11/23/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 47/ Day: 327   

Today: L 32°…H 36°… Ave. humidity: 93%

Wind: ave:   7mph; Gusts:  29mph  

Average Low: 20° Record Low:  -4° (1931)

Average High: 48° Record High:  69° (1954)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

10,000,000 cellular telephone sold…1992

1st issue of Life, picture magazine created by Henry R Luce…1936

1st woman to lead an African country Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, elected president of Liberia…2005

3rd Olympic games close in St Louis…1904

60 Ethiopia government officials executed…1974

Annapolis Maryland, becomes US capital (until June 1784)…1783

Beatles release "I Feel Fine" & "She's a Woman"…1964

British Forces Broadcasting Service begins operation…1943

Coast Guard Woman's Auxiliary (SPARS) authorized…1942

Debut of 1st jukebox (Palais Royale Saloon, San Francisco)…1889

Dr Frank G Back (NYC) patents lens to provide zoom effects…1948

Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched - one of the last clippers 

     ever to be built, and the only one still surviving to this day…1869

English parliament expels Jesuits…1584

Enrico Caruso US debut (Metropolitan Opera House, NY) in "Rigoletto"…1903

FCC drops limits on duration & frequency of TV ads…1982

Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England for rescuing two Irish men

     from jail…1867

Pencil sharpener patented by J L Love…1897

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" released, sells 6 million copies in 2 weeks…1979

Pres Harding signs Willis Campell Act (anti-beer bill) forbidding doctors prescribing 

     beer or liquor for medicinal purposes…1921

US Army retreats from Mexico…1914

US wartime rationing of foods, including meat & butter, ends…1945

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Weatherman was right…lots of moisture in Flagstaff. It rained much of the night, then sometime turned to snow. I awoke ato about 2” of snow. There was light snow most of the morning, then it turned to rain and melted much of the snow. It has continued to rain on and off…mostly on…the rest of the day. By tomorrow it will be snow again.

 

I can’t wait for my new lenses to get used to their new eyes. My glasses are now totally useless, which is a good thing. Small type, like the newspaper or magazine is still pretty blurry most of the time but computer screen—set on large—TV and distant vision are great. Everyday gets a little better. I’m still in awe of the procedure. While the doctor thought I might have more irritation in second eye, the irritation was gone by the afternoon of the next day. The first eye had no irritation after the first day. I didn’t need numbing drops for the first eye, and only needed them for the second eye through the second day.  So happy I did it.

 

All the news networks interrupted their programming at 11:30 Flag time to show the remembrance ceremony in Dallas and at Arlington. ABC ran a montage of JFK that certainly brought tears to many watching. I can’t believe how it still stirs so much emotion after half a century. But for those of us who remember that day, I guess it always will.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Replace each word or words in parentheses with a one-word synonym to decipher a common holiday. (The first holiday is only one word long. The second and third are two words long.)

1. (Right of north ) (she) 

2. (Hotel) D (ink stick) (boogie) (24 hours) 3. (Work) (24 hours)

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• The Beatles (I Feel Fine) 1965

• Roy Acuff - Wabash Cannonball

• Jr. Walker & The All-Stars – Shotgun

• Jesus Christ Superstar -- Live Arena Tour

Very Strange Laws…Massachusetts

• It is illegal to give beer to hospital patients.

• Candy may not contain more than 1% of alcohol.

• Shooting ranges may not set up targets that resemble human beings.

• Tattooing and body piercing is illegal. (Repealed in 2000)

• Children may smoke, but they may not purchasecigarettes.

• At a wake, mourners may eat no more than three sandwiches.

• Tomatoes may not be used in the production of clam chowder.

• Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked.

• Quakers and witches are banned.

• An old ordinance declares goatees illegal unless you first pay a special license fee for the privilege of wearing one in public.

• Bullets may not be used as currency.

• Taxi drivers are prohibited from making love in the front seat of their taxi during their shifts.

• Massachusetts liquor stores can only open on Sundays if they are in Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Middlesex or Worcester counties and are within 10 miles of the Vermont or New Hampshire borders.

• All men must carry a rifle to church on Sunday.

• Alcoholic drink specials are illegal.

• Hunting on Sundays is prohibited.

• Public boxing matches are outlawed.

• It is illegal to go to bed without first having a full bath.

• A woman can not be on top in sexual activities.

• No gorilla is allowed in the back seat of any car.

• Boston--It is illegal to eat peanuts in church. /An old law prohibits the taking of baths on Sunday /Duels to the death permitted on the common on Sundays provided that the Governor is present. /Women may not wear heels over 3 inches in length while on the common. /No one may take a bath without a prescription. /It is illegal for any citizen to own more than three dogs. /It is illegal to play the fiddle. /Two people may not kiss in front of a church. /No more than two baths may be taken within the confines of the city. /No one may cross the Boston Common without carrying a shotgun in case of bears. /Anyone may let their sheep and cows graze in the public gardens or commons at any time except Sundays

• Burlington--You may not walk around with a “drink”.

• Concord--One may not sell or distribute bottled water in Concord

• Marlborough--Silly string is illegal in the city limits

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

• Percentage of students enrolled in Afghan school that were girls in 2001: 0

• Percentage that are girls today: 40

Unusual Fact of the Day

Opossums don't "play dead." When frightened, they become overexcited and pass out.

Joke-of-the-day

“Honey,” says a husband to his wife, “I invited a friend home for supper.”

“What? Are you crazy? The house is a mess. I haven’t been shopping, all the dishes are dirty, and I don’t feel like cooking a fancy meal!!”

“I know all that.”

“Then why did you invite a friend for supper?”

“Because the poor fool’s thinking about getting married.”  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

ATTENDING A MEETING

A meeting is not worth the trip if it will take you longer to get there than the meeting itself will last.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

Alan Markovitz recently moved into his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where he had erected a 12-foot high statue of a hand extending a middle finger. Well, he does own three strip clubs in Detroit and recently wrote a book about his entrepreneurship, which is reportedly being turned into a TV reality series. So apparently he has the coin to do what he wants and who is to say what is art, right? 

The kicker is that his new house is immediately next door to the home where his ex-wife now lives with her new lover, whom she reportedly had an affair with while being married to Markovitz.

Markovitz told local news that his plan was to get even the ex-wife's new lover, and never meant for the matter be made public. However, it soon grabbed local attention when the ex-wife's daughter posted a picture of the statue on twitter.

The installation of the statue also included a spotlight to keep the message illuminated at all hours of the day.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Wood frogs freeze solid in winter and thaw back to life in spring.

• An adult crocodile can go two years without eating.

• In its lifetime an alligator will go through as many as 3,000 teeth.

• If a chameleon loses a fight, it turns gray. If it wins, it turns green.

• The jaws of a decapitated snapping turtle can keep snapping for about a day.

• Some snakes can go an entire year without eating.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

17-23: American Education Week / National Book Awareness Week

22-28: National Farm-City Week

Today Is                                                                       

·        Dr. Who Day Premiers 1963

·        Family Volunteer Day

·        Fibonacci Day (Leonardo of Pisa, better known as Fibonacci, is responsible for the Fibonacci Sequence (or Fibonacci numbers) – a pattern of counting where each number is the sum of the previous two. As well as being prevalent in nature, this kind of system is used widely in computer data storage and processing,)

·        International Aura Awareness Day

·        National Adoption Day

·        National Survivors of Suicide Day 

·        Tie One On Day

~~~~~

·        Japan: Labor Thanksgiving Day (commemorating labor and production and giving one another thanks)

Today’s Events through History  

"Jesus Christ Superstar" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 96 perfs…1977

Andrew J Beard invents "jerry coupler," to connect railroad cars…1897

Colorado Governor sends the state militia into Cripple Creek to break up a 

     miners' strike…1903

Freddie Mercury, 45, confirms he has AIDS the day before he dies…1991

John Steinbeck's "Of Mice & Men" premieres in NYC…1937

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Miley Cyrus, Nashville, Tennessee, actress and singer (Hannah Montana) is 21

Remembered for being born today

Fraknlin Pierce, Hillsboro NH, (D) 14th Pres [1804-1869]

Billy the Kid, [William H Bonney], NYC, frontier outlaw [1859-1881]

Jose Clemente Orozco, Mexico, painter (Epic of Culture in New World) [1883-1964]

Harpo Marx, [Adolph] NYC, actor/comedian (Marx brothers) [1888-1964]

Boris Karloff, [William H Pratt], Dulwich England, actor (Frankenstein) [1887-1969]

Robert Barnard, British mystery writer [1936-2013]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Ray Acuff, country singer (Wahbash Cannonball)…1992…@89

Ten Bears (Parra-Wa-Samen), US poet/Comanche chief…1872…@82ish

Seán T. O'Kelly, President of Ireland…1966…@84

Larry Hagman, actor…throat cancer…2012…@81

Oscar Griffin Jr, journalist and 1963 Pulitzer Prize winner…cancer…2011…@78

Elbrige Gerry, 5^th VP (of Gerrymander fame)…1814…@70

Merle Oberon, actress (Assignment Foreign Legion)…stroke…1979…@68

Jr. Walker, Motown musician…cancer…1995…@64

Walter Reed, US bacteriologist (Yellow Fever)… peritonitis…1902…@51

Ladislaus V Posthumus, king of Hungary/Bohemia…leukemia…1457…@17

Brain Teasers

1. Easter (east + her)

2. Independence Day (inn + d + pen + dance + day)

3. Labor Day

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  §