12/13/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 50 / Day: 347   

Today: L 8°…H 39°… Ave. humidity: 59%

Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  12mph  

Average Low: 17° Record Low:  -19° (1931)

Average High: 44° Record High:  66° (1921)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens published, 6,000 copies sold…1843

1st incident of American Revolution - 400 attack Ft William and Mary, New Hampshire…1774

1st music store in America opens (Phila)…1759

1st time Saturday Night Live uses a time delay (Richard Pryor hosts)…1975

1st US bombing of Hanoi…1966

American Vice President Al Gore delivers his concession speech…2000 

Clip-on tie designed…1928

James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial…1950

KOA-AM in Denver CO begins radio transmissions…1924

Los Angeles freezes at 28°F…1938

New Zealand discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman…1642

Pres De Klerk of S Afr meets with Mandela to talk of end of apartheid…1990

Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England to go around world…1577

Susan B Anthony dollar, 1st US coin to honor a woman, issued…1978

Wright Bros make 1st flight at Kittyhawk…1903

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Not the best day for electronics for me. Got up and turned on the computer to discover no internet connection. Did all I could, but to no avail. Called CenturyLink and they remotely reset my modem. After about 5 minutes of various prompts and finally a human, it took about 5 more minutes to reset the crazy thing. Then this afternoon for no apparent reason, the power went off. I discovered that long gone are the days when you call APS and tell a human that your power is off. I called on my cell phone and got a recorded message asking me if this was to report an outage at 6315. How did they know that? It must have been GPS because the cell phone is not listed with APS. Then it was press 1 to report a full outage, press 2 to report a partial outage. Then press 1 if you want a call back when the power is restored or press 2 if you do not want a call back call. I figured I would know when the power came back on, so I pressed 2 and hung up. I must say I miss the human asking for my address, checking and then telling me they have people working on the issue. I could also ask that human if this was expected to be a long out of service issue. Back in the day, they would even call back when the issue was longer than they had ‘guessed’.

 

Good stuff in the news: A California charity spent half a million dollars to buy religious artifacts for the Hopi and San Carlos Apache that were being auctioned off in France. This is the 2^nd such auction in recent months. Disappointed that the French Government and the auction house don’t recognize that these items were taken illegally from the two tribes. They wouldn’t be auctioning off European art that had been stolen. They wouldn’t be auctioning off religious items that had been stolen from a Christian church. Yet, they have no problem if it is Native American. People have so much to recognize when it comes to indigenous people’s religion and artifacts.

 

Bad stuff in the news: An interesting story keeps growing on the sign language interpreter at Mandela’s funeral. So many in the deaf community are saying that his signs were little more than gibberish. Now he claims to be schizophrenic and that he was having an episode. It has been interesting to learn that signing is not universal and that each language has its own dialect of signing. Certain signs are used universally, but each language has its own special way. As a linguist, I find that fascinating. Guess I should have already known that.  

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

A wheel with ten holes, No lugs to see; Numbers with letters, Mostly with three.
Spin me, spin me, Again and again; Though I always return, You can still reach a friend.
What is being described?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Carlos Montoya – Malaguena

• Women Artists: Grandma Moses

• 19th SAG Awards Press Room Video: Dick Van Dyke

• Julie Andrews & John Davidson - Lazy Afternoon, Feeling Good

• Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever ('78)

• Floyd Red Crow Westerman - "Missionary"

Very Strange Laws…Louisiana

• “Fake” wrestling matches are prohibited.

• A law was passed with the specific intent of stating the punishment for stealing crawfish.

• Biting someone with your natural teeth is “simple assault,” while biting someone with your false teeth is “aggravated assault”.

• Every time a person is seriously burned, he must report the injury to the fire marshal.

• It is a $500 fine to instruct a pizza delivery man to deliver a pizza to your friend without them knowing.

• It is illegal to gargle in public places.

• It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.

• It is illegal to shoot lasers at police officers.

• One could land in jail for up to a year for making a false promise.

• One could possibly land in jail for 20 years upon urinating in the city’s water supply.

• One may not “dare” another to go onto railroad tracks owned by another.

• Persons could land in jail for up to ten years for stealing an alligator.

• Prisoners who hurt themselves could serve an additional two years in jail.

• Rituals that involve the ingestion of blood, urine, or fecal matter are not allowed.

• Running an abortion advertisement can land you in jail for a year.

• Spectators at a boxing match may not mock one of the contestants.

• Jefferson Parish--
Minors may not go to businesses with coin-operated foosball machines unless accompanied by an adult. \ No one may pour a drink out on the ground at any drive-in movie. \ All garbage must be cooked before it can be fed to any hogs.

• New Orleans--
Don’t try to do any kind of fancy bicycle riding in this town. \ Horses may not be tied to a tree on a public highway. \ One may not host a game of marbles at Lafayette Square unless he or she first obtains a written permit from the parkway and park commission. \ Chasing fish in a city park is against the law. \ “Mardi Gras Beads” may not be thrown from a third story window. \ City commission members may not drink during a public meeting or risk a $50 fine. \ It is illegal to practice voodoo in the city limits. \ Snakes are not allowed within 200 yards of the Mardi Gras parade route. \ Condoms may not be thrown from parade floats during Mardi Gras. \ Television reporters may not throw candy to the crowd during a parade. \ You may not tie an alligator to a fire hydrant. \ It illegal for a woman to drive a car unless her husband is waving a flag in front of it.

• Port Allen--
No person may predict another’s future. \ Only two people may picket on a sidewalk at a time, and they must stay at least five feet apart at all times.

• Sulphur--
It is illegal to have sex with a cow. \ It is illegal to be an alcoholic. \ Saying obscene things on the telephone is illegal.

OK Then…

 

Harper’s Index 

Estimated percentage of all Lucky Charms cereal eaten by adults: 45

Unusual Fact of the Day

Al Capone's brother was a cop.

Joke-of-the-day

Three immigrants to the U. S. were just mastering the language. One was telling the others about the difficulty they were having in attempting to start a family.

He said, "I think my wife must be impregnable."

The second said," that's not the right word, she is inconceivable".

To which the third replied, "You are both wrong she is unbearable."  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

FIGURING OUT A MOVIE

In a thriller, you can be certain that any road detour is just a trick to kidnap the occupants of the car.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

TRENTON, N.J. - A New Jersey man awoke from a 10-hour sleep with an aching back only to be told by his brother the cause was a 5-inch knife blade stuck in it, police said. The 42-year-old Trenton man not only was expected to survive but to be out of the hospital in short order, Trenton police said. The unidentified victim, who had been drinking, was stabbed when he got into a fight on his porch about 2 a.m. Sunday, went to sleep without realizing he was wounded and woke up hurting but still unaware of his predicament, police Lt. Mark Kieffer said. "And his brother said he had a knife blade protruding from his back," Kieffer said. The victim was "very uncooperative" when investigators tried to interview him at the hospital, Kieffer told the Times of Trenton. The assailant, who fled during the fight, had not been caught, police said.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The Shahe Aquaduct in China, part of a 700-mile-long artificial river that will take water from the water-rich south to the drier north, is the first of three such planned routes. Together they will make up the South-North Water Transfer Project. It is the largest engineering project on Earth.

• The Sudokwon Landfill in South Korea covers 20 million square meters. It is the world's largest trash dump in terms of surface area, and it gathers 6.3 million tons of waste every year. Food waste water from this landfill is collected to transform it into biogas. 1,000 tons of food waste water produces 14,400 cubic meters of biogas. The largest gas power plant in the world is powered by the gas generated from the landfill site and provides power to 180,000 households.  

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

10-17: Human Rights Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Ice Cream Day

·        Pick A Pathologist Pal Day

·        Violin Day

~~~~~

·        Malta: Republic Day (1974)

·        Sweden: Santa Lucia Day (ushers in Christmas season)

Today’s Events through History  

Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter…1769

George Gershwin's "An American In Paris" premieres (NYC)…1928

HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin arrives in Port Deseado, Patagonia…1833

In treaty negotiations the CHOCTAW and the US agrees to provide training in the 

     spinning of cotton and spinning wheels…1801

Japanese kamikaze crashes into US cruiser Nashville, kills 138…1944

Kofi Annan is elected as Secretary-General of the United Nations…1996

League of nations establishes Intl Court of Justice in The Hague…1920

Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend against

       the Pequot …1636

Wilson, becomes 1st to make a foreign visit as president (France)…1918

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

George P Schultz, US Secretary of State is 92

Dick Van Dyke, actor (Rob Petrie-Dick Van Dyke Show) is 88

John Davidson, TV host (Hollywood Squares, That's Incredible) is 72

Ted Nugent, guitarist (Cat Scratch Fever, Damn Yankees) is 65

Ben Bernanke, economist/current United States Chairman of the Federal Reserve is 60

Steve Buscemi, actor (Fargo) is 56

Billy Van Zandt, actor is 56

Jamie Foxx, comedian (In Living Color) is 46

Taylor Swift, singer/songwriter (Our Song) is 24

Remembered for being born today

William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet [1585-1649]

Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln and First Lady [1818-1882]

Clark Mills, US, sculptor (Freedom, Armed Liberty) [1810-1883]

Van Heflin, actor (Great Adventure, Madame Bovary) [1910-1971]
Carlos Montoya, Madrid Spain, guitarist (Suite Flamenco 1966) [1903-1993]

Archie Moore, light-heavyweight boxing champ (1952-60) [1916-1998]

Richard Darryl Zanuck, film producer/executive [1934-2012]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Grandma Moses [Anna M] , US painter…1961…@101

Donatello, Florentine artist and sculptor…1466…@80

Thomas A. Watson, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell…1934…@80

Samuel Johnson, English writer and lexicographer…1784…@75

Samuel Gompers, organizer (American Federation of Labor)…uremia…1924…@74

Tim Moore, actor (Kingfish-Amos 'n' Andy)…TB…1958…@70

Floyd Red Crow Westerman, American actor…lekumeia…2007…@71

Brain Teasers

A rotary telephone.

The dial on a rotary telephone has 10 holes. If this were a wheel on a car, you would fit the holes over the lugs on the hub. Each hole is for a number, 1 through 0. Letters are assigned to most of the numbers. Most of the numbers have three letters assigned. As you dial each number of a telephone number, the dial returns counterclockwise. After completing the dialing, you could reach your friend (or anybody else).

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  §