Thursday

January 21, 2010--Week 3 of 2010: 21 days this year…344 remain

►Provocative Quote                          .

“To know a little less and to understand a little more: that, it seems to me, is our greatest need.”

~ James Ramsey Ullman, US author

►Free Ramblings                             .

Everyone in Flagstaff is waiting for the ‘big un’. The first two storms have dropped some snow, as expected. My place probably got 10” total from the two storms. They predicted about 24” from those two. Now they are saying the big one is coming and will slowly move through our area on Thursday night through Saturday morning. The third one is expected to bring two to four feet. Think I’ll just wait and see. A couple of good things about all the hype—the HOA has been keeping the parking lot and the main sidewalks fairly clear and the city has kept the streets clear. Our high was only 33° with a low of 27°. The 30mph winds made it no fun to be outside.

OK, so the Senate doesn’t have a filibuster proof majority. Lots can still be done. Every other president has done it and Obama is no different. This ‘NO’ idea for just about everything from the Republicans will have to stop. Our elected representatives are there to help us. If a particular senator or representative does not want to vote for a bill, that is fine…just propose something better. Those who say NO to everything coming from the group in power are able to slow things down, but eventually, they are seen more as part of the problem and will get replaced. Play nice or go home.

►Quotes from Values.com—TEACHING BY EXAMPLE .

An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”

~Carl Gustav Jung; Founder of Analytical Psychology

►Side Show Stories—Darwin Awards 2010             .

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

(Kalamazoo Gazette): James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck." Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft.”

►Random Fact                                               .

There are more French restaurants in New York City than in Paris.

§ Interesting Statistics

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

~ 73% of Arizonians are over 18 years old.

~15% of Arizonians are foreign born.

§ 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

§ 21 January Observances—US/UN/World

National Hug Day

Rid the World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day

Squirrel Appreciation Day

§21 January Observances—by country

Dominican Republic : Nuestra Senora de Altagracia Day: Patron Saint

Quebec: Flag Day

New Zealand: Wellington Anniversary—first settlers landed in 1839

§ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1949...1st televised inaugural parade (Harry Truman)

§Who was born on this day?

     ~ The Arts

Robby Benson (Robin Segal), (54) - actor

Geena Davis (53) - actress

Mac Davis (68) - actor, songwriter

Placido Domingo (69) (Madrid) - opera singer, one of the “Three Tenors,”

Jill Eikenberry 63, actress (“LA Law”)

Benny Hill in 1924 (England) - comedian (Benny Hill Show)

Richie Havens (69) - folk singer (Here Comes the Sun)

Billy Ocean (Leslie Charles), 60, (Trinidad, West Indies) musician, songwriter

Telly [Aristotle] Savalas in 1924 - actor (Kojak)

Wolfman Jack [Bob Smith] in 1939 – DJ

     ~Athletics

Jack William Nicklaus (70), golfer

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (47) (Lagos, Nigeria) former basketball player

     ~Business, Education, Politics

Roger Nash Baldwin in 1884 - founder (American Civil Liberties Union)

John M Browning in 1855 - weapons manufacturer

Christian Dior in 1905 - fashion designer

John C Frémont in 1813 - [Pathfinder], map maker/explorer (western US), Governor (AZ)

Eric H. Holder, Jr (59) US Attorney General

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson in 1824 - Military

Gary Locke (60) US Secretary of Commerce

     ~Science/Religion

Barney Clark in 1921 - 1st to receive a permanent artificial heart

John Fitch in 1743 - inventor (had a working steamboat years before Fulton)

§Who Died on this day?

Louis XVI in 1793 French king, beheaded @ 38

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin in 1924 Russian leader, stroke @ 54

George Orwell [Eric Arthur Blair] in 1950 author (Animal Farm, 1984), tuberculosis @ 46

Cecil B[lount] de Mille in 1959 producer (10 Commandments), @ 77

Howard "Red" Grange in 1991 football's galloping ghost, @ 87

Colonel Tom Parker in 1997 manager (Elvis Presley), @ 87

§What happened on this day?

     ~ The Arts

1789...1st American novel, WH Brown's "The Power of Sympathy", is published

1959...The Kingston Trio (Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and Dave Guard) received a gold record for Tom Dooley.

     ~Athletics

1990...John McEnroe becomes the 1st ever expelled from the Australian Open for throwing a tantrum & swearing at an official

     ~Business, Education, Politics

1880...1st US sewage disposal system separate from storm drains, Memphis TN

1915...Kiwanis International founded in Detroit

1919...Sinn Fein proclaims parliament of Free Ireland

1991...CBS News correspondent Bob Simon captured by Iraqis in Persian Gulf

1977...President Carter granted a complete and unconditional pardon today to all Vietnam draft dodgers

     ~Science/Religion

1674...Father Pierre Millet, Jesuit missonary, "foretells" the coming of today's lunar eclipse, using an almanac. Challenging IROQUOIS shamen to predict the time or date of the eclipse, which they don't, Millet will make religious inroads among the IROQUOIS by his successful prediction.

1677...1st medical publication in America (pamphlet on smallpox), Boston

1908...Smoking by women became illegal.

1935...The Wilderness Society is founded

~ N E W  "Number One Songs in…"

1949...Buttons and Bows - Dinah Shore

1957...Singing the Blues - Marty Robbins

1965...Come See About Me - The Supremes

1973...You’re So Vain - Carly Simon

1981...(Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon

► Puzzle                                                          .

What do these words have in common?

example: apple, banana, orange, kiwi

answer: all are fruits

1 Chasm, rhythm, sarcasm

2 COUSCOUS, COWS, CUSS, VOWS, WOOS, ZOOS.

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ANSWERS

1 Chasm, rhythm, sarcasm: have more syllables than pronounced vowels.

2 COUSCOUS, COWS, CUSS, VOWS, WOOS, ZOOS: cannot tell visually if it's been written in all upper case or all lower case letters.