Friday

The NAU news station just interviewed the State Superintendent for Instruction and his Deputy. Some kind of conference brought them to Flagstaff. The head guy was interviewed first. He said the state’s biggest concern in Education is our low funding. Yeah, we are 39th in funding. Then, in a separate interview by a different reporter the same question was asked. The answer was “Our biggest problem in people talking about the fact that we have problems.” She went on to explain that when people talk about problems, others listen and then believe those issues are problems. So from her point of view, I guess, everything is just fine. That kind of leadership will certainly not help our students.

While shopping today, I ran into a Hopi couple I have known for ever. The husband retired two years ago, the wife this year. They are both amazed at how much they have to do. Both are still in very good health. Always on the go, always getting ready for something or participating in something, or recovering after something. It was great to see them, and good to hear things are going well. The wife was always afraid that when she retired she would just get bored. She isn’t. Living in the Village keeps all the elderly busy with something. Actually it keeps everyone busy, but when you are working, it is hard to do all the stuff you feel you need to or just want to. Now that Sara and Wayne are retired, they have the time they need. Very cool.

Well, we still haven’t had a freeze. Our trustworthy local weatherman has not been very trustworthy when it comes to temperatures this week. Every day he says we will have a freeze. We haven’t yet. Last night, instead of a freeze, it only got down to 47°. He is usually spot on when it comes to our local weather. Something is messing up his ability to do this. I’m beginning to believe that weather forecasting is more an art than a science. All the fancy maps, all the moving icons, all the fancy graphs just aren’t helping him determine when it will freeze. Guess I will just wait until there is frost on the car and then I will know it froze the night before. I have sympathy for all those gardeners who are covering their plants night after night when it doesn’t even get close to a freeze.

Ken Burns is starting a new series on PBS—“America’s Best Idea”. He has been on several news shows the past few days. It should be great series on our National Parks. He always does amazing specials, but this one may be his best. It starts Sunday on your local PBS station. I only hope it is not another fund raiser event.

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Random Facts…
Cow is a Japanese brand of shaving foam.

Goldfish lose their color if they are kept in dim light or are placed in a body of running water, such as a stream.

Crazy Stuff In The News …

JENSEN BEACH, Fla. – Authorities in Florida said a man who blamed 10 counts of possession of child pornography on his cat is facing 90 additional charges of the crime.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said Keith Riley Griffin, 48, of Jensen Beach, Fla., was charged in early August with 10 counts of possession of child ornography and is now facing 100 counts of the offense, TCPalm.com reported Monday. Investigators said Griffin told them after his August arrest that the offending material had been downloaded as a result of his cat walking on the computer keyboard while he was away from home.

Griffin was being held at the Martin County Jail with bail set at $2.2 million.


September Month Long Observances

Apple Month…Be Kind to Editors & Writers Month…Children’s Good Manners Month…International People Skills Month…International Strategic Thinking Month…National Honey Month…National Preparedness Month…Pleasure Your Mate Month…Healthy Aging Month…National Hispanic Heritage Month…

Before They Were Famous…
Hayden Christensen used to be a tennis ball boy and he once accidentally interrupted play during a John McEnroe match.

George Clooney was in an episode of Murder She Wrote titled "No Laughing Matter."

P-Diddy was an intern at Uptown Records where he did grunt work like washing cars & fetching coffee.

Sean Connery's first job was delivering milk for St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society in Scotland.


Week of 22 Sep…
Pollution Prevention Week
American Massage Therapy Week

25 Sep Observances…
268 days so far this year…97 days remain in 2009
Native American Day
Hug a Vegetarian Day
National One Hit Wonders Day
Love Note Day
*Rwanda: Government Day


BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…

…ARTS…
1897 - William (Cuthbert) Faulkner Nobel Prize-winning writer

1905 - Red (Walter) Smith Pulitzer Prize-winning sportswriter
1931 Barbara Walters Boston Mass, newscaster
1949 Anson Williams LA Calif, actor (Potsie-Happy Days)
1951 Mark Hamill Oakland Calif, actor (Star Wars)
1952 Christopher Reeve actor (Superman)
1965 Will Smith [Fresh Prince ], rapper, actor
1969 - Catherine Zeta-Jones actress

…ATHLETICS…
1887 May Sutton Bundy US, 1st US woman to win Wimbledon (US 1904)

1942 - Oscar Bonavena boxing: heavyweight
1951 - Bob McAdoo basketball

…POLITICS/Business…

…SCIENCE/Religion…
1644 Olaus Rímer Denmark, 1st to accurately measure speed of light

Events on this day…

1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa is the 1st European to see the Pacific Ocean

1690: ‘Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick’, the first newspaper in the American colonies, publishes its only issue before being suppressed by the government.

1789 Congress proposes Bill of Rights (10 of 12 will ratify)

1890 Congress establishes Yosemite National Park (Calif)

1926 Henry Ford announces the 8 hour, 5-day work week
1981 Sandra Day O'Connor sworn in as 1st female supreme court justice
1988 Florence Griffith Joyner runs Olympic record 100m in 10.54s

Holy Mackerel…
2004 : West Africa including Chad, Mali, Gambia, Niger and Mauritania are suffering the worst Plague of Locusts in 40 years.


Anagrams
Here are some words that can easily be anagrammed into something interesting.
1. ate in grave
2. out in a drag
3. Needy Chick
4. Bad credit
5. I'm a Dot in Place
6. fine in torn jeans
7. Nice, save them
8. So Let's Pinch
9. Nice Shirt
10. Pig Slices
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Scroll down for answers
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Answers:
1. vegetarian = ate in grave
2. graduation = out in a drag
3. Dick Cheney = Needy Chick
4. Debit card = Bad credit
5. A Decimal Point = I'm a Dot in Place
6. Jennifer Aniston = fine in torn jeans
7. Achievements = Nice, save them
8. Clothespins = So Let's Pinch
9. Christine = Nice Shirt
10. Spice Girls = Pig Slices

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