Keep Your Pennisula Out of My Gulf

November 17, a day that is rich in cheapshot top soil yet lacking in comedic bedrock, so you know what that means: it's bullet point time!

• It's the 89th anniversary of Rodin's death. Now if I could only think of a joke about that....
• In 1866 the opera "Mignon" debuted in Paris, but the critics fileted it.
• It was 137 years ago that we first heard the refrain, "I got a camel, her name is Sal, 15 miles on the Suez Canal." Oddly enough it's also the day the Panama Canal opened in 1913, which means if you're standing on an isthmus tomorrow, it's a lock you might get floated away.
• I don't care what day it is, I just like saying isthmus. Almost as much as I like saying it's the feast day of St. Anianus. The French one, not the Alexandrian one--yep there are 2 Anianuses. (Aniani?) And until I looked it up, I figured the only Annie Anus was the one who starred in the first 6 films of the Terrific Tailpipes video series.
• Keeping with the filmic theme, it's been 38 years since the infamous Heidi Game, when the dastardly Oakland Raiders, who have long been known to do anything to win, cleverly kept handing the ball off to Jennifer Edwards in full Heidi-regalia (she was the first person to ever have braids out from under her helmet, once again proving how much of hip-hop culture comes from Switzerland). The New York Jets, being the gentlemen they were, refused to tackle a little girl. Next thing you know, the Raiders won 43-32. Note that the following season Jet Joe Namath wore pantyhose and screamed, "I'm a girlie! I'm a girlie!" to no avail.