August 4

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Flagstaff Almanac

Week: 31 / Day: 217

Today: High   78°…Low 52°

Records: High   91°(1994)…Low 37°(1956)

 Averages: High   80°…Low 52°

Wind:   6mph;  Gusts: 22mph

Clouds but no rain  Today’s humidity:  32%

Quote of the Day

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

2005 - Prime Minister Paul Martin announces that Michaëlle Jean will be 

            Canada's 27th — and first black — Governor General

1996 - 26th Olympic games close at Atlanta, GA

1984 - Carl Lewis wins gold medal in 100-meter dash at LA Summer Olympics

1984 - Republic of Upper Volta becomes Burkina Faso

1968 - 100,000 attend Newport Pop Festival, Costa Mesa, CA (Hendrix, 

            Canned Heat, Cocker)

1942 - German occupier orders all Dutch homing pigeons killed

1925 - US marines leave Nicaragua after 13-year occupation

1914 - US declares neutrality in WW I

1821 - 1st edition of Saturday Evening Post (publishes until 1969)

1777 - Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley establishes 1st circus

1693 - Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon's invention of Champagne

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪  How many can you identify…answers in Today’s Birthdays

                   

 Free Rambling Thoughts   

I had a really busy day yesterday. Started off with going to the movies...where I saw ‘Brave’. An amazing film with great animation and very good music. Then our retirement group went to went to Mary’s birthday lunch…a great meal and she liked her gifts. I got home just in time to head for Prescott…where Martha was giving an Adoption Talk at the Prescott Library. She didn’t have a huge audience, but those present really enjoyed her great presentation about her 27 year search for her birth parents and her passionate insights into the secrecy of adoption. I have always known that I was adopted, never wanted to search, but am still amazed at some of the surprise that arises when I tell someone I’m adopted. We didn’t get back from Prescott until about 9:30, so didn’t do a blog yesterday. A good day for sure.

I saw so many great events while watching the Olympics. Tonight should be good, even though I already know most of the winners. I sure wish NBC would broadcast some of the final races live instead of waiting for prime time. The replays are good, but would be much better live…after all it is 2012 where we have instant news.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)

What is the answer?

What should the tenth number in this series be?3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 5, 5, 4, ?

5X5 Word Boxes

The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 5 letters.

1.      set on end
2.      speaker's furniture, plural
3.      proclaim
4.      market type
5.      one who dates
Hint: Upper left to lower right letters are: U-O-I-H-U

Lifestyle  Substance     

Do you remember this?

Do you know what this word means?

What is this not so common name of a common object?Morton's Toe

My Latest Adventure—

Great Overlooked Folk-Rock Songs

Blackburn & Snow, "Stranger in a Strange Land" Written by David Crosby, though credited to the pseudonym Samuel F. Omar, this great haunting close-harmony jangler was recorded by this male-female San Francisco duo in early 1966. Unfortunately it wasn't issued until the beginning of 1967, as an obscure Verve single. Blackburn & Snow never issued an album during their lifetime, but a fine compilation of their two singles and many unreleased tracks, Something Good for Your Head,is now available as a Big Beat CD.

Jim & Jean, "Strangers in a Strange Land" Believe it or not, a totally different song than the nearly identically titled one by Blackburn & Snow described above, although Jim &  Jean were also a male-female folk-rock duo. It too, however, is a magnificent bittersweet tune with close harmonies, recorded (like Blackburn & Snow's track) around 1966. This one was written by another folk-rock David, David Blue, though the composition is credited to his real name, David Cohen; it was a darn sight better than anything on Blue's self-titled, mid-1960s Dylan photocopy LP, David Blue, also released in 1966.Taken together, both songs present an argument for Robert A. Heinlein, author of the classic science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land , as one of the great lost influences on folk-rock. Just kidding...

P.F. Sloan, "I Can't Help But Wonder, Elizabeth" A superb, rare non-LP single by the underrated author of "Eve of Destruction." A delicate yet forceful ballad of love that never bloomed, underscored by an arrangement with beautiful cello, strings, vibes, and standup bass.

Fairport Convention, "Suzanne" Recorded for the BBC in August 1968, but never done for Fairport's proper studio albums, and only released until the Heyday compilation of late-1960s BBC sessions nearly twenty years later. A stunning interpretation with great alternation between harmonies and male-female solo turns, as well as dramatic guitar work. The album, incidentally, is full of such relatively hidden goodies, including covers of songs by the Everly Brothers, Joni Mitchell, Eric Andersen, Gene Clark, Bob Dylan, and Richard & Mimi Fariña's "Reno, Nevada," the original of which is mentioned elsewhere on this list.

Harper’s Index         

Estimated number of people the Social Security Administration accidently lists in its ‘Death Master File’ annually: 14,000

Found on You Tube 

• Saturday Evening Post - The War Years, 1941-1945

• A Norman Rockwell Christmas
    

Joke-of-the-day

By the time the soldier pulled into the little town, every hotel room was taken. "You've got to have a room somewhere", he pleaded with a proprietor. "Well, I do have a double room with one occupant, but he is an Air Force guy" admitted the manager, and he might be glad to split the cost. But to tell you the truth, he snores so loudly that people in adjoining rooms have complained in the past. I'm not sure it'd be worth it to you." No problem." the tired Army guy assured him, "I'll take it." The next morning the soldier came down to breakfasts bright-eyed and bushy tailed. "How'd you sleep?" asked the manager.
"Never better", said the soldier.
The manager was impressed. "No problem with the other guy snoring all night long?"
"No, I shut him up in no time", explained the soldier."How'd you manage that?" asked the proprietor."Well, he was already in bed, snoring away, when I walked into the room, so I gave him a kiss on the cheek" explained the soldier. “Then, I whispered in his ear 'Good night beautiful', and he sat up all night watching me."

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

For PowerPoint presentations: Plan for one slide per minute. Most beginners make (especially short) talks that are about twice too long.

Yeah, It Really Happened

 WILMINGTON, Del. - Officials with a Web site based in Delaware said they were surprised when Zebulon made their list of the 14 "hottest" baby names of the year. The Nameberry.com officials said the Zebulon page on their Web site received 2,128 hits from the start of the year until June, compared with only 420 hits in the same time period last year, the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported Monday.
"We measure interest in baby names by tracking the number of views on each of our 50,000 baby name pages," said Pam Satran, Web site co-founder and author of 10 baby name books. Satran said Zebulon has only made the Social Security Administration's list of the 1,000 most popular names four times, in 1891, 1978, 1979 and 1980. She said the highest point it reached was No. 776 in 1978. "Likely because of Grandpa Zebulon on 'The Waltons,'" Satran said, making reference to a 1970s TV show.              

Somewhat Useless Information   

Field hockey is one of the oldest competitive sports recorded way back into Ancient Greek Olympic games. There has been found of drawings in a tomb like place in Beni-Hasen in the Nile Valley of Egypt showing males playing this sport.Originally made of mulberry wood, field hockey sticks are now manufactured from a variety of materials, including fiberglass, graphite, Kevlar and other composites.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7 

International Clown Week
Simplify Your Life Week
Rock for Life Week

Today Is                                                                      

Coast Guard Day

National Chocolate Chip Day

National Mustard Day

National Underwear Day

Single Working Women's Day

Social Security Day

Twins Day Festival

U.S. Coast Guard Day (1790)

Burkina Faso "the country of honorable people.": Revolution Day (1983 Coup)  

Today’s Events Through History  

2000’s

2010 - California's Proposition 8, the ballot initiative prohibiting same-sex marriage 

            passed by the state's voters in 2008, was overturned by Judge Vaughn Walker 

            in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger

2007 - NASA's Phoenix spaceship is launched

1900’s

1994 - Truck carrying millions of bees overturns on NY parkway

1990 - European community proposes a boycott of Iraq

1977 - Pres Carter establishes Dept of Energy

1972 - Arthur Bremer jailed for 63 years for shooting Alabama Gov Wallace

1967 - Shortwave group ANARC's 1st convention (Chicago)

1964 - North Vietnamese torpedoes US ships Gulf of Tonkin

1956 - Elvis Presley releases "Hound Dog"

1955 - Eisenhower authorizes $46 million for construction of CIA headquarters

1954 - The Government of Pakistan approves the National Anthem, written by Hafeez

            Jullundhry and composed by Ahmed G. Chagla

1946 - Dominican Republic earthquake: an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 hits northern 

            Dominican Republic. 100 are killed and 20,000 are left homeless

1929 - Jones Beach in NY opens 1930 - Child labor laws established in Belgium

1927 - Peace Bridge between US & Canada opens

1800’s

1873 - Indian Wars: whilst protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the United 

            States 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, 

            clashes for the first time with the Sioux (near the Tongue River; only one man

            on each side is killed)

           1862 - US government collects its 1st income   1830 - Plans for city of Chicago laid out 

1813 - 500 warriors of the White Stick faction of the Creeks gather in Coweta, across 

            the river in Alabama from modern Columbus Georgia. With 200 Cherokee 

            warriors, they make plans to attack a band of Red Stick Creeks, followers of 

            Tecumseh, over 2,500 strong. The White Sticks are led by Tustunnuggee 

            Thlucco and Tustunnuggee Hopoie.

1700’s

1742 - A meeting is held between representatives of the British in Massachusetts and 

           the Maliseet, Norridgewock, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Pigwacket and St. 

           Francis Indians regarding trade problems.

1735 - Jury acquits John Zenger (NY Weekly Journal) charged with seditious libel by 

            royal governor of NY (victory for Freedom of press)

1600’s

1666 - Hurricane hits Guadeloupe, Martinique & St Christopher; thousands die

1500’s

1578 - Battle of Alcazarquivir, Moroccans defeat Portuguese, 10,000 killed

1558 - 1st printing of Zohar (Jewish Kabbalah)

1000’s

1181 - Supernova seen in Cassiopia

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Under 30

Dylan Sprouse, Disney actor is 20

Cole Sprouse, Disney actor is 20

In their 50’s

Andrew M Allen, Phila Pa, Captain USMC/astronaut (STS 46, 62, 75) is 57

Roger Clemens, Dayton OH, pitcher (Red Sox, Blue Jays, Cy Young, MVP) is 50

Alberto Gonzales, American U.S. Attorney General is 57

Barack Obama, Honolulu Hawaii,44th United States President (Democrat) and first African--American president is 51

Mary Decker Tabb Slaney, NJ, olympic track star (mile record 4:16.71) is 54

Billy Bob Thornton, actor (Sling Blade) is 57

In their 60’s

Richard Belzer, comedian, actor is 68

Michael J McCulley, San Diego California, Cmdr USN/astronaut (STS-34) is 69

In their 90’s

Helen Thomas, UPI journalist (starts press conferences) is 92

Remembered for being born today

Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and mountaineer - 1912

Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar – b.1701

Nicolas-Jacque Conte, inventor (modern pencil) – b.1755

Glenn Cunningham, US middle distance runner (1930's) – b. 1909

Elizabeth, London or Hitchin, Queen Mother Of England, King George VI's wife – b. 1900

Percy Bysshe Shelley, England, romantic poet (Adonais) – b. 1792

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Dick Bartell, short stop baseball player, dies in 1995 at 87

John Dillon, Irish nationalist/British Lower house leader, dies in 1927 at 75

Lee Hazlewood, country singer, songwriter (Summer Wine) and producer dies of renal cancer in 2007 at 78

Victor Mature, American actor dies in 1999 at 86

Sebastian, king of Portugal dies in Crusade battle in 1578 at about 24

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Do you know what this word means?

When the second toe is bigger than the big toe.

What is the answer?

3..the numbers show the number of letters in each number if spelled out: One (3)…

5X5 boxes

UPEND

PODIA

EDICT

NICHE

DATER

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  ☺