Wednesday August 11

This is Week 32 of 2010►Day 223 with 142 days left.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

I had a 'walk down memory lane' type lunch today. Redwing called and wanted to meet me at Grand Canyon Café. It’s a greasy spoon right on Route 66. I went there often when I was in grad school and haven’t been there in years. It hasn’t changed. It has the Formica tables in the vinyl booths. (I’m sure they have upgraded as nothing had holes…LOL) It still has the long lunch counter from the 1950’s. Its food is still good, lots of stereotypical Navajos still eating there. Redwing is getting ready for the signing of his mural across the street on Thursday. I’ll be there to celebrate the event. His middle son was recently sent off to Afghanistan. His ex has moved to Dennehotso, his oldest is living there until his job starts in Farmington. His youngest is off to Diné College. I’m still a little stunned as how walking into a restaurant can take you back almost 40 years instantly. Finding parking in downtown Flagstaff is always a challenge, and finding it during the noon hour is almost impossible. I found a place about a block away—not bad. As I was walking down 66 a car that was waiting for the light honked. It was a teacher I had worked with at Kaibeto. She said she and her grandson were headed to Phx. I’m sure she was wondering why I was walking down the sidewalk of 66. Probably just my memories as 66 used to be little more than ‘Indian bars’. There is only one bar on 66 and it was two blocks from where I was. Now it is lots of touristy arts and crafts, curio shops, and restaurants. Memories.

I finally sat down and got my tickets to LA for my trip to Malaysia and Borneo. I knew I would eventually find a good deal. I’m almost set. I leave on the 8th and come back on the 30th. I have so much to see, so much to learn.

Our neighborhood was back to normal today. Kids were out playing all day. I was out and about much of the day, but I haven’t seen any cops around today. It’s nice to be back to normal. There wasn’t a lot in the paper but the info I had matched what was in the paper. Hopefully we won’t need cops again. Only time will tell.

Flag had a nice day. We had a warm day—80°on the deck, with no rain, no breeze, and very few clouds.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Winston Churchill: Please excuse the length of this letter, I did not have time to write a shorter one.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1998 British Petroleum announced it was buying, er, merging with Amoco Corp. of the U.S. in a $53-billion deal. BP was already the world’s third-largest oil company, and the deal made it a bigger rival to No. 1 Royal Dutch/Shell and No. 2 Exxon.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION on UFO’s

>The earliest known report of a UFO sighting was by Julius Obsequens, a Roman writer, in 100 B.C.. He claimed to have seen "things like ships" in the sky over Italy. Some people also believe that the Old Testament book of Ezekiel (EZEKIEL 1:4-5) contains a reference to a UFO sighting. The Book of Ezekiel chronicles the period from about 593 B.C. to about 573 B.C., so if this is actually a UFO reference, it would pre-date the sighting by Obsequens.

>AREA 51, sometimes referred to as "Dreamland" or "Groom Lake", is a secret military facility located about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada where Spy planes such as the U-2, SR-71, YF-12A, and F-117A were developed there, as well as the technology associated with the Strategic Defense Initiative (aka "Star Wars").

>In July, 1947, a rancher named Mac Brazel discovered some unusual debris strewn across his land in Roswell, New Mexico. The debris had created a shallow gouge several hundred feet long. Finding that some of the debris seemed to have strange physical properties, Brazel contacted military authorities who sent two intelligence officers to investigate. Brazel's ranch was soon cordoned off, and soldiers arrived to remove the debris. The rest is history

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1—Jeopardy Questions: By the Numbers

The 2 digits that give James Bond license to kill

Three Dog Night called this the loneliest number

Number of red stripes on current U.S. flag

Total of Disney's Dalmatians and dwarfs

Broadway hit that takes Fellini film a ½ step further

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

NEW YORK - New York education officials said a teacher who allegedly faked a fall down the stairs to avoid a performance review is no longer eligible to teach in the city. Officials said Ilene Feldman, 33, a first-year teacher at the High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media, was caught on camera faking a fall down the stairs in an apparent attempt to get out of a scheduled classroom observation by her supervisor, the New York Post reported.

The observation was scheduled after Feldman received a poor performance review, a report from the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation said. Feldman, who denied faking the December 2008 fall, resigned from the school system and officials said she has since been classified ineligible to teach in the city's school system.

A LITTLE LAUGH

Unexpected guests were on the way, and my mother, an impeccable housekeeper, rushed around straightening up. She put my father and brother to work cleaning the guest bathroom. Later, when she went to inspect it, she was surprised that the once-cluttered room had been tidied up so quickly.

Then she saw the note on the closed shower curtains. It read, "Thank you for not looking in the bathtub."

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2--Riddle

Look at me one way and I weigh a whole lot; turn me around and you’ll see that I am not. What am I?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

Cheech and Chong: Dave’s Not Here—classic Click Here!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

♦ Weekly Observances ♦

8-14: Assistance Dog Week

…Feeding Pets of the Homeless Week

…National Resurrect Romance Week

10-16: Elvis Week

♦ Today’s Observances ♦

Presidential Joke Day

Ramadan begins for Muslims, ends on Sep 9

Central African Republic,  & Chad: Independence Day (1960 from France)

Jordan: Coronation Day/Accession of King Hussein

♦ Hit Songs on this date ♦

Casey Jones  Billy Murray & American Quartet 1910

I'll Never Smile Again Tommy Dorsey 1940

Mona Lisa Nat "King" Cole 1950

It's Now or Never Elvis Presley 1960

(They Long to Be) Close to You The Carpenters 1970

Magic Olivia Newton-John 1980

Vision of Love Mariah Carey 1990

♦ Today’s Births ♦

• The Arts

Joanna Coles, 66, children’s author…born Newark, NJ

Alex Haley, US, author (Roots) …born in 1921… Ithaca, NY

Robert Green Ingersoll, NY, author/politician/agnostic (Golden Age of Freethought)…born in 1833…Dresden, NY

Joe Jackson, 55, musician, songwriter…born Burton-on-Trent, England

Hugh MacDiarmid (Pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve), writer (Scots Unbound) …born in 1892… Langholm, Scotland

~~~

Mike Douglas, talk show host…born in 1925…Chicago

• Athletics

Hulk Hogan, 57, wrestler, actor…born Terry Gene Bollea at Augusta, GA

William Alan ‘Bill’ Munson, football: Rams, Seahawks, Chargers, Lions; Asst. G.M.: Bills…born in 1943…Sacramento, CA

• Business & Education

Claus Von Bulow, business mogul, accused of murdering his wife…born in 1926… Copenhagen, Denmark

Marilyn vos Savant, 64, columnist (“Ask Marilyn”), claims world’s highest IQ…born St. Louis, MO

Stephen Wozniak, 60, Apple computer cofounder…born Sunnyvale, CA

• Politics

David Atchison, politician: organizer of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad; president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, president of U .S. for one day [March 4, 1849], the Sunday before Zachary Taylor (refused to be inaugurated on a Sunday) was sworn in…born in 1807… Frogtown (later Kirklevington), now Lexington, KY

• Science/Religion

Jerry Falwell, televangelist, Moral Majority head…born in 1933…Lynchburg, VA

♦ Today’s Obituaries ♦

Peggy Castle, actress (Lily Merrill-Lawman), cirrhosis @ 46 in 1973

Jackson Pollock, abstract artist, auto accident @ 44 in 1956

Thaddeus Stevens, architect of Radical Reconstruction, @ 76 in 1868

♦ Today’s Events ♦

• The Arts

1963 The Kingston Trio are the mystery guest on "What's My Line?"

1972 "Cheech & Chong Day" in San Antonio Texas

• Athletics

1919 Green Bay Packers football club founded

1948 Summer Olympics opens in London

1974 Lee Trevino wins PGA championship

1984 Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, wins 4 Olympic track golds

• Business & Education

1860 Nation's 1st successful silver mill (Virginia City, Nev)

1866 World's 1st roller rink opens (Newport, RI)

1992 The Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minnesota

• Indigenous People

3114 B.C. According to some Maya sources, the present creation takes place. Other sources say this happens on August 12th or 13th. It will end on December 21, 23 or December 24, 2012.

1802 Tecumseh has predicted an earthquake. It happen and becomes known as the "New Madrid Earthquake."

• Politics (US)

1909 SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC

1934 1st federal prisoners arrive at Alcatraz in SF Bay

1965 Thirty-four people died, more than 3,000 were arrested and there was over $40 million in damage to property in the Watts area of Los Angeles

• Politics (International)

1991 Shite Muslims release US hostage Edward Tracy

• Science / Religion

1772 Explosive eruption blows 4,000' off Papandayan Java, kills 3,000

1896 Harvey Hubbell of Bridgeport, CT received a patent for the pull-chain, electric-light socket!

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

↔ 1

The 2 digits that give James Bond license to kill: What are zero and seven. Double oh seven is wrong.

Three Dog Night called this the loneliest number: what is ONE?

Number of red stripes on current U.S. flag: What is 7?

Total of Disney's Dalmatians and dwarfs: What is 108? (101 + 7)

Broadway hit that takes Fellini film a ½ step further: What is 9? (8 ½ + ½ )

↔ 2

A ton

↔ Picture

A 3-ring binder with page flipper

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

Papandayan, Java, Indonesia

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