10/31 Halloween


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 44/ Day: 304   
Today: L 28°…H 45°… Ave. humidity: 75%
Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  22mph  
Average Low: 26° Record Low:  7° (1935)
Average High: 57° Record High:  70° (1999)



Quote of the Day
 
Today’s Historical Highlights
1st All Hallows Eve (Halloween) observed to honor the saints…834
4th Olympic games ends in London…1908
Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes….1892
Britain & France begin to bomb Egypt to reopen Suez Canal…1956
Cyclone hits Bengal, about 200,000 die…1876
Michelangelo finishes painting The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel…1541
Mount Rushmore Monument is completed…1941
New York stock exchange opens; closed for two days after Hurricane Sandy…2012
President Johnson orders a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam…1968
Roman Catholic church reinstates Galileo Galilei after 359 years…1992
Spanish flu-virus kills 21,000 in US in 1 week…1918

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
Happy Halloween. Due to expected trick or treat-ers, the blog will not be posted tomorrow.
 
Not a very warm day. Cloudy with a little snow this morning, then blue sky all afternoon. Gotta love Flag weather…if not, just wait a little while.
 
I watched the hearing today, and was happy to see the Sec of HHS take responsibility….both for the mess and for getting it fixed. I’ll wait to before more judgment.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
A farmer challenges an engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician to fence off the largest amount of area using the least amount of fence.
The engineer made his fence in a circle and said it was the most efficient.
The physicist made a long line and said that the length was infinite. Then he said that fencing half of the Earth was the best.
The mathematician laughed at the others and with his design, beat the others. What did he do?
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Ideas
You're suffering from... Ideophobia Ancient Greek ἰδέα idea, “form, semblance”
If you have an irrational fear of... Imperfection
You're suffering from... Atelophobia Greek atelos 'imperfect'
OK Then…
 
Harper’s Index 
Percentage of Americans who support using drones to enforce speed limits: 23
Unusual Fact of the Day
Those few who have survived a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge report that it takes about four seconds to hit the water, which is plenty of time to re-think and regret the decision.


Joke-of-the-day
These bear hunters were sitting around the cabin the night before the hunt bragging about their passt hunts.
The cabin boy was listening and went over and said "you guys make it seem pretty hard on capturing a bear".
They all laughed and said "it is hard; do you think you could bag one"?
"I can go out and bag you 2 if you will skin them, and I will bet each of you $100.00.
They agreed and off he went out into the night.
Soon he spotted a big grizzly; he waved his arm and started hollering the big bear started after him and he started running for the shack. When he got close to the shack he started yelling. "Open the door he yelled".
They looked out and saw the bear chasing the boy. Just as he got to the door they opened it and he stepped aside and the bear went in. He slammed the door and locked it and shouted. "OK skin him I'll go and get the other one".
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
LISTENING TO DRIVERS
The person doing the talking after a fender-bender is usually the person who caused the accident.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
MOGADISHU, Somalia - An international organization of maritime security companies says the music of Britney Spears has proven effective in warding off Somali pirates. A representative from the Security Association for the Maritime Industry said ships traveling in the Indian Ocean have found the pirates are repelled by Spears' hit songs "Oops! I Did It Again" and "Baby One More Time" as a result of their distaste for western culture, the Nairobi (Kenya) Standard Digital News, reported Tuesday. The representative said ships blaring the music to ward off an impending attack found their security workers rarely had to use their guns. He said the pirates "go to any length to overcome the music." "I'd imagine using Justin Bieber would be a great crime against humanity," the representative quipped.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • Believing that spirits and ghosts roamed the land on All Hallows' Eve, the ancients Celts wore costumes and masks to avoid detection by these ghosts.
  • On All Hallows' Eve, the Celts would leave food on their doorsteps to keep the hungry ghosts from entering their homes.
  • Black cats were once believed to be witch's assistants who protected their powers.
  • It's not uncommon for people to be afraid of Halloween. In fact, there's even a name for this fear: Samhainophobia.
  • Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange represents the fall harvest, and black is associated with darkness and death.
  • The world's record for biggest pumpkin is currently held by a gigantic gourd weighing a whopping 1,385 pounds!

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
24-11/11
World Origami Days
25-31
International Magic Week
Give Wildlife a Brake! Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Beggars' Night
·        Books For Treats Day
·        Day of the Seven Billion 2011
·        Girl Scout Founder's Day
·        Halloween or All Hallows Eve
·        National Caramel Apple Day
·        National Knock-Knock Jokes Day
·        National Magic Day National
·        Samhain
·        UNICEF Day
~~~~
·        US: Nevada Admission Day (1864; 36th state)

Today’s Events through History  
Boy Scouts of the Philippines formed…1936
Donner party, unable to cross the Donner Pass, construct a winter camp…1846
End of 1st Seminole War…1818
Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem…445BC
Sir Humphrey Davy of London patents miner's safety lamp…1815
Streisand's "People," album goes #1 for 5 weeks…1964
World population reaches 7 billion inhabitants according to the UN…2011

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Anita Kerr, singer composer and producer (The Anita Kerr Singers) is 86
Dan Rather, journalist and news anchor (CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes) is 82
Tom Paxton, folk singer/songwriter (Forest Lawn) is 76
Frank Shorter, Munich Germany, US marathoner (Oly-gold/silver-72, 76) is 66
Ken Wahl, actor is 53
Peter Jackson, film director (Lord of the Rings) is 52
Rob Schneider, actor (SNL, Jamie Coleman-Men Behaving Badly) is 50
Vanilla Ice [Robert Matthew Van Winkle ], rapper (Ice Ice Baby) / actor is 46
Willow Smith, actress is 12

Remembered for being born today
John Keats, London, romantic poet (Ode to a Grecian Urn) [1795-1821]
Chiang Kai-shek, Chekiang Province China, pres of Nationalist China [1887-1975]
Ethel Waters, actress (Beulah)/singer (Stormy Weather) [1896-1977]
Michael Landon, actor (Bonanza, Highway to Heaven) [1936-1991]
Dale Evans, [Frances Butts], Uvalde Tx, cowgirl (Roy Rogers Show) [1912-2001]
Barbara Bel Geddes, actress (Vertigo, Miss Ellie-Dallas, Caught) [1922-2005]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Pieter Willem Botha, President of South Africa…2006…@90
John Houseman, actor (Paper Chase, Fog)…1988…@86
Federico Fellini, director (La Dolce Vita)…stroke…1993…@73
Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India…assassinated by her bodyguards…1984…@66
Rosalind Cash, actress (Emma-Go Tell It on the Mountain)…cancer…19995…@56
Harry Houdini, [Erich Weisz], magician…gangrene…1926…@52
River Phoenix, actor (Stand By Me)…overdose…1993…@23

Brain Teasers
The mathematician made a small fence around himself and declared himself to be on the outside.
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  §
Posted by No comments:

10/30/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 44/ Day: 303   
Today: L 34°…H 45°… Ave. humidity: 50%
Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  46mph  
Average Low: 27° Record Low:  -2° (1971)
Average High: 57° Record High:  72° (1934)

Quote of the Day
 
Today’s Historical Highlights
1st-ever US auto show opens in Madison Square Garden in NYC…1900
1st Methodist church in US initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC)…1768
Clarence Birdseye sells 1st frozen peas…1952
Daniel Cooper patents time clock…1894
Defense Department announces elimination of all segregated regiments…1954
Dr Albert Schweitzer & Gen George C Marshall win Nobel Peace Prize…1953
Helena, Montana's capital, founded…1864
Orson Welles panics a nation with broadcast of "War of the Worlds"…1938
P T Barnum's circus, "Greatest Show on Earth," debuts (NYC)…1873
Queen Isabella of Spain bans violence against Indians…1503
US government announces end of shoe rationing…1945
Walt Disney purchases Lucasfilm Ltd and its rights for Star Wars and Indiana 
     Jones for $4.05b...2012

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
A cloudy day, most of the day, very unusual for this mountain town. It looked like snow was coming most of the day, but too warm, so just had showers on and off from midmorning on with a little grauple just for good measure.
 
Sure sounds to me like the health care marketplace isn’t really a marketplace. Sounds like everyone gets 4 choices and different costs. Good for some, better for others. Not so good for a few.  Truth in advertising needs to be examined.
 
Our small town hall was packed last night and it looks like they were listened to. The City Council is not going pursue selling an open space area near our Buffalo Park. Good deal.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Based on the clue in parentheses, find a four-letter word that can be inserted backwards into the blank to complete a longer word.
Example: di____ve (a defeat)
Answer: dissolve ("A defeat" gives you LOSS, which is placed backwards in the blank: di_SSOL_ve.)
1. s____ing (earth) 2. si____lk (felt reverent) 3. cam____e (chauffeur driven car) 4. s____way (bass; extreme)

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Hurricanes
You're suffering from... Lilapsophobia
If you have an irrational fear of... Ice
You're suffering from... Cryophobia Greek kruos ‘frost’
OK Then…
 
Harper’s Index 
Cost of 50 pork-coated 9mm rounds designed by an Idaho company as a ‘natural deterrent’ in radical Islam: $24.75
Unusual Fact of the Day
M&M’s stands for “Mars & Murrie’s,” the last names of the candy’s founders.


Joke-of-the-day
What tool does Count Dracula use when he repairs his car? A Vamplier
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
WHO STARTS FISTFIGHTS
Any cop will tell you, in a bar fight, the shorter of the two probably started the fight.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
Dogs are overdosing on drug addicts' poop left in Berlin's parks, the German Local wrote from a report in Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.
The city's veterinarians reportedly have noticed an increase in dogs being treated after eating human excrement in the public spaces, which are frequented by junkies who often defecate in the bushes. Tests indicated the pooches -- which were dehydrated, struggled to walk and had a rapid heartbeat -- were under the influence of heroin and other drugs found in the stools.
While fatal cases have been rare, vet Reinhold Sassnau said in the report that canines can be given a vomit-inducing drug to clear the feces, or they can be held at the clinic to recover.
One stateside expert expressed surprise at the report. "Most illicit drugs are going to the urine and not the feces," Karyn Bischoff, a veterinarian specializing in analytical toxicology at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, explained to The Huffington Post. "I wouldn't expect there to be enough [in the feces] to cause a crisis."
Bischoff theorized that perhaps the dogs "found somebody's stash" and ingested it.
There's actually a name for dogs consuming animal waste. It's called coprophagia. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, coprophagia "isn't considered abnormal, just undesirable. Many dogs will also ingest human feces if given the opportunity."
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • The Vatican's railway Station was opened in 1930 and is mostly used for freight.
  • Piazza di San Pietro (St Peter's Square) and the colonnade were designed and built by Bernini (completed in 1667). At 314 meters long and 240 meters wide it is the largest square in Rome. Bernini (with the help of his pupils) designed the 140 statues of saints which decorate the colonnade.
  • The Vatican City issues its own passports; the Pope, cardinals, members of the Swiss guard and clergy being the recipients.
  • The Vatican City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the only site to encompass a whole country.
  • Italians are allowed to donate 8% of their yearly taxes to the Vatican (this is instead of paying it to the Italian Government).
  • In 2007 the Vatican opted to become the first Carbon neutral state by offsetting their carbon footprint with the creation of a forest in Hungary.
  • The Vatican stamps its own coins. The €1 coin which has a portrait of the present Pope is in high demand with collectors.
  • The Vatican museums are over 9 miles (14,5 kilometers) long, and it is said that if you spent only 1 minute admiring each painting it would take you 4 years to complete the circuit!


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
24-11/11
World Origami Days
25-31
International Magic Week
Give Wildlife a Brake! Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Checklist Day
·        Create A Great Funeral Day
·        Devil's Night or Mischief Night
·        Haunted Refrigerator Night
·        National Candy Corn Day

Today’s Events through History  
UN unanimously elects U Thant acting secretary general of the UN…1961
California Angel Nolan Ryan throws fastest recorded pitch (100.9 MPH)...1974

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Dick Gautier, actor (Hymie-Get Smart, Mr Terrific) is 81
Grace Slick, Chicago, rock vocalist (Jefferson Airplane-White Rabbit) is 73
Henry Winkler, Manhattan, actor (Fonz-Happy Days, Night Shift)  is 68
Gavin Rossdale, English heavy metal vocalist and actor (Bush) is 48
Ivanka Trump, model, Trump family is 32

Remembered for being born today
John Adams, 2nd president USA [1735-1826]
Elizabeth Madox Roberts, American poet and author [1881-1941]
Ezra Loomis Pound, Hailey Idaho, poet (Cantos) [1885-1972]
Ruth Gordon, actress (Rosemary's Baby, Harold & Maude) [1896-1985]
Fred Friendly, American journalist [1915-1998]  
Ruth Hussey, actress (Another Thin Man, Phila Story) [1917-2005]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Steve Allen, comedian, author, and composer…auto accident…2000…@78  
Conrad Richter, US writer (Light in the Forest)…1968…@78
Kirby Grant, actor/singer (Sky King)…auto accident…1985…@74
Robert Goulet, entertainer…awaiting lung transplant…2007…@73
Allan Cunningham, Scottish poet and author…1842…@58

Brain Teasers
1. striding (DIRT - s_TRID_ing) 2. sidewalk (AWED - si_DEWA_lk) 3. camomile (LIMO - cam_OMIL_e) 4. speedway (DEEP - s_PEED_way)
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  §
Posted by No comments:

10/29/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
High Wind Advisory
Week: 44/ Day: 302   
Today: L 39°…H 53°… Ave. humidity: 52%
Wind: ave:   20mph; Gusts:  48mph  
Average Low: 27° Record Low:  9° (1971)
Average High: 58° Record High:  72° ()

Quote of the Day


Today’s Historical Highlights
"Hair," premieres in NYC…1967
1st ball point pen goes on sale, 57 years after it is patented…1945
1st trial for witchcraft in Paris…1390
Boris Pasternak refuses Nobel prize for literature…1958
Chet Huntley & David Brinkley, NBC News, team up…1956
Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in New Jersey…2012
Intl Comm of Red Cross forms (Nobel 1917, 1944, 1963)…1863
IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) subway (NYC) opens…1904
Law bans discrimination of sex or marital status in credit application…1974
Mount Hood (Oregon) is named after the British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood…1792
National Museum of American Indian opens (NYC)…1994
National Organization of Women founded…1966
Penguin and Random House merge to form the world's largest publisher…2012
Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I of England….1618
Star of India & other jewels are stolen in NY…1964
United Rep of Tanganyika & Zanzibar renamed United Rep of Tanzania…1964

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
The weather guy said to expect high winds today…and he was right on. I swept my sidewalk this morning to get rid of quite a few dried pine needles. By 3p this afternoon, I had to do it again, as the front walkway looked like no one had lived here for years. My spruce and my bush have long dead pine needles everywhere. This has not been a day to be outside. So I spent the late morning, early afternoon doing laundry. Now the weatherman says we will have snow flurries blowing in, but will be gone for Halloween. Heard that before.
 
Not ready for Prime time. This whole Obamacare thing is getting pretty scary. I got an email newsletter from a group that keeps me informed of changes in Federal employees jobs, benefits, etc. It also includes information for retirees. There are early rumblings in DC that our health insurance plan may become part of the Affordable Care Act. Part of it is the Tea Party people bitching about our ‘special’ circumstances and part is that it will give a much needed boost to the number of people enrolled in the ACA. I start getting Medicare in February of 2014, so whatever happens, it will be my secondary plan. I really don’t want to see a change, but stranger things have happened. I moved from CO Blue Cross to Federal Blue Cross when I started my career back in 1971. Never changed. It has been good for me, I think. I was not sick very often but when I had a major problem, it always paid most of those big bills. No need to get all worried, just yet, as whatever happens will happen. One thing I do know, we don’t get ‘free’ health care and our premiums have been rising just like everyone else. While our employer is paying a large amount of the insurance, we had to give up a whole lot by not being in the private sector and health insurance was one of the perks for giving up so very much.
So our great government spies on just about anybody they want to, whenever they want to, whether friends or enemies, whether private citizens or public officials, whether while working in their jobs or at home with family. Snowden opened this Pandora’s box and now we all have to face up to it, admit it, and find a way to explain why we are doing it. And may be there needs to be a Snowden in other countries to leak who they are spying on. Sure would be interesting to hear that some of our allies are spying on us without the NSA’s knowledge. It is a two way street.
I am being come concerned that our President knows so little about what is happening. He didn’t know that his premier accomplishment, ACA, was not ready for launch and now that his NSA was spying on our allied leader’s private cell phones. He either needs to have some heads roll or fess up that he knew what was going on. He seems to have placed his faith in some very incompetent people.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
There are 10 lit candles on a table. A strong breeze comes and extinguishes 2 of the candles. When you come back later, you see that 1 more has been blown out. To make sure no more flames go out, you shut the window. Assuming the wind doesn't extinguish any more candles and you don't relight the extinguished candles, how many candles do you have left in the end?
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Horses
You're suffering from... Hippophobia Greek hippos 'horse'
If you have an irrational fear of... Hospitals
You're suffering from... Nosocomephobia Greek νοσοκομεῖον (nosokomeion) "hospital" 
OK Then…
 

Harper’s Index 
  • Minimum number of mosques the NYPD has targeted in a clandestine surveillance program: 288
  • Number of terrorism leads the program has generated in six years: 0

Unusual Fact of the Day
Calvin Coolidge's Vice President, Charles Gates Dawes, was also a songwriter. In 1951, a tune he’d composed called “Melody in A Major” became a number one pop hit.

Joke-of-the-day
Did you here about the guy who lost his whole left side? He's alright now!
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
MAKING BEAR GREASE
One black bear yields 12 gallons of bear grease.   
Yeah, It Really Happened

Somewhat Useless Information   
  •  
    • Did you know that the way we use the Celsius’s temperature scale today is not exactly the way that Anders Celsius introduced? It has been know that when Anders Celsius invented the temperature scale, he put 100 degrees as the point for freezing and 0 degrees as the point for boiling. After his death in 1744, another scientist, Carl Linnaeus, changed the scale to the way we read it today.
  • Feng Xiaogang, China’ s great director, gave a speech in the ‘Director of the Year” ceremony and  the word “censorship” was bleeped, as he was trying to refer to China’s censors. The entire sentence was “In the past 20 years, every China director faced a great torment…and that torment is [bleep]“. China’s media and internet world is separate from the rest of the world and Chinese do not have access to all the websites, the western societies have.
  • After the sinking of Titanic, Masabumi Hosono, the only Japanese survivor of the Titanic shipwreck, faced a difficult situation when he returned to his country. The Japanese public, as well as Press and government, ostracized him for saving himself and not going down with the ship!


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
24-11/11
World Origami Days
25-31
International Magic Week
Give Wildlife a Brake! Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Internet Day 1st electronic message 1969
·        National Cat Day
·        National Forgiveness Day
·        World Psoriasis Day
~~~~
·        Turkey: Republic Day (1923)

Today’s Events through History  
Colonel Nasser disbands Moslem Brothership…1954
Ho Chi Minh City ITC Inferno-fire destroys a luxurious department store with 
     1500 shoppers...2002
International day of Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, who declared the first charter 
     of human rights in the world also known as Cyrus Cylinder…529BC
Opera "Don Giovanni" is produced (Prague)…1787
Settlers in Portsmouth, NH advise belligerent Indians that "Queen Anne's War" is over…1712
Supreme Court orders end to all school desegregation "at once"…1969
William Penn lands at what is now Chester Pennsylvania…1682

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Melba Moore, [Beatrice], NYC, singer/actress (Ellis Island) is 68
Richard Dreyfuss, Brooklyn, actor (Jaws, Nuts, Mr Holland's Opus) is 66
Kate Jackson, actress (Rookies, Charlie's Angels) is 65
Winona Ryder, [Horowitz], actress (Heathers, Edward Scissorhand) is 42

Remembered for being born today
[Paul] Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Reich Minister of Information and Propaganda [1897-1945]
Fanny Brice, singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks) [1891-1951]
William Henry Mauldin, NM, political cartoonist (Pulitzer-1945, 59) [1921-2003]
Dominick Dunne, author [ 1925-2009]
Johnny Lewis, actor (Sons of Anarchy) [1983-2012]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Woody Herman, bandleader/composer (Thundering Herds)…1987…@74
Walter Raleigh, English scholar/poet/historian, beheaded…1618…@65ish  
Joseph Pulitzer, American newspaperman…on yacht…1911…@64
Leon Czolcosz, assassin of President McKinley…electrocuted…1901…@28

Brain Teasers
There are 3 candles left in the end. The 7 candles that manage to stay lit will melt down completely. The only candles that remain in the end are the 3 that are extinguished by the wind and therefore stay intact.
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.