This is Week 45 of 2010►Day 314 with 51 days left.
Flagstaff Weather: H—43°; L—32°; RH—30%; —clear sky and wind—6 mph…Snow on the Peaks, can our winter wonderland be far behind?
QUOTE FOR THE DAY—Abraham Lincoln
We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
I met with my financial advisor this morning--movin’ some money to get 7.5% for the next 24 months. Then we went to lunch. We shared our recent adventures—she just got back from a month in Italy and Switzerland. She travels on her own and has friends in both Italy and Switzerland. She stayed with friends in Bern and the big deal going on was the opening of the new high school. The high school cost $50millionUSD to build. She said it was an amazing structure, aimed at educating students. Each classroom is soundproof, and each room has small speakers throughout the room so that the teacher speaks in a normal voice and can be heard throughout the room and because of the soundproofing, they don’t have outside interference. The hallways and classroom and restrooms all have temperature monitors so that the temperature stays constant throughout the building. Any teacher knows how difficult it is to teach in a classroom that is too hot or too cold. Sounds like a great place to work and a great place to learn. We had a great lunch and a great conversation.
Flag had some rain, and I guess a few flurries here and there, last night. The Peaks are covered and beautiful. Seems like winter is just around the corner. The weather guy says another storm is on its way. This one is a cold front and temps will be dropping by 20 or more degrees for the rest of the week. He says to expect 15° tonight. Really not ready for that.
MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have mended their fences and he is back on TV. His boss had said he was ‘suspended indefinitely’ for making several political contributions without his boss’ OK. Turn out, in 2010, at least on MSNBC the term ‘suspended indefinitely’ means ‘two days’. I’m not sure if it was the liberal backlash of the indefinite suspension or the fact that Keith has the highest ratings on the cable channel. I guess we will never know. But I do enjoy his liberal commentary and I know he is a commentator and not a hard news guy.
As the weather cools off, I prefer showering in the evening, rather than the morning. I usually shower while dinner is cooking and then just wear a robe and slippers the rest of the evening. This of course is only when I don’t expect visitors in the evening. I was at a store the other day, and they had those Snuggies things on sale for $10. I decided I would try one. I am not very good at sewing and certainly not good at making clothes. I do like fleece throws to keep warm while watching TV. Well this thing is dumb. It is a piece of fleece with sleeves. You put it on backwards—like a hospital gown. It is one size fits all, and even though I am no longer a skinny dude it is way too long to walk in and would not stay on my shoulders. Forget those commercials with the guy at the football game jumping up and down. The sleeves are way too big and way too long. That being said, I made some modifications and it really is comfortable and warm. I certainly won’t be wearing it outside my house, and certainly won’t be wearing it with any other human being around—just like I don’t entertain or welcome guests in a bathrobe. I found that by adding a bathrobe belt I could fix the length problem, the open back problem, and the falling off the shoulders thing was solved with a simple big rubber band that grabs some of the bulk and tightens it. By rolling up the sleeves I could fix that problem. So my $10 investment will serve its purpose. I would have been very upset if I had paid full price, usually $15-20, because it certainly doesn’t work like the commercials. My mom was a great seamstress and I know she would have found a much better solution. Without her, I am left to my own rather simple, nonpermanent solutions.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1975»The worst Great Lakes shipwreck of the time, the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald Gordon Lightfoot's song
JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(1984 games)(answers below)
$100-By 1966 the Air Force had logged 10,147 sightings of these, but didn't believe any
$200-It's what LBJ showed off to reporters in October 1965
$300-Jean Nidetch in 1963 lost 72 lbs. & started this company
$400-In 1967 he was kicked out of the House of Representatives for reprehensible behavior
$500-In '61 this oil billionaire installed a pay phone in his mansion for guests to use
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—Artists
Vincent van Gogh is known to have only sold one painting.
Picasso chose to stay in his studio on the Rue des Grands Augustins in Paris during WWII rather than escape to an unoccupied country.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
PHOENIX — An Arizona man accused of hurling oranges at parked planes was caught red-handed after police found him in an orange grove smelling of spray paint.
The Arizona Republic says Brian Henio was booked on suspicion of possession of a vapor releasing substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and trespassing.
Police say officers responding to a disturbance call at Falcon Field municipal airport in Mesa found the 33-year-old man in the grove next to the airport, holding a green jug to his lips.
Officers say they recognized the smell of spray paint and noticed paint on Henio's upper lip.
Police say Henio admitted to sniffing spray paint. He also admitted to throwing oranges at the planes, and said he didn't know why it was a big deal.
A LITTLE LAUGH—Ten Simple Truths
1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
Returns tomorrow
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
¤ Weekly Observances ¤
7-13: National Nurse Practioner's Week, Pursuit of Happiness Week, National Rad Tech Week , Fraud Awareness Week, Dear Santa Letter Week, National Young Reader's Week, World Kindness Week
14-20: American Education Week, Geography Awareness Week, National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week, National Global Entrepreneurship Week
19-25:National Farm-City Week
21-28: National Bible Week, National Family Week, National Game & Puzzle Week, National Teens Don't Text and Drive Week, Better Conversation Week, Church/State Separation Week
¤ Today’s Observances ¤
Forget-Me-Not Day
Area Code Day
Marine Corps Birthday --1775
India: Guru Nanak's Day-1st teacher of the Sikhs
Indonesia: Hero Day/Youth Day
Iran: Death of Iman Ali Day
Panama: Cry of Independence Day
Turkey: Day of Remembrance of Ataturk (military leader 1881-1938)
Russia: Day of Russian Militsiya (civilian police)
¤ Top 10 songs of 1966 ¤
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
¤ Today’s Births ¤
╬ THE ARTS
Roland Emmerich, 55, director, producer (The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day)
Donna Fargo, 61, singer, songwriter, born Yvonne Vaughan
George Fenneman, TV announcer (You Bet Your Life)—in 1919
Jane Froman, singer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen)—in 1907 With a Song In My Heart
Dave Loggins, 63, singer (Please come to Boston)
Frederich von Schiller, poet/lyricist (Ode to Joy)—in 1759
♦♦Actors♦♦
Richard Burton, actor (Cleopatra, Virginia Woolf)—in 1925 South Wales
Tracy Morgan, 42, comedian, actor (“Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock”)
Mackenzie Phillips, 51, actress (“One Day at a Time,” American Graffiti)
Claude Rains, British actor (Invisible Man, Casablanca)—in 1889
Roy Scheider, actor (All That Jazz, Jaws)—in 1935
Sinbad, 54, comedian, actor (Jingle All the Way, “A Different World”), born David Adkins
╬ ATHLETICS
Jack (Anthony) Clark, 55, baseball: SF Giants [all-star: 1978, 1979 Cardinals [World Series: 1985/all-star: 1985, 1986, Yankees, Padres, Red Sox
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
John Knudsen Northrop, American airplane manufacturer, in 1895
╬ POLITICS
George II king of England (1727-60)—in 1683
Jared Kirtland, physician/naturalist/reformed penitentiaries—in 1793
Russell Charles Means, 70, Native American rights activist
Frances Perkins, 1st woman Cabinet member (Secretary of Labor 1933-45)—in 1882
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
Robert TA Innes, astronomer (Proxima Centauri)—in 1861 Edinburgh Scotland
Martin Luther, German founder of Protestantism—in 1483
¤ Today’s Obituaries ¤
Kemal Atarok, 1st President of Turkey, dies
Leonid I Brezhnev, Soviet 1st sect, dies of a heart attack at 75
Chuck Connors, American actor, baseball and basketball player, lung cancer @ 71 in 1992
Ken Kesey, American author, complications after liver surgery @ 66 in 2001
Norman Mailer, American author @ 84 in 2007
Miriam Makeba, South African singer and anti-apartheid activist, heart attack while performing @ 76 in 2008
Henry Wirzm, Confederate prison supt executed for excessive cruelty @ 42 in 1865
¤ Today’s Events ¤
╬ THE ARTS
1969»"Sesame Street" premieres on PBS TV
╬ ATHLETICS
1928» Knute Rockne delivered his ‘Win One for the Gipper’ halftime speech to the Irish players
1971»US table tennis team arrived in China
1996»Dan Marino was first NFL quarterback to throw for 50,000 yards in his career
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1801»Kentucky outlaws dueling
1919»1st observance of National Book Week
1939»The first air-conditioned automobiles went on display at the Auto Show in Chicago.
1951»1st long distance telephone call without operator assistance
1986»River Rhine (Germany) polluted by chemical spill
╬ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1782»George Rogers Clark, and 1000 troops, attack the Miami Indians along the Licking River in Kentucky. This expedition has a very adverse psychological effect on the Miamis.
1813»William Weatherford's (Lume Chathi - Red Eagle) " Red Stick" Creeks are an anti-white faction of the Creek Indians. 1,000 of them have surrounded a pro-white group of Creeks at Talladega, in east-central Alabama. Andrew Jackson's force of 2,000 Americans and allied Indians arrive at the scene of the siege and attack. Between the "friendly" Creeks, called "White Sticks", and Jackson's men, 410 of the 700 Red Stick Creeks are killed in the fighting. Jackson's force lose only fifteen men.
╬ POLITICS (US)
1775»US Marine Corps established by Congress
1917»41 suffragists are arrested in front of the White House
1954»Iwo Jima Memorial (servicemen raising US flag) dedicated in Arlington
1960»Senate passes landmark Civil Rights Bill
╬ POLITICS (International)
1674»Dutch formally cede New Netherlands (NY) to English
1864»Austrian Archduke Maximilian became emperor of Mexico
1871»Stanley presumes to meet Livingston in Ujiji, Central Africa
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1994»The Codex Leicester, the only Leonardo da Vinci manuscript owned in the United States and the only one in the world still in private hands, was sold at auction. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates paid $30.8 million for it. It has been since been exhibited in Venice, Milan, Rome, Paris and New York.
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ JEOPARDY
$100-By 1966 the Air Force had logged 10,147 sightings of these, but didn't believe any
What are UFO’s?
$200-It's what LBJ showed off to reporters in October 1965
What was his scar?
$300-Jean Nidetch in 1963 lost 72 lbs. & started this company
What is Weight Watchers?
$400-In 1967 he was kicked out of the House of Representatives for reprehensible behavior
Who was Adam Clayton Powell?
$500-In '61 this oil billionaire installed a pay phone in his mansion for guests to use
Who was J Paul Getty?
↔ PICTURE
returns tomorrow
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