At Christmas, all roads lead home.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
It sure was a strange weather day. This morning it was a little cloudy but when I checked the weather forecast It still showed 10mph winds with rain or snow in the afternoon, but a high of 55° expected. About 10am there were 35+mph wind; it was completely overcast; and there was snow blowing around in the air. It was about 38° and the snow melted as it hit the ‘hot’ pavement. The wind kept up most of the day and it was ‘sn-in’ or ‘ra-ow’ most of the day. Not a nice day to be outside.
I did go get my CT scan today. Quick and easy. Just as the guy started the dye, I let him know it was leaking. He said he would go ahead do the scan. It takes all of about 20 seconds. Then he came in and found that the dye and some of MY BLOOD had leaked out onto the floor. He checked the pictures and said that all of the dye and a tiny bit of my blood had leaked out when the connection between the IV and the dye ‘popped out’. He said that he would have to do it again and show me the difference. So he loaded up, another tech came in and cleaned up the floor and we did it again. He then showed me the difference between the two sets of pics. It is really cool to see how they look. They somehow can rotate the pictures 360° and he pointed out my various veins, body parts in my neck and showed me the difference between the no-dye and dye photos. My doctor will get all the pics on a CD. I sure don’t understand what I was looking at—except for the vertebrae, the brain, the aorta, and a couple of other things. Then he tells me to go across the hall to Suite 101 to pick up the CD for the doctor. Now that was an experience. The sign on the door said ‘Suite 101—mammograms and ultrasounds’. I went in to a room full of fairly pregnant women sitting in chairs that must have been made for pregnant women. The back leaned back enough to have my stomach stick out and must be somehow comfortable for women with child. The receptionist asked “how can I help you, today?” I told her I sure didn’t need a mammogram or an ultrasound, but I did need a CD. She laughed and said have a seat and it will be ready in about 5 minutes. I sat in one of the chairs and found it very uncomfortable. The 8 ladies in the waiting room seemed very comfortable. Who knew? Not me for sure. In less than 5 minutes I had my CD and was on the way home.
I have never considered myself a scrooge type person. I was really surprised today when the Post Office announced that they were getting many letters to Santa from adults. One of my favorite Christmas movies is the original ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ and one of my favorite scenes is the Post Office brining bulging bags of letters into the court room where Kris is on trial. Some of the adult letters are available at big city post offices where one can go in, get a letter and fill the requests. That is all cool. What is odd is that most of the letters are from single mothers who state they still believe in Santa and need basic essentials for themselves and their one or two children. I’m afraid this is the result of kids having kids. The letters read were asking for clothes, shoes, a winter jacket and did not ask for toys. They were all hand written with semi-legible handwriting and not using standard grammar. Since I have never heard of this kind of letter before and I’m pretty sure that these letters have never been public before, I am pretty sure that the authors did not expect the letters to be made public. On a similar story the Post Office noted that about 60% of the letters from kids—little kids—are asking for clothes, shoes, mittens, winter jackets, and snow boots instead of toys. So many of us don’t know what it is like to be poor. I will continue to put money in the Salvation Army Kettles, and at the mall’s Toys for Tots. I’ll probably even make an extra trip to the mall just for that reason. ‘Tis the Season.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1811 Most violent & prolonged quakes in US begins in Midwest region; 8.0 earthquake shakes New Madrid MO
∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 HODGEPODGE
►"Blow The Man Down" is an example of this type of song sailors sang while working on sailing ships
►In 1802 Napoleon instituted this award, France's highest
►The Royal Opera House in London has staged this Beethoven opera over 100 times since World War II
►This Scottish missionary explored the Kalahari Desert & discovered the Zambezi River in 1851
►"All The King's Men" can't bring this U.S. Poet Laureate back again; he died September 15, 1989
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—Beethoven
Beethoven began having hearing problems as early as 1802. What started as an annoying ringing in his ears worsened until he was almost totally deaf by 1816.
► ◄
He was one of the first composers to work on his own instead of working for the church or for a noble court.
► ◄
He often used a special rod attached to the soundboard on his piano that he could bite. The vibrations of the bite would then transfer from the piano to his jaw thus increasing his perception of the sound.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM HILLSBORO, OR
The owner of a security firm implicated in a scheme to burglarize his own clients reportedly wrapped some stolen items and placed them under his Christmas tree.
Items taken from Oregon Episcopal School were intended to be given to the poor, according to Sgt. David Thompson of the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
One of the items was a copy of the Dr. Seuss book "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas."
The feloniously regifted items included discount and debit cards to grocery stores to feed the indigent.
A remote-controlled car was wrapped with the notation "From Santa" to the suspect, Stirling Anderson, 27, owner of Northwest Merchant Services.
The stolen and gift-wrapped items were found after deputies served a search warrant at Anderson's home, Thompson said.
Anderson was arrested along with employees Sheldon McMillan, 21, and David smith, 39. They all posted bail and face a Dec. 22 count appearance.
Anderson and McMillan were spotted by an Oregon Episcopal School employee early Saturday morning carting school property out of the building.
In addition to OES, clients St. Matthews Lutheran Church and the Portland Golf Club also reported thefts in recent months. There were no signs of forced entry in any of those crimes.
A LITTLE LAUGH
Tour guides get bored spewing the same facts every day. So these Philadelphia guides rewrote history.
"Trees were planted along streets so illiterate people would know the names of the streets. So Pine Street was lined with pines, etc."
"The reason the kitchens were in the basement is because the long, flowing dresses of women would catch fire and they could run directly into the streets, instead of through the house, spreading fire."
"The Lincoln statue in Fairmont Park shows him signing the Declaration of Independence."
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
DAYBOOK INFORMATION
♦ THIS WEEK ♦
10-17: Human Rights Week
14-28: Halcyon Days: The seven days where there are no winter storms
16-24: Posadas: Originally from Spain, now mostly in Mexico
Typically, each family in a neighborhood will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home, starting on the 16th of December and finishing on the 24th. Every home has a nativity scene and the hosts of the Posada act as the innkeepers. The neighborhood children and adults are the pilgrims (peregrinos), who have to request lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song about the pilgrims. All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and four people carry small statues of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding. The head of the procession will have a candle inside a paper lamp shade. At each house, the resident responds by refusing lodging (also in song), until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter. Once the "innkeepers" let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray (typically, the Rosary). Latin American countries have continued to celebrate this holiday to this day, with very few changes to the tradition. In some places, the final location may be a church instead of a home. Individuals may actually play the various parts of Mary (María) and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey (burro), with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims may carry images of the holy personages instead. At the end of the long journey, there will be Christmas carols (villancicos), children will break open piñatas by striking these colorful papier-maché objects with bats while blindfolded to obtain candy hidden inside, and there will be a feast. Traditionally, it is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession. They also play pinata. Pinatas are made out of clay.
♦ TODAY IS… ♦
National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
Barbie and Barney Backlash Day
National Re-gifting Day
Zionism Day
Bahrain: Independence Day (from UK-1971)
Bangladesh: Victory Day (1971 against Pakistan)
Kazakhstan: Independence Day (1991 from Kazakh SSR)
Nepál: Constitution Day (1962)
South Africa: Reconciliation Day ()
Thailand: National Sports Day ()
♫ Academy Awards Best Original Song ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
1775 Jane Austen English novelist (Pride & Prejudice)
1770 Ludwig van Beethoven , composer (Ode to Joy) in Bonn Germany
Steven Bochco, 67, television writer, producer (Hill St Blues, LA Law, St Elsewhere, NYPD Blue)
1917 Arthur C[harles] Clarke sci-fi author (2001, 2010, Childhood's End)
1899 Sir Noel (Peirce) Coward actor, director, composer, playwright
1928 Philip K[indred] Dick US, sci-fi author (Hugo-1963, Blade Runner)
►◄Actors
Benjamin Bratt, 47, actor (Traffic, Miss Congeniality, “Law & Order”)
ATHLETICS
1882 Sir John Berry, 1st cricket player knighted (1953)
William “The Refrigerator” Perry, 48, football (Bears, Eagles)
Clifford (Cliff) Ralph Robinson, 44, basketball (Trail Blazers, Suns, Pistons, Warriors, Nets)
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1917 Murray Kempton Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman
1863 George Santayana philosopher/writer: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Lesley Stahl 69, journalist (“60 Minutes,” former White House correspondent)
POLITICS
1485 Catherine of Aragon Spanish princess/1st wife of Henry VIII
SCIENCE & RELIGION
Bruce N. Ames 82, biochemist, cancer researcher
1901 Margaret Mead anthropologist (Coming of Age in Samoa)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
Richard Bright British Dr (Bright's disease/nephritis), heart disease @ 69 in 1858
Wilhelm Grimm writer (Grimm's Fairy Tales), infection @ 73 in 1859
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin a powerful Russian monk murdered @ 45 in 1916
Charles Camille Saint-Saens French composer (Carnival of the Animals), @ 86 in 1921
Harland "Colonel" Sanders founder Kentucky Fried Chicken, @ 90 in 1980
Lee Van Cleef US actor (Good, Bad & Ugly), heart attack @ 64 in 1989
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1903 Majestic Theater, New York NY, becomes 1st in US to employ women ushers
1905 Sime Silverman published the first issue of Variety, the weekly show biz magazine.
1913 Charlie Chaplin began his film career at Keystone for $150 a week ($3215.14 in 2010$)
ATHLETICS
1979 QB Roger Staubach's last regular season game with the Dallas Cowboys
1983 Yogi Berra named Yankee manager for 2nd time
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1617 Spanish viceroy Hernando Arias de Saavedra founds provinces Río de la Plata (Argentina)/Guaira (Paraguay)
1835 Fire consumes over 600 buildings in New York NY
1908 1st credit union in US forms (Manchester NH)
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1811: The New Madrid earthquake takes place today on the Mississippi River. Many tribes will tell tales of this event for generations.
1834: Signed at Potawattimie Mills, Indiana, today, a treaty ceding 2 parcels of land for $700 ($14,850.03 in 2010 $)and the canceling of some outstanding debts by the Potawatomi Indians and William Marshall.
POLITICS (US)
1773 Boston Tea Party
1978 Ronald Reagan denounces President Jimmy Carter's recognition of China People's Republic
POLITICS (International)
1653 Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland & Ireland
1944 Battle of the Bulge begins in Belgium
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1538 French King François I orders renewed pursuit of Protestants
1631 Mount Vesuvius, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000
1915 Albert Einstein publishes his "General Theory of Relativity"
1953 Charles E Yeager flies over 2,575 kph (1,650 mph) in Bell X-1A (first man to fly at nearly two and one-half times the speed of sound)
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
►"Blow The Man Down" is an example of this type of song sailors sang while working on sailing ships
What is a sea shanty?
►In 1802 Napoleon instituted this award, France's highest
What is ‘Legion of Honor’?
►The Royal Opera House in London has staged this Beethoven opera over 100 times since World War II
What is ‘Fidelio’?
►This Scottish missionary explored the Kalahari Desert & discovered the Zambezi River in 1851
Who was Livingstone?
►"All The King's Men" can't bring this U.S. Poet Laureate back again; he died September 15, 1989
Who is Robert Penn Warren?
