12/19/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 51 / Day: 353   

Today: L 25°…H 51°… Ave. humidity: 55%

Wind: ave:   10mph; Gusts:  15mph  

Average Low: 16° Record Low:  -14° (1924)

Average High: 43° Record High:  62° (1958)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st autogiro (predecessor of helicopter) flight in US…1928

1st city ordinance requiring white & black residential areas (Baltimore)…1910

1st NHL game played on artificial ice (Toronto)…1917

1st state appropriation of money for road building, Kentucky…1795

8th largest snowfall in NYC history (15.3")…1948

American Meteorological Society found…1919

Apollo 17 (last of Apollo Moon landing series) returns to Earth…1972

Benjamin Franklin under the name Richard Saunders begins publication of "Poor Richard's Almanack"…1732

British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas…1932

Gari Kasparov becomes world chess champ…1987

Georgia passes 1st US state birth registration law in US…1823

Lakotah people proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with the United States…2007 

Nelson A Rockefeller sworn-in as 41st VP…1974

Thomas Paine published his 1st "American Crisis" essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls"…1776

Tibet's Dalai Lama flees Chinese invasion…1950

UK signs agreement with China to return Hong Kong to China in 1997…1984

US House forwards articles I and III of impeachment against Clinton to the Senate…1998

US recognizes independence of Hawaii…1842

Williamsburg suspension bridge opens between Brooklyn & Manhattan…1903

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

I had a very nice lunch with Martha this afternoon. She enjoyed the Irish Christmas decoration and the Scottish Walker snacks. I always receive unique gifts…this year a Mandela calendar; Whiskey pancake syrup, and Cookie Butter (a gingerbread tasting spread). Hmmm. Always a good time with my long time friend.

 

Getting a little nervous about the weather for the trip…a ‘small storm’ is already heading in, bringing a grey overcast sky that looks rather dismal. I don’t leave until 4:30a on Friday, but at this time of year, any snow is always a little daunting. Tomorrow I have an eye appointment to get a new script for glasses and hopefully, new glasses before I leave. It will also be packing day…which for a short one week trip will not be that difficult. Our little mountain town has really jumped on the digital bandwagon. Can’t call a pharmacist without playing the press one game. Today I found out our little local paper has done the same thing. I used to call and tell a nice lady that I wanted my paper put on vacation stop and give her the dates and the that I would donate my papers to their program that delivers such papers to nursing homes and hospitals This took about 2 minutes. The new digital system took over 5 minutes and I never got to talk to a human. I had to put in the month, press pound, put in the day to stop, press pound, and then the year and press pound. Then the same process for the start-up date, then another prompt to donate the papers. The year…really…like customers call to stop their papers a year in advance. On top of that the year had to be a four digit code. So I guess some customers call a century ahead to stop their papers. “Please stop my paper from 12/20/2013 until 12/28/2113 while I take a vacation.”

 

Yesterday I got a Christmas card from a childhood neighbor. I had sent her an e-card and she sent me this beautiful card and letter. I decided I should call her since I hadn’t talked to her since my mom passed years ago. She is close to 80 and doing quite well. She and my mom remained close friends over 60 years. We talked for about 45 minutes and I must say, it was really nice…it was like we talked every week or so. Guess it brightened both of our days.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

When you curtail a word, you remove the last letter and still have a valid word. You will be given clues for the two words, longer word first.
Example: Begin -> Heavenly body     Answer: The words are Start and Star.

1. Pebbles, rock fragments -> Tomb; serious 2. Prearranged fight with weapons -> Payable on demand; owed 3. Experience emotion; touch -> Fixed charge 4. Implement used for a job -> Also; excessively 5. Standard of perfection -> Mental concept; thought 6. Speech pattern with long vowels -> To sketch 7. Artist's tripod -> Freedom from hardship 8. Pale tint of colour -> Glue; a soft malleable mixture

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr. "The Prevailing Bias"

• Tribute to Q Ultimate Edition

• Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marchin' Anymore

• Cicely Tyson "Ain't I a woman?"

Very Strange Laws…Virginia

• Children are not to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

• Citizens must honk their horn while passing other cars.

• If one is not married, it is illegal for him to have sexual relations.

• It is illegal to tickle women.

• No animal may be hunted for on Sunday with the exception of raccoons, which may be hunted until 2:00 AM.

• Not only is it illegal to have sex with the lights on, one may not have sex in any position other than missionary.

• Police radar detectors are illegal.

• There is a state law prohibiting “corrupt practices of bribery by any person other than candidates.

• You may not engage in business on Sundays, with the exception of almost every industry.

• Culpeper: No one may wash a mule on the sidewalk.

• Frederick: Any person who owns a pool risks a $2500 fine for not closing the gate to the pool when they get done swimming in it.\
A special license is required for persons wishing to sell such items as tableware and coins.

• Norfolk:
Spitting on a sea gull is not tolerated.\ A man may face 60 days in jail for patting a woman’s derriere.

• Prince William County: No person may keep a skunk as a pet.\
It is illegal to cuss about another.\ It is illegal to park a car on railroad tracks.

• Richmond: It is illegal to flip a coin in a restaurant to see who pays for a coffee.

• Stafford County: It is legal for a man to beat his wife on the courthousesteps so long as it is before 8:00 pm.

• Virginia Beach: If you are drunk and not driving your car, and the person who is driving the car is drunk as well, you may both receive DUI’s.\
It is also unlawful to drive by the same place within 30 minutes on Atlantic Avenue.

• Waynesboro: It is illegal for a woman to drive a car up Main Street unless her husband is walking in front of the car waving a red flag.

OK Then…

 

Harper’s Index 

• Robot population of the United States: 8,000

• Of Japan: 16,500

Unusual Fact of the Day

Gatorade's inventor later created an alcoholic variation, Hop ’n Gator— essentially, lemon lime Gatorade mixed with beer.

Joke-of-the-day

Merv was in a terrible accident at work. He fell through a floor tile and ripped off both of his ears. Since he was permanently disfigured, he settled with the company for a rather large sum of money and went on his way. One day, Merv decided to invest his money in a small, but growing telecom business called Plexus Communications. After weeks of negotiations, he bought the company outright. But, after signing on the dotted line, he realized that he knew nothing about running such a business and quickly set out to hire someone who could do that for him.

The next day he had set up three interviews. The first guy was great. He knew everything he needed to and was very interesting. At the end of the interview, Merv asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?" And the gentleman answered, "Why yes, I couldn't help but notice you have no ears." Merv got very angry and threw him out.

The second interview was with a woman, and she was even better than the first guy. He asked her the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?" and she replied: "Well, you have no ears." Merv again was upset and tossed her out.

The third and last interview was the best of all three. It was with a very young man who was fresh out of college. He was smart. He was handsome. And he seemed to be a better businessman than the first two put together. Merv was anxious, but went ahead and asked the young man the same question: "Do you notice anything different about me?" And to his surprise, the young man answered: "Yes. You wear contact lenses."

Merv was shocked, and said, "What an incredibly observant young man. How in the world did you know that?"

The young man fell off his chair laughing hysterically and replied, "Well, it's pretty hard to wear glasses with no ears!"  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

LEARNING A LANGUAGE

The more languages you know, the easier it is for you to learn a new one.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

NEW YORK - New York police confirmed officers were alerted to a weekend brawl in which eight to 10 Santas duked it out on a snowy city sidewalk. Police said a caller about 8:20 p.m. Saturday reported a street fight involving several men in Santa Claus costumes during SantaCon, an international bar crawl that took place in hundreds of cities, CNN reported Monday. The not-so-jolly old elves had left by the time officers arrived and there were no assault complaints linked to the incident, which was partially caught on video, police Sgt. Lee Jones said. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Friday officials had no plan to attempt to stop SantaCon despite problems with drunken rowdiness in previous years. "It's what makes New York New York," he said. "There has been some rowdy activity by a small handful of people." SantaCon NYC organizers said online they were working to make future events more jolly. "SantaCon has had growing pains," the organizers wrote on the event's website. "With a little elbow-grease from the elves, a little patience from the community, and just a pinch of holiday magic, SantaCon can spread joy."  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The first U.S. gold rush was in North Carolina in 1803. It started when a boy found a 17-pound nugget on his father's farm. It supplied all the gold for the nation's mints until 1829.

• The word garnet comes from the Latin word for pomegranate. (Garnets were thought to resemble pomegranate seeds.)

• From 330 B.C. to A.D. 1237, most of the world's emeralds came from Cleopatra's mine in Egypt.

• The name "turquoise" comes from the fact that it was first brought to Europe from the Mediterranean by Levantine traders, also known as Turks.

• Ancient Greeks named amber from the word electron, because rubbing amber gives off static electricity.

• Legend says that one day Cupid cut Venus's fingernails while she was sleeping and left the clippings scattered on the ground. So that no part of Venus would ever disappear, the Fates turned them into stone. The stone: onyx, Greek for "fingernail."

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

14-28:  Halcyon Days

14-1/5 Christmas Bird Count Week 
15-21: Gluten-free Baking Week
16-24: Posadas
17-23: Saturnalia

Today Is                                                                      

·        Look for an Evergreen Day

·        National Re-gifting Day

·        Oatmeal Muffin Day

·        UN Day For South-South Cooperation

Today’s Events through History  

Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years (as per Daniel Defoe)…1686

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Jimmy Dickens, country singer (Grand Ole Opry) is 92

Cicely Tyson, Harlem, actress (Roots, Miss Jane Pittman) is 80

Tim Reid, actor and comedian (Venus Flytrap-WKRP, Frank's Place) is 69

Kevin McHale, NBA forward/coach is 56

Jennifer Beals, actress (Flashdance, Bride) is 50

Alyssa Jane Milano, Brooklyn, actress (Charmed) is 41

Jake Plummer, quarterback (Arizona Cardinals) is 39

Jake Gyllenhaal, actor (Donnie Darko, Jarhead) is 33

Remembered for being born today

William Parry, England, Arctic explorer [1790-1855]

Henry Clay Frick, Penn, built world's largest coke & steel operation [1849-1919]

Oliver [Hazard Perry] La Farge, NYC, anthropologist/novelist [1901-1963]

Ralph Richardson, actor (Anna Karenina, Dr Zhivago) [1902-1983]

Phil Ochs, anti-war folk singer (Joe Hill, War is Over) [1940-1976]

Leonid I Brezhnev, Ukraine, 1st Secretary of USSR [1906-1982]

David Susskind, NYC, TV host (Open End, David Susskind Show) [1920-1987]

Gary Morton, second husband of Lucille Ball [1924-1999]

Robert Urich, actor (SWAT, Spenser for Hire, Vega$) [1946-2002]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (Q-James Bond)…1999…@85

Norman Thomas, founder (ACLU)/Socialist Party…1968…@84

Hope Lange, actress (Ghost & Mrs Muir)…infection…2003…@70

James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist…1813…@69 

Alvis Alzheimer, German neurologist (Alzheimer Disease)…rheumatic fever…1915…@51

Emily Jane Bronte, English novelist…illness…1848…@30

Brain Teasers

1. Gravel -> Grave 2. Duel -> Due 3. Feel -> Fee 4. Tool -> Too 5. Ideal -> Idea 6. Drawl -> Draw 7. Easel -> Ease 8. Pastel -> Paste

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  §