Friday

January 29, 2010--Week 4 of 2010: 29 days this year…336 remain

» Quote Times Two «                       .

"In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes, Youth on the bow, Pleasure at the helm." ~unkonwn

“The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.” ~Anatole France, Critic, Writer

» Free Ramblings «                         .

Politicians will always be politicians…duh. Obama gave a good political speech last night. He certainly hit the target when he reminded America that education is the best way to beat poverty. Did you hear that AZ legislature? Did you hear that non-elected Governor Brewer? They just keep cutting and cutting education. At times our 42nd place in per-student educational spending seems to be too high for them. Why can’t we be 50th? I reside in such a short-sighted state.

Obama called out the Supreme Court decision on recognizing a corporation as a person who can freely donate to federal campaigns. Judge Alito, sitting with the other justices, gave a negative head bob and quietly mumbled something about the call-out being wrong. Obama made it clear, before his call out, that he was aware of the separation of powers. Alito’s behavior was more like that of an adolescent who doesn’t like being called out by someone who has little or no power over the adolescent’s life. Sad.

Flag dropped to 28° last night and got to a whopping 36° today. The 30mph gusts made it feel a whole lot cooler. No snow flew today, but it sure tried. We still may get a little more snow out of this storm, but I think it is highly unlikely. My vast education in weather forecasting consists of ‘how it looks outside, and how I feel about it.” I’m almost as accurate as the weather bureau with all their charts, graphs, and maps.

»Side Show Stories—Darwin Awards 2010 «               .

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

Another runner up…

A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

»Random Fact«                                                     .

Alaska has more caribou than people.

» Interesting Statistics – Tax Time«                      .

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

~ more than 50 percent of us use professional tax help. This percentage is on the rise -- it was 40 percent in 1980.

» 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. Answers are at the end of blog.

1. battle, work, play

2. off, crow, tactics

3. reading, stick, fat

» Calendar Information «                                       . 

☼ 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 ☼

Sundance Film Festival: 21-31

National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Week: 23-30

World Leprosy Week: 23-29

National Nurse Anesthetists Week: 24-30

National Medical Group Practice Week: 25-29

☼ 27 January Observances—US/UN/World ☼

National Corn Chip Day

Kansas : Admission Day/Kansas Day (1861)

☼27 January Observances—by country ☼

Gibraltar: Constitution Day (since 2006)

☼ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1845…Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" 1st published (New York City NY)

☼ Born on this day ☼

     » The Arts

Edward Abbey, in 1927 US author (Desert Solitaire)

Anton Chekhov in 1860, short story writer

Paddy Chayefsky in 1923, [Sydney], US, dramatist (Marty)

W C Fields [William Claude Dukenfield], in 1880 , actor and comedian

John Forsythe (John Freund), 92, actor (“Bachelor Father,” Charlie’s voice on “Charlie’s Angels,” “Dynasty”)

Germaine Greer, 71, (Australia), feminist/author (Female Eunuch)

Sara Gilbert, 35, actress (“The Big Bang Theory,” “Roseanne”

Germaine Greer, 71, Australian author (Daddy We Hardly Knew You, The Female Eunuch)

Victor Mature, in 1913, actor

Romain Rolland, in 1866 (France), writer (Nobel 1915)

Katharine Ross, 67, actress (The Graduate)

Tom Selleck, 65, actor (“Magnum, PI,” Three Men and a Baby, Mr Baseball)

Oprah Winfrey, 56, television talk show host, actress, producer

     »Athletics

Gregory Efthimios (Greg) Louganis, 50, Olympic gold medal diver, born San Diego, CA, Jan 29, 1960.

     »Business, Education, Politics

Allen B DuMont, in 1901, inventor (perfected commercial practical cathode ray tube)

William McKinley, in 1843, 25th President

Thomas Paine, in 1737, political essayist (Common Sense, Age of Reason)

Adam Clayton Powell, in 1908, US Representative- NY

John D[avid] Rockefeller Jr in 1874, philanthropist

     »Science/Religion

Lawrence Hargrave, in 1850, inventor (box kite)

☼Today’s Obits ☼

Edward Lear in 1888, poet/author, @ 75

Robert Lee Frost in 1963, US poet (New Hampshire, 4 Pulitzers), @ 88

Alan Ladd, in 1964 actor (Shane), accidental overdose @50

Freddie Prinze, in 1977 comedian/actor (Chico & the Man), suicide @ 22

Jimmy Durante, in 1980 New York City NY, singer/comedian (Ink-a-dink-a-doo, Palooka, The Jimmy Durante Show), @ 86

☼What happened on this day? ☼

     » The Arts

1953…1st movie in Cinemascope (The Robe) premieres

1959…Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" released

1996…6,138th performance of "Cats" is held in London, surpassing record of Broadway's longest-running musical, "A Chorus Line"

     »Athletics

1936…Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson were the first players to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

1988…Largest NBA crowd-Boston Celtics at Detroit (61,938)

     »Business, Education, Politics

1802…John Beckley of Virginia appointed 1st Librarian of Congress

1834…President Jackson orders 1st use of US troops to suppress a labor dispute

1929…Seeing Eye Guide Dog Organization forms

1990…Exxon Valdez captain Joseph Hazelwood goes on trial due to oil spill

     »Science/Religion

1886…1st successful gasoline-driven car patented, Karl Benz

1896…Emile Grubbe is 1st doctor to use radiation treatment for breast cancer

» Number One Songs in…

1949…Buttons and Bows - Dinah Shore

1957…Singing the Blues - Guy Mitchell

1965…Downtown - Petula Clark

1973…Superstition - Stevie Wonder

1981…9 to 5 - Dolly Parton

» ANSWERS to puzzle «

1. GROUND: battleground, groundwork, playground

2. SCARE: scare off, scarecrow, scare tactics

3. LIP: lip reading, lipstick, fat lip