≈Week 20 of 2010: 129 days this year… 236 days remain≈
≈ Something To Think About
May those who love us, love us. And those who hate us, may God turn their hearts. And if he doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.
~ Celtic Proverb
≈ Random Fact
The Highland Games ‘caber’ is usually made from a cypress tree.
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1965 ► Vladimir Horowitz played his first public concert in 12 years at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The audience applauded the piano virtuoso with a standing ovation that lasted for 30 minutes.
≈ Free Ramblings
Today was the Prescott Highland Games. I left about 5:30am and got home about 8:00pm. It was a great day of music, games, and beautiful weather. Martha, her friend Irene, and I traveled there. Southwest Skye Pipe and Drums were the host band. This is my fourth games with Martha and the band. I’m getting to know them much better. Their progress over the past two years has been nothing short of amazing. They have always been a good band. Their professionalism as a band has grown so much. I think the really amazing thing, besides a 19 year old pipe major, is that they always have fun. That fun is contagious and the audience really enjoys it. I watched a sheep dog herd sheep and make them go where the master wanted them to go. Those familiar with sheep know this is not easy. Then I watched a sheep dog herd ducks. Obviously there aren’t a lot of calls for duck herders. It is an interesting activity to watch—even though a little frivolous. I also watched some caber throwers—men and women. Throwing a tree so that it lands in a specific direction is not easy and not for the physically weak. Still, after reading the scoring process, this sport is much more than tossing a tree. I always find athletic competition interesting. Sometimes it’s the action, sometimes it’s the skill, and sometimes it is the rules. Caber throwing is certainly the scoring rules. Pick up a 15’-25’ tree by the narrow end, throw it so that the largest end is closest to you, and pointing to the 6:00 clock position from where you are standing. The closer the tree is to that position, the more points. Anyway, the day was a great break from Flagstaff.
We were in the mid-80’s down there with a cooling breeze. It was a sun block day for sure. Flagstaff must have been nice too with a high of 71° and only 20mph gusts.
≈ A Quick Smile…
A Scotsman was invited for a visit to the home of his Canadian friend. Soon after the Scotsman arrived, he glanced out the window to see a huge beast just outside. He pointed, and asked his Canadian friend, "Och, lad, what's that?"
The Canadian replied, "Oh, that's a moose."
The Scotsman stared in disbelief, and replied, "That's a moose?! Well, how big are yer cats around here?"
≈ Puzzle
Retronyms are terms renamed after something similar but newer has come into being. For example AM radio was just called ‘radio’ before the introduction of FM radio.
1. When a new brand of soda was released, the original needed to add an adj to reassure soda drinkers that the original was still available.
2. As car engines became more powerful and complex, new fuels began to sell. The original fuel had to add an adj so consumers with older cars could easily identify their fuel.
3. When new gear boxes were available on vehicles, the original needed to be differentiated from the newer ‘automatic.’
≈ Side Show Stories
Ashville, NC: SWANNANOA — A Celtic church? In Swannanoa? It's got to be some sort of New Age, pagan place, right? Wrong.
St. Andrews Celtic Church is much more of an age-old church, a church that traces its history back to AD 36, when the Apostle Phillip and others landed in what is now France. By the following year, this original strain of Christianity had arrived in the British Isles, and spread among the Celts.
The prayers and creed used in the service predate the Council of Nicea, held in AD 325, and have an ancient flavor that is not found in many other churches. St. Andrews is one of only three related Celtic Churches in the U.S. The others are in New York state and Texas.
So — a Celtic Church in Swannanoa? Sure, but it's not some sort of off-the-wall religion, it's Christianity boiled down to its basics: love, compassion, community and Christ.
≈ Calendar Information
• Observance Weeks in May•
2-8
Be Kind To Animals Week
National Correctional Officer's Week
Children's Mental Health Week
Drinking Water Week
Flexible Work Arrangement Week
Kids Win Week
3-9
Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week
Intimate Apparel Market Week
Work At Home Moms Week
6-12
National Nurses Day and Week
8-16
National Tourism Week
9-15
National Nursing Home Week
National Police Week
National Return To Work Week
National Women's Health Week
Reading is Fun Week
Salute to Moms 35+ Week
• Today’s Observances—US/UN/World •
Mother's Day
Mothers At The Wall Day: Special Mother’s Day Ceremony at Viet Nam Wall
Rural Life Sunday Day
• Today’s Observances—by country •
Channel Island : Liberation Day
Poland, USSR : Victory Day [in World War II]
• Today’s Number One Songs in…
For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.
1940 ►Tuxedo Junction; Glenn Miller
1950 ►'The Third Man' Theme; Anton Karas
1960 ►Stuck on You; Elvis Presley
1970 ►American Woman/No Sugar Tonight; The Guess Who
1980 ►Call Me; Blondie
• Today’s Happenings•
In The Arts
1754 ►1st newspaper cartoon in America-divided snake "Join or die"
1946 ►1st hour long entertainment TV show, "NBC's Hour Glass" premieres
1992 ►Final episode of "Golden Girls" airs on NBC-TV
In Athletics
1896 ►1st horseless carriage show in London (featured 10 models)
1932 ►Piccadilly Circus, 1st lit by electricity
In Business or Education
--
In Politics
1735 ►The first debate on "The Walking Purchase" takes place in Pennsbury. Thomas Penn and James Logan meet with DelawareChiefs, including Nutimus and Tedyuscung.
1944 ►Jimmie Davis becomes the Governor of Louisiana. He wrote the song "You Are My Sunshine."
1989 ►Vice President Dan Quayle says in United Negro College Fund speech: "What a waste it is to lose one's mind" instead of "a mind is terrible thing to waste"
1994 ►South Africa's newly elected parliament chose an Unopposed Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.
In Science/ Religion
1960 ►The Food and Drug Administration approved the first pill for contraceptive use in Birth Control , called Envoid.
• Today’s Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
Richard Adams, 90, author (Day Gone By)
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1860, Scotland, novelist (Margaret Ogilvy, Peter Pan, The Little Minister)
Billy Joel, 61, singer, composer
Athletes
Dorothy Hyman, 69, England, sprinter (Olympics-silver-60)
Fred Markham, 53, 1st man to pedal a bike 65 mph
Entertainers
Candice Bergen, 64, actress
Albert Finney, 74, actor
Glenda Jackson, 73, actress
Business, Education Leaders
Henry J. (John) Kaiser, 1882, industrialist: ship builder; auto manufacturer: Jeep; aviation, aluminum, steel, magnesium; founder of Hawaii Kai residential neighborhood in Honolulu
Mike Wallace, 92, television journalist
Political Leaders
John Brown, 1800, abolitionist; led attack on Harpers Ferry
Scientists /Religious Leaders
--
• Today’s Obits •
Joseph Mallaby Dent, 1926, publisher, @ 77
Harold Gray, 1968, US comic strip artist (Little Orphan Annie), @ 74
Marion Lorne, 1968, actress (Aunt Clara-Bewitched), @ 81
A[lbert] A[braham] Michelson, 1931, US physicist (1907 Nobel), @ 78
≈ ANSWERS to puzzle
1. classic coke
2. regular gasoline
3. manual transmission
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