4-11-11 Monday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1890 - Ellis Island designated as an immigration station

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

Last night I went to bed with about 18” of snow on the ground. By 3pm today, all of it was gone except for the piles left by the snow shovelers. Even the piles are almost gone. Ahhh, spring in Flag.

I read an amazing article this morning. We have all seen those ‘shortened’ website addresses. They usually are bit.ly and then a short series of numbers and letters. To my surprise, the ‘.ly’ part means that the shortened name is going through one of five big servers in Libya. Yep, ‘.ly’ is the country code for our former friend. The company got a good deal on using the servers in that country. Now it doesn’t appear to be such a good deal after all. These shortened websites have made a big hit for many. It is much easier to use than the sometimes very long address that one must type. One can simply go to their site and paste in an address and it will magically give them an address with about 5 characters to remember. They are also a boom for cell phone users who like to share addresses on Twitter, which limits your message to 140 characters. The company is working quickly to change their servers to ‘bit.li’ as they feel that Lichtenstein is probably a less volatile address. Now they just have to hope that Lichtenstein has servers they can use. The global economy is here and does have some pitfalls.

I did a blood test for my thyroid a couple of weeks ago. The doctor didn’t call so I assume that I don’t need more or less meds. I go in and see him at 8:15 on Tuesday. I expect a positive report for all his hard work.  

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

~To hard cook eggs, place in a pan of cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and remove the pan from the heat. Cover and let stand 20 minutes. Immediately rinse in cold water. The eggs will be tender, the yolk will be an even yellow and there will be no grey ring.

~When making Deviled eggs...Keep yolks centered in eggs by stirring the water while cooking hard-boiled eggs.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION…

All types of ducks are part of the bird family Anatidae, and there are species of ducks found worldwide on every continent except Antarctica. A baby duck is called a duckling, and an adult male is a drake. An adult female duck is called a hen or a duck, and a group of ducks can be called a raft, team or paddling.
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All ducks have highly waterproof feathers as a result of an intricate feather structure and a waxy coating that is spread on each feather while preening. A duck's feathers are so waterproof that even when the duck dives underwater, its downy under-layer of feathers will stay completely dry.
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A hen will lead her ducklings up to a half mile or more over land after hatching in order to find a suitable water source for swimming and feeding.

PUZZLE:   Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…] Geography

1. If you landed at Merignac airport - where are you?
2. If you landed at Schipol airport where are you?
3. Where can you find the London bridge today?
4. In Paris there are two islands, one is the Ile de la Cite, what is the other?
5. The Rimac river runs through what city?
6. What European capital city is not on a river?
7. What is the largest state in the USA?
8. What is the longest river in Italy?
9. Until 1971 what was the name of Zaire?
10. In which city was the famous 'Black Hole'?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM:

MASON, Ohio - Police in Ohio said a man was charged with a misdemeanor count of teasing a police dog after he was spotted making barking sounds at the canine. Mason Police said Officer Bradley Walker was investigating a car crash outside the Mason Pub at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when he heard the police dog in the back seat of his car "barking uncontrollably" in response to Ryan Stephens, 25, "making barking noises" and "hissing" at the animal, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Wednesday. Walker said Stephens began to walk away from the scene and ignored commands to stop. He said he caught up with the suspect and asked him why he was harassing the canine. "The dog started it," Stephens allegedly replied. Stephens, who Walker said appeared "highly intoxicated," was released to a bar employee who promised to drive him home. He was ordered to appear in court April 21 to face a charge of teasing a police dog.

A LITTLE LAUGH:

It was entertainment night at the Senior Center...
Claude the hypnotist exclaimed, “I’m here to put you into a trance. I intend to hypnotize each and every member of the audience.”
The excitement was almost electric as Claude withdrew a beautiful, antique pocket watch from his coat.
“I want you each to keep your eye on this antique watch. It’s a very special watch. It’s been in my family for six generations.” He began to swing the watch gently back and forth while quietly chanting, “Watch the watch, watch the watch, watch the watch...”
The crowd became mesmerized as the watch swayed back and forth, light gleaming off its polished surface.
Hundreds of pairs eyes followed the swaying watch until, suddenly, it slipped from the hypnotist’s fingers and fell to the floor, breaking into a hundred pieces.
“SHlT!” shouted the hypnotist.
It took three days to clean up the Senior Center.
Claude was never invited back to entertain again.

CLOSEUP PICTURE: Can you identify this close up picture?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’:General Douglas McArthur

♫ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ♫

2006 Inductee: Lynyrd Skynrd: Mention the term “Southern rock” and two bands instantly leap to mind: the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. They defined the genre in its Seventies heyday and beyond, and both bands are still active entities. But whereas the Allmans were deeply steeped in blues and jazz, Lynyrd Skynyrd more freely embraced rock. Their three-guitar lineup gave them an uncommon musical muscle, while their down-to-earth songs spoke plainly and honestly from a working-class Southerner’s perspective. MORE INFO

Click on Song Title to see and hear it.

♪…Simple Man

♪…Sweet Home Alabama

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DAYBOOK INFORMATION

«THIS WEEK

10-16

Consider Christianity Week
Health Information Privacy and Security Week

National Animal Control Appreciation Week
National Environmental Week

National Inspirational News Week
National Library Week
National Volunteer Week
Pan American Week
Passion Week
Week of The Young Child
11-17

National Personal Training Week

«TODAY IS

Eight-Track Tape Day

Barbershop Quartet Day

International "Louie Louie" Day

National Pet Day

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS…

1913 Oleg Cassini, Paris, France, fashion designer, Jackie Kennedy

John Davidson 4/11/1857 - 3/23/1909 Scottish poet and playwright

…ATHLETES

Jason Varitek, Baseball player, turns 39

…BUSINESS & EDUCATION

Ethel Kennedy, Widow of Robert F. Kennedy, turns 83

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Joel Grey, Actor ("Cabaret"), turns 79

Louise Lasser, Actress ("Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"), turns 72

Meshach Taylor, Actor ("Designing Women"), turns 64

…POLITICIANS
Dean Acheson 4/11/1893 - 10/12/1971 American Secretary of State (1949-1953)

Hugh Carey, Former New York governor, turns 92

…SCIENCE & RELIGION

1899 Percy L. Julian, chemist, drugs for treatment of arthritis

Today’s Obits:

1992 James Brown, actor (Rip-Adv of Rin Tin Tin), dies at 72

1987 Erskine Caldwell, novelist (Tobacco Road), dies at 83

1997 Michael Dorris, writer, scholar, first unmarried man to adopt child, wrote about experience in 'The Broken Cord', commits suicide, at age 52

1839 John Galt, Scottish writer (Last of the Lairds), dies at 59

1988 David Prater, U.S. singer (Sam and Dave-Soul Man), dies in car crash at 50

2007 Kurt Vonnegut, dies at his home in Manhattan, at 84

Today’s Events:

…  ARTS

1830 - Robert Schumann attends piano concerto by Paganini

1956 - Singer Nat Cole attacked on stage of Birmingham Theater by whites

…  ATHLETICS

1921 - KDKA broadcast 1st radio sporting event, a boxing match (Ray-Dundee)

1940 - Andrew Ponzi set a world's record in a New York pocket billiards tournament when he ran 127 balls straight. 

1975 - Hank Aaron returns as a Milwaukee player (Brewer)

…  BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1876 - The stenotype was patented by John C. Zachos. 

1980 - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations specifically prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors. 

1986 - Kellogg's stopped giving tours of its breakfast-food plant. The reason for the end of the 80-year tradition was said to be that company secrets were at risk due to spies from other cereal companies. 

2007 - Apple announced that the iTunes Store had sold more than two million movies. 

…  INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1968 - The American Indian Civil Rights Act is passed.

…  International POLITICS

1471 - King Edward IV of England conquers London from Henry VI

1689 - William III & Mary II crowned as joint rulers of Britain

1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin overthrown; Tanzania takes Kampala

…  SCIENCE & RELIGION

1775 - The last execution for witchcraft in Germany takes place.

…  US POLITICS

1898 - President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.

1951 - Pres Truman fires Gen Douglas McArthur

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ANSWERS:

Quiz

1. If you landed at Merignac airport - where are you?
Bordeaux
2. If you landed at Schipol airport where are you?
Amsterdam
3. Where can you find the London bridge today?
USA (Arizona)
4. In Paris there are two islands, one is the Ile de la Cite, what is the other?
Ile St-Louise
5. The Rimac river runs through what city?
Lima, Peru
6. What European capital city is not on a river?
Madrid
7. What is the largest state in the USA?
Alaska
8. What is the longest river in Italy?
Po
9. Until 1971 what was the name of Zaire?
Congo
10. In which city was the famous 'Black Hole'?
Calcutta 

Close Up Picture

Bars of soap

________AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW________