≈Week 19 of 2010: 134 days this year… 231 days remain≈
≈ Something To Think About
Masculinity ought to be defined in terms of relationships, and taught in terms of capacity to love and be loved.
--Joe Ehrmann, NFL Pro Bowl 1978; Minister
≈ Random Fact
Crocodiles swallow stones to help them dive deeper.
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1880 ►Lemhi Chief Tendoy and several others sign an agreement to leave the Lemhi Reservation in Idaho. The agree to go to Fort Hall. It will be nine years before Congress approves the agreement. The Lemhi will not actually move until 1909
≈ Free Ramblings
Ah, for many of my friends, it’s the end of the school year. For those I know in Flagstaff it is a tough time as many aren’t getting contracts for next year until we pass a new tax. According to the board, the 1% tax will save their jobs, without it, they will be cut. Some won’t know until July if they have a job. Scary times. The end of the year also brings retirements. Three are retiring from Tuba. They are having a dinner at Cameron next week and one is also having a lunch in Flagstaff. Not sure how to do this. The Cameron dinner would be nice, but do I bring a gift for all three or for just two and wait till Flagstaff to do that one? Decisions, Decisions. Of the three retiring, one will live in Flagstaff, one in Camp Verde, and one down near Phoenix. Two are Navajo, one Anglo. I know that they will do real well in retirement. From my point of view, at least one of the three ‘retired’ quite a few years ago.
People who travel are used to going to places they haven’t been before. They are used to finding things are done differently in other places. When traveling in the south, I learned to always taste my iced tea before adding sweetener. They serve regular and sweet tea and sometimes the waitress just gives you sweet tea if you don’t specify. Adding a packet of sweetener to a glass of sweet tea makes is undrinkable. People and groups around the US are boycotting AZ for our immigration law. I was surprised today when a high school in suburban Chicago cancelled a student basketball team trip to our fair state. The players and their families had raised the money for the trip to play in a tournament. At the same school this year another group parents had raised money for their children to China. The reason for not coming to Arizona? “The school cannot guarantee the player’s safety.” It is very strange to me that the school did not worry about international travel safety, but cruising along Route 66 is not safe. Actually they would fly, but there is road connecting Arizona to Chicago. People who don’t travel will believe just about anything.
Not a bad day weather wise here in Flagstaff. Not a great day for sure, but not that bad. We made it to 56° and only had light winds. It did get a little cloudy this afternoon, but no rain.
≈ A Quick Smile…
A jeweler standing behind the counter of his shop after hours was astounded to see a suspicious looking man in a black ski mask come hurling headfirst through the window.
"What on earth are you up to? What happened?!" he demanded.
"I'm terribly sorry," said the man, "I forgot to let go of the brick."
≈ Puzzle
You grasp my handle and give me a push.
I rotate and roll, doing my job.
You put pressure on me,
and I cause division.
Then you enjoy the fruits of my labor, while I lie, cast aside, feeling cheesy and red of face.
≈ Side Show Stories
NEWPORT, England - British police said a man dressed as Snoopy attempted to break a family member out of prison but went to the wrong facility. Authorities said the man and an accomplice tried to break down a door May 1 at the Isle of Wight's Albany site, near Newport, England, and threw concrete missiles at prison officers' cars when the attempt failed, The Sun reported Monday.
Police said two men, ages 43 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and detained under the Mental Health Act. It was unclear which of them was dressed as the "Peanuts" comic strip dog. Investigators said the relative they planned to spring was at a different facility. "It's not every day you see a giant cartoon dog going on the rampage after trying to break into a prison," a source with Her Majesty's Prison Service told The Sun. "They weren't exactly inconspicuous -- but it was taken seriously because they appeared to have a gun. They caused a real commotion and it was only later they were found to be armed with a water pistol."
≈ Calendar Information
• Observance Weeks in May•
8-16
National Tourism Week
9-15
National Nursing Home Week ↔ National Police Week ↔ National Return To Work Week
National Women's Health Week ↔ Reading is Fun Week ↔ Salute to Moms 35+ Week
10-16
National Etiquette Week ↔ Salvation Army Week ↔ Universal Family Week
Children's Book Week ↔ National Stuttering Awareness Week
13-16
Grand Prix de Monaco
• Today’s Observances—US/UN/World •
Mike, The Headless Chicken Day
National Chicken Dance Day or National Dance Like A Chicken Day
The Stars and Stripes Forever Day
Underground America Day
• Today’s Observances—by country •
Burma: Water Festival (since 416: pour water on others to purify for new year)
El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Venezuela : Pan American Day/Día de las Américas
Liberia: National Unification Day
Malawi: Hastings Banda's Birthday (leader of Independence movement)
• Today’s Number One Songs in…
For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.
"Music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies." ~ Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
1946 ►Prisoner of Love; Perry Como
1956 ►Heartbreak Hotel; Elvis Presley
1966 ►Monday, Monday; The Mamas & the Papas
1976 ►Boogie Fever; The Sylvers
1986 ►Greatest Love of All; Whitney Houston
• Today’s Happenings•
In The Arts
1841 ►Edgar Allen Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue", published
1859 ►Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" published
1939 ►John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" published
In Athletics
1862 ►Adolphe Nicole of Switzerland patented the chronograph -- a timepiece that allows for split-second timing of sporting events.
1904 ►The Olympic Games opened in St. Louis, MO—1st Olympic games in US
In Business or Education
1860 ►1st Pony Express rider arrives in San Francisco CA from St Joseph MO
In Politics
1607 ►Three very small ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, sailed across the ocean blue from Plymouth, England to a place the ship’s crew and passengers called Jamestown
1614 ►Pocahontas, daughter of chief Powhatan, marries planter John Rolfe
1853 ►Harriet Tubman began her Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape
1910 ►President William Howard Taft begins tradition of throwing out ball on opening day
1944 ►1st Jews transported from Athens arrive at Auschwitz
1964 ►Following US refusal to help finance building the Aswan Dam, President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev mark the beginning of the project by diverting the Nile. Later US will finish dam
In Science/ Religion
1611 ►Word "telescope" is 1st used (Prince Federico Cesi)
1902 ►Marie & Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium
1986 ►Desmond Tutu elected Anglican archbishop of Capetown
• Today’s Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
Thomas Gainsborough, 1727, artist: The Blue Boy, born Sudbury, Suffolk, England
George Lucas, 66, filmmaker (Star Wars films), born Modesto, CA
Robert Zemeckis, 58, director (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future), born Chicago, IL
Athletes
Dick (Richard Dalton) Howser, 1936, baseball: Athletics [all-star: 1961], Indians, Yankees; manager: Yankees, Royals, born Miami, FL
Dave (David Eugene) LaRoche, 62, baseball pitcher: Angels [all-star: 1977], Twins, Cubs, Indians [all-star: 1976], Yankees [World Series: 1981], born Colorado Springs, CO
Pete Rose, 69, baseball player/manager (Reds) born Cincinnati OH
Entertainers
Cate Blanchett, 41, actress (Oscar for The Aviator; I’m Not There, Elizabeth, Babel), born Melbourne, Australia
David Byrne, 58, singer, composer, born Dumbarton, Scotland
Bobby Darin (Walden Robert Cassotto), 1936, Grammy Award-winning singer: Mack the Knife; Splish Splash, Dream Lover, You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, If I Were a Carpenter, born Bronx, NY
Richard Deacon, 1921, actor: The Dick Van Dyke Show, born Philadelphia, PA
Meg Foster, 62, actress born Reading, PA
Steve Martin, 65, writer/actor born Waco TX
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal, 1941, actor, born Los Angeles, CA
Rod Steiger, 1925, actor West, born Hampton, NY
Ronan Tynan, 50, opera singer (The Irish Tenors), born Dublin, Ireland
Business, Education Persons
Junius S Morgan, 1813, merchant/philanthropist (Metropolitan Museum of Art) born Holyoke, MA
Anne Mansfield Sullivan, 1866, educated Helen Keller, born Agawam, MA
Political Persons
Robert Mugabe, 82, President (Zimbabwe, 1988- ), born Salisbury,Southern Rhodesia
Scientists /Religious Persons
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, 1686, temperature measurement scales, born Danzig, Germany
• Today’s Obits •
Rachel L Carson, 1964, US biologist/author (Silent spring), heart attack/cancer @ 56
Burl Ives, 1995, folk singer/actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), @ 85
≈ ANSWERS to puzzle
A pizza cutter.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
