Apr 11

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1814 - 1st abdication of France by Napoleon; he is exiled to Elba

1865 - Lincoln urges a spirit of generous conciliation during reconstruction

1890 - Ellis Island designated as an immigration station

1898 - President McKinley asks for Spanish-American War declaration

1956 - Singer Nat Cole attacked on stage of Birmingham Theater by whites

1967 - Harlem (NYC) voters defy Congress & reelect Adam Clayton Powell Jr

1970 - Apollo 13 launched to Moon; unable to land, returns in 6 days

1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin overthrown

1986 - Halley's Comet makes closest approach to Earth this trip, 63 M km

2006 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

So ol’ Rick, who many said was more conservative than the Pope, has dropped out of the Presidential race. And the Zimmerman’s attorney’s quit….saying he won’t contact them and they don’t know where he is. I guess The Doors were right…’People are strange, when you’re a stranger.”

Finally NPR ran an interview show with Neighborhood Watch.  After listening, I was better informed but not feeling much safer. Neighborhood Watch started in middle class white neighborhoods back in the ‘80s where homeowners were worried that changes in their neighborhood would drop property values. While there is a Neighborhood Watch program, every state has its own laws, and just about anybody can use the term.  The guy representing NW said that what is ‘suspicious’ in a white middle class neighborhood might not be ‘suspicious’ in a African American neighborhood. The National organization simply offers ideas and stuff for people and police departments to purchase (signs, shirts, videos…). It’s up to the locals to set any ‘rules’. Most disturbing is that locals do not have to register with police, may carry weapons where it is legal in the state, do not have to have background checks, and are do not have to abide by any of the NW guidelines. Sounds a little vigilante to me.

We did get some clouds, but the Red Flag Warning remained intact. I ran errands and had a nice walk today…it was a little windy and cloudy, but not that bad. I talked to Cheryl today, about our lunch on Thursday. She has to have some eye surgery next week in Phoenix. She has to stay in Phoenix for a week after the surgery because of the altitude of Williams. Whatever they are doing which has to do with her retina and the doctors say that altitude changes are not possible for at least 5 days…that also means she can’t fly out to LA to be with her son after the surgery. She will have to stare at the floor and her lap, but can’t read or watch TV for that time either. This will be a rough recovery for sure. She is very independent and a voracious reader. Hardly in anyone’s retirement wishes.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Every answer is a word starting with the letter O. The clues are two words — one that can precede the answer, and one that can follow it to complete familiar two-word phrases. For example, given "elected" and "statement," the answer would be "official," as in "elected official" and "official statement."

1.     Agent/bowl:

2.     Toaster/mitt:

3.     Vegetable/filter:

4.     Indian/liner:

5.     Black/branch:

6.     Stock/play:

7.     Electrical/mall:

8.     Grand/bell:

9.     Pipe/transplant:

10.  Equal/knocks:

11.  Chamber/pit:

Riddle of the day

Imagine you are in a room with 3 switches. In an adjacent room there are 3 bulbs (let's say in lamps which are on a regular table), each switch belongs to one bulb. All are off at the moment. It is impossible to see from one room to another. No help from anybody else is allowed. How can you find out which switch belongs to which bulb, if you may enter the room with the bulbs only once?

Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in each answer word

Lifestyle  Substance     

Harper’s Index         

Percentage of Americans who say news organizations ‘hurt democracy’: 42

Found on You Tube 

Barbershop Quartet DayInternational "Louie Louie" Day

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

During a dinner party, the hosts’ two little children entered the dining room totally nude and walked slowly around the table. The parents were so embarrassed that they pretended nothing was happening and kept he conversation going. The guests cooperated and also continued as if nothing extraordinary was happening.

 After going all the way around the room, the children left, and there was a moment of silence at the table, during which one child was heard to say, “You see, it is vanishing cream!”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

If you're designing a chair and want to know how well your design will stand the test of time, imagine 30 of them lined up in a Laundromat.

Yeah, It Really Happened

ROCKWOOD, Tenn. - Police in Tennessee said a woman was arrested for abuse of the 911 system after twice calling the emergency number to complain about an eatery's "nasty" food.

The criminal complaint filed March 29 in Roane County general Sessions Court said Donna Marie Nichols, 50, called 911 twice to report the food at a Hardee's restaurant in Rockwood "is no good,"

The Smoking Gun reported Thursday. "I only took a small bite out of the burger and it's nasty," Nichols told the 911 operator. She also told the operator she had previously called Hardee's and the restaurant offered to refund her money. Police responded to Nichols' location and she was taken to the county jail, where she was released Monday on $1,500 bail.

Somewhat Useless Information   

The word "sex" was only uttered once during the four-year run of The Brady Bunch show. Cousin Oliver blurted it out in the final episode of the series when Mrs. Brady had difficulty explaining the mating habits of rabbits.

The Peppermint Trolley Company, who sang The Brady Bunch theme song for the first season of the series, also performed the theme song to the long-running sketch comedy series Love, American Style.

Boddy's hair changed color over the course of the series. Mike Lookinland's hair was naturally a reddish-blond, but the producers experimented with a number of different colors each season in order to make the youngest Brady's hair color match that of his brothers.

The show was originally titled The Bradley Brood, and Gene Hackman had been the producer's original choice for the role of dad Mike Brady. However, the network felt Hackman was too much of an unknown and went with Robert Reed instead, who'd had a successful run on TV's The Defenders.

Florence Henderson wore a wig throughout the first season of the show because her own hair had been cropped short for a role in her first feature film, Song of Norway.

The lisp of Cindy Brady's was very real and so endearing that Sherwood Schwartz had an episode written about it. Susan Olsen had a speech impediment surgically corrected as an adult.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

7-15

National Robotics Week
Passover Week
Bat Appreciation Week
National Library Week
National Networking Week
Orthodox Holy Week
Pan American Week
Consider Christianity Week

10-16  

Health Information Privacy and Security Week

National Animal Control Appreciation Week

Today Is                                                                      

Barbershop Quartet Day

International "Louie Louie" Day

National Pet Day

World Parkinson's Disease Day

Eight-Track Tape Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1500’s

1567 - Dutch prince William of Orange flees from Antwerp to Breda

1600’s

1689 - William III & Mary II crowned as joint rulers of Britain

1700’s

1775 - The last execution for witchcraft in Germany takes place

1800’s

1859: The Quinault  and Quileute treaties signed on July 1, 1855 and January 25, 1856 will be officially proclaimed by the President of the United States

1891 - 8 year old Jewish tailor's daughter disappears in Greece, rumor spreads that she was a Christian girl ritually killed by Jews

1895 - Anaheim completes it's new electric light system

1900’s

1906 - Einstein introduces his Theory of Relativity

1914 - George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion," premieres

1927 - Chilean gen Carlos Ibáñez names himself president

1951 - Pres Harry Truman fires Gen Douglas McArthur

1965 - 40 tornadoes strike US midwest killing 272 & injuring 5,000

1968 - Pres Johnson signs 1968 Civil Rights Act includes The American Indian Civil Rights Act is passed

1976 - The Apple I is created 1977 - Ireland sets fishing zone at 50 mile

1980 - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulates sexual harassment

1990 - NY Lotto pays $35 million to two winner 

1991 - "Miss Saigon," opens at Broadway Theater NYC

1992 - Euro-Disney opens near Paris

2000’s

2001 - The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, People's Republic of China after a collision with an J-8 fighter is released

2002 - The Ghriba synagogue bombing by Al Qaeda kills 21 in Tunisia

2002 - An attempted coup d'état in Venezuela against President Hugo Chávez takes place

2011 - Minsk Metro bombing

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Joel Grey, [Joe Katz], actor (Cabaret, Remo Williams, 7% Solution) is 80

Ethel Kennedy, wife of Bobby is 84

In their 70’s

Louise Lasser, actress (Mary Hartman! Mary Hartman!) is 73

Mark Strand, American poet/editor/translator (Another Republic) is 78

>< 

In their 50’s

Richie Sambora, rock guitarist, producer, musician, singer, and songwriter Bon Jovi. is 53

In their 40’s

Jesse Campbell, NFL safety (NY Giants, Washington Redskins)is 43

>< 

Remembered for being born on this day

Dean G Acheson, statesman/US Secretary of State (1949-53) in 1893

Oleg Cassini, Paris France, fashion designer (Jackie Kennedy) in 1913

Charles Evans Hughs, 11th Chief Justice of Supreme Court (1930-41) in 1862

Howard W. Koch, producer/director (Frankenstein, Airplane II) in 1916

Adriano Olivetti, Italian engineer/manufacturer (typewriter) in 1901

James Parkinson, English physician in 1755

Manuel Jose Quintana, Spanish author/poet (El Duque de Viseo) in 1772

Johnny Sheffield, Pasadena California, actor (Boy -Tarzan Finds a Son) in 1931

Christopher Smart, English poet & journalist (Ceremony of Carols) in 1722

Today’s Obits                                                           

James A Bailey, circus showman (Barnum & Bailey), dies of acute streptococcus bacterial infection at 58 in 1906

James Brown, actor (Rip-Adv of Rin Tin Tin), dies of lung cancer at 72 in 1992

Luther Burbank, American botanist dies at 79 in 1926

Joseph Merrick, "The Elephant Man" dies of a dislocated neck at 27 in 1890

Richard Simon, French Biblical critic dies at 74 in 1712

Kurt Vonnegut, American author dies at 84 in 2007

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day

You only need to turn on 1 switch as each switch belongs to one bulb. Walk into the other room and remove another bulb.

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Agent/bowl:

a.      orange

2.     Toaster/mitt:

a.      oven

3.     Vegetable/filter:

a.      oil

4.     Indian/liner:

a.      ocean

5.     Black/branch:

a.      olive

6.     Stock/play:

a.      option

7.     Electrical/mall:

a.      outlet

8.     Grand/bell:

a.      opening

9.     Pipe/transplant:

a.      organ

10.  Equal/knocks:

a.      opportunity

11.  Chamber/pit:

a.      orchestra

Anagrams

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 Is All for Now  ☺