August 31

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

Flagstaff Almanac…  

Week: 35 / Day: 244   Today: High   78°…Low 53°

Records: High   90°(1948)…Low 36°(1907, ’42, ‘75)

Averages: High  77°…Low 47°

Wind:   Average:  3.9mph;  Gusts: 16mph

Today’s average humidity:  60%

Quote of the Day…

Today’s  Historical  Highlights…

  2006 - Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream 

              was recovered from a raid by Norwegian police

1994 - Northern Ireland Sinn Fein proclaims ceases-fire

1988 - 5-day power blackout of downtown Seattle begins

1972 - Olga Korbut, USSR, wins olympic gold medal in gymnastics

1909 - A J Reach Co patents cork-centered baseball

1842 - US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress

1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie reaches Blair Castle Scotland 

♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪.. 

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts…   

 We had a great lunch at a Chinese place. They have added a new touch to their menu—while several dishes are marked ‘hot’ with a little chili now you can ask for more chili in the dish. Exciting and very good. Mary had a great time in Chicago with her two grandkids. She said she was holding the newest one most of the day—everyday. Cheryl brought us each tomatoes from her garden…huge, red, and I’m sure delicious.  I’ll wait till tomorrow, since I am quite full right now. We are planning on a trip to ‘Out of Africa’—a wild animal park down near Camp Verde next week. It has been around for a few years and should be interesting. They have 45 min jeep safari rides into the ‘wild’ to see African animals, along with lots of other stuff. The ad says to expect to spend 5 hours, but we doubt we will be there that long. I hope I am not disappointed. I’m sure Mary and Cheryl won’t be. Should be fun.

I did listen to the speeches last night. The VP nominee sure had some interesting ‘facts’ about the Obama administration. He wants change in DC and sure had some good campaign lines, but most of that goes to his speech writer. If the RNC has a better plan, tell me what it is. It shouldn’t be necessary to use change facts to get the plan out there. It’s going to be a very dirty campaign for the next few months.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)

What is the rhyming answer?

Answer the following clue in two rhyming words (e.g. an obese feline is a fat cat) If only one number is given, the answer is a word featuring internal rhyme (e.g. voodoo)

order a famed spy to flee from the law (7,4)

Rebus…

Can you figure out what this means?

Lifestyle  Substance…     

Do you remember this?

Read This Headline Carefully!!

 Autos killing 110 a day, let's resolve to do better

Do you know what this word means?

What is this not so common name of a common object?

 Fines

Scottish Castles—…

Movie Scores…

• Psycho…(1960) – Bernard Herrmann
The part of this score everyone remembers is the shrieking violins in the shower scene, and that might lead some to say the score didn’t deserve an Oscar nod, but the rest of the score is equally creepy, suspenseful, and just right for one of Hitchcock’s finest achievements. The main theme is not for the lead character, played by Janet Leigh, but for the crime she’s committing: larceny. She steals a wad of cash from her boss and takes to the road.

• Gettysburg…(1993) – Randy Edelman
 Ted Turner’s labor of love bombed at the box office, probably because no one likes him, but the film is actually very good and very accurate. Edelman’s score is, by far, the greatest thing about it. They toned down the violence but still show tons of people getting blown up and shot down. The real theme of the film is intended to be the glory of the Union holding off the Confederacy, and the gentlemanly manner in which the sides fought (not true).

Harper’s Index…         

Percentage by which a woman is more likely than a man to be killed in identical traffic accidents: 28

Unusal Fact of the Day…

Japanese golfers take out insurance policies against scoring an ace while golfing, since a player "lucky" enough to get a hole-in-one is obligated to buy gifts for all his friends.

Found on You Tube… 

Buddy Hackett on The Tonight Show

Joke-of-the-day…A panda bear walks into a restaurant and orders a meal. After eating he pulls out a gun, shoots the place to the ground, and runs away. Quickly the bartender runs after him yelling, "HEY YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!!" The panda turns around and yells "Yes I can. Look me up in the encyclopedia!" So, the bartender looks up "Panda" in the encyclopedia, and it reads "Panda: increasingly rare species of bear that can be found in the eastern part of Asia. It eats shoots and leaves.”

Rules of Thumb…   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

NEGOTIATING--If you are negotiating for money, pay careful attention to the increments of change in your opponent's demands. When the increments begin to decrease in size, your opponent is reaching his or her bargaining limit.

Yeah, It Really Happened…

VASTERAS, Sweden - Swedish authorities said a woman sent her cell phone in for repairs and it was returned to her with a video of a man masturbating. Police said the woman took her phone to a Kristinehamn company in June and the broken device was sent to a Vasteras factory for repairs, The Local.se reported Monday. The woman called the company shortly after getting her phone back and reported there was a video of a man masturbating saved on the device. The company filed a police report and investigators said the man depicted in the video is believed to be a factory worker since he was wearing factory-issued shoes and the clip was recorded in the factory's bathroom.

Somewhat Useless Information…   

• Talk about accuracy. After 36 weeks in space (and 350,000,000 miles), Curiosity touched down within one minute of schedule and hit a target 4 & 1/2 by 12 miles. 

• NASA puts the cost of the Curiosity mission at $2.5 billion, which includes spacecraft development, science investigations, and the cost of launch and operations.

Calendar Information…        

Happening This Week:

25-31

Be Kind To Humankind Week
National Safe at Home Week

29-9/9

XIV Paralympics Games

Today Is…                                                                      

Love Litigating Lawyers Day

National Trail Mix Day

Kazakhstan: Constitution Day (1995)
Malaysia: Freedom Day (1957 from Britain)
Kyrgyzstan: Independence Day (1991 from Soviet Union)
Moldova: National Language Day (1989-- pressured the authorities of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to adopt a language law)

Trinidad,Tobago: Independence Day (1962 from UK)
Spain: La Tomatina (since 1945: in Buñol: World’s Biggest Food Fight—throwing tomatoes )

Today’s Events Through History…  

2000’s

2005 - A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people

1900’s

1998 - North Korea reportedly launches Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite

1983 - Edwin Moses of USA sets 400m hurdle record (47.02) in Koblenz

1980 - Poland's Solidarity labor union forms

1977 - Ian Smith, espousing racial segregation, wins Rhodesian general 

            election with 80% of overwhelmingly white electorate's vote

            1968 - 12,000 die in 7.8 quake destroys 60,000 buildings in NE Iran

1955 - 1st microwave TV station operated (Lufkin, Tx)

1955 - 1st sun-powered automobile demonstrated, Chicago, Ill

1935 - FDR signs an act prohibiting export of US arms to belligerents

1920 - Belgium starts paying old age pensions

            1902 - Split skirt 1st worn by Mrs Adolph Landeburg (horse rider)

1800’s

1887 - Thomas A Edison patents Kinetoscope, (produces moving pictures)

1886 - 1st major earthquake recorded in eastern US, at Charleston SC, 110 die

1700’s

1778 - British kill 17 Stockbridge indians in Bronx during Revolution

            1715 -  After a history of occasional skirmishes, at the urging of Europeans living

                       in Pennsylvania, the Conestogas and the Catawba tribes agree to sign a peace

                       treaty. They agree to stop fighting among themselves.

1600’s

1666 -  Mohawk Chief Agariata is attending a peace conference in Quebec between

             the Iroquois and the French. Governor Alexandre de Proville asks, during a 

             dinner, if anyone knew who killed his son a few months ago. Agariata brags that

             he did it. The governor becomes so angry, he has Agariata seized, and hung. 

             This ends the peace process. Governor de Proville leads French troops 

             against the Mohawks, himself.

1100’s

1142 - With the aid of Hiawatha and Deganawidah, The Great Peacemaker, 

            the Iroquois tribes establish the Confederation of the Haudenosaunee

1000’s

1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill, dying suddenly a few days later, 

            without children to succeed the throne, ending the Macedonian dynasty

Today’s Birthdays…                                                           

Under 30

Larry Fitzgerald, football player (Cardinals)

     is 29

In their 40’s

Deborah (Debbie) Gibson, Brooklyn NY, singer (Only in My Dreams)

     is 42

Chris Tucker, actor and comedian 

    is 40

In their 50’s

 Marcia Clark, [Kleks], Berkeley CA, LA DA (OJ Simpson Case) 

     is 59

In their 60’s

Richard Gere, actor (Breathless, Cotton Club, Pretty Woman) 

     is 63

Van Morrison, Northern Irish musician 

     is 67

Itzhak Perlman, Tel Aviv Israel, violinist/polio victim (14 Grammys) 

     is 67

Remembered for being born today

Caligula, [Gaius Caesar], 3rd Roman emperor 

     b. 12

Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther turned Republican 

     b. 1935

James Coburn, Laurel Nebr, actor (Our Man Flint, Magnificent Seven) 

     b. 1928

Buddy Hackett, comedian (God's Little Acre, Music Man) 

     b. 1924

Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist composer (Lerner & Loewe-My Fair Lady) 

     b. 1918

Fredric March, Wisc, actor (Dr Jeckyll-Acad Awards 1932/1946) 

     b. 1897

Maria Montessori, Italy, educator (spontaneous response) 

     b. 1870

Daniel Schorr, broadcast journalist (CBS) 

     b. 1916

Wilhelmina HPM, queen of the Netherlands 

     b. 1880

Today’s Historical Obits…                                                           

John Bunyan, preacher/novelist/author (Pilgrim's Progress)

     —fever—1688—at 59

John Ford, US director (Mary of Scotland, Stagecoach)

     —1973 -- at 78

Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect for Danish Royal Family

     —1799—at 79 

Rocky Marciano, former heavyweight champ

     -- a plane crash—1969-- at 45

Dennis O'Keefe, actor (Suspicion

     --lung cancer—1968-- at 60

Icarus Nestor ‘Ike’ Pappas, American news correspondent—

      heart failure—2008—at 75

Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales

     --car crash--1997-- at 36

Answers…                                                                                                                                            

Do you know what this word means?

The dusty remnants at the bottom of cereal boxes - particularly delicious in the more sugary brands. The cold cereal business began in the late-19th century with the desire for a healthier diet, as an alternative to the heavy, meat-laden breakfasts people were eating at the time. In 1863, American James Caleb Jackson developed the first breakfast cereal, which he called Granula. It was a healthy concoction of grains, nuts and husks of bran.

What is the answer?

 Abscond bond

Rebus

 small talk

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  ☺