26 Apr

 

26 April 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 17 Day 115 \ Ave. Sky Cover 15% \ Visibility 32 miles Flagstaff Today 68° \31°  Wind 14mph \ Gusts 43mph 
Air Quality: Moderate \ High Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 234mi \ Nearest Lightning 177mi
Apr. Averages for Flagstaff: 60° \ 27° \3 Days of moisture
Sunshine and lots of WIND

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

21-5/2    Festival of Ridvan (Baha'i)

22-27    International Wildlife Film Week

22-29    National Dance Week

 22-30    National Park Week

              Administrative Professionals Week

23-29    Disability Book Week

Fibroid Awareness Week

National Infertility Awareness Week

National Karaoke Week

Medical Laboratory Professionals Week

National Crime Victims Rights Week

National Library Week

National Pediatric Transplant Week

National Princess Week

Mule Days

Sky Awareness Week

24-30    National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW)

  National Scoop The Poop Week

24-28   National Playground Safety Week

            National Youth Violence Prevention Week

24-30   Spring Astronomy Week

            World Immunization Week

26-29    American Quilters Society Week

Daily Observations

Administrative Professionals Day or Secretary's Day  Link 
Alien Day  
Alien Day  Link
Audubon Day Link
Denim Day Link
Hug An Australian Day
International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day
International Guide Dogs Day Link 
International Noise Awareness Day  
International Noise Awareness Day  Link 
Lesbian Visibility Day  
Lesbian Visibility Day  Link
National Dissertation Day  Link
National Help A Horse Day
National Library Outreach Day  
National Pretzel Day  Link
Pretzel Day Link
Richter Scale Day
Stop Food Waste Day Link 
Walk at Lunch Day
Walk at Lunch Day Link 
World Intellectual Property Day 
World Intellectual Property Day Link
World Pinhole Photography Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Spring = wind here in the high desert.

I heard an interesting report about ‘Reverse Verification’.  In normal verification one takes one item and proves or disproves it through investigation. In reverse verification, one takes a known established thing and verifies it by simply questioning its validity. This is the blueprint for much of conservative media. Trump and Tucker have been doing this a lot. McCarthy, back in the day, also did this. Reverse verification is all around. Just keep your eyes open when you see/hear it.

I didn’t even know there are “desert elephants”. Thanks, National Geographic for educating me. Not many are left, but those that are around are fascinating. They are the same species as the African Savana elephants but have made adjustments to the desert life.

In old-time USA, everyone could have an opinion. In today’s America, there are way too many who think their opinion is the only one that matters. Sad.

Harry Belafonte gave us great music and advocacy during his 96 years. RIP

Enjoy…

Toys Remembered…

Simon

In the 1960s, Ralph Baer, a military engineer, would spend his free time developing early video games, dreaming of a system that would allow gameplay on a television. He eventually succeeded and in 1971, Baer and his employer Sanders Associates received the first-ever video game patent for the Magnavox Odyssey, which went on sale in 1972.

In 1976, Baer, who was now working as a consultant for toy company Marvin Glass and Associates, took inspiration from an Atari arcade game called Touch Me, where players had to repeat a bright light and annoyingly loud musical sequence. Over the next two years, Baer worked on a portable game with four pleasing bugle horn notes. Originally called Follow Me, the new game was licensed by Milton Bradley as Simon, after the children’s game Simon Says.

In 1978, Simon debuted at the disco palace Studio 54 in New York City. That Christmas season, stores reported long lines of people hoping to nab one of the highly desired machines, despite its original price of $25 (around $90 in 2022). While Simon could only play one sequence, was bulky, and required many D batteries, it was a huge step forward in home electronic gaming. The popularity of Simon was boosted by its coincidental connection to Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. During the science-fiction classic’s finale, aliens communicate using a sequence of musical notes and lights on their spaceship that resembles Simon’s gameplay.

By the end of the 1980s, 10 million Simons were sold despite many knock-offs of the original game entering production. Newer versions of the game, including Simon Optix, where users wear a virtual reality-style headset to play, have brought the game to new audiences — but the retro appeal of the original remains. 

Moon Facts…

The Moon is not actually round.

While it might appear as a perfect sphere all the way from here, the shape of the Moon is closer to that of a lemon. Believed to be a piece of ancient Earth that broke off, the forming Moon was susceptible to the tidal forces and gravity, which pulled on the lunar crust, heating it up and stretching it at the poles that lined up with Earth. This resulted in two small bulges at either end, making it similar to a lemon shape.

State Names Origins…

Florida

The Sunshine State is justly named in part after the bright and colorful plant life that can be found throughout the Florida peninsula. In April 1513, famous Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León made his first European expedition to Florida, landing near what is now St. Augustine (America’s oldest city). It’s believed that the region’s spectacular plant life and the fact that the date was very close to Easter (or Pascua in Spanish) inspired the name Pascua Florida after one of Spain’s celebrations of the religious holiday, the Feast of Flowers. Every year, on April 2, Florida celebrates de León’s discovery with its official state day, Pascua Florida Day. You don’t need to wait until then to experience Florida’s beauty, however, as its stunning flora and unique natural sites like the Everglades can be enjoyed year round.

Historical Events

v 1954 – Polio vaccine trials began.
v April 26, 1968 Birthday (fictional) Lorelai Gilmore, TV Mom
v 1986 – A nuclear reactor accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, created the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

Birthdays Today

@93 – Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-German politician, Nazi (d. 1987)
90 – Carol Burnett, American actress, singer, producer
“If someone tells you that you cannot do something and you believe it, they are right.” Carol Burnett @85 – Charles Richter, American inventor, seismologist (d. 1985)
“Don’t wait for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations.”– Charles Francis Richter
85 – Duane Eddy, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor
83 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian singer-songwriter, producer
“I think it would be stupid for us to try and tell people who are dancing in a discotheque about the problems of the world. That is the very thing they have come away to avoid.”– Giorgio Moroder
@79 – Bobby Rydell, American singer, actor (d. 2022; pneumonia)
60 – Jet Li, Chinese-Singaporean martial artist, actor
“I wish heroes didn’t exist. Whenever we need a hero, it’s because there’s a problem that needs to be solved; it’s because two groups of people, or two countries, are hurting one another, so a hero is needed to save us. If everyone were at peace if everyone were happy, why would we need heroes? The world is better off without heroes.”– Jet Li
58 – Kevin James, American comedic actor
53 – Melania Trump, Slovene-American model; 45th First Lady
46 – Tom Welling, American actor
43 – Jordana Brewster, Panamanian-American actress
43 – Channing Tatum, American actor