July 24


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Flagstaff Almanac
Week: 30 Day:  206
Today: High   74°Low 61° Averages: High   81°Low 52°
Records: High   92° (1996)Low 37° (1987)
Wind:   9mph;  Gusts: 9mph
Afternoon Rain  Today’s humidity:  45%

Quote of the Day

Today’s  Historical  Highlights
2005 - Lance Armstrong retires after winning a record seventh consecutive Tour de France victory
1974 - Supreme Court unanimously rules Nixon must turn over Watergate tapes
1969 - Apollo 11 returns to Earth
1943 - RAF bombs Hamburg (20,000 dead)
1934 - 1st ptarmigan hatched & reared in captivity, Ithaca, NY
1925 - Scopes guilty of teaching evolution in a Tn HS, fined $100 & costs
1911 - Hiram Bingham discovers Lost City of the Incas
1870 - 1st trans-US rail service begins
1823 - Slavery is abolished in Chile
1793 - France passes 1st copyright law
1704 - English & Dutch troops occupy Gibraltar
1534 - Jacques Cartier, lands in Canada, claims it for France; erects a thirty-three foot high cross on a small island in Gaspe Harbor.
1487 - Citizens of Leeuwarden Neth rebel against ban on foreign beer
Happy Birthday To:  
                   
 Free Rambling Thoughts   
I had a nice soaking rain for several hours early this afternoon. A little thunder, but basically just a nice much needed rain. What a great way to start the week.

My brother and I talked today, about my dad, who would have been 98 today. He was a kind and gentle man who lived a great life. So nice to share such great memories.

I listened to some great interviews with the victims and families of Aurora. Many are challenging the media to stop making the shooter infamous…asking for a policy by all the news machines to agree not to ever name any mass shooter, show his picture, or talk about him, using his name…simply call him ‘the shooter’. They seem to believe that one of the driving factors for these crazies is to become a household name. Their belief is that if the media makes their policy well known, this will take away that factor. Most also agree that the news stories should focus on the victims. Over the weekend I saw a clip from Craig Ferguson…the Late Late Show host. He began his nightly broadcast about the shooting instead of a humorous dialogue that had been taped earlier about the new Batman Movie. He was the first who refused to say the name of the shooter. As I listened to other news, many networks are not saying his name. I certainly understand their reasoning. As a caveat to this idea…as social networking is becoming a way to communicate and the internet has information on just about everybody, we easily learn that so many, many people have the same name. Regarding the shooter, I heard stories about innocent people who have the same name being barraged with questions and some with threats. Time will tell if the news organizations decide to make such a policy.

I saw this on FB and decided to share it…


Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)
What is the answer?
Rearrange the following letters to give the name of a popular movie:
IF TUNES DO SO MUCH
5X5 Word Boxes
The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 5 letters.
1.      sulk walk
2.      a type of mostly nocturnal ungulate
3.      judge
4.      chop fine
5.      feather maintenance technique
Hint: Upper left to lower right, the letters are: S-A-I-C-N
Lifestyle  Substance     
Do you remember this?

My Latest Adventure—

One Hit Wonders of the 1960’s

Harper’s Index         
  • Percentage decrease in the incidence of the terms ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’ in major newspapers in 2011: 33
  • Number of times President Obama mentioned ‘climate change’ in his 2012 State of the Union address: 1
  • Number of times he mentioned ‘energy’: 23

Found on You Tube 

Joke-of-the-day
Ol' Fred had been a faithful Christian and was in the hospital, near death. The family called their preacher to stand with them.  As the preacher stood next to the bed, Ol' Fred's condition appeared to deteriorate and he motioned frantically for something to write on. The pastor lovingly handed him a pen and a piece of paper, and Ol' Fred used his last bit of energy to scribble a note, then suddenly died. The preacher thought it best not to look at the note at that time, so he placed it in his jacket pocket. At the funeral, as he was finishing the message, he realized that  he was wearing the same jacket that he was wearing when Ol' Fred died.
He said, "You know, Ol' Fred handed me a note just before he died. I haven't looked at it, but knowing Fred, I'm sure there's a word of inspiration there for us all." He opened the note, and read, "Please step to your left -- you're standing on my oxygen tube!"
Rules of Thumb   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
With rhubarb, the redder the stalk, the sweeter the pie.
Yeah, It Really Happened
ATLANTA - A U.S. woman celebrated her role in the London Olympic Torch relay with a tattoo, only to discover her arm now reads "Oylmpic Torch Bearer 2012," she said. Jerri Peterson, 54, of Atlanta, Ga., carried the torch through Derby, England, June 30 after she was one of 70 people nominated for the honor by her employer, a hotel chain, for her years of charity work, the BBC reported Thursday. Returning to America she decided to commemorate the honor with her first tattoo, but the artist misspelled a crucial word. "I looked at it was so disappointed. I called my husband and he giggled a little bit. Then I started laughing about it and I've been laughing ever since," she said of the discovery. Peterson said the artist "felt so bad when he found out. He wanted to fix it but I decided to keep it. It's the Oy-lmpics. It's a unique as I am."               
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • The term shopping mall derived from pall mall, a 17th-century British sport that resembled croquet. When the sport waned in popularity, the open areas where it was once played became promenades. Shopkeepers sprang up on all sides, and the resulting areas became known as malls.
  • The open area in Washington D.C., known as The Mall is situated between the Lincoln Memorial, the United States Capitol, and the Washington Monument.
  • Woody Allen stated in interviews that, prior to filming Scenes from a Mall, he'd never before set foot in a shopping mall.
  • The 1978 horror classic Dawn of the Dead was filmed at the Monroeville Mall outside of Pittsburgh. The 2004 remake was shot at the Thornhill Square Mall in Ontario, Canada, which was torn down shortly after the film opened.
  • Architect Victor Gruen is credited with designing the concept of the regional shopping center. His idea was to take established downtown department stores and bring them out to the suburbs where land was cheap and parking was plentiful. His first creation, Northland Mall in Southfield, Michigan, featured covered walkways leading to --J.L. Hudson's, the "anchor" store.
  • Bergen Mall in Paramus is the oldest mall in New Jersey. It was also the site of teen singer Tiffany's first concert in 1987, kicking off her "mall tour."

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
18-25
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week:

Today Is                                                                      
Amelia Earhart Day  
Anne Hutchinson Memorial Day: cofounder of Pocasset (Portsmouth), RI, in 1638. Wife, mother of 16, midwife, religious leader, she was a caretaker of and spiritual leader to women in Puritan Boston
Cousin's Day
Mormon Pioneer Day: commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley, 1847
National Drive-Thru Day: to celebrate America's love of convenience by vehicle
National Tell an Old Joke Day
National Tequila Day
Parents' Day

Today’s Events Through History  
2000’s
2002 - James Traficant is expelled from the United States House of Representatives on a vote of 420 to 1
2001 - Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through democratic election to a different office
1900’s
1998 - Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial.
1990 - US warships in Persian Gulf placed on alert after Iraq masses nearly 30,000 troops near its border with Kuwait
1967 - Race riots in Detroit force postponement of Tigers-Orioles game
1959 - VP Nixon argues with Khrushchev, known as "Kitchen Debate"
1948 - Soviets blockades Berlin from west
1938 - Instant coffee invented
1919 - Race Riot in Washington DC (6 killed, 100 wounded)
1901 - O. Henry is released from prison in Austin, Texas after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank
1800’s
1866 - Tennessee becomes 1st Confederate state readmitted to Union
1851 - Window tax abolished in Britain
1847 - Brigham Young & his Mormon followers arrive at Salt Lake City, UT
1836 - Georgia militia and Creek Indians have a brief fight near Wesley Chapel in Stewart County, Georgia. The Creeks appear to have won.
1832 - Benjamin Bonneville leads the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains by using Wyoming's South Pass
1824 - Harrisburg Pennsylvanian newspaper publishes results of 1st public opinion poll. Clear lead for Andrew Jackson
1700’s
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie becomes King James VIII
1701 - Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac found trading post at Ft Pontchartrain, which later becomes the city of Detroit

1500’s
1581 - States of Holland/Zealand recognized by Willem van Orange
1567 - Mary Queen of Scots is forced to abdicate & 1-year-old James VI becomes King of Scotland
1400’s
1411 - Battle of Harlaw, one of the bloodiest battles in Scotland, takes place

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 40’s
Barry Bonds, Riverside CA, left fielder (Pirates, SF Giants, 3X MVP) is 48
Jennifer Lopez (J Lo), actress, singer, dancer is 42
Karl Malone, Summeerfield LA, NBA forward (Utah, Oly-2 gold-92, 96) is 49

In their 60’s
Lynda Carter, Miss USA (1973)/actress (Wonder Woman) is 61
Robert Hays, Bethesda Md, actor (Airplane!, Starman, Scandalous) is 65
Michael Richards, comedian (Fridays, Kramer-Seinfeld) is 63
In their 70’s
Ruth Buzzi, Westerly RI, comedienne (Laugh-In, Margie-That Girl) is 76
Mark Goddard, Lowell Mass, actor (Don West-Lost in Space) is 76

Remembered for being born today
Bella Abzug, (Rep-D-NY, 1970-74) in 1920
Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela, political and military leader (freed 6 Latin American republics from Spanish rule) in 1783
Alexandre Dumas, Aisne France, author (3 Musketeers, Count of Monte Cristo) in 1802
Amelia Earhart, US aviator (1st woman to solo Atlantic) in 1897
Chief Dan George, actor (Little Big Man) in 1899

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Charles Hodges, English/Dutch portrait painter dies in 1837 at 73
Fritz A Lipman, discoverer (co-enzymes, Nobel 1953), dies in 1986 at 87
Peter Sellers, actor (Pink Panther, Mouse that Roared), dies of heart attack in 1980 at 54
Isaac B Singer, Polish/US writer (Yentl, Nobel 1978), dies in 1991 at 87
Mary Church Terrell, educator/civil rights leader, dies in 1954 at 90
Martin Van Buren, 8th pres (1837-41), dies in 1862 at 79

Answers                                                                                                                                            
What is the answer?
The Sound of Music
5X5 boxes
STOMP
TAPIR
OPINE
MINCE
PREEN

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 

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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.