10/7/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 41/ Day: 280    

Today: L 40°…H 64°… Ave. humidity: 33%

Wind: ave:   14mph; Gusts:  30mph  

Average Low: 34° Record Low:  19° (2007)

Average High: 67° Record High:  80° (1965)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

"American Bandstand" premieres nationally…1957

"Route 66" premieres…1960

1st public burning of books in Netherlands…1520

40 foot waves sink 20,000 small craft & kill 300,000 (Bengal, India)…1737

Carbon paper patented in London by inventor Ralph Wedgewood…1806

Cornell University (Ithaca NY) opens…1868

David Ben-Gurion forms Israeli government…1951

Disney World opens in Orlando, FL…1971

Epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar)…3761BC

Henry Ford institutes moving assembly line…1913

Hosni Mubarak becomes acting-president of Egypt…1981

Matthew Shepard, a gay student found tied to a fence after in Laramie, WY…1998

Nobel prize for literature awarded to Toni Morrison…1993

U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations 

     on the ground…2001

US manned space-flight project renamed Project Mercury…1958

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Cold front still around, but weather not too bad today.

 

Late Saturday night watching movies. Lazy Sunday. So nice to be retired and able to enjoy a lazy guilt free day.

 

Just got some more information on my Cuba trip next spring. No credit cards, no debit cards…cash only. Guess I should have expected that but kinda surprised me. We have to have a visa…not unusual, but we also have to pay an exit fee, which I have never heard of. It also sounds like wifi won’t be available so little need for a phone or iPad. More on that as the trip gets closer. This trip should be a real adventure.

 

So we captured another possible terrorist. It was interesting to hear his wife in an interview. He is thought to be involved in the 1998 embassy terrorist bombings. His wife claims he was Osama’s bodyguard but left the organization in 1996 and that he was living in the open in Libya with no idea he was being tracked. Hmmm

 

Good football day as the Cards and the Broncos both won.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Lifestyle  Substance:    

Brain Teasers

Starting with a one-letter word or abbreviation, add a letter and rearrange the letters to produce the next. A clue is given for each.
Hint

2. N

4. T

6. U

8. C

10. R
---

1. Describing a 180 degree turn 2. Greek's 13th letter 3. e.g. Macadamia, pecan, or acorn 4. Large fish, usually found in small cans 5. Mum's sisters 6. Remove (someone) from position of power 7. Crazy person - or a container for #3! 8. Creatures of Greek mythology: half man and half horse 9. More loyal and devoted 10. Most slovenly or grubby; most earthy or vulgar

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

•  American Bandstand -- The Fast Dance

• "Theme From Route 66"

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Forgiveness

• John Mellencamp - Small Town

• Yo-Yo Ma The Swan Saint-Saens

• Shakin' All Over ~ Johnny Kidd & The Pirates

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Feathers
You're suffering from... Pteronophobia Greek pterón: feather/wing

If you have an irrational fear of... Fever
You're suffering from... Febriphobia febr- Latin: fever

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

Portion of North American doctors who say they would prescribe marijuana to cancer patients if permiotted: 3/4

Darwin Awards 2013  

Seventh Place 

A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who "totally zoned when he ran", accidentally jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run. 

Unusual Fact of the Day

Your foot is the same size as the distance between your wrist and elbow.

Joke-of-the-day

"Well, I finally retired my old car", said the old man.
His pal ask, "Did you junk it or trade it in?"
"Naw nothing like that, I put four new Michelins on it."  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

EXERCISING IN THE HEAT

When exercising in the heat, drop your performance expectations by about 2 percent for every 10 degrees above 55 degrees F. The same 2 percent adjustment works for every 1,000 feet above 5,000 feet altitude.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

DALLAS - A researcher in Dallas released video and data this week she says proves Bigfoot exists -- and is a hybrid descended from humans and a closely related species. Melba Ketchum, a geneticist, is the leader of the Sasquatch Genome Project, KTVT-TV in Dallas reported. "We want people to understand this is a serious study," she said at Tuesday's news conference. The research is being funded by Adrian Erickson, a businessman who says he has seen the creatures a number of times. Erickson has presented videos in the past. "People have chosen not to believe it," he said. "They can't find it in their minds to think these things exist." Bigfoot sightings are most common in the Pacific Northwest, although there have been reports as far afield as Pennsylvania. The creature is generally described as humanoid, although covered with fur. Ketchum said the group has tracked and filmed Sasquatch and obtained hairs that have been analyzed for DNA. She said her work has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. "This creature does not follow general rule," Ketchum said. "What it does do is very different. We think it is human-hybrid. That is our theory." A leaked review of the article suggested the reviewer had problems with her methodology.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Monster waves of over 100 feet tall can suddenly appear at sea when there is no storm to cause them. They are actually accidental meetings of several waves that can combine to form one huge one that can easily sink a freighter.

• When scientist drilled through the ice of Antarctica’s Lake Vanda, they discovered that the water at the bottom of the lake was an amazingly warm 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice crystals actually heat the water by focusing on the bottom of the lake.

• The 6,288-foot summit of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington has some of the worst weather in the world. The strongest wind measured was 231 miles per hour. The official low is 47 below zero Fahrenheit, but the cold often combines with the wind to produce wind-chills of 150 degrees below zero. The ground is permanently frozen in a layer from 20 to 100 feet below the surface. Since 1851, over 100 people have died of falls or exposure on the mountain.

• 8,200 below the surface of the ocean a ridge of volcanoes stretch around the globe. Vents in the ridge spew mineral rich water at temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit or more. In the hot waters, bacteria live feeding on the minerals. Tube worms grow to six feet long and foot long clams grow 500 times faster than their relatives living near the surface.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

Universal Children's Week
World Dairy Expo
3-10

No Salt Week
4-7

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
National Storytelling Weekend
4-10

World Space Week
5-6

Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend 
6-12

National Physicians Assistant Week
Emergency Nurses Week

Fire Prevention Week
Great Books Week
Mental Illness Awareness Week
Mystery Series Week
National Carry A Tune Week
National Metric Week
National Work From Home Week
Nuclear Medicine Week 
Customer Service Week
Fall Astronomy Week
Financial Planning Week
Kids' Goal Setting Week
Spinning & Weaving Week
World Rainforest Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Child Health Day

·        Lee National Denim Day

·        National Diversity Day

·        Techie's Day

·        World Day of Bullying Prevention / Blue Shirt Day

·        World Habitat Day

·        World Smile Day

·        You Matter To Me Day

Today’s Events through History  

1st "Bandstand" broadcast in Philadelphia (No Dick Clark)…1952

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel ordered to return to Berlin…1944

KLM, Netherlands Airlines, established (oldest existing airline)…1919

PLO terrorists seize Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro…1985

Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba…1886

Term "orienteering" [family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map 

     and compass to navigate from point to point] is 1st used for an event…1900

White Mountain Apache raid the Zuni pueblo of Hawikum, and kill a priest…1672

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop of S Afr (Nobel Peace Prize 1982) is 82

Martha Stewart, Bardwell Ky, singer/actress (Daisy Kenyon, Doll Face) is 73

Joy Behar, comedian/ The View is 70

John Cougar Mellencamp, rocker (Jack & Diane) is 62

Vladimir Putin, Russian politician is 61

Yo-Yo Ma, Paris, France, world famous cellist is 58

James Van Patten, actor (Bo-Chisholms) is 57

Simon Cowell, television producer (X-Factor, American Idol) is 54

Taylor Hicks, American Idol winner, musician is 37

Remembered for being born today

William Billings, hymn composer (Rose of Sharon) [1746-1800]

Joe Hill, Jevla Sweden, organizer (IWW)/songwriter (Union Scab)/martyr [1879-1915]

Niels Bohr, Denmark, physicist, quantum physics (Nobel 1922) [1885-1962]

Henry A Wallace, 33rd VP, founder Progressive Party [1888-1965]

Elijah Muhammad, US, leader of Nation of Islam [1897-1975]

Andy Devine, [Jeremiah Schwartz], Williams Az, actor (Andy's Gang) [1905-1977]

June Allyson, Bronx, actress (Till the Clouds Roll By, Vegas) [1917-2006]

Al Martino, singer (Here in My Heart)/actor (Godfather) [1927-2009]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Leo Durocher, baseball player and manager (Dodgers, Giants)…1991…@86

Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church…1787…@76




 

Clarence Birdseye, inventor (Frozen Food)…1956…@69

Edgar Allan Poe, writer, poet and critic…alcoholism(?)…1849…@40

Mario Lanza, opera singer… heart attack…1959…@38

Johnny Kidd, rocker (Johnny Kidd & Pirates)…car crash…1966…@30

Brain Teasers

1. U 2. Nu 3. Nut 4. Tuna 5. Aunts 6. Unseat 7. Nutcase 8. Centaurs 9. Stauncher 10. Raunchiest

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  §