Rectangle #atozchallenge

I taught myself Inkscape just so I could draw this…

So, let’s review what we learned about shapes back when we were in grade school. The rectangle, like the one you see above, consists of two sets of parallel sides (AB || CD and AC || BD) and all the interior angles (A, B, C, and D) are 90°. AB = CD and AC = BD. If all four sides are of equal length, you have a square.

If a figure has two sets of parallel sides but the angles are not equal to 90°, you have a parallelogram.

And if all four sides of your parallelogram are equal, you have a rhombus.

*Well, the sides were equal when I drew it…*

If you have a four-sided figure where two of the sides are equal, that’s a trapezoid.

*He flies through the air with the greatest of ease…*

All of these figures are called quadrilaterals (from the Latin meaning "four sides") as are figures like this one:

*This took forever to figure out how to draw.*

There will be a test later on this material. Pray for a fire drill.

The Friday 5×2: WLS (890 AM Chicago), 4/2/73

Since everyone is barricaded in their house, how about I spin some platters for ya? We visit the Stone Container Building at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive and the studios of WLS, the station I grew up listening to, to examine their survey from April 2, 1973. This week, we have a lot of soul, a lot of soft rock, and some jazz to share with you.

Al Green, “Call Me (Come Back Home)” Al Green was successful as a crossover artist in the early- to mid-’70’s. During the summer of ’73 he appeared as a special guest on Chicago’s TV special, thus cementing his status. In the US, this reached #10 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart, earning a Gold record. It only climbed to #60 in Canada.
Carpenters, “Sing” Joe Raposo wtote this for Sesame Street as its signature song. Karen and Richard and a bunch of kids covered it and it reached #3 on the Hot 100. As I’ve said before, The Carpenters were sure gold in the ’70’s.
Stylistics, “Break Up To Make Up” The Stylistics were a big crossover success, as were most R&B acts during this period. From their 1972 album Round 2, This reached #5 on the Hot 100 and the R&B chart and #20 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and was certified Gold as well.
Edward Bear, “Last Song” Edward Bear was a band out of Toronto, not, as everyone thought, the name of a person. (It’s the actual name of Winnie the Pooh, according to Wikipedia.) It came out in late 1972 and reached #1 on both the Canadian Hot Singles chart and Adult Contemporary chart, was also #1 on the American Adult Contemporary chart, and #3 on the Hot 100. And it did earn a Gold record, as you might expect.
Anne Murray, “Danny’s Song” a beautiful song by Kenny Loggins, who took a leter from his brother and turned it into a hit. Anne, who could sing the obituary column and make it sound beautiful, made it the title track from her 1972 album and took it to #1 on the Canadian Country, Pop, and AC charts, #10 on the US Country chart, #7 on the Hot 100, and #1 on the AC chart.
Four Tops, “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I Got” I had forgotten that The Four Tops had done this. It went to #4 on the Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart, #11 in Canada, and was certified Gold.
Gladys Knight & The Pips, “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)” Another great song that reached #1 on the R&B chart and #2 on the Hot 100. This was the last single they recorded for Motown Records, moving to Buddah after this.
O’Jays, “Love Train” A song that everyone desperately needed then (and probably now), they took this to #1 on the Hot 100 and R&B charts, earningthem a Gold record in the US,and #9 in the UK, where it earned a Silver record.
Roberta Flack, “Killing Me Softly With His Song” Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox wrote this with Lori Lieberman, who had seen Don McLean in concert and was really moved by the experience. It was the title track for Roberta’s 1972 album (as Killing Me Softly), and as with just about every song Roberta did, it reached #1 on the Hot 100, #2 on the R&B and AC charts, #1 in Canada and Australia, and #6 in the UK. It earned a Gold record in the US.
Deodato, “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)” Brazilian jazz artist Eumir Deodato took this Richard Strauss composition and turned it into jazz gold, selling 5 million copies of its album, Prelude, earning him the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1974. DJ’s liked this because it gave them time to run to the restroom.

And that’s The Friday 5×2 for April 3, 2020.

Song of the Day: Robert Cray, “Walk Around Time”

From his 1990 album Midnight Stroll, “Walk Around Time” was written by The Robert Cray Band’s keyboardist Jimmy Pugh, drummer Kevin Hayes, and Oscar Washington. Besides them and Robert on guitar and vocals, the track also features Richard Cousins on bass, Tim Kaihatsu on rhythm guitar, and the Memphis Horns (Wayne Jackson, trumpet & trombone and Andrew Love, saxophone).

Rebate #atozchallenge

When Windows XP came out, one of our local retailers was advertising a free webcam with the purchase of the upgrade. I couldn’t have cared less about the webcam, but if they were just giving it away, I wouldn’t say no to it. So, I take the software and the webcam to the register, and the cashier charges me for both.

"Wait a sec… the webcam is supposed to be free!" I protested.

"It’s free after the rebate from Logitech," she said. She handed me a form. "You fill this out and mail it in with a copy of the receipt and the UPC on the package, and they’ll refund the purchase price." Needless to say, I told them what they could do with their "free" webcam, and after much wrangling with the cashier and her supervisor, they voided the sale and rang up just the software.

I think what bothered me was they didn’t say that it was "free after rebate," or that point was not clear on the sign (i.e. I missed it). I wouldn’t have even messed with the camera had I known that.

Rebates are usually pretty generous, because you have to work to get them. If you don’t mind doing all the work (filling out the form, gathering the other stuff to send in, finding an envelope and stamp, sending everything in on time, and waiting 8-12 weeks for them to cut you a check), revealing your information to the manufacturer (who will then use it to try and sell you more stuff), and waiting for your money, they’re terrific. From the retailer’s and/or manufacturer’s perspective, only about half of the people eligible for the rebate claim it, so any money that they’ve set aside to pay for the rebates earns interest, and when the promotion ends they get to keep the money, plus they now know who their customers are and more about them.

So, if you get a mail-in rebate, be sure and mail it in.

Writer’s Workshop: These Made Me Laugh

I’ve been watching a lot of videos the last couple of weeks since there isn’t a whole lot going on. Some of the things are pretty funny. Here are several.

First, we have this Little Caesar’s pizza commercial.

One of my favorite old shows is The Dick Van Dyke Show, and one reason is the way Buddy (Morey Amsterdam) would insult Mel (Richard Deacon) ad how Mel would come back at Buddy, a sort of pre-Internet flame war. KJ Ricardo has made a number of videos showing some of the exchanges between them. This from the first season.

Finally, the News Be Funny channel has assembled several videos showing their favorite local news bloopers from the 2000’s.

I think it’s good to keep our spirits up during this difficult time, don’t you?