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
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