4-3-11 Sunday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1868 An Hawaiian surfs on highest wave ever; he rides a 50' tidal wave 

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

A little windy to spend too much outside, but I did anyway and now have a little windburn. So much better than staying inside. Tomorrow should be windy too, then it will be nice until Wednesday when rain is forecast…rain….not snow…rain. I’m ready. The forest is very dry and not much new growth out there yet. The Hot Shot crews are going to have a very busy time this year….again.

The biggest concern for Flag, after the danger of another big fire, will be the flooding. The Forest Service sez they will help in the fire area on their property as soon as the city or county or state comes up with a plan. What!?!? The fire was on Forest Service land, it started on Forest Service land, the Forest Service was still allowing campfires in the tinder dry forest. The people living below the fire are on private land that they purchased. Agreed that all the first responders came through and prevented any homes from being lost. Now there are these huge hillsides, on forest service land that will simply let the water and debris rush down the burned hillside into the private land. And the DC head of the Forest Service flies over the area in a small plane, tells everyone that it is a disaster waiting to happen, and says they will get right on it—ten months after the damage—as soon as somebody else comes up with a plan. Here’s my plan: Do whatever it takes to save the homes and animals and roads in the expected flood area. Driving into the residential area is strange. There are huge ditches on both sides of the main road. Every house has cement barriers (used on highway construction) on the entire mountain facing property. On the mountain facing side of all that cement are deep trenches. Landscaping is a thing of the past. No one could sell now, even at a huge loss. Most houses have large frontage with a big driveway. Those driveways basically off limits as there is just enough room for the family car to go between the barriers. There are sandbags behind the barriers that can be use to fill in the space between the barriers. When a flood comes, all those ditches will be full of water and it will be difficult for anyone to get in or get out—including first responders. And the DC guy says ‘give us a plan.’

I have several friends in the ‘flood zone’ and they are stuck. They can’t sell, they can’t move, they enjoy the forest and know that the monsoon is what keeps the forest alive. So they just wait…no vacation, stock up on food and water, and watch the sky…and it’s only early April. Monsoons don’t arrive until around July. At this point, any rain can cause flooding—even the rain I’m anxiously awaiting later this week. With a healthy, vibrant forest, as it was for hundreds of years prior to last summer, no one said this area was a floodplain. Not the insurance companies, not the builders, not the real estate agents, not the county,….no one.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Chill your picnic cooler by putting a layer of ice in the bottom of the cooler, then add the food, packed in sealed containers or plastic food bags. Top with frozen gel or juice packs or water bottles seven-eighths full and frozen. These will thaw, keep the food cool, and be icy to drink. 

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION…Red Hair Part II

Red hair doesn’t gray as much as other hair colors. Red hair initially tends to turn blond and then white. Because natural red hair holds its pigment more than other colors, it is harder to dye.
***
Because redheads have thicker hair than people with other hair colors, they have fewer strands of hair. For example, while blondes have on average 140,000 hairs, redheads have approximately 90,000.
***
Some common last names in the British Isles reflect the frequency of red hair there, including Flanary (“red eyebrow”), Reid (“red-haired, ruddy complexion”), and Flynn
(“bright red”).

PUZZLE:   Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. Which country produces wine in the Casablanca Valley?
2. Allium cepa - one of the lilicaea - world most used food item?
3. Who wrote the children's novel 'Swallows and Amazons'?
4. What was Edward Whymper the first man to do?
5. What is the correct name for a baby otter?
6. Who wrote the science fiction novel 'Slaughterhouse Five'?
7. An exultation is a group of what kind of animals?
8. Who painted the 'Water Lilly Pond' in 1899?
9. In what country was Bonnie Prince Charlie born?
10. In Bavaria what is defined as a staple food?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM:

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - St. Cloud, Minn., grandparents Mike and Joan Benda welcomed three new granddaughters within three days of each other this month, family members said. Their oldest daughter, Katie Larson, 30, gave birth to MaKenna March 14 in Minneapolis where she lives with husband Andrew and daughter Alexa, 1. Taylor Orth was born March 15 to their middle daughter Michele Orth, 29, in Otsego, Minn., where she lives with husband, Jesse, and son Cameron, 2. Melissa Valen, 29, Michele's identical twin, gave birth to Lyla March 16. They live in Albert-ville, Minn., with husband Andrew and two children Faith, 7, and Jakob, 2. The excitement of the triple births
started to build as each daughter announced due dates days apart and then said all the babies would be girls. Coincidences multiplied as the granddaughters arrived in their mothers' birth order. The granddaughters even fall in order for height and weight. "This is a wild family," Faith Valen told the St. Cloud Times as she watched her toddler cousins playing and the new arrivals being rocked to sleep in the arms of her grandparents.

A LITTLE LAUGH:

Eric is sitting at the bar staring morosely into his beer.
Tom walks in, sits down and asks him what the problem is.
"Well," said Eric, "I ran afoul of one of those awkward questions women ask. Now I'm in deep trouble at home."
 "What kind of question?" asked Tom.
 "My wife asked me if I would still love her when she gets old, fat and wrinkly."
 "That's easy," said Tom. "You just say 'Of course I will'".
 "Yeah," said Eric, "That's what I wanted to do, except I said 'Of course I DO...'"

CLOSEUP PICTURE: Can you identify this close up picture?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’:

Harris Tweed Story

♫ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ♫

2009 Inductees: The Ventures--“the quintessential guitar combo of the pre-Beatles era, [who] influenced not only styles, but also a generation’s choice of instruments.”

Click on Song Title to see and hear it.

♪…Tequila

♪…Walk Don’t Run

♪… Pipeline

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DAYBOOK INFORMATION

«THIS WEEK

1-7 

Golden Rule Week

International Pooper-Scooper Week
Laugh at Work Week
Medication Safety Week
2-7

Testicular Cancer Awareness Week

3-9

Explore Your Career Options

National Week of the Ocean
National Blue Ribbon Week
National Window Safety Week

«TODAY IS

Tweed Day

Don't Go To Work Unless It's Fun Day
Pony Express Day

World Party Day

§ § § §  

UK: Mothering Sunday (always 4^th Sunday of Lent: similar to Mother’s Day in other countries)

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS…

1783 Washington Irving American writer (Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle) 

…ATHLETES

Michael Olowokandi, 36, basketball

Bernie Parent, 66, Hall of Fame hockey player

Picabo Street, 40, Olympic skier

…BUSINESS & EDUCATION

--

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Alec Baldwin, 53, actor (“30 Rock,” The Cooler, The Hunt for Red October)

1924 Marlon Brando Academy Award-winning actor

1941 Jan Berry songwriter, singer: group: Jan and Dean

1904 Iron Eyes Cody (Espera Oscar de Corti ) actor (Black Gold, Ernest Goes to Camp, Environmental Campaign) 

Doris Day, 87, singer, actress 

1898 George Jessel comedian, actor

Marsha Mason, 69, actress

Eddie Murphy, 50, comedian

Wayne Newton, 69, singer 

Tony Orlando, 67, singer

David Hyde Pierce, 52, actor

1929 Miyoshi Umeki actress: Flower Drum Song

…POLITICIANS
1715 John Hanson 1st US President under Articles of Confederation 

1823 William Marcy "Boss" Tweed corrupt NYC political boss 

…SCIENCE & RELIGION

Jane Goodall (Baroness Van Lawick-Goodall), 77, anthropologist known for study of chimpanzees

Today’s Obits:

1901 Richard D'Oyly Carte promotor (Gilbert & Sullivan operas), dropsy @ 45

0033 Christ crucified (according to astronomer Humphreys & Waddington) @ 33

1994 Betty Furness actress/news consumer reporter (WNBC), @ 78 

1946 Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma (responsible for Bataan Death March), executed @ 58 

1882 Jesse James outlaw, shot dead @ 34

1993 Pinky Lee kiddie host (Pinky Lee Show), heart attack @ 85 

1882 Jesse James outlaw, shot dead @ 34

Today’s Events:

…  ARTS

1949 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis debuted on radio

1953 TV Guide was published for the first time 

…  ATHLETICS

1966 Tom Seaver, signs with the Mets for a reported $50,000 bonus 

1975 Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend 

…  BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1776 Harvard College conferred the first honorary Doctor of Laws degree to George Washington.

1829 James Carrington of Wallingford, CT patented the coffee mill.

1860 Pony Express began between St Joseph MO & Sacramento CA 

1866 Rudolph Eickemeyer and G. Osterheld of Yonkers, New York patented a blocking and shaping machine for hats

1882 Wood block alarm invented, when alarm rang, it dropped 20 wood blocks 

1985 The famed Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood closed on this day after 57 years.

…  INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1730 In the Cherokee village of Nequassee, modern day Franklin, North Carolina, Sir Alexander Cuming will oversee a ceremony making Chief Moytoy the "Emperor of the Cherokees." This will be his final step in having the Cherokees acknowledge the sovereignty of King George II of England.

1861 White settlers have started moving onto Sioux lands, near New Ulm, Minnesota. In an effort to improve their illegal standing, today, they petition President Lincoln for protection against the Indians.

…  International POLITICS

1764 Austrian arch duke Jozef crowned himself Roman Catholic king 

1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's 1st meeting with President Jimmy Carter 

…  SCIENCE & RELIGION

1910 Highest mountain in North America, Alaska's Mount McKinley climbed 

1933 1st airplane flight over Mount Everest 

…  US POLITICS

1790 Revenue Marine Service (US Coast Guard), created 

1865 Union forces occupy Confederate capital of Richmond VA & Petersburg VA

1918 House of Representatives accepts American Creed written by William Tyler 

I believe in the United States of America, as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies

1927 Interstate Commerce Commission transfers Ohio to Eastern time zone

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ANSWERS:

Quiz

1. Which country produces wine in the Casablanca Valley?
Chile
2. Allium cepa - one of the lilicaea - world most used food item?
Onion
3. Who wrote the children's novel 'Swallows and Amazons'?
Arthur Ransom
4. What was Edward Whymper the first man to do?
Climb Matterhorn
5. What is the correct name for a baby otter?
Kitten
6. Who wrote the science fiction novel 'Slaughterhouse Five'?
Kurt Vonnegut
7. An exultation is a group of what kind of animals?
Larks
8. Who painted the 'Water Lilly Pond' in 1899?
Claude Monet
9. In what country was Bonnie Prince Charlie born?
Italy
10. In Bavaria what is defined as a staple food?
Beer 
Close Up Picture

Toy Mixer

________AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW________