This is Week 43 of 2010►Day 301 with 64 days left.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
I finally got a call back from the people dong my overnight oximetery test. They will drop off a monitor tomorrow afternoon. It is not what I thought it would be. It is simply that thing they clip on your finger in the hospital to see the oxygen content in my blood. Hmmm. That should be easy. Depending on the results, the mask, at a sleep center, will be next. My doctor is known throughout the medical community for being very thorough. He always takes baby steps when diagnosing. It takes a lot longer, but in the end has worked out well.
I guess the candidates are not reading my blog or if they are, they are not listening to a guy who retired young and is enjoying his life. The attack ads are continuing. One good thing I saw today was Arnold “hasta la vista, baby” Schwarzenegger. He is the Republican governor married to a Kennedy. He is leaving the governorship because of term limits. He really chided congress today for not fighting the big oil companies. He believes they are simply afraid of big oil. He believes they are not working for the people who elected them, but working for people who will keep them in office. He was touting his administration’s record on clean energy. I have to agree that lobbyists from big corporations have much on congress in their pocket. In my younger days…much younger days…I remember both political parties opening up the ‘smoke-filled back rooms’ of the political conventions so that the real chosen delegates would be holding open meetings and open voting so that we could see who was being nominated. I am not so naive to believe that there aren’t still backroom deals made every day. However the work of lobbyists seems to be controlling our government. There are 11 lobbyists per senator and 27 lobbyists per representative. These lobbyists have to be register to do their work. They have a lot of power. They have one agenda—to promote their employer’s agenda. They certainly have way too much influence in Washington. I guess I really believed that this was the time of change two years ago. I am not giving up, but sure am disappointed.
A few months after my retirement I helped Martha sell Celtic supplies at a festival in Arkansas. It was a great trip and I met lots of nice people on the small Lyon College campus. Yesterday they had a fire that destroyed the dining hall. Thankfully no one was hurt and the Batesville community has stepped up to help the students find a place to eat. For those who ever lived on a college campus, the dining hall was always a place to meet people, study, and have good discussions. The food is never that good as it is hard to provide home cooked meals for hundreds of students. What a very tragic event for any school.
We had a typical fall day in Flag. Thankfully no wind. Cooler temps prevail. My bird feeders are quite busy all day. There are birds in the trees, birds on all the feeders, and occasionally some aggressive bickering over which bird will eat first. I’m sure they realize that it is time to head out and they are just loading up for the long flight to wherever. It has been a good bird season. Those who stay will have food all winter, but staying warm will be a problem.
Flag…H—52°; L—28°; RH—30%; and 5mph breeze.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY—Joseph Addison
There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude. It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance.
HOLY MACKEREL: Remember the days…
1946 - Our favorite flying cowboy was heard on ABC radio for the first time. Sky King starred Jack Lester, then Earl Nightingale, and finally, Roy Engel, as Sky. Beryl Vaughn played Sky’s niece Penny; Jack Bivens was Chipper and Cliff Soubier was the foreman. Sky King was sponsored by Mars candy.
1980 Annette Funicello, Cubby O’Brien, Tommy Cole, Sherry Alberoni and Dickie Dodd joined other Mouseketeers wearing black ears and white shirts on a sound stage in Burbank, CA. They were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Mickey Mouse Club. While we’re celebrating the Mickey Mouse Club, do you remember the five special events each week? There was Fun with Music Day on Monday, Guest Star Day on Tuesday, Anything Can Happen Day on Wednesday, Circus Day on Thursday and Talent Roundup Day on Friday. “Y? Because we LIKE you!”
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
→From January 26, 1887 to March 31, 1889, a total of 18,038 pieces of wrought iron were joined together to create the Eiffel Tower.
→It took Leo Tolstoy six years to write "War & Peace"
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1—Jeopardy Answers (1984 games)
$100-Central Africa's short people
$200-S. Africa's form of segregation
$300-Tanganyika & Zanzibar joined to form this country
$400-Africa's largest fresh-water lake, it's main source of the Nile
$500-Kenyatta was leader of this bloody movement to end British rule in Kenya
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
Mymamar: Almost by definition, species unknown to science are often tough to track down. But researchers seeking out a new species of primate in northern Myanmar were assured by locals that the monkeys aren't hard to find at all. You just have to wait for it to rain.
The new species, a previously unknown type of snub-nosed monkey dubbed Rhinopithecus strykeri, has a nose so upturned that the animals sneeze audibly when it rains. To avoid inhaling water, the monkeys supposedly sit with their heads tucked between their knees on drizzly days, according to local hunters.
The discovery, reported on Tuesday in the American Journal of Primatology, was made by biologists from the Myanmar Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association and primatologists from Fauna and Flora International and the People Resources and Biodiversity Foundation.
The research team was working on a survey of gibbons in northeastern Myanmar in early 2010 when villagers told them about a monkey with an odd nose and prominent lips. Based on the descriptions, the researchers suspected the locals were seeing snub-nosed monkeys, threatened primates previously found only in China and Vietnam.
Intrigued, the team investigated further, surveying field sites and interviewing local villagers. The monkeys were well-known in the area, with villagers in 25 of 33 locations reporting monkey sightings. Several hunters provided skulls and hides from the monkeys, which have now been placed in museum collections in Switzerland and Myanmar.
After studying the specimens, the researchers realized they had a new species on their hands. The monkeys are about 21 inches (55 centimeters) long from upturned nose to rump, but their 30-inch (78-centimeter) tails more than double their length. Their fur is black with white ear tufts. Except for their white mustaches, the monkeys' faces are bare and pink.
The villagers in the area call the monkeys “myuk na tok te” or “mey nwoah,” both names meaning "monkey with an upturned nose," the researchers write. The monkeys themselves live in a mountainous area separated from other species by two rivers. Their range is probably no more than 167 square miles (270 square kilometers), and they likely number no more than 330. That makes the newly discovered monkey critically endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature standards.
The monkeys are especially threatened by planned dam construction and logging roads in their habitat, the researchers report.
A LITTLE LAUGH
When my friend spotted a blind man and his guide dog at a crosswalk, she stopped her car and waved them on.
"Uh, Cynthia," I said, "he can't see you."
"I know that," she said indignantly. "I'm waving the dog on."
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
Mickey Mouse Club—the original: Click Here to View!
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
¤ Weekly Observances ¤
24-31: Disarmament Week ^ Give Wildlife a Break Week ^ Pastoral Care Week ^ Peace, Friendship and Good Will Week ^ Prescription Errors Education & Awareness Week ^ International Magic Week ^ National Respiratory Care Week
27-11/3: World Hearing Aid Awareness Week
¤ Today’s Observances ¤
Plush Animal Lover's Day
National Chocolate Day
Day of International Concern About Young People and Gun Violence
Cuba: Loss of Major Camila Cienfuegas
Czechoslovakia: Foundation of the Republic Day (1918 from Austria-Hungary)
Greece, Cyprus: Ochi Day [Οχ Epeteios tou]: Anniversary of No: to commemorate Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas' (in power from August 4, 1936, until January 29, 1941) rejection of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1940
¤ Hit Songs on this date ¤
1895...The Little Lost Child / Dan Quinn Click Here to View!
1905...In My Merry Oldsmobile / Billy Murray Click Here to View!
1915...Hello, Frisco! / Olive Kline & Reinald Werrenrath (original not available)
1925...Oh, How I Miss You Tonight / The Cavaliers [Ben Selvin] (original not available)
1935...You Are My Lucky Star / Eddy Duchin Click Here to View!
1945…Till the End of Time / Perry Como Click Here to View!
1955…Autumn Leaves / Roger Williams Click Here to View!
1965…Yesterday / The Beatles Click Here to View!
1975…Island Girl / Elton John Click Here to View!
1985…Part-Time Lover / Stevie Wonder Click Here to View!
¤ Today’s Births ¤
╬ THE ARTS
Michael (John) Crichton, writer: Jurassic Park, Twister, Rising Sun, The Great Train Robbery, The Terminal Man, Disclosure, The Great Impostor, The Secret of Canta Victoria,Congo; director: Runaway, Coma, Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, born in 1942
Charlie Daniels, 74, musician, singer, songwriter (“Devil Went Down to Georgia”)
Wayne Fontana, 65, rocker (Groovy Kind of Love with Mindbenders)
Edith Head, fashion designer (MGM), born in 1907
Brad Paisley, 38, country singer
Evelyn Waugh, author (Brideshead Revisited), born in 1903
♦♦actors♦♦
Jane Alexander, 71, actress (The Great White Hope, Kramer vs Kramer), former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts
Dennis Franz, 66, actor (“Hill Street Blues,” “NYPD Blue”)
Elsa Lanchester, actress, born in 1902
Joaquin Phoenix, 36, actor
Annie Potts, 58, actress (“Designing Women
Andy Richter, 44, actor, former cohost (“Late Night with Conan O’Brien”)
Julia Roberts, 43, actress (Oscar for Erin Brockovich
╬ ATHLETICS
Jim Beatty, 76, track runner (1st sub 4 minute indoor mile)
Terrell Davis, 38, football (Broncos)
William Bruce Jenner, 61, sportscaster, Olympic gold medal decathlete
Bowie Kuhn, baseball commissioner (1969-1984), born in 1926
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
Bill Gates, 55, former computer software executive (Microsoft), philanthropist
╬ POLITICS
Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, orator (Joan of Arc of the Civil War), born in 1842
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
Dr Jonas Salk, medical researcher, made polio a fear of the past, born in 1914
¤ Today’s Obituaries ¤
Abigail Adams, First Lady of the United States @ 74 in 1818
Walther Bauersfeld, 1919 inventor (1st modern projection planetarium) @ 80 in 1959
John Locke, English philosopher @ 72 in 1704
Richard Smalley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate, cancer @ 62 in 2005
Charlotte Turner Smith, British poet and novelist, gout @ 57 in 1806
Porter Wagoner, American country singer @ 80 in 2007
¤ Today’s Events ¤
╬ THE ARTS
See above Holy Mackerel.
╬ ATHLETICS
1900 After over 5 months the Paris Olympic games close
1973 Secretariat raced into history by winning the Canadian International Stakes in Toronto. It was the last race won ... and run ... by the magnificent thoroughbred.
1989 The Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants 9-6 to complete a four-game sweep of the World Series, the first World Series sweep since 1976.
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1636 Harvard University (Boston) established
1929 1st child born in aircraft, Miami, Fl
1965 Gateway Arch (630' (190m) high) completed in St Louis, Missouri
╬ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1815 (7 stat.137) The KANSA Indians conclude a treaty today at St. Louis.
1865 The UPPER YANKTONAI SIOUX (14 stat.743) & the OGLALA SIOUX (7 stat.747) sign treaties today with the United States
╬ POLITICS (US)
1919 Volstead Act passed by Congress, start prohibition over Wilson's veto
╬ POLITICS (International)
1948 Flag of Israel is adopted
1962 Khrushchev orders withdrawal of missiles from Cuba, ending crisis
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1793 Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin
1904 Fingerprinting was first used by the St. Louis Police Department
1971 England becomes 6th nation to have a satellite (Prospero) in orbit
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ 1 Jeopardy
$100-Central Africa's short people: Who are the Pygmies?
$200-S. Africa's form of segregation: What is Apartheid?
$300-Tanganyika & Zanzibar joined to form this country: What is Tanzania?
$400-Africa's largest fresh-water lake, it's main source of the Nile: What is Lake Victoria?
$500-Kenyatta was leader of this bloody movement to end British rule in Kenya: Who are Mau Maus?
↔ PICTURE
A tower fan or heater
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