Merrell In The Morning Fun You May Have Missed

Today's Celebrations

Harlem Globetrotter's Day
I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore Day
International Programmers' Day
Orthodox Christmas
National Tempura Day

Celebrity Birthdays

1800 - Millard S. Fillmore - U.S. Vice-President [1849-1850]; 13th U.S. President [1850-1853], second Vice-President to inherit the office [became President when Zachary Taylor died]; died Mar 8, 1874

1911 - (Thelma) Butterfly McQueen - actress: The Mosquito Coast, Duel in the Sun, Gone with the Wind; died Dec 22, 1995

1912 - Charles Addams - cartoonist: The New Yorker; TV and films: The Addams Family; died Sep 29, 1988

1930 - Jack Greene [84] - The Green Giant: singer: CMA Male Vocalist, Album, Single and Song of the Year: There Goes My Everything [1967]

1948 - Kenny Loggins [66] - musician, singer: I’m Alright, This is It, Welcome to Heartlight, Danger Zone

1950 - Erin Gray [64] - actress: Starman, Silver Spoons, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, T-Force, A Dangerous Place, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Breaking Home Ties, Six Pack, Born Beautiful, The Ultimate Imposter

1956 - David Caruso [58] - actor: C.S.I.: Miami, N.Y.P.D. Blue, An Officer and a Gentleman, Mad Dog and Glory, Michael Hayes

1957 - Katie Couric (Katherine Anne Couric) [57] - TV news anchor: CBS Evening News with Katie Couric; TV host: Today Show

1958 - Linda Kozlowski [56] - actress: Crocodile Dundee series; Backstreet Justice, Village of the Damned, Shaughnessy; wife of actor Paul Hogan

1964 - Nicolas Cage (Nicholas Coppola) [50] - actor: The Best of Times, The Rock, Leaving Las Vegas, Vampire’s Kiss, Raising Arizona, Racing with the Moon, Moonstruck, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Cotton Club, Birdy, Valley Girl, Con Air, Face/Off, The Family Man, Windtalkers; nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire

Tabloid News

I've Got Your Generator Right Here

From upi.com -

A Canadian man said he used his Toyota Prius as a generator to power his furnace, lights, refrigerator and TV during the recent ice storm.
Bob Osemlak, a retired Air Force mechanic who lives in Thornhill, lost power for nearly a full day on Dec. 21.
Osemlak prepared for the outage by installing an outlet on his furnace. He then ran a cord through the basement to his hybrid electric car.
When the power went out, he conserved his car's battery by rotating between using it for heat and electricity.
"When the furnace comes on, and the house gets up to temperature, I go to the thermostat and shut the furnace off," he said. "Now I can plug something else in: the TV, the fridge or the floor lamp."
He used the car to power his house for nine hours, and the car's battery went down by less than one bar--equivalent to a gallon of gas.
He spoke to his experience as a mechanic and warned others not to try using their car as a generator.
"I've been an aircraft technician for over 50 years, and I've also worked on cars," he said.