11-27-14



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Almanac: Week: 48 \ Day: 331 
November Averages: 51° \ 22°



Holiday Observances Today:
Pins and Needles Day
Thanksgiving - Eat, drink, and be thankful
National Day of Listening  
National Day of Mourning

Observances This Week:
21-27 
National Farm-City Week: 
24-30

GERD Awareness Week; National Bible Week; National Game & Puzzle Week; Better Conversation Week; Church/State Separation Week; National Family Week
• • • •
Quote of the Day



Historical Highlights for Today
1807 - Portuguese Royal Family leaves Lisbon to escape from Napoleonic troops
1817 - US soldiers attack Florida Indian village, beginning Seminole War
1826 - John Walker invents friction match in England
1870 - NY Times dubs baseball "The National Game"
1895 - Alfred Nobel's will establishes Nobel Prizes
1896 - "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Thus Spake Zarathustra) debuts in Frankfurt
1910 - NY's Penn Station opens as world's largest railway terminal
1911 - Audience throws vegetables at actors for 1st recorded time in US
1924 - In New York City, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held
1948 - Honda 1st opens in America
1954 - Alger Hiss is released from prison after serving 44 months for perjury
1965 - 1st French satellite launched; France becomes 3rd nation in space
1970 - Pope Paul VI wounded in chest in Philippines by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest
1973 - Senate votes 92-3 to confirm Gerald R Ford as VP
2005 - 1st partial human face transplant is completed in Amiens, France
2012 - Eurozone announces that it will make loans of 43.7 billion euros to Greece
2013 - "Frozen", the highest-grossing animated film of all time, is released
• • • •
  Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today


My Rambling Thoughts
Quiet day, a little warmer, nice to be able to take a little walk without freezing.
I received many nice notes/thank you-s for the e-cards I sent out for Thanksgiving. That is nice. I am ready for a good day tomorrow. The turkey breast is thawed, all the necessary stuff is purchased. Should be a nice day. I am looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving. I do enjoy eating with others on this holiday, but things didn’t work out this year for that, and this will be a nice change.
I do have lots planned for tomorrow, besides eating. I plan to super clean the bathrooms and kitchen. Then I will put away the fall decorations I have in the living room and bring out the Christmas tree and decorations. I am ready…the last time I put decorations outside was our deep snow winter and many of the decorations and lights were out until April. Looks like a much drier year, so I’ll put them out. I don’t think I’ll turn them on until Friday night, but we’ll see.
It was educational to watch the various protest marches on TV last night. It now appears that Ferguson has ignited many who have dealt with police who appear to over-react to a situation. I personally have not experienced that, but sadly I have been around Natives who are treated differently by police…usually a lot more questions, a more arrogant/condescending attitude, and I’ve never seen a ‘warning’ given, it is always a ticket. After hearing the Ferguson cop, he too appeared to have a few preconceived ideas about the black teenager he killed. Hoping for peace tonight.
One of my guilty pleasures is Dancing with the Stars, and last night’s finale was very good. I do DVR it so I don’t have to watch the many, many commercials and some of the ‘practice’ sessions.  
• • • •
Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
What same three letters fit into the following five combinations to form 5 words?

E _ _ _ P
_ _ _ C K
S _ _ _ S H
L I _ _ _ D
T E _ _ _ L A

           
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today




           
OK Then…


• • • •
Paraphernalia 4 the Brain:     
Actor Facts…
¤ In their early careers, Sylvester Stallone and Jackie Chan both took part in porn.
¤ Peter Cullen, the voice actor who voices Optimus Prime, also voices Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.

Flagstaff, AZ History…
75 YEARS AGO
¤At their regular meeting this Monday the City Council issued $44,096.19 in paving bonds. They will be sold within a few days. C. T. Pulliam, City Clerk.
¤Jesse B. Wright, City Engineer who has been surveying in the vicinity of Old Town Springs, reports that a number of fences have been built where the streets should be. The City Marshall has been requested to see which are obstructing traffic and get them moved back to the lot lines.
           
Harper’s Index…
Amount a couple in Sarasota, FL, earning $62,040 will receive in federal health care subsides under the ACA: $8,736
Amount a couple earning $62,041 will receive: $0
           
Pilgrim Fact…
Rough Start
During their first winter in Plymouth, about half of the Pilgrims died of disease, starvation, and the harsh weather. The Pilgrims buried their dead in unmarked graves by night to hide their thinning numbers from neighboring Indian tribes.
Success
After a difficult first winter, the Pilgrims were able to eventually have some success in planting and hunting. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about. However, unlike groups who later created colonies in New England, like the Puritans, the Pilgrims were unable to maintain lasting economic success. Early in the 1630s, some prominent members of the original group left the colony of Plymouth to found new communities.

Rules of Thumb…
STARTING A FIRE
One stick can't burn, two sticks won't burn, three sticks might burn, four sticks will burn, and five sticks make a nice fire.          

Unusual Fact of the Day…
For years, the pharmaceutical company Bayer held the trademark for the word “heroin” and sold the drug as a cough and headache remedy.
• • • •
Joke-of-the-day
A man was in a hurry to meet his friend down at the nearby lake. On the way down there, he was stopped by a man fully dressed in red. The man pulled over, and the red man asked, "Hi, I'm the red jerk of the highway. Have anything to eat?"
The man smiled and handed him a sandwich. He continued down the highway and was yet again pulled over by a man fully dressed in green. He stopped and the guy in green said,
"Hi, I'm the green jerk of the highway. Have anything to drink?" Without smiling, the man handed the green guy his coke.
He started off again and started to speed down the highway. Yet again he was stopped by a guy fully dressed in blue. Sighing, he pulled over and pulled down his window, leant out and said,
"Let me guess. You're the blue jerk of the highway. What do you want?" "Registration and license please" came the reply.     

Yep, It Really Happened
SALEKHARD, Russia (UPI)
Santa's crew may soon be presented with a job opportunity during the off-season. Officials in northwest Siberia said police could soon be deputizing reindeer to help chase down criminals in the region. Irina Pimkina of the Yamalo-Nenets region's Interior Ministry said police in the area, which is located in Russia's Arctic tundra, often find themselves at a disadvantage when chasing down local criminals, who often employ reindeer as getaway rides.
"Of course we have snowmobiles in service, but one should understand that a machine is a machine," Pimkina told the Izvestia newspaper. "A snowmobile can break down or get stuck in the tundra, but the deer will run at all times."
The deer would join the animal ranks of about 150 donkeys and mules employed by the Russian Defense Ministry to serve in mountain brigades. The legislation governing the animals also allows for reindeer to be used for law-enforcement purposes. Police in neighboring Finland have been using reindeer in recent years to patrol forests in Lapland.    

Somewhat Useless Information
¤ TV dinners have Thanksgiving to thank. In 1953, someone at Swanson misjudged the number of frozen turkeys it would sell that Thanksgiving -- by 26 TONS! Some industrious soul came up with a brilliant plan: Why not slice up the meat and repackage with some trimmings on the side? Thus, the first TV dinner was born!
¤ There are four places in the U.S. named Turkey. Louisiana's Turkey Creek is the most populous, with a whopping 440 residents. There's also Turkey, Texas; Turkey, North Carolina; and Turkey Creek, Arizona. Oh, let's not forget the two townships in Pennsylvania: the creatively named Upper Turkeyfoot and Lower Turkeyfoot!
¤ When Abe Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, it was thanks to the tireless efforts of a magazine editor named Sarah Josepha Hale. Her other claim to fame? She also wrote the nursery rhyme, "Mary had a Little Lamb."
¤ If Ben Franklin had his way, the turkey would be our national bird. An eagle, he wrote in a letter to his daughter, had "bad moral character." A turkey, on the other hand, was a "much more respectable bird."
¤ Back in the day, the Europeans took a liking to the guinea fowls imported to the continent. Since the birds were imported by Turkish merchants, the English called them turkeys. Later, when the Spaniards came to America, they found a bird that tasted like those guinea fowls. When they were sent to Europe, the English called these birds "turkeys" as well.
 ¤ Only male turkeys, called toms, gobble. Females, called hens, cackle.   

• • • •
Today’s Events through History
1703 – 1st Eddystone Lighthouse, UK, is destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703
1839 - American Statistical Association organizes in Boston
1868 - Battle at Washita River, Oklahoma. General Custer attacks group of Native American Indians, their chief Black Kettle dies in the attack
1901 - Army War College forms in Washington DC
1915 - Private Albert Mountain Horse is buried in Fort Macleod, Alberta. He is the only Blood Indian to go to the front lines in World War One. 
1939 - Maxwell Anderson's "Key Largo" premieres in NYC
2013 - Tiger Woods is named PGA Tour's player of the year for the 11th time

Birthday’s Today
Kathryn Bigelow, director, producer, writer (The Hurt Locker) is 63
Bill Nye, the Science Guy, TV Host is 59
Caroline Kennedy-Schlossberg, attorney, JFK & Jackie's daughter is 57
Robin Simone Givens, [Mrs Mike Tyson] NYC, (Darlene-Head of the Class) is 50
Erik Menendez, accused of killing his parents (Menendez Brothers) is 44
Jaleel White, actor (Steve Urkel-Family Matters) is 38

Remembered for being born today
Anders Celsius, astronomer (proposed the Celsius temperature scale) (1701-1744)
Robert R. Livingston, Founding Father, delivered oath to Washington (1746-1813)
Charles A Beard, American historian (American Continentalism) (1874-1948)
James Agee, American author (African Queen) (1909-1955)
"Buffalo" Bob Smith, TV host (Howdy Doody) (1917-1998)
Bruce Lee, [Lee Yuen Kam], karate star/actor (Green Hornet) (1940-1973)
Eddie Rabbitt, American singer (1941-1998)
Jimi Hendrix, rock guitarist (Purple Haze), (1942-1970)
James Avery, actor (Fresh Prince of Bell Air), (1945-2013)
• • • •
Historical Obits Today
David White, actor (Larry Tate-Bewitched), heart attack, 1990, @74
Clement Studebaker, automobile manufacturer, 1901, @70
Harvey Milk, 1st openly gay person to be elected to public office, assassinated @48
"Baby Face" Nelson, [Lester Gillis], gangster, shot by FBI, 1934, @26
• • • •

Brain Teasers Answers
QUI.

EQUIP
QUICK
SQUISH
LIQUID
TEQUILA

• • • •
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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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.