4/14/13


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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 16/ Day: 104   Today: H 64°L 27°
Wind: ave:   24mph; Gusts:  41mph  Ave. humidity:  45%
*Averages: H  57° L 28° Records: H 75°(1962)L 0°(1965)

Quote of the Day



Today’s Historical Highlights
1,100,000,000th Chinese born…1989
1st edition of Noah Webster's dictionary published…1828
1st live television broadcast from Soviet Union…1961
Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender after 
     completion of his Seven Seals manuscript…1994
Christianization of Poland…966
Edgar Allen Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue," published…1841
Harriet Tubman began her Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape…1853
Icelandic Volcano Eyjafjallajökull [Island mountain glacier] begins erupting 
     from the top crater in the centre of the glacier…2010
John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan," premieres (NYC)…1896
John Rolfe marries Pocahontas…1614
John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" published…1939
Napoleon called for establishing Jerusalem for Jews…1799
Pres Reagan signs $165 billion Social Security rescue…1983
President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater…1865
President Taft begins tradition of throwing out ball on opening day…1910
Pulitzer prize awarded to Norman Mailer (Executioner's Song)…1980
Sputnik 2 (with dog Laika) burns up in atmosphere…1958
US Secret Service created to fight counterfeiting…1865

     Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays


Free Rambling Thoughts   
It started out as a really nice day, then the wind picked up, clouds came in, no moisture, just more wind. So much for a lot of time outside. One interesting thing about the wind today, the parking lot of our complex was the ‘holding’ place for all those rocks. When they cleaned up, they got all the rocks off the pavement, but did not get rid of any of the dust, so during our wind, we had lots of little dust devils where the rocks had been. Actually some of them were pretty large. The reddish dust sure looked like the Rez.
 
I went over to Home Depot early this morning to find some new edging for my front area. Total waste of time. Didn’t find anything I liked. I really was surprised, because usually when I get an idea in my head, I have no problem finding what I want. The joy of living in a small town…not nearly the selection of the stores in the larger towns. Oh well, something will pop up that I like.
 
I decided that I needed to know more about North Korea…so it was off to the internet machine. There are not a lot of pictures from N. Korea, except many military shots, but I found enough for this week’s Picture of the Day. So much of my knowledge is limited to black and white photos, stories and news reports of a dark country. While we sit and wait to see what the leaders will do, I really want to know more about the culture and people. Not an easy task.  
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
This is a phrase some people can say every day.
The thing you see with + The 12th letter of the alphabet + A white pigeon - The 4th letter of the alphabet + A female sheep + A word meaning $1,000 + A thing used to clean floors - The 16th letter of the alphabet.
What is this phrase?

*****
Hint
A dove is a white pigeon.
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Origins of Phrases
A miss is as good as a mile
Meaning: A [narrow] miss is as bad as a wide miss - they are both misses.
Origin
This proverbial saying dates from the 18th century. The first example of it that I can find in print is from the USA, in the journal The American Museum, Volume 3, 1788:
A smart repartee... will carry you through with eclat such as, 'a miss is as good as a mile'.
The expression may or may not be American in origin, but the root source is certainly the British Isles. Similar expressions were in circulation there more than a century earlier; for example, this piece from William Camden'sRemaines of a Greater Worke Concerning Britaine, 1614:
An ynche in a misse is as good as an ell.
[An ell is an English measure of length, now obsolete, and equalling about 45 inches.]
Camden's version is clearly essentially the same phrase as 'a miss is as good as a mile', the dimensions being those of the early 17th century. The expression was also considered proverbial in Scotland by the 18th century, where James Kelly included it in A Complete Collection of Scotish Proverbs, 1721:
An Inch of a miss is as good as a span.
Kelly wrote 'span' as 'spaw', but it is clear what he meant - a span is the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger of a man's hand, usually formalised as 9 inches.
Perhaps more recent changes in dimensions will lead us to 'a miss is as good as a kilometre'. Until then, we will have to make do with the American 'close but no cigar'.
Ok, then?



Harper’s Index    
Estimated amount Ireland spent on paperless balloting machines: $70,000,000
Amount for which it sold the machines as scrap in June, after abandoning paperless balloting: $92,218
Ruminations:
Did you know that before the Internet, people had thought that they didn’t need to share with everyone?
Picture of the Day: North Korea



Unusual Fact of the Day
When cranberries are ripe, they bounce like a rubber ball.
Joke-of-the-day
When a woman got married she put a shoebox in the closet and told her husband not to open it. After over 50 years of marriage she was dying and told him to open the box. When he opened it there were 2 doilies and $85,000.00 He asked why this was in the box. She replied “when I got married my mother told me to crochet a doily every time I got mad at you. He smiled thinking she was only mad twice and ask what the $85,000.00 was. She replied that's the money from selling the doilies.
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
THE HOTEL RULE OF THREE
 The third owner of a hotel will make a profit. The cost of the building now reflects its true market value.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
WAIANAE, Hawaii - A shark won a struggle with a fisherman for a tuna off Hawaii but the fisherman came out of the struggle with a consolation prize -- a videotape of the battle. Isaac Brumaghim, 37, caught a kawakawa tuna while fishing from a kayak in the Pacific Ocean, 2 miles off Waianae, Hawaii -- but a 9-foot-long tiger shark grabbed the fish as Brumaghim tried to reel it in. The shark then bumped the boat and swam away with the fish, KHNL-TV, Honolulu, reported."The shark made a circle, came around and ate the kawakawa under my boat," Brumaghim said, "and then it kind of hit me what had happened. Yeah, I did get the shivers a bit, on just thinking about the whole thing." Marine biologist Wayne Samiere said it was likely a 400- to 500- pound tiger shark. The incident was caught on a camera Brumaghim mounted on his boat. He posted the footage online, calling it "Chompy the shark," and says he is astounded by the attention he is receiving, Sky News said. This video has over 4 million hits!
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • In 1945 a computer at Harvard malfunctioned and Grace Hopper, who was working on the computer, investigated, found a moth in one of the circuits and removed it. Ever since, when something goes wrong with a computer, it is said to have a bug in it.
  • In the 19th century, craftsmen who made hats were known to be excitable and irrational, as well as to tremble with palsy and mix up their words. Such behavior gave rise to the familiar expression "mad as a hatter". The disorder, called hatter's shakes, was caused by chronic mercury poisoning from the solution used to treat the felt. Attacking the central nervous system, the toxin led to behavioral symptoms.
  • In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
11-14
The Masters Tournament
YoYo & Skill Toy Weekend
14-20
Bat Appreciation Week
Health Information Privacy and Security Week
National Crime Victims Rights Week
National Environmental Education Week
National Robotics Week
National Library Week
National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators) Week
Pan American Week
(Spring) Astronomy Week
Week of The Young Child
Undergraduate Research Week

Today Is                                                                      
Children with Alopecia Day
Dictionary Day
International Moment of Laughter Day
National Pecan Day
National D.A.R.E Day
Pan American Day
^Honduras: Dia De Las Americas commemorates 1931 founding of the Union of American Republics 
^India: Vaisakhi (For the Sikh community commemorates the establishment of the Khalsa. Also celebrated by Hindus and Buddhists for different reasons including the start of a new year.)

Today’s Events through History  
Acting FBI director L Patrick Gray resigns after admitting he destroyed evidence 
     in the Watergate scandal…1973
Desmond Tutu elected Anglican archbishop of Capetown…1986
Panfilo de Narvaez, with 4 or 5 ships, and approximately 400-500 men, including 
     Cabeza de Vaca, sight land, on the western coast of Florida. This will be the 
     first significant European exploration of Florida…1528
Polish Calvinists/Lutherians/Hernhutters unify against Jesuits…1570
Robert E Lee resigns from Union army…1861
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returns to office two days after being 
     ousted and arrested by the country's military…2002
Word "telescope" is 1st used (Prince Federico Cesi)…1611

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 90’s
John Paul Stevens, Supreme Court Justice is 93

In their 80’s
Loretta Lynn, Butcher's Hollow Ky, singer (Coal Miner's Daughter) is 81

In their 70’s
Julie Christie, Assam India, actress (Dr Zhivago) is 72
Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds, Charlie hustle (most hits in majors) is 72

In their 50’s
Brad Garrett, Actor: Everybody Loves Raymond is 53
Robert Carlyle, Glasgow, Scotland, British actor (Trainspotting, The Full Monty) is 52

In their 40’s
Adrien Brody, actor and film producer is 40

In their 30’s
Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress (Kendall-All My Children, Buffy) is 36

Remembered for being born today
Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader [1714-1788]
Junius S Morgan, US, merchant/philanthropist (Metro Museum of Art) [1813-1890]
Rod Steiger, West Hampton NY, actor (Illustrated Man, Pawnbroker) [1925-2002]
Edward C Tolman, US psychologist (behaviorism) [1886-1959]
Arnold Toynbee, England, historian (Study of History) [1889-1975]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Georg Friedrich Handel, organist/composer (Watermusic)…1759…at 74
Don Ho, American musician…heart failure…2007…at 76
Burl Ives, folk singer/actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)…1995…at 85
Sri Ramana Maharshi, Indian philosopher…1950…at 70
Fredric March, actor (Inherit the Wind)…cancer…1975…at 77

Answer: Brain Teasers
I love you Grandma.
Explanation: The thing you see with = EYE (pronounced "I") + The 12th letter of the alphabet = L + A white pigeon = Dove - The 4th letter of the alphabet = D + A female sheep = EWE (pronounced You) + A word meaning $1,000 = Grand + A thing used to clean floors = Mop ( the o has a short vowel sounding like "ah") - The 16th letter of the alphabet = P Eye (I) + L + Dove-D (ove) + EWE (You) + Grand + Mop-P (pronounced Ma) I + L + ove + You + Grand + Ma = I Love You Grandma

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.