12/15/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 51 / Day: 349    
Today: L15°…H 36°… Ave. humidity: 60%
Wind: ave:   12mph; Gusts:  38mph  
Average Low: 16° Record Low:  -14° (1931)
Average High: 44° Record High:  63° (1929)

Quote of the Day
 
Today’s Historical Highlights
"Gone With the Wind" premieres in Atlanta…1939
1st commercial manufacture of nylon yarn, Seaford, Delaware…1939
1st Irish magazine in US, Shamrock, is published…1810
1st street-cleaning machine in US 1st used in Philadelphia…1854
1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania…1791
Adolf Eichmann convicted of crimes against humanity in Israel…1961
American Federation of Labor adopts a no-strike policy in war industries…1941
American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not mental illness…1973
Arthur Ashe is named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of Year…1992
Bandleader, Major Glenn Miller, lost over English Channel…1944
Canada adopts maple leaf flag…1964
Christine Jorgenson is 1st person to undergo a sex-change operation…1952
Equal access rule, political parties get TV broadcasting time…1961
Groundbreaking begins for Jefferson Memorial in Wash DC…1938
Hizbu'allah (Arm forces for Allah) forms…1944
John Bruton becomes Ireland's premier…1994
Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it…2001
NYC's Port Authority opens…1950
Patent Office burns in Wash, DC…1836
Pirates of Caribbean ride opens at Disneyland…1973
State of Holland grants patent on windmill with crankshaft…1593
US Congress gives General Eisenhower his 5th star…1944

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
Still a little chilly to spend much time as the wind chill brings the temp to 27°. Oh well, it’s December.
 
Had a nice chat with my sister-in-law and brother this morning. They have big plans for tonight as she celebrates her birthday. Dinner and ‘sleep-no-more’ theater…which is an interactive play. Sounds interesting. We are all excited to reunite in Chicago on Friday. Getting’ excited.
 
I anxiously await the day that this country wakes up and does whatever is necessary to end the needless gun violence that takes place in our country every day. This time it was an 18 year old who legally purchased a shot gun two days before his act. The day of his act he purchased more ammunition for his act. There was an armed security guard on the campus…listen carefully NRA and gun people. Your answer to end school violence isn’t working. While lockdown procedures probably saved lives, they did not stop the violence. I am a gun owner and have no problem with safety mechanisms being implemented that will prevent crazies from injuring or killing other human beings. I will let others come up with ideas, but I am open to just about anything. I spent my career in education and cannot believe what today’s educators must deal with at the schools. We were doing lock downs when I was still working. We had an unarmed security guard at the schools before I retired. I am still haunted by the images of yesterday’s high school students leaving THEIR high school, arms raised and being patted down as they moved to safety. Now the world has radically changed and it is time for this country to make some radical changes. We don’t hear in mass media the daily shootings that take place around the country, killing children. We only hear about it if it is local or if it is a mass shooting. Wake up legislators, stop listening to the outdated NRA who is actually monetarily sponsored by gun manufacturers and do something to save our next generation.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
The following are alternate definitions for words, based on how the words sound. For example, "To drive by the docks: P _ _ _ _ _ _ _." would result in "PASSPORT (Pass Port)". Can you guess the words described below?
1. What white bears see with: P _ _ _ _ _ _ _.  2. A car's memoirs: A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.  3. How judges get to a small island: C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.  4. To live long: D _ _ _ _ _.  5. How good a fibber one is: L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.  6. In favor of young men and women: P _ _ _ _ _ _. 

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

Very Strange Laws…Florida
  • A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing.
  • Corrupting the public morals is defined as a nuisance, and is declared a misdemeanor offense.
  • Doors of all public buildings must open outwards.
  • Florida (accidentally) banned all computers and smartphones in internet cafes
  • Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.
  • If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.
  • It is considered an offense to shower naked.
  • It is illegal for a doctor to ask a patient whether they own a gun. Repealed 
  • It is illegal to sell your children.
  • It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.
  • Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.
  • One may not commit any “unnatural acts” with another person.
  • Penalty for horse theft is death by hanging.
  • The state constitution allows for freedom of speech, a trial by jury, and pregnant pigs to not be confined in cages.
  • The term “motor vehicle” was revised to exclude swamp buggies, deregulating the primary mode of transportation in the state.
  • Unmarried couples may not commit “lewd acts” and live together in the same residence.
  • Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.
  • You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers.
  • You may not kiss your wife’s breasts.
  • Big Pine Key--
    It is illegal to molest a Key deer.
  • Broward County--
    Persons may not be “inappropriately attired” who work at hot dog stands.
  • Cape Coral--
    It is against the city ordinance to hang your clothes outside on a clothesline. \ It it illegal to park a pick-up truck in your driveway or in front of your house on the street.
  • Cape Coral City--
    A $50 fine will be levied on anyone who allows a couch to sit in their carport.
  • Daytona Beach--
    The molestation of trash cans is banned. \ Maintaining a car on your property which is no longer in use is prohibited. \ Owning a flower pot with water in it that isn’t capable of draining is considered a public nuisance.
  • Destin--
    If you wish to go swimming in the ocean, get dressed in your hotel room. \ Torpedoes may not be set off in the city.
  • Hialeah--
    Ambling and strolling is a misdemeanor.
  • Key West--
    Chickens are considered a ‘protected species’.
  • Miami Beach--
    Persons face up to thirty days in jail for selling oranges on the sidewalk. \ No one may bring a pig with them to the beach.
  • Naples--
    Neon signs are prohibited.
  • Pensacola--
    Citizens may not be caught downtown without at least 10 dollars on their person.
  • Seaside--
    All houses much have white picket fences and full-width, two-story porches.
  • Tampa--
    Women may not expose their breasts while performing “topless dancing”.

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 
Projected year by which the sale of adult diapers will outpace the sale of baby diapers in Japan: 2020
Unusual Fact of the Day
Jesse "The Body" Ventura (Gov of MN, wrestler) was born James George Janos.
Joke-of-the-day
One man said to the other, "You know, there are really only three kinds of people in the world: those who can count, and those who can't.  
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
RUNNING A PAWN SHOP
When accepting a pawn, never loan over fifty percent of what you can sell it for.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
ATLANTA - A Georgia woman said it would have been a better idea to have the toilet seat she was glued to removed by a doctor rather than the paramedics who used WD-40. Illyanna De La Keur said she was recovering from several skin tears after a rescue crew spent several minutes trying to free her from the restroom at a Home Depot where unknown pranksters spread glue on the toilet seat. "I couldn't understand why they weren't just taking me to an emergency room and having a doctor remove it," De La Keur told WSB-TV, Atlanta. De La Keur said she was stuck for about an hour during the incident late last month at the Home Depot in Banks County. She was left not only embarrassed but also still in pain. The woman's sister, Aleera Canino, agreed the ambulance crew should have opted for the safe route and taken Illyanna to the emergency room, seat and all. "She wasn't in her right state of mind to OK an experiment on her," Canino told WSB. "It worked, but I don't think she should have been there."  
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • If you tried to count off a billion seconds, it would take you 31.7 years.
  • One speck of dust contains a quadrillion atoms.
  • Number of toothpicks you can make from one cord of wood: 75 million.
  • The word million was invented sometime around the year A.D. 1300.
  • The Chinese were the first to use a decimal system, in the 6th century B.C.
  • The odds of someone winning the lottery twice in four months is about one in 17 trillion. But Evelyn Marie Adams won the New Jersey lottery in both 1985 and 1986.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
10-17: Human Rights Week
14-28:  Halcyon Days
14-1/5 Christmas Bird Count Week 
15-21: Gluten-free Baking Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Bill of Rights Day
·        Cat Herders Day
·        National Lemon Cupcake Day
~~~~
·        Halcyon Day (Calm, peaceful days) thru 12/29
·        Puerto Rico: Navidades (weeks long Christmas celebration begins)

Today’s Events through History  
Albert Camus' "Les Justes" premieres in Paris…1949
American Jewish Congress holds 1st meeting…1918
Deposed Shah of Iran leaves US for Panama…1979
Governor Stevens gets NEZ PERCE honor guard…1855
Massachusetts issues 1st US vehicular license plate tabs…1942
Thomas Edison patents phonograph…1877
Vaughn Meader's "1st Family," album goes #1 & stays #1 for 12 wks…1962
Westmoreland flees to Scotland…1569

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Tim Conway, comic (McHale's Navy, Carol Burnett Show) is 80
Dave Clark, London England, rock drummer (Dave Clark 5-Glad All Over) is 71
Don Johnson, actor (Miami Vice, Nash Bridges) is 64
Adam Brody, film/television actor part-time musician is 34

Remembered for being born today
Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus, 5th emperor of Rome [37-68]
Gustave Eiffel [Alexandre], French engineer (Eiffel tower) [1832-1923]
Jeff Chandler, [Ira Grossel], Bkln, actor (Broken Arrow) [1918-1961]
Betty Smith, novelist (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) [1896-1972]
J. Paul Getty, oil magnate (Getty Oil) [1892-1976]
Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect (Brasilia) [1907-2012]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Oral Roberts, television evangelist and author…2009…@91
Blake Edwards, film director (Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany’s)…2010…@88
Chill Wills, actor (Frontier Circus, Rounders)…cancer…1978…@75
George Hickes, English linguist (Old German Philology)…1715…@73
Walt Disney, animator…cancer…1966…@65
Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake), Hunkpapa-Sioux chief…killed by US…1890…@58ish
Glenn Miller, US band leader/jazz composer…plane crash…1944…@40
Thomas W "Fats" Waller, jazz pianist (Hot Chocolate)…pneunmia…1943…@39

Brain Teasers
1. Polarize (polar eyes)
2. Autobiography (auto biography)
3. Courtship (court ship)
4. Dilate (die late)
5. Liability (lie ability)
6. Protein (pro-teen)
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:

12/14/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 50 / Day: 348   
Today: L 16°…H 44°… Ave. humidity: 60%
Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  23mph  
Average Low: 16° Record Low:  -14° (1972)
Average High: 44° Record High:  66° (1946)

Quote of the Day


Today’s Historical Highlights
1st chamber music group in US gives their 1st concert (Boston)…1849
28 people, including 20 children, are shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School…2012
Artificial pearls 1st manufactured by M Jacquin in Paris…1656
Congress establishes rank of General of Army (5-star General)…1944
DNA created in a test tube…1967
Jack Johnson is 1st black world heavyweight boxing champion…1915
Jackson Five made their 1st appearance on "Ed Sullivan Show"…1969
Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" is 1st country song to get a gold record…1961
Mary Stuart becomes Queen Mary I of Scotland at 6 days old…1542
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is founded…1947 
President Bush made his 4th and final trip to Iraq /almost struck by two shoes 
     thrown at him…2008
South Pole 1st reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen…1911
Winston Churchill travels to US on board HMS Duke of York…1941
Zuider Zee seawall collapses with loss of 50,000 lives…1287

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
A nice Friday…not too chilly, not too windy. Our retirement group met for lunch. One of our favorite places was very busy…even at 11:30. We left about 12:30 as there was a line of people waiting for tables. All of us are busy getting ready for our Christmases. Cheryl is headed to California while Mary will be headed to Phoenix. Cheryl is finished with her shopping…but Mary and I both have some stuff to do. We’ll meet early next week for our gift exchange and our favorite bistro here in Flagstaff.
 
The latest school shooting was in Colorado…again. This one was on the same side of town I grew up in, but in a different district. It has about 2K students, about the same size as my high school. Listening to people on CNN, we all say ‘’not at my school.” Just as the Sandy Hook community is coming up to the one year anniversary of their horror, it happens again. Such a horrible event to have to keep reliving in this country. Amazing how cell phones have played such an important role for the police and especially for the parents in these situations.
 
Today is my sister-in-laws birthday. I’m sure she will have a great time. Wish I could be there with her.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Some people's names (such as "Will Power") suggest a certain personality or career choice. Given below are some last names and professions (in no particular order). For each last name, your task is to think of a common first name, such that it suggests one of the given professions. Each last name and profession must be used just once. Example: Sonny Day would suggest a meteorologist.
Last Names: Ding, Flay, King, Lynn, Payne, Peace Professions: Musician, Author, Chef, Comedian, Architect, Politician
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Very Strange Laws…Indiana
  • “Spiteful Gossip” and “talking behind a person’s back” are illegal.
  • A person must get a referral from a licensed physician if he or she wishes to see a hypnotist unless the desired procedure is to quit smoking or lose weight.
  • A three dollar fine per pack will be imposed on anyone playing cards in Indiana under the Act for the Prevention of Gaming.
  • Anyone 14 or older who profanely curses, damns or swears by the name of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, shall be fined one to three dollars for each offense, with a maximum fine of ten dollars per day.
  • Drinking from your own bottle in a bar can lead to your arrest. You are required to pour your drink into a glass.
  • Drinks on the house are illegal.
  • Grocery stores may not sell any type of cold liquor.
  • Hotel sheets must be exactly 99 inches long and 81 inches wide.
  • If any person has a puppet show, wire dancing or tumbling act in the state of Indiana and receives money for it, they will be fined $3 under the Act to Prevent Certain Immoral Practices.
  • It is illegal for a liquor store to sell cold soft drinks.
  • It is illegal for a man to be sexually aroused in public.
  • Liquor stores may not sell milk.
  • One man may not back into a parking spot becasue it prevents police officers from seeing the license plate.
  • One may not sniff glue.
  • Smoking in the state legislature building is banned, except when the legislature is in session.
  • State government officials who engage in private duels can be dismissed from their post.
  • The value of Pi is 3.
  • Waitresses may not carry drinks into a restaurant or bar.
  • You can get out of paying for a dependent’s medical care by praying for him/her.
  • Beech Grove--
    • It is forbidden to eat watermelon in the park.
  • Elkhart--
    • It is illegal for barbers to threaten to cut off kid’s ears.
  • Evansville--
    • While driving on Main Street you may not have yourlights on.
  • Fort Wayne--
    • You may not sell or play on a radio broadcast, the record “It`s In the Book”
  • Gary--
    • Within four hours of eating garlic, a person may not enter a movie house, theater, or ride a public streetcar.
  • Indianapolis--
    • Hopefully, residents of the city have spedometers on their horses, for they can not ride them in excess of ten miles per hour. \ One may only throw a stone at a bird in self-defense. \ No person may collect rags on Sunday.
  • South Bend--
    • It is illegal to make a monkey smoke a cigarette.
  • Terre Haute--
    • No one may spit on the sidewalk.
  • Warsaw--
    • No one may throw an old computer across the street at their neighbor.

OK Then…
 
Harper’s Index 
Kernels of corn it takes to make one kernel of Jelly Belly candy corn: 14
Unusual Fact of the Day
Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) is credited with being the first professional player to break a backboard— which occurred during practice before the first Boston Celtics game on November 5th, 1946.
Joke-of-the-day
There was a little old lady who was nearly blind. She had three sons and they wanted to prove which one was the best son to her.
So son #1 bought her a 15-room mansion thinking this would surely be the best any of them could offer her.
Son #2 bought her a beautiful Mercedes with a chauffeur included thinking he would surely win her approval.
Son #3 had to do something even better than these so he bought her a trained parrot. This parrot had been trained for 15 years to memorize the entire Bible. You could mention any verse in the Bible and the parrot could quote it word for word. How useful his nearly blind mother would find that!
Well, the old lady went to the first son and said, "Son, the house is just gorgeous but it's really much too big for me. I only live in one room, and it's much too large for me to clean and take care of. I really don't need the house, but thank you anyway."
Then she explained to her second son, "Son, the car is beautiful, it has everything you could ever want on it, but I don't drive and I really don't like that driver, so please return the car."
Next, she went to son number three and said, "Son, I just want to thank you for that thoughtful gift. The chicken was small, but delicious."  
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
INSTALLING A FAN IN A SUN ROOM
To move hot air out of an overheated sun room, you need a thermostatically controlled fan with a flow rate of four to six cubic feet per minute per square foot of glass in the sun room.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
Who says China is not westernized? There is no greater icon of western consumerism than a manic, shopping-obsessed woman, and the woman in today's story has set a new precedent for taking shopping to the extreme; she shopped until her boyfriend killed himself.
Okay, there were probably some underlying issues involved, but most men can appreciate the feeling of frustration when a woman just will. not. stop. going from store to store, uttering empty promises of, "this is the last one."
This man, 38-year-old Tao Hsiao, was escorting his girlfriend around a shopping mall in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, east China. After five hours Tao finally had enough and demanded to go home.
Eyewitnesses say he could be heard saying they already had more bags than they could carry, but she insisted on going into one more shop where there was a special offer on shoes.
An eyewitness said: "He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she could wear in a lifetime and it was pointless buying any more.
"She started shouting at him accusing him of being a skinflint and of spoiling Christmas, it was a really heated argument."
The shouting match ended when the man threw the bags on the floor and jumped over the balcony, smashing into Christmas decorations on his way down before hitting the floor seven stories below causing shocked shoppers to flee in panic.
If that is not a metaphor for the commercialization of Christmas nothing is.
It is not known whether the woman eventually got her last pair of shoes.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • In September 1835 Charles Darwin reached the Galapagos Islands and he was extremely fascinated of what he saw there, such as the volcanic rocks and giant tortoises. It is said that once Darwin discovered the Galapagos tortoises, he climbed on top and attempted to ride them, but without being easy to keep his balance!
  • The international educational program DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) has been trying to make students stay away for drug use through strategies that demonstrate all dangers caused by drug use.However, although students are taught the dangers of drugs in an interactive in-school session, DARE has been considered to be ineffective and in some cases the number of drug users at school has been increased.
  • Generally known as ‘hash’, the # symbol defines the Twitter- and blogosphere for the last three years. What we did not know so far was the real name of the # symbol! ‘Octothorpe’! Yes, this is the real name for hash and was coined by engineers at Bell Laboratories in the early 1960s.
  • Around 26% of women in America die because of heart diseases, the most common ‘killer’ there, which is about 316, 000 women per year. But what do heart attacks in women cause? Heart attacks cause pain in the back or jaw and not pain in the chest or the left arm, like it’ s used to happen in men.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
10-17: Human Rights Week
14-28:  Halcyon Days
14-1/5 Christmas Bird Count Weeks 

Today Is                                                                      
·        Day Of The Horse
·        International Shareware Day
·        Monkey Day
·        National Bouillabaisse Day
~~~~~
·        US: Alabama: Admission Day (1819--22nd state)

Today’s Events through History  
"Saturday Night Fever" starring John Travolta, premieres in NYC…1977
1st state road authorized, Frankfort, Ky to Cincinnati…1793
Brooklyn Dodgers sign pitcher Sandy Koufax…1953
Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company…1896
Greece formally takes possession of Crete…1913
Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law…1900
President George W. Bush announces the capture of Saddam Hussein…2003
UN Gen Assembly establishes High Comm for Refugees (Nobel 1954)…1950

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Patty Duke, [Anna Marie], actress (Miracle Worker) is 67
Vanessa Hudgens. Disney actress and singer is 25

Remembered for being born today
Nostradamus, [Michel de Nostre-Dam], astrologist/prophet [1503-1566]
Morihei Ueshiba "the founder" of Japanese martial art of aikido [1883-1969]
Dan Dailey, dancer and actor (Gov Drinkwater-Governor & JJ) [1915-1978]
Lee Remick, actress (Days of Wine & Rose, Long Hot Summer) [1935-1991]
James H Doolittle, USAF General (Raid on Tokyo 1942) [1896-1993]
Morey Amsterdam, comedian and actor (MMT) [1908-1996]
June Taylor, American choreographer [1917-2004]
Don Hewitt, CBS news executive producer (60 Minutes) [1922-2009]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Myrna Loy, [Williams], US actress (Jazz Singer)…1993…@88
Walter Lippmann, US journalist (One of Dynasty)…1974…@85
Arthur Treacher, TV announcer (Merv Griffin Show)…1975…@81
Stubby Kaye, actor (Guys & Dolls, Sweet Charity)…1997…@79  
Verna Felton, actress (Hilda-December Bride)stroke…1966…@76
Norman Fell, actor (Mr. Ropee)…cancer…1998…@74
Jock Mahoney, actor (Dallas, Cow Town, Range Rider)…stroke…1989…@70
J Louis R Agassiz, Swiss geologist/paleo-biologist)…1873…@67
William Bendix, actor (Life of Riley)…pneumeoia…1964…@58
Roger Maris, HR hitter (61 in 61, NY Yankees)…cancer…1985…@51
Albert, Prince consort of England and husband of Queen Victoria…typhoid…1861…@42
Dinah Washington, singer…overdose…1963…@39
James V, King of Scots (1513-42)…delirium…1542…@30

Brain Teasers
Bill Ding - Architect (building)
Sue Flay - Chef (souffle)
Joe King - Comedian (joking)
Amanda Lynn - Musician (a mandolin) [also: Vi Lynn = violin]
Cam Payne - Politician (campaign)
Warren Peace - Author ("War and Peace")
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.