Random News: November 26, 2022

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s November 26, 2022, and it’s a Saturday. Feels like I’ve been floating in some null space where time is meaningless and life is only measurable by the number of turkey sandwiches I’ve consumed. Let’s see what’s up…

• Rest in peace to Irene Cara. She was only 63. Cause of death not announced.
• As I just posted upon hearing the news, I was about 12 when 'Fame' came out, and I think that was the first time I realized one could go to school for performing arts, which is exactly what I ended up doing.
• Between my junior and senior years of high school, I spent a summer in Boston studying at Berklee College of Music, and in the late ‘80s spent a year at Musicians Institute in Hollywood.
• I ended up getting my bachelors in Music from Cal State Dominguez, and I have no regrets about that decision.
• Music is a particularly difficult major, with more credits and time spent studying than most others, including business, pre-law, and pre-med. It was a challenge and I enjoyed it a lot.
• In any case, RIP to Ms. Cara, who won both Grammy and Academy awards for her work.
• Music trivia note: Irene’s hit ballad “Out Here on My Own” had lyrics composed by Lesley Gore, who had a #1 hit at age 16 with the song “It’s My Party”.
• Side note to my side note: Lesley was a lesbian who was a gay rights activist. She passed away in 2015 at age 68.
• And now, The Weather: “Yet Another Window” by Goon
• I was going to post some news stuff in this news, but every single story this morning seems to be about people being shot… in Nashville, TN, in Greenville, NC, in Sacramento, CA, in Denver, CO, in Portland, OR, in Fort Wayne, IN, in New Orleans, LA. There are more but I’m done doomscrolling. 
• It’s the guns.
• Happy birthday to Tina Turner, who turns 83 today. She is still touring, bless.
• 2,500 people stripped for a naked photo shoot on Australia's Bondi Beach on Saturday (which has already passed in AU, since they’re in the future), designed to raise awareness of skin cancer. Seems… counterproductive.
• I assume they wore sunblock.
• I should add that the human body is not obscene, though I respect the fact that not everyone wants to see me or anyone else naked. But nudity in and of itself is not a reason to freak out.
• From the Sports Desk… the FIFA World Cup continues in Qatar. Poland beat Saudi Arabia 2-0. Australia beat Tunisia 1-0. And gay rights are beating Muslim religious rule with every story that focuses on small acts of rebellion to keep it as a news story that overshadows the game play. 
• Side note: everyone thinks the word “soccer” is an Americanism, meant to differentiate from our sport we call football.
• Nope.
• It was slang that was developed by college kids at Oxford in England in the 1880s to distinguish between the sports of “rugger” (rugby football) and “assoccer” (association football). The latter term was further shortened to “soccer”.
• Defeated Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate and complete idiot Kari Lake’s campaign has sued Maricopa County and its election officials.
• She’s demanding they respond to the campaign’s public records requests about malfunctions on Election Day before the county certifies its vote canvass on Monday.
• These people love losing over and over again. I think it’s a fetish.
• Today in history… Vlad the Impaler becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time (1476). In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui (1778). A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as proclaimed by President George Washington at the request of Congress (1789). United States President Abraham Lincoln proclaims November 26 as a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated annually on the final Thursday of November (1863). The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams (1917). Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years (1922). ‘Casablanca’ premieres in New York City (1942). George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote (2000). The World Health Organization identifies the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (2021). 
• November 26 is the birthday of policeman/journalist Bat Masterson (1853), inventor Willis Carrier (1876), AA founder/activist Bill W. (1895), cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (1922), actor Robert Goulet (1933), comedian Rich Little (1938), singer Tina Turner (1939), bass player John McVie (1945), producer Michael Omartian (1945), NFL player Art Shell (1946), NBA player Shawn Kemp (1969), and rapper DJ Khaled (1975).

I don’t have much of a plan today. I’m still in a bathrobe, you see. It’s difficult to make plans in a bathrobe. In a few minutes, I’ll take a shower and put on some kind of clothing, and then we’ll see where we’re at. Enjoy your day.