Tuesday 4-13

13 April 2010~~Week 16 of 2010: 103 days this year…262 days remain

‡ Something To Think About 

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers. -- Seneca, Roman statesman & philosopher

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1957 ►Due to lack of funds, Saturday mail delivery in the US is temporarily halted

‡ Free Ramblings   

I decided this morning that it was time for a haircut. Not my favorite activity. I went back to the place I got it last time, since my regular lady still isn’t back on the grid. It’s Monday. Who could want a haircut? Well, as it turns out, a lot of people. I got there ten minutes after they opened. One cutter, a husband and wife getting their hair cut. I signed in. About 20 minutes later another cutter arrived. By that time there were three other people waiting after me. One cutter was near the waiting area. All she did was talk about how great PHX is, and how she hates Flagstaff. Sure didn’t want her cutting my hair. Never get someone who hates anything to cut your hair, that’s my mantra. I did get the other cutter. Turns out, she hates Flagstaff too. She is only here because her finance is going to NAU. She was much more into talkin about her fiancé, so Flagstaff hatred only came up once, and I quickly changed the subject. She actually gave me a good haircut, solved my ‘bushiness’ problem, yet kept it long enough to comb.

So sad that both cutters hated our little town. It gave them a job, money, a chance for one to be with her fiancé. Since the couple had come to Flagstaff from Cornville, I did not appreciate this bad mouthing of Flagstaff. The other cutter was talking about how the city of Flagstaff is suing Westcor, the owners of the mall for $87 million She was suggesting that if Westcor lost, our only mall would be closed, thus making our community even less pleasurable. The fact is that Westcor is suing the city for $4 million. I don’t really like Westcor, as they are in the shopping mall business for one reason only—the bottom line. They built a mall expansion and worked with chain store owners to beat the cities Dark Sky ordinance. They lost that battle. They raised the rent so high at the mall that our only locally owned movie theater had to close. I don’t go to the mall that often anymore, but every time I go there are new empty storefronts and new stores that probably won’t last. One Kiosk that has survived for a couple of years is a massage station. It is run by Asians and always had at least one person getting a quick shopping massage. Now I see they have moved into an empty store. It has a corner entrance and is hard to see. If they didn’t have a huge price sign on an easel, just outside the door, many would miss the store. I don’t give them much hope for survival. The hair place is a national mall-chain franchise, and I’m sure that the owner is in Phoenix, so any complaints will fall on deaf ears. I will give them one more chance, but if I hear anymore badmouthing from the cutters, I will notify the owner, and quit getting my haircut there.

Tiger learned this weekend that he is a very good golfer who needs to stay on the links a little more. I watched the final round on and off. Mickelson played very well and deserved the jacket. Tiger finished in fourth place. He had wanted and expected to win. Several of the sports casters just couldn’t say that Tiger took fourth. They repeated over and over that Mickelson won and Tiger was three players behind that.

The weatherman said we would have wind today. He was right. Most of last night and all day today we had 45mph gusts with steady 30mph wind. The wind did help me realize I needed a haircut, so all was not lost. We did climb to 58° so I was wearing short sleeves and a light jacket. The wind made it feel about 10° less. The run from the parking place to the mall entrance and back was a little chilly, but not impossible.

‡ A Quick Smile…   

"I wanted to be a Boy Scout, but I had all the wrong traits. They were looking for kids who were trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Whereas I tended to be devious, fickle, obstructive, hostile, impolite, mean, defiant, glum, extravagant, dirty, and sacrilegious." --George Carlin

‡ Random Fact   

The Aztecs of Mexico taught the Spanish how to make red dye by crushing insects called cochineals. Deep red looks bold, while pale red—pink—looks gentle. In the U.S., pink is now associated with girls, though before the 1920s it was considered a boy's color.

‡ 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. Identify the heteronyms below from their definitions

1. exactly correct; to make correct

2. a physician in training; confine to prescribed area

3. behavior; to lead

‡ Side Show Stories   

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Sheriff's deputies in Florida said a 19-year-old woman who asked for a ride home was arrested after opening a can of malt liquor in the back of the patrol car. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said Tasha Lee Cantrell, 19, asked Deputy Mitchell Landis for a ride to her Fort Walton Beach home after her friend was pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence, TheSmokingGun.com reported. The police report said Landis heard Cantrell "open a can of some sort" while in the back of his cruiser. "As I looked at my in-car video, I observed Cantrell drinking out of an unknown can," Landis wrote. Landis wrote he stopped the car and Cantrell attempted to hide the can between her legs. He identified the can as containing Steel Reserve, a malt liquor with high alcohol content. Cantrell was arrested and charged with misdemeanor underage drinking.

‡ Calendar Information   

• Observance Weeks in April•

11-17

National Environmental Week

National Library Week

National Personal Training Week

Pan American Week

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Week

Week of The Young Child

12-18

National Crime Victims Rights Week

• 13 April Observances—US/UN/World •

Blame Somebody Else Day

International Moment of Laughter Day

Tax Freedom Day

Thomas Jefferson Day

Alabama, Oklahoma : Thomas Jefferson's Birthday

Maryland : John Hanson Day (birthday of President under Articles of Confederation: served for one year)

US : Huguenot Day (1598, the signing of the Edict of Nantes where French government promoted peace between Catholics and Protestants)

• 13 April Observances—by country •Cambodia, Laos, Thailand: Songkan: Three day New Year Celebration

Thailand : Songkran Day-honors monks

•Number One Songs in…

1951 ►The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow

1959 ►(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I - Elvis Presley

1967 ►Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra

1975 ►(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song- B.J. Thomas

1983 ►Billy Jean - Michael Jackson

• 13 April Happenings•

In The Arts

1742 ►George Frideric Händel's "Messiah" performed for 1st time (Dublin)

1964 ►Sidney Poitier becomes 1st black man to win Oscar for best actor: Lilies in the Field

In Athletics

1972 ►The first strike in the history of major-league baseball ended.

In Business or Education

1796 ►1st elephant arrives in US from Bengal India

1860 ►1st Pony Express reaches Sacramento CA

1902 ►JC Penney opens his 1st store in Kemmerer WY

1920 ►1st woman US Civil Service Commissioner, Helen Hamilton appointed

1943 ►FDR dedicates Jefferson Memorial

1946 ►Congress will create the Indian Claims Commission today. The commission is established to hear and decide claims made by Indians based on land losses from treaties.

1960 ►France becomes the 4th nuclear nation exploding an A-Bomb in Sahara

1961 ►UN General Assembly condemns South Africa for apartheid

1992 ►Nelson Mandela announces he will seek divorce from Winnie

In Politics

1883 ►Alfred Packer convicted of cannibalism

In Science/ Religion

1986 ►Pope John Paul II met Rome's Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff at Rome synagogue

• 13 April Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

Samuel Beckett, 1906, Irish playwright (Waiting for Godot/Nobel 1969)

Garry Kasparov, 47, International Grandmaster chess player, born Baku, Azerbaijan

Eudora Welty, 1909, Jackson MS, novelist (Optimist's Daughter-Pulitzer 1973)

Athletes

Davis Love III, 46, golfer

Entertainers

Don [James Yarmy] Adams, 1926, New York NY, actor/comedian (Maxwell Smart-Get Smart)

Tony Dow, 65, actor (“Leave It to Beaver”)

Rick Schroder, 40, actor (“Silver Spoons,” “NYPD Blue”)

Paul Sorvino, 71, actor (“Law & Order”)

Lyle Waggoner, 75, actor (“The Carol Burnett Show,” “Wonder Woman”)

Business, Education Leaders

Alfred Moser Butts, 1899, game inventor (Scrabble)

Philippe de Rothschild, 1902, Paris France, manager (Bordeaux Vineyard)

Frank W Woolworth, 1852, 5¢ & 10¢ King (Woolworths)

Political Leaders

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, 77, Northern Cheyenne, 1964 Judo Olympian (Rep and Senator-CO)

Thomas Jefferson, 1743, Shadwell VA, 3rd US President (1801-09)

Madalyn Murray O’Hair, 1919, author, founded American Atheists, ended public school prayer

Scientists /Religious Leaders

Michael Stuart Brown, 69, American geneticist, Nobel laureate

• 13 April Obits •

George Wald, 1997, scientist (Nobel Prize, vitamin A in retina), @ 80

‡ ANSWERS to puzzle

1. Perfect PERfekt- exactly correct; perFEKT- to make correct

2. Intern INtern- a physician in training; inTERN- confine to prescribed area

3. Conduct KONduckt- behavior; kunDUCKT- to lead

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