14 April 2010~~Week 16 of 2010: 104 days this year…261 days remain
‡ Something To Think About
Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.
~Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1956 ►Ampex Corp. demonstrated its first commercial videotape recorder the VR-1000, which was the first of Ampex's line of 2 inch Quadruplex videotape recorders. CBS was one of the early TV companies to adopt the technology which allowed a one hour long program to be recorded on one reel of tape. One reel of tape cost $300, equivalent to $2,000 in 2000. A recorder cost about $75,000 to $100,000, about a half a million dollars today.
‡ Free Ramblings
Tax day is just around the corner. My tax guy called and we will meet tomorrow. I keep hearing on the news that there are many, many Americans who don’t pay any taxes. This is a concern to me. I am single and don’t live a real fancy life. I pay a lot of taxes—both to the Feds and to the wonderful states of AZ, CO, WI, and MA. Being single is not a happy time at tax time. Not a lot of deductions. I realize that a flat tax would be hard on our economy. Lots of businesses would have to close or find some other business. But with a Flat Tax, like in many world economies would seem fairer. I really don’t mind paying my fair share, but it really ticks me off that many people, with more money than I have, are paying less than I am. Either I am paying more than my fair share, or they are paying less than their fair share. I don’t know yet how much I am paying, or how much of a refund I will get. I usually get a small refund, and am hoping that will be coming this year.
My trip to Borneo, Malaysia, Taiwan hit a hitch yesterday. We are now back to the original trip and will not be able to visit Turtle Island. It would have been a nice extension to our adventure, but it seems that the tour operator couldn’t get a definite flight cost or hotel cost. While it would have been nice, it just wasn’t in the cards. The tour operator will let us go there, on our own—making our own reservations for flights, tours, and hotels, and then he will arrange a new time for our return flight. I’m not that excited about doing it that way—we’ll see what my roommate want to do.
While I am pretty good on the internet, the idea of finding a flight, hotel, and things to do that far from home does not strike me as something I want to do. As far as I’m concerned, that’s why there are tour operators. I have done reservations on the web before. The pictures of the hotel always look so nice but don’t necessarily show a true picture. One time I ended up in a fairly nice hotel, located in a not so nice part of town that was “15 minutes from the Convention Center”. The only way to get there in 15 minutes was to walk—not a bad thing—though a part of town that was in desperate need of urban renewal. Nothing bad happened, but I always made sure I was back to the hotel before dark. This trip was when I was about 30 years old, and now, at 61 I’m just not into that kind of adventure with strangers.
We had gust of wind most of the day. The gusts were only about 30 mph but enough to make the high of 49° feel a lot colder. The wind last night blew closer to 50 mph and awakened me several times. I used to sleep though all that stuff, but the huge pine tree just outside my bedroom window has branches that hit the walls of the deck as well as the back neighbor’s fence. That sets off both the dogs and the motion detector light that makes their backyard look like it’s 2pm instead of 2am. During the winter I keep the drapes closed, but I really like waking up to the sunshine, so keep them open when the temperature doesn’t drop below 20°.
‡ A Quick Smile…
A father is in church with three of his young children, including his five year old daughter.
As was customary, he sat in the very front row so that the children could properly witness the service.
During this particular service, the minister was performing the baptism of a tiny infant. The little five year old girl was taken by this, observing that he was saying something and pouring water over the infant's head.
With a quizzical look on her face, the little girl turned to her father and asked with all the innocence of a five year old...
"Daddy, why is he brainwashing that baby?"
‡ Random Fact
Green is the easiest color on the eye. Hospital uniforms may be green because the color relaxes patients. Green is also associated with nature; leprechauns are said to dress in green, and brides in Europe in the Middle Ages wore green to symbolize fertility.
‡ 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. 60 seconds; tiny
2. a gift; to give a talk
3. a building that serves as living quarters; to provide with living quarters
‡ Side Show Stories
Sydney, Australia: The World Naked Bike Ride calls for protesters to ride through the streets in body paint and not much more, all to raise awareness for environmental issues and and let people know about the harm done by gas-burning motor vehicles.
‡ 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
14-18
International Whistler's Week
• 14 April Observances—US/UN/World •
Children with Alopecia Day: loss of all body hair
National Pecan Day
National Be Kind To Lawyers Day
• 14 April Observances—by country •
Burma : Water Festival (New Year’s Festival involving water and prayers)
El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Venezuela : Pan American Day/Día de las Américas since 1890
West African Countries: N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande speakers) since 1949 when an alphabet was introduced for their tonal language.
South Korea: Black Day (Singles get together and eat noodles and black beans to celebrate their singleness)
South and Southeast Asian: New Year festivals in most countries of this region
•Number One Songs in…
1944 ►Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952 ►Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
1960 ►Greenfields - The Brothers Four
1968 ►Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
1976 ►Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
1984 ►Footloose - Kenny Loggins
• 14 April Happenings•
In The Arts
1841 ►Edgar Allen Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue", published
1859 ►Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" published
1939 ►John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" published
In Athletics
1910 ►President William Howard Taft begins tradition of throwing out ball on opening day
In Business or Education
1828 ►Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language. First dictionary of American English
In Politics
1836 ►Congress forms Territory of Wisconsin
1853 ►Harriet Tubman began her Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape
1865 ►President Abraham Lincoln shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth
In Science/ Religion
1611 ►Word "telescope" is 1st used (Prince Federico Cesi)
1902 ►Marie & Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium
1912 ►The RMS Titanic struck an iceberg just before midnight
• 14 April Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
Loretta Lynn, 75, singer/songwriter, born Butcher’s Hollow, KY
Arnold (Joseph) Toynbee, 1889, historian, author: A Study of History
Athletes
Gregory Alan (Greg) Maddux, 44, baseball player
Peter Edward (Pete) Rose, 69, former baseball manager and player
Entertainers
Abigail Breslin, 14, actress (Little Miss Sunshine, Signs)
Adrien Brody, 37, actor (Oscar for The Pianist)
Robert Carlyle, 49, actor (Angela’s Ashes, The Full Monty), born Glasgow, Scotland
Julie Christie, 70, actress (Dr. Zhivago)
Brad Garrett, 50, comedian, actor (“Everybody Loves Raymond”)
Sarah Michelle Gellar, 33, actress (Scooby-Doo, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)
Sir John Gielgud, 1904, actor, born London England,
Anthony Michael Hall, 42, actor, comedian
Buddy Knox, 1933, rock vocalist (Party Doll), born Happy TX
Steve Martin, 65, writer/actor/comedian, born Waco TX
Rod Steiger, 1925, actor
Emma Thompson, 51, actress (Oscar for Howards End)
Business, Education Leaders
Anne Mansfield Sullivan, 1866, US, educated Helen Keller
Political Leaders
John Paul Stevens, 90, Supreme Court Justice
Scientists /Religious Leaders
Edward C Tolman, 1886, US psychologist (behaviorism)
• 14 April Obits •
Rachel L Carson, 1964, US biologist/author (Silent spring), heart attack/cancer @ 56
Georg Frideric Händel, 1759, organist/composer, @ 74
Burl Ives, 1995, folk singer/actor @ 85
Fredric March, 1975, actor, (Inherit the Wind, The Iceman Cometh, Death of a Salesman), cancer @ 77
Louis H Sullivan, 1924, architect (Wainwright building St Louis), alcoholism @ 67
‡ ANSWERS to puzzle
1. Minute MINNit- 60 seconds; myNOOT- tiny
2. Present PREZent- a gift; preeSENT- to give a talk
3. House HAUS- a building that serves as living quarters; HOWZ- to provide with living quarters
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