Friday

~~~Free Ramblings
I went to Sam’s Club today. The good news—they just opened a gas station that is about 20 cents cheaper than anywhere in town. The bad news—fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations have been cut down to one partial aisle. They now have two full aisles of Christmas stuff. I’m old enough to remember being surprised when Christmas stuff came out before Thanksgiving. For a few years I wouldn’t shop at any store that had Christmas stuff up before Thanksgiving. That boycott didn’t seem to have done any good. Now the stuff is for sale in September. My only question: WWJD? Somehow I don’t think commercialism and money was part of the message.

Speaking of rampant profit motive…Target just had to pay $600K for knowingly importing toys with too much lead based paint. They sold these toys to many in 06 and 07. First I am outraged that it took this long to find out. Second I am outraged that they did it. Target used to be better than that. I have come to expect such shenanigans for those Dollar Stores. The fine will hardly hurt the bottom line. But I hope that people let the management of Target that they will not want to shop at a store that does this. The bottom line for me is that safety is more important than price.

The weatherman says we will drop to 22° tonight. The temp is falling rather fast. Again I will wait and see. We were breezy today and only made it to 65° so maybe the forecast is finally right.
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~~~Random Facts
More steel in the United States is used to make bottle caps than to manufacture automobile bodies.

You're subject to fines and/or imprisonment for making ugly faces at dogs in Oklahoma.

~~~Before They Were Famous
Before actor Dennis Farina found success in Hollywood, he was an officer in the Chicago Police Department from 1967 to 1985.

In a 2000 interview, Colin Farrell said he once spent eight months touring Ireland with a dance troupe - teaching line dancing.

Before Charlie's Angels, Farrah Fawcett appeared in a 1972 commercial for Ultra Brite toothpaste. She also appeared in ads for Winchester Cigars, Union 76 gasoline, and Head and Shoulders shampoo.

In high school, Will Ferrell was a record-setting place kicker for the varsity football team.

Tina Fey (star of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock) said that when she was 14 she worked in a snack bar at a swim club.

~~~Crazy News
Thunder Valley casino in California has given away eight cars and trucks in the past two months, and four of them have gone to the same Sacramento woman.
Last week, the woman won a Lexus convertible worth $43,000 and the week before it was a Mercedes convertible worth $47,000. Last month she won two pickup trucks.
The woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Salina, said could not believe her run of good luck – and apparently neither could the casino. Thunder Valley spokesman Doug Elmets said casino security officials reviewed video of the drawings and were convinced they were legitimate.
“After the second time she won we immediately went and investigated to make certain everything was perfectly clear,” he said.
Elmets said Salina is one of the casino’s top players, so her odds of making the first cut were relatively good. But it was phenomenal luck that allowed her to beat out nine other contestants to win the grand prize four times in a row.
Now comes the second unbelievable part of the story, and it may help the gamblers who lost to Salina feel better. Salina works quietly with Sacramento’s homeless community and said she has given away virtually everything she’s ever won at Thunder Valley, including the trucks and cars.


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~~~October Month Long Observances

Birthstone: Opal Birth flower: calendula
Adopt A Shelter Animal Month ~ Apple Month ~ Celebrate the Bilingual Child Month ~ Domestic Violence Awareness Month ~ Emotional Intelligence Month ~ Gay & Lesbian History Month ~ Halloween Safety Month ~ Month of Free Thought ~ Nat’l Arts and Humanities Month ~ Nat’l Book Month ~ Nat’l Cyber Safety Awareness Month ~ Nat’l Popcorn Poppin’ Month ~ Nat’l Sarcastic Awareness Month ~ Photographer Appreciation Month ~ Squirrel Awareness Month ~ Vegetarian Month

~~~Week of 2 Oct
No Salt Week
Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend

~~~2 OCT Observances
275 days so far this year…90 days remain in 2009
Guardian Angels Day
Lee’s National Denim Day
Phileas Fogg’s Wager Day
Techie Day
National Custodial Worker’s Day
^World Smile Day
^World Farm Animal’s Day
^ International Day of Non-Violence to commemorate birthday of Mahatma Gandhi
^Guinea: Independence Day (from France, 1958)
^India – Gandhi Jayanti (birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, 1869)


~~~Births on this day
~ The ARTS
1879__ Wallace Stevens Pulitzer Prize-winning poet: Collected Poems [1955]
1890__Julius "Groucho" Marx NYC, comedian
1895__Bud Abbott Asbury Pk NJ, comedian

1928__Spanky McFarland actor (Little Rascals)
1945__Don McLean singer/songwriter (American Pie)
1948__Donna Karan Forest Hills NY, fashion designer

~ATHLETICS
1932__Maury (Maurice Morning) Wills baseball: LA Dodgers

~POLITICS/BUSINESS/EDUCATION
1800__Nat Turner Virginia, leader of major slave rebellion

~SCIENCE/RELIGION
1869__Mohandas K Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Porbandar Kathiawad India, pacifist

~~~In Remembrance
1803__Samuel Adams, American revolutionary leader @ 81
1985__Rock Hudson, American actor @60
1998__Gene Autry, American singer, actor, and entrepreneur @ 91

2005__Nipsey Russell, American comedian @ 87

~~~Historical Events on this day
1187__Sultan Saladin captures Jerusalem from the Crusaders

1608__Hans Lippershey offers Dutch gov't a new invention, the telescope

1853__Austrian law forbids Jews from owning land

1950__The renowned comic strip Peanuts, premiered in seven U.S. newspapers.
1953 __Person to Person premiers with Edward R. Murrow
1955__"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" premiers
1959__Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" premieres on CBS
1961__"Ben Casey" premieres
1962__Johnny Carson premiered as the new host of The Tonight Show

~ Holy Mackerel
1967__Thurgood Marshall, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, was sworn in as first Black associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
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Countries by population
Place these countries in order by estimated 2009 population—largest to smallest.
1. Bahamas
2. Bahrain
3. Bangladesh
4. Barbados
5. Belarus
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Answers:
1. Bangladesh 156,050,883 (growth rate: 1.2%)
2. Belarus 9,648,533 (growth rate: -0.3%)
3. Bahrain 727,785 (growth rate: 1.2%)
4. Bahamas 309,156 (growth rate: 0.5%)
5. Barbados 284,589 (growth rate: 0.3%)
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