4/19/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 16/ Day: 109   Today: H 47°…L 17°

Wind: ave:   7mph; Gusts:  27mph  Ave. humidity:  47%

*Averages: H  59° L 29° Records: H 79°(1989)…L 16°(1978)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st American marathon ran, John J McDermott wins in 2:55:10 (Boston)…1897

American Revolution begins - Lexington Common, shot "heard round the world"…1775

Baseball uniforms begin displaying player's names on their backs…1960

Branch Davidians in Waco Texas dies in fire after 51 day siege (accident, suicide, 

     tear gas are disputed causes)…1993

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the 

     Papal conclave…2005

Charles Manson sentenced to life (Sharon Tate murder)…1971

Fidel Castro resigns from the Communist Party of Cuba's central committee after 

     45 years of holding the title…2011

Joan of Arc receives beatification…1909

Milk rationed in Holland…1941

Sally Ride announced as 1st woman astronaut…1982

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Another chilly and windy day…enough already.

 

Our lunch group met today. Mary had some cute pictures of her Chicago grandkids. She also moved into the smartphone era, after her son put her on his plan and she got an iPhone5. Nice. I stopped after lunch and got one also. I had been getting emails reminding me to upgrade for about three months. There is a learning curve for sure but easy. It is so much like my iPad, I got it figured out pretty fast. Of course it has a different charger, but can easily be synced with the iPad. Spoiled kid for sure. A good piece of news, Verizon keeps lots of information about phone usage, and my bill is decreasing by $10/month. Cheryl has been busy awaiting spring and picked up some lilacs today for her house. A good fish and chips lunch at Red Lobster. Not as good as Scotland, but still very good.

 

I really feel let down by CNN over the past few days. They are usually really good with their news reporting, but with so little coming out of Boston, they blew it several times yesterday. Now I don’t know what to believe and what not to believe. The Texas explosion, the gun bill, and the Boston thing seems to have led to many breakdowns in news coverage. To be honest I don’t care to hear about what some person on the street, including the victims, deciding what probably happened or what ‘experts’ who used to be doing whatever, figures why something is or is not happening. I have been enjoying a new guy on MSNBC…Chris Hayes. He has been around for a little while, but now has his own show.  He spent most of the hour yesterday interviewing people on the difference between ‘terrorism’ and ‘crime’ and how the judicial system, the media, and the general public note and react to the difference.  Assuming that the perp/s is/are American citizens with ‘American’ names, the Boston thing will probably be a crime. If the perp/s is/are American citizens with ‘Non-American’ names it will probably be terrorism. And if non citizens, it will be terrorism. Crime means American judicial system, terrorism means military tribunal. After my lesson from Mr. Hayes, I am still wondering what will happen to the Ricin letters. Terrorism or Crime? I am so glad that I have been a student of linguistics so I can see many of the intricacies of this word puzzle. I’m also not sure who makes the final call.  

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Five siblings are they, their color is true; One belongs to one, four are shared by two. Connected together, some by locks; Many meet their fate upon the rocks. Arrange their initials, and you should Find things that are found in a neighborhood.
What has just been described?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Lord Byron

• Hugh O'Brian - Legend Of Wyatt Earp (1957)

Origins of Phrases

A watched pot never boils

Meaning

Time feels longer when you're waiting for something to happen.

Origin

'A watched pot never boils' is one of the homely and improving proverbs that is ascribed to Poor Richard, which was the pseudonym that Benjamin Franklin used when publishing his widely popular annual almanac. Franklin, a tireless and industrious polymath, was fixated on such improving aphorisms and published numerous of such in the guise of Poor Richard between 1732 and 1758. The general theme of the proverbs, which include:

There are no gains without pains.

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. 

Plough deep while sluggards sleep and you shall have corn to sell and to keep.

Have you something to do tomorrow? Do it today.

can be summed up as 'Industry: good; sloth: bad'.

Amongst many other callings, Franklin was a noted diplomat and during his time as American minister to Paris he was directed by the King of France to write a report on Franz Mesmer's controversial theory of 'animal magnetism'. In the report, published in 1785, Franklin included this text:

Finally another Breakfast is ordered. One Servant runs for fresh Water, another for Coals. The Bellows are plied with a will. I was very Hungry; it was so late; "a watched pot is slow to boil," as Poor Richard says.

Actually, Franklin ought to have written "as Poor Richard might have said", as the proverb isn't found in any of the Poor Richard almanacs. That's a moot point however, Franklin and Poor Richard being one and the same.

Of course, Franklin was also a celebrated scientist and would have been aware that watching a pot has no effect on how long it takes to boil. Like many of the most effective proverbs, this one is poetic rather than literal.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

• Percentage of Americans in 1992 who believed gun laws should be stricter: 78

• Percentage in Nov. 2012: 38

Ruminations:

There needs to be an app that deletes my membership as soon as the trial period ends.

Picture of the Day: North Korea

Unusual Fact of the Day

Boasting an impressive collection of over 300 Summer Olympic medals, Romania ranks 15th in the world for total medals earned at the Summer Games. However, its Winter Olympics performances are another story: Romania only has one Winter medal, a bronze, from 1968.

Joke-of-the-day

One day a man is walking down the street when he sees an old man with a nice looking dog. He goes over to the man and asks: 'does your dog bite?'

The old man replies 'No never'.

When the man bends down to stroke the dog, it immediately takes a snap at his hand. The man says 'I thought you said your dog did not bite!

'I did' replies the old man, but this isn't my dog!'  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

DETERMINING YOUR FRAME SIZE

 You can determine your body frame size by wrapping your thumb and index finger around your wrist. If the thumb extends past the index finger, you have a small frame; if the thumb and index finger just meet, you have an average frame; and if the thumb and index finger do not meet, you have a large frame.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

CHICAGO - Authorities said they arrested a Chicago man who allegedly tried to sell a live baby alligator for $300 on Craigslist. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said an undercover officer responded to the ad posted by Juan DeJesus, 19, and went to the man's home Monday while posing as a potential buyer, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday. DeJesus brought the alligator out of his home and was arrested on a misdemeanor possession of wildlife charge, police said. The alligator was seized by the officer. DeJesus is due to appear in court May 31.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• In 560 B.C., the Lydians introduced the first gold coin, which was actually a naturally occurring amalgam of gold and silver called electrum. When the Lydians were captured by the Persians in 546 B.C., the use of gold coins began to spread.

• The value of gold has been used as the standard for many currencies. After WWII, the United States created the Bretton Woods System, which set the value of the U.S. dollar to 1/35th of a troy ounce of gold. This system was abandoned in 1971 when there was no longer enough gold to cover all the paper money in circulation.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

14-20
Bat Appreciation Week

Health Information Privacy and Security Week

National Crime Victims Rights Week
National Environmental Education Week
National Robotics Week
National Library Week
National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators) Week

Pan American Week
(Spring) Astronomy Week

Week of The Young Child

Undergraduate Research Week
17-24
International Whistlers Week
Cleaning For A Reason Week
Consumer Awareness Week
Police Officers Who Gave Their Lives In The Line of Duty Week

Today Is                                                                      

DNA Day

Garlic Day

John Parker Day 1775: “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon; but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
National Hanging Out Day

National Day of Silence: to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools

Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day 1995

Today’s Events through History  

ABC-TV network begins…1948

Barracks on Alcatraz Island destroyed in fire…1874

Capt James Cook 1st sees Australia…1770

Ft.Mojave is established today to "protect" the area from the MOJAVE and PAIUTEs…1859

Halley's comet seen by naked eye 1st time this trip (Curacao)…1910

Last wild condor captured on California wildlife reserve…1987

Lincoln orders blockade of Confederate ports (Civil War)…1861

Roberta Bignay becomes 1st woman to run in the Boston Marathon…1966

Rodney King award $3,800,000 in compensation of police beating…1994

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Hugh O'Brian, [Krampke], actor (Wyatt Earp, Search) is 88

In their 60’s

Tim Curry, actor (Rocky Horror Show) is 67

In their 50’s

Al Unser Jr, Indy-car racer (over 10 wins) is 51

In their 40’s

Ashley Judd, actress/political activist is 45

In their 30’s

Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor (Star Wars) is 32

James Franco, actor [Freaks and Geeks] is 35

Kate Hudson, actress is 34

Under 30

 Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player is 26

Remembered for being born today

Frank Fontaine, Cambridge Mass, comedian (Crazy Guggenheim) [1920-1978]

Jayne Mansfield, [Vera Jane Palmer], Bryn Mawr Pa, American actress (Fat Spy) [1933-1967]

Dudley Moore, actor (10, Arthur, Bedazzled, 6 Weeks) [1935-2002]

Eliot Ness, untouchable (FBI agent-Chicago) [1903-1957]

Dick Sargent, actor (Bewitched) [1930-1994]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Konrad Adenauer, West Germany chancellor (1949-63)…1967…at 91

George Gorden Noel "Lord" Byron, poet…sepsis…1824…at 36

Charles Robert Darwin, naturalist (Origin of Species)…heart failure…1882…at 73

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl (Beaconsfield)/novelist…1881…at 76

Answer: Brain Teasers

The Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario

There are five, lakes being blue (as in true blue). Lake Michigan belongs to the United States, the other lakes are shared by the United States and Canada. The lakes are part of a chain, with locks between some of them. Many shipwrecks occur by grounding on rocks in shallow water. The initials spell "homes", which are found in neighborhoods.

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  §