4/1/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 14/ Day: 91   Today: H 62°…L 31°

Averages: H  54° L 26° Records: H 73°(1966)…L 3°(1912)

Wind: ave:   16mph; Gusts:  33mph  Ave. humidity:  49%

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st automatic record changer introduced by His Master's Voice…1927

1st Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat…1947

1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect…1863

Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow…1952

Cincinnati became 1st US city to pay fire fighters a regular salary…1853

Google introduces its Gmail product to the public…2004

Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, becoming the first nation in the world to do so…2002

Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, creates "$" symbol…1778

Ruins of Pompeii found…1748

Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, which is the first country 

     to allow it…2001

Stephen Wozniak & Steven Jobs founded Apple Computer…1976

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A very nice Easter here in Flagstaff. I spent some time cleaning up my computer and discovered something I didn’t know I could do. I have a background theme on my desktop that I change every so often…I didn’t know I could make my own theme…very cool. I just downloaded my favorite pictures from my Great Migration trip, the best trip to Africa. Now I get to see those pictures every time I turn on the computer, or close programs to see the desktop. I really had some amazing photos on that trip, and enjoy watching them again. My brother called this morning while he and his wife and her sister were getting ready to dye eggs. All three are ‘creative’ types and when they posted the results on Facebook I was astounded. They did a great job. Then some friends from Tuba dropped by and we had a great visit. So nice to see them, and so nice not to have to go to work tomorrow. I do have an eye appointment tomorrow morning at 8:15, so the week will start off busy.

Over the past few days, as I watch various news channels and commentary programs and have noticed that more than a few religious leaders have been on the shows asking that politics be taken out of religion. They have all, in their own way, talked about how it is more important to live your life as a Christian than to use your Christian faith to get what you want. While most are not in favor of gay marriage they made it clear that it might not be a church marriage, but that their church should not be involved in the politics of gay marriage. The times, they are a changin’. And it is about time. It is also interesting that the fastest growing religious group in this country is None.

I just learned today that since 1985 the NRA has been lobbying successfully to stop all federally funded gun violence studies in the US. Many studies have been proposed to find ways to make firearms safer and all have been blocked. The article commented that over that time swimming pools have been studied to make them safer and deaths in pools has decreased significantly when newer technology is used in filtration systems and alarms without having to close any pools or cause people to register their pools. So why not with guns? Because the NRA has lobbied against it. The NRA seems to believe that any studies will lead to an end to the second amendment. Crazy!

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Mr. Ixolite was in Mexico on his holidays and was looking to try the hottest chili he could find.
He went into a restaurant and ordered a hot one. After the fire in his mouth had been put out, and he sat there gasping for breath, the waiter came up to him and said,
"Excuse me, Senor Ixolite, we are very sorry, but we accidentally gave you the wrong chili. We gave you the mild one instead of this very hot one. Would you like it?" 

MrIxolite paled, but being unable to speak, grabbed a napkin and wrote out the following rebus:

Hose A)
Hose B) Way
Hose C) Way

What was Mr. Ixolite trying to say?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Debbie Reynolds – Tammy

The phantom of the opera Lon ChaneySexual Healing; Marvin Gaye

Origins of Phrases

An Arm and A Leg

Meaning

A large, possibly exorbitant, amount of money.

Origin

'It cost and arm and a leg' is one of those phrases that rank high in the 'I know where that comes from' stories told at the local pub. In this case the tale is that portrait painters used to charge more for larger paintings and that a head and shoulders painting was the cheapest option, followed in price by one which included arms and finally the top of the range 'legs and all' portrait. As so often with popular etymologies, there's no truth in that story. Painters certainly did charge more for large pictures, but there's no evidence to suggest they did so by limb count. In any case the phrase is much more recent than the painting origin would suggest.

It is in fact an American phrase, coined sometime after WWII. The earliest citation I can find is from The Long Beach Independent, December 1949:

Food Editor Beulah Karney has more than 10 ideas for the homemaker who wants to say "Merry Christmas" and not have it cost her an arm and a leg.

'Arm' and 'leg' are used as examples of items that no one would consider selling other than at an enormous price. It is a grim reality that, around that time, there were many US newspaper reports of servicemen who had lost an arm and a leg in the recent war. It is possible that the phrase originated in reference to the high cost paid by those who suffered such amputations.

A more likely explanation is that the expression derived from two earlier phrases: 'I would give my right arm for...' and '[Even] if it takes a leg', which were both coined in the 19th century. The earliest example that I can find of the former in print is from an 1849 edition of Sharpe's London Journal:

He felt as if he could gladly give his right arm to be cut off if it would make him, at once, old enough to go and earn money instead of Lizzy.

The second phrase is American and an early example of it is given in this heartfelt story from the Iowa newspaper the Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, July 1875:

A man who owes five years subscription to the Gazette is trying to stop his paper without paying up, and the editor is going to grab that back pay if it takes a leg.

Other cultures have similar phrases; for example:

In France - Ça coûte les yeux de la tête - It costs the eyes from the head.

Bulgaria - Това струва майка си и баща - It costs one's mother and father.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Minimum number of Chinese government agencyies whose mission includes containing social unrest: 40

Picture of the Day: Rainforest Primates

Unusual Fact of the Day

The German word kummerspeck "means excess weight gained from emotional overeating." Literally, grief bacon.

Joke-of-the-day

A man is being interviewed for a job. “What are your qualifications for the job of night watchman?”
“The slightest noise wakes me up.”  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

LAUNCHING FIREWORKS

 When you're launching fireworks, make sure the audience stands five steps back for every ounce of propellant in the missile.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

WINDHAM, N.H. - A New Hampshire school district has banned dodge ball from gym classes after parents complained about their children being bullied during the games. The Windham School board voted 4-1 to end dodge ball and similar "human target" games after parents complained children were being bullied and targeted by other students during the ball-throwing game, WBZ-TV, Boston, reported Thursday. A special committee formed by the district to study the issue recommended such games be eliminated. "It's almost turning into a nanny state," said school board member Dennis Senibaldi, who cast the single vote against the ban. "What happens when they replace that game with something different that another group doesn't want to play, do we eliminate that group of games?" Superintendent Henry LaBranche said the school district is trying to teach students to respect one another, and dodge ball and similar games "create conditions inconsistent with that message."  

Somewhat Useless Information   

The French History of April Fools Day

Blame Pope Gregory XIII and a calendar if you find yourself the target of an April fools joke. Until the 1500s, the Julian calendar was used to mark the days. The first day of the year began around March 25^th on the Julian calendar. This date coincided with beginnings of spring and annual spring celebrations of light returning to the earth. France adopted the new Gregorian calendar in 1582, which made the first day of the new year January first. The story goes that peasants in the outlying rural areas had no knowledge of the change. Others refused to accept the new fangled calendar. New Year’s week, March 25^th to April first continued to be celebrated. The sophisticated Frenchmen dubbed their ignorant compatriots, “fools.”

The “fools” were sent bogus invitations to non-existent New Year’s celebrations on April first. The “fools” became known as “poisson d’Avril” translated to April fish. Why fish? Young fish lack the experience to escape the hook. A favorite hoax was to attach a paper fish to the back of someone without his or her knowledge. The practice of playing jokes on others on April 1^st spread to the rest of Europe.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Month:

Atlanta Food & Wine Month
ASPCA Month  
Alcohol Awareness Month
Amateur Radio Month 
Autism Awareness Month 
Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage Month 
Cancer Control Month
Car Care Month
Celebrate Diversity Month
Child Abuse Prevention Month
(International) Cesarean Awareness Month 
Community Spirit Days (1-30)
Confederate History Month
Couple Appreciation Month
Cranberries and Gooseberries Month 
Defeat Diabetes Month
Emotional Overeating Awareness Month
Fair Housing Month 
Financial Literacy Month 
Fresh Florida Tomatoes Month
Frog Month 
Genocide and Human Rights Awareness Month  
Global Child Nutrition Month 
Grange Month 
Grilled Cheese Month 
Holy Humor Month
Home Improvement Time 
Honor Society Awareness Month
Informed Women Month
International Customer Loyalty Month
International Guitar Month 
International Twit Award Month
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Month 
Jazz Appreciation Month
Keep America Beautiful  
Library Snapshot Month
Month of the Young Child
Math Awareness Month   
Month of the Military Child 
National African American Women's Fitness Month
National Autism Awareness Month
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
National Card and Letter Writing Month
National Decorating Month
National DNA & Genomics & Stem Cell Education & Awareness Month 
National Donate Life Month
National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month  
National Garden Month 
National Humor Month
National Kite Month 
National Knuckles Down Month
National Landscape Architecture Month
National Multiple Birth Awareness Month 
National Occupational Therapy Month
National Parkinson's Awareness Month 
National Pecan Month 
National Pest Management Month
National Pet Month 
National Poetry Month
National Rebuilding Month
National Sarcoidosis Awareness Month 
Nationally Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Month
National Sexual Assault Awareness Month
National Youth Sports Safety Month
Pharmacists War on Diabetes Month
 Pet First Aid Awareness Month
Physical Wellness Month
Prevent Lyme in Dogs Month 
Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month
Rosacea Awareness Month
School Library Media Month
Soy Foods Month
Straw Hat Month
Stress Awareness Month
Testicular Cancer Awareness Month
Tomatillo and Asian Pear Month 
Women's Eye Health & Safety Month
Workplace Conflict Awareness Month
World Habitat Awareness Month
Worldwide Bereaved Spouses Awareness Month

HappeningThis Week:

4/1-4/6

National Week Of The Ocean

1-7

The APAWS Pooper Scooper  Week
Explore Your Career Options
Golden Rule Week 
Laugh at Work Week
Medication Safety Week

Today Is                                                                      

Air force Academy Day

April Fools  or All Fools Day
Atheist Day 
Boomer Bonus Days
Dyngus Day: Polish-American tradition, celebrates the end of the often restrictive observance of lent and the joy of Easter

International Tatting Day 
Library Snap Shot Day
National Fun Day
National Fun at Work Day
One cent day first minted in 1909

Poetry & The Creative Mind Day
Reading is Funny Day
Sorry Charlie Day
St. Stupid Day 
Tater Day ( It's Sweet Potatoes) 

White House Easter Egg Roll
~Iran Islamic Republic Day 1979

Today’s Events through History  

1st dishwashing machine marketed (Chicago)…1889

Cabeza de Vaca and a few men march across the continent to California. 

     They will be the first "white men" to visit many Indian tribes…1536

Daylight saving time is introduced in the USSR…1981

Jonathan Swift publishes Drapier's letters…1724

Singapore, Penang & Malakka become British crown colonies…1867

Supreme Court rules jurors can't be barred from serving due to race…1991

U Nu elected premier of Burma…1960

United States Department of Transportation begins operation…1967

US forces invade Okinawa during WW II…1945

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Jane Powell, singer/actress (7 Brides for 7 Brothers) is 84

Debbie Reynolds , actress (Singin' in the Rain) is 81

In their 70’s

Ali MacGraw, actress (Love Story, Goodbye Columbus)  is 73

In their 40’s

Rachel Maddow, American radio/TV personality and political analyst is 40

In their 30’s

Matt Lanter, actor is 30

Remembered for being born today

Otto Von Bismarck, Germany, chancellor [1815-1898]

Lon Chaney, man of 1000 faces, actor (High Noon, Phantom of Opera) [1883-1930]

William Harvey, England, physician (discovered blood circulation) [1578-1657]

Gordon Jump, Dayton Ohio, actor (Arthur Carlson-WKRP, Growing Pains)

Toshiro Mifune, Tsing-tao China, writer/actor (Shogun) [1920-1997]

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Novgorod Russia, composer (Prelude in C# Minor) [1873-1943]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

John Forsythe, American actor…2010…at 92

Marvin Gaye, singer (Sexual Healing), shot to death by his father…1984…at 44

Scott Joplin, ragtime composer (Sting)…syphilis…1917…at 48

Jim Jordan, actor (Fibber McGee)…blood clot…1988…at 91

Helena Rubinstein, Polish-born American cosmetics manufacturer…1965…at 94  

Carrie Snodgress, American actress…heart/liver failure…2004…at 58  

Answer: Brain Teasers

NO WAY JOSE! (No Way at Hose A)

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  §