TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1924 IBM Corporation founded by Thomas Watson: don’t miss Jeopardy with the computer Watson 3 days, beginning today.
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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
♥ H A P P Y V A L E N T I N E ‘ S D A Y ♥ to all. ♫ Happy 99th to ARIZONA ♫
I am doing nothing different with this blog, yet some days it loads, other days it doesn’t. I use a Word Template and add the pictures at the end in Blogger. I’ve been doing this for almost 2 years and suddenly, when I hit the publish button everything is gone, or almost everything is gone. I have switched browsers from IE to Chrome and the same thing happens. If this continues, I may try opening a new blog. I do have to do all the Bold and Italic stuff in Blogger, and hate doing all that several times to get it to publish. Oh well, no one to complain to, since the blog is free. There are lots of free blog sites on the web but not all allow pictures. Time will tell what I do.
This was a great spring day—as we hit 61° and I spent time on the deck. I haven’t figured out why I don’t have a lot of birds this winter. One guess is the snow from last winter scared them away. Whatever the reason, I still have plenty of food for them so they are welcome back anytime. I sure hope more deck-days continue…so much better than cold wind. Sitting out there started the juices flowing to plant, water, and enjoy some flora. The only hope I have is that the two squirrels who think they own the entire area behind the building is their home. They attempt to eat the bird seed and suet, but I have that pretty well solved.
I just caught a piece about Laughing Yoga. The link is below under Found on You Tube. It all started in Mumbai, India by one man and has quickly become a world- wide phenom. There are no centers in Flagstaff yet, but we sure could use some. One Indian in the piece suggested that this may be the cheapest healthcare program in the world.
The news keeps talking about the Obama budget that will make deep cuts. I doubt that. The Tea Party Reps have said they too have big cuts. Of course the cuts from both sides will be different and through our compromise system, most won’t happen. I’m sure big business will continue to make profits, not hire new employees, give their executives huge bonus payments and even better golden parachutes when they leave. The Tea Party has proposed cuts in abortion—which the Feds don’t pay for anyway and cuts in unemployment. Nothing about new jobs. Nothing about balancing the budget from the top money makers. What a mess. No one will be happy when the two budgets are introduced, few will be happy with the compromises, and until more people have jobs, more people have good health care at a reasonable price, and we stop buying our allies, things will just plug along with no one happy, some really pissed off, and a very few somewhat happy.
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DID YOU KNOW THAT…
>Steep 8 tea bags in a foot tub until water is dark and no longer hot, then soak feet for 20 minutes. Tea has anti-bacterial properties that kill odor-causing bacteria.
>Laundry hampers can get a sour or musty smell. Ensure yours stays fresh by poking several holes in a box of baking soda and placing it at the bottom of the hamper. It will eliminate moisture as it soaks up odors.
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Fortune Cookies
>Some sources claim that David Jung, founder of Los Angeles' Hong Kong Noodle Company, created the fortune cookie in 1916, possibly to brighten up the survivors of World War I with the happy messages contained inside.
>Others say the fortune cookie was invented Japanese immigrant Makoto Hagiwara in 1914. Hagiwara was a gardener who designed the famous Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.
>In 1993, San Francisco's Court of Historical Review held a mock "trial" to settle the matter of the fortune cookie's origins. The court backed Hagiwara's claim, ruling that the honor belonged to San Francisco.
>Fortune cookies became common in Chinese restaurants after World War II. Desserts were not traditionally part of Chinese cuisine, and the cookies thus offered Americans something familiar with an exotic flair.
>Early fortunes featured Biblical sayings, or aphorisms from Confucius, Aesop, or Ben Franklin.
>Fortune cookies were originally made by hand using chopsticks. In 1964, Edward Louie of San Francisco's Lotus Fortune Cookie Company, automated the process by creating a machine that folds the dough and slips in the fortune.
>Now, the world's largest fortune cookie manufacturer, Wonton Food Inc. of Long Island City, Queens ships out 60 million cookies a month.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM…NEW YORK
- New York's Bronx Zoo said it is offering Valentine's gift-givers the opportunity to name Madagascar hissing cockroaches after their sweeties. The zoo said people can pay $10 to have their Valentine's name given to a roach in the Madagascar! Exhibit with an accompanying e-card informing the recipient of the naming gift, the New York Daily News reported Thursday. "Nothing says forever like a cockroach," zoo director Jim Breheny said.
"They are resourceful, resilient and have been around for hundreds of millions of years." The Bronx Zoo's Valentine's festivities also include an online "Courtship Quiz," available at www.bronxzoo.com, for humans to compare their courtship styles to those found in the animal kingdom.
A LITTLE LAUGH…
An old man made it shakily through the door to Joe Conforte's Mustang Ranch, outside Reno, Nevada. The receptionist stared at him.
"You gotta be in the wrong place," she exclaimed. "What are you looking for?"
"Ain't this the famous Mustang Ranch? Ain't this where you got forty-five girls ready-n-able?"
The receptionist looked perplexed. "Ready for what?"
"I want a girl," the old man rasped. "I wanna get some action."
"How old are you, Pop?" she asked.
"Ninety-two," he replied.
"Ninety-two? Pop, you've HAD it!"
"Oh," said the old man, a little disconcerted as his trembling fingers reached for his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"
Top 10 In The World
CLOSEUP PICTURE…
Can you identify this close up picture?
♫ Rock Anthems ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear
♪… 1. We Will Rock You - Queen
♪… 2. My Generation - The Who
♪… 3. Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
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DAYBOOK INFORMATION
¤…THIS WEEK…¤
7-14 ► Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week ♥ Publicity for Profit Week ♥ Risk Awareness Week ♥ Love Makes the World Go Round; But, Laughter Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week ♥ World Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Week
10-16 ► Celebration of Love Week ♥ Children of Alcoholics Week
12-15 ► Random Acts of Kindness Week
13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week
14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education
¤…TODAY IS…¤
Ferris Wheel Day
National Heart to Heart Day
Clean Out Your Computer Day
League of Women Voters Day
Library Lovers Day
National Condom Day
National Donor Day
Quirky Alone Day
Race Relations Day
Valentine’s Day
World Marriage Day
Denmark: Gaekkebrev/Fjörtende Februar-gift exchanges by school kids
Mexico: Day of National Mourning (Vincent Guerrero-1831)
US: Arizona: 1912 Admission Day: 48th state: Countdown to Centennial begins
US: Oregon: 1859 Admission Day: 33rd state
Today’s Births...
Carl Bernstein, 67, journalist, author (All the President’s Men with Bob Woodward)
1881 William John Gruffydd Welsh poet/scholar (Ynys yr Hud)
1856 Frank Harris English journalist/writer (My Life & Loves)
○ ATHLETES
Drew Bledsoe, 39, former football (Patriots, Bills, Cowboys)
1913 Woody (Wayne) Hayes College Football Hall of Famer: Ohio State head coach for 33 years
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1913 Jimmy Hoffa Teamsters leader who disappeared in 1975
1864 Robert E Park US sociologist (human ecology, marginal man)
○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)
1894 Jack Benny [Benjamin Kubelski], actor, comedian "Oh! Rochester!"
Hugh Downs, 90, broadcaster (“Today,” “20/20”)
Florence Henderson, 77, singer, actress (“The Brady Bunch”)
1946 Gregory Hines dancer, actor: Renaissance Man, Tap, The Cotton Club
1929 Vic Morrow actor (Combat, Roots, Twilight Zone the Movie)
1905 Thelma Ritter actress (Miracle on 34th Street)
Teller, 63, magician (Penn and Teller), born Raymond Joseph Teller
○ POLITICIANS
Michael Bloomberg, 69, Mayor of New York City
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1760 Richard Allen 1st black ordained by Methodist-Episcopal church
1859 George Washington Gale Ferris engineer/inventor (Ferris Wheel)
1838 Margaret Knight inventor, "the female Thomas Edison"
1858 Joseph Thomson Scotish geologist (Thomson's gazelle)
Today’s Obits…
1780 William Blackstone English lawyer, gout @ 56
1571 Benvenuto Cellini Italian sculptor/metalsmith/author (Perseus), @ 70
1779 James Cook British explorer, murdered by natives in fracas with Hawaiians @ 50
1996 Eva Hart Titanic survivor@ 90
1988 Frederick Loewe US composer (My Fair Lady), @ 84
Today’s Events…
○ ARTS
1967 Aretha Franklin records "Respect"
○ ATHLETICS
1951 Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Jake LaMotta & takes middleweight title
1952 6th Winter Olympics games opens in Oslo, Norway
1980 13th Winter Olympics games open in Lake Placid NY
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1794 1st US textile machinery patent granted, to James Davenport, Philadelphia PA
1803 Apple parer patented by Moses Coats, Downington PA
1889 1st trainload of fruit (oranges) leaves Los Angeles for the east
1919 United Parcel Service forms
1941 1,000,000th vehicle traverses the New York Midtown Tunnel
○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1776 The first Spanish arrive at what eventually becomes Needles, California.
1873 Congress creates the office of Indian Inspector. The initial three inspectors are appointed by the President for four year terms. They inspect the operations of Indian Officers in the field.
1969 The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe of the Flathead Reservation enact a resolution prohibiting the hunting or killing of Mountain Sheep.
○ POLITICS (International)
1778 "Stars & Stripes" arrives in foreign port for 1st time (France)
1946 Bank of England nationalized
1949 1st session of Knesset opens in Jerusalem
1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin at USSR Communist Party Conference
○ POLITICS (US)
1848 James K Polk became 1st President photographed in office (Matthew Brady)
1899 US Congress begins using voting machines
1903 US Dept of Commerce & Labor established
1929 St Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago IL, 7 gangsters killed
1962 1st lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1349 2,000 Jews burned at the stake in Strasbourg France
1872 1st state bird refuge authorized (Lake Merritt CA)
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ANSWERS
Close Up Picture…
Hair brush
« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »
