12-08-11

FYI: Blue text is a link… click on any blue text for more information!

Today’s “Geez”

• 1926 - Disappearance of Agatha Christie for 11 days after learning husband was unfaithful
• 1980 - "Bravo" network premieres on cable TV
• 1977 - 43rd Heisman Trophy Award: Earl Campbell, Texas (RB)
• 1895 - Battle at Amba Alagi: Ethiopian emperor Menelik II drives Italian general Baratieri's out
• 1776 - George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from NJ
• 1863 - Pres Lincoln offers amnesty for confederate deserters
• 1931 - Coaxial cable patented

♪♪ Happy Birthday To:♪♪                       

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Got out early do some serious gift buying…list of people…check…list of ideas…check…stores to hit…check. I got a lot accomplished. We have three good ‘gift’ stores in a strip mall—World Market, Marshalls, and Tuesday Morning. All got my business today. A little shocked when the 20 something clerk asked for my birthday when I was buying some wine at World Market. Since I don’t look under 30, under 40, under 50 I figure it is none of their business. Besides they have my birthday in their friggin computer as I am a ‘member’ and they send me a discount sale card every year for my birthday. I do understand that underage drinking is a problem; I understand that stores are just protecting themselves, but I don’t live in fear. Some common sense needs to be taught to the computer or the clerks. The poor guy just stood there. I finally said—that’s OK I don’t need the wine. Suddenly, for some unexplained reason, he typed in a number, I got my wine, he got my money. All liquor in AZ can be purchased at grocery stores, drug stores, big box stores, and other places. I really prefer the CO way…where there are real discount liquor stores—like Harry Hoffman’s and Apple Jacks. In CO, most liquor is only sold in liquor stores, although I think beer and wine are now available everywhere. They stay in business because their business is liquor and to keep customers, they have big sales. Stores in AZ don’t ever really have outstanding prices on liquor.

Our retirement group is having lunch at a fancy bistro tomorrow. It is a converted turn-of-the-century home in downtown Flag…a very nice restaurant that has great food.  It should be a good time.

NPR Sunday Puzzle…(answers at the end of post)

The four rarest letters in the alphabet are J, Q, X and Z. You are given a familiar word and must change one letter in it to a J, Q, X or Z to get another familiar word. For example, given the clue "enact," the answer would be "exact."

1.     Gauge:

2.     Insure:

3.     Guest:

4.     Contest:

5.     Panamas:

6.     Coating:

7.     Tweeters:

8.     Election:

9.     Convey:

10.  Empress:

11.  Protector:

12.  Suite:

13.  Quarto:

14.  Function:

15.  Tenon:

16.  Stargate:

Wuzzles…What concept or phrase do these suggest?

   

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• If you are prone to car or bus travel sickness, look out preferably forward, and do not read. Car sickness happens because your brain gets confused by the discrepancy in information coming in from your eyes and your motion sensing. When both information streams match there is no travel sickness.

Hmmmmm          

• Chances that a Russian believes that the sun revolves around the earth: 1 in 3

Somewhat Useless Information   

• A NASCAR fan once sent over half a million e-mails to FOX Network because they aired a baseball game instead of the scheduled race.
• According to Donald Farr, editor of Super Ford Magazine, "Memory Lane Museum has the largest private collection of retired NASCAR and vintage race cars on display in existence."

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

NEW BALTIMORE, MI - A Michigan woman may not have expected that new-car smell when she bought a used vehicle but says she certainly didn't expect the odor of a dead body. In a lawsuit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court, Margarita Salais of New Baltimore alleges the dealership's staff sold her a 2006 Ford Expedition last March without telling her it once held a dead body,

The Detroit News reported Monday. "They bought the car while it was still cold out in March," her attorney, Dani Liblang, told the News. "The warmer it got, the worse the smell got." Salais said when she brought the car back to the dealership someone told her the smell came from a dead animal. She said she filed a claim with her insurance company, whose investigators determined odor was of human origin.

The insurance company later learned the car had been stolen three times, something Salais said the dealer also failed to tell her. Her efforts to return the car were fruitless and she now seeks $25,000 plus court fees, the News said.

Guffaw…or at least smile     

During a robbery, one of the robber’s mask slid down.

He looked at a man and asked. Did you see my face?

The man said yes! The robber shot him.

Then he asked a woman. Did you see my face?

She said no, but my husband over there did.

~*~ BONUS

A man and an ostrich walk into a restaurant. The waitress asks, "What will it be?"

The man replied "a burger and a coke." "And you?" "I'll have the same," the ostrich replies. They finish their meal and pay. "That will be $4.50," The man reached into his pocket and pulled out the exact amount. They do this every day till Friday

"The usual?" she asked. "No, today is Friday. I'll have steak and a coke."

"Me too." says the ostrich. They finish and pay. "That will be $10.95"

The man reached in and pulls out the exact amount again just like all week.

The waitress was dumb-founded. "How is it that you always have the exact amount?"

"Well," says the man. "I was cleaning my attic and I found a dusty lamp. I rubbed it and a genie appeared."

“Wow!" said the waitress. "What did you wish for?"

 "I asked that when I needed to pay for something, the exact amount would appear in my pocket."

"Amazing! Most people would ask for a million dollars. But what's with the ostrich?" "Well," said the man. "I also asked for a chick with long legs."

Searchin’ “YouTube” I found        

Marty Robbins appearance Johnny Cash show 1970

Daybook Information        

…Happening This Week:

4-10

• Clerc-Gallaudet Week: 

6-12 

• National Handwashing Awareness Week 

Today Is                                                                      

• Catholic: Feast of the Immaculate Conception [1854 - Pope Pius IX proclaims Immaculate Conception, makes Mary, free of Original Sin]
• Take It In The Ear Day

~*~

• Uzbekistan: Constitution Day (1992)

Today’s Events                                                             

Arts

1813 - Ludwig von Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A, premieres

1952 - 1st TV acknowledgement of pregnancy (I Love Lucy)

1965 - Abe Burrows' "Cactus Flower," premieres in NYC  

1967 - Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" album is released

Athletes

1951 - AL alters its restrictions on night games, adopting NL's suspended game rule & lifting its ban on lights for Sunday games

1955 - Brooklyn catcher Roy Campanella wins his 3rd MVP Award

1956 - 16th Olympic games close at Melbourne, Australia

1988 - Knick's set NBA record of 11 3-pointers & sink Bucks, 113-109

1994 - Darryl Strawberry indicted on tax evasion charges

Business

1792 - 1st cremation in US, Henry Laurens

1962 - 114-day newspaper strike begins in NYC

Education

1936 - NAACP files suit to equalize salaries of black & white teachers

Indigenous People

1780: John Sevier, and volunteers from North Carolina, soundly defeat the Chickamauga Cherokee in a fight at Boyd's Creek, TN

1829:In his first "State of the Union Address, President Andrew Jackson will state his goal to remove all Indians in the southeastern part of the United States to lands west of the Mississippi. A law to that effect would pass Congress on May 28, 1830.

Politics [International]

1659 - Mexican border town Ciudad Juárez is founded by Fray García de San Francisco

1948 - Jordan annexs Arabic Palestine

1987 - Occupied Palestinians start "intefadeh" (uprising) against Israel

1998 - Tadjena massacre: 81 people are killed by armed groups in Algeria

 2004 - The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations

2008 - Kirsty Williams elected as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, first female leader of a political party in Wales

Politics [US]

1863 - Abraham Lincoln announces plan for Reconstruction of South

1902 - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr became Associate Justice on Supreme Court

1953 - Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the Atoms for Peace speech

Religion

1863 - Jesuit church, Church of La Compana, Santiago Chile catches fire, 2,500 die in panic

1935 - The Japanese military police launches a violent suppression of the religious sect Oomoto,  and arrest its leader Onisaburo Deguchi

Science

1909 - Bird banding society found

2010 - With the second launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Artists: [Authors, Composers]

1832 - Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author and Nobel laureate 

    65 BC - Horace, Roman poet 

1906 - Richard Llewellyn, Welch novelist (How Green Was My Valley)

1943 - Jim Morrison, American poet, singer (The Doors: Light My Fire, The End)

1894 – Elzie C. Segar, American cartoonist (Popeye)

1894 - James (Grover) Thurber, humorist (Men, Women & Dogs)

Athletes

Garvin Alston, pitcher (Colorado Rockies) is 40

Entertainers [Actors, Singers…]

Gregg Allman, guitarist/vocalist (Allman Brothers Band) is 64

Kim Basinger, actor is 58

1936 - David Carradine, actor (Kung Fu, Mean Streets)

1911 - Lee J Cobb, actor (Virginian, 12 Angry Men, On the Waterfront)

1925 - Sammy Davis Jr, singer/dancer/actor (Ocean's 11, Candy Man)

Teri Hatcher, actor is 47

1937 - James MacArthur, actor (Danny Williams-Hawaii 5-0)

Nick Nolte, actor (Teachers, 48 Hours, North Dallas 40) is 71

Maximilian Schell, Austrian actor/director (Odessa File, Julia) is 81

Sinéad O'Connor, Irish musician is 45

1928 - James E "Jimmy" Smith, US jazz/organist (Walk on the Wild Side)

1933 - Flip Wilson, [Clerow], comedian (Flip Wilson Show)

Entrepreneurs & Educators

1903 - Adele Simpson, fashion designer (Neiman-Marcus Award-1946)

Political Figures

1626 - Christina, queen of Sweden who abdicated after becoming Catholic

Ann Coulter, American author, political commentator, and attorney is 50

Scientists & Theologians

1765 - Eli Whitney, inventor (Cotton Gin)

Today’s Obits                                                           

1995 - Mikki Doyle, journalist, dies at 79

1980 - John Lennon, assassinated by Mark David Chapman at 40

1978 - Golda Meir, Israel's PM (1969-74), dies in Jerusalem at 80

1983 - Slim Pickins, actor (Blazing Saddles), dies after brain surgery at 64

1982 - Marty Robbins, country singer, dies after heart surgery complications at 57

1988 - Anne Seymour, actress (Misty, Chevy Mystery Show), dies at 79

1992 - William Shawn, US editor-in-chief (New Yorker, 1952-87), dies at 85

1903 - Herbert Spencer, British engineer/philosopher, dies at 83

Answers                                                                                                                                            

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Gauge: gauze

2.     Insure: injure

3.     Guest: quest

4.     Contest: context

5.     Panamas: pajamas

6.     Coating: coxing

7.     Tweeter: tweezers

8.     Election: ejection

9.     Convey: convex

10.  Empress: express

11.  Protector: projector

12.  Suite: quite

13.  Quarto: quartz

14.  Function: junction

15.  Tenon: xenon

16.  Stargate: stargaze

Wuzzle

• Bored stiff
• Eyed up and down
• Dead Sea Scrolls

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’S ALL FOR NOW     §

12-07-11

FYI: Blue text is a link… click on any blue text for more information!

Today’s “Geez”

• 1836 - Martin Van Buren elected 8th president
• 1939 - Lou Gehrig, 36, is elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
• 1941 - Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (a date that will live in infamy)
• 1945 - Microwave oven patented
• 1952 - KKTV TV channel 11 in Colorado Spgs-Pueblo, CO (CBS) 1st broadcast
• 1986 - Pres Jean-Claude Duvalier flees Haiti

♪♪ Happy Birthday To:♪♪                       

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A little on the chilly side again today but not to stop me from running some errands. Made a couple of stops, picked up some Christmas gifts, tried to buy gas at Sam’s but gave up after trying twice around noon. Each line had four cars waiting for pumps with a car at each of the pumps. Sam’s has the best price by about a dime/gallon so I’ll try again the next time I go by.

Our winter cold weather is expected to continue. Last night was -18 in Bellemont, just outside Flagstaff. Our local weather guy said Flagstaff was protected by the peaks and that the really cold was out in the flatter areas. Sure glad I live at the base on Mt. Elden. Tonight should be another cold one.

NPR Sunday Puzzle…(answers at the end of post)

Each answer is the name of a well-known film. You are given three words. Say the words out loud quickly to identify the film. For example, given the words "booty," "Andy" and "pieced," the answer would be Beauty and the Beast.

1.     Indy pendant, stay:

2.     Sadder, denied, viva:

3.     You’re hassock bark:

4.     Thick, erotic, id:

5.     Vests, ides, Tory:

6.     Fiat, cup, pull:

7.     Toast, hoary, do:

8.     Tequila, mucking, herd.

Wuzzles…What concept or phrase do these suggest?

   

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• A face mask for skin diving fits properly if you can hold it on your face, out of the water, with nothing but the suction from your nose.

Hmmmmm          

• Size of India’s annual deficit in female births, based on 2011 census data: 600,000
• Somewhat Useless Information   
• A baby has around 10,000 taste buds, far more than adults. They are not just on the tongue but also on the sides, back, and roof of the mouth. Eventually these extra taste buds disappear.
• The intestines of a newborn are about 11 feet long. The length will double by the time the baby grows to adulthood.
• A baby can recognize the smell and voice of its mother at birth. It takes a few weeks before a baby can see the difference between its mother and other adults.
• A baby's head is proportionally huge, being one-quarter of the total body length, compared to only one-eighth of the total adult's length.
• The grasp of a newborn baby is so strong that its whole body can hang in midair, with its bent fingers supporting its weight.
• Eyesight is the least developed of all the newborn senses. Newborns can see best at a distance of only 8-14 inches, and until they are about three months old, they see best in their peripheral vision.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

CHICAGO -- A convicted felon decided to mug an MMA fighter on the Southwest Side of Chicago, police say, and ended up paying a steep price.

Police did not release the victim's name but said he was able to ward off Anthony Miranda, 24, who ended up with two black eyes and a gunshot wound to the ankle after a tussle.

The victim was sitting in his parked car near 55th St. and Kenneth when Anthony Miranda, 24, walked up to the car asking for a lighter, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

When the victim did not have one, Miranda pulled out a handgun and demanded money, police officials said. He then demanded the victim get out of the car.

At some point, the victim was able to grab control of the gun while Miranda's attention was diverted. The two men wrestled on the ground and during the fight, Miranda accidentally discharged his gun, shooting himself in the ankle, police said.

The victim was able to pin down Miranda until police arrived and later told officials he was a martial arts expert and ultimate fighting champion.

Miranda was taken to Holy Cross Hospital with a face full of cuts and two black eyes, police said. He has been charged with armed robbery and aggravated discharge of a firearm, a class X felony.

Records show Miranda has several convictions, including at least one for a residential burglary. He was ordered held on $350,000 bond Sunday.

Guffaw…or at least smile     

A man calls home to his wife and says, "Honey I have been asked to go fishing at a big lake up in Canada with my boss and several of his friends. We'll be gone for a week. This is a good opportunity for me to get that promotion I've been wanting, so would you please pack me enough clothes for a week and set out my rod and tackle box. We're leaving from the office and I will swing by the house to pick my things up. Oh! And please pack my new blue silk pajamas."

The wife thinks this sounds a little fishy but being a good wife she does exactly what her husband asked. The following weekend he comes home a little tired but otherwise looking good.

The wife welcomes him home and asks if he caught many fish. He says, "Yes! Lots of Walleye, some Blue gill, and a few Pike. But why didn't you pack my new blue silk pajamas like I asked you to do?"

The wife replies; "I did, they were in your tackle box."

Searchin’ “YouTube” I found        

 Taste buds on tongue

Daybook Information        

…Happening This Week:

1-7 

• Cookie Cutter Week 
• Tolerance Week  Recipe Greetings for The Holidays Week 

4-10

• Clerc-Gallaudet Week: 

6-12 

• National Handwashing Awareness Week 

10-17

• Human Rights Week

Today Is                                                                       

• Brownie Day : the chocolatey, chewy kind
• International Civil Aviation Day 
• Letter-Writing Day
• National Cotton Candy Day
• National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
• Take It In The Ear Day

~*~

• Ivory Coast: Independence Day [1960 from France]

Today’s Events                                                             

Arts

1732 - The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London

Athletes

1995 - NBA settles strike of referees, refs to return on Dec 12

Business

1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways in the U.S. is completed to Trumbull

Education

--

Indigenous People

1804: Lewis & Clark go on a buffalo hunt with Big White [Sheheke (“Coyote”), the principal chief of the lower Mandan village.

1831: The Choctaw removal process has begun. Indian Commissioners John Eaton, and John Coffee, meet with the Choctaw and the Chickasaw on Oaka Knoxabee Creek today. They again discuss the possibility of the Chickasaw sharing areas in the Indian Territory that have been set aside for the Choctaw. They propose that the Chickasaw get 1/4 of the Choctaw allotment. No agreement is reached.

Politics [International]

1949 - Chiang Kai-shek flees to Taiwan

1975 - Indonesian army occupies East Timor

1976 - UN Security Council endorses Kurt Waldheim, sec-gen for 2nd 5 yr term

1990 - Iraqi parliament endorses Saddam's decision to free hostages

Politics [US]

1787 - Delaware becomes 1st state to ratify constitution

1917 - US becomes 13th country to declare war on Austria during World War I

Religion

1965 - Pope Paul VI & Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift mutual excommunications that led to split of 2 churches in 1054

Science

1909 - Leo Baekeland, Yonkers, patents 1st thermosetting plastic (Bakelite)

1926 - Gas refrigerator patented

1934 - Wiley Post discovers jet stream

1972 - Apollo 17 (US), final manned lunar landing mission, launched

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Artists: [Authors, Composers]

Noam Chomsky, linguist (founded transformational grammar) is 83

Athletes

Johnny Bench, baseball catcher (Reds) is 64

Larry Bird, hoop star (Boston Celtics) is 55

1924 - John Love, Zimbabwean Formula One driver

Fernando Vargas, welterweight boxer (Olympics-96) is 34

Entertainers [Actors, Singers…]

1920 - Tatamkulu Afrika, South African poet and writer ( Nothing’s Changed)

Ellen Burstyn, actor will be 79

1910 - Rod Cameron, Canadian actor (City Detective, State Trooper)

Aaron Carter, American singer and actor is 24

1942 - Harry Chapin, American rock vocalist (Taxi,  Cat's in the Cradle)

1923 - Ted Knight, actor (Mary Tyler Moore, Too Close for Comfort)

1912 - Louis Prima, singer ( That Old Black Magic)

1915 - Eli Wallach, actor (Magnificent 7, Misfits, People Next Door, NY--I love You)

Tom Waits, musician, actor will be 62

Entrepreneurs & Educators

1888 - Matthew Heywood Campbell Broun, 1st pres of American Newspaper Guild

1761 - Madame [Marie Grosholtz] Tussaud, created wax museum

Political Figures

1542 - Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland (1560-1587)

Scientists & Theologians

521 - Saint Columba, Irish Christian missionary to Scotland 

Today’s Obits                                                           

1988 - Christopher Connelly, actor (Peyton Place-TV), dies of lung cancer at 47

1912 - George Darwin, theorized Moon was pulled out of Pacific Ocean [son of Charles Darwin], dies at 67

2010 - Elizabeth Edwards, American lawyer and wife of John Edwards dies of cancer at 61

1970 - Rube Goldberg, US cartoonist (Mike & Ike, Pulitzer 1948), dies at 87

2006 - Jeane Kirkpatrick, American ambassador dies at 80

1985 - Potter Stewart, 94th Supreme Court Justice (1958-81) [replaced by Sandra Day O’Conner], dies of stroke at 70

1941 - Notable casualties of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. Losses: 4 battleships sunk, 3 battleships damaged, 1 battleship grounded, 2 destroyers sunk, 1 other ship sunk, 3 cruisers damaged, 1 destroyer damaged, 3 other ships damaged, one hundred eighty-eight aircraft destroyed, 155 aircraft damaged, 2,402 active military killed, 1,247 active military wounded, 57 civilians killed, and 35 civilians  wounded

Answers                                                                                                                                            

NPR Sunday Puzzle

   Answers are the original movie trailers...good memories

1.     Indy pendant, stay:  Independence Day

2.     Sadder, denied, viva: Saturday Night Fever

3.     You’re hassock bark: Jurassic Park

4.     Thick, erotic, id: The Karate Kid

5.     Vests, ides, Tory: West Side Story

6.     Fiat, cup, pull: The Odd Couple

7.     Toast, hoary, do: Toy Story 2

8.     Tequila, mucking, herd. To Kill a Mockingbird

Wuzzle

• A house divided
• Weight lifting
• A bad spell of weather

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’S ALL FOR NOW     §