HERE ARE THE HOLIDAYS OF JANUARY 22 - 28:

MON JAN 23:National Handwriting Day
    St. Ildefonsus
    Lichtenstien National Holiday
TUE JAN 24:Economic Liberation Day (Togo)
WED JAN 25:Burns Night (UK)
THR JAN 26:General Douglas MacArthur Day
    Commonwealth of Australia Day
    Bharat
    St. Polycarp
    Michigan Day
    Duarte's Birthday (Dominican Rep.)
    Basant Pancani (India)
FRI JAN 27:St. Chrysostom
    St. Devote
NOTE:In addition to last week's holiday list is St. Agnes Eve, which is today,
January 20.  According to tradition, a woman will have a future revelation
about her future husband.
*******************************************************************
 THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
What are the durian, cherimoya and mangosteen?
 LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:
What unusual museum is located in Pontedassio, Italy?
 ANS:Museo Storico degli Spaghetti-or the historical museum of spaghetti.
*******************************************************************

Here's a fun little trick.  Think to yourself how you would pronounce each of
the following words.  I will explain to you why, later.

   DATA
   GRATIS
   CULINARY
   COCAINE
   GONDOLA
   VERSION
   IMPIOUS
   CHIC
   CARIBBEAN
   VIKING

 During Robert Ripley's (of Ripley's Believe It or Not) lifetime, he
surveyed over 10,000 people on how to pronounce each of the previous words.
Not one of the 10,000 pronounced all of them correctly.  Today, data and
Caribbean have been widely accepted to be pronounced both ways, so eliminate
them.  Still, of everybody I have shown this list to, they will miss about
three on average.  The most surprizing one is culinary.  Go to a dictionary
and see how well you did.  You might want to even try this list on your friends
(if they do not receive this list).

for those of you who missed it:
 Forgettable names of real musical groups:
  --Ball Point Banana
  --The Peanut Butter Conspiracy
  --Ultimate Spinach
  --The Electric Prunes
  --Hmmmm
  --The Crab Cometh Forth
 

This Week's obscure word: SHUNPIKING
The practice of avoiding superhighways for the pleasure of riding backroads.

 To accompany this week's letter I am also sending the list of Steven
Wright jokes.  Some of you like him, some may not, many may not even know who
he is, but I hope you like it.

     Slama Sidhi Barakas,
     Brent