This is Week 34 of 2010►Day 240 with 125 days left.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
I hope that readers enjoy the videos I have been adding to each blog. The songs are usually the original musicians, and certainly bring back memories. All one has to do is click on the blue “Click Here” or “Hear It Hear” and you should go right to the video. When I find the video, I am always surprised as how quickly a memory will pop into my mind. Much of the memories from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s are mine—a party, an event, a situation. Any songs before my memory will remind me of something my parents talked about, or listened to. A few of the songs are such time honored classics that I may have ever known they were number one on Billboard. Yesterday’s list is a good example. I learned the song as “Bicycle Built for Two” but now know it was “The Band Played On”. As a pre-teen I took piano lessons. My piano teacher believed that her students should learn music theory, learn to play the piano, learn composer history, and perform twice a year. Mrs. Williams had a large room with two pianos and chairs for about four. Once a week we had a private lesson and once a week we had ‘theory’ with about four students. That room opened out into living room. When her 10 or so students had a recital, the parents sat in the living room as we played. I never became a great pianist. I never even became a very good pianist. I did learn to appreciate many kinds of music—classical through the years, jazz, folk, and many more. My mom became good friends with Reba and they stayed friends for many years after the piano lessons stopped. When I entered college one of the course requirements was Music Appreciation. We had to take a pre-test to see what level class we would be in—beginning appreciation, intermediate appreciation, or advanced appreciation. After taking the test, the instructor called me in to see if I was planning on becoming a music major. I wasn’t. However, my test results exempted me from all three levels of the class and I just got the credits. She was very disappointed that I didn’t want to become a music major. I never found out how many of the thousands of liberal arts freshman were fully exempted, but I do know that none of my freshman friends were. All those hours of class, of practice, of theory have paid off my entire life. As an Elementary teacher or a Jr. High English teacher I could always find some piece of music that fit into many of my lessons. If I were still a teacher, finding those pieces of music would be so much easier. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do.
I helped Martha with her mailings again today. She is doing so much better, but still can’t carry the books from her vehicle to the PO window. It is no big deal for me, and I am getting to know the desk crew at the PO. It takes time for them to weigh and stamp some 25 books each trip, and they have the tedious task down to an art, so there is some conversation while they stamp away. By the time I head for Malaysia, Martha should be ready to return to her pre-operation state of doing it alone. I won’t be needed anymore, but for now, it is an interesting way to spend an hour.
Over a week ago Ellie had mailed me my name tags, luggage tags, and other stuff I didn’t get at the pre-departure party. It only had to come from Denver. As of yesterday I still hadn’t received it. The luggage tags are really important, so that the baggage carriers at all of our stops can spot them on the luggage carousel. We, the travelers, don’t have to stand at the carousel and grab our bags. The tour guys know what tag to grab so we can converse and enjoy the airport hubbub. When they have all our bags, we simply walk over to be sure our bag is there. It sure makes travel much easier. So this morning about 9am I called Ellie to let her know I was tagless. I told her that I was sure it would come, just as soon as I called. She reprinted and re-mailed all the stuff. I called because I was sure she would have to call back east for the luggage tags and we are leaving soon. I checked the mail about noon, and sure enough, the package was there. I called her back but she had already mailed me a new set. I asked if that meant I could go twice. She said ‘probably not.’
I picked up my broad band hat, a mosquito net for the hat, some strong bug spray and other travel stuff today. I’m still searching for anti-leech socks. We don’t have an REI here and it is too late to order them without paying more for shipping than the socks cost. Neither of our local sporting goods stores had any. All the clerks looked at me like I was crazy—AZ is not exactly leech country and the sporting goods stores are not that big. They have lots of camping and hiking stuff, but it is for the mountains or for the sandy desert, not a rain forest. The clerks were interested in my trip and seemed have a genuine interest.
Today I started my ‘take’ pile for the trip. As I use something that I don’t use regularly, it goes in the pile. When I finally pack, some at that stuff will go and I find that it helps so I don’t forget anything.
Flag had a real nice thundershower just after noon, and another one about 3pm. The second storm set off the emergency notice on TV to watch for flash flooding. I haven’t heard yet if the fire area was spared, yet again. I think the darkness and rain helped me get in the mood to start getting ready for my trip. We made it to 78° before the first storm, but quickly dropped to the mid 60’s where stayed cool the rest of the day. It is still overcast and sure looks like more rain tonight. I had to close downstairs windows as it got a little cool.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY
Charles Dubois: The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1963 Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" at Lincoln Memorial
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION
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The tallest bird of all time was the moa, a flightless inhabitant of New Zealand that became extinct over 400 years ago. It grew to be 11 feet tall.
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1—Jeopardy Answers: Horse Sense
Horse racing was a sport at these ancient Greek contests
Collective name of Kentucky Derby, Preakness, & Belmont Stakes
Billy the Cobbler, or a famous jockey
Since 1936, because of this, horses "say cheese" at the end of races
All U.S. thoroughbreds are officially born on this day of the year
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM: Five Accidental Inventions
1. Percy Spencer, an engineer at Raytheon after his WWI stint in the Navy, was known as an electronics genius. In 1945, Spencer was fiddling with a microwave-emitting magnetron — used in the guts of radar arrays — when he felt a strange sensation in his pants. A sizzling, even. Spencer paused and found that a chocolate bar in his pocket had started to melt. Figuring that the microwave radiation of the magnetron was to blame (or to credit, as it would turn out), Spencer immediately set out to realize the culinary potential at work. The end result was the microwave oven — savior of eager snackers and single dudes worldwide.
2. In 1879, Ira Remsen and Constantin Fahlberg, at work in a laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, paused to eat. Fahlberg had neglected to wash his hands before the meal — which usually leads to a quick death for most chemists, but led to him noticing an oddly sweet flavor during his meal. Artificial sweetener! The duo published their findings together, but it was only Fahlberg's name that made it onto the (incredibly lucrative) patent, now found in pink packets at tables everywhere. That is to say, Remsen got screwed—he later remarked, "Fahlberg is a scoundrel. It nauseates me to hear my name mentioned in the same breath with him."
3. In 1943, Navy engineer Richard James was trying to figure out how to use springs to keep the sensitive instruments aboard ships from rocking themselves to death, when he knocked one of his prototypes over. Instead of crashing to the floor, it gracefully sprang downward, and then righted itself. So pointless — so nimble — so slinky. The spring became a goofy toy of many childhoods—that is before every kid inevitably gets theirs all twisted up and ruins it. 300 million sold worldwide!
4. Before being found ground into the rugs of child-rearing homes everywhere, Play-Doh was ironically created to be a cleaning product. The paste was first marketed as a treatment for filthy wallpaper — before the company that produced it began to go down the tubes. The discovery that saved Kutol Products — headed for bankruptcy — wasn't that their wall cleaner worked particularly well, but that schoolchildren were beginning to use it to create Christmas ornaments as arts and crafts projects. By removing the compound's cleanser and adding colors and a fresh scent, Kutol spun their wallpaper saver into one of the most iconic toys of all time — and brought mega-success to a company headed for destruction. Sometimes, you don't even know how brilliant you are until someone notices for you.
5. In what have been a very messy moment of discovery in 1942, Dr. Harry Coover of Eastman-Kodak Laboratories found that a substance he created — cyanoacrylate (super glue) — was a miserable failure. It was not, to his dismay, at all suited for a new precision gun sight as he had hoped — it infuriatingly stuck to everything it touched. So it was forgotten. Six years later, while overseeing an experimental new design for airplane canopies, Coover found himself stuck in the same gooey mess with a familiar foe — cyanacrylate was proving useless as ever. But this time, Coover observed that the stuff formed an incredibly strong bond without needing heat. Coover and his team tinkered with sticking various objects in their lab together, and realized they had finally stumbled upon a use for the maddening goop. Coover slapped a patent on his discovery, and in 1958, a full 16 years after he first got stuck, cyanoacrylate was being sold on shelves.
A LITTLE LAUGH
When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset. "You're running around with other women," she told her mate.
"Eve, honey, you're being unreasonable," Adam responded. "You know you're the only woman on earth."
The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by a strange pain in the chest. It was his darling Eve poking him rather vigorously about the torso.
"What do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded.
"Counting your ribs," said Eve.
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2--Riddle
Why do naughty kids throw butter out the window?
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
Canada Horse Racing Photo Finish: Click Here to See!
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ Weekly Observances ♦
25-31: Be Kind To Humankind Week
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
World Sauntering Day
Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day
Crackers Over The Keyboard Day: Live it up. Be free. Take some crackers and cookies to work and eat right over top of the keyboard. Show ‘em you’re still a free thinker.
Hong Kong: Festival of Hungry Ghosts
Jordon: Arab Renaissance Day
Republics of Macedonia, Serbia, and Georgia: Assumption of Mary (Eastern Orthodox Church, a public holiday)
♦ Hit Songs on this date ♦
1916 ...America...Columbia Mixed Double Quartet
1946...To Each His Own...Freddy Martin: Original not available: Click Here to Hear!
1956...Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel...Elvis Presley
1966...Sunshine Superman...Donovan Click Here to Hear!
1976…Don't Go Breaking My Heart…Elton John & Kiki Dee Click Here to Hear!
♦ Today’s Births ♦
• The Arts
LeAnn Rimes, 28, singer, born Jackson, MS
Shania Twain, 45, country singer, born Eileen Twain at Windsor, ON, Canada
~~~
Ben Gazzara, 80, actor (Anatomy of a Murder, “Run for Your Life”), born New York, NY
Nancy Kulp, actress (Beverly Hillbillies) …born 1921…Harrisburg, PA
Donald (David Dixon) O’Connor, dancer, singer, actor: Singin’ in the Rain, Francis the Talking Mule series…born 1925…Chicago, IL
Jason Priestley, 41, actor (“Beverly Hills 90210,” Tombstone), born Vancouver, BC, Canada
Rokie Roker, actress (Helen-Jeffersons) …born 1929… Miami FL
David Soul, 64, actor (“Starsky and Hutch,” Salem’s Lot), born Chicago, IL
• Athletics
Scott Hamilton, 52, Olympic gold medal figure skater, born Toledo, OH
Tony (Andres Antonio) Gonzalez, 74, baseball: Reds, Phillies, Braves, Padres, Angels…born Cunagua, Cuba
Carlos Quentin, 28, baseball White Sox, born Bellflower, CA
Mike (Michael Augustine) Torrez, 64, baseball: pitcher: Cardinals, Expos, Orioles, Athletics, Yankees [World Series: 1977], Red Sox, Mets…born Topeka, KS
• Business & Education
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, social philosopher (Faust)…born 1749… Frankfurt, Germany
C Wright Mills, sociologist, writer (The Power Elite) …born 1916…Waco, TX
• Politics
Lucy Ware Webb Hayes, 1st lady…born 1831… Chillicothe, OH
• Science/Religion
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, 1st American Catholic saint…born 1774…NYC, NY
George Hoyt Whipple, astrophysicist (Nobel-1934) …born 1878…Ashland, NH
♦ Today’s Obituaries ♦
Gracie Allen (Mrs George Burns),comedian (Burns & Allen), heart attack @ 62 in 1964
Ruth Gordon, actress, stroke in her sleep @ 88 in 1985
♦ Today’s Events ♦
• The Arts
1811 Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley eloped with Harriet Westbrook.
• Athletics
1941 The Football Writers Association of America was organized.
• Business & Education
1609 Delaware Bay explored by Henry Hudson for the Netherlands
1907 United Parcel Service begins service, in Seattle
• Indigenous People
1565 Leading an expedition of 1,500 soldiers and colonists, Pedro Menendez de Aviles lands on the coast of Florida. His mission is to defeat the Protestants in the area, and to claim the land for Spain. Next month he establishes the town of St. Augustine.
1833 Assiniboine attack Piegan Indians at Fort McKensie
• Politics (US)
1655 New Amsterdam & Peter Stuyvesant bars Jews from military service
1949 Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill NY
1963 200,000 demonstrate for equal rights in Washington, DC
• Politics (International)
1867 US occupies Midway Islands in the Pacific
1916 Italy declares war against Germany during WW I
1990 Iraq declares Kuwait its 19th province
• Science / Religion
1789 Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus
1884 1st known photograph of a tornado is made near Howard SD
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ 1
Horse racing was a sport at these ancient Greek contests: What are the Olympics?
Collective name of Kentucky Derby, Preakness, & Belmont Stakes: What is the Triple Crown?
Billy the Cobbler, or a famous jockey: Who was Willie Shoemaker?
Since 1936, because of this, horses "say cheese" at the end of races: What is the Photo Finish?
All U.S. thoroughbreds are officially born on this day of the year: What is January 1st?
↔ 2
Because they want to see butterfly.
↔ Picture
Brake handle on a bicycle
TODAY’S NATIONAL PARK PHOTO SHOTS
Haleakala National Park, 12th National Park since August 1, 1916: The Haleakalā volcano on Maui has a very large crater with many cinder cones, Hosmer's Grove of alien trees, and the native Hawaiian Goose. The Kipahulu section has numerous pools with freshwater fish. This National Park has the greatest number of endangered species.
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