This is Week 43 of 2010►Day 298 with 67 days left.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
I finally got my act together this afternoon and opened a YouTube account. This account is seems to load faster and with better quality than FB, but I will find out as I add some of my older travel videos. I really enjoy the traveling and then making the videos to remember the trips. I have really made a splash on the world map. In July of 2006 when I retired I had been to a lot of places in the US and had made it to Mexico a couple of times. All but one of my Mexico trips was just to border towns. Some 40 years ago I did travel into central Mexico and over to Mazatlan, using busses and trains. Since my retirement I have gone to Scotland, the Orkney Islands, Egypt, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Taiwan and Malaysia—including Borneo. I still get confused about my last trip because we visited two countries—Taiwan and Malaysia. Borneo is one of the states of Malaysia, but requires a passport to get from KL to Kuching, so it is sorta part of Malaysia. In a few years the world will see if the current ‘One Malaysia’ concept takes hold. That concept seems to be coming from KL and has not yet been embraced by the rest of the country. I just read in the paper that even KL is having its problems…the government wants to build the world’s tallest building—again. They had the tallest building a few years back, the Dubai built one taller. KL want to be number one, but the population keeps looking at the cost, during this world wide recession. It will be interesting if the construction actually starts and if it does, if the world will then see Malaysia as a developed country. I’m still adding videos to my YouTube account, but I haven’t figured out how to give anyone the address so you can see what’s there. I’ll figure that out tomorrow.
Speaking of construction: Our rain and cooler temps have slowed down the endless road construction on I-40, I-17 and Route 66 within the city limits. What a pain. Then, after waiting five years, the opening of the new WalMart Semi-superstore has been pushed back at least a week. They have known for five years that the roads leading to the new store need to be widened, repaved, and fixed up. So, like any smart builder, they waited until the last couple of weeks to improve the road leading to the store. Now the weather has stopped the construction. Earlier last week there was a big article in the paper, showing all the new workers filling all the shelves with brand new items. Today they announced that the grocery section with perishable food will not be filled until the road is ready. Flagstaff voted to keep out really big box stores six years ago. That, along with the recession and change in business plans has made our new WalMart Semi-Superstore actually smaller than the one we have, but it will have a large grocery section. Had the city allowed the Superstore to come in six years ago, it would have been open, and cheaper prices with more selection would have helped all those in Flagstaff who are living on the edge of poverty would have many more selections. I understand the problems with the superstores, their carbon footprint, their overseas buying, their low wages and their poor employee benefit packages. In the past six years, WalMart has gotten better with everything but the overseas buying. In these tough economic times, those on the edge need all the help they can get. A job with WalMart or Sam’s might not be my cup of tea, but for many, it is a job and that is better than no job.
Our local paper ran a good piece on the ballot measures the state is voting on. I swear, AZ just doesn’t seem to get anything right the first or second or even the third time. We pass a proposition, then a few years later somebody decides it isn’t working the way they want, so they put another proposition on the ballot to ‘fix’ it. This year we have to vote on ten changes. We are voting to allow AZ to opt out of Obamacare. We are voting to add to our constitution that there will be no quotas in hiring or college admission—even though that is already on the books, just not in the constitution. We are voting to allow the swap of land so that there will be open space around military bases. (Sierra Club likes this one). We are voting to move the closing date to put a proposition on the ballot from July to May. We are voting to end the secret ballot elections when employees are planning to unionize. We are voting to allow physicians to prescribe up to 2 ½ ounces of marijuana every two weeks to patients in need. Finally we are voting to balance our state budget with two props: by ending money for open space and taking First Things First (early education) money. November 2nd is a big day for AZ…be sure and vote.
Broncos and Cards lost…nuff said.
Flag…H—55°; L—39°; RH—81%; and 10 mph breeze with gusts to 20mph. It was just a cloudy, windy day. Not a great day to be outside and since the sunset, it has gotten much more windy.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY—Alden Nowlan
The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1980 Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague.
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—Gifts for the President of the US
→George W. Bush received 300 pounds of raw lamb meat from the president of Argentina in 2003. The lamb was accepted by the Office of the President on behalf of the nation, and passed along to the General Services Administration. Most non-perishable gifts of state end up in presidential libraries or the National Archives.
→The president of Azerbaijan hired renowned carpet portrait artist Kamil Aliyev to design a gift for Bill Clinton in 1997. Aliyev's design featured the First Couple inside a heart-shaped medallion, the first double portrait he ever attempted. After Aliyev designed the carpet and dyed the yarn, 12 young women were hired to help complete the portrait in 10 weeks.
→In 1990, the president of Indonesia presented a Komodo dragon to President Bush. Bush donated the dragon, named Naga, to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Guess he didn't have room for such a pet in the White House. A Pakistani man by the name of S. Nabi Ahmed Rizvi presented President Nixon with a magnifying glass inside a plush blue velvet box, along with two snapshots of himself and two grains of rice. One grain of rice featured a portrait of Nixon as president; the other featured a portrait of a young Nixon in the Navy.
→What better way to show your president you admire him than by carving his likeness into a peach pit? R.J. McErlean’s memorable ode to JFK features a portrait of Kennedy and the inscription “President John F. Kennedy of the United States.” An eagle on a shield is carved on the left side of the pit, above a depiction of St. Christopher.
→Rutherford B. Hayes was once given a lemon carved to look like a pig, a gift that might have been meant as a jab at Hayes' wife Lucy. The first lady was nicknamed "Lemonade Lucy" because she banned alcoholic beverages at state functions. The unique gift later ended up in an exhibit at the Herbert Hoover presidential library titled, “Weird and Wonderful: Gifts Fit For a President.”
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1—Jeopardy Answers (1984) The “Pits”
$200- Where Pirates steal bases
$400- Asphalt bog that tourists log in L.A.
$600- Poe's tale of torture in a Spanish castle
$800- B-movie fame as a fretful, flustered, worrisome spinster
$1000- Both cyanide & laetrile are an extract of them
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
HYDRO, OK — An elderly Hydro man landed in jail after springing his prized pooch from the town kennel. Instead of paying a $100 fine for not having his poodle on a leash, 73-year-old Edwin Fry decided to bust Buddy Tough out, driving his lawnmower to the city pound Oct. 13 and breaking into the cage with bolt cutters.
As the pair escaped, police officer Chris Chancellor intercepted them.
Chancellor told The Oklahoman officers had received numerous complaints about Buddy Tough, who had been in the pound before. He said Fry had been told he could retrieve the dog and sort out the fine in court.
"I've been in law enforcement 20 years, and this is the first time I've known of anyone that has busted a dog out of jail," Chancellor told The Oklahoman.
Fry spent several days in jail, and faces a municipal charge of allowing an animal to run at-large.
Fry didn't deny the charges. He told The Oklahoman that he warned police to stay away from his dog unless they wanted to face his shotgun.
As for Buddy Tough, he was euthanized while Fry was in jail.
A LITTLE LAUGH
Our co-worker kept trying to get her mother to fly out for a visit. "No way am I getting on an airplane," was the inevitable answer.
"Look, Mom, when it's your time to go, it doesn't matter if you're on the ground or in the air."
"I know," said her mother. "I just don't want to be that far off the ground when it's the pilot's time to go."
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
For International Magic Week, here are some tricks: 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 ¤
‘Be Punk For A Day’ Day
Sourest Day: for those who get lemons and can’t make lemonade
XTERRA World Championships
Grenada: Thanksgiving Day
Kazakhstan: Republic Day
Romania: Armed Forces Day
Taiwan: Restoration Day (1945)
Virgin Islands: Thanksgiving Day
¤ Hit Songs on this date ¤
1892...Michael Casey Taking the Census / Russell Hunting (Original not avaiable)
1902...The Mansion of Aching Hearts / Harry MacDonough (Original not available)
1912...Waiting for the Robert E. Lee / Heidelberg Quintet Click Here to View!
1922...Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean / Gallagher & Shean Click Here to View!
1932...Please / Bing Crosby Click Here to View!
1942…White Christmas / Bing Crosby Click Here to View!
1952…I Went to Your Wedding / Patti Page Click Here to View!
1962…Monster Mash / Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers Click Here to View!
1972…My Ding-a-Ling / Chuck Berry Click Here to View!
1982…Who Can It Be Now? / Men at Work Click Here to View!
¤ Today’s Births ¤
╬ THE ARTS
Eduardo Barrios, Chilean novelist (The Love-Crazed Boy), born in 1884
Georges Bizet, French composer (Carmen), born in 1838
Midori Gotō (五嶋 みどり Gotō Midori?), 39, violinist
Minnie Pearl [Sarah Ophelia Colley], comedienne: “Howdee!” (Grand Old Opry, Hee-Haw), born in 1912
Pablo Picasso, Spain, artist (3 Dancers, Guernica). Born in 1881
Helen Reddy, 68, singer, songwriter (I Am Woman)
Johann Strauss (the younger), composer (Waltz King), born in 1825
Anne Tyler, 69, author (The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lessons)
♦♦actors♦♦
Leo G. Carroll, actor: The Prize, The Parent Trap, North by Northwest, Father of the Bride, Forever Amber, Bahama Passage, Topper, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Going My Way, born in 1886
Tony Franciosa (Anthony Papaleo), actor: A Hatful of Rain, Death Wish 2, The Drowning Pool, A Face in the Crowd, The Long Hot Summer, Stagecoach, The Name of the Game, Matt Helm, born in 1928
Marion Ross, 74, actress (“Happy Days,” The Evening Star)
╬ ATHLETICS
John Heisman, pioneering football coach/trophy namesake, born in 1869
Dan Issel, 62, Basketball Hall of Famer: Kentucky Colonels: Rookie of the Year [1970-71]; Denver Nuggets: player, head coach
Robert Montgomery (Bobby) Knight, 70, former college basketball coach and player
Pedro Martinez, 39, baseball (Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, Mets, Phililes)
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
--
╬ POLITICS
Philleo Nash, US Bureau of Indian Affairs (1961-67), born in 1909
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
Richard E Byrd, admiral/polar explorer (1926), born in 1888
¤ Today’s Obituaries ¤
Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian marathoner (Oly-gold 1960, 64), cerebral hemorrhage @ 46, in 1973
Geoffrey Chaucer, author, unknown causes/murder? @ 57, in 1400
Bill Graham, rock concert promoter (Filmore), helicopter crash @ 60, in 1991
Forrest Tucker, actor (O'Rourke-F Troop, Dusty Trail), emphysema @ 67, in 1986
¤ Today’s Events ¤
╬ THE ARTS
1962 Author John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.”
╬ ATHLETICS
1973 Chris Wills wins 1st National hang-gliding championship
1990 Evander Hollyfield KOs James "Buster" Douglas for HW boxing title
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1870 Postcards 1st used in US
1955 The microwave oven was introduced in Mansfield, Ohio at the corporate headquarters of the Tappan Company
1960 1st electronic wrist watch (Bulova) placed on sale, NYC
╬ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1755 After the attack on the Penn's Creek village in Snyder County, Pennsylvania on October 16th, a group of men go to the area to bury the dead. The Delaware’s who attacked the village will also attack this group, killing several people in the process.
1805 The Cherokee sign a treaty today with Return Meigs on the Duck River covering land north of the Tennessee River in Kentucky and Middle Tennessee (7 stat. 93)
╬ POLITICS (US)
1764 John Adams marries Abigail Smith (marriage lasts 54 years)
1903 Senate begins investigating Teapot Dome scandals of Harding admin
╬ POLITICS (International)
1415 Battle of Agincourt, Welsh longbow defeats the armored knight
1854 The Light Brigade charges (Battle of Balaklava) (Crimean War)
1945 Japanese surrender Taiwan to Gen Chiang Kai-shek
1971 UN General Assembly admits Mainland China & expels Taiwan
1986 International Red Cross ousted from South Africa
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1671 Giovanni Cassini discovers Iapetus, satellite of Saturn
1870 The first U.S. trademark was awarded -- to the Averill Chemical Paint Company
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ 1 Jeopardy
$200- Where Pirates steal bases: Where is Pittsburg?
$400- Asphalt bog that tourists log in L.A.: What are the La Brea Tar Pits?
$600- Poe's tale of torture in a Spanish castle: What is the Pit and the Pendulum?
$800- B-movie fame as a fretful, flustered, worrisome spinster: Who is Zazu Pitts?
$1000- Both cyanide & laetrile are an extract of them: What are apricot pits?
↔ PICTURE
A stack of paper cups
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