Wednesday

364 days so far this year…1 day remains in 2009 and in the first decade of the 21st century
►Provocative Quote
"The light of a hundred stars doesn't equal the light of the moon."
~Unknown
►Free Ramblings
What a decade the double aught has been. We have been changed. Some will say, more than any other decade in memory.
Here is a far from complete list of words and phrases we heard during this decade—sometimes too often:
iPod: “Let’s Roll”: “Yes We Can”: 9/11: Abu Ghraib: Armstrong Wins 7th: Bailout: Blogging: Supreme Court says Bush Beats Gore: Carbon Footprint: Chads: China Emerges: Climate Change: Dot com bubble bursts: Economy Skids: Evil: Embedded Reporters: Enron: Facebook v My Space: Gas Prices Set Record--again: Google becomes Superstar: HDTV: Green: Ground Zero: H1N1: You Tube: Jan Brewer: Health Care: Housing bubbles burst: Hubble: Gay Marriage: Janet Napolitano: Katrina: Landing on the Hudson: Michael Jackson: Illegals: Mars Rover: Obama Wins: Palin: Pluto demoted: Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Saddham Hussein: Texting: Sex Scandals in House, Senate and White House: Sexting: SmartPhone: Social Networking: Sotomayor: Steroids in Sports: Susan Boyle: Swine Flu: TARP: Truthiness: Tsunamis: Twitter: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: WMD: Y2K

As we head for Twenty-ten or Two Thousand Ten, the world will continue to change. Words and phrases we have never heard will enter our vocabulary and daily life. Let’s hope the words of the second decade bring us all compassion, peace, and most of all—a better world.

I live in an area of Flagstaff that is officially called Christmas Tree Estates. It includes the 60+ unit townhouse complex and about twelve blocks of manufactured homes. The local paper reported that a murder took place here on Christmas Eve. The cops say it was a drug deal gone bad. Hmmm. Of course, the news media will not release the exact address so I just have to hope it wasn’t too close to my place. Usually the paper does print something like “in the 500 block of Elm…” I am getting very curious as to why the just printed the neighborhood instead of a street name. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but there has to be more to this murder than is being printed. I don’t recognize the name of the 20-something victim that was in the paper and they never printed the name of the ‘person of interest.’ So, in a small town, sometimes you just gotta be there at the right time to know what is going on.

Our high of 35° sure didn’t feel like that with the 25mph wind gusts. The 18° last night wasn’t any too warm either. We did see the sun for a little while this morning, then the snow started. While not a lot is sticking yet, it has been heavy tiny flakes at times. Tomorrow looks like more of the same. ╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣╣

± Quotes from Values.com—LIVE LIFE
“Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
~George Bernard Shaw Playwright, Nobel Prize Winner
± Unusual News…
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± Random Fact
The surface area of an average-sized brick is 79 cm squared.
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§ December Month Long Observances
Birthstone: Blue Topaz…Flower of the Month: Narcissus
Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness Month + Hi Neighbor Month + National Write A Business Plan Month + National Tie Month + Rising Star Month + Safe Toys and Gifts Month + Spiritual Literacy Month + Stress Free Family Holiday Month + Universal Human Rights Month + Read A New Book Month+ World Aids Month
§ Observance Weeks in December
It's About Time Week (25-31)
Kwanzaa: (26-1/1)
§ 29 December Observances
Festival Of Enormous Changes At The Last Minute
National Bicarbonate Of Soda Day
Falling Needles Family Fest Day—gather friends and family around the tree and watch the needles fall. Then recycle the tree.
Kwanzaa: Today is Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
-Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador: Bank Holiday
-Iran : Birthday of Imam Reza(765)—a Shi’ite who attempted to unite with Sunnis.
-Philippines : Rizal Day (anniversary of José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda death in1896): Martyr during Spanish Occupation
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§ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1986 : Canaries have been made redundant from British Coal Mines and are being replaced by modern carbon monoxide detectors.
§ Births On This Day
     ~ The Arts
Skeeter Davis [Mary Penick] in 1931 singer (End of the World)
Bo Diddley (Otha Ellas Bates McDaniel) in 1928 rock 'n' roll pioneer
John Hartford in 1937 Grammy Award-winning songwriter: Gentle on My Mind John Hillerman in 1932 actor (Magnum PI)
[David] Davy Jones in 1945 singer/actor (Monkees)
Rudyard Kipling in 1865 (Bombay) author (Jungle Book, Gunga Din-Nobel 1907)
Matt Lauer in 1957 TV host
Jack Lord (John Joseph Patrick Ryan) in 1920 actor (Hawaii 5-0, Stoney Burke)
Michael Nesmith in 1942 rocker/actor (Monkees)
Bert Parks [Jacobson] in 1914 TV host (Miss America)
Del Shannon (Charles Westover) in 1939 singer: Runaway
[Noel] Paul Stookey in 1937 singer/musician/comedian (Peter, Paul, & Mary)
Tracey Ullman in 1959 comedienne singer/actress
     ~Athletics
Ben Johnson in 1961 100 meter runner, steroids
Sandy (Sanford Braun) Koufax in 1935 Dodger pitcher
(Eldrick)Tiger Woods in 1975 golfer
     ~Business, Education, Politics
Simon Guggenheim in 1867 philanthropist
Hideki Tojo in 1884 PM-Japan; WWII war criminal, hanged
     ~Science/Religion
Helge Ingstad in1899 Norwegian explorer
§ In Remembrance
Galeazzo Alessi Italian architect (Palazza Marino, Milan), in 1572 @ 60
Colonel Abijah Hammond owned large portion of Greenwich Village In 1832 @75
Ling-Ling 1st panda China gave US, in 1992 @ 23
Richard Rodgers composer (Rogers & Hammerstein) in 1979 @ 77
§ Historical Events On This Day
1731…1st US music concert (Peter Pelham's great room in Boston)
1817…1st coffee planted in Hawaii (Kona)
1853…Gadsden Purchase - 45,000 square miles (120,000 km) by Gila River from México for $10 million; Area is now southern Arizona & New Mexico
1873…American Metrological Society forms (New York NY) weights, measures & money
1879…Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" premieres
1906…Iran becomes a constitutional monarchy
1918…John E Hoover decides to be called J Edgar Hoover
1922…Vladimir Lenin the Russian revolutionary who created Leninism, an extension of Marxist theory proclaims the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
1940…California's 1st freeway (Arroyo Seco Parkway) opens
1963…"Let's Make A Deal" debuts on NBC-TV
1972…President Nixon halts bombing of North Vietnam & announces peace talks
1993…Vatican recognizes Israel and vice versa
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§ Rhyme & Reason
Answer the following clue in two rhyming words (e.g. an obese feline is a fat cat) If only one number is given, the answer is a word featuring internal rhyme (e.g. voodoo)

1. porcine journal (3,3) :
2. fright caused by a loud and strident sound (5,5):
3. conch toppled (5,4):
4. cherish the naval officer (5,9):
5. premiere boniface (8,4):
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ANSWERS
1. porcine journal (3,3) : Hog log
2. fright caused by a loud and strident sound (5,5): blare scare
3. conch toppled (5,4): shell fell
4. cherish the naval officer (5,9): adore commodore
5. premiere boniface (8,4): foremost host