Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
One would think that two football teams with the same record, no matter how bad, would provide a good football game. One would be wrong. The Cards played the Broncos this afternoon—both are 3-9. The Cards were on their worst losing streak in their AZ history. That ended for them. Denver played sloppy football. I watched the AZ coach’s show last night and he kept saying that the Cards still were a good team and were positive their losing streak would end soon. I sort of chuckled. The Cards really rookie QB, who has played about 8 plays all year, started today. Broncos have more work to do than I thought. Final score was 43-13 and Denver had 7 turnovers.
While I was bitchin about the US test scores I never mentioned the science scores. They weren’t any better. We came in 23rd. These countries beat us: Shanghai-China, Finland, Hong Kong-China, Singapore, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Canada, Estonia, Australia, Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Germany, Chinese Taipei, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Macao-China, Poland, Ireland, Belgium, and Hungary. Obviously our students were not prepared to take this test. Our American education systems cannot even get its act together enough to have one country-wide test to find out what our students know. It is all about business and nothing about education. Another big issue not discussed in the media or in the education community is that here in the US we test every single student who can hold a pencil and fill in a test bubble. Other countries don’t do that. They track their students early and only test the best and brightest. Our system says that every student 5-18 has the right to a free education. I certainly agree with that premise. However; the education needs to be to prepare the child for life. Some children are early bloomers and others are late bloomers and sadly some never really bloom. Forcing a late bloomer to sit in a class and fail every day is not the answer. Forcing an early bloomer to be bored in class everyday is not the answer. While these test scores are dismal, I must remember that some of the countries only tested their top 10-20%. In many of the countries, the lowest students are not even students. It is too bad our politicians and the media can’t get that. I’m not sure how our country could only test the top kids for these international tests but it sure would show that we are still very competitive. Finally there is the self-fulfilling prophecy—if you believe you are smart or attractive or rich, you probably will be, if you believe you are dumb or not attractive or poor you probably will be. We thrive on the anecdotal stories of people who prove the self-fulfilling prophecy wrong. I have been guilty of that in the past about myself. As our politicians, our educators, our media constantly harp on how poorly we do on tests, nothing will change and we will continue doing poorly on these tests.
It was another great fall day here. I can’t believe our cold spell of a few weeks ago had me believing this would be a long, tough, cold winter. The birds seemed to have freaked out too. My feeders seem to just be sitting there full. My hot tub neighbor has had lots of work done in her back yard with lots of pounding, drilling, and other noises. Maybe that is keeping the birds away.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1983 Detroit and Denver played for 3 hours, 11 minutes in pro basketball. The Pistons finally won, 186-183, in triple overtime. NBA single-game records were set for most points by two teams; by one team; assists; and field goals And, Kiki Vandeweghe of the Denver Nuggets had a career-high night with 51 points.
∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 STATE CAPITALS
►When Houston became Texas' capital in 1842, this city kept the archives & forced a move back to it
►It's named for a Maine general's daughter
►Listing the states alphabetically, this is the capital of the state at the top of the list
►These 2 capitals both end in "-polis"
►State capital closest to Philadelphia
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—Beethoven
Beethoven’s earliest music instructions were the piano lessons his father started to give him when he was four or five years old. Beethoven performed in public by the age of seven, and was quickly recognized as a brilliant musical talent.
►◄
During his lifetime, Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, seven concertos, 17 string quartets, 32 piano sonatas, and 10 sonatas for violin and piano.
►◄
There were three major periods of Beethoven’s musical life. The second period, sometimes called the “Heroic” period, lasted from 1803 to 1814 and is named for the tremendous works that express struggle and heroism. His famous Fifth Symphony was one of the many pieces of music written during this period.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM: POCATELLO, ID
An Idaho sheriff said his "pride is fractured" but he is not otherwise seriously injured after accidentally shooting himself in the hand. Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said he was outside of his Pocatello home admiring a gun he received as a gift from a cousin when he placed his hand on top of the barrel to try putting the hammer back down, KIFI-TV, Idaho Falls, Idaho, reported. Nielsen said his thumb slipped and the gun went off, discharging a bullet through the fleshy part of his hand near his little finger. The sheriff said the bullet did not hit any ligaments or tendons. "I can say I shot the sheriff," Nielsen joked. He was treated for the injury at a local hospital. "My pride is fractured, but my hand is fine," he said.
A LITTLE LAUGH
I was on my way out of the house to meet with a cantankerous client, and I was dreading it. The look on my face must have given me away because my five-year-old daughter asked what was wrong.
"I'm going to meet a mean woman who always yells at Daddy," I told her.
"Oh," she said. "Say hi to Mom."
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
DAYBOOK INFORMATION
♦ THIS WEEK ♦
10-17: Human Rights Week
♦ TODAY IS… ♦
Ice Cream and Violins Day
Malta: Republic Day
Upper Volta: National Day
Scandinavia: Saint Lucy's Day (some regions of Italy (e.g. Sicily, Veneto and Trentino), and Malta)
Saint Lucia: National Day
♫ Academy Awards Best Original Song ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
1922 Rex Allen, singing cowboy actor (I Dream of Jeannie) Wilcox AZ
John Davidson, 69, singer, actor, former television host
1899 Harold Guinzburg publisher (founder of Literary Guild)
1903 Carlos Montoya , guitarist (Suite Flamenco 1966) Rare Video of Carlos Montoya Madrid Spain
Ted Nugent, 61, singer (“Cat Scratch Fever”)
Richard D. Darryl Zanuck, 76, producer: Jaws, The Sting
►◄ Actors
Steve Buscemi, 52, actor (Ghost World, Fargo, Reservoir Dogs)
Jamie Foxx, 43, actor (Oscar for Ray; Jarhead, Collateral)
1910 Van Heflin, actor (Great Adventure, Madame Bovary)
Christopher Plummer, 81, actor (Emmy for “The Moneychangers”; The Sound of Music, Dolores Claiborne)
Taylor Swift, 21, country singer
Dick Van Dyke, 85, Emmy Award-winning actor/comedian
ATHLETICS
Carl (Daniel) ‘Oisk’ Erskine, 84, baseball: pitcher: Dodgers (Brooklyn & LA)
1913 Archie Moore light-heavyweight boxing champion (1952-60)
Lemar Parrish, 63, football: Bengals, Redskins, Buffalo Bills
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1902 Talcott Parsons US sociologist
POLITICS
1818 Mary Todd Lincoln 1st lady (1861-65)
1920 George P Schultz US Secretary of State (1982-89)
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1835 Phillips Brooks Episcopal bishop/composer (Little Town of Bethlehem)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
Samuel Gompers organizer (American Federation of Labor), @ 74 in 1924
Tim Moore actor (Kingfish-Amos 'n' Andy), TB @ 70 in 1958
Grandma [Anna M] Moses US painter, @ 101 in 1961
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1843 "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens published, 6,000 copies sold
1924 KOA-AM in Denver CO begins radio transmissions still operating with same call letters
1969 Arlo Guthrie releases "Alice's Restaurant"
1975 1st time Saturday Night Live uses a time delay (Richard Pryor hosts)
ATHLETICS
1989 Walter Davis (Denver) ends NBA free throw streak of 53 games
1991 Ricky Pierce (Seattle) ends NBA free throw streak of 75 games
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1759 1st music store in America opens (Philadelphia)
1769 Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter
1903 Italo Marcioni patents the ice cream cone (New Jersey)
1928 Clip-on tie designed
1950 James Dean (the sausage guy) begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial
1978 Susan B Anthony dollar, 1st US coin to honor a woman, issued
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1801 Treaty negotiations at Fort Adams, Mississippi, between the Choctaw and the United States, the U.S. agrees to provide training in the spinning of cotton and spinning wheels.
POLITICS (US)
1966 1st US bombing of Hanoi
POLITICS (International)
1577 Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England to go around the world
1642 New Zealand discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman
1920 League of nations establishes International Court of Justice in The Hague
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1545 Pope Paul III opens Council of Trente (19th ecumenical council)
1809 The first abdominal surgical procedure was performed -- in Danville, Kentucky. The patient was Jane Todd Crawford and the operation was performed without the aid of an anesthetic.
1903 Wright Brothers make 1st flight at Kittyhawk
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
►When Houston became Texas' capital in 1842, this city kept the archives & forced a move back to it
What is Austin?
►It's named for a Maine general's daughter
What is Augusta?
►Listing the states alphabetically, this is the capital of the state at the top of the list
What is Montgomery, Alabama?
►These 2 capitals both end in "-polis"
What are Indianapolis and Annapolis?
►State capital closest to Philadelphia
What is Trenton, NJ?
