Monday

~~~Free Ramblings
A really nice day here in Flagstaff. The Cardinals played a good game against an evenly matched team. Neither team is havin’ a good season, but saw some good football. The Broncos play tomorrow night, so I will get to see them.

It is amazing to me what lengths people will go to for their 15 minutes. The Balloon Boy hoax is the latest to get caught. The kids that were involved will be messed up for years, if not their whole lives. I really wish there was someone to blame, but it is such an overwhelming mess. The Cable channels that put families’ lives on TV are to blame. The people who watch the shows are to blame. The companies that advertise on these programs are to blame. There have been so many children ruined when they became ‘child stars’. I know that many were not ruined and became happy, successful adults. From my view, way too many of these kids got two chances at their 15 minutes—first as child stars and again when they hit bottom. I don’t have any answers, just questions as to why or how a parent would allow this to be done.

The other 15 minutes story in the news that is bothering me is the Sedona Tragedy. Three people died. In this case, the people who participated and paid big bucks, were not looking for their 15 minutes, they were just looking for seeing the world in a new way. The leader wanted his 15 minutes. Now that the three deaths have been ruled homicide, we will all see this plays out. My concern is that many more will be hurt through no fault of their own. Many Native tribes do a sweat. Of course the news media picked up on that, and thankfully one Native reminded everyone that there is always a danger when one tries to imitate something that is not fully understood. I have heard this before, when so many used to go to a Sun Dance at Big Mountain. Many traditional Navajos declined to participate because the Sun Dance is not a tradition of the Dine’. The New Age people are another group that will probably be hurt. I must admit I don’t understand their beliefs, but the New Age people I have met, though a very small number, do not seem to be looking for their 15 minutes. They are just looking for answers to questions we all have at some time in our lives. Some have turned “new age” into a business, for sure. From my point of view, they are not the true believers. Maybe I’m just naive.
I’m glad Flagstaff is staying warm this fall. We hit 75° today and only dropped to 42° last night. This kind of weather will make the 80’s and 90’s in Africa a little more bearable. I can’t imagine leaving Flagstaff if the highs here were in the 40’s and ending up in really hot weather in Africa. I’m sure the return in mid November will provide me with enough cold temperatures.

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~~~Random Facts
Sound at the right vibration can bore holes through a solid object.
The sun is 330,330 times larger than the earth.

~~~Unusual Oklahoma Laws
Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property.

Oklahoma will not tolerate anyone taking a bite out of another’s hamburger.

It is illegal to have the hind legs of farm animals in your boots.

People who make “ugly faces” at dogs may be fined and/or jailed.

Cars must be tethered outside of public buildings.

Oral sex is a misdemeanor and is punishable by one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Anyone arrested for soliciting a hooker must have their name and picture shown on television.

Fish may not be contained in fishbowls while on a public bus.

Tissues are not to be found in the back of one’s car.

It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to pretend to have sex with a buffalo.

~~~Before They Were Famous
Rush Limbaugh was a shoe shiner at one point.
Lucy Liu was an aerobics instructor at one point.
The only non-entertainment job LL Cool J had as a kid was a brief stint as a paper boy.
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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 17 Oct
Food & Drug Interaction Education and Awareness Week
Teen Read Week
Nat’l Chemistry Week
Nat’l Character Counts Week
Nat’l Forest Products Week
Nat’l School Bus Safety Week


~~~19 OCT Observances
292 days so far this year…73 days remain in 2009

Evaluate Your Life Day
 Albania – Mother Teresa Day.
 Brazil – Independence Day of State of Piauí
 Niue – Constitution Day in honor of the country's independence (self-governing in free association with New Zealand) 1974.
 Mauritania : Independence Day from France(1960) East coast of Africa

~~~Births on this day
~ The ARTS
1931__John Le Carré, pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell spy novelist
1932__Robert Reed actor (Mike-Brady Bunch)
1937__Peter Max (Finkelstein) pop artist: psychedelic best-selling poster
1945__John Lithgow actor 3rd Rock from the Sun
1945__Jeannie C. Riley (Stephenson) singer: Harper Valley P.T.A.

~ATHLETICS
1850__Annie Peck mountain climber Matterhorn
1949__Lynn Dickey football: Green Bay Packers
1962__Evander Hollyfield Heavyweight boxing champ

~POLITICS/BUSINESS/EDUCATION
1748__Martha Jefferson (Wayles) 1st lady
1784__John McLoughlin Hudson's Bay Co pioneer in Oregon Country
1885__Charles Merrill stock company mogul: founded Merrill-Lynch
1922__Jack Anderson columnist
1945__Patricia Ireland social activist: president of NOW
1967__Amy Carter Pres Carter's daughter

~SCIENCE/RELIGION
1680 – John Abernethy Irish Protestant minister
1720 – John Woolman American Quaker preacher and abolitionist

~~~In Remembrance–
1745__Jonathan Swift Irish author @ 78
1950__Edna St. Vincent Millay American poet @ 58 from a fall
1978__Gig Young actor-- kills his bride of 3 weeks & then commits suicide @ 64
1994__Martha Raye American comedian and actress @78

~~~Historical Events on this day
1781__Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2 PM; Revolutionary War ends
1818__CHICKASAW treaty: cede their claims to lands in Tennessee. (7 stat.192)
1849__Elizabeth Blackwell became 1st woman in US to receive medical degree
1870__1st (4) blacks elected to House of Reps
1933__Basketball was introduced to the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games
1960__The US Places an embargo on exports to Cuba.
1988__Britain bans broadcast interviews with IRA members
1988__S African anti-apartheid leader Sisulu wins $100,000 Human Rights prize
1988__A bill passed by the senate limits the number of ads that can be shown during children's TV programs.

~ Holy Mackerel
1951__Pres Harry S Truman formally ends state of war with Germany
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Jeopardy Categories Quiz
(these writers or composers can be found at the movies)
1. This nineteenth century German Romantic composer's tempestuous life was depicted in the film, Immortal beloved.
2. This Elizabethan playwright's tragedy about star-crossed lovers became a feature film released in 1997, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
3. Victorian author whose classic novel, Great Expectations has been reset in contemporary Florida in a current release of the same title starring Ethan Hawke and Gweneth Paltrow.
4. This author, whose novel The Color Purple was made into a movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, has also published several volumes of poetry.
5. Austrian child prodigy and composer whose last years were dramatized in the Broadway play and feature film, Amadeus.
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Answers:
1. Who is Ludwig von Beethoven?
2. Who Is Alexandre Dumas?
3. What is Charles Dickens?
4. Who is Alice Walker?
5. Who is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?

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