Wednesday

January 27, 2010--Week 4 of 2010: 27 days this year…338 remain

» Quote Times Two « 

"A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval." ~ Mark Twain, humorist

“Example moves the world more than doctrine.” ~ Henry Miller, Author

» Free Ramblings «

OMG, Arizona needs to hold on to its political hat. Our former nemesis in our old congressional district is going to run for the Republican Party’s nomination for the US Senate. J D Hayworth is a conservative’s conservative. He has been out of office for some time, since the new districts were formed after the last census. He has been a host of a Phoenix Radio Talk Show for, I guess, almost a decade. Now he wants McCain’s seat. He says John is too liberal for our state, and while John has done a lot for the state, it’s time for him to come back to AZ. He was on a Phoenix TV informational show this morning, wearing an open shirt. I just saw an interview on National News with him. This time he was wearing a suit and tie. I can’t vote in the Republican Primary, so time will tell. I just have to hope that the Dems will find a person who can beat him, or John. The way I see it, if John wins the primary, he wins in November. If JD wins the primary, the race will be wide open and no knows who will win. Neither AZ nor our nation needs another super conservative in Washington.

Still no one has showed up to get the snow off our roof. It is melting, but still looks pretty precarious. My friend has been stuck for 6 days, but finally found someone to get her dug out today…Good news for sure. The 42° helped melt the snow, and allow the icicles to grow even longer and thicker. We only went to 12° last night. It was nice to be able to be outside, but still nowhere to walk safely around here. I slipped on some ice picking up the paper from my front area. No real damage, felt stupid, slightly twisted one knee on the way down, but some icy-hot is fixing that. Good thing the snow is so deep, as I was able to fall into a snow bank, and then slide down to the sidewalk. Winter Wonderland it isn’t.

»Side Show Stories—Darwin Awards 2010 «

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

THE WINNER!!!: ( Arkansas Democrat Gazette): Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Pooles pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the 22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering- wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge. After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his n**s off, or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole 's wife), asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck. Priorities, after all!! Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.

»Random Fact «

About half of all Americans are on a diet at any given time.

» Interesting Statistics «

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

~ The AZ Gross State Product grew by 8.7% to 215.7 billion in 2005 making it the fastest growing economy in the US. Sorry to say “Not any more”.

» 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. back, crawl, work

2. read, child, water

3. blue, lands, roots

» 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 ☼

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

Holocaust Memorial Day

Viet Nam Peace Day (1973)

☼27 January Observances—by country ☼

Denmark: Auschwitzdag (Auschwitz Day; commemoration day for the victims of the Holocaust and other genocide)

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

Monaco and Corsica: day of Saint Devota, martyred patron saint

Serbia: St. Sava Day, lawgiver and Serbian Orthodox Monastery builder

Viet Nam: Peace Day (1973)

☼ Holy Mackerel:☼ On this day in 1967…Apollo I electrical fire kills three US Astronauts in pre-flight testing.

☼ Born on this day ☼

     » The Arts

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1756 (Austria), musical prodigy/composer

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], in 1832 author (Alice in Wonderland)

Troy Donahue in 1936, actor

Lyle Russell Cedric ‘Skitch’ Henderson in 1918 (Birmingham England), orchestra leader (Tonight Show)

Jerome Kern in 1885, the father of the American musical: composer

Tracy Lawrence, 42, country singer

     »Athletics

(Anthony) Cris Collinsworth, 51, sportscaster

Art Rooney in 1901, NFL team owner (Pittsburgh Steelers)

     »Business, Education, Politics

Mohamed Al Fayed in 1933, (Egypt), CEO (Harrods)

Mairead Corrigan, 66, (Belfast, Northern Ireland), pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize winner

Samuel Gompers in 1850, labor union leader: 1st president of the American Federation of Labor [AFL]

William Randolph Hearst Jr, in 1908, newspaper publisher

John G. Roberts, Jr, 55, Chief Justice of the US

Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1859, German emperor

     »Science/Religion

Hyman G Rickover in 1900, US Admiral (father of modern nuclear navy)

Mikhail Baryshnikov, 62, in Latvia, ballet dancer, actor

☼Today’s Obits ☼

John James Audubon in 1851, conservationist (Audubon Society), senility @ 65

Roger B Chaffee astronaut, in 1967 @ 31 in Apollo I fire

Virgil I (Gus) Grissom astronaut, in 1967 @ 41 in Apollo I fire

Edward Higgins White II Lieutenant-Colonel USAF/astronaut (Gemini 4), in 1967 @ 36 in Apollo I fire

Mahalia Jackson in 1972, gospel singer (He Got the Whole World), diabetes @ 60

Paul "Bear" Bryant ,in 1983, US football coach (Alabama), heart attack @ 69

L Ron Hubbard, in 1986, novelist/founder (Church of Scientology), dies at 74

Andre "the Giant" Roussimoff in 1993 WWF wrestler, heart attack @ 49

☼What happened on this day? ☼

     » The Arts

1961…"Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres on NBC TV

1968 …Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was released on this day, seven weeks after the singer’s death.

1976…"Laverne & Shirley" spin-off from "Happy Days" premieres on ABC TV

1984…Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi commercial

     »Athletics

1984…Carl Lewis bettered his own two-year-old record by 9-1/4 inches when he set a new, world indoor record with a long-jump mark of 28 feet, 10-1/4 inches

1989…Kevin Johnson (Suns) begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games

     »Business, Education, Politics

1710…Czar Peter the Great sets 1st Russian state budget

1785…1st US state university chartered, Athens GA

1870. ..1st sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) (DePauw University in Greencastle IN)

1926…US Senate agrees to join World Court

1944…Leningrad liberated from Germany in 880 days with 600,000 killed

1964…Margaret Chase Smith (Senator-R-ME) tries for Republican Presidential bid

1967…The Outer Space Treaty which banned the placing of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth is signed by 60 countries

     »Science/Religion

1926…John Logie Baird, gives the first public demonstration of a television system in London. The BBC started the first public broadcasts in London in 1936. Regular television broadcasts began in the United States in 1939.

1948…1st tape recorder sold

» Number One Songs in…

1947…For Sentimental Reasons - Nat King Cole

1955…Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes

1963…Walk Right In - The Rooftop Singers

1971…Knock Three Times - Dawn

1979…Y.M.C.A. - Village People

» ANSWERS to puzzle «

1. SPACE: backspace, crawlspace, workspace

2. PROOF: proofread, childproof, waterproof

3. GRASS: bluegrass, grasslands, grassroots