11-22-11


FYI: Blue text is a link… click on any blue text for more information!

Today’s “Geez”                                                                  .
1842 - Mount St Helens in Washington, erupts
1924 - England orders Egyptians out of Sudan
1927 - 1st snowmobile patent granted to Carl Eliason (Sayner, WI)
1930 - 1st Irish Sweepstake run
1969 - Isolation of single gene announced by scientists at Harvard U
1972 - US ends 22 year travel ban to China
1977 - First three nodes of the ARPAnet are connected, in what would eventually become the Internet.
1995 - Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.

♪♪ Happy Birthday To:♪♪                                     
 
Free Rambling Thoughts                                                   
I went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving this morning. A good time, as not many others were at the store. Got what I need for fresh blueberry pie. I will make it on Wednesday. Thank you to Pillsbury for the great already made to unfold pie crust.  If I had to make the crust, I wouldn’t make the pie. I never learned how to roll it out correctly.

My friend Martha recently had her book published. It is her long journey of finding her birth parents. Today there was a good article and two pictures on the front page of our local paper. Nice. Check out her website. Her book is very interesting and a fast read. There is a link on the homepage for the news article. She found siblings as well as her mom. I helped her get the web site up and running and am even mentioned in the book. Back in the day I went with her when she met her mom here in Flagstaff. So happy that she got her story out for everyone to enjoy and learn from.
It rained on and off all day today. That rain kept it cool most of the day. Warm weather won’t return till after Turkey day. We may even have some snow on Thanksgiving but the weather guy says it will be just a dusting. We’ll see.
No big surprise, but the Super Committee failed. They admitted it today. Why can’t they help their country? I always wondered how it was possible for the Great Depression to happen. Sadly I think I am living something very close to those days. What a mess. Don’t they realize that their lack of leadership is hurting every American?
Pepper spray on students having a sit down demonstration? Come on UC-Davis…we expect more from you and your police. Violence is never the answer to a peaceful demonstration…we learned that in the 60’s.

NPR Sunday Puzzle…(answers at the end of post)                            .
On-Air Challenge: Every answer is the name of a college or university. You must identify the schools from their anagrams. For example: "ICER." The answer: "RICE."
1.     Moyer…
2.     Hamster…
3.     Gelcoat…
4.     To meander…
5.     Lead up…
6.     Dialect…
7.     Water scenes…
8.     Earth worms…

Wuzzles…What concept or phrase do these suggest?                       .
Rules of Thumb                                                              .
  • Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
  • The normal resting pulse rate for humans is about equal to the external temperatures they find most comfortable measured in degrees Fahrenheit: 68 to 72.

Hmmmmm                                                                      .
Minimum number of goos and gull-chasing falcons laid off by JFK Airport last year: 15

Somewhat Useless Information                                               .
  • Large amounts of licorice were found in King Tut's tomb. Licorice, famed for its medicinal qualities as well as its taste, was a favorite of the pharaoh (and of many since).
  • The Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés brought home chocolate after conquering the Aztecs. Chocolate was said to be the favorite drink of the Aztec emperor Montezuma II.
  • Only one ingredient is used to make cotton candy. Ordinary granulated sugar is melted down before a special machine spins it into a lightweight web.
  • In the early 1800s spruce sap became the first popular chewing gum. Modern gum has its origins in chicle, the sap of the tropical sapodilla tree, first used in gum in the 1860s.
  • The Pez dispenser was intended to resemble a cigarette lighter. Invented in Austria in 1927, Pez was originally a candy marketed at adults who were trying to stop smoking. The plastic heads were a later addition.
  • There are eight colors in a roll of NECCO wafers: pink (wintergreen); orange (orange); yellow (lemon); green (lime); purple (clove); brown (chocolate); black (licorice); and white (cinnamon).


Yeah, It Really Happened                                            .            
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A man caused more than $2,000 in damage to a Charlotte, N.C., hotel after discovering he had run out of toilet paper in his room, police say. Police say between late Sunday and early Monday at the Charlottetown Manor, Dereck MacDonald, 43, became very upset upon discovering he ran out of toilet paper, The Charlotte Observer reported. MacDonald allegedly walked into a vacant room at the hotel and clogged the toilet, causing water damage to the room, a police report states. "The suspect then went back to his room and damaged additional property by physical force," the report says. MacDonald reportedly caused more than $2,000 in damage in the two rooms combined. Police arrested the man and charged him with injury to personal property.

Guffaw…or at least smile                                                   .
Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Police Officer sees a car puttering along at 22 MPH. He thinks to himself, this driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!" So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies -- two in the front seat and three in the back -- wide eyed and white as ghosts.
The driver, obviously confused, says to him, Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem? "Ma'am," the officer replies, you weren't speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers.
Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit exactly... Twenty-two miles an hour! "The old woman says a bit proudly.
The State Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that ‘22" was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error. But before I let you go, Ma'am, I have to ask... Is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven't muttered a single peep this whole time, "the officer asks.
Oh, they'll be all right in a minute officer. We just got off Route 119."

Searchin’ “You Tube” I found                                                .     

 Mae West - Interview with Dick Cavett


Daybook Information                                                        .
…Happening This Week:
18-24
National Farm-City Week 
20-26 
Better Conversation Week
Church/State Separation Week
National Bible Week
National Family Week
National Game & Puzzle Week


Today Is                                                             
Humane Society Anniversary Day [1954]
Sagittarius Begins
Start Your Own Country Day
~*~
Lebanon: Independence Day (1943 from France)

Today’s Events                                                               .
Arts
1928 - "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel, 1st performed publicly (Paris)
1934 - "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" 1st heard on Eddie Cantor's show
1957 - Simon & Garfunkel appear on "American Bandstand" as "Tom & Jerry"
1968 - 1st interracial TV kiss (Star Trek-Kirk & Uhura )
1976 - Comic strip "Cathy," by Cathy Guisewhite, debuts
Athletes
1945 - Jim Benton, Cleveland end, gains 303 yards (NFL record)
1956 - 16th modern Olympic games opens in Melbourne
Business
1906 - Intl Radio Telecommunications Com adopts "SOS" as new call for help
Education
1984 - Fred Rogers of PBS "Mr Rogers Neighborhood" presents a sweater to Smithsonian Institution
Indigenous People
1752: The "Mick Mack" of Nova Scotia sign a treaty with the British.
1812: Potawatomi Chief Winamac is killed in fighting with Captain Logan (Spemicalawba). One of two Potawatomi Chiefs with the same name, he is a principle leader in the attacks on Forts Dearborn and Wayne in 1812. The other Winamac is pro-American.
Politics [International]
1497 - Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama rounds Cape of Good Hope
1942 - Hitler orders Rommel’s African corps to fight to last man
2005 - Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.
Politics [US]
1718 - Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard
1963 - Lyndon Baines Johnson sworn in as the 36th US president following JFK’s assassination in Dallas
1985 - Largest swearing-in ceremony, 38,648 immigrants become US citizens
Religion
1930 - Elijah Muhammad forms Nation of Islam in Detroit
Science
1910 - Arthur Knight patents steel shaft golf clubs
1932 - Pump patented that computes quantity & price delivered
1989 - Conjunction of Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn & Moon

Today’s Birthdays                                                          .
Artists: [Authors, Composers]
1899 - Hoagy Carmichael, actor/songwriter
1888 - Tarzan, of the Apes, according to Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel
Athletes
Boris Becker, West Germany, tennis player (Wimbledon 1985, 86, 89) is 44
Billie Jean King, American tennis pro (Wimbledon 1968, 72, 73, 75) is 68
Entertainers [Actors, Singers…]
Jamie Lee Curtis, actor is 53
1921 - Rodney Dangerfield, [John Cohen], comedian (Caddyshack)
Richard Kind, actor is 55
Mark Ruffalo, actor is 44
Floyd Sneed, Calgary, original drummer (Three Dog Night- Joy to the World) is 68
Steve Van Zandt, actor, musician is 61
Robert Vaughn, actor (Hans Solo) is 79
Entrepreneurs & Educators
1898 - Wiley Post, aviator/parachutist (crashed in Alaska)
Political Figures
1890 - Charles de Gaulle, President of France (1958-69)
Scientists & Theologists
1643 - René R Cavelier sieur de La Salle, French explorer

Today’s Obits                                                            .
2001 - Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics dies at 86
1993 - Bill Bixby, actor (My Favorite Martian), dies from cancer at 59
1986 - Scatman Crothers, actor (Shining, Zapped), dies at 76
1896 - George Washington Gale Ferris, inventor (Ferris wheel), dies of typhoid fever at 37
1943 - Lorenz Hart, lyricist, dies of pneumonia at 48
1955 - Shemp Howard, actor (3 Stooges), dies of heart attack at 60
1963 - Aldous L Huxley, English author (Brave New World), dies on death bed with LSD help at 69
1963 - John F Kennedy, 35th president of the United States (1961-63), assassinated at 46
1963 - C[live] S[taples] Lewis, [Hamilton], author (The Chronicles of Narnia), dies of renal failure at 64
1916 - Jack London, author, dies of uremic poisoning at 40
1963 - J. D. Tippit, Dallas Police Officer killed in line of duty at 39
1980 - Mae West, actress (She Done Him Wrong), dies in Hollywood at 87
1875 - Henry Wilson, 18th Vice President of the United States dies of stroke at 63

Answers                                                                .                                                                           
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.     Moyer…Emery
2.     Hamster…Amherst
3.     Gelcoat…Colgate
4.     To meander…Notre Dame
5.     Lead up…dePaul
6.     Dialect…citadel
7.     Water scenes…Case Western
8.     Earth worms…Swarthmore

Wuzzle
All alone
It’s left up to me
Stretch the truth

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
§     AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW     §

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.