8/13/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 33/ Day: 225   

Today: H 79°…L 48°

Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  28mph  Ave. humidity:  62%

Average Low      Average High

50°                        80°    

Record Low        Record High

36° (1999)           92° (1944)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st taxicab (NYC)…1907

Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East Germany…1961

Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley…1913

Spanish conquerors Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) from Aztecs…1521

US Court of Appeals rules congress must save all E-Mail…1993

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Monday, Monday…what a day. Rain last night, none today, but a few clouds that still might dump some on us later tonight.  Just in time to ruin the view of the meteor shower.

 

A little pissed today. I got my bill for our local paper. I have always paid by annually, as it was the only way I could get it delivered when I was in Tuba.  Last year it was $168. This bill was for $219. Quite a jump, especially since they have gone from a 7 day to a 6 day paper this past year due to the cost of delivering the paper 7 days a week. I called to find out what was going on. The phone lady said that everyone had an increase in their bill. I said I understood the need for increases but this seemed a little extreme. She checked around and said I could get it for $185…which is about a 10% increase. I agreed, stating that even a 10% increase seemed a little steep. Then I went on line and found that I could have done a monthly rate for $160/year. This was not an introductory rate, it was the regular rate. This is a LOCAL paper, with LOCAL news and events but is owned by some newspaper conglomerate in Ohio. I called back and spoke to a different agent. She said the rate on the internet is less because the billing is direct to a credit card, bank to bank and not done by the finance office in Cincinnati. I asked why I hadn’t been told about this ‘deal’ when I paid, and she said our records show you have always done annual subscriptions. I said that was the only way I used to be able to get the paper. She didn’t offer to change my subscription nor did I ask. I’ll figure it out next year, but will be watching their web site to see if the monthly rate changes again. I know that the local paper wants my business and are very good about deliveries and correcting problems…it’s the corporate jerks that don’t see this as a small town newspaper.

 

I live at the base of Mt. Elden with about two blocks of houses between my place and the mountain. Just a little way down Highway 89…toward downtown…is a very popular parking lot for hikers who climb Mt. Elden on a series of trails. This morning there was an alert that some hikers were stranded on a ledge on the mountain. They got stranded after running away from a mountain lion they spotted. Then later today three hikers, one experienced, hurt his knee and needed to be rescued. They had spent the night on the mountain after trying to come down in the dark…doesn’t sound too experienced to me…but they reported that they had seen a bear on their way down.  No other alerts have come out and no reports have been published of finding tracks from these sightings. Certainly there is lots of wildlife on the mountain and it is not inconceivable that both animals are really there. I have to wonder, since both sets of hikers had to be ‘rescued’ by first responders, if the two stories were not slightly embellished to save face from making silly mistakes.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Below you will find three letter equations. Once you figure the answer to each equation, use those answers to figure out the answer to the fourth and final letter equation. Good luck!

1. O + F + C + S + B = WWF 2. H + T + TB + B + T = BF 3. SD + BD + X = PF

Take the answers from the equations above to figure out the fourth and final equation.

4. WWF + BF + PF = CB

Hint

1. This "family" contains a few family members that require reeds. 2. This "family" contains family members that need a "buzz" to get going. 3. This "family" contains family members that may need to be struck. 4. This is the compilation of all the families listed above.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• dan fogelberg - same auld lang syne

• Alfred HITCHCOCK - Content versus Technique

• Tình nhạt phai - Don Ho

• Julia Child makes an omelet

Hmmmm…Tongue Twisters

M    

Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone. ^^^ The minx mixed a medicinal mixture. ^^^ Mixed biscuits. ^^^ Mix, Miss, Mix! ^^^ Moose noshing much mush. ^^^ Mr. See owned a saw. And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw Before Soar saw See, Which made Soar sore. Had Soar seen See's saw Before See sawed Soar's seesaw, See's saw would not have sawed Soar's seesaw. So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw. But it was sad to see Soar so sore Just because See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw! ^^^ My dame hath a lame tame crane, My dame hath a crane that is lame. ^^^ The myth of Miss Muffet.

Ever wonder where the name came from?

Panasonic First used in the US in 1955, Panasonic is actually a brand name for electrical goods made by Matsushita Electric Industrial - the Japanese tech giant that first appeared in 1918. Matsushita chose the name Panasonic because it was unable to use its existing National brand in the Americas - there were simply too many other companies using ‘national’ as part of their name.

The National brand continues to be used in Japan although it, along with the name Matsushita, are expected to bow out this October. That's because current bosses are corralling the companies businesses under a single name with Panasonic - meaning ‘all’ and ‘sound’ - being the obvious choice.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

• Portion of English children born out of wedlock in 1981: 1/5

• In 2011: 1/2

Songs with Double Meanings:

• Salesman - The Monkees
 Key Double Lyric of song: "There goes salesman, and he's sailing high again" (1) This song is simply about an old time, everyday salesman, who sells his goods on the street instead of in a store; (2) This salesman is a drug dealer - selling his goods on the street - and also consuming some of them.

• Sky Pilot - The Animals
 Key Triple Lyrics of song: "Sky pilot, how high can you fly, you'll never, never, ever reach the sky" (1) Taking a trip on LSD while the hallucinates make the user feel like they are soaring high in the sky.(2) During the Viet Nam war, some of the drafted US soldiers took hallucinates and did other drugs, their only escape from the war. They are the "sky pilots" the song is talking about. (3) Real meaning: A preacher is the sky pilot. He talks and prays to a group of soldiers during a war (the Viet Nam war was raging at the time of the song's release), just before they leave for a deadly battle. He tells them that they are "Soldiers of God " and "May God give you strength, do your job real well". Yet while they fight and die, he stays behind and meditates. The lyrics point to the fact that even if he is a holy man, he will never make it to heaven ("you'll never, never, ever reach the sky") because he is really just a hypocrite. The real clue to this comes in this song's final lyrics: "In the morning they return, with tears in their eyes, the stench of death drifts up to the skies, a young soldier so ill looks at the sky pilot, remembers the words: 'Thou shall not kill'"

Unusual Fact of the Day

The Chinese used black pepper to cure cholera, Europeans used it as currency, and Attila the Hun demanded 3,000 pounds of the stuff in exchange for discontinuing his sacking of Rome.

Joke-of-the-day

A speaker at Democratic National Convention asked the audience, "Are you better off now?"

The audience answered in chorus voice, "Yes."

As soon as the loud voice turned silent, a delegate stood up and asked, "How did the GOP get better off?"

The speaker declared, "We all are on the same boat, remember?"

The delegate exasperated, "Yeah, Noah's Ark - animals in couples!"

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

DESIGNING A MODERN CHAIR

If you're designing a chair and want to know how well your design will stand the test of time, imagine 30 of them lined up in a Laundromat.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

 A woman intent on getting breast implants is begging for money on the street with a sign that reads, "Not homeless, need boobs."

"I just want bigger boobs because I'm not happy with the ones that I have. I figured this was a good way to do it," Christina Andrews said. "People put out signs that they're homeless. I'm not, so I'm just being honest."

Andrews said she was unsure what type of reaction she would get, or if she would get any cash, but things appear to be working out. She not only has more money, she has gotten plenty of smiles as well, she says.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The name for the common cold began in the 1500s because the symptoms of this virus were so similar to what happened when people were out in cold weather for too long. 

• Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to realize that the virus was mostly transmitted person-to-person in his 1773 "Hints Concerning What is Called Catching Cold." Franklin's take on how to steer clear of the ever-pesky cold? Exercise, bathing, and moderation in food and drink consumption.

• Perhaps the biggest push ever made to figure out the direct cause of the common cold-and defeat it-was made by a British doctor in 1946. Doctor David Tyrrell formed a "collection of huts" in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK, recruiting volunteers to get infected with cold germs so that they could be studied.

• In the United States alone, conservative estimates place the number of doctor's visits due to the common cold at between 75-100 million. 

• Common colds are definitely seasonal, happening much more often in the winter and much less in tropical areas.

• Parents miss approximately 126 million work days to stay home and care for their children in recovery; add that to the 150 million workdays that employees miss from work for being sick themselves, and the common cold costs the US economy $20 billion per year.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

10-16

Elvis Week
Feeding Pets of the Homeless Week

Weird Contest Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        International Lefthander's Day

·        National Garage Sale Day

^^^

·        Central African Republic: Independence Day (1960 from France)

·        Tunisia: Women's Day

Today’s Events through History  

Cardinal Richelieu appointed Chief Minister of France by Louis XIII…1624

Jackie Joyner-Kersee ties world record with 24'5½" jump…1987

Revolutionaries imprison French royals including Marie Antoinette…1792

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Danny Bonaduce, actor (Danny-Partridge Family)/Chicago DJ (WLUP) is 54

Fidel Castro, dictator/prime minister/president is 87

Pat Harrington Jr, actor (Danny Thomas Show, 1 Day at a Time) is 84

Kevin Tighe, actor (Newsie, Another 48 Hours, K-9) is 69

Remembered for being born today

John Logie Baird, Scotland, inventor (father of TV) [1888-1946]

Neville Brand, actor (DOA, Eaten Alive) [1920-1992]

William A Craigie, Scottish lexicographer (Skotlands Rimur) [1867-1957]

Johann Christoph Denner, inventor (clarinet) [1655-1707]

Dan Fogelberg, rocker (Same Auld Lang Syne) [1951-2007]

Alfred Hitchcock, London, director (Psycho, Birds, Rear Window) [1899-1980]

Don Ho, Hawaii, ukulele player (Tiny Bubbles) [1930-2007]

Ben Hogan, PGA golfer (US Open 1950, 51, 53) [19112-1997]

Bert Lahr, [Irving Lahrheim], US comic/actor (Lion-Wizard of Oz) [1895-1967]

Annie Oakley [Phoebe Ann Moses], sharp shooter (Buffalo Bill's Wild West) [1860-1926]

George Gabriel Stokes, physicist/mathematician (spectroscope) [1819-1903]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Helen Gurley Brown, American author/publisher…2012…at 90

Julia Child, American chef and television personality…2004…t 91

Mickey Mantle, baseball great (NY Yankees)…cancer…1995…at 63

Edwin Newman, American broadcast journalist…2010…at 91

Florence Nightingale, English nurse…1910…at 90

Joe E Ross, comedian (Toody-Car 54, Phil Silvers Show)…heart attack…1982…at 68

Jeremy Taylor, Irish author and bishop…fever…1667…at 53

H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, sci-fi author (Time Machine)…heart attack?...1946…at 79

Brain Teasers

1. Oboe + Flute + Clarinet + Saxophone + Bassoon = Woodwind Family

The hint for this equation states that "some family members require reeds". Flutes do not use reeds to produce sound, while all other instruments in this group do.

2. Horn + Trumpet + Trombone + Baritone + Tuba = Brass Family

The hint for this equation states that they require a "buzz" to get going. This is because you need to buzz your lips together to produce a sound.

3. Snare Drum + Bass Drum + Xylophone = Percussion Family

The hint for this equation suggests that family members need to be struck to get going. This means each one of the instruments listed require that you hit them with a stick to produce a sound. (The list of Percussion instruments provided in this equation is by no means a complete list.)

4. Woodwind Family + Brass Family + Percussion Family = Concert Band  

This is the standard instrumentation for most concert bands.

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  §