≈Week 18 of 2010: 120 days this year… 245 days remain≈
≈ Something To Think About
Death is one of two things...Either it is annihilation, and the dead have no consciousness of anything; or as we are told, it is really a change: a migration of the soul from one place to another.
~ Socrates
≈ Random Fact
~ In ancient Greece, a dinner host would take the first sip of wine to assure guests the wine was not poisoned, hence the phrase “drinking to one’s health.” “Toasting” started in ancient Rome when the Romans continued the Greek tradition but started dropping a piece of toasted bread into each wine glass to temper undesirable tastes or excessive acidity.
~ European wines are named after their geographic locations (e.g., Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot and Bordeaux) while non-European wines (e.g., Pinot Noir and Merlot) are named after different grape varieties.
~ Wineskins were a common way to transport wine in the ancient world. Animal skins (usually pig) were cleaned and tanned and turned inside out so that the hairy side was in contact with the wine.
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1952 ►Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television
≈ Free Ramblings
I was shocked when I opened the local paper. On Tuesday the city council denounced SB 1070 and asked the city attorney to offer suggestions that the City of Flagstaff could take to stop it. This morning, I learned that some jerk or a group of jerks sent an e-mail to the city offices saying they should be tried and hung for treason. "Each of you should be arrested, tried in court, found guilty of treason and hanged from the nearest tree!" stated the author of the e-mail. The person suggested the council cared more about "foreign nationalists" than the "safety and jobs and the future of your own citizens." The author ended the e-mail "Death to traitors!" AZ Daily Sun 4-29-10
Where is the civility? Of course the email was not signed. I’m sure this is being taken very seriously by the council, by the police, and by Flagstaff residents. We used to be a somewhat liberal area. Note: liberal in AZ is not the same as liberal other places. These are our elected officials. Why would a sane person threatened to kill anyone? I’ve heard that this probably isn’t really a legal death threat because it does suggest doing death through our judicial system. Crazies are everywhere.
One other tidbit, FAIR [Federation for American Immigration Reform] has taken credit for writing SB 1070. It wasn’t written by AZ legislators. This bill was not started in Arizona, it was not written by AZ legislators. It started with the pen of a DC ‘public interest group’. Scary, very scary. All this controversy that is already costing AZ a lot of money in lost tourism is not from Arizona. We are just the bullet of a group that believes we have too many immigrants, legal and illegal. They also want the 2 million + legal immigrants to be cut back by 85%.
I had a good lunch with Annie today. Annie and I worked together during our BIA time. Sadly, she lost a 87 year old father about a month ago. She has been cleaning up his place and found a box of old diaries she kept during her youth. She has been busy putting them on her computer. She is looking for a way to share them with relatives. A very interesting project.
We had wind. We had rain. We had snow. We love Flagstaff. Our 46° high came at 1:00am and it was downhill from there. Tonight will bring what is called a ‘hard freeze’—about 18°. So much for the entire town’s tulips, daffodils, and other spring flowers that survived the snow over the last few days.
≈ A Quick Smile…
"Information? I need the number of Caseway Insurance Company."
"Would you spell that, please?"
"Certainly. That's C as in cadence. A as in aye. S as in sea. E as in eye. W as in why. A as in are. Y as in you."
"Just a minute, sir. I'll connect you with my supervisor."
≈ Puzzle
The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.
1. 8 TOAO
2. 9 SITTT
3. 10 EITD
≈ Side Show Stories
BRADENTON, Fla. - Police in Florida said a 68-year-old man who refused a field sobriety test after being involved in a car crash drank a beer while talking to troopers. The Florida Highway Patrol said Elmer Daniels of Bradenton initially switched seats with his wife after a collision with another vehicle just prior to 8 p.m. Tuesday, but four adults in the other vehicle identified him as the driver, the Bradenton Herald reported. Daniels, who was drinking a beer while talking to troopers, admitted drinking beer in his van and had finished nearly two beers before the crash. A police report said Daniels told investigators he usually drinks a six-pack of beer each day. Daniels was arrested and charged with driving under the influence with property damage or injury. He was jailed in lieu of $16,500 bond.
≈ Calendar Information
• Observance Weeks in April•
24-30
National Scoop The Poop Week
• 26 April Observances—US/UN/World •
National Honesty Day
Arbor Day
Beltane / Beltaine: Celtic Festival when herds are moved to summer grazing
National Hairball Awareness Day
Hairstylists Appreciation Day
National Honesty Day
Walpurgis Night: N European countries celebration with bonfires and welcoming of return of light
Louisiana : Admission Day (1813)
• 26 April Observances—by country •
Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Surinam : Queen Juliana's Birthday
Sweden: Birthday of the King Carl XVI Gustav, one of the official flag days
Mexico: Children's Day
Thailand: Consumer Protection Day
Vietnam: Reunification Day
•Number One Songs in…
For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.
1946 ►Prisoner of Love; Perry Como
1956 ►Heartbreak Hotel; Elvis Presley
1966 ►Good Lovin'; The Young Rascals
1986 ►Addicted to Love; Robert Palmer
1996 ►Always Be My Baby; Mariah Carey
• 26 April Happenings•
In The Arts
1945 ►"Arthur Godfrey Time" & “Queen for a Day” premier on radio
1952 ►The diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish victim of the Holocaust is to be published in English titled "The Diary of a Young Girl".
In Athletics
1984 ►1700 skiers participate in an alpine event at Are Sweden
In Business or Education
1939 ►200,000 people attended New York World’s Fair, officially opening
1939 ►Public Television began. President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first chief executive to appear on TV. Roosevelt spoke at the opening ceremonies of the New York World’s Fair in Flushing, NY on WNBT in New York.
1948 ►The Land Rover ( Land Rover Series I ) is shown for the first time at the Amsterdam car Show 1952 ►Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television
In Politics
1789 ►George Washington inaugurated as 1st President of US
1803 ►US doubles in size through the Louisiana Purchase ($15 million)
1860 ►Navajo’s attack Fort Defiance
1871 ►Apaches in Arizona surrender to white & Mexican adventurers; 144 die
1889 ►1st US national holiday, on centennial of Washington's inauguration
In Science/ Religion
311 ►Emperor Galerius recognizes Christians legally in the Roman Empire
1563 ►Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI
• 26 April Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
Jane Campion, 56, film director (The Piano), born Wellington, New Zealand
Athletes
Don Schollander, 64, Olympic Hall of Famer: 1st swimmer to win 4 gold medals in one Olympics [1964]
Isiah Thomas, 49, Hall of Fame basketball player, basketball coach
Entertainers
Eve Arden (Eunice Quedens), 1908, Emmy Award-winning actress: Our Miss Brooks
Jill Clayburgh, 66, actress
Gary Collins, 72, actor, talk show host
Kirsten Dunst, 28, actress
Johnny Horton, 1927, rocker: ("The Battle of New Orleans," "North to Alaska," "Sink the Bismarck")
Cloris Leachman, 80, actress (Oscar for The Last Picture Show; “Phyllis”)
Al Lewis, 1923, actor (Grandpa-The Munsters)
Willie Nelson, 77, singer (“Always on My Mind,” “On the Road Again”)
Bobby Vee (Robert Thomas Velline), 57, Fargo ND, ("Night has a Thousand Eyes" )
Business, Education Leaders
Vermont Royster, 1914, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, editor: The Wall Street Journal
Political Leaders
Mary Scott Lord Dimmick Harrison, 1858, 1st lady
Queen Juliana of Netherlands, 1909
Scientists /Religious Leaders
Carl Friedrich Gauss, 1777, Brunswick Germany, one of the world's great mathematicians (number theory, non-Euclidean geometry, gravitation)
• 26 April Obits •
Eva Braun, 1945, mistress/wife of Hitler, suicide @ 33
Adolf Hitler, 1945, German dictator, suicide @ 56
John Luther [Casey] Jones, 1900, Cannonball Express train wreck @ 37
Agnes Moorehead, 1974, actress (Endora-Bewitched), cancer @ 67
Inger Stevens, 1970, actress (Katy-Farmer's Daughter), suicide @ 35
Muddy Waters, 1983 US blues singer/guitarist (Mad Love), @ 68
Dr William Henry Welch, 1934, pathologist who played a major role in the introduction of modern medical practice and education @ 75
≈ ANSWERS to puzzle
1. 8 TOAO = 8 Tentacles on an octopus
2. 9 SITTT = 9 Square is three times three
3. 10 EITD = 10 events in the decathlon
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