May 24, 2013

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 21/ Day: 144   Today: H 70°…L 41°

Wind: ave:   12mph; Gusts:  40mph  Ave. humidity:  60%

*Averages: H  70° L 36° Records: H 85°(2000)…L 23°(1927)

RED FLAG WARNING

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

"Mary Had A Little Lamb," is published…1830

1st auto repair shop opens (Boston)…1899

1st commercial SST flight to North America (Concorde to Wash DC)…1976

1st rocket attains 150 mi (241 km) altitude, White Sands, NM…1954

27 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, Mississippi…1961

Bismarck sinks British battle cruiser HMS Hood, 1,416 die 3 survive…1941

Canadian ferry Princess Victoria sinks near London Ontario, 200 die…1881

Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt…1218

Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins…1798

Malcolm IV becomes King of Scots…1153

Margaret Thatcher becomes 1st British PM to visit Israel…1986

Methodist Church forms…1738

Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas…1856

Racial segregation in Wash DC restaurants ruled illegal…1951

Samuel Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" (1st telegraph message)…1844

UP & International News Service merge into United Press International…1958

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

I had a very good first cruise. While I saw fantastic sites, enjoyed the ship, dealt with the weather, I don’t think I’m a cruiser. I think the average age on the ship was 90. Not a bad thing, just not my cup of coffee. Amazingly I had more access to free wi-fi in Borneo and Africa than we did on the ship or on shore. The ship had a very high price…like $30/hr and I didn’t want to sit in the dock buildings when Canada awaited. The stops were all cool. We were the first ship of the season so all greeted us with excitement. Saguenay, Quebec was the best greeting…band, dancers, shows, and free blueberry pie. What a great way to be greeted. The dinners on the ship were very good. We were in the assigned seating section and had the same waiters the whole trip. Our cabin guy knew our names from the first day and always greeted us with our names when he saw us. The Captain made good announcements about weather issues. Our first full day on the ship had us going through a storm with 7 meter waves and 50mph winds. The captain took us farther out to sea to get away from it which made our first arrival about 2 hours late. My thought on that first day was What the hell have I gotten myself into?…18 days of rock and roll. I tried Dramamine and green apples, which wouldn’t stay down. But after that first day I was fine and we did hit a few other storms but none as intense as the first day. I didn’t do any of the ‘shore excursions, and was glad. Most were less than advertised and we had a great time just wandering all the towns. No need for Canadian money, as the exchange rate is so close, everywhere we went took American money, including the small arts and crafts vendors we met. The US could learn from Canada. They got rid of their penny and dollar bills years ago and it works out fine, and as we learned it saves their government lots of money in printing charges. They also are now using ‘plastic’ money that they say lasts 20 times longer than paper money…smart people. We also talked to many citizens and from all we hear in the US, the people are happy with their healthcare system. More on the trip in coming days. I had a 5 hour time change on the trip, so, even though I didn’t travel a great distance from the US, I still have a little jet lag.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

With pointed fangs I sit and wait,  With piercing force I dole out fate,  Over bloodless victims proclaiming my might,  Eternally joining in a single bite.  What am I?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• 1971 PSA for Medic Alert with Laugh-In's Dan Rowan and Dick Martin
• Duke Ellington - It don't mean a thing (1943)

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Portion of CA drivers on an average Saturday night who have potentially impairing drugs in their system: 1/7

Picture of the Day: Canada

Unusual Fact of the Day

Arthur Miller's original title for Death of a Salesman was The Inside of His Head.

Joke-of-the-day

 This farmer had a wife who nagged him all the time. One day while he was outside plowing the field, she came out and started nagging him. While she was doing this, the mule kicked her and she died. At the funeral, the ladies came up and talked to the farmer. The farmer nodded his head "yes". The men came up and talked to him and the farmer nodded his head "no”. Well this other man wondered why he nodded his head "yes" to the ladies and "no" to the men. Then, he went up to the farmer and asked him why.

The farmer replied,” Well, when the ladies came up, they told me how pretty my wife's dress was and how pretty she looked. When the men came up, they asked,’ That mule for sale?'

Yeah, It Really Happened

LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla. - Police in Florida said a burglary suspect fleeing from officers allegedly stopped to steal a couple beers from a home. Investigators said they were called to a Lighthouse Point townhouse at 2 a.m. Saturday on a report from a neighbor who said it appeared the home was being burglarized while the residents were out of town, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Tuesday. Andrew Fatzinger, 21, of Port St. Lucie fled on foot when officers ordered him to stop and was later spotted walking a few blocks away by investigators in a Broward Sheriff's Office helicopter. "Further search by all the units on the scene resulted in a long foot pursuit," officer M. Riemer wrote in the arrest report. A deputy in the helicopter said Fatzinger was seen entering another home during the chase and emerging with two bottles of beer, which he then threw while fleeing. Police said Fatzinger, who was apprehended following an encounter with a K-9 unit, smashed all the TVs in the townhouse and tried to steal items, including a pair of laptops, electronics and some medications. The owner of the home where Fatzinger allegedly stole the beer bottles told police he also wants to press charges. Fatzinger was charged with multiple counts, including home burglary, grand theft, striking a police dog and resisting arrest with violence.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Once during pre-production for Jaws, director Steven Spielberg, along with his friends Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and John Milius, visited the effects shop where the shark was being constructed. Lucas stuck his head in the shark's mouth to see how it operated and pranksters Milius and Spielberg snuck to the controls and made the jaw clamp shut on Lucas's head.
• Charlton Heston was considered for the role of Chief Brody while Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Jon Voight, and Jan-Michael Vincent were considered for the role of Hooper.
• Steven Spielberg named the shark "Bruce" after his lawyer.
• In addition to "Bruce," Steven Spielberg also called the shark "the great white turd" when he really got frustrated with the troublesome animatronic fish.
• In a biography, Steven Spielberg revealed Robert Duvall's encouragement to make the film. In exchange, Spielberg offered the role of Brody to Duvall but he turned it down, fearing that it may make him too famous.
• Jaws single-handedly caused a downturn in the package beach holiday trade.

 Calendar Information        

Today Is                                                                      

Brother's Day
Hug Your Cat Day
Commonwealth Day (Belize)
Culture Day (Bulgaria)
Independence Day (Eritrea: 1991 from Ethiopia)

Today’s Events through History  

Brooklyn Bridge opened by Pres Arthur & Gov Cleveland…1883

Communications in North Korea: North Korea bans mobile phones…2004

Dean Martin Show, last airs on NBC-TV…1974

IBM announces vacuum tube "electronic" brain that could perform 10 million 

     operations an hour…1954

Icelandic voters severe all ties with Denmark…1944

M Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 launched into Earth orbit…1962

Mexican Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza has decided to send an expedition 

     to search for wealthy cities north of Mexico….1539 

People's revolt due to increase in gin/brandy tax…1726

Poison singer Bret Michaels gets into a car crash…1994

Thomas Edison invents telescribe to record telephone conversations…1915

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 70’s

Gary Burghoff, Bristol CT, actor (Radar-M*A*S*H) is 70

Bob Dylan, singer is 72

In their 60’s

 Patti LaBelle, singer is 69

In their 50’s

Rosanne Cash, Memphis Tn, country singer (Seven Year Ache, I Wonder) is 58

Remembered for being born today

Sid Couchey, Cleveland, Ohio, comic book artist (Richie Rich)

Abraham Geiger, theologian/author/leader of Reform Judaism

Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d. 19)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

David I, King of Scots (1124-53)…1153…at about 68

Duke Ellington, blues singer…cancer….1974…at 75

Dick Martin, comedian [Laugh In]…2008…at 85

Answer: Brain Teasers

 A Stapler

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  §