Saturday 5-1

≈Week 18 of 2010: 121 days this year… 244 days remain≈

≈ Something To Think About 

"The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May."

- Edwin Way Teale

≈ Random Fact   

Hans Christian Andersen's 1835 Wonder Stories was banned from children's reading lists in Illinois in 1954. The book was stamped “For Adult Readers” to make it “impossible for children to obtain smut.”

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1941 ►The movie "Citizen Kane," premiers

≈ Free Ramblings

Here we are at May 1st. The month May might been named for the Greek Earth goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. The Roman poet Ovid provides a second etymology, in which he says that the month of May is named for the maiores, Latin for "elders." The first Saturday of May has brought us the Kentucky Derby since 1875. Its birth flower is the Lily of the Valley and the Crataegus monogyna. May's birthstone is the emerald which means love or success. May 1st used to be a day to welcome spring with a may pole, and candy. During the Cold War, the centuries old tradition died out because it was also a military strength celebration in communist countries.

I only hope that May brings us some real warm spring weather. We had wind, clouds, blue sky, wind, clouds, snow and it never really warmed up today. We started at 18° and climbed only to 44°. The wind made it hard to be outside.

Immigration has become quite the hot button issue around here. Law enforcement in Phoenix—Sheriff Joe—has ran another crime sweep and claims to have arrested about 70 undocumented Mexicans. A southern AZ county sheriff deputy may have been wounded by drug smugglers. Several ‘drop houses’ have been raided with three dozen arrests. As a law abiding citizen, it is hard for me to fathom entering another country without proper paperwork. I am not that desperate to leave my country, nor am I that adventurous. I do recall a visit to Mexico, in the late 80’s, while at a conference in Tucson. Three of us, one Navajo and three white guys crossed at Douglas. I had been to Mexico five or six times before, but on this trip the Mexican economy was in the dumps. Vendors were very aggressive. Prices started high, but came down substantially very quickly. We did some shopping, wandered the streets, found a restaurant and ate an early dinner. When we finished dinner and re-entered the streets, the vendors were still there, as were a darker side of the city. We were offered drugs, women, men, and just about anything else that was illegal. I recall seeing the border crossing from several blocks away. It was dark and all we could see at the crossing was the lighted American Flag. This is the only time in my life that I was relieved when I crossed into the states. While the day trip was well worth the trip, I wouldn’t want to spend the night. On all other trips the economy was much better and overnight trips would not have been a concern.

Immigrants to our country need to be lawful. When non-Americans want to live in the US, it needs to be more than simply walking, swimming, flying, or driving here. I understand that this is not happening in lots of cases. I understand that many people in this country do not like living around people who are different than themselves. Hysteria is easy to build. Our country has many instances of hysteria changing our way of life. The Japanese Camps are one example. The Indian Reservations are another. The Salem Witch Trials are another. The list goes on and on. Fear of Muslims is another. Sadly we are now living in hysteria that aliens are here only to destroy our way of life. Forcing legal American citizens or legal American immigrants to carry proof of legal status because they look like others who are not legal is wrong. This hysteria is bringing out a lot of never talked about bias that people have toward those who look, dress, talk, or live differently. Many are hoping for the old melting pot gray soup to the salad bowl our country was built on.

≈ A Quick Smile…   

While working in the library at a university, I was often shocked by the excuses students would use to get out of paying their fees for overdue books. One evening an older student returned two books that were way overdue and threw a fit over the "outrageous" $2 fee that I asked her to pay.

I tried to explain how much she owed for each day, but she insisted she should be exempt. "You don't understand," she blurted out. "I didn't even read them!"

≈ Puzzle   

The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.

1. 7 DASW

2. 6 FIAF

3. 9 LOAC

≈ Side Show Stories   

Louis Woodcock, 23, testified at his Toronto trial in March that he was not involved in the 2005 shooting of a woman, despite being seen on surveillance video approaching the woman and holding his hand inside his jacket until gunshots rang out. He said he often kept his hand inside his jacket to keep from sucking his thumb, which is a habit he picked up in childhood and which did not go over well on the street. (The jury, apparently not seeing him as the thumb-sucking type, convicted him of manslaughter.) [CTV (Toronto), 3-9-10]

≈ Calendar Information   

BUSINESS

International Business Image Improvement Month ☼ International Audit Month ☼ Revise Your Work Schedule Month

EDUCATION

Creative Beginnings Month ☼ American Wetlands Month ☼ Get Caught Reading Month ☼ Latino Books Month ☼ National Photo Month ☼ National Foster Care Month ☼ National Family Month ☼ National Smile Month ☼ Personal History Month ☼ Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month ☼ Teen Self-Esteem Month ☼ Young Achievers of Tomorrow Month

ENVIRONMENT

Eco-Driving Month ☼ Gifts From The Garden Month ☼ National Moving Month ☼ National Good Car Keeping Month ☼ National Bike Month ☼ Motorcycle Safety Month

FOOD

National Hamburger Month ☼ National Egg Month ☼ National Barbeque Month ☼ National Vinegar Month ☼ National Salsa Month ☼ National Salad Month ☼ Sweet Vidalia Onions Month

HEALTH

ALS Awareness Month (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease) ☼ APS (Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome) Awareness Month ☼ Arthritis Awareness Month ☼ Awareness of Medical Orphans Month ☼ Better Hearing & Speech Month ☼ Borderline Personality Disorder Month ☼ Brain Tumor Awareness Month ☼ Clean Air Month ☼ Family Wellness Month ☼ Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month ☼ Heal the Children Month ☼ Healthy Vision Month ☼ Huntington's Disease Awareness Month ☼ Lupus Awareness Month ☼ National Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month ☼ National Hepatitis Awareness Month ☼ Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month (aka NF Month) ☼ (World) Lyme Disease Awareness Month ☼ National Meditation Month ☼ National Mental Health Month ☼ National Osteoporosis Prevention Month ☼ National Physiotherapy Month ☼ National Physical Fitness & Sports Month ☼ National Stroke Awareness Month ☼ Strike Out Strokes Month ☼ Tay-Sachs and Canavan Diseases Month ☼ Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month ☼ Ultra-violet Awareness Month ☼ Women's Health Care Month

HERITAGE

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month ☼ Jewish-American Heritage Month ☼ Haitian Heritage Month ☼ Older Americans Month ☼ National Preservation Month

PATRIOTISM

National Military Appreciation Month ☼ International Victorious Woman Month

PETS

Go Fetch! Food Drive for Homeless Animals Month

SPORTS

Tennis Month

• Observance Weeks in May•

1-7

Bread Pudding Recipe Exchange Week

• Today’s Observances—US/UN/World •

Amtrak Day

Executive Coaching Day

Free Comic Book Day

Join Hands Day

Keep Kids Alive! Drive 25 Day

Kentucky Derby Law Day

Lei Day in Hawaii since 1923

Loyalty Day: for recognition of American Freedoms

May Day

Mother Goose Day

National Dance Day

National Homebrew Day

National Scrapbooking Day

Silver Star Day: for sacrifice, honoring wounded, ill and dying members of our Armed Forces Massachusetts : Senior Citizens' Day (1963)

• Today’sObservances—by country •

Finland : Vappu Day (Worker’s Day/Spring begins—lots of parties in 16.5 hours of sunlight)

India : Maharashtra Day (1960)

Marshall Islands: Constitution Day since 1979

International Workers' Day

Czech Republic: National Love Day--couples flock to the memorial of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha in Prague and kiss.

Kazakhstan: Unity Day

• Today’s Number One Songs in…

For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.

1948 ►Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me); Peggy Lee

1958 ►Witch Doctor; David Seville [The Chipmunks]

1968 ►Honey; Bobby Goldsboro

1978 ►Night Fever; The Bee Gees

1988 ►Wishing Well; Terence Trent D'Arby

• Today’s Happenings•

In The Arts

1883 ►Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) staged his first Wild West Show.

1931 ►Singer Kate Smith begins her long-running radio program on CBS

1939 ►Batman Comics hit the street

1939 ►Pulitzer Prize awarded to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling)

1941 ►The movie "Citizen Kane,"

1950 ►Pulitzer prize awarded to Rodgers & Hammerstein (South Pacific)

1961 ►Pulitzer prize awarded to Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

In Athletics

1751 ►1st American cricket match is played—jus didn’t catch on

1940 ►The 1940 Olympics are cancelled

1951 ►Mickey Mantle's 1st homerun

In Business or Education

1704 ►Boston Newsletter publishes 1st newspaper ad

1867 ►Howard University chartered

1884 ►Construction begins on Chicago's 1st skyscraper (10 stories)

1927 ►1st British airliner to serve cooked meals (Imperial Airways)

1931 ►Empire State Building opens in New York NY

1941 ►General Mills introduces Cheerios

1982 ►The 1982 World’s Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.

In Politics

1833 ►A census of the Creek upper towns shows 14,142 people, including 445 Negro slaves

1866 ►American Equal Rights Association forms

1961 ►1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba

In Science/ Religion

1682 ►Louis XIV & his court inaugurate Paris Observatory

1963 ►1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest

• Today’s Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

--

Athletes

Charles (Chuck) Bednarik, 85, Hall of Fame football player

Curtis Martin, 37, former football player

Entertainers

Harry [Harold George Jr] Belafonte, 1927, calypso singer (The Banana Boat Song)

Judy Collins, 71, singer

Rita Coolidge, 65, singer

Art Fleming, 1924, TV host (Jeopardy)

Sonny James, 81, singer

Tim McGraw, 43, country singer

Louis Nye, 1922, comedian

Dan O'Herlihy, 1919, Ireland, actor

Jack Parr, 1916, TV host (Jack Paar Show)

Kate Smith, 1907, singer (God Bless America)

Business, Education Leaders

--

Political Leaders

Calamity [Martha] Jane [Burke], 1852, frontier adventurer/Indian fighter

Mary Harris Jones [Mother Jones], 1830, labor leader

Scientists /Religious Leaders

Chardonnet, 1839, inventor (rayon)

Paul Teutul, Sr, 61, motorcycle designer, television personality (“American Chopper”)

• Today’s Obits •

Bebe AKA Flipper, 1997, dolphin, @ 40

Antonín Dvorak, 1904, Czechoslovakia, composer (Slavic Dancing), heart failure @ 62

Lindley Armstrong ‘Spike’ Jones, 1965, composer (Spike Jones Show), emphysema @ 53

David Livingstone, 1873 British physician/explorer (Africa), dysentery @ 60

≈ ANSWERS to puzzle   

1. 7 DASW = 7 dwarves and Snow White

2. 6 FIAF = 6 feet in a fathom

3. 9 LOAC = 9 Lives of a cat

  ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 

Friday 4-30

≈Week 18 of 2010: 120 days this year… 245 days remain≈

≈ Something To Think About 

Death is one of two things...Either it is annihilation, and the dead have no consciousness of anything; or as we are told, it is really a change: a migration of the soul from one place to another.

~ Socrates

≈ Random Fact   

~ In ancient Greece, a dinner host would take the first sip of wine to assure guests the wine was not poisoned, hence the phrase “drinking to one’s health.” “Toasting” started in ancient Rome when the Romans continued the Greek tradition but started dropping a piece of toasted bread into each wine glass to temper undesirable tastes or excessive acidity.

~ European wines are named after their geographic locations (e.g., Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot and Bordeaux) while non-European wines (e.g., Pinot Noir and Merlot) are named after different grape varieties.

~ Wineskins were a common way to transport wine in the ancient world. Animal skins (usually pig) were cleaned and tanned and turned inside out so that the hairy side was in contact with the wine.

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1952 ►Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television

≈ Free Ramblings   

I was shocked when I opened the local paper. On Tuesday the city council denounced SB 1070 and asked the city attorney to offer suggestions that the City of Flagstaff could take to stop it. This morning, I learned that some jerk or a group of jerks sent an e-mail to the city offices saying they should be tried and hung for treason. "Each of you should be arrested, tried in court, found guilty of treason and hanged from the nearest tree!" stated the author of the e-mail. The person suggested the council cared more about "foreign nationalists" than the "safety and jobs and the future of your own citizens." The author ended the e-mail "Death to traitors!" AZ Daily Sun 4-29-10

Where is the civility? Of course the email was not signed. I’m sure this is being taken very seriously by the council, by the police, and by Flagstaff residents. We used to be a somewhat liberal area. Note: liberal in AZ is not the same as liberal other places. These are our elected officials. Why would a sane person threatened to kill anyone? I’ve heard that this probably isn’t really a legal death threat because it does suggest doing death through our judicial system. Crazies are everywhere.

One other tidbit, FAIR [Federation for American Immigration Reform] has taken credit for writing SB 1070. It wasn’t written by AZ legislators. This bill was not started in Arizona, it was not written by AZ legislators. It started with the pen of a DC ‘public interest group’. Scary, very scary. All this controversy that is already costing AZ a lot of money in lost tourism is not from Arizona. We are just the bullet of a group that believes we have too many immigrants, legal and illegal. They also want the 2 million + legal immigrants to be cut back by 85%.

I had a good lunch with Annie today. Annie and I worked together during our BIA time. Sadly, she lost a 87 year old father about a month ago. She has been cleaning up his place and found a box of old diaries she kept during her youth. She has been busy putting them on her computer. She is looking for a way to share them with relatives. A very interesting project.

We had wind. We had rain. We had snow. We love Flagstaff. Our 46° high came at 1:00am and it was downhill from there. Tonight will bring what is called a ‘hard freeze’—about 18°. So much for the entire town’s tulips, daffodils, and other spring flowers that survived the snow over the last few days.

≈ A Quick Smile…   

"Information? I need the number of Caseway Insurance Company."

"Would you spell that, please?"

"Certainly. That's C as in cadence. A as in aye. S as in sea. E as in eye. W as in why. A as in are. Y as in you."

"Just a minute, sir. I'll connect you with my supervisor."

≈ Puzzle     

The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.

1. 8 TOAO

2. 9 SITTT

3. 10 EITD

≈ Side Show Stories   

BRADENTON, Fla. - Police in Florida said a 68-year-old man who refused a field sobriety test after being involved in a car crash drank a beer while talking to troopers. The Florida Highway Patrol said Elmer Daniels of Bradenton initially switched seats with his wife after a collision with another vehicle just prior to 8 p.m. Tuesday, but four adults in the other vehicle identified him as the driver, the Bradenton Herald reported. Daniels, who was drinking a beer while talking to troopers, admitted drinking beer in his van and had finished nearly two beers before the crash. A police report said Daniels told investigators he usually drinks a six-pack of beer each day. Daniels was arrested and charged with driving under the influence with property damage or injury. He was jailed in lieu of $16,500 bond.

≈ Calendar Information   

• Observance Weeks in April•

24-30

National Scoop The Poop Week

• 26 April Observances—US/UN/World •

National Honesty Day

Arbor Day

Beltane / Beltaine: Celtic Festival when herds are moved to summer grazing

National Hairball Awareness Day

Hairstylists Appreciation Day

National Honesty Day

Walpurgis Night: N European countries celebration with bonfires and welcoming of return of light

Louisiana : Admission Day (1813)

• 26 April Observances—by country •

Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Surinam : Queen Juliana's Birthday

Sweden: Birthday of the King Carl XVI Gustav, one of the official flag days

Mexico: Children's Day

Thailand: Consumer Protection Day

Vietnam: Reunification Day

•Number One Songs in…

For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.

1946 ►Prisoner of Love; Perry Como

1956 ►Heartbreak Hotel; Elvis Presley

1966 ►Good Lovin'; The Young Rascals

1986 ►Addicted to Love; Robert Palmer

1996 ►Always Be My Baby; Mariah Carey

• 26 April Happenings•

In The Arts

1945 ►"Arthur Godfrey Time" & “Queen for a Day” premier on radio

1952 ►The diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish victim of the Holocaust is to be published in English titled "The Diary of a Young Girl".

In Athletics

1984 ►1700 skiers participate in an alpine event at Are Sweden

In Business or Education

1939 ►200,000 people attended New York World’s Fair, officially opening

1939 ►Public Television began. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first chief executive to appear on TV. Roosevelt spoke at the opening ceremonies of the New York World’s Fair in Flushing, NY on WNBT in New York.

1948 ►The Land Rover ( Land Rover Series I ) is shown for the first time at the Amsterdam car Show 1952 ►Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television

In Politics

1789 ►George Washington inaugurated as 1st President of US

1803 ►US doubles in size through the Louisiana Purchase ($15 million)

1860 ►Navajo’s attack Fort Defiance

1871 ►Apaches in Arizona surrender to white & Mexican adventurers; 144 die

1889 ►1st US national holiday, on centennial of Washington's inauguration

In Science/ Religion

311 ►Emperor Galerius recognizes Christians legally in the Roman Empire

1563 ►Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI

• 26 April Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

Jane Campion, 56, film director (The Piano), born Wellington, New Zealand

Athletes

Don Schollander, 64, Olympic Hall of Famer: 1st swimmer to win 4 gold medals in one Olympics [1964]

Isiah Thomas, 49, Hall of Fame basketball player, basketball coach

Entertainers

Eve Arden (Eunice Quedens), 1908, Emmy Award-winning actress: Our Miss Brooks

Jill Clayburgh, 66, actress

Gary Collins, 72, actor, talk show host

Kirsten Dunst, 28, actress

Johnny Horton, 1927, rocker: ("The Battle of New Orleans," "North to Alaska," "Sink the Bismarck")

Cloris Leachman, 80, actress (Oscar for The Last Picture Show; “Phyllis”)

Al Lewis, 1923, actor (Grandpa-The Munsters)

Willie Nelson, 77, singer (“Always on My Mind,” “On the Road Again”)

Bobby Vee (Robert Thomas Velline), 57, Fargo ND, ("Night has a Thousand Eyes" )

Business, Education Leaders

Vermont Royster, 1914, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, editor: The Wall Street Journal

Political Leaders

Mary Scott Lord Dimmick Harrison, 1858, 1st lady

Queen Juliana of Netherlands, 1909

Scientists /Religious Leaders

Carl Friedrich Gauss, 1777, Brunswick Germany, one of the world's great mathematicians (number theory, non-Euclidean geometry, gravitation)

• 26 April Obits •

Eva Braun, 1945, mistress/wife of Hitler, suicide @ 33

Adolf Hitler, 1945, German dictator, suicide @ 56

John Luther [Casey] Jones, 1900, Cannonball Express train wreck @ 37

Agnes Moorehead, 1974, actress (Endora-Bewitched), cancer @ 67

Inger Stevens, 1970, actress (Katy-Farmer's Daughter), suicide @ 35

Muddy Waters, 1983 US blues singer/guitarist (Mad Love), @ 68

Dr William Henry Welch, 1934, pathologist who played a major role in the introduction of modern medical practice and education @ 75

≈ ANSWERS to puzzle   

1. 8 TOAO = 8 Tentacles on an octopus

2. 9 SITTT = 9 Square is three times three

3. 10 EITD = 10 events in the decathlon

  ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 

Thursday 4-29

≈Week 18 of 2010: 119 days this year… 246 days remain≈

≈ Something To Think About 
Tom grinned. "It don't take no nerve to do somepin when there ain't nothin' else you can do."
--Chapter 18 “Grapes of Wrath”, John Steinbeck--1939
≈ Random Fact 
44% of kids watch television before they go to sleep.
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1707 ►English/Scottish parliament accept Act of Union, to form Great Britain
≈ Free Ramblings 
I have an amazing lunch today. Back in the day, I coached a T-ball team. One of my players is now a mother of two and half kids. I hired her mom at the boarding school years ago. The mom is a city raised Navajo who had a Mexican husband. The daughter married a Mexican National about 12 years ago. He is now has dual citizenship. We have seen each other on and off as she grew up. Her family moved to Mexico last year to care for the sick in-laws. She came back for about two weeks because her 98 year old Navajo Grandma had passed. They now live in a town of 120,000 about 45 minutes from Los Mochis, in Chihuahua. (One of my favorite memories of Mexico is in that area.) She had great stories of her life in Mexico, where she speaks Spanish as a foreigner. The family is coming back to the US in July so their baby is born in the US…just in case he wants to become president someday. His two sisters were born here too. I guess there were some good laughs at the border crossing. She and her oldest daughter—9 years old—rode a bus from their home to the border. At the border, everyone gets off, walks through the crossing and gets back on the bus. The daughter begged her mom to let her walk through by herself, carrying her own passport. Mom was right behind her when she handed the border agent her passport. He looked at it, stamped it, and asked her if the next lady in line was her mom. The little girl looked at her mom, and said, “No, I’m traveling alone today.” Mom said it took some fast talking and extra time due to that comment. I was able to remind Mom that this was a ‘like mother, like daughter’ story. She, of course, didn’t think she was ever that independent. So great to see success stories of kids I have worked with.
I am glad I live in Flagstaff, even with our 50mph winds today. Just outside Flag, heading east, the interstate is always being closed due to the wind. Today I found out why. I-40 goes through a dry lake bed, one that has been dry for a long, long, long time. Tucker Flats becomes a tributary of the Little Colorado when we have a wet season. Last time that happened was in the early 1980’s. The deposit of silt left back then still blows across the highway whenever there is a windy day. Today visibility was down to 100’. This 20 mile stretch of I-40 reminds me of most of the reservation. The rez’s only highways are two lanes and 65mph.I don’t remember a time when they have been closed by blowing sand. I remember many times when visibility was about 100’, we just slowed down, turned on our lights and drove on. So glad those sandstorms are behind me. While the Flag winds do make it harder to drive and make walking difficult; we can see where we are going and not sandpit our skin.
All this wind didn’t stop us from getting to 65° today, and last night’s hard winds kept the temperature from dropping below 48°…this was the warmest low for the date since 1970. And the wind continues…
The assistant city editor has been found in California. Still no details as to why he didn’t show up for his job/career last week with the local newspaper. The paper just said ‘his family flew to California to be with him.’ Another mystery as all we knew was that he and his wife lived in Flagstaff and had no children. Those who enjoyed his in depth reporting and those who know him are relieved that he is OK. Still wondering what triggered this whole chain of events.
≈ A Quick Smile… 
Trying to do my share for the environment, I set up a trash basket at my church and posted above it this suggestion: "Empty water bottles here."
I should have been a little more specific, because when I went to check it later, I didn't find any bottles in it. But it was full of water.
≈ Puzzle 
The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.
1. 6 ITBB(LC)
2. 7 BFSB
3. 8 LOAO
≈ Side Show Stories 
BOSTON - Boston police said two women attacked a man with their fists, feet, purses and a plate of pasta because he neglected to hold an elevator door for them. Investigators said Kenyana McQuay, 27, and Waltia Funches, 28, told officers Mohammed Warsame "didn't hold the elevator door open as they walked into the building" so "they had to use their fists, their bags and their feet to teach him a lesson," the Boston Herald reported Monday. Police said Warsame was also covered in pasta from a plate of noodles the women dumped on him. He told police he tried to fend them off by throwing bottles of water. The police report described the suspects as "extremely agitated," "uncooperative" and "verbally abusive toward officers."
McQuay and Funches were both issued summonses to appear in Roxbury District Court to face assault and battery charges.
≈ Calendar Information 
• Observance Weeks in April•
24-30
National Scoop The Poop Week
• 26 April Observances—US/UN/World •
International Dance Day—since 1982—thought UNESCO
Poem in Your Pocket Day
National Shrimp Scampi Day
• 26 April Observances—by country •
Iran: National Persian Gulf Day (from 1700’s when Iran defeated Portugal for the area)
Japan : Emperor Hirohito's Birthday—since 1926 when he became 124th Emperor of Japan) (since 1989: Greenery Day after his death)
Japan: Shōwa Day, traditionally the start of the Golden Week holiday period.
•Number One Songs in…
For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.
1945 ►My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time; Les Brown
1955 ►Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White; Perez Prado
1965 ►Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter; Herman's Hermits
1975 ►He Don't Love You (Like I Love You); Tony Orlando & Dawn
1985 ►We Are the World; USA for Africa
• 26 April Happenings•
In The Arts
--
In Athletics
1961 ►ABC's "Wide World of Sports, debuts
1986 ►Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Seattle Mariners
In Business or Education
1852 ►1st edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus published
1986 ►800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library
In Politics
1661 ►Chinese Ming dynasty occupies Taiwan
1945 ►1st food drop by RAF above nazi-occupied Holland (operation Manna)
1945 ►Dachau concentration camp was liberated today
1990 ►Wrecking cranes began tearing down Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate
1992 ►Jury acquits Los Angeles police officers of beating Rodney King, riots begin
2004 ►The National World War II Memorial between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument a monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public
In Science/ Religion
1813 ►Rubber is patented
• 26 April Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
John Arbuthnot, 1667, Scottish writer (Alexander Pope)
Fred Zinnemann, 1907, Academy Award-winning director: High Noon [1952], From Here to Eternity [1953], A Man for All Seasons [1966]
Athletes
Andre Kirk Agassi, 40, former tennis player
[Ralph] Dale Earnhardt, 1951, NASCAR driver/"The Intimidator"
John[ny Laurence] Miller, 63, golfer
Reggie Miller, 45, NBA player (Indiana Pacers); announcer
Entertainers
Duane Allen, 67, country singer (Oak Ridge Boys-Elvira)
Daniel Day-Lewis, 53, actor (Oscars for My Left Foot and There Will Be Blood
(Anthony James) Lonnie Donegan, 1931, folk singer, musician: guitar, banjo: Rock Island Line, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour [On the Bedpost Overnight]
Duke [Edward Kennedy] Ellington, 1899, bandleader (Take the A Train, It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing))
Celeste Holm, 91, Academy Award-winning actress
Rod [Marvin] McKuen, 77, singer/composer
Michelle Pfeiffer, 52, actress
Eve Plumb, 52, actress (Jan: “The Brady Bunch”)
Jerry Seinfeld, 56, comedian, actor
[Thomasina] Tammi Terrell [Montgomery], 1945, singer (Ain't No Mountain High Enough)
Uma Thurman, 40, actress
Business, Education Leaders
William Randolph Hearst, 1863, publisher (San Francisco Examiner, Seattle P-I)
Political Leaders
--
Scientists /Religious Leaders
Harold C Urey, 1893, physicist (discovered Deuterium, Nobel 1934)
• 26 April Obits •
Frankie Lymon, 1968, rocker (& Teenagers), drug overdose @ 25
Marvin Gaye, 1984, rocker, shot by his father @ 45
≈ ANSWERS to puzzle
1. 6 ITBB(LC) = Impossible things before breakfast (Lewis Carroll)
2. 7 BFSB = 7 brides for seven brothers
3. 8 LOAO = 8 Legs on an octopus
  ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 

Wednesday 4-28

≈Week 18 of 2010: 118 days this year… 247 days remain≈

≈ Something To Think About

The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.

~John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath--Chapter 5 (1st published in 1939)

≈ Random Fact   

Orcas (killer whales), when traveling in groups, breathe in unison

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1947 ►Thor Heyerdahl & "Kon-Tiki" sail from Peru to Polynesia  

≈ Free Ramblings   

Every big issue gets their 15 minutes of fame. I really thought AZ had its decades ago when our governor and legislature would not make MKL a state holiday. After losing a super bowl bid and over $100 million in tourist dollars, the governor finally saw the light of day and approved the holiday. Millions had to be lost in the tourist business before the day became a holiday. The current 15 minutes is going to cost us millions more. One big difference is that this time, the state needs every dollar it can find. Tourism dollars and AZ’s trade with Mexico are two big chunks of money. Many groups and individuals are calling for a tourist boycott. Mexico, the country to our south, has issued a tourist warning that travel to Arizona is difficult. Something about always carry your papers and expect to be stopped for no real reason and that hours may be lost to straighten out the paperwork. Those of us who have traveled outside the US know that it is always important to have your papers in order. Few will travel to a place where you are warned that the state police might stop you for no reason. I just hope that our 15 minutes ends soon with a repeal of this law. I have to say, non-elected Governor Brewer made her stand clear in this statement: “I have come under fire from President Obama, Mayor Phil Gordon, the liberal east coast media, Al Sharpton and others who want us to back down from securing our borders. Rest assured, we will not back down until our borders are secure.”

Yesterday that horrific oil slick was the size of Manhattan Island; today it’s the size of W. Va. It is now bigger than the Exxon Valdez oil slick. We may never know what caused the explosion that started the slick. We certainly won’t forget the problems it is bringing. As nothing is working to stop mother earth from sending an infinite amount of the sweet oil [less sulfur and better to make gasoline] into the ocean, now they are talking about burning parts of the slick. The foul fumes are believed to be less harmful to all than letting the slick grow and reach land. This reminds me of an old movie, where all the drillers were covered with black gold when they hit a gusher. Capping that gusher was difficult and dirty, but after it was capped, everyone grabbed a bottle of liquor, took a swig, and sang a song. Capping the current gusher, that is 5000’ under water may be a lot more difficult. Where are all the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ people today? Turns out there really aren’t any laws that say the drillers have to have a safety protocol in place, just in case the rig sinks, leaving the hole wide open and spewing. All them those tree huggers seem to have gotten this one right. Maybe they are on to something.

I had my first hay fever/allergy attack in years. I woke up about 3am with a runny nose and stuffed up head. My nose ran most of the rest of the night. When I got up, it continued. Most of the day I was stuffed up, but the wind came and cleared the air and my sinus. I had heard that this was a bad year for pollen…now I believe it. Hopefully this has nothing to do with my stopping the Singular a few weeks ago. While I wasn’t taking it for allergies, the stopping may or may not have something to do with today’s attack.

Our expected wind arrived about 4pm this afternoon in its full fury. I was so hoping that it would just miss our area. No such luck. The only good thing is that we are having a beautiful sunset. We made it to 69° before the wind arrived. The wind dropped out temperature about 10° in about 30 minutes. The wind continued but the temperature drop stopped.

≈ A Quick Smile…   

Dad is from the old school, where you keep your money under the mattress—only he kept his in the underwear drawer. One day I bought my dad an unusual personal safe—a can of spray

paint with a false bottom—so he could keep his money in the workshop. Later I asked Mom if he was using it.

"Oh, yes," she replied, "he put his money in it the same day."

"No burglar would think to look on the work shelf!" I gloated.

"They won't have to," my mom replied. "He keeps the paint can in his underwear drawer."

≈ Puzzle   

The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.

1. 10 MIAC

2. 11 PIAFT

3. 12 POAJ

≈ Side Show Stories   

Philadelphia police say Matthew Clemmens, 21, intentionally vomited on a man and his 11-year-old daughter at a Phillies game last week. He was apparently upset after one of his fellow rowdy fans got the boot from the game, shoved a couple of fingers down his throat and hurled on the man and his daughter.

He also punched the man in the face, according to the Associated Press... who turned out to be a police captain.

≈ Calendar Information   

• Observance Weeks in April•

24-30

National Scoop The Poop Week

• 26 April Observances—US/UN/World •

31 Cent Scoop Night: at Baskin Robbins

Great Poetry Reading Day

Kiss-Your-Mate Day

Worker’s Memorial Day: To remember all workers who died while working or from work-related disease

Maryland : Ratification Day (1788)

• 26 April Observances—by country •

Barbados: National Heroes Day

•Number One Songs in…

For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.

1944 ►It's Love-Love-Love; Guy Lombardo

1954 ►Wanted; Perry Como

1964 ►Can't Buy Me Love; The Beatles

1974 ►The Loco-Motion; Grand Funk

1984 ►Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now); Phil Collins

1994 ►Bump N' Grind; R. Kelly

• 26 April Happenings•

In The Arts

1940 ►Pennsylvania 6-5000, the classic Glenn Miller signature song, was recorded

1968 ►"Hair" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 1750 performances

In Athletics

1962 ►The fourth American runner to break the four-minute mile was Jim Grelle.

1967 ►Muhammad Ali refuses induction into army & stripped of boxing title

1993 ►Zambian plane crashes at Libreville Gabon, 30 soccer players die

In Business or Education

1855 ►1st veterinary college in US incorporated in Boston

1937 ►1st animated cartoon electric sign displayed (New York NY)

In Politics

1788 ►Maryland becomes the 7th state to ratify the constitution

1925 ►Kurd rebels surrender to Turkish army

1975 ►Last Americans evacuated from Saigon

2004 ►The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' "60 Minutes II."

In Science/ Religion

1686 ►1st volume of Isaac Newton's "Principia" published

1932 ►Yellow fever vaccine for humans announced

• 26 April Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

Robert Anderson, 1917, playwright: Tea and Sympathy, Sand Pebbles

Nelle Harper Lee, 84, author (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Ian Rankin, 50, author (Black and Blue, The Hanging Garden), born Cardenden, Fife, Scotland

Athletes

John Daly, 44, golfer

Mark Harris, 40, wide receiver (San Francisco 49ers)

Entertainers

Jessica Alba, 29, actress

Lionel Barrymore (Blythe), 1878, Academy Award-winning actor

Ann-Margret, 69, actress

Penelope Cruz, 36, actress

Carolyn Jones, 1929, actress: The Addams Family

Jay Leno, 60, television talk show host

Sidney Toler, 1874, actor: Charlie Chan movies

Business, Education Leaders

--

Political Leaders

Saddam Hussein [At-Takriti], 1937, President of Iraq

James Monroe, 1758, 5th US President

Scientists /Religious Leaders

K. Barry Sharpless, 69, American chemist, Nobel laureate

Eugene M. Shoemaker, 1928, American planetary scientist, much of his work done in Flagstaff: in 1999 some of his ashes were left on the moon.

• 26 April Obits •

Benito Mussolini, 1945, Fascist leader (Italy), captured, tried, & shot @ 61

Jim Valvano, 1993, basketball coach (North Carolina State), cancer @ 47

≈ ANSWERS to puzzle    

1. 10 MIAC = 10 millimeters in a centimeter

2. 11 PIAFT=11 Players in a football team

3. 12 POAJ = 12 People/Peers on a jury

  ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 

Tuesday 4-27

≈Week 18 of 2010: days this year… days remain≈
≈ Something To Think About 
All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian.
~Pat Paulsen
≈ Random Fact 
Warner Communications paid $28 million for the copyright to the song “Happy Birthday”
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1971 ►Eight members of the Welsh Language Society ( The Society wishes to preserve the Welsh Language and part of that was to include all signs in Wales to be bilingual ) they are accused of conspiring to damage, remove or destroy English language road signs in Wales.
≈ Free Ramblings 
I have never liked statistics. I learned early in my post graduate work that one could easily distort the stats. Partial distortion comes from the way the question is asked, and partial distortion comes from the choices given. Then there are the elaborate mathematical formulas that are used to determine results. In today’s world one hears poll results every day. Like so many, I hear the results and make a mental note about where I stand. I have heard on the news for the last few days that a recent Rasmussen Poll stated that 70% of Arizonians were glad our non-elected governor had signed SB 1070. Since AZ has about a 30% Hispanic/Latino population and since the poll was kept being repeated endlessly, I had to know more about it. First, while Rasmussen is a respected polling organization, it is also been shown to have more conservative leanings and several news organizations will not use their results. There is a some statisticians who believe their phone poll methodology is not the best way to get accurate results. That said, I tried to find the exact questions and possible responses. I couldn’t find that data. I did find out that 77% of Republicans in AZ, 63% of un-affiliated, and there was an even split of Democrats on the measure. Also I found that 58% of all those polled in AZ were concerned that this measure will lead to a violation of civil rights. That number included 29% who were very concerned. 18% of those polled were not concerned at all. The last thing I learned is that, according to Rasmussen, 60% of a nationwide poll favored local police stopping and verifying immigration status. Major immigration reform must come. While Arizona is in the limelight right now, our new law is certainly bringing the immigration issue back on the front burner. That may be a good thing, in the long run. If nothing else, it shows me that lots of work needs to be done to educate the population on what is going on in immigration.
We had another great day in Flagstaff. We got to 68° so shorts and Tevas were the dress of the day. So nice to have a few nice days. Tomorrow will bring us 40mph steady winds with gusts to 60 mph. Whoopee! We are told all this wind will bring us…wait for it….yep, you are right…more snow. Ah the joys of living at 7000 feet in the spring.
≈ A Quick Smile… 
After I took a job at a small publishing house, the first books I was assigned to edit were all on the topic of dieting.
"Isn't the market flooded with these types of books?" I asked another editor. "How do we expect to turn a profit?"
"Don't worry," he assured me. "These books appeal to a wide audience."
≈ Puzzle 
The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.
1. 6 OOAHADOTO
2. 7 COTR
3. 8 MAM
≈ Side Show Stories   
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A Riverside County man was arrested for allegedly stealing dozens of fire hydrants to sell for scrap. The man, 45, was arrested Wednesday and remained jailed on Friday. Authorities in San Bernardino and Riverside counties say they suspect the man stole 45 hydrants. They believe he posed as a repairman, shut off the water, unbolted the 80- to 100-pound hydrants and hauled them away in broad daylight.
≈ Calendar Information
• Observance Weeks in April•
24-30
National Scoop The Poop Week
• 27 April Observances—US/UN/World •
Tell A Story Day
Matanzas Mule Day: 1st naval action of Spanish American War. Death toll: 1 mule
Morse Code Day
National Teach Your Children To Save Day
World Graphic Design Day
• 27 April Observances—by country •
Austria : 2nd Republic Day (1945)
Finland: National War Veterans' Day
Sierra Leone: Independence Day (from UK, 1961)
Slovenia: Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces (1941 to fight German, Italian, Hungarian troops)
South Africa: Freedom Day: since 1994—1st free elections after end of apartheid.
Togo: Independence Day (from France, 1960)
•Number One Songs in…
For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.
1941 ►Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy); Jimmy Dorsey
1951 ►How High the Moon; Les Paul & Mary Ford
1961 ►Runaway; Del Shannon
1971 ►Joy to the World; Three Dog Night
• 27 April Happenings•
In The Arts
1954 ►The Movie White Christmas featuring the songs of Irving Berlin, including the Title Song White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, opens at Radio City Music Hall.
In Athletics
1953 ►Wrestler Freddie Blassie coins the term "Pencil neck geek"
1983 ►Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros broke Walter Johnson’s strikeout record. He struck out the3,509th batter of his career.
In Business or Education
1865 ►Cornell University (Ithaca NY) is chartered
In Politics
1763 ►Today, Pontiac will hold a council with a large group of OTTAWA, WYNADOT, and POTAWATOMI Indians. He will tell them of his plans to attack Fort Detroit. He will extol the virtues of returning to the old Indian ways, before the coming of the Europeans.
1877 ►President Rutherford Hayes removes Federal troops from Louisiana, Reconstruction ends
1937 ►US Social Security system makes its 1st benefit payment
1938 ►Geraldine Apponyi was the first American woman to become a Queen. She married King Zog of Albania.
1941 ►Nazis take and occupy Athens in Greece
1977 ►Bloody riots in Soweto South Africa
In Science/ Religion
4977 -BC ►Johannes Kepler's date for creation of universe
1958 ►Scientists around the world are asking politicians to stop nuclear bomb tests including the Nobel Prize Winner Dr Albert Schweitzer.
1967 ►Expo '67 opens in Montréal
• 27 April Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
Walter Lantz, 1900, animator (Woody Woodpecker's creator)
Athletes
Rogers Hornsby, 1896, 2nd baseman (Cardinals)
Chuck Knox, 78, football coach: Rams, Bills, Seahawks
Jim Ryun, 63, middle distance runner
Entertainers
Judy Carne, 71, Northhampton England, comedienne (Laugh-in)
Sandy Dennis, 1937, actress
Sheena Easton, 51, singer (“Morning Train”), born Sheena Shirley Orr at Bellshill, Scotland
Casey Kasem, 78, radio, television host (“America’s Top 40”
Jack Klugman, 88, actor (“The Odd Couple,” “Quincy, ME”)
Business, Education Leaders
Edward Gibbon, 1737, historian, author: History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Political Leaders
Ulysses S. Grant, 1822, 18th U.S. President
Coretta Scott King, 1927, civil rights leader
Scientists /Religious Leaders
Samuel Finley Breece Morse, 1791, US painter/inventor (telegraph)
Edward Whymper, 1840 ,1st to climb Matterhorn (1865)
• 27 April Obits •
Alexander I, 1124,king of Scotland, natural causes @ 46
Ken Curtis, 1991, actor (Festus: Gunsmoke), @ 74
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1882, US poet (Representive Men), @ 78
Ferdinand Magellan, 1521, world traveler, killed by Filipino natives @ 50
Edward R Murrow, 1965, newscaster (Person to Person), cancer @ 57
Zebulon M Pike, 1813, US explorer (Pike's Peak), in battle in Toronto @ 34
≈ ANSWERS to puzzle 
1. 6 OOAHADOTO =6 Of One And A Half A Dozen Of The Other
2. 7 COTR = 7 Colors of the rainbow
3. 8 MAM = 8 MAIDS A MILKING
  ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 

Monday 4-26

≈Week 18 of 2010: 116 days this year… 249 days remain≈

≈ Something To Think About 

Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.

~Henry Van Dyke

≈ Random Fact   

Snickers is the best selling chocolate worldwide, raking in over $2 billion annually

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1937 ►The publisher of LIFE magazine just about passed out when he looked at his just-off-the-press publication and noticed that someone had forgotten to put the word “LIFE” in the upper left-hand corner! It was the only time that LIFE was nameless. Since hundreds of thousands of copies were already printed, the magazine hit the streets with no name on the cover! The reason? A picture of a rooster would have had an obscured comb if the logotype had been used in the upper left-hand corner as usual.

≈ Free Ramblings   

My brother and his wife are back from the big Annual North Carolina Designer Furniture Week. Laura had a private showing of her designs. Baker Furniture is very happy that she is one of their contracted designers. She does amazing things with her talent. Over the past few years she has been offered many opportunities to be on design shows on the various cable networks. Her designs are not for the budget minded and are not going to be for sale at your local furniture store. For anyone interested in seeing her inspired designs simply Google: Laura Kirar. You will not that like a fine restaurant, there are no prices. So why haven’t they done TV? It turns out that the designers don’t get paid that much and have to block out two or three months of time to the filming. The perk is exposure. Laura does great presentations, and would be great on TV. At present, few if any of her clients don’t do anything as pedestrian as watching TV. The design business is very creative, very exciting, and one hell of a lot of work. Her designs don’t just suddenly appear on a computer screen, nor do they suddenly become real pieces of art. She has to follow each piece from conception to final product. Her designs provide such great pleasure to their owners; it is worth all the work.

Education v Brainwashing…why do so many Americans believe that the Muslim faith is out to destroy America. Why do so many Middle Eastern Muslims believe the US is out to destroy their faith? Turns out, it has to do with education. Few Americans know anything about the Muslim faith. Few Middle Easterners know anything about America. So when either group hears someone who claims to know, that person is believed. Even if they do not know. In a recent study in Afghanistan, the majority in a college classroom believed that the CIA paid radicals for 9-11 so the US would have a reason to invade their country. These students also believed that the US goal is to destroy their religion. As with almost everything in this world, education is the answer. How to educate, without brainwashing, is the challenge. Sending Americans to the Muslim counties or sending Muslims from the Middle East to the US will help. The problem is that when they return to their homeland, many non-traveling locals will believe that have just sold out or have changed so much they are no longer believable. Somehow we have to find a solution. It happens on both sides.

Another nice, warm, spring day here in Flagstaff. We climbed to 68° fairly early and remained nice all day and into the evening. There was little wind and a great day to be outside. The kids were out in force most of the day, riding bikes, chasing each other around, and having a good time. Even moms with their toddlers found time to play a little today. I really hope this is the beginning of real spring…with no more windy cold days. I also want peace throughout the world and that will happen before mid-April is the end of snow in Flagstaff. Our next snow is due Wednesday, preceded by a windy Tuesday.

≈ A Quick Smile…   

She had been thinking about coloring her hair. One day while going through a magazine, she came across an ad for a hair coloring product featuring a beautiful young model with hair a shade that she liked.

Wanting a second opinion, she asked her husband, "How do you think this color would look on a face with a few wrinkles?"

He looked at the picture, crumbled it up, straightened it out and studied it again. "Just great, hon."

≈ NEW Puzzle   

The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.

1. 9 PITSS

2. 10 YIAD

3. 11 PIAFT

4. 12 MIAY

≈ Side Show Stories

CHICAGO - Authorities in Illinois are searching for two women charged with stealing a woman's money under the pretense of cleansing it of evil spirits. Cook County authorities indicted Laura Santini, 61, and her daughter, Rosann, 35, on felony theft charges this week for scamming a Park Ridge woman out of $62,000, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday. "They basically were able to convince the victim that some money she had gotten was cursed money and that somehow that curse had transferred to other money that she had," Chicago police Detective Milorad Sofrenovic said. "They told her that in order to be able to remove this curse, they needed to take this money physically to a shrine in Indiana and with prayers drive the curse from the money." Sofrenovic said the woman realized she had been scammed when she saw a "for rent" sign on the women's Chicago home. He said the women have not been seen in more than a year.

≈ Calendar Information   

• Observance Weeks in April•

24-30

National Scoop The Poop Week

26 to 5/2

Safe Kids Week—since 1988—to teach kids how to be safe

• 26 April Observances—US/UN/World •

Richter Scale Day—know how strong that earthquake was

National Pretzel Day: Publicity for the $550 million business

Bob Wills Day: King of Western Swing, born in Turkey, Texas

Hug An Australian Day

International Marconi Day: for the radio guy

World Intellectual Property Day

• 26 April Observances—by country •

Colombia:Vallenato Legend Festival: Music festival featuring the accordian

Guinea-Bissau, West Africa: Municipal Holiday

Tanzania : Union Day (1964)

•Number One Songs in…

For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.

1940 ►In the Mood; Glenn Miller

1950 ►'The Third Man' Theme; Anton Karas

1960 ►Stuck on You; Elvis Presley

1970 ►ABC; The Jackson 5

1980 ►Call Me; Blondie

• 26 April Happenings•

In The Arts

1932 ►Ed Wynn was heard on radio’s Texaco Star Theater for the first time.

In Athletics

1961 ►Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961

1988 ►NBA approves addition of 3rd referee in the 1988-89 season

1995 ►Coors Field, opens in Denver, Rockies beat Mets 11-9 in 14 innings

In Business or Education

1906 ►1st motion pictures shown in Hawaii

2002 ► An expelled student ( Robert Steinhäuser ) went on a shooting rampage at the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany, killing 13 teachers, two students and a police officer

In Politics

1906 ►A law is passed which grants the President to pick the CHEROKEE Chief.

1913 ►Sun Yet San calls for revolt against President Yuan Shikai in China

1941 ►Potatoes rationed in Holland

1994 ►1st multi-racial election in South Africa begins [3 days] Dr Nomaza Paintin in New Zealand is 1st black South African to vote

2000 ►Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.

In Science/ Religion

1478 ►Easter is celebrated for the first time

1514 ►Copernicus makes his 1st observations of Saturn

1986 ►At 1:23 a.m. in Pripyat in the Ukraine when the Chernobyl atomic power station exploded.

• 26 April Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

Jet Li, 47, former martial arts champion, actor (The Forbidden Kingdom, Hero, Kiss of the Dragon), , born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China

Athletes

Donna De Varona, 63, Olympic Hall of Famer: 400-meter individual swimming medley

Ryan Yarborough, 1971, NFL wide receiver (Ravens, Jets)

Entertainers

Gracie Allen, 1906, Mrs George Burns, comedienne

William "Count" Basie, 1904, jazz pianist

Carol Burnett, 74, actress. comedienne

Duane Eddy, 72, musician

Kevin James, 45, actor (“The King of Queens”)

Boyd Matson, 63, TV host/correspondent (National Geographic Explorer)
Ma Rainey [Gertrude Pridgett], 1886, "Mother of the Blues", blues singer

Bobby Rydell, 68, singer (“Wild One,” “Volare”)

Tom Welling, 33, actor (“Smallville”)

Business, Education Leaders

I[eoh] M[ing] Pei, 1917, in Canton China, architect (1961 Brunner Prize)

Erminnie Adelle Platt, 1836, ethnologist (Iriquois-English Dictionary)

Political Leaders

Esek Hopkins, 1718, 1st commander-in-chief (US Navy)

Scientists /Religious Leaders

John James Audubon, 1785, in Haiti, bird watcher/artist

Frederick Law Olmsted, 1822, architect/writer (designed Central Park)

Charles Francis Richter, 1900, seismologist: invented the Richter scale

• 26 April Obits •

Lucille Ball, 1989, comedienne/actress (I Love Lucy), massive heart attack @ 78

William "Count" Basie, 1984, jazz piano great, dies on 80th birthday

John Wilkes Booth, 1865, assassin, shot @ 27

[William] Broderick Crawford, 1986, actor (Highway Patrol), @ 74

Gypsy Rose Lee [Rose Louise Hovick], 1970, stripper/actress cancer @ 56

Charles J Sax, 1865, Belgian inventor (saxophone), @ 74

≈ ANSWERS to puzzle   

1. 9 PITSS =9 Planets in the solar system

2. 10 YIAD = 10 years in a decade

3. 11 PIAFT =11 Players in a football team

4. 12 MIAY = 12 months in a year

  ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈ 

Sunday 4-25

25 April 2010~~Week 18 of 2010: 115 days this year… 250 days remain

‡ Something To Think About 

If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1967 ►Colorado Governor John Love signed the first law legalizing abortion in the United States.

‡ Free Ramblings   

I remember laughing a few years back when a lady from Albuquerque, NM called Atlanta, Georgia to get tickets for the upcoming Olympics. It made International news because she was told that she had to call her country’s Embassy to get tickets. That poor operator didn’t know that New Mexico was part of the United States. Well, no one is laughing in AZ, now that AZ has decided that it is above Federal Law. First was the bill that said any candidate for President of the United States will have to provide the AZ Secretary of State with proof they are an American citizen. Failure to do so will mean the name is not on the ballot. Guess the legislature didn’t read the US Constitution. Now our local police must arrest anyone they think is an illegal alien. Immigration reform is needed, no doubt about that. For an individual state to take on that clearly Federal responsibility is costly. Costly as we lose tourists—just like we did when the legislature would not approve an MLK holiday after two being approved by the voters in two separate elections. Costly for the state in the number of lawsuits that will be filed and lost for this stupid law. Costly to the citizens as local law enforcement to determine citizenship—rather than stopping crime. Costly to the many legal immigrants who how to be sure they always have their immigration papers on them. If a legal immigrant doesn’t have the proper paperwork on their person, they can be arrested, fined $5,000, and get six months in our already full county jails. The bill doesn’t provide money for training, increased officers, or increased jail cells. That is now the city’s or county’s responsibility. The state is broke, the cities are broke, and the counties are broke. Since the state is broke, they simply pass a law that has to be paid for by the city or county governments in our state.

Many Hispanics have been in Arizona for many generations. Until we became a state in 1912, much of AZ had been part of Mexico. Many of these families have worked hard to be sure their children know their heritage, their language, and their beliefs. Now this is going to be a problem for those children. They are American citizens—born and raised, just like their parents and grandparents, and back even farther. They may speak English with an accent. They may dress differently. Now, if stopped for an illegal lane change, they must prove they are citizens or be arrested. I have a few legal Hispanic friends. If we are traveling somewhere and get stopped, the person has to prove citizenship. If s/he can’t do that, I go to jail too. How racist to have to ask a friend, before traveling, if they have their papers. I hope this law is quickly proven unconstitutional so we can all go back to living without fear in our state. Finally, I know quite a few full blooded Natives who have Spanish-sounding surnames. They too, will probably have to prove citizenship or go to jail.

It is hard to believe it was snowing yesterday. Today our thermometer climbed to 65° and it was a great day to be outside. I have been feeding the birds with seed and suet the entire winter. I have two seed feeders and two suet cages. Yesterday I noticed a squirrel climbing around in the tree. I don’t know if this is the same squirrel I had last year, but a squirrel, none the less. I had to position the feeders so the squirrel couldn’t get to them. Squirrels care very clever when it come to getting food. They can hang upside down, reach astounding lengths, and do a sneak attack from above, below or on any side of the food source. This morning I was out checking the feeders and both suet cages were hanging open and empty. Both had almost new cakes in the cages. Looking on the ground below I saw one of the cakes. Squirrels!!! Greedy, hungry, destructive little rodents. What I can’t figure out is what happened to the other suet cake? What animal would take the whole cake and haul it away without breaking it up? There is no trail of crumbs, one cake intact, the other vanished. I’m pretty sure it isn’t kids, because they to would have broken it up a little. Another mystery in Flagstaff. For those of you still interested, no new news on our missing asst. city editor. Nothing on line or in the paper. Strange, and the mystery continues.

‡ A Quick Smile…   

My job is in the Aerospace Industry, and it's always been a challenge to explain just what kind of work I do.

At one gathering, I tried several unsuccessful attempted explanations before deciding to be as generic as possible. When the subject came up while I was talking with a group of guys, I replied simply, "Defense Contractor."

The men nodded, and as the conversation went on, I silently declared victory to myself. Then, one of them turned to me and asked, "So, what do you put up mainly? Chain-link?"

‡ Random Facts   

1970’s: Love Canal, New York, chemical companies could legally dump their waste products into the canal scientists found that the drinking water contained excessive levels of 82 industrial chemicals, 7 of which were thought to cause cancer.

1979: the worst accident in U.S. nuclear-reactor history occurred at the Three Mile Island power station, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

1984: an explosion in the Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, India, released a deadly gas, methyl isocyanate, which is used to make pesticides—2500 killed and 100,000 injured.

1986: the reactor blew at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, ripping open the core, blowing the roof off the building, starting more than 30 fires, and allowing radioactive material to leak into the air.

1989: 11.2 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound from the tanker Exxon Valdez

2005: in Jilin City, China, a series of explosions in a petrochemical plant killed six people, injured at least 70, and forced over 10,000 residents to evacuate.

‡ Puzzle   

Heteronyms are words that are spelled identically but have different meanings when pronounced differently. For example: Lead, pronounced LEED, means to guide. However, lead, pronounced LED, means a metallic element.

1. a line; a fight

2. to injure; coiled up

3. to deny; garbage

‡ Side Show Stories   

GURGAON, India - A retired British couple in India say they are being persecuted by neighbors complaining about the donkey sanctuary they created at their home. Residents of Gurgaon said Bob Harrison, 67, and his wife, Jean, 69, are harming their neighborhood with the smells and sounds from the donkeys on their property, The Daily Telegraph (Britain) reported Thursday. "The neighbors have complained to the municipal commissioner about the noise and the smell and they say it's attracting the pigs. But there is a leaking sewage pipe at the back of the houses and the pigs love it," Bob Harrison said. The Harrisons, who said they are trying to find new homes for the four donkeys on their property before they vacation in Britain for the summer, said they believe their neighbors are persecuting them for being British. The municipal commissioner's office said it is offering the Harrisons a nearby plot of land to build a new donkey shelter away from their neighbors.

‡ Calendar Information   

• Observance Weeks in April•

19-25

Astronomy Week

Consumer Awareness Week

Fish Fry Week

National Inspirational News Week

Police Officers Who Gave Their Lives In The Line of Duty Week

National Paperboard Packaging Week

National Window Safety Week

Turnoff Week

23-25

National Dream Hotline: Call to have your dreams interpreted. Sponsored by the School of Metaphysics in MO

National & Global Youth Service Days

National Dance Week

National Pie Week

24-30

National Scoop The Poop Week

• 25 April Observances—US/UN/World •

National Zucchini Bread Day

DNA Day-since 2003 when the double helix was discovered

20-Something Service Day: only for the young 

Malaria Awareness Day

National Pet Parent's Day for those who have recognize pets are part of the family

Mother, Father Deaf Day to recognize the contribution of deaf parents to their hearing children

Red Hat Society Day

• 25 April Observances—by country •

Australia, Nauru, New Zealand, Solomon Is, Tonga, W Samoa : ANZAC Day (1915 for WWI heros)

Azores : Portugal's Day (1974)

Egypt: Sinai's Liberation Day (1979)

Faroe Islands: (near Netherlands) Flag Day

Italy : Liberation Day

Portugal : Revolution Day (1974)

Swaziland : Flag Day

•Number One Songs in…

For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.

1940 ►In the Mood; Glenn Miller

1950 ►'The Third Man' Theme; Anton Karas

1960 ►Stuck on You; Elvis Presley

1970 ►ABC; The Jackson 5

1980 ►Call Me; Blondie

• 25 April Happenings•

In The Arts

1939 ►DC Comics publishes its second major superhero in Detective Comics #27; he is Batman, one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all time.

In Athletics

1981 ►Seattle Mariners manager Maury Wills is suspended for 2 games after ordering Seattle's grounds crew to enlarge batter's boxes by one foot

In Business or Education

1859 ►Ground broken for Suez Canal

In Politics

1792 ►Guillotine 1st used, executes highwayman Nicolas J Pelletier

1862 ►Battle of New Orleans LA - US Admiral Farragut occupies New Orleans

1898 ►US declares war on Spain over Cuba

1901 ►New York becomes 1st state requiring auto license plates ($1 fee)

1933 ►US & Canada drop Gold Standard

1935 ►An immense fire ruined Oregon's state capitol Building in Salem

1959 ►The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to traffic

In Science/ Religion

1684 ►Patent granted for the thimble

1938 ►1st use of seeing eye dog

1990 ►Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by shuttle Discovery

1994 ►14" of snow in Southern California

• 25 April Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

J. Anthony Lukas, 1933, Pulitzer Prize-winning author: Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families

Flannery O'Connor, 1925, short story writer

Athletes

Meadow George “Meadowlark” Lemon III, 78, Hall of Fame basketball player

Walt Wesley, 65, NBA star (Cavaliers, Bucks, Lakers)

Entertainers

Hank Azaria, 46, actor (“Huff,” The Birdcage, many voices on “The Simpsons”)

Ella Fitzgerald, 1918, jazz singer

Al Pacino, 70, actor (Oscar for Scent of a Woman; Dog Day Afternoon, Godfather movies)

Talia Shire, 64, actress (the Godfather movies, the Rocky movies)

Renee Zellweger, 41, actress (Oscar for Cold Mountain; Miss Potter, Chicago, Bridget Jones’s Diary)

Business, Education Leaders

Edward R. (Roscoe) Murrow, 1908, newsman: You are There, Person to Person; former head U.S. Information Agency

Political Leaders

William J. Brennan Jr., 1906, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: authored more than 1,200 opinions, including many landmarks: free press [New York Times v. Sullivan], women’s rights [Frontiero v. Richardson], reapportionment [Baker v. Carr], civil rights [Cooper v. Aaron, Green v. County School Board]

Oliver Cromwell, 1599, Puritan lord protector of England

Jon Kyl, 68, US Senator (R, Arizona)

Scientists /Religious Leaders

Charles Ferdinand Dowd, 1825, US, standardized time zones

Guglielmo Marconi, 1874, ‘Father of Radio’: inventor: 1909 Nobel Laureate in Physics: wireless telegraphy [the transmission of Morse Code over electromagnetic energy]

• 25 April Obits •

George Sanders, 1972, actor (Mr Freeze-Batman, Ivanhoe), suicide @ 65

Art Fleming, 1995, game show host (Jeopardy), @ 74

Ginger Rogers, 1995, actress/dancer (Top Hat, Stage Door), @ 83

John Lorne Campbell, 1996, folklorist, @ 90

‡ ANSWERS to puzzle   

1. Row ROH- a line; ROUW- a fight

2. Wound WOOND- to injure; WOWND- coiled up

3. Refuse reFUSE- to deny; REFFyoos- garbage

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