1 January 2012

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

• 1801 - The Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
• 1846 - Yucatan declares independence from Mexico
• 1852 - 1st US public bath opens, in NYC
• 1862 - 1st US income tax (3% of incomes > $600, 5% of incomes > $10,000)
• 1863 - Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by Lincoln
• 1892 - Ellis Island becomes reception center for new immigrants
• 1902 - 1st Rose Bowl game (Pasadena, California) (U of Mich-49, Sanford-0)
• 1934 - Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison
• 1962 - United States Navy SEALs established
• 1983 - The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet

♫Happy Birthday To: ♫                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

• Happy New Year
• gelukkige nuwe jaar (Afrikaans)
• سنة جديدة سعيدة (Arabic)
• Selamat Tahun Baru (Malay)
• ath bhliain faoi mhaise (Irish)
• bliadhna mhath ur (Scottish Gaelic)

  Note: I wanted to post in Aramaic (the main language of Ethiopia) but didn’t for a couple of reasons: first—it isn’t even near New Year’s on their calendar, and second—couldn’t find an on line translator.

What a great way to end the year…another record breaking warm day. The old record was 62° set in 1945. Still not complaining…just observing.

I got caught up on all my laundry and even moved the furniture to vacuum. When I decorated the tree, I had seen a tip on line to take your tinsel garland and cut it into short pieces to fill in areas, rather than trying to wrap the garland around the tree. It worked really well, and I liked it. The problem…I cut the pieces at the tree, so there were tiny pieces of garland all around the tree. That was fine, but two things happened…first the tiny tiny pieces got tracked throughout the living room and hall. Second, my good vacuum would not pick up the tiny pieces. Turned out to be quite a task using a Shark hand held, on my knees. I got 98% of the stuff. That’s OK cause sometime in January I have to steam clean the carpet anyway.

I’m doing a quiet New Year’s Eve. Staying home, and may go downtown to watch our Silver Pinecone drop. They do it twice—early for the families and old people, late for the party goers. You can guess which group I’ll be in this year. Everybody…have a safe and fun evening and a great 2012.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

NEW—Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

You are given clues, and each answer has the letters S, N, O and W in it.

1.     What are two common 4 letter words can be anagrams of Snow:

2.     What last name of a US President contains the letters s-n-o-w in order, but not consecutively:

3.     7 letter word for part of the day that contains s-n-o-w in order but not consecutively:

4.     NO SNOW in capital letters, double one letter and turn it upside down. What new word do you get:

5.     A fictional character from story and film with 2 w’s in a row, the first half is Snow:

6.     2 compound words starting with snow:

7.     A snowman uses his snow belt to keep his pants up--Where would he put his money?

8.     Change one let in snow to make a common 4 letter word where the new letter is silent:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance      

AZ Centennial is in 45 days: Did you know?…

Famous Native Arizonians and Famous AZ residents

• Erma Bombeck--humorist and writer
• Glen Campbell-- singer
• Lynda Carter-- actress
• Cesar Chavez-- labor leader
• Cochise Apache-- chief
• Alice Cooper-- singer and songwriter
• Wyatt Earp-- marshall
• Max Ernst painter
• Geronimo (Goyathlay) -- Apache chief
• Barry Goldwater-- politician
• Zane Grey-- novelist
• Carl Trumbull Hayden-- politician
• George W. P. Hunt-- first state governor
• Bill Keane-- cartoonist
• Eusebio Kino-- missionary
• Percival Lowell-- astronomer
• Frank Luke, Jr. -- WWI fighter ace
• Charles Mingus-- jazz musician and composer
• Carlos Montezuma-- doctor and Indian spokesman
• Stevie Nicks-- singer
• Sandra Day O'Connor-- jurist
• William O'Neill-- frontier sheriff
• Alexander M. Patch-- general
• William H. Pickering--astronomer
• Linda Ronstadt-- singer
• Paolo Soleri-- architect
• Clyde W. Tombaugh-- astronomer
• Tanya Tucker-- singer
• Stewart Udall-- secretary of the Interior
• Pauline Weaver-- frontier person
• Frank Lloyd Wright-- architect

Harper’s Index         

• Number of public statues of individuals in the US: 5195

Joke-of-the-day

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

You go up to her and say, "I am very rich. Marry me!"

-- That's Direct Marketing.

You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.

One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you and says,

"He's very rich. Marry him."

-- That's Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

 You go up to her and get her telephone number.

 The next day you call and say, "Hi, I’m very rich. Marry me."

-- That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.

You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to her and pour  her a drink.

You open the door for her; pick up her bag after she drops it,  offer her a ride, and then say,

 "By the way, I'm very rich. Will you marry me?"

-- That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.

 She walks up to you and says, "You are very rich."

-- That's Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

You go up to her and say, "I'm rich. Marry me"

 She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.

-- That's Customer Feedback!!!!

Old-er people in the News

When 83-year-old New York-native Frances Levine could not attend her grandson's graduation from the University a year ago, she made it a point to visit campus this year. "I try to visit all the colleges of my grandchildren," Levine explains. With plans to visit her granddaughter, LSA sophomore Allie Levine, Frances's son Murray Levine arranged for her to visit the University Nov. 12 and attend the Michigan football game against Indiana. As the Levine family made their way from Allie's Delta Phi Epsilon sorority house to Michigan Stadium, Allie warned her grandmother about the party-heavy atmosphere and the drinking that goes on during a Football Saturday in Ann Arbor. Frances found out first-hand when her group stopped at 914 State St., the apartment building known for its three-story beer bong.

Many students were standing around the bong, a large funnel at the top, followed by nearly 30 feet of tubing. Few students were attempting the beer bong and those who did were getting drenched in beer. But Frances decided to give it a chance. "My mother got closer and closer and said 'I think I'm going to give it a try,' " Murray said.

Frances said her family was baffled by her curiosity and interest in the college tradition. "They said, 'You can't do this!' and I said 'Why not?' "

Meanwhile, in apartment 301, Engineering seniors Tom Korycinski and Gary Ventimiglia, along with their friends, were manning the beer bong on the balcony. Korycinski and Ventimiglia, who live across the hall, had inherited the beer bong and the key to the empty apartment from the residents before them.

Murray asked one of the students controlling the beer bong if he would lend his coat to Frances so she would not get covered in beer like those who had gone befor her. Frances requested that the guys put just a little beer in the bong. According to Korycinski, he usually uses two 16-ounce cups of beer for each person, but for Frances, he gave her just one 12-ounce beer.

When Frances started to do the beer bong, students in the vicinity erupted in excitement and enthusiasm. "They were yelling 'Go, go, go, go, go!' " Murray said. "The guy with the jacket slapped her five and all," Allie added.

Frances enjoyed herself just as much as those around her. "I loved it. I felt great. I felt young - not that I feel that old," Frances said. She especially enjoyed the response she got from the students. "I loved the kids cheering me on."

"On a day like that - to see her hit it was pretty amazing," Korycinski said.

In fact, Frances became a bit of a local celebrity that day. After the game while she was waiting for Murray to get the car, she was immediately recognized by a group of guys. "They said, 'you're the woman who did the three-story beer bong!' " Frances recalled. Frances said the best part of the entire experience was the enthusiasm and cheers of the students. "I love everything about the kids. I want them to drink less, but I guess that's a little old fashioned."

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• If the cream swirls up brown, you have a cup of freshly brewed coffee. If it swirls up grey, the coffee has been sitting on the burner too long.
• Somewhat Useless Information   
• Mount Everest (8,848 meters) is part of the Himalayas, which covers 75% of Nepal.
• Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people to climb Mount Everest in 1953.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

DETROIT - A Detroit man pleaded guilty Monday to felony child abuse after letting his 9-year-old daughter drive his van when he was intoxicated, officials say. Shawn Weimer pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree child abuse and allowing an unlicensed minor to operate a motor vehicle in Wayne County Circuit Court. As a part of a plea agreement, a misdemeanor child abuse charge was dropped, The Detroit News said.

Gas station surveillance video showed his daughter pulling up to a gas station early on the morning of Oct. 8. Inside the store, the camera picked up Weimer telling the clerk that his daughter was his designated driver. Police stopped the two shortly after the girl pulled the van out of the gas station.

 "I plan on never drinking again in my life," Weimer told the Detroit Free Press. "I'm fully committed to sobriety and getting my daughter back in my life." Weimer will receive probation instead of jail time, and must continue to wear an alcohol-monitoring tether. Since the incident, he has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous and parenting classes.

Calendar Information        

…Centennial Events of 2012:These events all happened in 1912

• Tokyo Japan sent 3000 cherry blossom trees to Washington DC
• Chevrolet was first made
• AZ statehood
• Better Business Bureau of MN and ND became first such organizations in the world
• Bread and Roses Strike:

Lawrence, Massachusetts textile workers launched an explosive eight-week strike that popularized the slogan "Bread and Roses" - dignity and improved conditions as well as higher wages. Their victory made it clear that semi-skilled workers - many of them recent immigrants and nearly half of them women - could organize themselves to improve their conditions. The strikers won a 15% hike that granted the largest raise to the lowest-paid workers after an 8 week strike.

• Sinking of the Titanic
• San Francisco Symphony
• TSU [Tennessee State University] founded
• Girl Scouts founded
• Republic of China established
• New Mexico statehood
• African National Congress founded
• First parachute jump from an airplane
• A meteorite with an estimated mass of 190 kg explodes over the town of Holbrook in Navajo County, Arizona causing thousands of pieces of debris to rain down on the town.
• MDMA (Ecstasy) is first synthesized in Germany

…Happening This Month:

♦Apple and Apricots Month♦Artichoke and Asparagus Month♦Bath Safety Month

♦Be Kind to Food Servers Month♦Birth Defects Month♦Book Blitz Month

♦CA Dried Plum Digestive Month♦Carnival Season♦Celebration of Life Month

♦Cervical Cancer Screening Month♦Financial Wellness Month

♦Get Organized Month♦International Change Your Stars Month

♦International Creativity Month♦International New Year’s Resolutions Month for Businesses

♦International Quality of Life Month♦International WayfindingMonth

♦International Wealth Mentality Month

♦National Be On-Purpose Month♦National Child-Centered Divorce Awareness Month

♦National Clean Up Your Computer Month♦National Get Organized Month

♦National Glaucoma Awareness Month♦National Hot Tea Month

♦National Mail Order Gardening Month♦National Mentoring Month

♦National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month♦National Stalking Awareness Month

♦National Polka Music Month♦National Poverty in America Awareness Month

♦National Radon Action Month♦National Skating Month

♦National Soup Month♦National Volunteer Blood Donor Month♦Oatmeal Month

♦Rising Star Month♦Self-help Group Awareness Month♦Self-Love Month

♦Shape Up US Month♦Tubers and Dried Fruit Month Link♦Thyroid Awareness Month Link

…Happening This Week:

1-7

• Celebration of Life Week
• Diet Resolution Week
• Silent Record Week
• National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week
• Someday We'll Laugh About This Week
• New Year's Resolutions Week

Today Is                                                                       

• Birth of First Baby Boomer-- Anniversary 
• Circumcision of Christ (Christian)
• Copyright Law Day
• Ellis Island Day
• Euro Day Global Family Day
• First Foot Day: 1^st person to cross your home’s threshold will bring good luck
• New Years Day
• New Year's Dishonor List Day
• Polar Bear Plunge or Swim Day

- - - * * * - - -

• Cuba Liberation Day (1959)
• Haiti Independence Day (1804 from France)
• Sudan Independence Day (1956 from Egypt & UK)

Today’s Other Events                                                              

Before 1000CE

45 BC - The Julian calendar takes effect for the first time.

630 - The Prophet Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with the army that captures it bloodlessly

1400’s

1430 - Jews of Sicily are no longer required to attend conversionist services

1500’s

1583 - 1st day of the Gregorian calendar in Holland & Flanders

1600’s

1600 - Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of 25 March

1622 - Papal Chancery adopts Jan 1 as beginning of the year

1673 - Regular mail delivery begins between NY & Boston

1700’s

1700 - Russia begins using the Anno Domini era and no longer uses the Anno Mundi era of the Byzantine Empire

1772 - First traveler's cheques go on sale in London, can be used in 90 European cities

1785 - "Daily Universal Register" (Times of London) publishes 1st issue

1788 - Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipate their slaves

1800’s

1805 - Lewis & Clark attend a party with the local Indians

1842 - 1st illustrated weekly magazine in US publishes 1st issue, NYC

1847 - Michigan is 1st state to abolish capital punishment

1858 - Canada begins using decimal currency system

1880 - Building of Panama Canal, begins 1890 - Eritrea is consolidated into a colony by the Italian government

1889 - Wovoka has a ghost dance vision

1900’s

1907 - Pres Theodore Roosevelt shakes a record 8,513 hands in 1 day

1928 - 1st US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio

1935 - 1st Sugar Bowl & 1st Orange Bowl 1st color newsreel filmed (Pasadena Calif)

1950 - Ho Chi Minh begins offensive against French troops in Indo China

1957 - An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit attacks Brookeborough RUC barracks in one of the most famous incidents of the IRA's Operation Harvest

1958 - European Economic Community (Common Market) starts operation

1960 - Johnny Cash plays 1st of many free concerts behind bars

1977 - 1st woman formally ordained an Episcopal priest (Jacqueline Means)

1977 - Tony Dorsett runs for record 202 yards in the Sugar Bowl

1995 - Centennial of Canadian Mounties presence in Canada's Yukon Territory

1999 - The Euro currency is introduced

2000’s

2002 - Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei

UN International Years:

1972 - International Book Year begins

1974 - World Population Year begins

1975 - International Women's Year begins

1979 - International Year of the Child begins

1981 - International Year for the Disabled begins

1983 - World Communications Year begins

1985 - International Youth Year begins

1986 - International Peace Year begins

1987 - International Year of Shelter for Homeless begins

1988 - Year of the Reader begins

1989 - Year of the Young Reader begins

1992 - International Space Year begins

1994 - International Year of Family

1995 - International Year of Tolerance

1999 - International Year of Elderly

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 30’s

James McAvoy, actor is 33

In their 50’s

Marcia Cross, actor is 51

In their 70’s

Country Joe McDonald, rock guitarist/vocalist (& the Fish) is 70

Remembered for being born on this day
Dana Andrews, actor (Battle of the Bulge, Laura) in 1909

Edmund Burke, British author (Philosophy & Inquiry) in 1729

Barry Goldwater, (Sen- Az, 1953-65, 69- )/Pres candidate 1964) in 1909

Rocky Graziano, US boxer (Middleweight champ) and entertainer (Pantomime Quiz, Miami Undercover) in 1919

Lorenzo de'Medici, [The Magnificent] of Florence in 1449

J Edgar Hoover, Mr FBI in 1895

Paul Revere, silversmith/US patriot (British are coming) in 1735

J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, novelist (Catcher in the Rye) in 1919

Today’s Obits                                                           

Jacques Cartier, French explorer (Canada), dies at 65 in 1557

Maurice A Chevalier, French actor (Can Can, Gigi), dies at 83 in 1972

Jane Morgan, actress (Mrs Margaret Davis-Our Miss Brooks), dies at 91 in 1972

Hank Williams, country singer (Cold Cold Heart), dies at 29 in 1953

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

Column 1 is 4 letter words; column 2 is 5 letter words

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     What are two common 4 letter words can be anagrams of Snow: sown, owns

2.     What last name of a US President contains the letters s-n-o-w in order, but not consecutively: Eisenhower

3.     7 letter word for part of the day that contains s-n-o-w in order but not consecutively: sundown

4.     NO SNOW in capital letters, double one letter and turn it upside down. What new word do you get: MONSOON

5.     A fictional character from story and film with 2 w’s in a row, the first half is Snow: Show White

6.     2 compound words starting with snow: snowball, snowfall

7.     A snowman uses his snow belt to keep his pants up--Where would he put his money? Snow bank

8.     Change one let in snow to make a common 4 letter word where the new letter is silent: know

Wuzzle

• Rodeos
• Without a second thought
• Two-way communication

 

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

☺    And That Is All for Now  ☺