11-26-11

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

Today’s “Geez”                                                          .

• 1865 - "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll published in US
• 1942 - "Casablanca" premieres at Hollywood Theatre, NYC
• 1963 - 29th Heisman Trophy Award: Roger Staubach, Navy (QB)
• 1778 - Capt Cook discovers Maui (Sandwich Islands [now Hawaii])
• 1789 - 1st national Thanksgiving
• 1969 - Lottery for Selective Service draftees bill signed by President Nixon

 ♪♪ Happy Birthday To:♪♪                                                .                      

 

Free Rambling Thoughts                                                 .

Black Friday came and went. My only stop was at Home Depot for the poinsettia. I also picked up a couple of LED lights for a really good price. While they opened sometime before the sun rose, I didn’t go until about 8am. There were lots of people in the parking lot, but not a lot of people inside.  I don’t care what the retailer’s say, no one was asking for the stores to open at midnight or before. How dumb to they think we are? Like sometime in November, most of the major retailers suddenly got the idea to open at midnight? No big meeting? No leaking of information? It was just a Black Friday miracle? Some lady somewhere brought pepper spray and used it to get into the store. A man put a video game in his pants and reached to pick up his grandson who was being surrounded by shoppers. The cops in Buckeye AZ threw him to the ground, bloodied his face, and arrested him. What a sad story. So much for Black Friday sales.

I’ve got to get my act together and get my tickets to Mexico. I can’t find flights that get me there without spending a night somewhere in an airport. It’s such a short visit, I’m going to just have to suck it up and buy the damn tickets. I really want to go, and have recovered enough from Ethiopia to attack the internet again for tickets. My trip at Christmas is set, and takes all night…leaving at 10p and arriving at 8a…for a freakin’ domestic site. I could make it to Egypt or Malaysia in about that much time.

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

Every answer is a familiar phrase in the form of "_____ for _____ ." Given the word that follows "for," what's the first word that precedes "for"? For example, if you're given "joy," the answer would be "jump" to complete the phrase "jump for joy."

1.     _____ for thought

2.     _____ for news

3.     _____ for Godot

4.     _____ for Bonzo

5.     _____ for tennis?

6.     _____ for tots

7.     _____ for grabs

8.     _____ for nothing

9.     _____ for Mr. Goodbar

10.  _____ for the course

11.  _____ for the count

12.  _____ for the mill

13.  _____ for the hills

14.  _____ for the road

15.  _____ for the moon

16.  _____ for the memories

Wuzzles…What concept or phrase do these suggest?                  .

   

Rules of Thumb                                                      .

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• If a dog is charging you and barking, it is merely defending territory and will not bite. A dog that is charging and not barking is attacking you.

Hmmmmm                                                             .

• Average percentage that French people overestimate the Jewish population of France: 655

Somewhat Useless Information                                       .

• A desire path is one that was stomped out away from the original path or walkway; usually to make a short cut. These are found a lot on college campuses.
• A lunule refers to the white-shaded crescent peeking out on the bottom of your finger nail.

Yeah, It Really Happened                                           .            

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. - California police, responding to reports of someone screaming for help, discovered a man stuck inside the hollow trunk of a standing tree. The man, whose name was not released, had crawled into a hole in the trunk leading to a cavity about 4 or 5 feet underground in Laguna Hills, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported Tuesday. Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion of the Orange County Fire Authority said only the man's head and arms were visible and it took 90 minutes to retrieve the equipment necessary to cut him free. Firefighters were called to the scene to check the man's mental health. "Why he's in a tree, I have no idea," Concepcion said. It is unknown how long the man was stuck in the tree, and he was freed without suffering any injuries, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Guffaw…or at least smile                                           .

A Taliban was sitting in a cave when he hears over a dune the voice of one American solider: "One American solider is better then 10 Taliban fighters" so the Taliban angry sent over ten of his high-ranking soldiers.

 After a lot of gun fire and yelling and screams of agony the Taliban heard the voice again. "One American solider is better than 100 Taliban fighters"

So the Taliban sends over 100 of his highest ranked soldiers sure of victory.

After a lot of gun fire and yelling and screams of agony the Taliban heard the voice again. "One American solider is better than 1000 Taliban fighters"

So the Taliban sent his toughest, meanest, personal guards over the dune. After hundreds of bullets fired, and explosions and the screaming and crying, it was over.

The Taliban now wondering what happened goes over the dune where he finds a wounded Taliban solider who says "don't send anymore men it's really a trap there is really two of them!"

Searchin’ “You Tube” I found                                        .     

 Howard Carter and Tutankhamun's Tomb

Daybook Information                                               .

…Happening This Week:

20-26 

Better Conversation Week

Church/State Separation Week

National Bible Week

National Family Week

National Game & Puzzle Week

Today Is                                                          .

International Aura Awareness Day

Islamic New Year: Muharram is the first month It is 1433 AH

Shopping Reminder Day

Small Business Saturday

~*~

Lebanon: Independence Day (from France 1941)

Mongolia: Republic Day (1924)

Today’s Events                                                  .

Arts

1859 - Last weekly installment of Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" is published in literary periodical All the Year Round

1952 - 1st modern 3-D movie "Bwana Devil," premieres in Hollywood

1956 - "The Price Is Right" debuts on NBC

1978 - 1st lesbian theme TV movie - "Question of Love"

1985 - Random House buys Richard Nixon’s memoires for $3,000,000

Athletes

1960 - Minneapolis-St Paul baseball club takes the name Twins

1963 - Cincinnati 2nd baseman Pete Rose wins NL Rookie of Year

1984 - After 518 goals & 14 years with Mont Canadians, Guy LaFleur retires

Business

1716 - 1st lion exhibited in America (Boston)

Education

1825 - 1st college fraternity founded (Kappa Alpha (Union College, NY))

1909 - Sigma Alpha Mu is founded in the City College of New York by 8 Jewish young men

1913 - Phi Sigma Sigma is founded at Hunter College in New York City

Indigenous People

411 - Maya King Siyaj Chan K'awill II (Stormy Sky) ascends the Tikal throne in Guatemala

1835 - Charley Emathla is killed. Emathla signs the agreement at Fort Gibson in Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) committing the Seminoles to their removal from Florida. He is in favor of the removal. He is killed by Seminoles who are against the treaty or leaving Florida. Many believe that he is killed by Chief Osceola. This is the first in a series of killings.

Politics [International]

1476 - Vlad III Dracula defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time

1703 - Bristol England damaged by hurricane, Royal Navy loses 15 warships

1998 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to  address the Republic of Ireland's parliament

2008 - Terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India: Ten coordinated attacks by Pakistan-based terrorists kill 164 and injure more than 250 people in Mumbai, India

Politics [US]

1973 - Nixon's personal sec, Rose Mary Woods, tells a federal court she accidentally caused part of 18½ minute gap in a key Watergate tape

1975 - Fed jury finds Lynette Fromme guilty of attempted assassination

Religion

--

Science

1885 - 1st meteor photograph

1922 - English archaeologist Howard Carter opens Toetanchamon's (Tut) tomb

Today’s Birthdays                                                  .

Artists: [Authors, Composers]

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Buenos Argentina, (1980 Nobel Peace Prize) is 80

1922 - Charles M Schulz, cartoonist (Peanuts)

Athletes

Shawn Kemp, NBA forward (Cleveland Cavaliers, Seattle Supersonics) is 42

Al Smith, NFL linebacker (Houston Oilers) is 47

Entertainers [Actors, Singers…]

Peter Facinelli, actor is 38

1933 - Robert Goulet, American singer and actor

Linda Hunt, actress (Bostonians, Eleni, Silverado, TV: NCIS-LA) is 86

Rich Little, Ottawa Canada, impressionist/actor (Love on a Rooftop) is 73

Tina Turner, [Anna Mae Bullock], singer (Proud Mary) is 73

Entrepreneurs & Educators

1912 - Eric Sevareid, newscaster (CBS Weekend News)

Political Figures

1832 - Mary Edwards Walker, US doctor/women's rights leader

Scientists & Theologians

1827 - Ellen G. White, American religious leader

1894 - Norbert Wiener, US mathematician/discovered cybernetics

Today’s Obits                                               .

1986 - Scatman Crothers, singer/actor (Shining, Chico & The Man), dies at 76

1956 - Tommy Dorsey, big bandleader, choked to death in sleep at 51

2007 - Steve Fossett, American Aviator first missing then declared dead at 63

1943 - Edward H "Butch" O'hare, US pilot/lt-comdr, Chicago airport named for him, dies in battle at 29

Answers                                                    .                                                                           

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Food for thought

2.     Nose for news

3.     Waiting for Godot

4.     Bedtime for Bonzo

5.     Anyone for tennis?

6.     Toys for tots

7.     Up for grabs

8.     Something for nothing

9.     Looking for Mr. Goodbar

10.  Par for the course

11.  Down for the count

12.  Grist for the mill

13.  Head for the hills

14.  One for the road

15.  Shoot for the moon

16.  Thanks for the memories

Wuzzle

•  Sixty minutes
• Share and share alike
• Alternating current 

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     §

11-25-11

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

Today’s “Geez”                                                .

1667 - A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha, in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people

1715 - 1st English patent granted to an American, for processing corn

1834 - Delmonico's, one of NY's finest restaurants, provides a meal of soup, steak, coffee & half a pie for 12 cents [2010 USD: $2.59]

1867 - Alfred Nobel patents dynamite

1950 - UN gives Eritrea to Ethiopia

1990 - Lech Walesa wins in Poland's 1st popular election

♪♪ Happy Birthday To:♪♪                                         .                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts                                            .

I had a great day with friends and all the trimmings. I am stuffed. We were a smaller group this year, only 6 of us, but it all worked out great. I only see many of these people once or twice a year, so there is always lots of catching up. Also, there is something about having a Thanksgiving dinner in a log house in the forest…so amazing.

I am not going to be going early morning shopping tomorrow. First, the idea of stores opening at midnight is insane…and to think they have said their customers asked for it. Right. Our local mall is opening at midnight tonight too. I ran through the plethora of ads in today’s local paper, and found nothing I needed or wanted at the midnight price. I will head out to Home Depot about 8a as I do want a 99cent poinsettia. I’ve gotten one or two every year at that price since moving to Flagstaff…no need to break the tradition.

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

You'll be given three words. Name the fourth word that, when added to each of these words, creates a familiar two-word phrase. The answer will rhyme with one of the three words. For example, if you're given "boob," "inner" and "test," the fourth word would be "tube."

1. Bald, legal, spread…
2. Funny, hush, prize…
3. Air, junk, snail…
4. Father, prime, spare…
5. Creature, double, facial…
6. Cheat, cookie, rap…
7. Drag, sack, space…
8. Chop, pawn, window…

Wuzzles…What concept or phrase do these suggest?                .

   

Rules of Thumb                                          .

• Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
• A new string is good for a bit over an hours worth of hard use by a pro. Twice as long for an intermediate yo-yo thrower, and half as long for a beginner.

Hmmmmm                                                        .

• Value of tax breaks approved for a Bible-themed amusemen park in KY: $23million

Somewhat Useless Information                              .

• The first apple trees were planted by the pilgrims in the Massachusetts Bay colony.
• The first apple nursery was opened in Flushing, NY in 1730.
• Apples are a member of the rose family, along with pears, peaches, plums and cherries.
• Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji are the five most commonly consumed apples in the U.S.
• The game of apple-bobbing began as a Celtic New Year's tradition for trying to determine one’s future spouse.
• The world's largest apple peel was created by Kathy Wafler Madison on October 16, 1976, in Rochester, NY and was 172 feet, 4 inches long. (She was 16 years old at the time and grew up to be a sales manager for an apple tree nursery.)

Yeah, It Really Happened                                    .            

AKRON, Ohio - A lawyer for an Ohio man arrested for trying to sell a realistic rubber ax covered in fake blood at a bar said his client does not understand the arrest. Ed Sawan, defense attorney for Bill Morrison of Akron, said his client was arrested on a charge of inducing panic Oct. 16 and spent a night in jail when a woman called 911 and reported he was carrying a bloody ax outside Corky's Thomastown bar, the Akron Beacon Journal reported Monday. Morrison said he was carrying the ax, which turned out to be made from rubber and covered in fake blood, because he was planning to sell it to a friend who had not yet arrived at the bar. Sawan said the "charges appear to be unfounded." "He's unsure why he was arrested," Sawan said. "He didn't understand the need for him to be arrested, charged and incarcerated." "It's an odd sort of case," Akron City Prosecutor Doug Powley said. "But we're going to look at all the circumstances and see how strong a case it is and try to reach an appropriate outcome for everyone." Morrison is due in court Jan. 23. He could face a possible six months in jail if convicted of inducing panic.

Guffaw…or at least smile                                       .

So there's this man with a parrot. And his parrot swears like a sailor, I mean he's a pistol. He can swear for five minutes straight without repeating himself.

The trouble is that the guy who owns the parrot is a quiet, conservative type, and this bird's foul mouth is driving him crazy.

One day, it gets to be too much, so the guy grabs the bird by the throat, shakes him really hard, and yells, "QUIT IT!" But this just makes the bird mad and he swears more than ever.

Then the guy gets mad and says, "That's it. I'll get you." and locks the bird in a kitchen cabinet.

This really aggravates the bird and he claws and scratches, and when the guy finally lets him out, the bird cuts loose with a stream of invective that would make a veteran sailor blush.

At that point, the guy is so mad that he throws the bird into the freezer.

For the first few seconds, there is a terrible din. The bird kicks and claws and thrashes. Then it suddenly goes very quiet.

At first the guy just waits, but then he starts to think that the bird may be hurt. After a couple of minutes of silence, he's so worried that he opens up the freezer door.

The bird calmly climbs onto the man's outstretched arm and says, "Awfully sorry about the trouble I gave you. I'll do my best to improve my vocabulary from now on."

The man is astounded. He can't understand the transformation that has come over the parrot.

Then the parrot says, "By the way, what did the chicken do?"

Searchin’ “You Tube” I found                               .     

John John Salutes the Coffin of His Father

Daybook Information                                     .

…Happening This Week:

20-26 

Better Conversation Week

Church/State Separation Week

National Bible Week

National Family Week

National Game & Puzzle Week

Today Is                                                        .

• Black Friday
• Buy Nothing Day
• Flossing Day
• International Day For the Elimination of Violence Against Women Day
• Maize Day
• National Native American Heritage Day
• National Parfait Day
• Shopping Reminder Day
• Sinkie Day [a day to eat all your meals over the sink]
• You're Welcomegiving Day

~*~

• Bosnia and Herzegovina: National Day (1943)
• Suriname: Independence Day (1975 for Netherlands)

Today’s Events                                                .

Arts

1940 - Woody Woodpecker debuts with release of Walter Lantz's "Knock Knock"

1949 - "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" appears on music charts

1960 - "Amos 'n' Andy" made its last broadcast on CBS radio

Athletes

1976 - OJ Simpson gains 273 yards for Buffalo vs Detroit

1980 - Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Duran regains WBC welterweight championship

Business

1920 - 1st Thanksgiving Parade (Phila)

1983 - World's greatest robbery 25,000,000 pounds of gold, Heathrow, England

Education

1792 - Farmer's Almanac 1st published

Indigenous People

1712: The Commander in Chief of the Carolinas' militia, Colonel Pollock meets with Chief Tom Blunt. The Chief did not participate in the original attacks of the Tuscarora War. They eventually sign a treaty not to attack each other. Blunt also agrees to bring in King Hancock.

1876 - Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River

1894: A group of nineteen Hopi "hostiles" are placed under arrest by the army for interfering with "friendly" Hopi Indian activities on their Arizona reservation. The nineteen prisoners will be held in Alcatraz prison in California from January 3, 1895 to August 7, 1895.

Politics [International]

1491 - The siege of Granada, last Moorish stronghold in Spain, begins

1944 - World War II: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in Deptford, United Kingdom, killing 160 shoppers

1973 - Bloodless military coup ousts Greek Pres George Papadopoulos

Politics [US]

1963 - JFK laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery

1973 - Maximum speed limit cut to 55 MPH as an energy conservation measure

Religion

--

Science

1703 - The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people perish in the mighty gale

1884 - John B Meyenberg of St Louis patents evaporated milk

1912 - American College of Surgeons incorporates in Springield, Ill

Today’s Birthdays                                                .

Artists: [Authors, Composers]

--

Athletes

Bucky Dent, all star shortstop (Chicago White Sox, NY Yankees) is 60

1914 - "Joltin'" Joe DiMaggio, Yankee Clipper (56 game hitting streak)

Bernie Kosar, NFL quarterback (Miami Dolphins, Cleve Browns) is 48

Entertainers [Actors, Singers…]

Christina Applegate, actress (Kelly-Married With Children) is 40

Amy Grant, gospel/rock singer (Better Than A Hallelujah , Baby Baby ) is 51

Jill Hennessy, actor is 43

John Larroquette, actor is 64

1919 - Ricardo Montalban, actor (Fantasy Island, Star Trek II, Naked Gun)

Percy Sledge, soul singer (When A Man Loves A Woman) is 71

Ben Stein, actor, economist is 67

Entrepreneurs & Educators

1835 - Andrew Carnegie, Scottish/US industrialist/philanthropist

1843 - Henry Ware Eliot, American industrialist, philanthropist and the father of T. S. Eliot 

1960 - John F Kennedy Jr, NYC, son of JFK/lawyer/magazine publisher (George)

Political Figures

1846 - Carrie Nation, American temperance advocate 

Scientists & Theologists

1881 - John XXIII, [Angelo Roncalli], Bergamo Italy, 261st pope

Today’s Obits                                         .

1981 - Jack Albertson, actor (Chico & the Man), dies at 74

1982 - Robert Coote, actor (MacBeth), dies in NYC of a heart attack at 73

1973 - Albert DeSalvo, Boston strangler, stabbed to death in prison at 42

1885 - Thomas A Hendricks, 21st VP, dies 8 months after taking office in his sleep at 66

1958 - Charles F Kettering, invented auto self-starter, dies at 82

1964 - Clarence Kolb, actor (Mr Honeywell-My Little Margie), dies at 90

1980 - George Raft, NYC, actor (Scarface), dies at 85

1949 - Luther "Bill" Robinson, "Bojangles" famed tap dancer, dies of heart failure at 71

1987 - Harold Washington, 1st black mayor of Chicago dies of heart attack at 65

1998 - Flip Wilson, American actor and comedian dies of liver cancer at 64

Answers                                               .                                                                           

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1. Bald, legal, spread…eagle
2. Funny, hush, prize…money
3. Air, junk, snail…mail
4. Father, prime, spare…time
5. Creature, double, facial…feature
6. Cheat, cookie, rap…sheet
7. Drag, sack, space…race
8. Chop, pawn, window…shop

Wuzzle

• Short end of the stick
• Annex
• A second job on the side

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     §