»Week 23 of 2010:163 days this year…202 days remain:
Day 54 of the BP oil spill
» Something To Think About
You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.
--Tom Brokaw
» Random Fact
The largest producer of gold is South Africa.
¤ Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1975 ►Indira Gandhi , the prime minister of India, is found guilty of electoral corruption in her successful 1971 campaign. Gandhi refused to give up India's top office and later declared martial law in the country when public demonstrations threatened to topple her administration.
» Free Ramblings
A friend of mine is painting a mural here in Flagstaff. I have known Redwing since he was Ted. He has been an artist since, well forever. He has been a well known Dine’ artist since he graduated from High School. He went the LA Olympics with us, to share his art with the world. He is an old fashioned artist with several patrons who have is art in California, the UK, and a few other countries. He started a foundation a few years ago to save the old Bitahochee Trading Post. [Bitahochee is a NAVAJO word meaning red rock running through].Back in the day, the trading post was the first stop from Holbrook on the rez. He spent many hours as a child there, meeting people, learning, experiencing life. He wrote and illustrated Forbidden Talent about growing up on the Rez. While I was at Tuba, he met with students and shared his book and the process of making the book. Great experience for our students. He has been credited in several movies that were filmed on the Rez. He is now busy setting up a gallery, artist-in-residence program, a learning center and much more at the old Trading Post. This year he turned 50. He started school with no English knowledge, was raised traditionally, and his art shows that background. The Flagstaff Visitors Center is having him paint a huge mural outside. He was selected from many other entries. It is exciting to watch the mural change daily. More exciting is to watch the many visitors who stop by and watch the work. Flagstaff made a good choice in selecting Redwing. When it is finished later this summer it will be yet another reason to visit Flagstaff. Click Here!
Interestingly, some Brits are upset with our President. They don’t like him or his staff referring to BP as British Petroleum. They changed their name a few years back from British Petroleum to BP. Their ads back then included the tag line “BP—Beyond Petroleum”. I get that BP is the largest company in the UK; it is one of the largest companies in the whole world. Failure of the company would cause the UK, and the world, to face another financial crisis. Of course, the BP oil spill is already causing a global environmental crisis that continues to worsen. I have to wonder how the Brits would feel if the spill had been in the North Sea, in their back yard.
The World Cup has begun. There was great kick-off concert on TV tonight. ESPN will be carrying games for the next month. My South African FB friends are in a frenzy over this event. I am lucky enough to have seen the stadium in J-burg and the one in Cape Town. I sure hope they got the traffic situation figured out. When I was there they were busy building several highways in both towns, but many in SA were concerned that they wouldn’t be ready. The US team is not expected to win, but should make it through at least two rounds. The Cup is only played every played every 4 years. This year has 55 countries sending a team. It is estimated that 2.2 billion people watched the final game in 2006. Many black South Africans are hoping these games will be another step to move past apartheid. Sadly, I read that many immigrants in the poorest areas of J-burg and Cape Town are being told that they need to return to their neighboring homeland when the games are over, or face violence. Sad.
Another breezy day here in Flag. It was nice to have a day with a high of only 68°. It looked like it was going to rain several times today, but alas, the 20mph wind with gusts of 35mph, did little more than blow the rain clouds out of the area. Then suddenly, out of nowhere we had some lightning, some thunder, and some huge rain drops. The smell of fresh rain now permeates the area. Very nice shower!!!
» Puzzle 1
Given below are five pairs of words. Each pair sounds similar, but have different meanings (they are homonyms). Can you figure out the pairs?
Lift high - Bring down, destroy
Plant with ears - Labyrinth
Burial/Cremation formalities - Uses a pen and paper and forms legible words
To communicate with God - Carnivore's target
Watery part of milk that separates when milk turns to curds - The route or the course traveled from one place to another
» A Quick Smile…
My wife and I were having a very hypothetical discussion: In the unlikely event that Hollywood made a movie based on our lives, we wondered what stars would play us.
"Who would you pick to portray you?" she asked me.
I thought about it for a minute, then answered, "George Clooney."
"In that case," she said, "I'll play myself."
» Side Show Stories
USA Today: Betty Lou Lynn, 83, was mugged and had her wallet stolen in her new hometown of Mount Airy, N.C., in April. Lynn is the actress who played Barney Fife's best girl, Thelma Lou, in the Andy Griffith TV show and had lived in Los Angeles until she became alarmed at the city's crime rate. She decided in 2007 to move to the quieter, peaceful Mount Airy, which was Griffith's birthplace and the model for the TV town of Mayberry.
» Puzzle 2: Brain Food
Glittering points that downward thrust,
Sparkling spears that never rust.
What is it?
» Something you might enjoy…
In 2005, YouTube changed the internet forever. It is now available in 22 languages. Check out this one…
This is an aerial view of Flagstaff’s San Francisco Peaks. The peaks are sacred to many AZ native tribes, and can be seen for miles around Flagstaff. Click Here!
» Calendar Information
¤ Today’s Number One Songs in…
For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.
"Music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies." ~ Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
1930: When It's Springtime in the Rockies; Ben Selvin
1940: Tuxedo Junction; Glenn Miller
1950: 'The Third Man' Theme; Anton Karas
1960: Cathy's Clown; The Everly Brothers
1970: The Long and Winding Road; The Beatles
1980: Funkytown; Lipps, Inc.
¤ Observance Weeks in June
6-12: National Headache Awareness Week
10-17: Superman Week and Nursing Assistants Week
¤ Today’s Observances—US/UN/World
Crowded Nest Awareness Day
Loving Day since 1967 when Supreme Court allowed interracial marriage
Raggedy Ann & Andy Day
Ride The Wind Day, Ride For Wind Day or World Wind Day
The Wicket World of Croquet Day
World Day Against Child Labor
¤ Today’s Observances—by country
Brazil: Dia dos Namorados, Brazilian Valentine's Day
Finland: Helsinki Day (1550)
Paraguay: Chaco Armistice Day (1935 over territory with Bolivia)
Philippines: Independence Day (1898 from Spain)
Turk & Cacios Island: Constitution Day
¤ Today’s Births
Artists, Writers, and Composers
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank, diarist/Nazi victim, born in 1929 Frankfurt am Main in Weimar Germany
Charles Kingsley, clergyman/novelist (Westward Ho!), born in 1819 Holne, Devon, England
Athletes
Marv Albert, 67, sportscaster, born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig at New York, NY
Entertainers
Irwin Allen, “The Master of Disaster ” producer, director: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Towering Inferno, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, born in 1916 New York City
Vic Damone [Vito Farinola], 82, singer (“On the Street Where You Live”), born Brooklyn
Kent Jones, 46, American journalist (The Rachel Maddow Show) born in Missouri
Jim Nabors, 78, actor (“The Andy Griffith Show,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”), singer, born Sylacauga, AL--and he can sing: Click Here! (My HS Class Song)
Business, Education Persons
David Rockefeller, 95, banker, born New York, NY
Political Persons
George Herbert Walker Bush, 86, 41st president of the US, born Milton, MA
Scientists /Religious Persons
Fritz Albert Lipmann, American biochemist, Nobel laureate born in 1899 Königsberg, Germany
Bert Sakmann, 68,German physiologist, Nobel laureate born in Stuttgart, Germany
¤ Today’s Happenings
In The Arts
1947 ►People gathered around the radio to listen to Sergeant Preston of The Yukon for the firsttime. The show, with the Canadian Mountie and his trusty dog, King, continued on the radio until 1955 (and on TV from 1955-1958). Sgt. Preston was created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, who also created The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet.
In Athletics
1839 ►1st baseball game played in America
1939 ►The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.
1981 ►Larry Holmes, 31, defended his heavyweight boxing title by earning a third-round TKO(technical knockout) over Leon Spinks
In Business or Education
1997 ►Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London.
In Politics
1665 ►English rename New Amsterdam, New York, after Dutch pull out
1756 ►DELAWARE Indians, led by King Beaver, will attack the fortified garrison in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, called Bingham's Fort. The number of settlers killed or captured was estimated to be as many as two dozen.
1903 ►Niagara Falls, Ontario incorporated as a city
1964 ►South Africa sentences Nelson Mandela to life imprisonment
1987 ►While standing in front of the Berlin Wall President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Wall.
1994 ►Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, and her friend Ron Goldman are brutally stabbed to death outside Nicole's home in Brentwood, California
In Science/ Religion
2004 ►A 1.3 kilogram chondrite type meteorite strikes a house in Ellerslie, New Zealandcausing serious damage but no injuries.
¤ Today’s Obits
Medgar Evers, NAACP official, murdered in Jackson, Miss @ 37 in 1963
Saul David Alinsky, radical writer, founder of modern community action, heart attack @ 63 in 1972
Milburn Stone, actor (Doc-Gunsmoke), @ 75 in 1980
» ANSWERS to Puzzle 1
Raise - Raze
Maize - Maze
Rites - Writes
Pray - Prey
Whey - Way
» ANSWERS to Brain Food
an icicle
» PIC of the Day
I have always been fascinated with ‘sky’ pictures. While traveling I always try to take pictures of clouds, sunrise, sunset, panoramas with mostly sky. These pics are not mine, but it’s nice to learn that others are also fascinated by the sky. During the month of June I’ll be doing ‘sun rays’.
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