Monday

That forest fire has almost tripled in size since yesterday. Flagstaff, Sedona, and much of the Northern Arizona area is socked in with smoke. The smoke is so thick it looks like a partial eclipse. The smell of burning trees is awful. Outside my eyes burned and got red. Inside the smell permeates the air. I usually have a clear view of Mt. Elden, all of one mile from my house. Today, it was barely visible from here. The county health department issued some guidelines for this smoke—stay indoors if you have breathing problems, don’t exert yourself while outside. Well, duh. I had to wonder today, if the first people who settled here would have even stopped if there had been a forest fire nearby. My guess is not.

Guns. The Second Amendment. Hunting. Violence. Protection. The whole debate is getting out of hand. Today, in Arizona, Obama’s speech at the VFW convention brought out the gun carriers. Some guy who is against any Health Care Reform, showed up with an assault weapon strapped on his shoulder and a handgun at his waist. At least 12 other citizens were seen carrying. No arrests. They were all outside building, and not a danger to the President. It is legal. Arizona is one of a number of states that has made it legal to carry in a restaurant or bar that serves alcohol. Many are pushing to let students carry guns on a school campus. I have taken numerous ‘gun safety’ classes throughout my life. Nowhere do I remember learning that carrying a gun in a public demonstration is a good idea. I thought people got arrested for that. Nowhere do I remember learning that alcohol and weapons make a party. Nowhere do I recall learning that I would feel safer if the teacher or another student was carrying a gun inside the classroom. This seems to be leading to a very bad end. If this gun carrying thing continues, soon, everyone will be carrying. I know that won’t make me feel any safer. The idea that we need to legitimize the fringe is crazy. Obama and/or Congress are not going to take away our guns. Health Care reform is not going to kill poor Aunt Sally. Our leaders need to stop listening to the paranoid.

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Random Facts…

While humans and most species are divided into only two sexes, mushrooms contain over 36,000 sexes!

Crazy Stuff In The News…

WILBUR, Wash. - Residents of a small Washington town say mysterious crop circles have appeared in wheat fields for the second time in three years. Locals in Wilbur, a town of 960 people 65 miles west of Spokane, Wash., said the talk of the town has been the latest crop designs,discovered in late July on the Haden family's wheat farm,The Seattle Times reported. "This is the one where they put the spaceship landing pad down," Keith Haden joked while pointing out a portion of the design, which encompasses five rings of varying sizes and one complete circle.

Haden and most other locals expressed skepticism about any real extraterrestrial involvement in the design, but a previous crop circle discovered in the town in June 2007 brought loads of tourists and research groups to the area.

The Wilbur Chamber of Commerce passed a tongue-in-cheek resolution last year giving "thanks to the Aliens who made Wilbur their Vacation Destination!"

Month long events in August

Edinburgh Festival is an internationally famous arts festival that takes place during August National Immunization Awareness Month… National Psoriasis Awareness Month… Women's Small Business Month... National Back to School month…American Adventures Month…Golf Month…National Inventor’s Month…National Win with Civility Month…What will be your legacy Month

Week of Aug 17…

Weird Contest Week

18 Aug…

230 days so far this year…135 days remain in 2009
Bad Poetry Day
Cupcake Day
Mail Order Catalogue Day
* Australia – Long Tan Day (also called Vietnam Veterans' Day) named after the Battle of Long Tan




BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…

1587….. Virginia Dare 1st American born of English parents

1834….. Marshall Field founded Chicago-based store chain
1873….. Otto Harbach songwriter (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes)

1904….. Max Factor Jr CEO (Max Factor Cosmetics)
1917….. Casper Weinberger US Secretary of Defense
1922….. Shelley Winters [Schrift], St Louis Mo, actress
1927….. Rosalynn Carter Georgia, 1st lady
1933….. Roman Polanski directo
1934….. Rafer Lewis Johnson US, decathalete (Olympic-gold-1960)
1937….. Robert Redford Calif, actor
1952….. Patrick Swayze Houston Tx, actor/dancer
1934….. Roberto Clemente (Walker) Baseball Hall of Famer
1939….. Johnny Preston singer: Running Bear, Cradle of Love
1969….. Edward Norton actor
….. ….. …Christian Slater actor


Events on this day…

1227….. Genghis Khan dies in the district of Qingshui, China, leaving behind a Mongol empire that he had extended across the Asian continent.

1686….. Cassini reports seeing a satellite orbiting Venus

1735….. The Evening Post, of Boston, MA was published for the first time.

1834….. Mt Vesuvius erupts
1835….. Last Pottawatomie Indians leave Chicago
1894….. Congress creates Bureau of Immigration

1920….. 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified--women the right to vote.
1958….. Great Britain issues regional stamps (N Ireland, Scotland & Wales)
1958….. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, published
1962….. Peter, Paul & Mary release their 1st hit "If I Had a Hammer"


Movie Trivia from Filmsite.org

Name the movies that had these famous lines…Extra credit for the Actor and the Character’s name and the year of the movie.

1. "Your mother's in here with us, Karras. Would you like to leave a message? I'll see that she gets it."
2. "You hear me talkin', hillbilly boy? I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'ma get medieval on your ass."
3. "I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."
4. "He won't come after me. He won't. I can't explain it. He would consider that...rude."
5. "Excuse me while I whip this out."
6. "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!"
7. "I'm your worst f---ing nightmare, man. I'm a nigger with a badge."
8. "Kid, the next time I say, 'Let's go someplace like Bolivia,' let's go someplace like Bolivia."
9. "Wendy? Darling? Light of my life?...I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the f--- in!"
10. "I just hate you and I hate your ass face."
* Bonus: "You shoot off a guy's head with his pants down, believe me, Texas is not the place you wanna get caught."
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Answers:
1. REGAN MacNEIL/SATAN (Linda Blair) in The Exorcist (1973)
2. MARCELLUS WALLACE (Ving Rhames) in Pulp Fiction (1994)
3. FRENCH SOLDIER (John Cleese) in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
4. CLARICE STARLING (Jodie Foster) in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
5. BART (Cleavon Little) in Blazing Saddles (1974)
6. AURIC GOLDFINGER (Gert Frobe) in Goldfinger (1964)
7. REGGIE HAMMOND (Eddie Murphy) in 48 HRS. (1982)
8. BUTCH CASSIDY (Paul Newman) in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
9. JACK TORRANCE (Jack Nicholson) in The Shining (1980)
10. CORKY ST. CLAIR (Christopher Guest) in Waiting for Guffman (1996)
* Bonus: LOUISE (Susan Sarandon) in Thelma & Louise (1991)
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