Pacific Ocean has subduction zones on three sides — where the Pacific plate submerges beneath other plates.

The deepest manned ocean descent was achieved by Dr Jacques Piccard (Switzerland) and Lt. Donald Walsh (USA) who piloted the Swiss-built US Navy bathyscaphe Trieste to a depth of 10,911 m (35,797 ft) in the Challenger Deep section of the Mariana Trench on 23 January 1960. Challenger Deep is thought to be the deepest point on earth and is situated 400 km (250 miles) south-west of Guam in the Pacific Ocean

After exercise i always eat a whole pizza. Just kidding...........I don't exercise.

FINISH WITH A SONG - This is Bobby Darin, Beyond The Sea

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Gunslinger

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Gunslinger: In Today's ( nearly new year ) Issue Death is a Gunslinger Gun Fighters That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Fin...

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Gunslinger

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Gunslinger: In Today's ( nearly new year ) Issue Death is a Gunslinger Gun Fighters That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Fin...

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Gunslinger

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Gunslinger: In Today's ( nearly new year ) Issue Death is a Gunslinger Gun Fighters That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Fin...

Gunslinger

In Today's ( nearly new year ) Issue

Death is a Gunslinger
Gun Fighters
That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke
Finish with a Song

DEATH IS A GUNSLINGER

“I deal in steel.”

Said the man in dusty

Boots

“fill the coffin, return them

to their roots.”

The guns in his hands

still hot with their death

they’ve shot their seeds

and taken their breath

The cadaver the body

Is empty, is spent

Just like the shells

Ejaculated and sent

The pool of blood

Congeals in the dust

Ashes to ashes

Dust turned rust

He holsters his irons

And Spins on his heels

The life has been taken

Death’s done its deals

Into to dusk he walks

And disappears from view

Death will continue

And will be given his due

The 10 Deadliest Wild West Gunfighters

10. Billy the Kid

Legend has it that famous outlaw Billy the Kid had killed as many as 26 men by the time he died, aged just 21 years old, although the total seems more likely to have been under 10. While there’s conflicting information about Billy the Kid’s true name and origins, he is widely reported to have been excellent with a gun. It seems most likely that he was born in an Irish district of New York City on November 23, 1859 and then settled in New Mexico in 1873, after being moved around the country by his mother.

In 1877 – following his engagement in criminal activity such as livestock rustling – Billy the Kid was hired by a wealthy English cattle rancher named John Tunstall in Lincoln County, New Mexico. The Kid’s job was to protect Tunstall and watch over his animals. And he was known for his lightning-fast draw, his lithe frame, and his readiness to fight with his fists if necessary. The Kid is said to have thought highly of his boss, and the two had a mutual respect. So when Tunstall was murdered in cold blood, Billy vowed to exact revenge on the killers.

Billy the Kid’s favorite gun is believed to have been a .44 caliber Colt “Peacemaker,” and he became notorious due to his involvement in the Lincoln County War. Much violence and many escapades ensued, and on July 14, 1881, he was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett.

9. James “Killin’ Jim” Miller

James “Killin’ Jim” Miller was born in Van Buren, Arkansas on October 25, 1866, but his family moved to Texas when he was a baby. Miller’s parents died when he was young, and he moved in with his grandparents. Yet he was orphaned for a second time when his grandparents were murdered, with Miller himself arrested for the crime, even though he was only eight years old. In the end, he wasn’t charged, and he went to live with his sister and her husband. Later, as a teenager, Miller blasted his sister’s husband in the head with a shotgun after a quarrel. He was handed a life sentence for the murder but escaped justice owing to a technicality.

Next, Miller was implicated in another shotgun attack, this time on Ballinger City lawman Joe Townsend. Following this incident, “Killin’ Jim” spent time traveling and ran a saloon. He then turned lawman himself, eventually becoming the marshal of Pecos. In 1894, an ongoing feud between Miller and Pecos sheriff George A. “Bud” Frazer led to Frazer shooting Miller in the arm, groin and chest – but thanks to a steel plate under his shirt, Miller survived.

“Killin’ Jim” went on to become a Texas Ranger as well as a professional assassin. However, on April 19, 1909, following the murder of former Deputy US Marshal Allen “Gus” Bobbitt, Miller was hanged. Apparently, he screamed, “Let ‘er rip,” before stepping off the box. This outlaw once claimed that he’d killed 51 men; other sources say he dispatched with 12 in gunfights.

8. John Wesley Hardin

According to an article in True West magazine, a contemporary of John Wesley Hardin’s claimed that Hardin “could get out a six-shooter and use it quicker than a frog could eat a fly.” And describing Hardin’s skills, Texas Ranger James B. Gillett said, “The quick draw, the spin, the rolls, pinwheeling, border shift – he did them all with magical precision.” Hardin is also said to have been a crack shot from horseback, able to unload his ammo into the knot of a tree trunk while galloping past.

Hardin favored cap-and-ball six-shooters and, on at least one occasion, a double-barreled shotgun. Unfortunately, he used his skills for ill. Born on May 26, 1853, this Texan desperado and gunfighter shot and killed his first victim in 1868, when he was just 15 years old. Publications of the period say that he dispatched with 27 men during his lifetime. However, he got his comeuppance on August 19, 1895 when he was shot and killed at the age of 42 by outlaw-cum-constable John Selman.

Interestingly, whilst he was a teenager going by the alias Wesley Clemmons, Hardin encountered another individual covered in this article, “Wild Bill” Hickok. Hardin was captivated by Hickok and in awe of his gun-fighting reputation.

7. Dan Bogan

Born in Alabama in 1860, Dan Bogan relocated and grew up in Texas, where he started working as a cowboy from an early age. Bogan seemed to have a quick temper, and he was always on the lookout for a fight, which earned him a reputation as a troublemaker. He later left Texas for Wyoming after being blacklisted in a wage dispute.

It is believed that by 1886 this cowboy had taken the lives of three men. What’s more, Bogan’s rabblerousing didn’t end there, and on January 15, 1887 he murdered Constable Charles S. Gunn, shooting the onetime Texas Ranger with a revolver. Before he could get away, though, Bogan was himself shot in the shoulder and then captured – although he managed to make a getaway in the midst of a raging blizzard.

Bogan later turned himself into the authorities because his wounds had caused him to get sick. However, in October 1987 he succeeded in breaking out of jail. And although famous detective Charlie Siringo pursued him, Bogan vanished without leaving much of a trace and possibly escaped to Argentina. While Bogan is not as well known as some of his contemporaries, author Robert K. DeArment considers him among the Old West’s most underestimated gunslingers.

6. William “Wild Bill” Longley

William Preston Longley – better known as “Wild Bill” Longley – is regarded as one of the most lethal gunfighters of the Old West. He had a notoriously short fuse and killed upon the slightest provocation. In fact, he may even have been what today we’d call a psychopath. By his own account, he was instructed from an early age to “believe it was right to kill sassy Negroes,” and by the age of 17 he had committed his first murder.

Longley was born in Austin County, Texas on October 6, 1851 and grew up on a farm close to Evergreen in Lee County, where he mastered the art of shooting. This dangerous gunfighter was known to carry two Dance .44 caliber revolvers, but he used a shotgun as well. At the time of his hanging, on October 11, 1878, Longley said that he had killed eight people – although he earlier claimed the figure was 32. Either way, CBS News calls him “one of the first two-gun fast draw experts.”

5. Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan

Born in Tama County, Iowa in 1867, Harvey Logan – otherwise known as “Kid Curry” – was caught up in criminal activity such as robbery from a young age, and in 1894 he got on the wrong side of the law in Montana. As the story goes, a miner and lawman named Powell “Pike” Landusky believed that Logan was involved with his daughter and accused him of assault. Logan was taken away by police and beaten. So on December 27, the 27-year-old Logan confronted Landusky in a saloon and shot and killed him with a pistol. Forced to flee, Logan would ride with outlaw Black Jack Ketchum, form his own gang, and eventually join Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Wild Bunch.

According to some, Logan was considered “the fastest gun in the West” and is thought to be the basis for the Sundance Kid character as depicted by Hollywood. Logan participated in a series of robberies in South Dakota, Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado, and Wild West magazine even claims that he was “the wildest of the Wild Bunch.”

This gunman escaped from prison on two occasions and allegedly killed nine men in various shooting incidents during his time. In the end, on June 17, 1904, Logan took his own life after being wounded in a gunfight in Parachute, Colorado – perhaps to evade capture one last time.

4. Luke Short

Fast-drawing gunslinger and killer Luke Short was born in Mississippi in 1854 but was raised in Texas. Leaving home whilst in his teens, Short worked as a cowboy, an illegal whiskey trader and a professional gambler. He also later invested in various saloons. Short had practiced with a gun in his early years and would acquire a reputation for his skill, but the most famous event he was involved in was probably the so-called Dodge City War.

After buying shares in the Long Branch Saloon, Short was branded “undesirable” by the Dodge City, KS authorities, and they made attempts to get rid of him. However, determined not to go down without a fight, Short reached out to prominent Old West lawman Bat Masterson, who in turn got in touch with Wyatt Earp. Earp then descended on Dodge City with a posse of desperados. And in order to prevent any conflict, Short was allowed back into Dodge and given permission to reopen his saloon – all without a single gunshot sounding. Short is also famous for winning a duel against Jim Courtright on February 8, 1887 in Forth Worth, Texas, where his ability to pull a pistol saved his own life – and ended Courtright’s.

3. Dallas Stoudenmire

Dallas Stoudenmire was born in Aberfoil, Alabama on December 11, 1845. As a 15-year-old, he spent time in the Confederate Army – although he was discharged when officers found out that he was underage. Still, undeterred, Stoudenmire signed up again and fought in the Civil War, and he later operated as a Texas Ranger for three or more years. Armed with two guns, Stoudenmire was an accurate shot with both hands, and he had a reputation for being tough and dangerously short-tempered when he had a drink inside him.

In April 1881, Stoudenmire became marshal of El Paso, Texas – this being an infamously lawless and violent town at the time. On his third day on the job, Stoudenmire killed three men with two .44 caliber Colt revolvers in a famous incident known as the “Four Dead In Five Seconds” gunfight. By February the following year, he had dispatched with a further seven men in gunfights. Although the crime rate in El Paso fell significantly, and Stoudenmire earned himself repute as a legendary lawman and gunslinger, he also made himself a lot of enemies. On September 18, 1882, he was shot and killed during a shootout with the Manning brothers, the culmination of a feud. He was 36 years old.

2. William “Curly Bill” Brocius

Born around 1845, William Brocius, better known as “Curly Bill” Brocius, may well be Arizona’s most famous – or infamous – outlaw. He was involved in multiple gunfights and related incidents, including the accidental shooting of Tombstone town marshal Fred White on October 27, 1880 and the March 8, 1881 killing of a cowboy named Dick Lloyd.

Brocius may have also been mixed up in the March 18, 1882 assassination of Morgan Earp. Whether or not this was the case, what is certain is that Brocius was good with a gun. In fact, a contemporary said he was capable of shooting coins from between people’s fingers and could comfortably take down fleeing jackrabbits. He was also said to have the ability to snuff out a candle by firing at it with his pistol. In the end, though, on March 24, 1882, Wyatt Earp killed Brocius during a shootout involving the Earp posse, Brocius and several other cowboys in Iron Springs, Arizona.

1. James “Wild Bill” Hickok

Deadly gunman and Old West folk hero James “Wild Bill” Hickok was born in Illinois on May 27, 1837. Hickok is said to have been a great shot, even as a youngster, and was well known for his marksmanship with a pistol. In 1855, after a fight Hickok mistakenly believed had ended with the death of his adversary, the 18-year-old headed west. He first found work as a stagecoach driver, prior to working as a lawman in Kansas and Nebraska. Hickok then spent some time fighting for the Union Army – possibly as a spy – during the Civil War.

In 1865, “Wild Bill” was involved in an iconic public quick-draw duel with David Tutt. Harper’s Magazine featured it in a story, which elevated Hickok to hero status. Hickok’s weapons of choice were a brace of 1851 Colt pistols with ivory handles and silver plating, which he kept in his belt or sash and drew in a reverse “cavalry” style.

On April 15, 1871, Hickok took over as the marshal of Abilene, Texas. However, in December that same year he was discharged of his duties following a string of dubious shooting incidents – including the accidental killing of his deputy. After that, Hickok traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show for a few years, performing as himself. He also tried to support himself as a gambler and was even arrested for vagrancy on a few occasions. Fate caught up with Hickok on August 2, 1876 when a man named Jack McCall walked into the Deadwood, Dakota saloon in which Hickok was playing poker and shot him in the head from behind.

The worlds fastest gun, designed for use in helicopters and armoured vehicles in the late 1960s, the 7.62 mm (0.3 in) calibre M134 Minigun is based on the multiple-barrelled Gatling design. It has six barrels that are revolved by an electric motor and fed by a 4,000-round link belt. This allows for a firing rate of 6,000 rounds per minute, or 100 per second, about ten times that of an ordinary machine gun.

No wind or snow forecast for tomorrow. The Met Office have advised everyone to make unnecessary journeys.

Finish with a Song
This is one of my fave's.... well it is Xmas, 

Randy Houser - Like a Cowboy

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Stuffed

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Stuffed: In Today's Overfed Issue Stuffed Mince Pie That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Finish with a Song If I see one m...

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Stuffed

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Stuffed: In Today's Overfed Issue Stuffed Mince Pie That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Finish with a Song If I see one m...

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Stuffed

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow : Stuffed: In Today's Overfed Issue Stuffed Mince Pie That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Random Joke Finish with a Song If I see one m...

Stuffed

In Today's Overfed Issue

Stuffed
Mince Pie
That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke
Finish with a Song

If I see one more mince pie

I will just pop

I’ll just squeeze in a chocolate

Gawd I can't stop

Pigs in blankets,

sausage in rolls

Beef in wellingtons

Trifle in bowls

I've stuffed myself

Eaten for more than ten

I have to stop but next week,

Will do it again

I’ll be glad when the festivities

Are all done

The gas I’ve produced

Human popgun

I’ve learnt today that the

Average man

Breaks wind fourteen times

In a daily span

If you hold it in

And don’t let fly

There's a chance you’ll pop

Explode and then die

So enjoy your feast

Ignore the disquiet

For let's eat drink and be merry

For tomorrow we Die(T)

1. They used to be savoury

As the name might imply, once upon a time mince pies contained mincemeat mixed with alcohol, fruits and spices to help preserve it. As time went on, it became progressively sweeter until the mince was removed all together - but the name remained. 

2. They’re not actually British

While mince pies have been widely accepted as a British tradition, the idea actually started in the Middle East in the 13th Century. European crusaders returning to their homelands brought recipes that included meats, fruits and spices - which inspired the notion for a mince pie. 

3. They weren’t always called ‘mince pies’ 

Over the years, they’ve had a flurry of names including ‘shrid pies’ ‘Christmas pies’ ‘crib cakes’ and ‘mutton pies’. They were even called ‘wayfarers’ pies’ at one time, as they were given to visitors during the Christmas season. 

4. They can bring bad luck 

According to English tradition, superstition dictates that you must always stir clockwise when making mince pies. Apparently, stirring anti-clockwise will bring bad luck. 

5. They can bring good luck, too 

Apparently, if you eat a mince pie each day over the twelve day of Christmas - it brings good luck for the year ahead. How convenient. 

6. They can be eaten in bulk, by some 

The first ever mince pie eating competition was held in 2006. The winner - who holds this record to this day - got through 46 mince pies. 

7. They weren’t always so well-loved

During the English Civil War, the mince pie was frowned upon because of its link to Catholicism - and they were even banned at one point by Oliver Cromwell. Thankfully, his laws didn’t stick. 

8. They are symbolic

The cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg ingredients were included to represent the gifts given to Jesus by the three Eastern Kings. 

9. They weren’t always circular

Mince pies used to be cradle or ‘coffin’ shaped, which just meant rectangular at the time. 

10. They hold special powers, apparently

According to tradition, you must make a wish when eating your first mince pie of the season. It’s a bit late for us now, but maybe next year…  

The largest mince pie recorded was one of 1.02 tonnes (2,260 lb) and baked at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, UK on 15 October 1932. Measures: 6.1 x 1.5 m (20 x 5 ft),

I've been watching far too much TV lately. My dreams have adverts in them now.

Finish with a Song

This is Don McLean with American (mince) Pie