Kathy Copeland Padden
Bio
Political junkie, history buff, and music freak spending the End Times alternating betweencrankiness and bemusement. Come along! It's fun!
Stories (35/0)
America’s Favorite Pastime: Dissecting“American Pie”
I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away There are very few people who aren’t at least casually acquainted with American Pie, Don McLean’s mega-hit that topped the Billboard chart on January 15, 1972, for a four-week stay. It was the Gone with the Wind of Pop songs, clocking in at an epic 8 minutes and 38 seconds, so some radio stations only played the first half of the song upon its initial release.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in Beat
British Nurse Edith Cavell Executed by German Firing Squad
British nurse Edith Cavell was working in occupied Belgium when she was executed by the Germans on October 12, 1915. Cavell admitted to harboring and helping Allied soldiers and men of military age to escape German forces. She was signing her death warrant. The American and Spanish Ambassadors made frantic attempts to save Edith, but they were not successful.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in Viva
Elective Torture: Why Do We Shave Our Body Hair?
Both sexes have a love-hate relationship with body hair removal. We’ve been pulling, plucking, burning, tweezing, and ripping out undesirable hair since the dawn of time. It’s believed that as far back as 4,000 B.C., women were using dangerous substances like arsenic and quicklime to get the job done.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in FYI
1536: Henry VIII’s Cheese Slides Off His Cracker
1536 was a year chock-full of pivotal events that irrevocably altered Henry VIII’s life and England’s history. Posterity remembers Henry as a deranged tyrant, but that’s only part of the story. It was during that fateful year of injuries, loss, betrayals, and threats to his authority that the Henry remembered by history came to be.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in FYI
Shirley Chisholm, Catalyst of Change, Progressive Bad Ass
Before there was Hillary or Liz or Kamala, there was Congresswoman, civil rights activist, social reformer, and educator Shirley Chisholm. She broke through the formidable racial and gender barriers of the 1960s and 1970s and made it look easy.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in Viva
Songs that Need to Die a Slow, Lingering Death
Before we begin, let me quickly add a disclaimer: a bad song isn’t a bad song simply because I hate it. It just means that I, personally, hate it. There, I saved you the trouble of defending crappy songs that suck.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in Beat
What's Love Got to Do With It? Anne of Cleves and Henry VIII
She was arguably the luckiest of Henry VIII’s six wives. Had she been less agreeable she could have found herself facing the executioner’s block, but instead she led a happy life of luxury and privilege. When she died on July 16, 1557, it was as the late King Henry’s “beloved sister” and one of the highest-ranking and most beloved ladies in England.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in FYI
The Original Blonde Bombshell
"I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it." — Mae West Before Marilyn, before Bardot, before Madonna, there was the original blonde bombshell, Mae West. She single-handedly and effortlessly created a Hollywood archetype just by being her wonderfully sassy self.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in Viva
Elizabeth Bathory Raises the Bar for Sickos Everywhere
If contemporary accounts are to be believed, Elizabeth Bathory is the most prolific serial killer of all time. She makes Ted Bundy look like a chump, and Jeffrey Dahmer a mere dabbler in torture and perversion.
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in Criminal
Ever Wonder Why We Kiss?
Making Out. Snogging. Canoodling. Kissing. An activity that is teetering on the edge of gross when viewed objectively, but one that most everyone enjoys in practice. But why do we kiss? What compels us to attach our lips to the lips of another human being? Or push the envelope even further and indulge in the tongue-to-tongue tango?
By Kathy Copeland Padden2 years ago in Filthy
