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Flagstaff Almanac…
Week: 35 / Day: 241 Today:
High 77°…Low 52°
Records: High 88°(1944)…Low 36°(1978)
Averages: High 77°…Low 48°
Afternoon Rain Wind:
2mph; Gusts: 23mph
Today’s Average humidity: 68%
Quote of the Day…
Today’s Historical
Highlights…
2005 - Hurricane
Katrina (category 5—175mph wind) hammers the south eastern
US,
especially New Orleans, Louisiana, and coastal Mississippi
1998 - Pakistan's
National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make
the "Qur'an
and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but bill is defeated in the
Senate
1994 - 1st
Japanese gay pride parade
1981 - John
Hinckley Jr pleads innocent in attempt to kill Pres Reagan
1963 - 200,000
demonstrate for equal rights in Washington, DC
1963
- Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech" at Lincoln
Memorial
1949
- Riot prevents Paul Robeson from singing near Peekskill NY
1937 - Toyota
Motors becomes an independent company
1883 - Slavery
banned throughout British Empire
1867 - US
occupies Midway Islands in Pacific
♪
Happy Birthday To: ♪..
How many can you identify…answers in Today’s
Birthdays
Free Rambling Thoughts…
A nice way to start the week. Real nice
morning walk. Then some time on the deck reading the paper.
Tomorrow
is our primary election, so it’s off o the polls. With the new districts my
polling place has changed. Now it is at the end of my street, instead of being
a couple of miles away. It moved from the Baptist church to the Lutheran
Church. Many of my friends here in Flagstaff also had their polling place
change. I still believe that every election is important.
Both CNN
and MSNBC are running lots of convention coverage…even the shortened day (about
10 minutes) didn’t stop the coverage…lots of interviews, lots of talk. Haven’t
heard much new, but it is the American process. And everyone is talking about
the weather…hopefully Hurricane Isaac will not bring any more havoc to any of
the US. One new thing is family history of Romney which is interesting.
Game Center: (answers at the end of post)
What is the 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)
astute visual organs (4,4)
Rebus…
Can you figure
out what this means?
Lifestyle Substance…
Do you remember this?
Read This Headline Carefully!!
Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
Do you know what this word means?
What
is this not so common name of a common object?
Dongle
Scottish Castles—…
60’s music…:
- Mason Williams Classical Gas (1968)
Another in a long string of hits from 1968, Classical Gas was both composed and performed by Mason Williams, an American composer and poet. The track has been re-recorded and re-released numerous times, but the original recording features Mason on classical guitar with the backing of an orchestra. Featured on “The Mason Williams Phonograph Record”, the track quickly rose up the charts, peaking at #2 and helping the disc on which it was featured sell more than a million copies. In 1969, Classical Gas won three Grammy Awards, including Best Instrumental Composition and Arrangement. An interesting fact about the track; it was originally titled Classical Gasoline but was shortened to Classical Gas by the music copyist.
- Hugh Masakela Grazing In The Grass (1968)
Hugh Masakela was the first artist to record Grazing in the Grass in March of 1968, and his original version continues to hold relevance even today. Composed by Philemon Hou, the track was actually inspired by another Masakela song from earlier in his career, Mr. Bull No. 5. The song showcases Masakela’s tremendous trumpeting abilities and it’s opening cowbells have helped distinguish it for audiences through it’s existence. The song quickly became a number one hit on the Billboard charts and helped sell over four million copies. Masakela went from South African star to US sensation, thanks largely in part to the success Grazing in the Grass had, eventually leading to numerous covers, most successful of which was the vocalized cover by the Friends of Distinction the following year.
Harper’s Index…
- Percentage of all US divorces in which both parties were over the age of 50 in 1990: 10
- In 2010: 25
- Percentage change since 1970 in the marriage rate of US women between the ages of 30 and 50: -20
Unusal Fact of the Day…
General Robert E. Lee and his horse were buried at Washington & Lee UniversityFound on You Tube…
RUTH GORDON TRIBUTE
Joke-of-the-day…A father and son went deep-sea fishing. Out at sea, the father sees his son drilling a hole in the boat, when asked what he was doing, the son replied, "there's water coming into the boat, so I made another hole for it to escape."
Rules of Thumb…
Easy
shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
DEAD MAN'S CORNER: In the typical suburban shopping center, with a parking lot in front, the smart business man will avoid the area at the inside corner of an L shaped building. It may have a lot of floor area, but it typically has little frontage or exposure to the public view.
Yeah, It Really Happened…
Anchorage, Alaska: Poor advice from a car's GPS unit led a man to drive off the ferry in Whittier, Alaska and straight into the small boat harbor. The Anchorage Daily News reports the man and his two dogs were fine, but a cat inside a carrier drowned. The unnamed man had just arrived in Alaska from the Lower 48. He drove off the ferry but after about 400 feet, the GPS unit in the man's car told him to make a hard right turn. Whittier public safety director Dave Schofield says that was a misdirection, and it led the man down the ramp where people launch boats. The car was fully submerged when a man jumped in the water and broke the window open, allowing the driver and his dogs to escape. I'm not surprised the driver couldn't save himself. He was probably waiting for his GPS to tell him what to do.
Somewhat Useless Information…
- The ancient Egyptians were enamored with onions, believing them to be signs of eternity. Not only were onions left in the tombs of pharoahs (presumably to enjoy in the afterlife), but also paintings depicting the vegetables could be found on the inner walls of pyramids.
- The Onion is best digested with a grain of salt. Many urban legends and hoaxes have been perpetuated when articles published by this news parody source fooled readers who (for whatever reason) didn't get the joke.
- Other ancient cultures also held the onion in high esteem. Both Roman gladiators and Greek athletes rubbed their bodies with onions, believing it helped keep the muscles firm.
- Onions are the first add-on item in the famous "hash brown sequence" that is part of the menu at Waffle House restaurants. You can order potatoes in any combination of scattered (on the grill), smothered (with onions), covered (with cheese), chunked (with ham), diced (with tomatoes), peppered (with jalapenos), capped (with mushrooms), and topped (with chili).
- Are the lyrics to The Beatles' song "Glass Onion" filled with mysterious imagery and odd clues? Hardly, according to John Lennon. In interviews, he admitted to adding nonsensical words and phrases in humorous response to the fans who had begun to think that all The Beatles' songs had some "deeper meaning." In Britain, "glass onion" is a slang term for a monocle.
- In Toombs County, Georgia, farmer Mose Coleman had a hard time giving away the onions he grew in 1931, as they exhibited an unusually sweet taste. After offering them at cut-rate prices, he found that the same customers kept coming back for more of them. The variety is now known as the Vidalia onion.
Calendar Information…
Happening This Week:
25-31
Be Kind To Humankind Week
National Safe at Home Week
National Safe at Home Week
Today Is…
Crackers Over The Keyboard Day
Dream Day Quest and Jubilee
(1963
MLK ‘Dream Speech’)
Race Your Mouse Around the Icons
Day
Radio Commercials Day
World Sauntering Day
Today’s Events Through History…
2000’s
2003 - An
electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living
in south
east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to
a halt
1900’s
1988
- 70 killed in crash of 3 Italian AF fighters at air show in Germany
1973 - "Monster
Mash" and "Smoke on the Water" go gold
1968
- Police & anti-war demonstrators clash at Chicago's Dem Nat’l
Convention
1957 - Sen
Thurmond begins 24-hr filibuster against civil rights bill
1907 - United
Parcel Service begins service, in Seattle founded by James E. Casey
1800’s
1884 - 1st known photograph of a
tornado is made near Howard SD
1845 - Scientific
American magazine publishes its first issue
1837 - Pharmacists
John Lea & William Perrins manufacture Worcester Sauce
1833:
Assiniboines [Nakota] attack Piegan Blackfeet at Fort McKenzie, WY.
1700’s
1789 - Sir William
Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus
1600’s
1609 - Henry
Hudson, discovers & explores Delaware Bay
1500’s
1565 - Leading
an expedition of 1,500 soldiers and colonists, Pedro Menendez
de Aviles lands
on the coast of Florida. His mission is to defeat the Protestants
in the area,
and to claim the land for Spain; establishes oldest non-native city
in the US,
St Augustine FL
1100’s
1189 - Third
Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan
Before 1000CE
476 - West Roman Empire formally disbands/emperor
Romulus August ousted
Today’s Birthdays…
In their 30’s
LeAnn
Rimes, country singer (Blue, Holiday in Your Heart) will be 30
In their 40’s
Jack Black, American actor (Shallow Hal),
comedian is 45
Billy
Boyd, Scottish actor (Lord of the Rings) is 44
Jason
Priestley, actor (Brandon-Beverly Hills 90210) will be 43
Shania
Twain, Canadian singer (You're Still the One) will be 47
In their 50’s
Beverley Goddard-Callender, Barbados, 4x100m
(Olympic-bronze-1980, 84) is 56
Emma
Samms, [Samuels], London, actress (Colby's, General Hospital) is 52
In their 60’s
David Soul, actor (Starsky & Hutch) will
be 69
Remembered for
being born today
Charles
Boyer, France, actor (Algiers, Fanny, Barefoot in the Park) b. 1899
Ben
Gazzara, NYC, actor (Run for Your Life, QB VII) b. 1930
Lucy Ware
Webb Hayes, 1st lady b. 1831
Jack Kirby
[Jacob Kurtzberg], cartoonist (X-Men, Spiderman, Hulk,
Capt America) b.
1917
Nancy
Kulp, Harrisburg PA, actress (Miss Hathaway-Beverly Hillbillies) b. 1921
Motonoboe,
Japanese painter (Kano-school) b. 1476
Rokie
Roker, Miami Fla, actress (Helen-Jeffersons) b. 1929
Peggy
Ryan, Long Beach California, actress (Jenny-Hawaii Five-0) b. 1924
Elizabeth
Ann Bayley Seton, 1st American Catholic saint (1975) b. 1774
Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe, Frankfurt, social philosopher (Faust) b. 1749
George
Hoyt Whipple, US, astrophysicist (Nobel-1934-Medicine) b. 1878
Today’s Historical Obits…
Saint Augustine
of Hippo, North African saint and theologian dies in 430 at 75
Alexander
Carlyle, Scottish church leader dies in 1805 at 83
Jan
Clayton, actress (Ellen Miller-Lassie), dies of cancer in 1983 at 66
Charles
Darrow, US inventor of Monopoly, dies in 1967 at 78
Ruth
Gordon, actress (Big Bus), dies of a stroke in 1985 at 88
Arthur
Jones, American inventor of the Nautilus exercise machines dies in 2007 at
81
Frederick
Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (Central Park) dies
in 1903 at
81
Miyoshi
Umeki, Japanese-American actress (Flower Drum Song) dies of
cancer in 2007
at 78
Wallerant
Vaillant, painter, developed mezzotint process, dies in 1677 at 54
Answers…
Do you know what
this word means?
Is a small hardware device that plugs in to a computer, generally to authenticate a particular piece of software. It is not usually used on home computers, but more on expensive high end software in big business. It is like a physical electronic key to prevent unauthorized use of the software on a computer.
What is the answer?
Wise eyes
Rebus
The wrong end of the stick
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
☺