7/11/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 28/ Day: 192   Today: H 83°…L 56°

Ave. humidity:  39%

*

Average Low	Average High	Record Low	Record High
50°	82°	40° (1979)	92° (2003)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

Chinese archeologists discover a 3-acre burial site with 6,000 clay statues of 

    warriors from 221 BC…1975

Chinese fleet commander Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time…1405

Congress authorizes all US currency to say "In God We Trust"…1955

Halifax, Nova Scotia is almost completely destroyed by fire…1750

Hollywood Bowl opens…1922

Neptune completes its first orbit since its discovery on September 23, 1846…2011

US Marine Corps established by an act of Congress…1798

US Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury 

     Alexander Hamilton in a duel…1804

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Lots of clouds, rain and hail around Flag…only light spinkles right here, but looks like lots up on the mountain. Needed to use the cooler a little while today, while the guys trimmed the trees and bushes around my ‘unsightly’ front area. Noisy trimmer and then they used an air blower to get rid of the trimmings which really raised a cloud of dust and pollen. These guys really don’t understand how trees grow in the forest. I have a Blue Spruce. In the forest, they have branches all the way to the ground. They trimmed the tree so that the branches start about two and a half feet above the ground. They also trimmed the lower branches so that they don’t block the sidewalk anymore. So now the tree has no branches near the ground, trimmed and shortened branches for about 5 feet, the wide long branches that slowly shorten to the top of the tree.  Certainly not a tree that would be found anywhere in nature.

 

Just as I figured the Zimmerman trial would be using and CNN and others would get back to reporting more important world news, the Boston Bomber trial is starting. Thankfully, I guess, that trial is a Federal trial and will not be televised live. What that means is that we see lots of courtroom drawings and people on the inside, running outside to give their updates. This is what I think is called ‘really old school.’ At this time I am not complaining, because it really is the jury’s job to make the decision and no matter how much TV coverage there is…no viewers are in the court and do not have to take notes or make the decision…if anything, watching the full court proceedings leaves me wondering how our justice system really works. Also, when a trial like the Zimmerman is on TV, the viewers get to hear a whole lot more than the jurors, which makes me wonder even more.  

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Here's a riddle you can solve with ease. You have to think, but if you are wise, Take note of the special words I use. You must use your ears and not your eyes.
It's one of a kind, no debt it owes. What's unique? The answer you must seize. Although it would help to see some jays, I'm not talking of the birds and bees.
As you search through two not seven seas, Note each line ends like a pair of peas. Don't wait to answer, there are no queues.

You should know by now, I'm such a tease.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• A George Gershwin Sampler: His Greatest Hits!

• In The Words of E. B. White - Book Trailer

• Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town

Hmmmm…Oxymorons

Short distanceSilent screamSimply confusing

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

• Chance a prisoner seeking a communication of sentence under President Clinton received one: 1 in 90

• Under George W. Bush: 1 in 790

• Under Barack Obama: 1 in 6,631

Picture of the Day: Street Markets

Unusual Fact of the Day

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, leans slightly toward the shade on sunny days!

Joke-of-the-day

My wife enjoys sports and anything else that calls for an argument.  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

ABLESON'S RULE OF TIMING

"Companies which do well tend to report [their quarterly] earnings earlier than those which do poorly."    

Yeah, It Really Happened

LAGRANGE, Ill. - A LaGrange, Ill., a fisherman missed the world record for fish-catching in a 24-hour period, catching only 2,011, but says he'll be back for another try. Johnny Wilkins, 46, proprietor of a fishing school, spent Friday and Saturday at a local pond, attempting to beat the mark of 2,649 fish caught by a Minnesota man in 2011. Wilkins caught and released bass, bluegills, carp and shiners, but came up 638 shy of the record, certified by Guinness World Records, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday. Perched on a rock ledge with a rod and a tiny, Japanese-made hook, and working to catch, on average, 1.8 fish per minute, Wilkins said he "kind of fished harder. I really had to work for every single fish." He added he intends to turn the fishing marathon into an annual event.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

•  
There are more than 2,700 languages in the world. In addition, there are more than 7,000 dialects. A dialect is a regional variety of a language that has a different pronunciation, vocabulary, or meaning.

• The most difficult language to learn is Basque, which is spoken in northwestern Spain and southwestern France. It is not related to any other language in the world. It has an extremely complicated word structure and vocabulary.

• All pilots on international flights identify themselves in English.

• The language in which a government conducts business is the official language of that country.

• More than 1,000 different languages are spoken on the continent of Africa.

• Many languages in Africa include a "click" sound that is pronounced at the same time as other sounds. You must learn these languages in childhood to do it properly.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

7-13  
Be Nice To New Jersey Week
Creative Maladjustment Week
National Farriers Week
Nude Recreation Weekend

Today Is                                                                      

·        Bowdler's Day: bowdlerizing what they find offensive in works of art

·        Day of The Five Billion: estimated world population 7/11/1987

·        International Town Criers Day

·        National Cheer Up The Lonely Day

·        National Rainier Cherries Day: the one’s grown in the NW US

·        Slurpee Day 7-11 will give away free slurpees

·        World Population Day

^^

·        Mongolia: Independence Day: 1921 from China

Today’s Events through History  

FDR became 1st pres to travel through Panama Canal…1934

Kenny Rogers forms 1st Edition…1967

Niagara Movement founded by WEB Dubois…1905

Pope Clement VII excommunicated England's King Henry VIII…1533

Total solar eclipse is seen in Hawaii…1991

US Skylab enters atmosphere over Australia & disintegrates…1979

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Tab Hunter, actor (Damn Yankees, Lust in the Dust, Battle Cry) is 82

In their 70’s

Giorgio Armani, Milan Italy, fashion designer (American Gigolo) is 79

In their 60’s

Leon Spinks, US, heavyweight boxing champ (1978, Olympic-gold-1976) is 60

In their 30’s

Lil' Kim (Kimberly Denise Jones), American rapper is 39

Remembered for being born today

Ralph D Abernathy, US, president (SCLC) [1926-1990]

John Quincy Adams, 6th US Pres [1767-1848]

Thomas Bowdler, famous prude, bowdlerized Shakespeare [1754-1825]

Robert Bruce, King of Scots [1274-1329]

Gene Evans, Hollbrook Az, actor (My Friend Flicka, Matt Helm, Alamo) [1922-1998]

David Kelly, Dublin, actor (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fawlty Towers), [1929-2012]

E. B. White, writer (Charlotte Web, Elements of Style), [1899-1985]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Michael DeBakey, American surgeon and inventor…2008…at 99

George Gershwin, composer (American in Paris)…brain tumor…1937…at 38

Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer…2009…at 97

Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States…2007…at 94

Simon Newcomb, celestial mechanics authority (Stars)cancer…1909…at 74

Answer: Brain Teasers

Each line ends with a word that sounds like double letters. "Peas" sounds like
two p's. Both "seize" and "seas" sound like two c's. Here is the full list:

ease = e's wise = y's use = u's eyes = i's owes = o's seize = c's jays = j's bees = b's seas = c's peas = p's queues = q's tease = t's

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  §