4/9/13

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 15/ Day: 99   Today: H 46°…L 34°

Wind: ave:   17mph; Gusts:  63mph  Ave. humidity:  %

*Averages: H  56° L 27° Records: H 78°(1989)…L 14°(1999)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

"TV Guide" publishes 1st issue…1953

1st public art exhibition (Palais-Royale, Paris)…1667

1st tax-supported public library (Peterborough, NH)…1883

Bob Hope's 1st TV appearance…1950

Robert Jenkins loses an ear, starts war between Britain & Spain…1831

Robert La Salle claims lower Mississippi (Louisiana) for France…1682

Wash DC march supporting 1973 Roe vs Wade decision (allow abortions)…1989

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts   

What a spring day…started out clear but by 8am the wind had arrived with force…reaching peak gusts over 60mph. That wind brought rain, hail, sleet, and finally snow. Nothing is sticking, but the wind continues. So glad I didn’t have to go anywhere today. Listened to the wind, watched the pine trees shake and bend. Heard the tiny snowballs hit the windows. Checked to be sure there was at least some bird seed for the creatures who had nowhere to go. All is good as this too will end, someday. Checked FB and found that I-40 was closed from Flagstaff to Winslow (east) due to the high winds. Checked Weatherbug to find out that we are under a ‘high wind advisory’.

Checked CNN and found out that the Iron Lady has passed. Didn’t realize she had dementia, much like her good friend Ronnie. Such a tragic way to spend the twilight years. Then the news that Annette Funicello, an early Mouseketeer, also passed. I knew she had MS but didn’t realize she had been in a coma for several years. Again, a tragic way to spend the twilight years.

Some of the political cartoons about N. Korea are quite funny, as long as we don’t end up in a war. My favorite so far is Kim Jung Um holding a floppy disk and saying, ‘this is our secret weapon that will destroy America’. More and more visitors and escaped residents are showing up on the News channels to talk about how bad it really is. So sad that the people of N. Korea put up with this.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

When you curtail a word, you remove the last letter and still have a valid word. You will be given clues for the two words, longer word first.
Example: Begin -> Heavenly body Answer: The words are Start and Star.

1. Greeting word -> Hades; place of torment 2. Company symbol -> Tree trunk piece; written record 3. Large stringed instrument -> Small room; prison 4. Vote against; forbid -> Pet doctor 5. Jewellery or stone carved in relief -> Arrived; moved toward something 6. Champion; type of sandwich -> That woman 7. Rope with a sliding loop at one end -> An unmarried young woman 8. Exhibition of cowboy skills -> Was carried on the back of an animal

*****

Hint

The words start with these letters:

1. H

2. L

3. C

4. V

5. C

6. H

7. L

8. R

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiJx1Hbn_KM

• Rockabilly Session; Carl Perkins & Friends

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq6fMLzIfKU

Origins of Phrases

A friend in need is a friend indeed

Meaning

Almost always it is the origin of a phrase or saying that requires the most research; the meaning being well understood. This phrase is interesting because there are various interpretations of its meaning.

Firstly, is it 'a friend in need is a friend indeed' or 'a friend in need is a friend in deed'? Secondly, is it 'a friend (when you are) in need' or 'a friend (who is) in need'? If the former, then the phrase means: 'someone who helps you when you are in need is a true friend'. If the latter, it is 'someone who needs your help becomes especially friendly in order to obtain it'.

So, that gives us four options:

1. A friend, (when you are) in need, is indeed a true friend. ('indeed')

2. A friend, (when you are) in need, is someone who is prepared to act to show it ('in deed')

3. A friend, (who is) in need, is indeed a true friend. ('indeed')

4. A friend, (who is) in need, is someone who is prepared to act to show it ('in deed')

The original meaning can be resolved to some degree by the documentary evidence - see below. Nevertheless, there is no unambiguous right or wrong here and this is a phrase that we probably infer the meaning of from context when we first hear it. Whichever of the above options we initially opt for will cement our understanding of the phrase; probably forever, if the vehemence of the mutually contradictory mails I get on this subject are anything to go by.

Origin

A version of this proverb was known by the 3rd century BC. Quintus Ennius wrote: 'Amicu certus in re incerta cernitur'. This translates from the Latin as 'a sure friend is known when in difficulty'.

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations lists it as existing in English from the 11th century. The earliest version I can find is from Caxton's Sonnes of Aymon, 1489:

"It is sayd, that at the nede the frende is knowen."

The morality play Everyman also contains similar lines. The play's date is uncertain and scholars place it as 'late 15th century', which could be before Caxton's work:

Fellowship: Sir, I say as I will do in deed.

Everyman: Then be you a good friend at need;

By the 16th century, when the proverb was recorded in John Heywood's A Dialogue Conteynyng Prouerbes and Epigrammes, 1562:

Prove [i.e. test] thy friend ere [before] thou have need; but, in-deed

A friend is never known till a man have need.

Before I had need, my most present foes

Seemed my most friends; but thus the world goes

So, what does that evidence indicate in terms of original meaning? Ennius' text is ambiguous and, being a later translation, can't be considered the original source of the phrase in English. Caxton's version is also unhelpful. The Everyman play is clearer in its intent and supports interpretation 2. Heywood's verse can't be considered the original meaning as the other citations predate it. It is worth considering though as Heywood was an indefatigable recorder of proverbs as understood in England in the 16th century. It is safe to say that, whatever view we have now, in 1562 either 1 or 2 was the accepted meaning.

Neither 3 nor 4 appears to be supported by early texts and, as they aren't widely held today either, it seems safe to discount them. On the balance of evidence, interpretation 2 has the best claim to be the original meaning of the phrase, i.e. 'a friend, when you are in need, is someone who is prepared to prove their friendship by their deeds' .

A search of web-based material shows that 'a friend in need is a friend indeed' has about twice the public currency as 'a friend in need is a friend in deed'. Those who stand up for the latter are probably correct, but they will have a hard time changing the mind of the 'indeed' contingent.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Amount the US Dept. of Education spent on loan collection and guarantees last year: $1,400,000,000

Picture of the Day: Rainforest Medicines

Unusual Fact of the Day

Before aspirin was produced, ailing patients chewed the bark of the white willow tree (from which aspirin is derived) to help alleviate fever and pain.

Joke-of-the-day

During the initial space flights, Nasa discovered that biro pens didn’t work under zero gravity conditions. To beat the problem, Nasa spent 6 years and $2 million in designing a pen for use in space. The pen would work under zero gravity conditions due to the pressurized ink inside, it would work under sub zero conditions, underwater, on glass and virtually any surface known to man. The Russians used a pencil.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

 START WITH YOUR CHARACTERS

Always figure out who your characters are before you figure out your plot. You can follow a good character through a bad plot, but you can't make a good plot out of a bad character.

Yeah, It Really Happened

Sandy, Utah Investigators say a woman went to the Extended Stay America hotel to meet a man. When she knocked on the hotel room door, the meeting turned into an assault.

So my first question is, hooker?

"A female from the room exits, starts assaulting the female victim," explained Lt. Victor Quezada of the Sandy City Police Department. "They pull her into the room and start accusing her of some things that have happened in the past."

Lt. Quezada said the attacker pulled out a silver handgun and fired at the victim's head, narrowly missing. The woman and man in the hotel room then fled in a pickup truck. The victim followed and jumped into the back of the attackers' truck bed, trying to retrieve her purse.

"The suspect, female, sees her in the back of the truck and takes two more shots at her," Quezada said.

The victim told police the man stopped the truck and beat her up again. When she finally jumped out, the truck was moving.

...what was in that purse???

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Otters hold hands while sleeping so they don't float apart.

• Norway once knighted a penguin. The penguin's full name is Colonel-in-Chief Sir Nils Olav.

• Blind people smile despite having never seen someone smile before. It is just a natural human reaction.

• There's a competition in Sweden called Kaninhoppning, or rabbit show jumping.

• If you fake laugh long enough, you'll actually start to laugh really hard.

• A chemical called oxytocin is released when people cuddle, helping to heal physical wounds.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

4-10

Testicular Cancer Awareness Week*Hate Week

7-13

National Animal Control Appreciation Week

National Blue Ribbon Week
National Public Health Week

National Week of the Ocean
National Window Safety Week: 7
American Indian Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      

Equal Pay Day 
National Be Kind To Lawyers Day
National Cherish An Antique Day
National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
Appomattox Day Lee and 26,765 troops, surrender
Jenkins Ear Day
Winston Churchill Day
Name Yourself Day

Baby Massage Day
Jenkins's Ear Day
National Cherish an Antique Day
Winston Churchill Day
Tunisia: Martyr's Day

Today’s Events through History  

6th Space Shuttle Mission-Challenger 1 returns to Earth…1983

Baghdad falls to U.S. forces resulting in widespread looting…2003

Colorado Rockies 1st home game & 1st victory, 11-4 over Mont Expos…1993

Queen Mother funeral at Westminster Abbey…2002

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Hugh Hefner, [Marston], magazine publisher (Playboy) is 87

Paul Krassner, comic strip cartoonist (MAD Magazine)/founder (Yippies) is 81

Tom Lehrer, parody/folk singer (That Was The Week That Was) is 85

In their 70’s

Michael Learned, actress (Olivia-Waltons, Nurse) is 74

In their 50’s

Dennis Quaid, actor (Big Easy, Dreamscape, Right Stuff) is 59

In their 40’s

Cynthia Nixon, actress (Addams Family Values, Pelican Brief) is 47

Under 30

Kristen Stewart, American actress (Bella Swan-The Twilight Saga) is 23

Remembered for being born today

Theobald Boehm, German inventor of the modern flute [1794-1881]

Ward Bond, Denver Colo, actor (Seth-Wagon Trains) [1903-1960]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, designer of 1st transatlantic steamer [1806-1859]

J William Fulbright, (Sen-D-Ark) [1905-1995]

Earl "Curly" Lambeau, NFL coach (GB Packers) [1898-1965]

Carl Perkins, singer/songwriter (Blue Suede Shoes) [1932-1998]

Paul Robeson, singer (Old Man River)/actor/footballer [1898-1976]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Francis Bacon, English statesman and philosopher…pneumonia…1626…at 65

Brook Benton [Benjamin Franklin Peay], singer (Just a Matter of Time)… 
     meningitis…1988…at 56

Simon Fraser, 12th baron Lovat Jacobite, last man beheaded in England…1747…at 80

Answer: Brain Teasers

1. Hello -> Hell 2. Logo -> Log 3. Cello -> Cell 4. Veto -> Vet 5. Cameo -> Came 6. Hero -> Her 7. Lasso -> Lass 8. Rodeo -> Rode

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  §