9-10-13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 37/ Day: 253   

Today: H 57°…L 55°…Ave. humidity: 86%

Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  7mph  

Average Low: 44° \Record Low: 31° (2001)

Average High: 75° \Record High: 87° (1977)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

"Gunsmoke" premieres on CBS TV…1955

20th Olympic Games close at Munich, German FR…1972

Baptist minister supposedly invents rickshaw in Yokohama, Japan…1869

Buckingham Palace hit by German bomb…1940

Elias Howe patents sewing machine…1846

English demand Edward VI, 10, wed Mary Queen of Scots, 5…1547

Frank Shorter wins 17th Olympic marathon (2:12:19.8)…1972

George Washington asks for a spy volunteer, Nathan Hale volunteers…1776

Great Idaho Fire destroys 3 million acres of timber…1910

Palestinian Liberation Army (PLA) forms…1964

Senate Committee begins hearings on Clarence Thomas' nomination…1991

Swanson sells its 1st "TV dinner"…1953

Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joins the United Nations…2002

Teachers in Chicago strike effecting 350,000 students…2012

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

The ‘drizzle’ started around 10pm last night and has continued all day. I really can’t remember the last time Flagstaff has had this much ‘drizzle’…and the weatherman says it will continue through most of the week. Today there was never any sunshine.  It might be depressing but I got a call early today that I have a roommate for Cuba, so all is good. Bob, my friend from Denver, is going to go to Cuba with me. The trip isn’t until spring, but am sure looking forward to it.

 

I’ve heard it said that there are PC people and Mac people. Both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses. I was fortunate enough to do some work on MACs while I was working, but was already a PC person, even back then. When smart phones arrived, my first couple were Android…read PC based. Then I got an iPad and really liked what it could do. When new phone time arrived, I decided to get an iPhone 5. It does a lot of very cool stuff, but I still like the Android better. I was sitting at my computer this morning and my phone started vibrating…a call was coming in…no ringing, just vibrating. I took the call, then spent a good 30 minutes trying to get the damn phone to actually ring. Turns out that at some point, I had used the little mute button on the side of the phone. After all my hassle with the ‘Do Not Disturb’ thing a few weeks ago, I have no idea why I would have muted the phone. Just a little inconvenience I never had with my Android. Live and Learn I guess.

 

So finally the Administration is allowing for some wiggle room in the Syria thing. The majority of the US population seems to be against any military action, especially as a first response. That is good news.

 

Since I was spending the day inside, I re-did my bedroom furniture. Not a lot of choices but I have had the current arrangement before and enjoyed it. Change is always good.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

There once was a family of spies. One of them is celebrating his birthday, and the Mommy spy gave him gifts. The celebrant did not say anything; instead he gave this set of words:

toes heat ambition nose kiss see for oneupmanship route tough

And because the family are spies, the Mom understood the message. What was the message?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Neil Diamond, 'Cherry Cherry' (circa 1967)

• Roger Maris 1961 - 61st Home Run

• Mrs. Doubtfire Makeup [actual transformation of Robin Williams]

• Jose Feliciano - Light my fire

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Chickens
You're suffering from... Alektorophobia--Greek (meaning rooster)

If you have an irrational fear of... Childbirth
You're suffering from... Maieusiophobia--Greek maieutic 'obstetric'

It is Illegal…

You Must Be 18 Years of Age to Play a Pinball Machine In South Carolina

Privileges granted to people in the U.S. (and many western nations) for being Christian…

You can reasonably assume that anyone you encounter will have a decent understanding of your beliefs.

Ok, then?

• Harper’s Index    

• Years if took for the western margin o f the Quelccaya icap in the Peruvian Andes to form: 1600

• Years it took this area to melt: 25

Unusual Fact of the Day

Because of the number of creepy-crawlies that make their home in the rivers and streams of Alabama, it's sometimes referred to as "The Lizard State."

Animals with the strongest jaws…

Spotted Hyena 1100 psi

Most sources say the hyena bite is around 1100 psi, but Wikipedia says it is 11,400, however I couldn’t find any other sources which could corroborate this claim. Having said that, the hyena has one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom, having even been observed crushing giraffe bones. It is this scavenger behavior which is the most likely culprit for the hyena’s strong jaw. Since it needed a powerful jaw to get to the marrow inside the bones left by lions and other big predators.

Although they look like dogs the hyena is actually more closely related to cats, belonging to the suborder feliformia instead of the dog suborder caniformia. Hyenas have been observed killing dogs with a single bite to the neck. Contrary to popular belief, hyenas do hunt, and ironically lions often steal their food. Like the lion, they are highly social and cooperative animals.

Joke-of-the-day

Did you hear about the resturant on the Moon? Great food but no Atmosphere.  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

FINDING A GOOD RESTAURANT

Steak restaurants serve good seafood, but seafood restaurants serve terrible steak.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

A loaded gun was found inside an inmate's rectum after he allegedly bragged to other inmates about his feat. Authorities say Mark Gregory Valadez somehow managed to avoid a metal detector because of a high volume of bookings at the jail over the weekend. He instead got a pat-down, which obviously was not enough.

"A pat-down will not reveal a Derringer firearm that is secreted in a body cavity," Sheriff John Whetsel said.

When asked how Valadez could get a gun in his rectum, Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel said: "'Keistering' is what they call it; they take whatever it is and up the hole she goes."

After bragging to inmates, Valadez was searched and the firearm was found. He now is facing felony count of possession of contraband in a penal institution.

Somewhat Useless Information   

•  
Any month that starts on a Sunday will have a Friday the 13th in it.

• The world's first speed limit regulation was in England in 1903. It was 20 mph.

• The metal instrument used in shoe stores to measure feet is called the Brannock device.

• The linen bandages that were used to wrap Egyptian mummies averaged 1,000 yards in length.

• The base of the Great Pyramid of Egypt is large enough to cover 10 football fields.

• "Fortnight" is a contraction of "fourteen nights." In the US "two weeks" is more commonly used.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

8th-15th

International Housekeepers Week
National Assisted Living Week 
National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week
Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week 

Suicide Prevention Week

9th-14^th

Line Dance Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Swap Ideas Day

·        (World) Suicide Prevention Day

Today’s Events through History  

1st international conference to promote anti-semitism meets Dresden 

     Germany (Congress for Safeguarding of Non-Jewish Interests)…1882

Discovery buys Travel Channel for $20 million…1997

Jimmy Connors is 1st player to win US Open on 3 different surfaces…1978

Large Hadron Collider at CERN is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland…2008

Lattimer Massacre - a sheriff's posse kills twenty unarmed immigrant 

     miners in Pennsylvania…1897

Leopold & Loeb found guilty of murder…1924

Neal Diamond's 1st chart song (Cherry Cherry)…1966

Susquehanna Chief Kekelappan sells William Penn half of his lands…1683

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Jose Feliciano, Puerto Rican singer/songwriter (Light my Fire) is 68

Margaret Trudeau, Vancouver BC, former Canadian 1st lady is 65

Chris Columbus, writer/director (Mrs Doubtfire, Nine Months) is 55

Colin Firth, Hampshire England, actor (Femme Fatale, Hostages) is 53

Ryan Phillippe, actor/director is 39

Remembered for being born today

Hannah Webster Foster, American author [1758-1840]

Isaac Kaufmann Funk, US, publisher (Funk & Wagnalls)[1839-1912]

Roger Maris, Yankee HR champ (61 in 1961) [1934-1985]

Maria Theresa of Spain, queen of Louis XIV of France [1638-1683]

Rin Tin Tin, movie’s German shepherd dog  [1918-1932]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Emil Gumbel, German mathematician and pacifist…1966…@ 75

Cliff Robertson, American actor (Charly)…2011…@ 88

Jane Wyman, actress…2007…@ 90  

Brain Teasers

THANKS FOR THE PRESENTS If you read the first letters beginning from the first word downward, and then the last letters from the last word upwards, you will reveal the message.

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  §