Friday

January 22, 2010--Week 3 of 2010: 22 days this year…343 remain

►Provocative Quote                       .

"Early to rise and ditto to bed, make a man healthy, but socially dead."

~ unknown

►Free Ramblings                            .

It snowed all night and all day. We are in a winter wonderland. No, not like the song. This winter wonderland has both interstates closed, the airport closed, all city and county offices closed, all schools closed, the ski area closed, most stores and malls closed. A friend just outside of town has lost her internet connection; another friend in town has lost her electricity. This storm has easily dropped two feet on top of the 10” we already had. It stopped snowing about 6pm and at about 6:05 the wind started. Gusts must be up to about 40mph at my place. I am as prepared as one can be. I did dig my vehicle out twice today, after the snowplow cleared the drive and left a nice pile behind my vehicle. I learned during the last big storm that this is necessary, or have to work much too hard to move ice. It is becoming difficult to find a place to put the snow that accumulates on the sidewalks. Both sides of the walk have snow piles that are about five feet high. Luckily the snow is powder, and not too difficult to throw over my head. As we are expecting another two to three feet before it is over, I guess I’ll be learning how to throw snow from a ladder. As you listen to the news and hear how much rain is falling and flooding in Phoenix, remember, Northern Arizona is getting a lot of snow, we just aren’t big enough to make the news.

While we are being buried in snow, the Supreme Court has been busy. For a really long time, under certain circumstances, a corporation is seen as an individual under the law. Now for the first time, a corporation can act as an individual when contributing to political candidates. Ouch. Somehow that doesn’t sit right. We all know that money interests are an important part of this country. However letting corporations give money to campaigns directly will change our country forever. What politician is going to fight against dependence on oil, knowing that the oil corps can pour millions into the opponent’s campaign? What candidate can fight for environmental issues, for education, for the people knowing that a big corporation can derail them in the next election? A pivotal day for America.

►Quotes from Values.com—TEACHING BY EXAMPLE .

“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”

Naguib Mahfouz: Egyptian Writer/ Nobel Prize winner

►Side Show Stories—Darwin Awards 2010              .

The Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool... by removing themselves from it.

(Hickory Daily Record, NC): Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton , NC . Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.

►Random Fact                                                   .

The Capitol building in Washington, D.C. has 365 steps to represent every day of the year. (I wonder if they add a step for leap year?)

§ Interesting Statistics

*Note: I realize that statistics can be made to say just about anything.

~ Coconino County Graduation Rate in 2000: 74.6% [AZ rate: 71%]

~ Coconino County Graduation Rate in 2007: 71.2% [AZ rate: 73.4%]

§ January Month Long Observances

Birthstone: Garnet …Flower: Carnation

Book Blitz Month * Bath Safety Month * Birth Defects Month * California Dried Plum Digestive Month * Celebration of Life Month * Cervical Cancer Screening Month * Financial Wellness Month * High Tech Month * International Creativity Month * International Quality of Life Month * International Wayfinding Month * International Wealth Mentality Month * National Be On-Purpose Month * National Bird Feeding Month * National Clean Up Your Computer Month * National Get Organized Month * National Glaucoma Awareness Month * National Hot Tea Month * National Mail Order Gardening Month * National Mentoring Month * National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month * National Poverty in America Awareness Month * National Radon Action Month * National Skating Month * National Soup Month * National Volunteer Blood Donor Month * Oatmeal Month * Rising Star Month * Self-help Group Awareness Month * Senior Women’s Travel Month * Shape Up US Month * Thyroid Awareness Month

§ Observance Weeks in January

National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week: 18-23

International Printing Week: 17-23

National Handwriting Analysis Week: 17-23

Healthy Weight Week: 17-23

Hunt For Happiness Week: 17-23

National Activity Professional Week: 17-23 to recognize all those gym people.

No Name Calling Week: 20-24

Sundance Film Festival: 21-31

§ 22 January Observances—US/UN/World

National Answer Your Cat's Question Day

Celebration of Life Day

Roe vs. Wade Day since 1973

§22 January Observances—by country

Ukraine : Ukrainian Day (since 1918)

§ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1881…Ancient Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" erected in Central Park

§Born on this day

     ~ The Arts

Bill (Wilfred Bailey) Bixby 1934 - actor (My Favorite Martian, Incredible Hulk)

Linda Blair (51) - actress (The Exorcist, Airport)

Lord [George Gordon Noel] Byron in 1788 - English romantic poet (Don Juan)

Sam Cooke in 1931 - gospel & blues singer

D[avid] W Griffith in 1875 - movie producer/director (Birth of a Nation)

Diane Lane (45) - actress (Unfaithful, A Walk on the Moon, A Little Romance)

Piper Laurie (Rosetta Jacobs) (78) - actress (Fighting for My Daughter, “Twin Peaks”)

Christopher Masterson (30) - actor (“Malcolm in the Middle”)

Steve Perry (61) -singer (Journey)

Ann Sothern [Harriette Lake] in 1909 - actress

Joseph Wambaugh (73) former police officer, author (The Onion Field, The Choir Boys)

     ~Athletics

Greg Oden (22) Basketball (Trailblazers)

     ~Business, Education, Politics

Francis Bacon in 1561 - English statesman/essayist

[Sithu] U Thant in 1909 (Burma) - 3rd UN Secretary-General

Graham Kerr (76) Scotish chef (Galloping Gourmet)

     ~Science/Religion

Thomas David Jones (55) - NASA astronaut

Lev Landau in 1908 – Soviet physicist, Nobel laureate

§Obits for this day

Judy Garland in 1969 - singer/actress (Wizard of Oz), overdose @ 48

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1995 - Kennedy Matriarch, @ 104

Irving B Kahn in 1994-inventor (teleprompter), @ 76

Lyndon B Johnson in 1973 – 36th President @ 64

Telly Savalas in 1994 - actor (Kojak), prostate cancer @ 70

Queen Victoria in 1901 -64 year reign as Queen @ 82

§What happened on this day?

     ~ The Arts

1968…"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" premieres on NBC

1972…"Emergency" with Robert Fuller premieres on NBC TV

     ~Athletics

1989…Super Bowl XXIII San Francisco 49ers beat Cincinnati Bengals, 20-16 in Miami; Super Bowl MVP Jerry Rice, San Francisco, Wide Receiver

     ~Business, Education, Politics

1599…The Spanish attack the ACOMA PUEBLO.

1673…Postal service between New York & Boston inaugurated

1690…Iroquois tribes renew allegiance to British against French

1881…Ancient Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" erected in Central Park

1946…The Central Intelligence Group, which later became the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was established

1984…A new Apple Computer was introduced . The ad for the new Macintosh computer was first displayed during the Super Bowl.

1985…Cold wave damages 90% of Florida's citrus crop

1998…“The Unabomber’s career is over,” Theodore Kaczynski pleaded guilty

     ~Science/Religion

1939..Uranium atom 1st split, Columbia University

~ Number One Songs in…

1950 Dear Hearts and Gentle People - Dinah Shore

1958 At the Hop - Danny & The Juniors

1966 The Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel

1974 Smokin’ in the Boys Room - Brownsville Station

1982 Physical - Olivia Newton-John

► Puzzle                                                         .

A list of words is given. To solve the puzzle, think of a single word that goes with each to form a compound word or word pair that functions as a compound word. For example, if the given words are volley, field, and bearing, the the answer would be ball, because the word ball can be added to each of the other words to form volleyball, ball field, and ball bearing.

1 back, short, watch

2 blue cake cottage

3. stool, powder, ball

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ANSWERS

1. STOP: backstop, shortstop, stopwatch

2. CHEESE: blue cheese, cheesecake, cottage cheese

3. FOOT: footstool, foot powder, football