Friday, May 16, 2008

Spotlight: The Jane Goodall Institute, NRDC, Oceana, The Global Security Institute, Roots and Shoots, IFAW, In Defense of Animals, Waterkeeper Alliance... and the list of organizations that Pierce Brosnan works for goes on and on. It's a wonder that he's ever free to make a single movie. Brosnan is famous for playing suave criminal/detective types who look especially good in a tuxedo, like Remington Steele, Thomas Crown and, of course, James Bond. Proving he's not just another pretty face, activist Brosnan works hard in the fight to keep the earth clean, treat animals humanely and care for homeless and impoverished children. Happy birthday to Pierce Brosnan, who turns 55 today.

Quote: "When people don't believe in you, you have to believe in yourself." — Pierce Brosnan

Question of the Day: What is a Giclée print?
A Giclée print is a print of a piece of art that is made from a digital source, using ink-jet printing. It is of high-resolution and high-quality; a special printer produces the work on any of a number of fabrics, vinyl, paper, etc.

Word of the day: surrogate mother
n.

1. A woman who bears a child for another person, often for pay, either through artificial insemination or by carrying until birth another woman's surgically implanted fertilized egg.
2. One that acts as, serves as, or is a mother substitute.

surrogatemotherhood surrogate motherhood n. (© Houghton Mifflin Company)

Today's History:

Mt. Everest

• Edgar Allan Poe: wed his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia (1836)
• shield nickel: US Congress voted to replace the half dime with a new nickel (1866)
• Annie Get Your Gun: opened on Broadway, starring Ethel Merman (1946)
• Junko Tabei: ascended Mt. Everest, becoming the first woman to summit the world's highest mountain (1975)

Today's Birthdays:

Liberace at the Keyboard

• Studs Terkel (96): historian, radio personality, author of The Good War
• George Gaynes (91): actor, Police Academy, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid; also, actors Henry Fonda (1905-1982), Harry Carey, Jr. (87), Debra Winger (53), Mare Winningham (49), David Boreanaz and Tracey Gold (both 39), Tori Spelling (35) and Stanislav Ianevski (23)
• Liberace (1919-1987): flamboyant pianist; musicians Betty Carter (1930-1998) and Janet Jackson (42) share this birth date
• Olga Korbut (53): Olympic gold-medal winner in gymnastics; other athletes born on this date include Billy Martin (1928-1989) and Gabriela Sabatini (38)