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There’s always a Dayton connection. Always.
In the case of George Carlin, who died Sunday, June 22, in California, the connection was strong and long-term, cemented through his marriage to Dayton native Brenda Hosbrook, who died of complications from liver cancer in May 1997, two months shy of the couple’s 34th wedding anniversary. She was 57.
Carlin fell for Hosbrook when he was in town for a two-week stand at the old Dayton Racquet Club on South Dixie Drive, appearing with his partner Jack Burns.
“It fell together very quickly,” Carlin told the Dayton Daily News in a 1997 interview. “We spent a lot of time together during those two weeks.”
The couple got married in 1963 at the Hosbrook family home on River Ridge Road; their only child, a daughter, Kelly, was born at Good Samaritan Hospital.
Carlin has done his share of stand-up shows in Dayton, too, appearing at nearly every venue possible: the old Suttmiller’s on North Main; Memorial Hall, Fraze Pavilion and, most recently, at the Schuster Center in 2005, a show the Dayton Daily News’ reviewer found to be “one of the most unpleasant hours I’ve spent in a theater seat in some time.”
Carlin’s time in Dayton wasn’t always great for him, either. In the early 1980s, he was admitted to St. Elizabeth Hospital after wrecking his car and hitting his head on the windshield.
“I was drinking and driving,” he admitted later. “I’ve never been one to refuse a party.”

daytondailynews.com

BELMAR — All along Main Street on Sunday, the color green was king. Paradegoers clad themselves in green hats, shirts, bandannas and plastic beads. Teenagers had green hair and wore green makeup. Some people dined on cookies, cotton candy and pizza, all dyed brilliant shades of green.
On Sunday, the 35th annual St. Patrick’s parade marched through Belmar and Lake Como, with pleasant weather drawing a large crowd. The parade, comprising 3,500 marchers, had something for everyone, including 25 pipe-and-drum bands, 10 high school and elementary bands, police and fire squads from many Shore towns, senior citizen and nonprofit groups from throughout the state, beauty queens from several New Jersey pageants, the Denville String Band decked out in brightly colored sequins and feathers, and even the Geico gecko.
Around the 12:30 p.m. start of the parade, space was still available curbside for people to set up chairs and blankets, but as the afternoon progressed, the crowd became thicker and thicker. Beth Ballon of the Shark River Hills section of Neptune said she arrived around 11:30 a.m. to secure a front-row spot near the end of the parade route by Eighth Avenue.
Belmar Police Chief Jack W. Hill Jr. estimated about 100,000 people attended, and about 75 officers patrolled the area, stretching from Lake Como to Seventh Avenue in Belmar.
U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., was among the parade’s marchers, as was Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J. Grand marshal was Ed Neafsy of Avon, and deputy grand marshal was Peggy O’Connor of Belmar.
For Belmar resident Jim Reilly, who was at the parade doing news coverage for Cablevision, being there was not only for work.
“I cover it every year. My family owns the Irish Centre, so it’s a family tradition,” he said. “It’s a day for the Irish to show strength in numbers. We can put 100,000 people in the streets.”
Paradegoers filled the shops on Main Street. Many store owners and vendors welcomed the onslaught of people, setting up separate stations or serving food buffet-style to ease lines. Freedman’s Bakery was full of people buying hot dogs, baked goods and coffee.
“Eleven (a.m.) is when people start coming around,” said Danielle Liss of Hoboken, who was working at a table set up outside the bakery. “Inside is busy before that.”
Kelly McAllister of Farmingdale, membership director for the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, sold Girl Scout cookies with several other volunteers. Though they were not offering Irish-themed food, it did not put a dent in their sales.
“This is our first year,” she said. “We’ve sold 10 cases so far (by around 1 p.m.), and we have about 20 more.”
McAllister also explained the parade was the first Girl Scout cookie sale in the county. “The cookies were just delivered this week,” she said.
At 10th Ave. Burrito Co., Scott Southwick of Neptune sold hot dogs, churros and sodas. The restaurant opened a table outside at 11:30 a.m., and by almost 3 p.m. sold out of hot dogs.
“Instead of opening the shop and dealing with problems all day, we set up out here. It works out well,” he said.
As the parade wound down around 3:30 p.m., the crowds dispersed, many taking the train out of Belmar, or headed into borough bars and restaurants to keep celebrating.
“It’s the most fun day at the Shore,” Reilly said.
Jennifer Bradshaw: (732) 888-2621 or jbradshaw@app.com

app.com

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 February 2008, 00:15 CST
On Wednesday evening, February 20th, the full Moon over the Americas will turn a delightful shade of red and possibly turquoise, too. It’s a total lunar eclipse — the last one until Dec. 2010.
The Sun goes down. The Moon comes up. You go out and look at the sky. Observing the eclipse is that easy. Maximum eclipse, and maximum beauty, occurs at 10:26 pm EST (7:26 pm PST).
A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon passes through the shadow of Earth. You might expect the Moon to grow even more ashen than usual, but in fact it transforms into an orb of vivid red.
Why red? That is the color of Earth’s shadow.
Consider the following: Most shadows we’re familiar with are black or gray; step outside on a sunny day and look at your own. Earth’s shadow is different because, unlike you, Earth has an atmosphere. The delicate layer of dusty air surrounding our planet reddens and redirects the light of the sun, filling the dark behind Earth with a sunset-red glow. The exact tint–anything from bright orange to blood red is possible–depends on the unpredictable state of the atmosphere at the time of the eclipse. "Only the shadow knows," says astronomer Jack Horkheimer of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.
Transiting the shadow’s core takes about an hour. The first hints of red appear around 10 pm EST (7 pm PST), heralding a profusion of coppery hues that roll across the Moon’s surface enveloping every crater, mountain and moon rock, only to fade away again after 11 pm EST (8 pm PST). No special filter or telescope is required to see this spectacular event. It is a bright and leisurely display visible from cities and countryside alike.
While you’re watching, be alert for another color: turquoise. Observers of several recent lunar eclipses have reported a flash of turquoise bracketing the red of totality.
"The blue and turquoise shades at the edge of Earth’s shadow were incredible," recalls amateur astronomer Eva Seidenfaden of Trier, Germany, who took the picture at right during the European lunar eclipse of March 3-4, 2007. Dozens of other photographers have documented the same phenomenon.
The source of the turquoise is ozone. Eclipse researcher Dr. Richard Keen of the University of Colorado explains: "During a lunar eclipse, most of the light illuminating the moon passes through the stratosphere where it is reddened by scattering. However, light passing through the upper stratosphere penetrates the ozone layer, which absorbs red light and actually makes the passing light ray bluer." This can be seen, he says, as a soft blue fringe around the red core of Earth’s shadow.
To catch the turquoise on Feb. 20th, he advises, "look during the first and last minutes of totality." That would be around 10:01 pm EST and 10:51 pm EST (7:01 and 7:51 pm PST).
Blood red, bright orange, gentle turquoise: it’s all good. Mark your calendar in vivid color for the Feb. 20th lunar eclipse.
On the Net:
Source: Image credit: NASA/Fred Espenak

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