7-1 Thursday

This is Week 26 of 2010, Day 182 with 183 days left. It is Day 73 of the BP Mess.
JULY STUFF

July is the seventh month with 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere it is usually the warmest month of the year. July honors Julius Caesar. The ruby is the birthstone. The sunflower is the flower.

Observations this month: Air-Conditioning Appreciation Days ◙ Bereaved Parents Month ◙

Bioterrorism/Disaster Education & Awareness Month ◙ Blueberries Month ◙ Cell Phone Courtesy Month ◙ Dog Days ◙ Family Reunion Month ◙ Family Golf Month ◙ Freedom From Fear of Speaking Month ◙ Herbal/Prescription Awareness Month ◙ International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month ◙ International Women with Alopecia Month ◙ International Zine Month ◙ National Black Family Month ◙ National Child-Centered Divorce Month ◙ National "Doghouse Repairs" Month ◙ National Grilling Month ◙ National Ice Cream Month ◙ National Horseradish Month ◙ National Hot Dog Month ◙ National Make A Difference to Children Month ◙ National Recreation & Parks Month ◙ National Share A Sunset With Your Lover Month ◙ National Wheelchair Beautification Month ◙ Sandwich Generation Month ◙ Smart Irrigation Month ◙ Social Wellness Month ◙ Tour de France Month ◙ Women's Motorcycle Month

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

2010 is now half over. Whoever said that time flies was sure right. Seems like just a little while ago I was watching snow fall. It was a cloudy day, though we got no rain. I was outside working on my Spruce Tree and its interference with my sidewalk. I did some trimming and can now see the entire sidewalk. I also learned that sunlight has something to do with making the blue spruce blue. All the underlying branches were green, while the ones that get sunlight are blue. Hmm. Now that I have started trimming, I need to work on the bush under the window again. I got rid of the winter kill last week, but now have to attack the part that also covers part of the sidewalk. I guess it’s good that a gardeners work is never done.

I checked with my brother today and his place in Mexico is not expected to be harmed by Hurricane Alex. The neighbors say they are just expecting heavy rain. While some senator says that the economic crisis response by Obama was like hitting an ant with an atomic bomb, he hasn’t talked to my brother or others in the high end business market in NYC. Things are not going very well financially for them. My brother quit his job just before the crisis to become the CEO of the business. He is now looking for another job but the market just isn’t there, and being 58, he is finding that age does play a role in job seeking. I have never understood their lifestyle in Manhattan. Even as a small fish in a very big ocean, you have to live that style. Clients don’t want to do lunch at a fast food place. You can’t hold a business meeting in jeans and a T-shirt. Your office has to be in a rather high end building in a good location. All this costs bucks, and when you get a good client, you do fine. When you don’t have clients beating down the door, it is tough. Laura is an artist extraordinaire. Artists I know live on the edge most of the time, it helps their art. I’m sure they will pull through, but I feel badly that they have to go through all this. My brother is also very talented and I know that others see it and he will find a great job.

We had a nice day in Flag today. It was 83° on the deck, a slight breeze, and lots of clouds. The humidity was 34%--monsoon coming. That made it feel a little hotter than it was, but the thought of rain made it OK. Come on rain, we are waiting your arrival.

HOLY MACKEREL: On this date in 2008 ►Nelson Mandela, the first post-apartheid president elected in South Africa, was no long on the United States terror watch list after then president George W. Bush signed the bill that officially removed him from the list. Mandela, considered by many to be a great leader, had originally been put on the list when South Africa’s apartheid government listed the African National Congress as a terrorist organization.

MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Benjamin Elijah Mays, American educator: Not failure, but low aim is sin.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION

It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it can be recycled practically an infinite amount of times.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

In each equation below, part of a common name has been replaced with a definition for a word that is contained within that name. By answering the definition and completing the equation, you will find the name.

(Ric + difficult = ric + hard = Richard) Hint: Each is a male name

1. Put on clothes + ald

2. Fishing pole + ney

3. P+ make a mistake + y

4. Be in debt + n

5. That girl + r + adult guy

6. D + eager

7. B + lease an apartment

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

YPSILANTI, MI - Police in Michigan said they arrested a couple spotted pushing a stroller containing two young boys, open containers of alcohol and a bayonet. Ypsilanti police said the 30-year-old woman and 52-year-old man, who were described as highly intoxicated, were confronted by officers about 1:30 a.m. Friday after the woman allegedly tried to take a bicycle from a porch, AnnArbor.com reported Monday. Investigators said the woman's sons, ages 1 and 4, were inside the stroller along with the alcoholic beverages and a "double-edged bayonet." The couple, who police said were a "long way" from home, were taken into custody and the children were turned over to a relative who lives nearby.

A LITTLE LAUGH

The top 10 things not to say to a cop when he pulls you over.

10. Is it true that people become cops because they are too dumb to work at McDonalds?

9. I pay your salary

8. So uh, you on the take or what?

7. Gee officer, that's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning.

6. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.

5. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there is no other cars around, that's how far they are ahead of me.

4. What do you mean have I been drinking? You are the trained specialist.

3. Well, when I reached down to pick up my bag of crack, my gun fell off of my lap and got lodged between the brake and the gas pedal, forcing me to speed out of control.

2. Hey, is that a 9mm? That's nothing compared to this 44 magnum.

1. Hey, can you give me another one of those full cavity searches?

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

My thunder comes before the lightning; My lightning comes before the clouds; My rain dries all the land it touches.

What am I?

FOUND ON YOU TUBE

Wolfman Jack Tribute: Click HERE!

Michael Landon Tribute: Click HERE!

Marlan Brando Tribute: Click HERE!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what common object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

► Weekly Observances ◄

28 -7/5: Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week AND National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness

1-6 National Unassisted Homebirth Week

► Today’s Observances ◄

Canada Day since 1862 when Canada unified

Second Half of The Year Day

U.S. Postage Stamp Day

Zip Code Day

Bangladesh, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Iraq, Taiwan: Bank Holiday

British Virgin Islands: Territory Day

Ireland: Pilgrimage to Shrine of Blessed Oliver Plunkett

Somalia: Union Day/Foundation Day (1960)

Surinam: Freedom Day/Labor Day

Turkey : Navy & Merchant Marine Day

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend): Vaughn Monroe in 1949

The Battle of New Orleans: Johnny Horton in 1959

Love Theme from 'Romeo and Juliet': Henry Mancini in 1969

Ring My Bell: Anita Ward in 1979

Baby Don't Forget My Number: Milli Vanilli in 1989

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

James M Cain, 1892, , novelist (Postman Always Rings Twice), , born in Minneapolis MN

Thomas A. (Andrew) Dorsey, 1899, ‘Father of Gospel Music’: musician: pianist; blues composer; gospel music composer: composed over 1,000 gospel songs, born in Villa Rica, Georgia

Sydney Pollack, 1934, director (Tootsie, Presumed Innocent) , born in Lafayette, IN

+++

Pamela Anderson, 43, model, actress (“V.I.P.,” “Baywatch”), born Ladysmith, BC, Canada

Dan Aykroyd, 58, actor (The House of Mirth, Ghostbusters, Trading Places, The Blues Brothers), born Ottawa, ON, Canada

Karen Black, 68, actress (Five Easy Pieces, Nashville), born Park Ridge, IL

Leslie Caron Boulogne, 79, actor (Lili, Father Goose) , born in Biliancourt France

Olivia de Havilland, 94, actress (Oscars for To Each His Own, The Heiress ;Gone with the Wind), born Tokyo, Japan

Jamie Farr, 76, actor (“M*A*S*H,” The Blackboard Jungle), born Jameel Farah at Toledo, OH

Debbie Harry, 65, lead singer (Blondie, “The Tide Is High”), born Miami, FL

…Athletics

Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis, 49, Olympic track & field star (Gold-1984, 1988) , born in Birmingham, AL, I saw him eating pizza at Santa Monica restaurant during Olympics.

…Business & Education

Wally Amos Jr., 74, entrepreneur: originated Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, born in Tallahassee, FL

Josephine Esther Mentzer “Estee Lauder”, 1908, CEO (Estee Lauder's cosmetics) , born in Queens, NY

…Politics

Lady Diane Spencer (Princess Di), 1961, consort of England, born in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk

…Science / Religion

David Brower, 1912, environmentalist/president Sierra Club, born in Berkeley, CA

► Obituaries today ◄

Marlon Brando, American actor (b. 1924) @ 80 in 2004

Dr Harry Nicholls Holmes, crystallized vitamin A, @78 in 1958

Michael Landon, actor (Bonanza, Little House), cancer @ 54 in 1991

Karl Malden, American actor @ 97 in 2009

Walter Matthau, American actor @ 80 in 2000

Robert Weston Smith “Wolfman Jack”, American radio personality heart attack @ 57 in 1995

► Events ◄

…The Arts

---

…Athletics

1904 ►3rd modern Olympic games opens in St Louis

…Business & Education

1847 ►1st US postage stamps go on sale, 5¢ Franklin & 10¢ Washington, NYC

1870 ►James W Smith of SC is 1st black to enter West Point

1875 ►Universal Postal Union established

1931 ►Ice vending machines introduced in LA 25 lbs, 15¢

…Politics (US)

1862 ►Congress outlaws polygamy (1st time)

1862 ►Internal Revenue Law imposes 1st federal taxes on inheritance, tobacco & on incomes over $600 (progressive rate)

1863 ►Battle of Gettysburg, Pa; Lee's northward advance halted

1916 ►Eisenhower marries Mary`Mamie' Geneva Doud in Denver CO

1941 ►Bulova Watch Co. pays $9 for 1st ever network TV commercial

1963 ►The US Post Office instituted the Zip Code [zone improvement plan]

1966 ►Medicare goes into effect
…Politics (outside US)

1690 ►Army of England's Protestant King William III defeats Roman Catholic King James II in Battle of the Boyne in Ireland (Now celebrated on July 12 as "The Battle of the Orange")

1898 ►Teddy Roosevelt & his Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill

1999 ►The new Scottish Parliament is opened by the queen, this is the first time Scotland has had its own parliament for nearly 300 years.

…Science / Religion

1874 ►The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia, PA. Over 3,000 visitors paid 25 ¢ (adults) or 10 ¢(children) to see the 1,000 animals
1899 ►Gideon Society established to place bibles in hotels

1982 ►2,100 Unification church couples wed in NYC

2004 ►The international mission to Saturn, known as Cassini-Huygens, reaches Saturn after six years and has successfully sent back the first close-up photographs of the Saturn's rings.

…Indigenous People

1520 ►According to many sources, Hernán Cortés and his followers will attempt to escape from Tenochtitlán (modern Mexico City) by way of one of the causeways. They have to fight their way through large numbers of Aztec warriors. Thousands of people are killed on both sides. Many of the Spanish soldiers carried so much looted gold that when they fell in the lake, they drowned. This event is often called "Noche Triste" (Night of Tears or Sorrows).

1675 ►The first scalps are taken by whites in "King Philip's War." Lieutenant Oakes is en route from Reheboth to Swansea, when his men encounter some "hostiles". After the battle, Lieutenant Oakes scalps the Indians, and sends his prizes to Boston for display.

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

…1

1. Don + ald = Donald

2. Rod + ney = Rodney

3. P + err + y = Perry

4. Owe + n = Owen

5. She + r + man = Sherman

6. D + avid = David

7. B + rent = Brent

…2

A volcano

…Photo

Cap of a dry erase marker

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

Translation: French Canadian Sign: Watch for our children / They could be your own

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