Dan The Man dances for dollars

If you’ve ever wanted to see Dan The Man make a fool out of himself, show up at the Sanford Woman’s Club on Friday, April 29.

I along with several of Sanford’s leading citizens, including Mayor Jeff Triplett, officer Matt Thornton, Steve Richards and Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Mike Ertel (he’s not really from Sanford), will be raising money for the American Cancer Society in a most entertaining way. Among other things we will be performing a choreographed routine to the song, “It’s Raining Men.”

Yes, you read that correctly.

Here’s the thing, if my buddies and I are willing to put our lack of dancing skills on public display, we need you to show up and donate money to the Cancer Society. It will work like this: after our dance routine, we will mingle throughout the crowd to collect money from the audience. Whoever collects the most money is crowned Mr. Bunny.

Yes, I know, it seems implausible that a bunch of grown men would compete for the title of Mr. Bunny, but it’s become quite competitive. Mayor Triplett says he plans to pack the crowd with his supporters, and officer Thornton, well who knows what he will do – he’s got a taser and handcuffs.

So Dan The Man needs you – and your money!

There is no cost to attend the event, just bring dollars (or fives or twenties) to help Dan The Man win the crown.

The specifics:

7 p.m. Friday, April 29, 2011
Sanford Woman’s Club
309 S. Oak Avenue, Sanford, FL 32771
There will be light appetizers. Beer and wine will be available for a donation.

All joking aside, every one of us knows someone who has battled cancer. Thanks to research and medical advances, many people are able to win this battle. But more needs to be done.

Our dancing is not going to be much to look at, but we plan on having a lot of fun raising money for this serious cause. Please come out and support us.

If you can’t attend, but would like to donate, please e-mail me at DanTheManTrivia@gmail.com

Ken for Celery King

Hey trivia enthusiasts – Dan The Man will host a one night trivia contest to benefit the Ken Martin for Celery King campaign.

The entry fee is $15 per person with ALL proceeds going to Creative Sanford’s Celery Soup project. Ticket price includes 1 free drink.

There will be drink specials and plenty of prizes, including cash prizes of $75, $50 and $25 for three lucky raffle winners.

The fun begins 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 24 at the Sanford Wine Co, located at 114 S. Palmetto Ave. in Historic Downtown Sanford.

Creative Sanford is a 501C3, non profit organization. Celery Soup was created by Creative Sanford to interview residents and take their stories to produce a live stage performance. The first production, “Touch and Go,” was a huge success. In order to keep these productions in our future, fund raisers, grants, and donations are necessary.

The largest fund raiser is the Celery Ball. Men and women from the community are asked to be candidates for the “King” and “Queen” of the Celery Ball. The candidates are asked to raise funds for Celery Soup, and the ones who submit the most money are crowned as the new King and Queen of the Ball.

Ken Martin is a King candidate for the 2011 Celery Ball. Ken owns the Sanford Wine Company and has been a resident and member of the Sanford Community for a number of years.

DTM Playlist for Dec. 6

Here’s the songs that are topping my playlist this week. As always, a couple of these will be used in the music round on Dec. 8. The link will take you to iTunes to hear a sample of the songs.

• Why Didn’t You Call Me – Shelby Lynne
• Remedy – The Black Crowes
• I Gotta Feeling – The Black Eyed Peas
• Trouble Down in Texas – The Stone Coyotes
• Toes – Zac Brown Band

Meet George Jetson …

On Sept. 23, 1962, Americans were invited to “Meet George Jetson” and the entire Jetson clan. The animated series “The Jetsons” was set in the year 2062 and featured flying cars, house-cleaning robots and entire meals in a single pill.

The series was created by Hanna Barbera, the same company that had scored a hit with the wildly popular “The Flintstones” in 1960. While “The Flintstones” was set in prehistoric times and based loosely on “The Honeymooners,” “The Jetsons” was created to be a Space Age twist on “Blondie,” the comic strip that was turned into a series of 1940s movies and a long-running radio show.

“The Jetsons” lasted just one season, from September 23, 1962 to March 3, 1963. However, the original 24 episodes were continuously repeated through the years, which helped the show become ingrained into the American conscious. In 1984, Hanna Barbera created 41 new episodes and combined them with the original 24. In 1987, 10 more new episodes were released, as was a television movie “The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.”

“Jetsons: The Movie” was release to theaters nationwide in 1990. A live-action (non-animated) Jetsons film is rumored to be scheduled for release in 2012 by director Robert Rodriguez.

Did you know?

• The Jetsons live in Skypad Apartments in Orbit City.
• George works at Spacely Space Sprockets.
• In the very first episode, Jane Jetson was 32 years old.
• The Jetsons’ phone number is VENUS-1234.
• George and Jane’s wedding anniversary is June 2.
• Much like the Flintstones, the 24 original Jetsons’ episodes were broadcast in prime time (Sunday nights) on ABC.
• Mel Blanc, best known as the voice of Bugs Bunny, provided the voice for Cosmo Spacely, George’s boss.

A cupful of facts about coffee

Most Americans get their day started with a cup of coffee, but image having no cup of joe to give you that early morning jolt.

That was the case 68 years ago this week when the U.S. began rationing coffee in the midst of World War II. The U.S. of Office of Price Administration limited each adult to one pound of coffee every five weeks. Those in need of a constant caffeine fix resorted to reusing old coffee grounds or buying ration stamps from their non-coffee drinking friends.

Coffee rationing didn’t last long. By July 1943 coffee was removed from the rations lists, and Americans were able to satisfy their habit for the java buzz.

Did you know?

• Lloyd’s of London, the largest insurance market in the world, began as a coffee house. Edward Lloyd opened his coffee house in 1688 an catered to sailors, merchants, and ship owners.
• According to the International Coffee Council, Finland has the highest per capita coffee consumption. The Finns consume 11.98 kilograms of coffee per person each year. Norway is second with an annual per capita consumption of 9 kilograms, followed by Denmark (7.9 kg) and Switzerland (7.68 kg). The U.S. per capita consumption is 4.13 kg.
• As of Dec. 27, 2009, Starbucks had 16,706 locations around the world.
• The average American adult drinks 26.7 gallons of coffee each year
• Melitta Bentz invented the coffee filter in 1908.
• A Yale University study asked 200 people to identify 80 common aromas. Coffee topped the list, followed by: 2. Peanut butter,
3. Vicks VapoRub,
4. Chocolate,
5. Wintergreen oil,
6. Baby powder,
7. Cigarette butts,
8. Mothballs,
9. Dry cat food,
10. Beer,
11. Ivory bar soap,
12. Juicy Fruit gum,
13. Orange,
14. Cinnamon,
15. Lemon,
16. Tuna,
17. Banana,
18. Crayons,
19. Cheese, and
20. Bleach

DTM Playlist

Here’s the songs that are topping my playlist this week. As always, a couple of these will be used in the music round on Nov. 17. The link will take you to iTunes to hear a sample of the songs.

• Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
  
• Someday – Sugar Ray
  
• Ignition Remix – R. Kelley
  
• Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong – Spin Doctors
  
• I’m Ready – Muddy Waters

Nixon proclaims ‘I’m not a crook’ at Disney World

On this date in 1973, President Richard Nixon traveled to Walt Disney World in Orlando in hopes of squashing the Watergate scandal. The Magic Kingdom turned into the Tragic Kingdom for the president as he delivered his most infamous sound bite.

Nixon addressed the annual convention of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, which included a live televised question-and-answer session with the president. In response to a question Nixon said: “… people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

But evidence was mounting to the contrary. Four days after Nixon’s Orlando press conference, the Washington Post reported that there was a mysterious 18.5 minute blank in secret Oval Office tapes Nixon surrendered to a U.S. Senate committee. The blank occurred during an Oval Office conversation on June 20, 1972 (three days after the Watergate break-in) between Nixon and his chief of staff Bob Haldeman.

Within a year of his Orlando speech, Nixon would resign from office.

Did you know?

• Nixon, while finishing his studies at Duke Law School, applied to the FBI in 1937 to become a special agent. Urban legend has it that he was rejected because he did not pass the mental evaluation and he failed to hit the target in his firearms test. His FBI application and the bureau’s interview notes refutes this, however. Nixon was approved for the special agent position, but the approval was canceled because Nixon was not immediately available to take the position because he was studying for the California Bar Exam at the time.
• Bill Clinton was the first president to publicly invite Nixon back to the White House. Clinton was also the first president to seek Nixon’s advice, which primarily focused on Russian issues.
• Nixon was a member of the “Barnaby Jones” fan club. The 1970s-era television show starred Buddy Ebsen, who gained fame as Jed Clampett on “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Nixon was such a fan that he attended a Barnaby Jones Luncheon Club meeting in 1985 where Ebsen was the guest of honor.

DTM Playlist for Nov. 8

Here’s the songs that are topping my playlist this week. As always, a couple of these will be used in the music round on Nov. 10. The link will take you to iTunes to hear a sample of the songs.

• All I Want (Right Now) – The New Mastersounds
  
• I Just Wanna Stop – Gino Vannelli
  
• Complicated – Avril Lavigne
  
• In One Ear – Cage the Elephant
  
• Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
  
• Telephone – The Black Angels

A very brief history of the U.S. Marine Corps

On Nov. 10, 1775, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution establishing the Continental Marines. The resolution was drafted by John Adams and called for the Marines to be the landing force for the Continental Navy.

The Continental Congress commissioned Samuel Nicholas as a captain and directed him to recruit two battalions of men for the new military organization. Upon learning of his commission, Nicholas immediately established a recruiting headquarters at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. The owner of the tavern, Robert Mullen, became the chief Marine recruiter.

In March 1776, Capt. Nicholas led the first Marine landing on a hostile shore when 250 Marines captured New Province Island in the Bahamas from the British, thus beginning a long and proud tradition of military excellence for the Corps.

Did you know?

• Samuel Nicholas was the first commissioned officer in the Continental Marines and is considered the first Marine Corps commandant.
• The Marine Corps is the smallest of the branch of the armed forces in the Defense Department with 203,000 active duty Marines as of October 2009. The U.S. Army is the largest branch with 549,000 active duty personnel as of October 2009, followed by the U.S. Navy (434,000) and the U.S. Air Force (330,000). The U.S. Coast Guard, which has 42,000 active personnel is part of the Department of Homeland Security
• Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is the highest rank a non-officer can achieve. Carlton W. Kent is the current Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.
• The motto of the Marine Corps is Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for  “Always Faithful.”
• Nov. 10 is considered the Marine Corps Birthday.

 

Back to normalcy

The Jeff Triplett for mayor logo was created by Nelson and Christina Beverly, who play trivia each week as part of the Dirty Dixies. Great logo y'all!

As most of y’all know, I’ve been preoccupied the last several weeks working on the Jeff Triplett for Mayor of Sanford campaign. Well, the election was yesterday, and Team Triplett scored a big win.

What does that mean for you, the trivia lover? To quote Napoleon Dynamite, it means “All your wildest dreams will come true.”

No seriously, it means that Dan The Man’s focus will be back on trivia. Of course, the victory party is still clouding my mind so here’s the deal for tonight: Instead of posting clues, I will give each team 3 mulligans. You can only use 1 mulligan per round. To use your mulligan, when I pick up your answer sheet just say “We want to use our mulligan for this round.” I will count one of your incorrect answers as correct.

There are some limitations, however. Mulligans can NOT be used for:

• Bonus questions
• The Hero or Zero question
• The Absurdly Difficult Trivia question

Also, if your team posts a perfect score by using a mulligan, your team is NOT eligible to select a question for next week’s trivia contest.

See you tonight!

DTM Playlist for Oct. 11

Here’s the songs that are topping my playlist this week. As always, a couple of these will be used in the music round on Oct. 13. The link will take you to iTunes to hear a sample of the songs.

Watching the Wheels – John Lennon
What I Like About You – The Romantics
Tears Dry On Their Own – Amy Winehouse
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide – ZZ Top
Ooh Wee – Mark Ronson

Random trivia for Oct. 13

Running a little late with the clues so here’s some random trivia for tonight’s contest:

• By monetary value, peppercorns are the most widely traded spice in the world.
• Drinking 16 ounces of ice water(32 degrees Fahrenheit), requires the body to burn 17.5 calories to warm the water up to body temperature. Drinking 64 ounces of ice water (the recommended daily intake) would burn 70 calories.
• According to Science Daily, Earth collects about 40,000 tons of space dust each year.
• According to the American Heart Association, Kentucky has the highest rate of smokers (28.7%) in the U.S., while Utah (11.5%) has the lowest.
• Abraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president who was also a licensed bartender. He was co-owner of Berry and Lincoln, a saloon in Springfield, Illinois.
• The first president to have electric lights in the White House was Benjamin Harrison in 1891.